"Here's the airport." says the pilot. I get off the plane, enjoying the frigid, bone-chilling cold. Even if it prickles my scale-like fur, it feels good in a weird way. It feels like home. I walk outside the airport to see the ocean. It's as vast as I remember it. Annoyed, I think about how much time it'll take me to get home. I won't have enough time to be back in a month.

I look around the village, and see a few lights on.

"Hello, do you know how I-" A door is slammed in my face.

I growl and go to the next door. "Do you know how I can get across the ocean to an iceberg within a few days?"

The Canis in the house looks at me, amused. "Well, I do have a certain battery powered something, and I also happened to see a large iceberg recently, if that's what you're looking for... but what's in it for me?"

I groan with disgust, knowing the vile nature of these salesmen. "What do you want?"

"Well, where are you going?"

"The Iceberg Tribe."

His eyes light up. "Ahh, yes. That's a good place. Can you get me this one scroll? 'Bout this big, this high, title is "The Lost Eon". Highly collectable."

I nod vigorously.

He slaps a bracelet on me."Well, good luck to you. By the way, this thing has enough explosives packed on it to destroy the whole iceberg and you with it. It's enchanted to turn off the timer when I input this key. You also can't take it off until then, so don't even bother. The boat is around back."

He slams the door, and I look at the menacing red bracelet, wondering what I've gotten myself into.

I get on the boat, which is docked conveniently in a harbor behind the house, and I travel on. Coordinates are already input, and when I get there, I see nothing except for a large white thing on the horizon.

I drive to it and dock my boat at the familiar iceberg I used to call home. The Great Hall is split right down the center, and the lower-ranks are on one side towards their level and the higher-ranks on the other. The lower-ranks have shadows under their eyes and the higher-ranks look pitifully skinny. They snap at each other, annoyed.

I walk into the room, confused. "Look! Could it be?" Someone says.

"It's Spritz! He's back!" says one of the higher-ranks.

"Where's Snow Hare?" says a lower-rank.

I clear my throat and say sorrowfully, "She's gone. I found out who took here but I don't know how to get to her." Everyone dips their heads in vigil respectfully.

"I have a quest. We're going to stop the ones who took her. Maybe even find her. I'm going to have to leave again in a month."

"Why even bother coming back?" says someone. "You left us here, to fend for ourselves. Why care now?"

"I was chosen for leadership."

"A good leader doesn't leave his people in chaos."

"What? What happened..."

I look down at the line. "We don't need these dirty lower-ranks."

"We don't need you either!"

"QUIET!" I say. "I can fix this. Now, does anyone have a copy of the scroll 'The Lost Eon'?"

"I happen to have one in my room. Why?" says the same Canira, looking at me disdainfully.

"I need it for a favor."

"Why should I give it to you?" he snaps. Others back away as I move towards him.

"You're right. We'll settle this tomorrow."

I want to go to my old room, but it's got a layer of water at the bottom and no one lives there anymore. My mom lives upstairs and three of my older siblings are now married. I sleep in a random room, where one of the older families Marie used to hang out with graciously accepts me in.

That morning, I wander the halls, asking myself, Just how am I going to do this?

I flip my tail multiple times, annoyed, but finally I come to the end of the hall and I see a few little Ocean Canira playing Snowball Tag. The idea that comes to my mind is so insane but so hilarious it might actually work.

I walk up to find the Canira from yesterday lounging on his side of the field. "Hey, you!" I spit. "I have a challenge for you!"

"What is it, you metalheaded freak?"

"One all-out round of Snowball Tag, but with only physical tackling for outs. Armor, fighting, and powers all viable. You win, I leave. I win, I get that scroll and the rights for leader when I return."

He laughs at me, "You're on!"

I smirk. "Okay. Show you're skimpy tail back here by full sun or you surrender by default."

I spend the next hour outfitting all the robust soldiers with awful, mildew filled armor. It almost hurts to put it on them, but they insist. We also make a decent fort.

"You ready? Let's show them what we got!"

"YEAH!" cheer my troops, stamping the ground.

A young Canira stands near the door on the stage, paws up in the air. "The challenger, Khione, versus the opposer, Spritz. Battle... begin!"

Their fort is more impressive than ours by a mile, and within a few minutes the first volley of snowballs launches itself straight at us.

I hide in the fort, but later come out. The first scouts have been buried under mountains of snow. I join search and rescue, and then bring them back and help the defensive. I jam my trident up someone's breast plate, knocking them into the air, and then slam them into the other fort, which maintains a large Canira shaped dent. We launch the second round of snowballs, and one of their scouts starts freezing us left and right with powerful ice breath. I recognize him as my brother immediately.

I pin him down, say some very nasty words about blood loyalty, and let him go instead of putting him in the 'jail' with his fellow comrades.

One of their team runs by me and grabs the flag, or in this case, a nice, large golden stick. I jump on him, sending the stick flying across the ice. I run back to the fort and get backup, and we sprint across enemy territory. One of them dodges left then slams a defender out of my way but is pinned down, and the other is swamped by a blast of water from another one of the defenders.

I run alone, my trident glimmering, and I slam their fort head on. To my surprise, it glows golden, a powerful aura surrounding it, and the wall falls to pieces around me. I push through them to find Khione with the flag in his mouth. We wrestle, evenly matched, and I push him to the ground but he keeps the flag clamped in his mouth. I take my back paw and stomp down hard on his tail, and he yelps in pain. I grab the silver stick in my mouth, but his guards are closing in on me, and instead of trying my golden trident again, I jump on one guard's head and thrust the stick over.

I slam another guard with my tail and run to see another, young Canira running with the stick, right over to our territory.

Everyone cheers. The hurt shake the snow off and walk over to congratulate the young Canira, the other side looks slightly deterred and indignant but most seem quite satisfied.

I spend the next days with my tribe, uniting the two sides once more and telling them about my victories oversea. I read from scrolls and tell legends Avery taught me. I do a lot of fishing to boot. I never realized how much I missed the taste of octopus or even eel over squirrel and deer. Two weeks later, I take the boat back and give 'The Lost Eon' to that grumpy old salesman.

He grunts "Thanks" and goes inside.

I don't think I did much there, but maybe all I needed was to be home for a while. I was already a leader out there, I just needed to go act like one again. Enjoy my people. Spend some time doing what Snow Hare would've done. I want to lead them again. It thrills me, everything about it. On the airplane back, I wonder about what the word home means. Maybe it's the place you were born. Maybe it's the place you love most. Maybe it's where your family is. It's definitely a deeper word than what meets the eye.

Home...

It's still not really home without Snow Hare.