Fleem:

After a little while, to Fleem's great discomfort, the wind outside was getting really loud, and the air was getting really cold. Once again, he and Percy were both buried in blankets. But this time, Percy had something to help distract them from the storm.

"Movie. What a creative name." Fleem said sarcastically as he watched the pictures on the box move. Percy's blankets slightly rose as he shrugged. "Yeah."

"What are they doing?"

"Watch, and find out."

"Why didn't anyone notice that guy leave? He could be up to something!"

Percy shushed him.

Fleem sat up straight. "Whoa! Why haven't we seen any of those?"

Percy turned to face him. "Dragons aren't real, Fleem. It's just a movie."

Fleem raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "The Stonekeeper said the same thing about smallfeet." He pointed out. "Except for the movie part."

Percy huffed. "Just watch. Can't you enjoy something without questioning every aspect of it?"

"Nope. You forget that I'm part of a group whose sole purpose is to question things. Like that! Seriously? That lie was worse than Migo's! Is no one at all suspicious?"

Percy's sigh was muffled.

Fleem chuckled, but let himself go silent for a bit. This 'movie' actually was pretty cool.

But despite the distraction, he continually found himself glancing at the big window. He kept imagining he could again hear the sound of shattered glass on the wind, and that sound alone made him cold.

So he got a nasty jolt when Percy's 'phone' rang suddenly. He shuddered and squeezed his two fistfulls of blankets. But he recovered quickly with a surge of hope. "Is it Dr. Laker? Is the device ready now?" He asked eagerly.

"It's Brenda." Percy said, sounding confused. "Brenda? What's up?"

Fleem strained to hear, but between the wind and layers of blankets on top of both of them, he couldn't make anything out from the phone.

"You need what?" Percy raised his voice a little, along with the wind.

Fleem glanced anxiously at the window again. If the storm kept growing like that, would he and Percy be in any danger?

"Brenda?" Percy called out. "Brenda? I can't hear you! Just hold on, we're coming!"

Fleem whipped back around to face him. "What? In that?"

Percy stood up, breath trembling a little as he was exposed to the cold, and snatched up the TV 'remote' and his red coat from the floor. "I couldn't hear her well, but Brenda says she needs some help, and she hasn't been able to call anyone else. It was pure luck that she was able to reach us at all." He pressed a button and the pictures disappeared from the TV.

"You're crazy!" Fleem tried to sink lower into his blanket pile.

"Fleem, Brenda could be in real trouble! She's out in that storm!" Percy pulled on his boots. "She's not far. She managed to tell me where she is."

He stood back up and faced Fleem. "But I can't go alone."

Fleem couldn't bring himself to say anything. Going out in the storm was the last thing he wanted. But the refusal to go shriveled up on his tongue. What if Percy went out and didn't come back?

Biting back a resigned sigh, Fleem stood and stepped out of his protective layers. He was already wearing his coat and boots, not daring to part with them for a minute. "Fine. Let's hurry and get it over with." Percy blinked as if surprised that Fleem wasn't digging in his heels, then nodded and helped him pull his hood up and tighten it.

Fleem was glad for the bit of cover it gave part of his face, which undoubtedly betrayed his fear. Yetis weren't supposed to freeze to death, and he certainly didn't want to become the first.

The two made their way outside, holding up their arms to shield their eyes from the snow blowing everywhere. The moment they were out the door, chaos slammed into them from every side and surrounded them.

Fleem marveled again at the things smallfeet had to live with their entire lives. Percy grabbed his arm as he faded into a silhouette in the torrent. "This way! Let's get to the snowmobile!"

Fleem stayed as close as possible to Percy. It felt like the ever intensifying wind would blow him away at any second, if it didn't freeze him first.

He began to shiver as the cold sank through his coat and shirt to his bones.

Percy towed him along with certainty even though he was no doubt as blind as Fleem. "Almost there!" He shouted over the storm.

Fleem squinted, desperate to see something. He couldn't even see Percy's silhouette anymore.

Suddenly, he was roughly tugged forward, and whacked his knee on something hard. But he barely felt it through the numbness that was quickly settling into his whole body.

"Sorry!" Percy called out. "Get on, quick!"

The moment Percy's hand disappeared, both of Fleem's shot out in a panic. He ran them over the snowmobile, and grabbed the first hold he could find before pulling himself up and onto the back. The moment he was seated, the snowmobile's roar broke through the howling wind.

Fleem grabbed Percy as they shot off into the storm.

The wind howled furiously as they rode through the streets. Fleem squeezed his eyes shut as they began to water. He'd experienced plenty of snow storms on top of the mountain, but none like this one. He wasn't sure if it was because he was a smallfoot, or because this storm was something more monstrous.

Snow built up on the street ahead, forming hills. The snowmobile tilted up and down as Percy steered it over them. Fleem held his breath and lowered himself as low to the seat as he could.

It felt like hours before the ride smoothed out, and Percy slowed down. "I see her!"

Fleem peeked ahead and caught sight of two lights through the snow. Brenda's snowmobile.

Fleem and Percy coasted to a stop, and dismounted. "Brenda! Are you okay?" Percy headed towards the lights. They illuminated Brenda crouching next to a smallfoot on the ground.

"I'm fine! It's Dr. Laker who needs help!"

Fleem looked down in shock. Dr. Laker was still. His eyes were closed, and blood trickled from a cut on his temple, painting a red streak down his face and into the snow. When Fleem crouched and leaned closer, he could hear slight groans. "What happened to him?" He demanded without looking away.

"I don't know! I found him like this!" Brenda looked up at Percy. "He needs to go to the hospital, and my snowmobile broke down!"

Percy glanced back at his own behind them. "We could use mine, but it only holds two people, and the walk back to our apartment building is too far in this weather!"

Brenda nodded and glanced back at Dr. Laker with a worried expression. "You take him then! Fleem and I will find somewhere warm to wait until it's safer!"

Fleem perked up. "We will?"

Percy shot an uncertain glance at Fleem.

"He'll be fine!" said Brenda. "Both of you, help me get Dr. Laker settled! We really need to hurry!"

She grunted as she lifted his shoulders, prompting another groan. Percy grabbed his legs, and Fleem awkwardly offered support on Brenda's end.

They carried Dr. Laker to the snowmobile and slowly maneuvered him into a sitting position on the back. He moaned and slumped forward, so Brenda and Fleem had to hold him up long enough for Percy to get on.

"Wait, take my helmet! I can see you don't have yours!" Brenda hurried to grab it from the seat of her own snowmobile.

Percy shoved it on and looked at her for a moment. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Brenda reached out to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll be fine! I'm sure someone will take us in until this blows over!"

Percy reluctantly nodded. "Stay safe! I'll see you as soon as I can!"

Dr. Laker moaned again, and tried to sit up. "Wait…" his drowsy words were barely audible over the storm. "Wait….important….

"No time!" Percy's snowmobile roared back to life. "We're going to the hospital! Everything's gonna be fine!"

Fleem felt a twinge of anxiety as he watched their shapes fade away. Part of him still saw Percy as the key to getting back to his body. Soon, he couldn't hear the snowmobile anymore either.

Brenda grabbed his arm, snapping him out of it. "Fleem, let's go!" With great difficulty and a few glances, Fleem followed her in the opposite direction Percy had gone. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Brenda answered by moving a little faster.

Fleem stumbled after her, barely able to stay on his feet. He was being battered on all sides, and it was still getting worse and worse. A windy blow to his face threw his hood off, leaving his head exposed. Snow began to settle in his hair.

He grabbed for it, struggling to get it back in place. "I'm not convinced you know where we are!"

Brenda stopped suddenly, looking around. Fleem gripped his hood, holding it over his head. "We're lost! We're gonna die!"

Brenda squeezed his arm. "We're not gonna die! Look, there's light over there! I think it's the Yak Shack!"

She began to walk again, and sure enough, Fleem could see multicolored lights up ahead.

The Yak Shack. Were the bossy smallfeet there, even now?

Fleem closed his mouth on any protests. He'd rather do chores than stay out here any longer. Maybe he could even persuade Brenda to do them instead….

As they got closer, the area became more clear. Fleem and Brenda headed for the door to the Yak Shack. "Hurry and get it open before we freeze to death!" Fleem's hands stung from the cold.

Brenda pulled, and the door clicked, refusing to budge. "I can't! It's locked!"

Fleem lunged for it, pulling with all he had.

"Fleem, stop! We'll have to find somewhere else!"

Fleem glared at her. "In this? I can barely even see you! We're as good as dead already!"

Brenda grabbed his shoulders tightly. "Don't! We're not giving up! We're going to get to safety! But we have to keep moving!"

A roar made them both jump. Fleem grabbed Brenda. "That wasn't the wind!"

The two turned around just as a large dark shape appeared, heading in their direction. "Ahhh!" Fleem screamed and pressed his back against the door. "Monster!"

Brenda stood frozen, watching it approach.

Fleem pulled again on the door handle. "Open open open!"

Brenda gasped suddenly. "Migo!" She ran towards the figure, holding up an arm. "Over here!"

Fleem scrambled to follow her. "Wait!"

The figure looked in their direction. Fleem heard a growl, and it broke into a run.

Fleem caught up with Brenda, and the two did their best to brace themselves against the wind.

"Over here!" Brenda shouted again. The figure loomed over them, and the next moment, both smallfeet were scooped up and hugged against a furry chest. A glance showed Fleem a bunch of other figures gathering around, all yetis.

"Thank goodness you came back!" Brenda said, relieved. "You were just in time!"

Fleem shivered and curled into a ball, breathing on his fingers as he'd seen Percy do. "I'm still cold though!"

Migo growled down at them, sounding frantic. Brenda pointed back in the direction they'd come. "Percy's in there! He's helping Dr. Laker!"

Migo stiffened and fearfully scanned the smallfoot village as if he could see Percy from here.

"Are you thinking of trying to play hero again? You won't find him!" said Fleem. "You won't find anything in there but snow!"

Migo growled something to the other yetis, and turned to hand Brenda and Fleem off to someone else. Fleem squinted, and recognized Meechee. She growled something back to Migo, and shook her head.

Others broke in, and what sounded like an argument broke out.

Fleem blinked his narrowed eyes. It was starting to get harder to focus...the world tilted a little, and drowsiness tugged at the edge of his mind.

He leaned further into Meechee, trying to keep it from overtaking him.

Brenda looked his way. "Fleem?" She reached out to gently shake him. "Fleem, are you okay?"

When Fleem didn't answer, she sat bolt upright as well as she could. "GUYS!" The yetis all went silent and turned to face her. "There's no time to argue! Fleem needs to get somewhere warm, right now!"

Migo and the other yetis looked at Fleem in surprise, and a few gasped.

Fleem slowly lifted a hand to rub at his eyes.. "Why you….lookin at me….like that?" He went limp as another wave of tiredness washed over him.

Migo said something to Meechee, and she finally sighed in defeat with a glance at Fleem in her hold. Migo gave her a reassuring nod, and turned to sprint into the village, followed by a bunch of other yetis. Fleem noticed Thorp, and Dallin among them, and couldn't stifle a pang of worry for his body. What was the smallfoot-yeti hoping to do?

Meechee, along with Gwangi and Kolka turned away from the village, but Fleem thought he'd caught a glimpse of a lone yeti, running apart from the crowd. He couldn't make out her face, but he still recognized her.

"Mom?" He mumbled sleepily. But she was gone.

The cold was obviously making him see things now. His smallfoot body was such a pain!

"Why are we moving away from the village?" He managed to slur to Brenda. His mind was full of clouds.

"We're going somewhere safe. I think."

Dallin:

Dallin hardly recognized the city. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was snow snow snow.

"This way!" Migo called from somewhere in front. Dallin followed his voice, keeping an eye out for any people on the streets or sidewalks.

If Percy, Brenda and Fleem had been outside, it was possible others were too.

Migo didn't know Dallin had joined the group following him into the city. He'd intended for him and the S.E.S to take Fleem and Brenda to a nearby cave, and keep them safe until he found Percy.

But Dallin didn't think he could wait on the sidelines. He wasn't cold, not like when he was a human. He wasn't helpless. He would be a lot less nervous if he could see for himself what was going on.

He slapped snow out of his fur as he ran, only for more to take its place. What had made this snowstorm decide to happen now? Fleem had pushed through the more common storm, but now he'd started to look a little sick.

Dallin felt bad for Fleem, of course, but more so, he could help but wonder what would happen if he didn't pull through. With no body to return to, would Dallin be stuck forever as a yeti? He felt incredibly guilty for having such selfish thoughts, but he couldn't stop them.

Dallin stumbled as he stubbed his toe on something he couldn't see. Where had everyone else gone? He couldn't hear their panting or running footsteps anymore. Something blowing in the wind hit him on the shoulder, and Dallin lurched forward, faceplanting a pile of snow.

"Migo!" He tried to call out, but his voice was carried away by the chaos, and cold air filled his mouth and throat.

Dallin stayed down, frozen. He couldn't tell where he was, or which way Migo and the other yetis had gone. He strained to hear anything but wind, see anything but freezing clouds of white specks.

There! A faint sound reached his ears. Dallin crawled free from the snow and jumped up, running towards it. As he got closer, he realized it couldn't have come from a yeti. It sounded like….

He saw a light as a snowmobile rounded a corner, heading right for Dallin. Dallin gasped in surprise and took an instinctive step back. The rider noticeably jumped as he saw him, and the snowmobile came to a lurching halt at Dallin's feet. Dallin recognized his red coat immediately. "Percy!"

The man looked up at him in surprise. Then Dallin noticed the other figure slumped against Percy's back. "Wait...is that Dr. Laker?!"

Dallin fell to a knee to get a better look at his face. "What happened? He's bleeding!"

Percy held up his hands, signaling for him to calm down.

Dallin met his eyes through the helmet. "If you're trying to get to the hospital, you realize you're nowhere near it, right?"

Percy looked around in confusion. Dr. Laker stirred, and looked up at Dallin with unfocused eyes.

Whump.

Dallin's head shot around as a yeti landed in the snow next to him. Percy let out a high pitched yelp, but Dr. Laker smiled broadly.

Fleem's mom looked solemnly down at the two humans. "Oh, hi...Mom!" Dallin stuttered, shouting over the wind. "Um...I didn't know you were here!"

She glanced at him with that same weary expression she always seemed to have. "I'll explain everything later! Right now, these two need help!"

She leaned down and scooped up Dr. Laker from the snowmobile, cradling him in her arms. "Grab him!" She gestured to Percy with her head.

"Wait, Dr. Laker needs to go to a hospital! Look, he's got an injury!" He cringed at how much he was breaking Fleem's character. Did she even know what a hospital was? Or Dr. Laker's name?

If she noticed, she didn't react. "There's no time to try to find it fast enough! It's impossible to see far in this storm, and smallfeet can't last long in the cold! We've got to get these two to the cave with your S.E.S friends! I'll see to this cut there!"

Dallin blinked. He realized he hadn't really thought about what Fleem's mom did. Was she a healer?

"Grab him!" She repeated, and Dallin shook his head to clear it. He picked up Percy, doing his best to shield him from the snow.

"I know the way out! Follow me!" Fleem's mom jumped and clambered on top of a building.

Dallin did his best to follow, far less gracefully.

"What about the others? They're still looking for Percy!"

"We'll have to come back for them!"

Dallin fell silent and leaped from roof to roof after her, holding Percy with both hands.

Each time he was airborne, the wind pushed on him as if trying to carry him away.

His temporary yeti mother glanced back periodically to make sure he was still coming.

Once they landed on the ground outside the city, Dallin looked back once before rushing towards the snowy path after her.

Poor Migo. He didn't yet know Percy had been found, and would soon be safe.