Snow (Elliot The Littlest Reindeer)

*~* Chapter One: Shattered Ice *~*

The air smelled of pine needles in this forest. Nothing like the distant tang of cherry blossoms soon to bloom she was used to.

These leaves were sharp and thin like needles. Nothing like the delicate cups of soon to be pink flowers.

This forest sounded of the screaming of hawks and chattering of squirrels. Nothing like the pandas she'd seen around the bamboo patches or the sparrows she'd seen hopping from branch to branch.

This place was entirely new. Nothing like home.

Yuki sat back and sighed, a puff of white air like dragon breath spiraling from her mouth. She scraped at the ground with her hoof, unsure of what to do with herself. Yes, she was happy to have a new beginning and a new chance to belong, but she couldn't get the images out of her mind. Tsuki and Tora's newfound hopelessness, Sho's shock, Aoi's grief and wounded state. She wished she could've helped, but what could she do? She was just a lone reindeer... How could she make a difference?

I should've stayed to help my friends...

Wait.

She could help!

It was at that moment, a light bulb went off in her mind. If she could just be chosen for the North Pole tryouts, and if she could just win, she could hopefully convince Santa or Walter to help rebuild the farm or take in the other reindeer. They needed a home, ASAP, before they didn't end up as lucky as Yuki.

What if it's already too late...

No, she couldn't think like that. Even if they were being shipped to the remote end of the globe, she'd find a way to free them. She had to. She couldn't let anything happen to them.

Before she knew it, she had drawn out the plan in the snow with her hoof subconsciously.

And before she could scratch it out, she heard hoofsteps behind her.

Oh boy... Time to meet another reindeer...
She turned her head to meet the ocean blue eyes of a tall reindeer. He looked bout as tall as a draft horse, and he was a blackish brown and off white color. He had a few bands of the blackish brown color and inch after the white began from his dark back, and this gave him the slight look of a mountain lions muzzle. His antlers curved and poked the air, gray, and shone like silver in the sunlight.

Woah... he's prettier than I thought!

"H-Hello." She greeted, summoning her courage.

To her surprise, the reindeer scoffed. Of course. "Yeah, hi. You must be the new reindeer, aye? Whatcha drawing."
Before she could answer, the reindeer marched over with his head raised arrogantly. He looked down and then at Yuki. "So you want to be chosen for the North Pole tryouts?"

Yuki nodded.

The reindeer laughed. "Please! Everyone knows DJ's their top pick! Besides, the North Pole isn't a place for little runts like you or Elliot."

Oh great, another Tora. Well, at least she'd appreciate someone like an old friend. But she couldn't help but wonder who Elliot was...

Eh, probably no one important.

"I'm not a runt." She shot back.

The reindeer looked down his snout at her, and he was probably a good 2 feet taller than her. "Yeah. And that's not heterochromia."

She cooked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

The reindeer stomped on a frozen over area, and if she looked close enough, the trees parted away from the bank of a frozen lake. She trotted up to it and peered down carefully, and to her disbelief, one of her midnight blue eyes wasn't that dark at all, but it was rather a greenish blue ocean color. She'd never noticed before, but she'd always been somewhat hasty in checking her fur... She guessed that this new reindeer had better eyesight than her. Speaking of...
"Hey, I never got your name." She said, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm Yuki."

"DJ." He blinked.

"Oh... OH... That's how you talk?" She was borderline cackling. "I've never met anyone that cocky, not even Tora!"

DJ gritted his teeth. "How dare you insult DJ like that! Well, you know, when I'm pulling Santa's sleigh, you'll be sorry."

"Oh will I?" Yuki tested. "How can any reindeer pull the sleigh if they can't run over a frozen lake. Luckily, I'm just a runt, so I can." She took off, silently and gracefully sweeping across the frozen lake. Her hooves barely touched the ground and a breeze pressed against her pelt as she flew over the ice like the sheer cold wind blowing against her. She was running really fast now, and her vision blurred at the edges as wind pressed against her eyes. Once she reached the other side, she immediately halted, shoving her hooves into the frosted ground to stop herself. She almost flew forward with momentum, but she stomped her back hooves to the ground and reared up before falling back to the ground. She spin on her front hooves to catch DJ's expression, which was glazed with fury.

DJ thundered hastily over the lake, making no effort to keep light on his hooves or to stay quiet. At this point, she could even her the cracking of ice as it began to shatter into fissures under the surface. DJ's face fell into a panic, and he began to quicken his pace. His efforts were useless, as the ice gave out beneath him and he plunged into the icy water.

Yuki sped forward, gliding over the ice, and caught DJ's horn in her teeth. She tried heaving him up, but her small form made that difficult.

Then she saw an opportunity.

She wriggled beneath him and submerged herself underwater. She caught his frantically kicking legs in her horns and lifted him up from below. He heaved himself onto the ice as the surface froze over again. She tried to stab the weak spot with her antlers, but the icy water blinded her vision. She was starting to panic, legs kicking frantically. It was no use; she could barely swim. Her lungs were burning from holding her breath, and her kicking grew weaker. The blurred light of the surface began to get smaller, becoming distant.

She was drowning.

She kicked harder, thrashing, trying to spiral herself like a sea lion. She came closer to the surface until she was again below the ice. Finally! But her kicking grew weaker, and her vision was fading...

NO! I CANT DIE LIKE THIS!

She thrust her antlers upward and then...

Crack!

That was it! She got it! She saw the blurred form of ice falling from the hole, and she shot straight up from the water and onto the ice on the surface. She drew in a jagged, shivering breath, grateful to be back on the surface, and trotted off of the lake, DJ following close behind. She spun around to look him in the eye.

He avoided her gaze. "Show off!"

"Yeah. I betcha didn't expect a runt to be able to pull that off, did you, DJ. And your welcome."

He scoffed, and turned to walk away. "You're going down Yuki."

As he disappeared from sight, Yuki started back towards the training camp. "Well then... bring it on."