Snow Stories

The cold that covered the islands in a thick blanket of cold and frost and sleet and hail was neight unbearable to the creatures of the island- even the feathered ones. Trico shivered in disgust as he felt the cold seep through the long feathers on his body, numbing his limbs and making him hiss out in pain. This was not pleasant. Trico hissed as he entered the den, back from a short scouting mission. He was unable to go much of anywhere with all the snow and ice around every step, and it had only been a few minutes before he was forced back into their den. Angrily the white raptor shook out his wings, beating them in an attempt to fling the frozen snow and ice off of them. All he ended up doing was hitting a resting Tyto in the face with a large chunk of snow.

“Hey!” Trico hissed, jolted back from where she had been dozing off waiting for the other two to return from their scouting mission. She had been the only one of the two who was smart enough to not go out into the snow, yet she had still ended up cold anyways. The two raptors snapped at each other for a moment, frustration at their situation and hunger causing their aggression to spike for a moment as they snarled and postured.

The aggressive atmosphere was only broken by the timely arrival of Hoarfrost, who stumbled into the den with a burst of snow and a yelp. Trico and Tyto whipped around with bared teeth, startled, only to drop their guard when they realized who it was- and what she had. Clutched in her mouth was a large bird, feathers dark and crumpled looking. “I found this on my hunt.” Hoarfrost spat a few feathers out of her mouth, dropping the bird onto the floor. “I think the cold got to it. You two go ahead and eat, I already caught something for myself.” 

Letting out grumbles of thanks Trico and Tyto tore into the meal. The meat was cold and withered and there was not nearly enough, but it would help get them through this spell of snow. “I don’t understand how you can travel through this.” Tyto grumbled, wiping at her mouth with a feathery wing. She coughed, hacking up a few feathers.

Hoarfrost shrugged, her nearly pure white coat of feathers merging her with the snow behind her as she flicked her tail. “Well, I have a bit of an advantage over you two.” Her denser coat of feathers and natural camouflage helped a lot. “But it’s almost night, and soon its gonna be too cold for even me to leave. Time to hunker down.”

Trico let out a loud sigh, burrowing into his nest a bit. They had thankfully been staying at this den for a while, allowing them to build up a stockpile of nest resources such as moss and even their own feathers. They would not go cold during this cold snap. However, they would go bored. While their den was decently big, it was nowhere near big enough for them to move around much without bumping into each other. “What do you suggest we do, then? This storm may last for a few days and we can’t spend our whole time asleep.” He grumbled.

“We can tell stories.” Tyto suggested, nestling herself into her own nest as Hoarfrost did the same. At the disbelieving looks the other two gave her, she snorted. “Fine! I’ll go first. There’s a legend about why snow exists in the first place. Long ago, the sky and the ground worked together to form life. The ground was beautiful, flourishing with life, and the sky kept her healthy by bringing down water in the form of rain to soak the ground.” Tyto continued the story, her monotone voice, occasionally waving a wing or claw as a form of emphasis at a particular point. “One day, the ground grew cold and ill. The green and the life on her died and withered away, leaving her brown and alone. The ground begged the sky for help. The sky answered, sending down his rain in a solid form to coat the ground and keep her safe and allow her time to heal. And eventually, the ground emerged from the snow, healthy and well rested. Now, every year the same happens, in order to give the ground time to renew herself.”

Hoarfrost let out an amused huff once the story trailed off. “You didn’t come up with that! Thats a hatchlings story.” 

Tyto sent her an annoyed glance, a hiss leaving her. “If you're so clever then, come up with your own original story!” She snapped.

“Oh, you do not want to challenge me.” The white raptor sprung into her own story full of daring adventure and drama- all about her. Trico sighed. This may have been a mistake…