We ran to the mountain, trying to stay hidden. We often had to split up.

It took about half an hour to get to the bottom at the mountain.

The bottom had a landscape similar to the rest of the landscape; juniper trees, sage brush and dusty dirt. The road had a slight incline, and was cracked.

By the time we were a fourth up, I could see snow patches. Orange landforms peeked out between aspen, Jeffry, and oak trees. The trees were mainly bare, and had only a few brown leaves. They stretched out into the sky like bony arms. Sage brush was rare, leaving room for bare bushes. The road climbed higher and higher, often barely wide enough to hold a car. The road sat on a cliff, winding around and between mountains.

We could see the whole city from there. A lake, and a neighbor hood sat upon a hill overlooking the city. The lake sparkled green in the morning light. The forest, and landforms were beautiful, too. Almost as beautiful as Zion, in my opinion.

By the time we got a third up the mountain, no one was running. We were panting heavily, even me and Kota. My paws were sore from running on the cracked road; my legs and lungs screamed for rest.

"Let's take a break." Kota said wearily.

We fumbled to a patch of snow beneath a cluster of aspens. Jova started licking up the snow, but we didn't comment.

"Is it that hard to get up a mountain?" Marsha asked.

"It's usually hotter." Sqalei said.

"It's freezing! How on Earth could it get any hotter?!" Marsha exclaimed.

"Around here, the temperature can fluctuate up to 130 degrees a year." Sqalei said.

"That's stupid." I said.

A car whizzed past us. I hoped that the people inside were occupied, and didn't see us.

"Alright, let's go!" Sqalei said, jumping up. "We don't want to keep you from all that chasing you have at the North Pole!"

We got up reluctantly, then started hiking again. Sqalei led the way, and me and Kota lagged behind.

"You really don't feel like something bad will happen." I said to him in a hushed tone.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You know. Sqalei."

He sighed. "I've already told you. Of course, I don't trust him. I've been expecting for him to trick us or something throughout the whole way. He hasn't done anything so far. All he has done is been helpful."

"Just the calm before the storm," I mumbled.

"By now, he would have done something. He wouldn't have taken us to the store, or lead us out of Zion, or jumped with us into the car. I think he deserves a chance."

"He's been grinning like a burglar the whole time! If he wanted to help, and not risk his life, he would have just given us directions. We could have made it to the mountain; we're not stupid. He has planed a trap. He just needs to make sure we get in it."

"What good would it be for him to trap us?" He asked with slight annoyance in his voice.

"Think about it. He knows exactly what Chasers are. We don't just throw the fact around, so how would he know what we are?" I asked.

He didn't speak for a long time.

"Maybe he's with the baddies." I said.

<><><><>

As we went farther up the mountain, the air became colder and thinner. There were more snow patches, too.

We depart from the road and started traveling through the forest. Boy, did it feel good to be under the treetops.

My insides were twisted into knots. An un-easy feeling blanketed us. I could almost feel trouble coming.

When Sqalei turned around to face us, I almost growled.

"I know a shortcut to the top of the mountain, but we have to go through the meadow first. Follow me." His voice was laden with unease.

We followed hesitantly. We were now stepping into inches of snow.

The trees faded away, and a meadow stretched out before us. The side farthest from us was higher. I saw a river rushing through the snow covered field.

We followed Sqalei through the meadow. Each step I took, I had the urge to stop and put my claws on. I should have.

When we were halfway across the meadow, I saw a huge white thing maneuvering through the trees, slinking low. It escape the foliage and came into the clearing.

It was a dragon. It's scales gleamed like ivory, and it's underside was icy blue. It was about eight meters tall, and had a wing span of about ten.

Spikes like icicles ran down it's body, and they clustered in the head to form a crown. It's claws looked barbed and prickly. The eyes gleamed like obsidian.

Two smaller, gold and green dragons crawled from the forest with more agility. They didn't have wings, but they were fast and long, like snakes. Their eyes were large and gold. Whiskers topped their eyebrows and muzzle. They sported huge, brown and gold manes.

The white dragon roared. "What took you so long, Sqalei?" He boomed, leaning down so he was eye level with the fox. The dragon could have eaten him; I wish he did.

We started backing away frantically, but the long dragons dashed across the field and behind us.

Now that I was closer to them, I saw how big they really were. They were as thick as on overgrown tree trunk, and their heads were too big for their body. Like anime characters.

"Not so fast," One hummed deeply. "We aren't ready for you to leave yet."

"Is the mountain too hard for you?" The dragon said.

"He he, such a cocky one you are." Sqalei said, through I could barely hear him over the distance.

"We have been waiting for 48 hours, at least! You promised 24..."

"They got to Zion a little late. We would have gotten here much earlier if Deavar had sent the attack earlier."

I stifled a gasp. So Deavar was helping the baddies. And so was Sqalei.

The dragon growled. "No matter. They are here now."

"And... the payment?" Sqalei said nervously.

The dragon growled in annoyance. "You shall get your payment in time. But we must take the cat to Sharp."

I couldn't believe it. Sqalei was selling us, or at least Kota or me, to the baddies.

"But first, we need to catch them." The dragon hummed, spreading his huge wings out more. "Luck, Harvest, get them all! But don't hurt the silver kitty!"

The dragons leapt for us, jaws open wide. We spread apart, running different directions. I ran towards the woods.

I felt something big bite my tail, and lift me up by it.

I yowled as I spun in it's jaws. I saw the white dragon's plated chest as my bag slipped off my shoulders. I raised up and down as he laughed.

"You aren't gonna take me anywhere!" I yowled.

The dragon started flying, and I swear I rolled my eyes. I was sick of dragons trying to kill me from the sky.

The ground below me shrunk, and I soon saw most of the mountain in my field of vision. Fog clouded the sky, and I was breathing cold, wet air.

The dragon threatened me by loosening his grip. My tail was sore, and blood was able to flow once the dragon lessened his grip. Hot liquid ran down my fluffy tail, sticking under my fur.

Panic coursed through me. If the dragon decided to let go, I would die on impact once I hit the ground.

The dragon laughed again as I moaned. "What do you want with me?!" I yowled.

The dragon didn't respond. He pumped his wings downward, and we shot in a nosedive towards the ground. I screamed loudly in protest.

The dragon flared his wings out, and wind buffeted them as we sailed towards the the forest.

He landed on some tree tops, causing several to break. He dropped me, and I grabbed for whatever branches I could. I slipped from the first one, but I extended my claws into the next. I could feel blood dripping from my tail and onto the snow.

"Why not give up little kitty? How could you defeat a dragon like me without your claws?" The dragon said, extended his neck to my face. Just being near him, I felt cold; his breath was like an icy storm.

"Why not just kill me? It would be much easier," I huffed, hanging on for dear life.

He made a curling sound. "You should not go around gambling your life. You have no idea how valuable it is."

I spat some saliva out of my mouth. "Who would want me? You said it yourself; I'm just a little kitty."

"You have no idea what power you possess."

As the dragon reached for my scruff, I let go of the branch and twisted in mid air. I landed on my paws just barely, and broke out running.

The dragon jumped off the tree, causing it to moan. I ran through the densest of foliage, hoping the dragon would chase me.

He tried grabbing me several times, but wasn't able to catch me. He roared out in anger, making icy wind blow through the woods.

I smelled a badger hole, about twenty dekameters away. I veered in that direction.

I saw the hole almost immediately. The scent wasn't strong, so it was probably un-occupied. Although I saw it, the dragon wouldn't see it till I jumped in. There was nothing but snow around it.

I slid in it as fast as I could. It was a little snug, but not terrible. I scrambled downward frantically, enveloping myself in darkness and earth.

Roots dangled from the roof, tickling my back and head like fingers. I heard my breathing echo off the walls. The dragon roared, and pounded on the ground. Dirt fell from the roof as I crawled faster.

The air was getting harder to breath with every centimeter I crawled. My legs were cramped, and my whole body was stiff. The thought of suffocation, dying underground, made me crawl more frantically.

"COME OUT, YOU COWARD!" The dragon roared, stomping on the ground above me. I would have shouted something back, but I was too concentrated on getting out. I doubt he would have heard me, anyway.

The tunnel widened slightly as I went farther. Within a dekameter, I was at a fast walking pace. I started to run, not caring about the dirt above me. As I ran farther, the air became cooler. Sunlight burst into my vision as I popped out by a river. I assumed it was the one that led into the meadow.

I heaved air in deeply for a minute until I heard roaring again. I started to follow the river down to the meadow, hoping the dragon would get stuck in the forest or something.

The chasers were doing their best to fight off Luck and Harvest. They would throw orbs at them, but nothing seemed to hurt them. I could see blood on the snow.

I didn't stop running once I escaped the woods. I ran to my bag, then swiped it up. As I ran, I looked through the things I had. A tee shirt, my claws, a peice of jerky, and a key chain.

I considered my options, and decided the claws would work best. I stopped, then put them on without pause. Snow kept getting in the latches, so it was hard.

Right before I was about to latch my right paw, one of the dragons leapt to me. He head-butted me in the chest, and I went flying into the stream.

Cold water seeped into my fur. I got out slowly; pain spread through my side, tail and paws.

My right claw was no longer on my paw. I couldn't see it in the snow. Which was a problem. Like humans, we have a dominant paw. The right is my dominant. Fighting with my left is like you cutting vegetables with your non-dominant; it just isn't going to happen.

I shook the water off my pelt as the dragon charged again. Buy this time, I was ready.

At the last second, I jumped high in the air, and landed on his back. He tried to turn his fluffy head around to see me, but it was too big.

I placed my claw between his scales, then started pulling the opposite way. He yowled in pain, the threw me off.

I rolled on my side in the snow as he blew fire at me. I jumped backward, feeling the heat on my fur. A five meter radius of snow was melted, showing green grass. The snow around it was mushy, and looked like it wanted to melt.

The dragon jumped at me again, using his body as a rudder. Before he landed on me I jumped away. The dragon growled in frustration. As the dragon lashed out his talons to slash me, Kota rammed the dragon from it's stomach, causing the whole dragon to ripple.

The dragon growled, then blew fire all around him. I was far enough away, but Kota wasn't. As he tried to roll away, the dragon's flames caught his right side.

"Kota!" I said in alarm. He rolled in the snow, trying to kill the fire.

The dragon opened his jaws wide, then aimed for Kota. I jumped to the dragon's face, but Kota lashed out behind him, roaring. He was able to scratch the inside of it's mouth; I could tell he didn't like it.

The dragon growled in pain, then jumped at me. I rolled backwards, then landed on my paws. The dragon closed his mouth this time, and leapt at me again.

I jumped away again, but he was ready. He aimed farther, and landed on me, pushing me into the snow.

It was like before with Brutus, but the dragon was several times heavier. It felt like an elephant on my chest. The air knocked from my chest, and I could feel bones crack. I would have screamed, but I had no air left in me.

The dragon noticed my pain. He pushed his short forelegs on me once more, then he jumped off.

I tried weakly to suck air back in. Each movement I made, each useless attempt to breath, made my chest scream in agony. But there was nothing I could do but lay there.

I felt myself loosing consciousness. The world was getting fuzzy, and the sound of fighting was fading to silence. The snow and trees around me framed my vision. From the sky, tiny flakes of snow fell. I felt one fall on my nose, and melt away.

This is the end, I thought. There is no way I will survive this.

As my vision faded to white slowly, I saw Kota. He had fresh, deep cuts on his face. His face had a worried look on it, and his blue eyes had tears pooling in them. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear.

A tear from his eye slid down his nose, and landed on my fore head. He said something, that I thought was it's gonna be all right.

As the light from my eyes turned fully white, I saw the dragon hit him away.

That was the last thing I saw.

<><><><>

The end

Thanks for reading White woods! It's been awesome writing it. It made my Christmas season much more fun. It's even more awesome that I finished it!

Get ready for the next one! I'll be writing it next year, starting after Halloween!