Chapter 2
The air was hot and steaming. Sweat dripped down every curve of her naked body to meet the soft ground below that squished between her toes. It was almost blindingly bright in the small clearings, but once the canopy overtook her again, the daylight was severely muted into a shadow-like land. The world around her was full of life and sound, almost loud from the hundreds of different species living there. Her nose crumpled at the many smells that met her; the mud, the trees, the creatures, the water. All of her senses were alive.
Looking up into the trees she noticed many Mankey swinging from branch to branch and an occasional Weepingbel perched in a branch. On the ground around her Oddish were escaping away and Butterfree flew above her. They were all strangers to her, but somehow she knew them her whole life.
She looked straight ahead into the path of parted ferns and trees and noticed a small, pink creature with a long tail and pointed ears, flying about 4 feet off the ground. She smiled as the little creature did somersaults before her eyes and beckoned for her to follow. Her feet gradually began to move to follow the airy creature.
Over a long distance they walked, passing many other creatures in their safe habitat. In the distance between several trees she could see a large stone structure and deep inside she felt a voice calling her to enter the temple. Upon getting closer, the creature stopped and hovered in front of her, staring deep into her eyes. She heard that voice inside again.
From here, you must go alone. You are one with us.
And the creature vanished before her eyes, leaving her to enter by herself.
It was the end, again. Her blue eyes opened and Miori reached to rub the sleep from her drooping lids. Every night for as long as she can remember she had dreamed of this place and it's wonders. Every night she had been drawn to enter the temple, but never reached it.
Yet another day had come with the sun creeping above the frozen horizon. The previous day they were lucky for reaching the end of the valley between the peaks, but at the cost of one of their own as the next previous moments revealed by the screams of a woman in the camp. She knew that once one of the settlers was lost, there would be no finding them as the snow formed a tomb around their weakened bodies and gave them death quicker, nature's burial if you will. Anyone surviving the cold was a miracle, and she was blessed with just a scar on her hand from the frostbite and no memories, as she was very young. There would be no time for mourning and risking frozen tears.
The day creeped by slowly as they entered the empty land, pressing toward the South, hoping that it would bring them warmth. The winds of the open area were harsh and bitter, but the snow lessened up, giving them a clear path onto the sheer vastness before them.
They moved gingerly along, very proud of themselves for making such headway. But very quickly, that elated joy turned into deathly fear when they heard a crack and rumbling beneath their Onyx. That was when they discovered that the vast land that they had been traveling wasn't a land at all, but a frozen sea.
They were standing on ice.