Dallin sprinted at the front of the group, leaping and bounding over obstacles.

The whole village was coming down this morning, but they were far behind by now. Dallin was too impatient to walk, as was the S.E.S. That, and Dallin might have been trying to avoid the Stonekeeper a little bit too. Earlier, while the group was eating their breakfast of rock fruit, the yeti leader had come by, and heard the S.E.S asking 'Fleem' questions about being a smallfoot.

The S.E.S had done their best to talk it off, but Dallin still imagined he saw suspicion in his eyes. That made his air of authority far more intimidating than it already was. No way could Dallin keep his composure enough to explain his predicament to the Stonekeeper himself.

Dallin smiled as he leaped across another ravine. A thrill of freedom filled his entire body. It almost felt like flying, to be able to cross the landscape so effortlessly. He would miss these feelings when he got back to his own body.

The S.E.S ran on around him, none of them breaking their pace. The end of the woods appeared, and the human city came into view over the hilltop, the sunrise shining onto it.

Dallin skidded to a halt in the clearing the yetis always came to, breathing heavily. It was a relief to be back to his familiar surroundings again.

Fleem, Brenda and Percy had beaten them there. Percy and Brenda smiled and jogged over to greet Migo. But Fleem stayed put, still wearing that blanket over his shoulders and pointedly refusing to look at Dallin.

Dallin frowned. He seemed a little more grumpy than yesterday. His handfuls of blanket were tight fisted, and Dallin could have sworn he was slightly swaying on his feet.

Still frowning, Dallin took in the rest of the city as everyone else began chattering in excitement and eagerness.

The rest of the people were a little slower coming out, many of them shoveling snow.

Dallin understood suddenly.

He grimaced as he looked at Fleem and Percy. Both of them looked exhausted, and their coats were a little wet as if they'd been pelted with snow. Or perhaps shoveling it. Despite that, Percy was smiling as he talked to Migo and Meechee.

Kolka greeted Percy and Brenda, then looked up at Fleem a little ways away. She took a step towards him, and he turned away, making her frown in confusion.

"I think he had a rough night." Dallin suggested. He pointed at the city. "It looks like there was a snow storm last night. Quite often people get snowed in, and they'll have to get up early to shovel it away from their doors before work."

Kolka looked back at him. "Oh. That must be hard."

Dallin shrugged. "Yep. It's a real pain. But what can you do? Happens all the time. But it must be especially hard for Fleem. He's probably never had to worry about long cold nights like those."

Kolka nodded sympathetically and turned back to Fleem. "Nope. Our fur usually keeps us pretty warm."

Dallin looked at Fleem as he shot a grumpy glance at Kolka, then looked away again. "I imagine any yeti would be tired and cranky after experiencing first hand just how sensitive to cold we smallfeet really are. Heck, I still get tired and cranky after snow storms. No one in this city ever really gets used to it."

Meechee walked over, standing next to Kolka. "I can imagine why. He looks like he was awake the entire night."

Kolka put her hands on her hips. "Knowing Fleem, he'll spend the whole day sulking. But he did plenty of that yesterday. Tired or not, I think we should keep him engaged today."

Meechee nodded in agreement.

Fleem glanced at them both with narrowed eyes, probably wondering what they were saying about him.

Kolka whispered one last thing to Meechee before stepping forward and quickly picking Fleem up with both hands before he could back off.

Fleem's eyes widened in outrage, and he fought back, chattering furiously.

Kolka didn't even seem to feel his kicks or punches. "Not today, Fleem. Calm down." She told him, gripping his struggling form gently but firmly.

Fleem panted, staring at her in disbelief. Finally, he let out a high pitched moan and went limp in defeat.

Kolka nodded. "That's better." She began walking away, presumably to go get him talking.

Fleem glared at Dallin as she carried him past, as if to say, This is your fault.

Dallin sighed. Fleem seemed determined to hate him.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Dallin turned at the sound of Migo's voice. Migo was looking around at the city, with all the snow. Percy sat on his shoulder, looking drowsy, and Brenda stood nearby.

"Snow storm." answered Dallin. He met Migo's gaze. "You want to go help clear some snow away from the doors? It'll be easier as a yeti, I imagine."

Migo smiled and nodded. "Let's do it!"

Brenda, Gwangi and Meechee followed, all too willing to help.

Dallin stopped, and scooped at a pile of snow with his hands. The girl who had been shoveling looked at him in surprise, and stepped back as Dallin made quick work of what usually took an hour at the least.

She smiled and signed a thank you when he finished. Dallin smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. "You're welcome. It's no problem at all."

Nearby, Migo finished with a pile of his own, nodding at a young man. Percy signed something to him, though from here Dallin couldn't see what. In response, Migo took Percy from his shoulder and lowered him to the ground. Percy then left to join Brenda, who worked at another house nearby.

"What's Percy's friend's name?" Migo asked suddenly as he and Dallin kept going.

"Brenda. She's Percy's assistant."

"Assistant? What does she help him with? Is it his job?"

Dallin threw aside a handful of snow. "Yep. Those two have been a team for a long long time. They run a show called 'Percy Patterson's Wildlife'."

Migo tilted his head thoughtfully. "A..show? He's a performer? Oh, oh, let me guess! He does those 'magic tricks!' That's why he's so good at them!"

Dallin blinked, confused before chuckling. "Uh, it's not that kind of show, Migo. Percy is a TV show host and…." He paused, realizing the concept was completely foreign to the yeti.

"Okay, this will take a little explaining. Do you know what a TV is?" Dallin glanced at Migo.

Migo shook his head with a confused look.

"A TV is...a box, that shows moving pictures on the screen...the front, that is. Smallfeet watch all sorts of things on them. Got it?"

Migo nodded. "I think so." He watched and listened carefully, taking in Dallin's every word.

"Percy travels to a bunch of different places, with different animals, and a cameraman takes pictures of him for the TV. His show, Percy Patterson's Wildlife is about other species. He's seen a lot, from what I understand."

"Whoa." Migo looked amazed. "I had no idea he had such an awesome job! But what's a Patterson?"

Dallin walked to the house next to the one Migo was working on. "What? That's not anything. It's Percy's last name."

Migo raised an eyebrow in confusion. Dallin mentally facepalmed. Yetis didn't have last names.

"Last names are...exactly that. Last names. Smallfeet have more than one name….in their name." Dallin cringed at his explanation. "Most have a first name, then a middle name, and a last name."

He paused to think for a bit. "I guess you could just think of a last name as a family name. Then the first and middle names are more individual."

Migo narrowed his eyes, piecing it all together.

"My first name is Dallin." continued Dallin. Migo nodded.

"My last name is Ridge, so my family's name is Ridge. And my middle name is Porter, after one of my uncles."

He looked back in Percy's direction. "Percy's last name is Patterson. You with me?"

"I think so." Migo repeated with a smile. "What's his middle name?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know for sure that he has one. Some people don't."

"So...your name is all of those combined?"

Dallin grinned. "Yep. And when someone calls you by your full name, it usually means you're in big trouble."

Migo blinked. "It does?"

Dallin laughed. "That's how it was when I was growing up. You pray you never hear the three in the same sentence. When my brothers and I got into trouble, and our mom called us by our full names, we knew we'd messed up big time."

He looked around for another door to clear, and began walking, leaving Migo to follow. "I'm sure if you ask Percy, he'll tell you the same."

"Hmmm." Migo hummed.

Dallin looked back at him with a smile. "You also should ask him sometime about the places he's traveled to. I think he's been all over the world, filming animals for his show."

Percy came back then, brushing snow off his coat. Migo smiled and waved him over to start asking questions. Dallin couldn't help but smile. Migo's curiosity was intense.

He stood up straight, looking around the street for more snow blocked doors. Most people here had already cleared their own snow, or were almost done.

Migo, still talking to Percy on his shoulder, glanced around, and deciding they'd done what they could, began to head back to the clearing outside the city.

Dallin followed, waving to the grateful smallfeet now free to get on with their days.

Their normal, uneventful days. Dallin sighed, becoming somber. When would he get to go back to his normal, uneventful days?

He'd come to enjoy being a yeti, and doing things no human could do, and he would miss it. He enjoyed hanging out in the yeti village, in a body that could take the harsh conditions with no problem.

But it didn't feel like home.

Even as he felt the freedom of leaping across ravines, he was always aware that this body, and that life in the yeti village weren't his.

He belonged in this city, and it was as if his body knew it.

Dallin jogged to catch up with Migo as they arrived in the clearing. Migo put Percy down, and continued to ask him questions, leaving Dallin on his own.

Looking around, Dallin decided to wander a bit, in hopes of running into Dr. Laker. He wanted to ask about the broken empathy device.

And, while he was out, he might as well say hello to some of the people he knew.

Fleem:

Fleem looked around as Kolka finally carried him back to the edge of the smallfoot village. To his relief, there was no sign of Dallin. He still couldn't bring himself to warm up to the smallfoot in his body.

Kolka had spent the last hour forcing him to try to tell her about life as a smallfoot. But he had had no idea what signs to use, and he couldn't focus through the drowsiness that had followed him the moment he woke up in the morning. So he was even more drained now.

Migo crouched to talk to Percy in the clearing, and Meechee and Gwangi were talking to Brenda. All of them looked up as Kolka approached, holding Fleem with one hand, and started growling at them. But to his frustration, she didn't put him down. He kicked a little bit, and pushed down against her hand, trying to get her to let go. But she lightly tightened her grip on his waist instead.

Fleem groaned in irritation. Was she enjoying this?

He glared up at her, but she wasn't paying attention. The rest of the S.E.S gathered around, including Percy and Brenda. Unintelligible growls came from all sides.

Fleem growled too, in frustration. "Ugh! Kolka!" He struggled to break her grip, making her glance down at him in annoyance and roll her eyes. But she relented, setting him back on his feet. Finally.

He marched off, intending to take some alone time.

He didn't make it very far. The snow got deeper the way he went, and he promptly sank up to his waist. He growled again and tried to push himself free on either side. But his bare hands only sank into the freezing cold snow, with nothing solid to brace themselves against. He was stuck, and his hands were now cold.

Someone came towards him, having seen the whole thing. Fleem knew it was Kolka before glancing back at her. She shook her head with a smile, and reached down to pull him out of the snow. She set him down to let him brush himself and his blanket off indignantly.

"Thanks." He muttered reluctantly.

Fleem took a step back, about to turn and continue walking, when it happened again. "Rrrgh! Stupid snow!" He fought to free himself, but it wasn't working. Kolka raised an eyebrow as she watched him struggle.

"Have you ever been turned into a smallfoot?" He snapped. "It's much harder than it looks!"

He covered his head like a cloak with his blanket as Kolka lifted him out again.

This time, Fleem checked all around himself to make sure the snow wasn't too deep. He began walking again, and Kolka finally retreated back to the group, satisfied that he was fine now.

And he was, for about two minutes.

Trying to hike up a snow drift, he sank again, this time up to his shoulders. His blanket was trapped with him, soaking up water. He glared at it and tried to lift it higher than the snow to no avail.

"You stuck?" Fleem turned his glare on Percy, who sat on Migo's shoulder above him.

"It's not my fault these feet can't walk on snow!" He thrashed around, only managing to throw snow around.

Migo reached into the snow and pulled Fleem free, covered in snow. Fleem reluctantly let go of the wet blanket. It wouldn't help him like this. He did his best to smack the snow off his coat and legs as Migo lifted him to his other shoulder.

Situating himself, Fleem sighed. "When is Dr. Laker going to finish that device?"

Percy shrugged. "He texted me a bit ago. He worked all night on it, and he's making progress. But we're still gonna have to be patient."

Fleem grumbled.

Migo looked back and forth between the two, not understanding either of them. Percy smiled fondly at him, and signed something at him. Migo nodded and started moving.

Percy looked back at Fleem.

"What does Migo do when he's not down here?"

Fleem brushed some snow off his shoulder. "Wish he were still down here."

Percy huffed. "I'm serious."

Fleem ran his hands through his hair, feeling snow there too. "Before he met you, he was boring. He helped make ice balls to stuff down a tube, refused to ask questions, and even tried to hit his head on a gong. Can't imagine why."

Percy stared at him, waiting for more.

Fleem shrugged. "That is what he did. Then he found you, and he's become a new yeti. He's obsessed with questions now. None of us thought we'd ever see the day."

Percy hummed. "Things are well then, up on the mountain? Since I was there?"

Fleem shrugged again. "It's alright. Everything has changed. Migo in particular gets a lot of attention and questions every single day. It's like the day you showed up every day."

Percy opened his mouth, seeming hesitant. "If I could ask….I've been wondering ever since...why did Migo leave me to die that day? What happened?"

Fleem paused. Something told him this time, he would have to choose his words very carefully.

"He was brainwashed." He blurted out.

Percy blinked. "What?"

"The Stonekeeper led him away into a deep dark cave, and convinced Migo that smallfeet were dangerous. Migo believed him, and told the village you were a yak."

"A yak?"

Fleem smirked. "That's exactly how Meechee responded. She was the one who brought you back down here, since Migo wasn't going to."

Percy looked down, looking perplexed. "Migo thought I was dangerous?"

Fleem cocked his head. "Yup. You can tell from those evil eyes of yours, and perfect teeth. Who knows what you were planning? You could have turned on Migo at any moment, if you hadn't been dying at the time."

Percy looked back at Fleem, almost pleading. "What did I do to make him think that?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"But…"

"It was your ancestors that made him think that."

Percy stared for a moment, and then it clicked. He looked down again. "Oh. But they didn't….they were scared, and humans do drastic things when they're scared."

Fleem kept his eyes on him. "Turns out yetis do too. Drastic things, like letting a poor helpless smallfoot die to protect the village."

Migo glanced at Percy, noticing his sudden change of mood. He made a questioning gesture, looking worried.

Percy shook his head and plastered a smile back on his face. "It's nothing, Migo. Just lost in thought. Hey, we're here!"

Fleem looked around with a frown. "The woods?"

Percy nodded. "Great place to hang out for a while. Stretch our legs."

"I guess."

Fleem looked around at the sunlit woods. Even as a smallfoot, he decided he could enjoy their beauty.

Migo put him and Percy down to let them walk around. Kolka and Gwangi had followed, watching them with smiles. Meechee must have stayed back with Brenda.

Fleem stepped carefully, not wanting to get stuck in the snow yet again in front of everyone. He relaxed. The snow here wasn't that deep.

He walked around a bit, stretching.

The yetis chatted happily, enjoying the sights. A little too happily.

Casting a sidelong glance at Kolka, Fleem crouched to grab a handful of snow, turning to hide what he was doing.

Kolka stood next to Gwangi, saying who knew what. Smirking, Fleem whipped around and hurled his freshly made snowball directly at her.

It dinged her right in the side of the head.

Startled, she snapped around, letting out a loud growl. His name.

Fleem blinked innocently as he stalked around her. "What was that? I can't understand you. Besides, what are you gonna do about it? I'm just a smallfoot. You wouldn't hurt a little smallfoot, would you?"

Kolka huffed and wiped the side of her head with her hand. Fleem grabbed some more snow and threw it at Gwangi this time. He was too tall for Fleem to hit in the face, so it puffed harmlessly into his fur. Gwangi sighed in exasperation.

But neither of them did anything, even when Fleem kept it up.

Percy frowned at him. "Why?"

Fleem grinned. "Why not?"

"Because you probably want to be on good terms with your friends?"

Fleem scoffed. "Kolka's been in my face all morning. Besides, the way the past couple of days have been going, I need to throw something." He threw another snowball, watching it splat on Kolka's shoulder.

She brushed it off and walked towards him, growling something. Fleem dropped the next bit of snow he'd grabbed, holding his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine, fine, I'll stop. See? I don't have any more."

Kolka folded her arms. She really was big now.

Fleem sighed. "Fine. What did you drag me out here to do?"

"Just to explore." answered Percy, as Migo let him back onto his shoulder. "Let's go."

Fleem glanced back at Kolka. Her expression promised no nonsense.

"Ugh, fine." Fleem climbed onto Migo's offered hand and sat down on his other shoulder again. "But let's not take too long. I'd much rather be on the ground."