Dark gray clouds gathered in the sky. The wind that blew in from the north was freezing cold, and brought with it the smell of a storm. Aysha looked up at the sky, smiling slightly.
"Looks like its gonna be a big one. We oughta get the runners into shelter before it hits." She turned to her twin, Andyn. He looked up at the ominous sky. He worried about the animals- this was gonna be a doozy of a snowstorm.
"Yeah, lets hurry. If we go now, we can get the runners safe and ourselves inside before it starts snowing." Aysha smacked Andyn's arm.
"Isn't that what I just said?" She pulled on a coat, as did he. She wrapped a long, soft scarf around her neck, and he pulled on a pair of thick gloves. Both pulled hats down over their ears, and grinned at each other. And then, without telling their parents where they were going, they left the house to gather the runners.
It took longer than expected to gather the runners. They were excited, wary of the approaching storm. The wind picked up speed, bending the bare trees under its force. Aysha and Andyn had to yell to be heard.
"Open the gate so we can herd them into the shelter," yelled Andyn. Aysha staggered to the gate and pulled it open. From the pen gate was a big empty gap with no fencing, and then a few feet away, another, smaller pen with the runner shelter in the middle. Andyn stood behind, shooing the runners into the small pen. Most of the elders knew what was going on, and that going there was their best bet of safety. They trotted across into the pen, and stood expectantly at the doors of the warm shelter. Some of the younger runners were skittish. They held their heads up, nostrils flaring. The whinnyed, frightened. Several broke away from the group, running, high on fear. A huge roar echoed throughout the sky. Thunder? Maybe. Andyn looked up, and saw that the whole sky was black with clouds. He ran after the runaways, and managed to pull them into the shelter. Aysha counted, going up and down the stalls.
"We lost Firefly!" called Aysha to her brother. He frowned. Firefly was his sister's runner, a beautiful copper coloured yearling with a black mane and tail. Scared, the runner had lit off, probably in the direction of the forest. Aysha walked up to Andyn with tears in her eyes.
"We have to find her!" Andyn nodded solemnly. He looked up at the sky again. He watched as a single small white snowflake fluttered from the sky and landed gently on the ground. It melted slowly into an invisible puddle, for the ground was slightly too warm.
"Let's go now, and hurry. It's gonna start any minute now, really coming down." They hurried from the pen, shutting the gate behind them. There was only one direction to go, and that was into the woods. The fences and the house itself blocked the other directions. And so, they started off into the woods.
"Firefly! Where are you, girl?" called Aysha over the roar of the wind. They walked deep into the woods, checking the ground for tracks. The snow was drifting down slowly, leaving a thin flim of white powder on the ground. The snow beagn to fall faster as they walked deeper into the forest, filling in any tracks left behind. They had long left the forest, and were now treking across open fields. Finally, Andyn spotted some hoofprints in the snow.
"Here they are. She went that way. Come on, let's go." Aysha looked up to where he pointed.
"She's heading for the mountains," she said quietly. And that was when the sky opened up.
They forced their way against the wind and snow. Andyn led the way, with Aysha holding onto his coat with one hand and shielding her eyes with the other. The snow soon came up to their knees, and kept coming. Aysha was amazed at how far they had gone. The mountains were so close now, they would reach them very soon.
"Maybe we should go back. Firefly will be okay until the storm stops. Then we can come get her," yelled Andyn. Aysha thought for a moment. She was about to answer okay, when they head a whinny from ahead and to the right.
"Firefly!" cried Aysha excitedly. She leaped through the snow then, and found herself face to face with the runner. Firefly whickered gently, happy to see Aysha. Aysha turned to Andyn, smiling broadly.
"We found her! Thank you so much, Andyn!" squealed Aysha. Andyn smiled dryly.
"Yeah, we found her. But do you know where we are?" Aysha's smile faltered. She looked around. Their tracks were already filled in, for the snow was not slowing at all. If anything, it was coming down faster. She looked at her brother fearfully. He looked back, and then looked around. They were close to the mountain range, very close. In fact...
"Aysha, if we go over there, we may be able to find some kind of shelter. Did you notice how close we are to the mountains? The ground is actually starting to slant up here." Aysha nodded. She patted Firefly's fur. They trudged through the snow until they found a small cave in a rocky part of a mountain. They really must have travelled far. From their home, the mountains were huge, but still far away. And here they were, at the very foot of the mountains. They went into the cave, eyes adjusting to the darkness. Firefly's hooves echoed hollowly through the cave. Aysha sat down, leaning her back against the wall. Her entire body ached all over, and her toes were numb. She sat, shivering. Firefly eased down beside her, and she patted the runner. Andyn paced back and forth for a while before finally settling next to his sister. A few candlemarks later, Andyn, Aysha and Firefly were aslepp and the cave was being blocked by mounds of snow.
Andyn woke up with a start. He was shivering, and wind howled through the cave. He stood stiffly, and walked to the mouth of the cave. Except for when he got there, there was no opening. It was completely blocked by snow.
"Aysha, wake up," whispered Andyn as he shook her gently. She groaned and opened her eyes. She stretched, arching her back, and it cracked loundly.
"Oof, my back! What's wrong, Andyn?" He looked very worried. He gestured to the snow blockage. She gasped, and ran to it. She pushed against it, but it was heavy and hard as ice.
"How long were we sleeping? It seems like it froze or something!" Andyn nodded. They were stuck. He had tried very hard to dig through the barrier, and when he couldn't, he had explored the cave looking for another way out. There was none. They were trapped.
"Andyn. Mother and Father don't know where we are. We didn't tell them we were going to take care of the runners. And by now, our tracks are long gone. Who knows how long we'll have to wait." Aysha's normally cheery, calm nature was dissolving rapidly. And he had to agree, she was right. Nobody would come looking for them at least until the storm stopped. And there was no telling when that would happen. And until then, what would they eat?
"What will we eat?" asked Aysha, putting Andyn's question into words. And he had to honestly say that he didn't know.
A few days later. They weren't quite sure how long it had been, since they could not tell the changing of the days. Firefly had become very restless, gaunt and thin. And very dirty. The storm had stopped, they could tell. But the temperature had dropped. Aysha had been struck by some kind of cold, and was coughing and sneezing, with runny eyes and a runny nose. She sniffled all day and night. Andyn had managed to stay healthy, except for the fact he had not eaten in days. The wall of snow was still hard as stone, like some kind of glassy wall. He walked up to the snow barrier anyway, for the third time in one candlemark. He tapped gently, and the sound echoed. He pushed as hard as he could against it. He called to Aysha, and she came again to help. Their strength had been severely weakened from hunger, but they pushed with all their might. And to their amazement, their hands bust through, sending both face first into the hard wall. Aysha screamed, and pulled back. Her nose was scraped from friction, and her arms had long scratches. The snow was covered with a thick layer of ice, which cut like glass. Andyn pushed his arms farther, but could feel no end to the snow. No telling how deep it was...
Much later, Andyn and Aysha had managed to dig upwards and outwards. There was still no end to the snow, and they were getting exhausted. Finally, they sat, leaning against the snow, numb to the cold. Aysha began to cry silently.
"I fear we will die in here, Andyn. And poor Firefly too," she said quietly. Andyn shook his head. Here they were, facing death, and she was worried about the runner. The runner who had gotten them stuck in the first place... He opened his mouth to say something, but a noise cut him off.
"Do you hear that? Listen." They listened. It was a very faint noise, a sort of scraping sound. And there were even fainter voices... Aysha and Andyn lept to their feet, numbness and tiredness completely forgotten.
"We're in here! Help!" screamed Aysha. Andyn yelled too, both screaming for help. Even Firefly came over, shuffling her hooves and whinnyed half-heartedly. When they stopped making all the noise they could, they listened for the voices.
"Hello? Are you in there?" called a very faint voice from far away.
"Yes! We're here! Help us!" yelled Andyn. With a sudden burst, the wall of snow exploded into the cave, sending Andyn and Aysha flying. They found themselves buried in the snow. A hand grabbed Aysha's forearm roughly, and yanked her small frame upwards. He ushered her from the cave, wrapping a fur around her. Another pair of strong arms helped Andyn from the snow where he lay sprawled. And a young woman led Firefly over the mounds of snow. They led her over to three dragons, and ripped open some kind of bag... Food! She ate as much as she could hold of bread and cheese, and some kind of cool meat. And her twin had the same. They sat in the shelter of the dragons' bodies, and ate their food. And while they ate, the riders introduced themselves.
"I am D'run, and that big lug over there is Okserth," said the rider who had helped Aysha. She smiled shakily at him, and he grinned back warmly.
"I am J'rin, and that is Amitath," said another. The third rider, the young woman, stepped up. She stared curiously at Aysha and then Andyn. Andyn looked down shyly at the bread in his hand.
"And I am Minaeya, rider of Night Green Auspexeth. We are all Searchriders from Ryslen Weyr. We were on search when our dragons pointed us in your direction... What, may I ask, were you doing in that cave?"
Minutes later, they had managed to tell their story, and tell it quickly.
"Let me get this straight. You kids went out in a storm to get this runner?" asked D'run skeptically. They nodded. They told their story as quick as possible. They wanted to hurry and get home so their mother and father had to wait any longer.
"By all means, let's go then! Hop on, ride dragonback to your home." Aysha protested immediately.
"What about Firefly? I have to walk with her home." Minaeya agreed, and it was decided that Andyn would ride ahead with the riders, and Aysha and Minaeya would walk through the woods with Firefly. And so they started back home, Aysha and Andyn finally seeing the sun for the first time in days.
When Aysha saw her home, she broke down into tears, and bounded through the waist deep snow. Her mother came running in the other direction, and the two met in the middle in an embrace that nearly broke Aysha's back. Minaeya came behind, smiling slightly and leading Firefly. The dragon, a gigantic green-black, followed behind, communicating with Minaeya every now and then. Aysha's mother thanked the riders repeatedly, bawling her eyes out.
"To tell the truth Ma'am, if your children hadn't been such wonderful candidate material, we wouldn't have found them, and they would have been stuck in there for who knows how long," said J'rin. Kelsa looked at him blankly. D'run stepped up and took her arm gently.
"He's right. Our dragons all agreed that there were two suitable candidates down below. So we came out, but we could see no one. The dragons insisted though, and we circled lower. finally, we found where they must be, and we dug them out. Actually, Amitath dug them out. We just stood by and waited."
"Do you mean to say that you want to take my babies away to Stand at a clutch?" asked Kelsa quietly.
"Yes Ma'am. If we don't, two dragons may not Impress, and become abandoned. I know you don't want that to happen," said Minaeya gently. Kelsa thought for a moment, and then hugged Andyn and Aysha, her first born, the twins.
"We wouldn't want that to happen. Are you sure that they are suitable?"
My Lady, I am never wrong. said a voice which echoed in everyone's mind. Kelsa looked wide-eyed at the dragons.
"Was that..."
"Amitath, m'Lady. Yes." She nodded, and then hugged her children again. And a few candlemarks after their rescue, the two were seated behind the riders, and on their way to Ryslen Weyr.