Piccolo and The Ice Maiden

6. Far Away Neighbours

Eventually, the reindeer had to rest. Piccolo had long since eaten all the bread The Bandit Child had given her, and she was hungry. "We'll have to find somewhere to rest and something to eat." The reindeer informed Piccolo. "Good," Piccolo replied, "I'm all out of bread." The reindeer stopped at a dilapidated house, it was so deep in the ground one would have to crawl to get through the door.

The reindeer tapped his hoof on the low door. It opened, and crawling out of the door was a lone old lady. "Who are you? What has you here?" She asked, briskly. The reindeer introduced himself and Piccolo. The reindeers explained Piccolo's story to the old woman, who nodded her head as he told her everything. "Yes, now come inside, it's too cold to stay out here." Piccolo followed the woman inside, but the reindeer could only stick his head through the doorway. "Is he not coming in?" The old lady asked Piccolo. "I don't think he can." She replied. In her head, Piccolo was fearing the old woman would try and keep her like the woman with the magic garden tried to do. The old woman took a piece of cod she had lying around, and took out a piece of sharpened wood. On the piece of cod, the woman wrote down a message on it. "Take this to my neighbour." The old lady told Piccolo. "Where does your neighbour live?" Piccolo asked. "About two miles from here." The old woman replied. Piccolo was surprised, it was strange that this lady and the next person Piccolo had to meet were neighbours at all. It seemed quite impossible to her. "Now go on, go!" The old lady said, shoving Piccolo out of her house.

Piccolo held the cod in her hands. "We must go two miles to the neighbour's house." She told the reindeer. When Piccolo settled on the reindeer, he set off to the neighbour's house. The neighbour's house was in better shape than the old lady's house, but it wasn't exactly tip-top condition. Like he did the last house, the reindeer knocked his hoof on the door. The neighbour, a younger woman wearing only a towel, answered the door.

"Who are you?" The neighbour asked the reindeer and Piccolo. The reindeer introduced himself and Piccolo. The woman let Piccolo and the reindeer into her home. It was so warm inside the house, Piccolo had to remove the clothes the Bandit Child had given her. The neighbour was cooking something, and the excessive steam was the cause of the heat. Piccolo gave the neighbour the piece of cod. The neighbour took the cod from Piccolo, spread it out on the table, and studied it, intensely. She read the inscription on the cod three times, and proceeded to throw it into the pot she was using to cook.

She proceeded to take the reindeer outside. "So, the Ice Maiden has taken the girl's friend to the main hall of her castle." The neighbour explained. "And where is the castle? How far away is it from here?" The reindeer asked. The neighbour frowned. "I'm afraid to tell you, but you and the girl have a long way to go. The Ice Maiden's Castle is a hundred miles away from here." "Can you find a way to help her defeat the Ice Maiden?" The reindeer asked. "I cannot provide her with any stronger power than she already has. Don't you see? How else do man and beast go out of their way to help her? She is the purest of heart, but if she were to become aware of her purity, she'll lose it forever. Now, when you get to the Ice Maiden's castle, I advise that you leave her at the blackest bush near the outer walls of the castle." As much as the reindeer didn't want to leave Piccolo alone, orders were orders.

The neighbour fed Piccolo and the reindeer with the soup she was cooking, and like the Bandit Child, the neighbour provided Piccolo with rations for the long journey ahead. Like the old lady, the neighbour shoved the reindeer and Piccolo out of the house, leaving Piccolo no time to put on most of her warm winter wear. Piccolo was only wearing the cloak, she was forced to leave the other pieces of clothing behind. It was dawn by the time they left the house. After Piccolo got on top of the reindeer again, they set off on their long journey to the Ice Maiden's castle.