I stormed up the metal stairs, making them groan dismally under my stomping. While heading towards the "door" I pushed Strout to the side as he selected a weapon to practice with. I'm sure he said something like hey! These things are sharp and I'd rather not be impaled with one of them! But I could only hear screams of frustration in my head. I slammed the "door" violently and it splintered like a popsicle stick.

Anyone watching must have thought I was crazy. I imagined an elf chatting with his friends and pointing his coffee mug at me. Look at Kota, having a temper tantrum again! Did he stay up too late? Poor thing!

But I was mad. Mad enough to eat Nick's beard or rip his . . . Never mind, I probably shouldn't get too graphic.

Why? Why in the name of Jack's tiny toe would you start training chasers this late! We all have so much to do without trainees, let alone Mika being captured! I thought.

I admit; I was getting pretty upset over nothing. But Santa had taught me that being a chaser was the most important thing I could be; I was meant to chase when this time of year came around. I couldn't be chasing away baddies if I was training kitties. All of the training should be done earlier in the year so there's time for everything. He drilled this and many other concepts into every animal's head.

And now Santa was asking me to break one of his rules.

This should have been my first year of chasing. I was ready to protect Santa's sleigh and keep the baddies away. It had been my dream since I was a cub to run in the moonlight on Christmas Day, seeking in the shadows for creatures who would cause any inconvenience to Santa. Now I would probably be watching kitties throw empty orbs at targets in the basement.

And I was supposed to be Mika's trainer. That had no logic in it; I could manage training multiple animals at once. But for some reason it felt wrong; like I was cheating on her or something.

Why did I miss her so much?

I didn't bother to use the heated walkway; I just plowed straight to Nick's office through the snow. By the time I stepped by the door, a giant snowball had formed around my chest.

I shook powdery snow off my pelt and stomped through the crowd of elves, chasers, and many other Christmas helpers you don't want to hear about. I almost got stepped on by a brown Klookie.

"''Scuse me," I said over and over, probably as I shoved them to the side. "Excuse me, I have an ASAP meeting. Hey, could you please move- GET OUT OF THE WAY! I HAVE A MEETING! I NEED TO GET IN NOW!"

Poor little Frej. He must have been having a hard enough time without a raging tiger yelling rudely over the crowd.

Frej was an elf about a meter tall who guarded a door about fifteen meters tall. The door alone was quite a sight; delicate carvings of happy children and Nick's reindeer pranced across beautiful snowflake designs, but the crowd distracted from its beauty. Everyone was yelling something. Frej was trying to yell louder. "QUIET YOU FILTHY, ROTTEN, SPOILED LUMPS OF COAL!!! THERE ARE ORPHANS IN MEXICO WAITING FOR THEIR HAND-CRAFTED PUZZLES AND NICK CAN'T FOCUS WITH ALL THIS RACKET!"

Of course, no one responded, but he deserved a cookie for the effort.

"I have an ASAP meeting!" I said, standing over the elf. Someone tried to push my rear end out of the way but I kicked them.

"ALRIGHT! KEEP YOUR SMELLY BREATH CONTAINED! ONLY HIM, NO ONE ELSE!" Frej yelled.

He slipped the door open enough for me and a small goat to hop through. Like lightning, Frej caught the goat with a single hand and pulled it out. "No! No!" It wailed as the door snapped shut.

Inside of the workshop was warm. Elves, chasers, Klookies, and everything in between rushed to get somewhere. The ceiling went up twenty floors, and the bottom went down twenty more. A wooden balcony with a wooden rail wrapped around each floor; different floors connected to each other with staircases. By each door an orb of orange light glowed softly. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky with reindeers flying across it. The lowest part of the room made an extra-tall floor; I couldn't see most of it from here, but I knew it was the grand feast hall.

To top it all off, another colossal tree grew up from the bottom and to the top; its star barely scratched the ceiling. Warmth radiated from the great collection of lights.

I walked to Nick's workspace, feeling calmer after seeing the beautiful lights. Luckily, it was straight across from the entry way, so I only had to walk half a kilometer. (You could hold a marathon in that place) The hall traffic was surprisingly fast.

The door was almost as big as the one outside; at least ten meters tall. More deer and happy kids were carved into it, but they were all painted with bright colors. Not over-saturated colors you would find in kids coloring books, but natural and bright hues you could find in a patch of grass or a tree.

I rapped on the door lightly with my knuckles. Two seconds later I heard: "COME IN!"

I pushed the door open. (I loved how it didn't have some weird knob that I couldn't grab) It was surprisingly light. The room was large enough to play a game of tennis, but it would be very dangerous with all the tables, toys and carving tools lying around. Not to mention the giant fireplace and the grand window on the other side, making up the entire wall. The ceiling rafters had antler chandeliers hanging from them. Small candles sat on the antlers, giving light to the working elves at the tables. They tinkered with all sorts of toys and lights, but nothing too technical. The Klookies dealt with all that stuff.

Nick was at his large table, sanding something like his life depended on it. He had grease in his beard and he was muttering something. Mrs. Claus contrasted greatly with him; she was peacefully knitting a pink lacy scarf long enough to rescue someone from a cliff face. (Knowing Mrs. Claus, it was probably made for that specific purpose. She wanted to make sure someone would have a good reason to wear her projects) Her white hair was pinned up and she wore snow pants with hiking boots over an ugly sweater. (Can't wait to wear mine)

But that was a pretty normal sight. What got my attention was the house cat, dog, and leopard sitting by Nick's desk. They sipped something from mugs while huddling under blankets. Mrs. Claus was talking to them, but they didn't seem interested.

The house cat and the leopard were both girls and the dog was a guy. The cat looked slightly anxious and preoccupied, like a ninja might attack her. Her dense gray fur stuck up in fluffy quills. The leopard was small; probably a bit older than a year. She was slender-looking and had a soft face. The dog was some sort of furry mutt; a cross between a St. Bernard and an Alaskan Malamute. He was enormous; Almost as tall as me, but two hundred times fluffier. All had icy blue eyes, a shining sign that they were chasers.

"Sir," I said, trying my best to be polite. "who are these animals?"

Nick looked at me over the rim of his glasses. He made one last blow at the puzzle, making a cloud of sawdust.

Nick relaxed back in his seat, like we might be talking for a while. "Kota, this is Qiwi," the leopard, "Barb," the house cat, "and Thrush." The malamute. "When Mark was out chasing somewhere in Alberta, he found them in a sewer with top-freezers." Mark was a German Shepard. Top-freezers were tiny snakes who were as thick as a pencil but the length of a golf club. They only make the top part of water freeze, then they hide in the air pockets beneath the ice. They only freeze the top part of water, but with enough, you could freeze an entire ocean. "Mark was able to get rid of most of them with a cherry bomb, but Thrush had already killed most of them. Kota, he was able to bite them in half."

Thrush looked at his enormous paws. For how big he was, he didn't look very proud of himself.

"He should be dead," I said, "anything that touches top-freezer blood is stone-frozen."

"Exactly." Nick said. "There isn't a trace of cold of him. Like Mika."

I must have cringed a bit. The reminder of her hit me like a block of ice.

"I assure you, we will get Mika back as soon as possible and resume her training. But there is little anyone can do; we're all busy as . . . well, elves on Christmas Eve." Nick said. I knew this; he didn't have to explain it like I was two. (I was two and a half. I could understand everything.) "But in the meantime, we need more chasers. I know it is a very bad time to start training, but I'm afraid Deavar was right. More baddies are popping up. With this rate, by next year I won't be able to deliver presents safely."

I grunted. "Deavar wanted more chasers. He has been siding with the baddies all along and we haven't seen him since the dragon came. It must mean something."

Nick was about to say something, but he stopped himself. "Kota, I'd like to speak to you later in private. But these three could use a meal. Take them to the café."

"Um, sir," Thrush said sheepishly, "we're not very hungry." Barb was about to blurt something, but he back-pawed her face. It was like she had been slapped with the biggest, fluffiest marshmallow ever. She was relatively quiet as she spit out dog hair. "I think we could use some rest."

Nick nodded. "Well, that's all right. You've had a hard night. Kota, show them to a bedroom, then come talk to me."

I was about to say more, but I curtly nodded and gestured for Barb, Qiwi and Thrush to follow me. They abandoned their blankets and mugs reluctantly.

I took them two floors higher than Nick's workshop. The entire floor was like a motel, complete with maids, free breakfast, tiny soaps and wifi. One might think having a motel would be useless if the North Pole didn't get very many tourists, (incase you haven't heard, it's a bit cold) but there was always someone in each room. Mostly very lost pizza-delivery guys.

The carpet lining the balcony was a nice shade of mahogany decorated with poinsettia-flower print. Each door was lovingly but simply carved into snowflake designs with a knocker and a peeking hole. The rooms didn't have locks; they didn't need any. Nobody in the North Pole thought of breaking in and stealing stuff. Probably because everyone was too busy to even think of stealing.

I picked a room that didn't have a do not disturb sign hanging on it. Inside looked like a cozy cabin; two queen-sized beds lined the right wall with a twin bed between them. A flat screen TV perched on a large dresser, guarding a set of remotes. By a quaint window rested a desk, shimmering with silver light. A small note book and a pen sat on the corner with four mints on it. The bathroom was small but functional. The entire place was like the rest of the building; many carvings, Scandinavian wallpaper, maroon carpet and hanging deer antlers. Lots of deer antlers.

"Make yourselves at home." I said. "Get a maid if you need anything. Do not leave this floor."

Qiwi nodded obediently. Barb scowled at me like she didn't understand how I could look so ugly. "Who says you can tell us what to do? You ain't the boss of us yet!"

I smacked her nose lightly. "Nick says I'm your trainer now, and trainers tell their trainees what to do. And I say stay here and sleep. Don't wander around and bug the elves or the Klookies, or get yourself into trouble, just stay here and sleep. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Thrush said quickly. Barb scowled as she nodded. "Fine. Whatever. Stay here and sleep." She mimicked.

I shut the door and headed to Nick's workshop. I had a few choice words for him.