Disclaimer: I am in no way related to the Neopets company, I am only an obsessive fan who will one day take over Neopia as I have enslaved the Meepits. Carry on...

We were on our way by the next morning. Cedric had supplied us with enough equipment to last about a week. Secretly I hoped to myself that we wouldn't be more than a few days.

Cedric was estatic about the trip. He had never done anything so interesting in my life, and he seemed itching to prove himself. I had known him less than twenty four hours, but I could tell his meaning was sincere. This was something I wanted to do alone, but he needed me, and I, him.

We traveled through the snow for a few hours. It was getting deeper and thicker the closer we actually got to the caves. The white dust swirled around my face and blinded us, but we pushed on. This was not going to stop us.

We reached a small cave by sunset. Or, at least, I guessed it was sunset, considering that the sky was too gray to see correctly. We settled down and made camp for the night. I lit a fire, then sat back, weary from traveling. I looked around the cave absentmindedly. Something was oddly familiar...

"Hannah." I said finally.

"Sorry?" Cedric looked up from the fire he was preparing.

"This is the place where I first met her. Conscious, I mean. This is the cave Hannah and I stayed in three years ago..."

Cedric raised his eyebrows.

"She had been laying in the snow for hours, I couldn't just leave her there!"

"Bet Kanrik would have."

I scowled. "Let's just not talk about him, okay?" I muttered, getting to my feet. "I'm going for a walk in the caves."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I had taken the familiar route into the heart of the mountain; the one Kanrik, Hannah and I had used years ago. When I took time to think about it, it really was beautiful. The gleam on the ice almost made me smile...

Something caught my eye. A green piece of cloth was caught on a nearby stalagmite. I blinked. It couldn't be...

I picked it up and examined it. It looked like it was torn off an article of clothing... but surely it couldn't be Hannah's skirt?

My thoughts were cut short by a cracking noise under my feet. I looked down just in time to see the ice breaking; I grabbed desperately for something, but slipped out of reach, and down, down, down...

Then it all went black.

- - - - - - - - -

"Oh... my head..."

I blinked. Oh... now I remembered. I had fallen through the ice; the shattered pieces still lay around me. I looked up into a hole four feet in diameter.

"Cedric!" I screamed.

I sighed. I had wandered too far away for him to hear me. At any rate, I could not stay here. As I got to my feet; a sharp pain went through my shoulder, hurling me back to the slippery floor. . Painfully, I got to my feet.

If anything, the bottom layer of ice was far prettier than the one above. I would probably have stopped to admire it had not my shoulder been bleeding profusely. It was composed of many twists and turns that could get one lost in a matter of minutes. It didn't matter, as I plunged on. Anything was better... I must not give up.

Three hours later, I sat down with a thud. My shoulder had gotten worse; I didn't have anything to stop the bleeding. Weariness was slowly taking over me...

Something else grabbed my attention. Another piece of green cloth was lying on the ice a couple feet away from me. Hurridly, I picked it up. It matched the other material. Further inspection found it to be bloodstained. Not dried blood... this blood was fresh.

I had no doubt. Hannah was somewhere here in the Ice Caves, and I was going to find her.