"Ugh, I-I'll never get used to th-this cold," she chattered while trying to remember what the warmth of her home on Mystery Island even felt like.

After a few more minutes of walking, Kara finally arrived at Happy Valley. The Kougra managed a stiff grin as she saw the whimsical scene before her. Laughing children raced around an icy pond, Neopets zipped down the mountain on all manners of objects (was that a giant plate she saw?), and snowball fights were aplenty.

"Hmmm, now where is he...?" Kara murmured as she walked past a group of Bruces holding ice-cream cones. She swiveled her head from side to side, closely surveying her surroundings. Finally, she saw him.

A blue Lutari leaned on an ice-cream cart, smiling as he handed out ice-cream cones to expectant Neopets, each of their faces anticipating the sweet, creamy taste waiting for them. Kara patiently waited as the Lutari handed out the last cone.

Kara coughed as the Lutari began rummaging in the cart after the last customer was gone. He snapped his head up, a wide grin plastered on his face as he chortled, "Why, hello there! Chipper's the name, and ice cream's my game! What can I get for you, young lady?"

Kara waved her hands around wildly as she stammered, "A-ah, no, I'm not here for ice cream. Actually..." She stopped talking for a moment as she took out a yellowed piece of paper from her pocket.

"This was a note that my father left me. A very important one. You see, I'm looking for someone, and my father told me that you can..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Mr. Chipper's expression. His face had turned steely, his eyes boring into Kara who suddenly felt that even three layers of sweaters weren't enough to prevent the chill that had broken out.

Mr. Chipper growled, "You..."

"It was your father," Mr. Chipper replied, not taking his gaze off of the paper Kara held in her paws. "Your father was a very determined Kougra. He nearly ruined me." His face turned dark, and he glared down at the ice cream cart he was leaning on. "I'll never do a darned thing for your family again."

"But sir, you must help me," Kara pleaded. "My father told me that--"

"Lies and slander," Mr. Chipper quickly interrupted. "That Kougra is nothing but trouble. I suggest that you don't listen to what he says; you'll stay out of his messes that way."

"You don't understand, sir," Kara said. "This person, after she visited your ice cream stand, she was never seen again. If you'll just look at the note..."

"No," Mr. Chipper spat.

"My father thinks that you know where she is," Kara blurted.

"I don't conspire with Neopets," Mr. Chipper said angrily. "Now I suggest you get away from my stand before I call the Defender of Neopia on you for being a nuisance. Begone!" He growled again and waved his hands as if shooing her away.

"She's too important," Kara insisted. "I'd gladly be dragged away by the DoN if it meant that I could find her."

"Who could possibly be that important?"

Kara took a deep breath. Perhaps the Lutari would help her if he just knew how important it was to find her. "I'm looking for my mother..."

"Your mother..." he began-

"My mother! You do know her!" Kara exclaimed.

"Your mother was a thief! A crook!" Mr. Chipper shouted. He slammed his paws down on his cart, drawing the attention of nearby Neopets who were enjoying their ice cream.

Kara's blood began to boil. "Don't speak of my mother that way!" she growled through her clenched teeth. "I come from a family of the most honest Neopians on Mystery Island!"

"Is that what you were told?" Mr. Chipper said, with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well now. I suppose you've never been told about your mother's shady past, if that's what you think."

"I said, do not speak of my mother that way," Kara seethed. Her anger continued to rise.

"Perhaps I should set the record straight on-" Mr. Chipper was interrupted.

"Are you going to help me or not?!" Kara snapped.

Mr. Chipper suppressed a small chuckle, obviously amused by the angry Kougra standing in front of him. "Okay, look. I'll help you out. Have you ever heard of the Thieves Guild?"

Mr. Chipper waved his hands impatiently. "Fine. Believe whatever you want, but you're the one who came to me with questions and if you don't want to hear the answers, then go back to Mystery Island and continue to be deluded!"

"Wait," Kara muttered as Mr. Chipper turned to go. "Alright. Please tell me, I need information."

Mr. Chipper regarded the crestfallen Kougra with pleading eyes in front of him and spoke in a rather softer tone than before.

"Alright, look. I knew your mother when we were both kids-"

"You grew up on Mystery Island?" Kara cut him off.

Mr. Chipper couldn't help but chuckle this time. "Oh kid, you have a lot to learn about your parents. I grew up here, on Terror Mountain, with your mother. And stop interrupting me."

Kara pursed her lips. She had many questions, but was also willing to keep her mouth shut now that the Lutari was so explanative. She just wasn't sure how much to actually believe.

"Your mother was recruited at a very young age into a society called The Thieves Guild, where she coincidentally met your father. The two of them were very good at their jobs." Mr. Chipper's eyes sparkled as he said this. "They were pretty high up in rank, with the the most elite. Even played a part in protecting Terror Mountain from The Bringer of Night."

"The Bringer of Night?" Kara asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.

"That, child, is a whole 'nother story," Mr. Chipper said. "But like any good thief, they can't keep their fingers from taking what isn't theirs. They are all full of deceit! The lot of them and you can't trust them any further than you can toss them!"

"So... what happened?" Kara asked, her interest piqued.

"The whole Guild was after one thing, and my suspicions were that your mother stole it long ago. It probably wouldn't be the smartest decision on her part to come back to Terror Mountain."

Kara bit her lip. "But I think she has. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

Mr. Chipper paused before answering. "She's..."

"The Cavern?" she asked after a moment of silence settled between the two of them.

"It's not a place you'd learn about in your textbooks, kid. Only the natives of Terror Mountain know about it and even then, only a select few," Mr. Chipper continued slowly.

The Kougra gulped down a growing sense of fear that plagued the pit of her stomach. She couldn't back out now. "Okay, how do I get there?"

"Walk to the base of the mountain, and start circling around. You'll eventually see a small triangular hole. And from there… well, you'll see what you have to do," the Lutari answered with a low chuckle.

Kara felt the acidic premonition rise up again but continued to ignore it as she nodded at Mr. Chipper and said a simple 'thank you'. As she turned to leave, Mr. Chipper stared at her back and shook his head, murmuring, "She's going to learn why this place is called Terror Mountain." The Lutari then redirected his focus to a young Shoyru that had come bounding up to the ice cream cart.

***

Kara, huffing and puffing, finally reached the base of the mountain. "I need to get out more often," she mentally noted to herself as she started walking around the tall landmark. Her eyes were strained from looking at the blindingly white surface of the mountain, and after a while, her eyes began to blur. Just as Kara was about to take a short break, she saw it. A small, inconspicuous hole that she would never have found without Mr. Chipper's directions.

Cautiously approaching the hole, Kara stood in one place for a moment, before reaching out one paw. Putting her paw into the hole, she groped around the small space inside before feeling something cold and metallic. Kara tried turning the object and gasped, flicking her paw away as the small hole began to disappear into the ground, an entryway now revealed.

"A secret passage?" Kara thought to herself as she slowly went through the opening. "Well, there's only one way to find out if my mother's here."

And she ventured into the gaping hole, which slowly sealed itself back up with a shudder after a few seconds.

"Well, I guess there's no turning back now," she remarked, looking around the corridor she was in. It stretched as far as the eye could see, possibly farther. "Mom? You here?" There was no reply except the rhythmic drips of water from the icicles above falling against the icy floor. Kara shivered instinctively and began to walk forward.

"Mom?" she called again, her voice echoing off of the walls. Silence greeted her. Kara's heart sank with each drip of water that she heard, but she was a determined Kougra.

"Mom!?" she yelled, this time a bit more forcefully. The silence remained unyielding. Kara stopped her yelling for a moment as she noticed a gleam in the distance. Her ears perked up as she dashed towards it.

"Mom!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of a door. Maybe her mother was behind this door! The Kougra breathed in and out deeply. A single beam of light radiated from within whatever was behind the door.

"It's time to pull a Kell here," she said, bursting through the door violently with a burst of sudden adrenaline. It was do or die time. Literally.

***

"Sir. The girl has reached the Cavern." The hooded Gelert nodded as he flicked a coin off the table he resided at.

"Good. Is the Snowager awake?" The robed Mynci who had spoken nodded once.

"Yes. Everything is in place. She really wants to find her mother, and she'll do anything to be reunited with her." The Gelert smirked.

"And we'll use that to our advantage. Right, Kayla?" A shadow Kougra next to him snarled.

"Don't count on it. Kara is smarter than you think. She'll get me out of here, just you wait." Her voice was ringed with anger. The Gelert raised an eyebrow.

"If she was smart, then why would she fall for that fake letter I sent to her father to pass to her? Why would she fall for Chipper's scheme? Why would she willingly go to the Cavern? And why would she hold the orb?"

"Maybe it's because she's one step ahead of you. And she holds the orb because I gave it to her. She'll never give it up to you." She spit her words out like darts. The Gelert stood up and walked to the other side of the room. Resting his paw on the door, he glanced back towards the Kougra.

"The Guild has their ways of getting what they want." With that said, he pushed on the door and exited the room. The Mynci followed. Kayla jumped up from her seat in an attempt to follow the two, but the handcuffs around her arms restricted her.

"Kara..." she whispered. Curling up into a ball, she felt a tear slip from her eye. A glint caught her attention. Pushing herself up, she walked towards the shiny piece of metal. Picking it up, she smirked and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'll be there soon, Kara..."

It was then the Gelert, followed by his criminal entourage, entered the room through a hidden pathway opposite the main door. "She's just as clueless as her daughter," he said with a smirk.

The members in the room exploded into laughter.

***

The thin ice wall gave way easily. Kara took in her surroundings as shards like glass, still from the impact, fell around her. She skillfully maneuvered around them. Maybe I do have some thief stealth in me, she briefly thought before casting it out of her mind.

She gazed up and saw a giant pile of treasure. An even larger snow worm sat sentinel atop it. Groggily, it looked down toward the young Kougra, its beady eyes fierce and its expression overall malevolent.

Kara froze.

Slowly, the beast reared its icy head. It stared seemingly into Kara's soul. Opening its mouth, it prepared to shoot...

Just as the blast left the Snowager, Kara was pushed over by a shadowy force. The explosion missed the pair.

Kara gazed up at her supposed savior. Her eyes widened. "Mother?..." she started slowly.

***

The members of the Thieves Guild arrived at the cavern to watch the scene unfold. Soon, both mother and daughter would perish, and the orb would be theirs...

Another hooded figure in the crowd chimed in: "And once we have the Bringer's orb that we stole from him all those years ago, we thieves will once again have complete control over Terror Mountain." The figure took off his hood, revealing the head of a orange Kougra. "And with my wife gone, there will be no one to keep us from using it. I tried for years to convince her to bring it back to the guild, but she insisted on keeping it on Mystery Island for safekeeping. I wish I could have persuaded her instead of resorting to this, but..."

The Glert put a paw on the Kougra's shoulder. "It was necessary, Vilko. You know that the guild is more important than any one of its members."

"Yes, I know," said the Kougra. "I only wish my daughter hadn't gotten caught in the crossfire."

The assembled thieves gazed silently at the battle for a few moments. Kara and Kayla were just barely dodging the Snowager's icy blasts, but they were beginning to show signs of fatigue. It wouldn't be much longer.

"You know," the Gelert said suddenly, "your daughter doesn't need to share her mother's fate. There is another way..."

***

Kara was running as she had never run before, sobbing with exertion, trying desperately to avoid the Snowager's freezing breath. Her mother was clutching her paw tightly, dragging her along with her towards the cave's exit. In her crazed exhaustion, Kara suddenly tripped over a crag in the cave floor and tumbled to the ground. Kayla turned back and pulled her daughter to her feet. But this falter had cost them; the Snowager reared up and shot an icy beam straight at Kayla and Kara. Without thinking twice, Kayla shoved her daughter towards the cavern's entrance, letting the freezing breath hit herself instead.

"No!" Kara shouted, looking back at her mother, completely encased in ice. She scrambled to her feet and began running once more. But she knew it was useless. The Snowager inhaled once more, and began to fire another shot, one which would be unavoidable...

Suddenly, the beast froze in place. Kara looked at it in disbelief. Before she could figure out what had happened, she heard a voice calling from the other side of the cavern: "Kara, hurry! The petrification spell won't last long! There's another exit over here. Come, quickly!"

Kara began running towards the voice, but stopped to glance at her mother. "There's no time!" called the voice. Kara saw the Snowager slowly beginning to move again, and she knew the voice was right. "I'm sorry," she whispered to her mother, and she ran towards the voice and freedom.

When she reached the other side of the cavern, cloaked figures grabbed her paw and pulled her into a crack in the wall just as the Snowager reawakened with a loud roar. Kara looked around at those who had saved her, not recognizing a single face, until— "Father?"

The orange Kougra took his daughter in his arms and hugged her tightly. "Yes, Kara, it's me. You're safe now. Mister Chipper contacted the thieves' guild after you left his stand," Vilko lied, "and we were sent to come rescue you. I'm just sorry we didn't arrive until after your mother had already been frozen."

Kara sniffled and pushed her father away. "You lied to me. You and my mother both, I had no idea that you were thieves until today! How could you do that to me?"

The hooded Kougra shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'll explain everything later. But what's important now is the orb you're carrying— do you still have it?" His eyes glinted with greed.

Kara nodded and reached her paw into her pocket. She pulled out a dull, metallic sphere. "You mean the good luck charm Mother gave to me as a child? Why do you need that?"

"It's not just a good luck charm," Vilko said. "It's a powerful magical artifact. Your mother and I took it to Mystery Island for safekeeping—" He saw Kara's eyes narrow. "—Yes, another lie we told you, I know. But the point is that now the thieves' guild needs it. So what do you say? Will you join us?" He reached out his paw towards his daughter. "No more lies, Kara. If you join the guild, I'll tell you everything. We saw how brave you and your mother were while dodging the Snowager's breath, how long you two lasted. We could use a pet like you on our side. What do you say?"

Kara began to hand the orb towards her father, but hesitated. "No more lies?" she said.

"No more lies," Vilko confirmed, reaching further towards the orb.

Kara took a step backwards. "You said you watched me and my mother running from the Snowager. But just a minute ago, you said that by the time you arrived at the cavern, she was already frozen. Which is it?"

A look of panic shot across the orange Kougra's face. "Well, what I meant to say was that we arrived... you two were..."

Kara shoved the orb back in her pocket and began to back away from her father. "You let my mother die. You were using me this whole time, and you're still using me!"

The Gelert thief stepped forward and drew a dagger out of his sleeve. "I told you I'd give you a chance to bring her to our side, Vilko. But you failed. Looks like it's back to plan A." He held the dagger high and lunged at Kara.

Kara screamed, closed her eyes, and braced for the impact. But it didn't come. She opened her eyes to see her father scuffling on the ground with the Gelert, trying to wrest the knife away from him. "Run, Kara!" he shouted. "Get out of here!" Kara took one final look at her father, then turned away and ran.

***

"Mr. Chipper," a chubby Bruce child said, "will you tell me a story?"

The blue Lutari took the child's neopoints, handed him an ice cream cone from his cart, and smiled slightly. "Sure, kid. But a quick one; it's getting dark, and I have to close up soon."

The red Bruce jumped up and down in delight. "Will you tell me the one about the wandering Kougra of Terror Mountain?" He plopped down on a nearby bench and waited for the story.

A shadow fell over Mr. Chipper's face and he scowled. "That's just a legend, kid. Let me tell you another one."

The Bruce shook his head. "Nuh-uh, Mr. Chipper, it's true! My dad told me so! Here, I'll start it for you. 'Once upon a time, a mysterious young Kougra came to Terror Mountain from her home on Mystery Island. She tried to join the thieves' guild, but—'"

Mr. Chipper interrupted. "No, that's not right. The thieves' guild tried to recruit her, but she refused. She ran away and tried to hide from them, but she had something they wanted. So they chased her. She didn't want to go home to Mystery Island, because it was too full of memories of her parents. So she stayed on Terror Mountain, living in caves, moving to a new one every night, trying to stay one step ahead of the thieves. They're still searching for her to this day."

"Do you think they'll ever find her?" the Bruce asked between licks of his ice cream.

The Lutari shrugged and sat on the bench next to the child. "Maybe," he said. "But there's another Kougra. One who was expelled from the guild for aiding her."

"Why don't they team up?" the Bruce said. "They could help each other hide from the thieves!"

Mr. Chipper shook his head. "No, the second Kougra did something the first one could never forgive. She won't let him come near her. So he has to help from afar, knowing that the one he's helping will always hate him."

"That's a pretty sad story," the Bruce said, frowning.

Mr. Chipper sighed. "Yeah, kid. It is. Look, I've gotta close up now. You run on home now; your parents must be worried about you. Parents always worry about their children."

The Bruce nodded and scampered off. "Bye, Mr. Chipper!" he called over his shoulder. "Thanks for the story!"

The Lutari sighed again and turned back to his stand. He was surprised to see a handful of neopoints sitting on the counter. He looked around in confusion. Finally, his eyes fell on a cloaked figure standing in the distance eating one of his ice cream bars. The figure waved at him, then turned around, revealing a Kougra's tail peeking out from under the cloak.

Mr. Chipper shuddered. He hated when she did this. Reminding him that she hadn't forgiven him for his role in that day's events. But if you can say one thing about Kara, Mr. Chipper thought as he picked up the pile of neopoints she had left on his counter, it's that she isn't a thief.

The End