Sorry for the long wait, I hit a dry spell for awhile with this one

Sorry for the long wait, I hit a dry spell for awhile with this one. Also, no access! {grumble…computer…grumble}This will be the last story in this series. Oh, and I don't own any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

Yulie watched as the snow covered the entrance to the cave. "I guess I have to take care of myself tonight. I sure wish White Blaze or one of the guys were here with me" he said to himself. He shivered and took out the pack of matches he had. He had never used them when he was by himself, but if he didn't, he knew that he wouldn't make it through the night. With a little sigh he collected all the pieces of the fort and put them into a pile. Then, very carefully, he struck a match and lit the wood on fire. He stared at the flames for awhile, then curled up in the blanked by the fire. A few minutes later, he was fast asleep.

Ryo stared out the window at the snow. It was almost as if there were a white blanket over the outside of it, blowing back and forth in the wind. Cye was upstairs. He was probably packing as many blankets and warm clothes into a bundle as he could so that Yulie would be warm when they finally found him. Ryo just hoped that they would find the boy before it was too late. Mia had been furious when she found out that they had lost him, and she had made them get their own dinners. She had tried to go out and look for him, but they had pulled her back in, reminding her that she had only just recovered from her own ordeal. Ryo went up to Cye's room to help him pack more blankets.

I should never have chased him that far. It's all my fault that Yulie's out there now, and it's my responsibility to go and get him back Cye thought as he put the finishing touches on his pack. He was just getting up when Ryo walked in. "Hey, I just thought you might need some help" Ryo said and lifted the pack. "What did you put in here?" he asked, feeling the weight of it. "Oh, just some things Yulie will need when we find him" Cye said. He took the pack from Ryo and strapped it to his back. He looked out the window and said, "The storm seems to be settling down, why don't we get a head start?" Ryo looked out the window and nodded. Both men went down the stairs quietly and walked out into the night. They were soon lost from sight of the house and snow swirled all around them.

Mia finished making some hot chocolate and took it up to Cye's room. She knocked on the door softly. "Cye? I made you something to drink. Cye?" she said. Poor guy, he must be asleep. I'll just make sure not to disturb him. She thought and went back downstairs. She drank the chocolate herself and fell asleep watching tv.

Out in the woods, Ryo and Cye pushed themselves onward through the driving snow. Neither of them spoke, they were too intent on trying to see. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Ryo glimpsed a dark shadow moving swiftly off to his left. "What was that?" he said. Cye turned to look, and he too saw the shadow. "What is it? It's hard to tell in all this snow. Do you think it might be Yulie trying to find his way home?!" Cye said. "I don't know, but I just hope that it's not one of Talpa's tricks" Ryo said. They turned in the direction they had seen the shadow, and began to follow it. They moved as fast as they could, praying that it was Yulie and not one of Talpa's minions.

Daylight was coming to the forest, and still Ryo and Cye were following the shadow. They had been following it since they had first seen it so many hours ago. They had begun calling Yulie's name when they sighted it, but there was never any answer. They had stopped thinking that it was the boy and now believed that it was one of Talpa's people. The storm had passed, and now the two stopped to rest. "Whew, we've been following that thing almost all night, and we still don't know what it is" Cye said. He unstrapped his pack and pulled out a few sandwiches.

He was walking with Kento by a little stream. It was really nice and Yulie had always liked Kento almost as much as he wanted to be like Ryo. The little stream made a peaceful trickling sound and Kento was saying that it was ice cold, even putting his little toe in it would freeze him solid. Yulie didn't really believe that, but he dared not test it. Instead, he walked a little closer to Kento and laughed at his jokes. Yulie vaguely thought that none of them made much sense, and he seemed to remember something about snow. "Don't be so silly, kid. There's no snow here. Only the stream" Kento said. He pointed to the stream, and then he bent down. "Look, Yulie! It's the guys and even Miya! There all here! Come and see" he said. Yulie came to the side of the stream, then stepped back in horror. All his friends were in the stream! They were all there: Ryo, Sage, Rowen, Miya and Cye. They were completely frozen, but they looked weird to the boy. It took him a minute, but then he decided it was because they looked like they had posed. Like some sort of deadly picture. The ice-Cye seemed to be melting around the eyes, and the little drops of water looked like tears. "Well, I guess I have to go too" Kento said. Then, to Yulie's immense horror, Kento walked into the stream. As the ice crept up his legs, he waved to Yulie, then made a bodybuilder pose and the ice took him completely. Yulie tried to scream, it wasn't fair. All the people that he cared for were now gone. There was a rushing sound and then the stream was swelling, overflowing it's banks. At first he just stared. Then it started to creep towards him, slow at first, but it was gaining speed. He turned and ran, but it was too late. It would catch him and then it would be all over. Why am I running? They're all gone. If I go, they'll all be there… He turned and saw that the stream had become a huge wave. He held out his arms as if to hug the wave, and then…

Snow hit him on the face. Yulie opened his eyes. He felt cold. Why hadn't Miya given him an extra blanket? She usually did when it was so cold and… snow? Yulie sat up slowly. Was this what happened after the wave got him? No, that wasn't it, it never got him. He heard a muffled growl, and the sound of running water. Slowly he remembered running through the woods and then getting stuck in the cave. He rubbed his arms and legs, trying to coax a little warmth into them. He looked over at the doorway to the cave. Sun was shining in, and there was something digging at the other side. "Ryo? Cye, Kento?" he asked. His voice rasped out of his throat and it sounded small and weak. He was afraid that the guys wouldn't hear him that way, so he tried digging out from the inside. He quickly grew tired, and his hands were so numb he was almost sure that they weren't there anymore. He lay down by the dying embers of the fire, and that meant that he hadn't slept that long.

Suddenly the snow wasn't blocking the doorway anymore and a figure stood there, shadowed by the incoming sun.

"W-white Blaze?" he asked. The huge white tiger walked over to the boy and lay down beside him. Yulie snuggled closer to the warmth of the tiger and slept again.

Sandwiches finished, Ryo and Cye started out again. "Here! This is the spot where I last saw Yulie! He must be around here somewhere" Cye said. They began calling the boy's name and searched everywhere. The cold was beginning to seep through their coats and the extra blankets they had brought for when they found Yulie. They kept on. Determined to find him before the shadow.

Yulie woke again, and he felt warm, his hands burned, and still felt cold, but at least he could feel them again. White Blaze walked to the cave entrance and looked out. It was now almost noon, and Yulie was getting hungry, though he didn't know the time. White Blaze lay down next to Yulie. "I want to go home. If you can carry me, we can go now" he said. He struggled to push himself up, there couldn't be anything harder in all the world. Finally, he was able to get himself up onto his elbows. Half way there. Panting, he pushed up onto his hands and managed to drape himself over the tiger's back. White Blaze stood up carefully and made his way home.

"Look! Over there! The shadow, it's going the other way!" Cye said. Ryo turned and looked. Sure enough, there was a shadow walking back the way they had come. "Well, what do we do? Do we follow the shadow or look around here?" Cye asked. "Hm. The shadow may lead us to Yulie. It may even be Yulie. Let's go" Ryo said and immediately followed. Cye was close behind.

They had been walking for hours, and despite the fact that neither of them was willing to give up, they started to stumble, they were now really cold, the chill air had found a way into their thick clothes and refused to get warm. They shivered and started to feel the effects of a night in the cold air. Ryo pointed, "Look, the house! I hope everyone's alright!" Cye looked and saw the back door open. Had they closed it when they left? He couldn't remember. If something happened to the others, then it would be all his fault. "NO! Not them too!" he screamed and stumbled into something like a run and was in the house. It was pleasantly warm, but he took no notice. He burst into the living room and stared. Yulie was lying on the couch, hot chocolate on the table, sleeping soundly. "Cye! Where have you been?! Where's Ryo? Oh, there you are too. I can't believe the two of you did that! What's wrong with you?!" Miya said, coming at them. "I don't, where'd he come from?" Cye managed. "White Blaze came in with him this morning. He's fine, but for awhile I was afraid his hands were frostbitten. Now, where were you two?" she asked again. "Looking for Yulie" Ryo said. He looked at Miya then at Yulie. "White Blaze, huh? So it was him we saw last night" he said. "You were out all night? Go! Have a warm bath and then to bed! Now! When you get up, you'll get food" Miya said, placing her hands on her hips. Snickering sounds came from the stairway. Kento was there, trying not to laugh. "Kento! Since you're up, you can run the water" Miya said, turning to him. Ryo and Cye laughed at Kento's sulking exit. Miya turned back to them. "You're still here? I said now!" Still laughing, they stumbled up the stairs.

Yulie woke and found himself on the couch. He looked around, bewildered. He had had the stream dream again, only this time, Kento had pushed him in and laughed as Yulie had tried to get out. Miya came into the room and placed a tray full of food on the table and sat on the couch next to him. " Feeling better?" she asked. Yulie nodded, but said nothing about the dream. Kento walked in, complaining as usual that he was starving. "No really, I really am starving. Please?" he asked. "No, you had at least a pound of bacon this morning, plus the other things that I made for breakfast. You're going to have a heart attack" Miya said, serving Yulie. "At least I'll die happy! How ya feeliln' Yulie?" he asked. "Better. Not cold anymore. Kento, do you know of any cold streams?" he asked. "Streams? No, not really. There's a river near where I used to live, but not a stream. Sorry buddy" he said and ruffled the boy's hair.

"S'okay. I can do without streams forever" he said. He smiled, life sure was great.

I know, corny ass ending, but this will have to do. I don't really like how this ended either, but I can't think of anything else.