Icy Lights

Sheets of snow rained from the sky upon the white, ice-encrusted landscape.  Snatches of sunlight poked through the clouds, but the snowstorm by and large kept even these from reach the ground, plunging the entire area into a gray twilight.  A five-tailed fox struggled through the snow, heading towards an ice cave which she knew was over in this direction - after all, it was a well-known landmark.  However, no-one would know it, even if she was lost - her fur very closely matched the snow, as did her coat and snow pants.  The vixen neared the cave...but was having a very hard time of it.

"Oof!"  A cloud of snow popped up as a green echidna tripped and fell into the white.  Even though it was below freezing, the echidna was only wearing a small jacket, like the smart person she was.  Ice hung from her echidna spikes, and she was on the verge of frostbite.  Lying there in the snow, she almost gave up, before lifting her head up and spotting an icy cave just north of her position.  Sweet relief!  She picked herself up and half-ran, half-stumbled towards the cave.  After a relentless cycle of step, trip, fall, get up, she finally made it to the entrance of the cave and ran inside.

"Hmm?"  The fox glanced on up ahead as she approached the cave.  "Could have sworn I heard someone or something..."  However, in doing this she nearly tripped, stumbling several steps through the whiteness.  Eventually, even though she mostly kept her footing, she skidded into the cave and bumped it the wall, falling onto her back.  "Ow!  Owowow..."  apparently she hadn't noticed the echidna quite yet...

The echidna seemed to have made one mistake:  this was an ice cave.  You can't run on ice.  With a gasp, she slipped and fell onto her stomach, and slid across the floor, then slowly came to a stop against the wall.  She was about to get up when a five-tailed fox stumbled into the cave, abruptly hit a wall, and fell onto her back.  The green-furred Mobian scrambled to her feet (which took a while because of the icy floor), then walked carefully towards the vixen.  "My gosh, are you okay?" She exclaimed.

The silver-furred Mobian glanced around once she reopened her crystal-blue eyes, the hue of which was not unlike the icy walls of the cave.  Even then, she blinked a few more times, seeming to process what she was asked a bit slowly after the fall.  "...wha...?  Am I okay...?"  Pushing herself off the ground with most of her tails, she put a paw on the wall in order to not skid again.  She glanced over to the speaker, a green echidna who only had a light jacket with her... "Yeah...I'll be fine, thanks.  What about you?  It's kinda cold out this way..."

"Me? I'm freezing."  She shivered, and ice bits fell off of her fur to add to the effect.  Her green echidna spikes were pulled back into a pony tail, and she was wearing black sweat pants and tennis shoes with the jacket.  "At least it's a little bit warmer here."  She slowly made her way to the wall, and put her hand on it as well.  "My name's Rocky.  What's yours?"

The vixen shook her shoulder-length hair, showering the ground with ice crystals.  She blinked a few times, crossing her arms over her chest and looking for some place less cold to put her snow clothes to dry.  Even though her bare paws were on the ice floor, it didn't seem to bother her - maybe, based on her fur color, she was an arctic fox.  Softly smiling up at the echidna, she replied, "Jayne!  Nice to meet you, even though it's kinda miserable here...can I give you a coat or something?  I'm kinda overdressed for being suited to cold."

"Sure!  Thanks!"  She tilted her head.  "Are you an arctic fox? This weather doesn't seem so bad for you."  She held out her hand for Jayne to grab.  "Nice to meet you by the way."

Jayne reached out too, shaking hands with the echidna.  "Nice to meet you too!  And...yeah, I'm pretty much an arctic fox.  Or kitsune, I guess."  She pulled off the heavy coat and the snow pants, showing a light blue t-shirt and black jeans underneath, and giving both of the items to Rocky.  "Here...they should be kinda warm already and don't get wet from the snow too easily..."  She brushed out her own fur a little, which was both very thick and also pretty soft.

She wrapped the coat around her small frame, sighing with a little relief from the cold.  After a few seconds she sat down and looked up at the kitsune.  "Might as well get comfortable, doesn't look like the storm is letting up any time soon."  She waited for Jayne to sit next to her. "So what brought you to this place?"

She watched the echidna with some concern until she had the coat on...the vixen visibly relaxed when Rocky did.  Looking up at the mouth of the cave, she sighed slightly, then took a seat next to her new friend, fluffy tails hugged around herself.  "I'm kind of a wanderer...I was exploring over this way, looking for something exciting...but then the snowstorm happened...what about you?"  Around this time, Jayne also seemed to start softly glowing, giving off a faint white light from her fur.

Rocky looked confused at the slight glow, but she shook it off quickly.  "Well, I was invited to a fighting match far north of here, and I was on my way when snow started falling."  She looked disdainfully at the mouth of the cave.  "But it looks like I won't get there any time soon." 
She looked back at the fox.  "Those tails must keep you pretty warm."

She listened quietly, ears open, and continued to glow until she was definitely giving off light.  "Oh...okay...yeah.  I just hope snow doesn't block off the entrance..."  She blinked.  "And...yeah, I am glowing.  I have some light abilities, and this way we're not totally in the dark."  Unwrapping one of the tails, she gently wrapped one around the echidna.  "They are, yeah...hope I can help some..."

She smiled.  "Thanks.  I wish I could do that."  She looked around the cave.  "It would be bad if the cave was blocked."  She shifted her legs a bit, and tapped her foot on the ice. "Do you know how to ice skate?"

She smiled back.  "Well...it's usually good to be able to, and I'm glad I could help you with it..."  Blinking, she tapped the wall behind them with a claw.  "I don't think it'll get blocked...it's a big enough cave at the entrance..."  She glanced down at the ice.  "I...don't, actually.  Do you?"

Rocky shook her head.  "Nah.  I was just wondering, since your an arctic fox and all...."  She was interrupted as the snow got momentarily harder, and it piled up to about a quarter of the entrance, spilling into the front of the cave.  The echidna's eyes got wider.  "If this cave actually gets blocked..."

Jayne looked over, but then shook her head.  "I can light-glide, but not ice-skate...sorry...I have more practice with light and I can just survive better in cold."  Her look snapped up as the snow started piling up...and just for a moment, she rose and pushed over the snow to keep it down.  Just as fast, she returned to Rocky.  "...yeah...that would be bad..."

The snow got even worse, and soon they were in the predicament:  snow had piled all the way to the top of the cave, and maybe even worse.  Rocky got up and pushed her hands against the hard, packed snow.  "Seriously?  Really?"  She shifted from left to right, then sat back down.  "You have to be kidding me......"

Jayne approached the snow pile, pushing against it hard.  As though her lack of progress weren't enough, the fact that thunder reverberated through from above-ground definitely drove her from the pile.  "...um...yeah.  Well...our only option besides waiting is to go deeper, I think..."  She glanced at the echidna, uncertain.

Rocky got back up and shifted on her feet left and right again.  "I'd rather try and go deeper.... I don't really want to stay here."  She seemed to shudder at the thought of standing still.

Jayne nodded...she stepped towards Rocky first, still glowing, and gently drew the young echidna into an arm-and-tail hug.  "We can get through whatever happens, and I'll be right here...I want you to know that, okay?"  She smiles softly, hoping that she helps.

She smiled and hugged her back. "It's okay, I'm not scared."  She realized she was shifting her feet and she stopped, a look of discomfort flashing across her face quickly than vanishing.  "Well, let's go." She started into the cave.

Jayne smiled softly.  Whether or not she realized it, the young echidna was showing signs of being uncomfortable, even if not all the way scared.  The fox stayed close to Rocky as they headed down and sideways, waiting for something exciting or interesting to happen, the only light so far her own glow.

"I'm not scared, you know."  Rocky knew Jayne thought she was scared, and the truth was she wasn't.  There was another problem, but she wouldn't say anything, until Jayne realized what was happening.  But for now she kept traveling down the cave, maybe looking a little uncomfortable at times.

She sighed.  "If you say so..."  She led down the way, working on what problem the echidna could have, until they reached a division into two other tunnels.  Her breath misted on the air as she spoke next..."Oh, darn it.  Well, we have to pick a direction..."