Warrior Eevees #1: The Storm of Fire

28- The Blade of Black and White

It was almost unbelievable how quickly the blizzard blew in. Emmy was forced to tell Crystal to take the lead, to bring them to the place where the human ruins were. The Glaceon was completely immune to the driving snow and cold, and often paced anxiously as she waited for the group to catch up.

Sycamore was just the opposite. At first, he had held up very well, cheerfully reassuring Emmy that he had faced plenty of winters and would be fine in the snow. Things were quickly worsening. There was frost edging his leaves now, and he seemed to struggle to take every step. Aqua, who after Crystal had the thickest fur, and Shine, whose internal fire always made her very warm, walked on either side, pressing close against the Leafeon, but even their combined warmth didn't seem to help as much as Emmy desperately wished it would.

Krowcoat, Rush, Duchess, and herself were uncomfortable, but able to survive well enough with their fur. It was bitterly cold, and Emmy's ear tips were numb, but she didn't feel she was in any danger with the sun so bright overhead. Desperately, she wished she could help Sycamore, but her fur was no thicker than Aqua's, and she did not have Shine's fire.

"How much further is it?" she kept running to Crystal to ask the Glaceon, who was wide-eyed with panic.

"I don't know, I don't know," she would repeat over and over again, her tail whipping back and forth.

Snow clotted in Crystal's spotted pelt and collected in her ears, and none of this she seemed to feel. Her paws could tread atop the snow without breaking the icy crust, and her ridged claws prevented her from slipping. Her anxiety was for Sycamore and the other Eeveelutions who were bitterly cold.

Duchess had wrapped her feelers around herself in some attempt to stay warm, mummifying one of her ears. The Sylveon's eyes were stretched wide as they fought their way through the snow.

"I can't believe I've only been in the wild for a few days," she was squeaking to Rush when Emmy fell back beside them.

"It's not usually this bad," Rush assured her.

Krowcoat had taken to walking in front of Sycamore, hoping his huge body would block the wind. Emmy padded up to meet him, throwing a backward glance at Sycamore.

"Have you ever been this cold before?" she asked.

His Sky Tribe anecdotes were rarely that useful, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Oh, yes, plenty of blizzards," he rumbled, his black ears pinned back by the wind. "But usually, we hunker down until they pass, not try to fight through it."

"I'm not sure we have a choice. There's nowhere to hide up here," Emmy said, but before Krowcoat could respond, Shine yowled.

"Emmy! Emmy, he's down!"

Sycamore had simply collapsed in the snow, his leaves now brown and curling around the edges. The Leafeon was trembling violently, his eyes half-open and his jaws agape. Emmy rushed back to him, pressing against his frozen pelt.

"Okay, I know what to do, I think," Crystal had heard and returned. "Shine, stay with him and keep him as warm as you can. Krowcoat, Emmy, Duchess, start building him a snow cave. Rush, Aqua, and I will go find something to build a fire! Nobody panic!"

Emmy was panicking, panicking desperately. She whimpered helplessly as Krowcoat pulled her away from Sycamore, already beginning to scrape snow from the ground to make a dry space for Sycamore to lay. Shine exhaled a bright yellow tongue of flame, nearly scorching the Leafeon's fur in some attempt to warm him.

"Is he dying?" Emmy asked no one in particular.

"Of course not," Shine snapped at her. "Get building."