"What is it made of? It's made of water Sam, like rain, but it's frozen because it's cold outside."

"So it's cold, and it's wet?"

"Yes Sam, and that's why we must never get too close to snow. Moltaran pets and cold and wet things don't mix."

And that's what his mother told him every time he asked to play outside in the winter season, when the temperature was subzero and the white stuff came down: Moltaran pets and snow don't mix. Samar the Ogrin didn't know what happened to pets of his colouring who did come in contact with the frozen water droplets. All he knew was that it had once happened to his poor uncle Louis...

"You don't want to end up like my brother, Louis, would you?" Sam's father would say. And it was solely the stern repetition of these daunting words that convinced Sam that no, he did not want to end up like Uncle Louis.

Still, Samar would run to his living room window every time the snowflakes started to fall. He loved the way they rained down from the sky so softly, like fuzz from a wish flower; feathers in a pillow fight. He loved the way they made the world outside the window sparkle, and the fresh scent they filled the air with —he could smell it through the glass. What he especially loved, though, was when it was cold enough to stay on the ground, and it landed on and covered Neopia, forming alabaster clouds on the dirt; huge piles that the other kids would play in. They would build snowmen with it, make angels in it, and the next thing Sam knew, they'd be turning around and whipping it in each other's faces! It all looked like such fun, but he knew to even daydream about joining in was foolish and ridiculous. It may have made the other children laugh and shout with delight, but for him it would only be detrimental. Detrimental, if not deadly... All he could do was ask his friends not to play their snow games near his yard. He didn't want to watch the fun, if he couldn't be part of it himself.

The other kids in the neighbourhood understood Sam's situation, and were generally very good about keeping the snowballs away from his Neohome. Until one day, a little Poogle wandered onto his front lawn. Sam had never seen the small child before. They looked like they were...

He was sitting at the window as usual, longing to go out and play like the other children. He could hear their shouts in the distance, his sensitive Ogrin ears twitching forlornly. He almost missed the strange little Poogle walking around in his lawn. He gave a gasp. Her coat as white as the snow Sam loved so much!

Her paws left a trail in the blanket of snow, as she zig-zagged through the snow. From the inside, he could hear faint singing as she went along, a song that sent shivers down his spine.

"Winter's beauty, faerie-light
Snow and wind, come into sight!"

There was a rustling of bushes as the wind seemed to pick up. Sam watched in disbelief as the first snowflakes drifted from the sky as the Poogle began to dance. The snowflakes danced in the wind as if they were little ballerinas, twirling and spiralling down. Sam let out a delighted shout, unable to keep his voice down.

The Poogle stilled, and the snow stopped falling as well. She turned towards the window, curious ice-blue eyes catching sight of Sam. He gulped, feeling her gaze pierce through him...

"I can't..." The Poogle came closer to the window.

"Why not? Don't you want to play!" She replied.

Sam made no answer. How could he explain it? All he knows is water doesn't mix well with his kind. Mama never fully explained why.

"What's you name?" The Poogle asked.

"S-Sam. What's yours?" Sam replied.

"Iris." He ice blue eyes twinkled and snow began to fall again.

"That's a lovely name." He replied, "Are you an Ice Faerie?"

The Poogle didn't answer and the snow stopped falling again. She started to walk away...

"You'll come out?" Asked Iris.

"Umm." Sam gulped and stared at the snow. His body shaking even though he wasn't cold. Quite the opposite in fact.

"Wocky got your tongue?" Iris teased. Sam noticed that the only thing he had said for around a minute was 'um'. He sighed, He had gone too deep into this now to just walk away. His uncles voice kept ringing in his head, louder and louder as he thought whether to go out.

'Moltaran pets and cold and wet things don't mix.'

He shook his head.

"F..fine. B..but only for a little while." Sam blurted out forcefully. He didn't have time to think as Iris hopped onto the windowsill and pushed him out onto the snow. As he landed, the snow around him melted almost instantly. Water reached his paws and he jumped from the sudden coolness.

'My uncle never actually mentioned what happened to Louise. Maybe it's not so bad, just exaggeration.' Sam thought. He held it in his head as he stood up straight and padded out further into the snow. It melting quickly as he walked through. He got nervous as he felt his legs stiffen a bit.

"Maybe I should go back in!" He said quickly. Walking fastly towards the open window. "Before my mother starts worrying about me."

Iris frowned at him. "Something wrong?" She asked, completely oblivious to his desperate face.

He suddenly tripped. Gasping as he felt his body temperature drop a bit. Looking to see where he tripped, he spotted a snowbunny hoping away. Iris running forward to hug it, ignoring its protestful yelps.

'My uncle wasn't overreacting. This is bad. Before long I'll become like uncle Louise. Whatever happened to him. I really hope it won't be so bad.'

He looked towards the neohome around 20 meters away...

It must be his mother looking for him.

Panicking, Sam turned frantically back to Iris and stammered, "Iris, look, I have to go back. I'm not supposed to be here, and my mother will come find me very soon. It will be very bad if she sees me outside."

The Poogle's icy blue eyes met Sam's. After a tense moment of confusion, Iris replied, "I still don't understand what kind of horrible event can possibly happen. But go on in then, we can play another day."

"Alright then," Sam answered quickly, "See you nex-" Before Sam could finish, he was interrupted by his worst fear - His mother shrieked from the neohome, "What are you doing in the snow Sam?"

His mother was panting hard, and water was tracked along the carpeting and floor of their home.

"Sam!" She gasped, "Why would... you..."

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, panting hard in a combination of fear and adrenaline.

"Mama..." Sam said, "I was playing with my new friend Iris." he said, rushing towards the window.

"What?" She asked.

"Yeah, didn't you see her?" Sam asked, looking out the window, "She was near me the whole time."

"But... Sam. Honey..." His mother said, "There was no one out there with you..."

"I guess she left," Sam said. Her tracks were just all covered up now, he told himself.

***

Sam spent the rest of the day playing in his room, as far away from the windows as he could get. No matter what toys he played with, he couldn't get the crystal blue eyes of his Poogle friend out of his mind, and his thoughts always wandered back to Uncle Louise.

When his father arrived home from work at the National Neopian, he raced downstairs to greet him.

"What's this all about?"

"Your son went out into the snow today," Sam's mother said from the doorway at the end of the hall.

"Papa, Papa will you tell me what happened to Uncle Louise?"

"I suppose it's time," he replied. "I was home. We were both young back then, but my brother was too adventurous for his own good. He said that he saw someone in the yard who looked like she needed help badly. He wanted me to go out with him, but I couldn't.

"I told him to just yell from the porch, but he wandered out into the snow. When he didn't come back, I looked out into the yard. He was standing there, the water rising around his ears, and he was talking to no one.

"So, I rushed outside to try to get him to come back in. He yelled something about a Snowbunny, and then he disappeared. That was the last I ever heard from him."

"No it wasn't," Sam's mother chimed in. "You got that letter, years later."

"Oh, yes. It's upstairs. I'll show it to you, if you'd like."

Sam nodded and followed his father up the stairs to his study. He rifled through one of his desk drawers and drew out a battered, decrepit looking piece of yellow paper. The handwriting was harsh and angular, as though it had been written by someone who barely knew how:

Stay out of the snow. The Spirit of Winter hates warmth and fire.

Stay out of the snow. The Spirit of Winter hates warmth and fire.

What could it mean?

Sam's mother came walking upstairs, holding a ripe loveberry in her hand.

"Eat it, then off to bed." She said firmly, walking out the door. She was still obviously upset about his little adventure earlier but she had appeared to have calmed down a bit.

Sam looked towards the clock. It was around 8:30. Sighing he ate the loveberry and lay down in his bed.

He awoke a few hours later.

Tap Tap

He shook his head and attemted to fall back asleep.

Tap Tap

Sam became conscious of the noise from his window. He shrugged it of and closed his eyes.

Tap Tap

Sam groaned in annoyance. Whatever was tapping on his window didn't want him to fall asleep. He stood up and opened the curtains. No one was there. Sam growled a little and padded back to his bed.

Tap Tap

Sam boiled over. Steam erupting from his ears. He stood by the window and waited.

Tap Tap

Without hesitation, he opened the curtains. However the thing there wasn't a Neopet. But a white Snowbunny.

"Who do you think you are! Tapping on my window like that! I'm trying to sleep you know!"

The snowbunny signaled with it's ears and pointed towards a fence. Sam then remembered the snowbunny from earlier.

"You want me to follow?" Sam asked.

The Snowbunny nodded then tapped on the window again. Sam took this as a signal to open it. He pushed it open. The Snowbunny then did something all too similar. It hopped onto the ledge and pushed Sam out. Sam remembered how Iris had done that. He gasped, slightly winded, as he hit the cold floor. The snow was like a cushion though and softened his fall.

The snow melted very quickly and the Snowbunny hoped backwards. Looking slightly disgusted.

It peered at the window cautiously and then closed it's eyes. A bright flash engulfed both of them. It was so sudden that when it ended, Sam was slightly blind. He stumbled for a minute before regaining his sight. The Snowbunny was no longer there. Where it was originally standing stood a white Poogle.

"Iris?!" Sam was shocked.

"Shh, we don't have much time. Follow me over the fence and see what your family had been searching for for years."

Sam obeyed. Shaking uncontrollably from the cold.

Over it stood another snowbunny, a brown one. It tilted it's head and squealed something. As Sam approached it, it stumbled backwards in shock. Iris nodded to it and the place was engulfed in another bright flash.

In it's place stood a moltaran Ogrin. He looked incredibly similar to Sam's father.

"Could it be?!" Sam said, stepping back, tears of joy filling his eyes.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sam." Said the Ogrin politely.

"Uncle Louise!?" He shrieked in happiness. Although he barely knew his uncle, Sam suddenly felt as if he had known him for years.

"I have so many questions, why did you suddenly vanish? Who wrote that letter? Why can't mother or father see you?" He shouted.

Louise chuckled slightly. "Iris here found me and offered me the chance to become one with winter. I agreed and she let me. I wrote that letter since I knew the dangers of the snow. I knew of you and that you were an adventurous one and didn't want you to hurt yourself. Iris also dislikes moltaran pets a lot."

"Hey!" Iris interrupted.

"We only appear to a few. The ones who understand its beauty but have never experienced it."

The sun began to rise over the mountains. It's dazzling sunlight melting the snow. (The parts that hadn't been melted by Sam anyway.)

"You better get back." Said Louise, "Don't want your parents worrying about you."

The two began to fade.

"Wait!" Sam yelled "We'll meet again right?"

"Oh Sam." Said Iris softly "We always do, right?"

The End