Winter really arrived with full force a few days after the incident on the ice slide. They woke up one morning to find themselves buried in a foot of snow. Of course Lucky freaked out and Strider had to calm him. Even though the snow was falling at an enormous rate, Strider still wanted to move on. By the afternoon though, they had to stop because the storm had turned into a blizzard with very heavy winds.
Nathanial found a cave for them to spend the night in while the weather continued to howl outside.
"I cannot believe your bally father decided to bally call you to see him in this flippin weather," said Lucky.
"Me either, but when you are called to do something, you better do it," said Strider.
"Yeah or it will probably haunt you for the rest of your life," said Billy.
"But couldn't your father wait until jolly spring?" asked Lucky.
"Will you just stop whining, I've had to listen to you whine ever since we started this journey. If I wanted whining I would have asked for some from the cellerhog," said Nathanial.
Lucky lowered his ears in sadness. "I'm sorry guys, I'm a hare and that is how hares are," he said.
Strider patted him on the back. "It's okay Lucky, we just had a long day its better that we go to sleep and feel better in the morning," he said.
Lucky let out a sigh and looked at the other three who looked quite tired and grouchy.
"Any body up for a story?" asked Lucky.
"No way, your stories are terrible, I'm going to sleep now," said Nathanial.
"Us too," said Billy and Milly together.
Lucky looked at Strider who smiled at him. "I would like to hear a story, I'm not that tired yet," he said.
Lucky perked up but then looked sad. "Actually I just wanted someone else to tell a bally story since I'm not that good wot," he said.
"That's okay, I can tell you a poem I once heard Abbot Walter tell me," said Strider.
"That would be nice," said Lucky.
Strider thought for a minute then began to recite it.
"Martin, Mariel, Samkin, Matthias.
Warriors brave and true.
Mattimeo, Martin II, Arven, Dandin.
Peace they bring through and through.
Deyna, Triss, Bragoon, and others.
The sword of Martin they wield.
A fate that has been sealed."
Lucky let out a big yawn when Strider had finished, for Strider had told all the names very slowly and paused for a few seconds.
"Great poem, but I'm bally tired now," said Lucky.
"Then sleep, I will be at this entrance protecting you from harm," said Strider.
"Thanks you great jolly warrior," said Lucky who then closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Strider stared out at the snow, wondering what his father was doing now and wondered if the snow would be gone by morning.
Strider did a quick stretch and yawned before he shook everyone awake.
"Is it morning already?" asked Nathanial.
"Yes it is, the blizzard is over but it is still snowing but not too hard," said Strider.
"Then I say we continue to bally sleep," said Lucky who then rolled over.
Strider lifted him up and threw him out in the snow. The hare landed face first into it.
"Flippin nice of you to do that, I guess we should get going," said Lucky as he wiped off all the snow from his body.
Strider and the others just laughed at him as they began to walk on. Lucky quickly took his things out of the cave and ran to catch up to them.
They did not go far though when a female hawk suddenly flew right into Striders face, scaring him half to death.
"Excuse me, are you alright?" asked Strider.
The female hawk looked at Strider with worried eyes. "Thank goodness you are here. Please, you have to help. My badger friend is down in that valley; she fell into some ice and can't get out. Can you please help us," said the hawk.
"Of course I will help, I will not let a fellow goodbeast die," said Strider.
"Oh thank you, now follow me," said the hawk.
Strider then ran after the hawk while the rest trailed behind. He ran so fast that he was at the edge of the lake in no time and quickly saw the frightened badger. She was quite a ways out.
"How did she get all the way out there?" asked Strider.
"She was chasing away some foxes from her cabin, and forgot that this lake does not hold ice very well," said the hawk.
Strider thought for a moment on what to do when his four other friends soon arrived.
"Oh dear how are you going to help her?" asked Nathanial.
"I'm not sure, Lucky did you bring any rope?" asked Strider.
"Yeah I brought three, their in my sack," said Lucky who quickly pulled them out.
Strider grabbed two of them and tied one around his waste. He then handed the sword of Martin to Nathanial.
"Set that next to your pack and hold onto the rope, once I tie her to this other rope pull us back," said Strider.
They all nodded and held the rope while Strider walked carefully out to the female badger who was now holding onto the edge of the ice.
Strider soon arrived at the edge of the ice and looked at the female badger. She was breathing heavily and looked as if she was about to give up.
"It's okay, I'm here to help you," said Strider.
The female badger looked up at Strider and for one quick minute, seemed lost in his eyes. Strider seemed to do the same, noticing that this badger had blue eyes, a rare sight to behold. Strider seemed to have fallen in love.
But their eyes quickly parted when the ice cracked and the female badger fell into the water. She flayed around for a few seconds but was too weak and quickly went under. Strider did not have second thoughts. He jumped right in.
"Is he nuts?" asked Lucky when he saw him jump in.
"Well he does want to help her," said Nathanial.
"Yeah so if he does not come up soon then pull him out," said Billy.
Back in the water, Strider was tying the other rope around the female badger who seemed to have lost consciousness since she did not really respond when he touched her.
Soon the rope was secure and Strider swam as fast as he could to the surface. Once he reached it, he yelled at his friends.
"Pull me in quick," said Strider.
The four pulled Strider out as hard as they could. It was quite hard because of his size and once the female badger was out, it was even harder.
When Strider finally reached the land, he pulled the female badger in by himself. Once she was on land he picked her up and looked at the hawk.
"Now you said there was a cabin, lead me to it," said Strider.
The hawk then flew towards the cabin that was up a steep hill, but Strider showed no sign of giving up even though he was soaked to the bone.
Once they all reached it, Strider opened the door and quickly set her in her bed covering her with many sheets.
"Lucky hurry up and get the fire going," he yelled angrily.
Lucky quickly did what he was told and soon a large fire was going.
Strider sat beside it and brought the female badger next to him still covered up and was still unconscious.
"Is she going to be okay?" asked the hawk.
"I hope so, we won't know for a while because I can tell she was in there for quite a while," said Strider.
"Yes, I went looking for someone to help, I don't know how long it took," said the hawk.
"I'm glad you found us, she probably would not have lasted any longer," said Strider.
"Me too, she is my only companion," said the hawk.
"That reminds me, I did not get both your names," said Strider.
"Oh my name is Swift, and she is Alma," said the hawk.
Strider smiled and stroked Alma's cheek. She was quite a lovely badger, it made him wonder why she lived alone, but that would have to wait another day. For now all he cared about was her survival.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It looks like Strider has fallen in love; will this affect him in any way? You'll just have to read and find out. In the meantime please review and have a great day.