I can't remember much about going through the portal; it was like I was in la la land. From what I remember it was like flying past blue nebulas in dark space. A spiraling white and blue portal door opened on front of me, and I bursted through it.

It spit me out like a wad of gum, and I did a scorpion in the snow.

My tail flopped down, and my head was buried a decimeter in the snow. I heard Kota jump from the portal over my head as I pulled it out.

He landed on all four paws then twisted in the snow.

"Stop playing and get up," He said. "Nick's got a tight schedule."

"Who the heck is Nick?" I asked, doing a push up from the snow.

What I saw below me, was amazing. Human cottages filled the valley below. they were arranged in an omega, with a much bigger. Maybe thirty or forty stories tall. The building were all decorated with twinkling lights, and had yellow light coming from the windows. Stone paved paths connected to create a huge, snowflake design. In the center of the circle was the biggest evergreen tree I've ever seen, with hundreds of little lights and colored globes. A bright star was placed on the top. The whole place was very heavy with foot traffic. Everyone looked like they were going somewhere else, and they all had armfuls of things from ribbon to machinery. Most were small people with red and green clothes. There were normal sized people too, towering over the midgets, trying not to step on them. Wolves, dogs, horses, large and small cats of all kind weaved between them. They all wore scarfs. But the weirdest of them all, were big furry monsters with huge mustaches. They came mostly in white, but a few in brown and gray. A few golf carts and four wheelers carried stuff around.

Behind the town was a cliff. It was probably a kilometer away from the town, bit a tall wire fence ran around it.

To top it all off, the whole place was covered in snow. It wasn't snowing now, but I could tell it had recently.

"Whoa," I breathed.

"You get used to it. And Nick? I'll explain a little on the way, but he'll want to introduce himself."

Kota started walking down the hill, and I followed.

"His full name is Nicholas Santa Claus, but we just call him Nick or the big man. Anyway, He's been around for a while. Since the dark ages, probably. He goes all around the world on the night before Christmas. Christmas is in two weeks, so it's really crazy around here. I've been out trying to chase demons and spirits that are against Nick so he can travel safely and quickly on the night before Christmas."

"Hmm." That was usually my response to stuff I didn't pay attention to.

"C'mon, we should run. The line is going to be long, and I have chasing to do."

We ran down the mountain, then weaved quickly through the traffic. The snow underfoot was packed down and dirty from all the feet walking on it.

Being so cramped and close to humans made me want to run off, but I contained it.

The tree was a few hundred meters from the base of the hill, but it felt longer. When we passed it, I could smell it's fresh scent along with the smell of kettle corn. The area around it was so warm from the lights, the snow dipped down like and emptied pond with a tree growing from the middle. Presents filled the dip, all covered in bright paper and ribbons.

The traffic was heavier by the big building. People stood shoulder to shoulder, (or hip to shoulder for the midgets) pushing through to get to the door.

Kota pushed himself through, and I made sure to follow the trail he had cut.

After what felt like kilometers, we finally reached the door.

It was made from oak wood, and arched fifteen meters high. Scenes of children opening gifts, and deers prancing playfully decorated it. Another midget with trollish features and a frilly red and green costume guarded the door, yelling for his audience to make a line. They weren't very good listeners. On the door, iron handles rose a little too high for the midget to reach comfortably.

Kota put himself in front of one of the mustache dudes, standing over the midget.

"What 'cha want, kitty? Big man's too busy to deal with chasers!" His voice was scratchy and high pitched.

"We need to see Nick, Frej. Mika touched frost horses." Kota growled.

"She's not dead. She couldn't have touched one." Frej said grumpily.

"Well, yeah. We want to see if Nick knows anything about it."

"Oh, all right. But only these two!" He yelled to the crowd.

He jumped for the handle, then opened the heavy door with out ease. We slipped through, and Frej had to whack a few trespassers into place.

Inside was the warmest thing I've ever felt. It was so pleasantly comfortable, I wanted to roll over and sleep. The Christmas music and smell didn't help keep me awake, either.

The place was bigger than it looked outside. The ceiling domed above us, hundreds of meters from the floor. Wooden beams held the ceiling up to keep the snow from collapsing in. I counted ten balconies wide enough to have a car race. More people, midgets, animals and furry things were walking around them. Decorative doors lined the walk ways.

We were standing on a balcony similar to others, but it bulged out in front of us.

More balconies scaled below us. Each floor was connected by stairs. The whole room was dimly lit with glass globes, which shot out lined designs. The room didn't need much extra light, though. In the center, was an enormous tree. The star on the top almost reached the roof, and I couldn't see the bottom. The branches held various things, like metal reindeers or beach ball sized globes.

"Come on, we have things to do." Kota said.

He turned left, and I had to follow.

The doors were carved similar, with words on them. I couldn't tell what they said, though.

Kota led me through five floors. By the time we stopped, the entry door was on the far side of the room, but I couldn't see it well. The tree was in the way.

The door Kota brought me to was notably bigger. The words written on it were fancy, and painted with gold.

"Now, don't touch anything. Keep walking, and only talk when spoken to. Got it?"

"Fine." I sighed.

He pushed the door open with ease, though it had a handle. The inside was pretty big, but not as big as the one I had left before. On the opposite wall, a window showed the snowy cliff. Glass doors led to a small balcony. On both of the other walls, large fire places roared. Reindeer heads were mounted above them. A chandelier with deer antlers and candles hang from the ceiling. Tables were scattered around the room, covered with broken toys, letters, machinery parts and coffee mugs. One much longer desk had an old, fat man in red overalls. He was tinkering with something, but I couldn't see. An old woman in a red jacket and jeans sat on one table's end. She was knitting an infinity scarf with blue yarn. A silver wolf with a blue and white scarf was trying to talk to the man.

"Sir, we won't have enough this year. There are too many spirits for us to chase."

"Deavar, I have dealt with them since the dark ages. We can deal with them now." The man said, a little annoyed.

"But-"

"No buts!" The man turned around, facing the wolf. "I don't have the time to find more chasers. You don't, either. Go, and don't come back till after New Years."

The wolf looked like he wanted to bite him, but he didn't. "Yes... Sir."

He turned around swiftly, then headed for the door. When he passed me, he growled.

We didn't approach the man till the wolf was gone.

I walked right behind Kota, trying not to knock a table or something over.

The man turned around fully, and I could see his face now.

He had a white beard, with glasses resting on his nose. His skin was leathery and pourus, but his cheeks were rosy red. He had smile lines along his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now.

"Kota, what's the matter? I am tired of seeing chasers. You don't have time to bug me every time something comes up."

"Actually, this could be good news." Kota said respectfully. I was starting to realize the power this man had.

"Then get to it!" He bellowed.

Kota looked a little hurt, as if this didn't usually happen.

"Well, I was chasing a herd of ice horses and they followed Mika here. She was in a cave when they found her, so she ran over their backs."

The man's eyes widened in disbelief. "No... it's not possible. You should be dead."

Now I was really confused. Kota and the man could understand each other.

"Well, I'm not." I said, half hoping to be understood.

The man looked at me with a bit of confusion. "Oh! I see what you need."

He touched my throat, and a tingling feeling spread down my esophagus. "Try speaking again, dear."

I cleared my throat. "Well, I'm not dead." It felt weird, and my voice was allot smoother than before.

"That's the thing." Kota said. "I got rid of the horses with a cherry bomb, and she was up in a tree when I found her. Her paws didn't have a bit of blue."

The man grabbed my paw. I wanted to wriggle free again, but Kota shot me a warning not to.

He touched each pad. "Not cold at all."

He set it down. "It's pretty warm in here." I said. Now, I was getting a little too hot.

"Have you seen anything else strange?" The man asked.

I remembered the wolf of ice. I guessed that fell into the strange category.

"A few hours before the horses came, a wolf made of ice came from the river. He spoke to me, then went back into the water. He knew my name."

The man stroked his beard; his fluffy eyebrows knit with concentration. The woman had stopped, and was watching us eagerly.

"Perhaps another icicle," He mumbled.

"What should we do with her, Santa?" Kota asked timidly.

"Well," He straightened his back. "Kota is right about good news. But about the wolf..."

"Have you told her about the baddies, Kota?"

"Well, not really, but-"

"Oh well. We can deal with that later."
The man said.

"Sir, you can't mean..."

"Yes. Mika, I would like to consider you for my chaser team. It would be an honor for you to join. Would you like to be a chaser, like Kota?"