The Jaded Leopard

Chapter Four

Whoo, chapter four! To be truthful, I didn't think I would come this far in writing The Jaded Leopard. I guess WattPad does that to you sometimes XD or maybe boredom.....Either way, here's chapter four. :D
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Cold. It was all Roksana could feel after many grueling hours walking in the bitter cold. The snowflakes were falling much more heavily now, and the bitter wind cut into her like a knife, despite her many layers of fur. Roksana's teeth had been chattering repeatedly for the last few hours, and her feet felt like blocks of ice. With each step, the terrain seemed to be getting to much steeper. She glanced up. It had only taken her a half hour or so to reach the mountain-the past few hours she'd been struggling up the mountain's slopes. It didn't seem to matter how much she'd been walking, the top of the mountain seemed as far away as when she'd been at the bottom. It felt as if she were barely making any progress, and her spirits plummeted. Roksana pulled her cloak more tightly around her, trying to block out the cold. She had to squint to see, and even then she could only see a few feet in front of her face, so dense was the swirling maelstrom of snow.

Roksana turned her head as a driving wind blasted snow into her face with such force that it felt as if it were brutally whipping her face. She stopped, lifting her scarf so that it better enveloped her face and protected as much of the delicate skin as possible. Her lips were turning blue from the cold, and snow encrusted her dark hair, turning it white. The wind made her cloak whip about her torso, and Roksana clutched it feebly in an attempt to stop the wind from dragging her away.

There's got to be shelter up ahead....You can do it, Roksana, just keep pushing forward..... she mentally urged herself on, and she continued walking, her legs sinking knee-deep into the massive drifts of snow collecting on the mountainside. The small trail she'd been walking on was barely visible at all, and only the thought of a possible shelter ahead gave Roksana any comfort. She plodded forward, each step growing harder by the moment. She nearly fell several times from the force of the wind, and had to flail about wildly for a grip before she rolled down the mountainside. After several close calls, Roksana lost the will to continue. She fell onto her knees in exhaustion, her pack hanging at her side. She turned her face to the sky, letting the wind throw her braid wildly from side to side. She might as well give up here, and fall asleep, to never wake up again. That sounds like a nice way to die... Roksana thought, beginning to lie down into the snow. She used her mittened hands as a pillow for her head, settling down as comfortably as possible in the snow. This is actually pretty soft, she thought, blinking the snow out of her eyes as her heart began to slow down, her mind beginning to sink into a dreamless sleep. Her muscles ached with the pain of scaling the mountain, and she was so weary..... Her eyes began to close, ever so slowly, like shades being pulled over a window, and the last thing she saw was a distant white figure in the center of the swirling storm of snow....
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Roksana blinked herself awake slowly, unaware of her surroundings. As her eyes opened more, Roksana became suddenly aware that she was no longer outside in the snow, and instead inside a dark cave. Her eyes struggled to pick out individual objects, the darkness a harsh difference from the blinding snow they had been exposed to for so long. Am I dead? Roksana thought, glancing around as her eyes became accustomed to the black darknes in the cave. She moved one of her legs in an attempt to stand, and her muscles shrieked in complaint as pain flashed up her legs. Roksana hissed slightly, wincing. No, definitely not dead.

Despite her clouded mind, Roksana was astonished to find the cave was surprisingly warm, though there was no fire present to provide such heat. And a soft rumbling sound enveloped the cave, like a machine purring softly as it worked. Despite the fact the cave was relatively small, there was no way that her own body heat was creating such warmth. So what is making this place so warm? Roksana thought, turning her head to investigate the whole of the cave. She could see the entrace, which was partially covered with snow as more snow piled up on top of the already large pile of snow. Roksana could barely see the sky outside of the entrance, so thick was the swirling mass of snow outside. The whiteout outside brought her upsetting memories of trekking up the mountain and thus she turned away to inspect the cave once more. The only place she hadn't looked was behind her, and there was a solid wall there, wasn't there?