Two - #06. “The Hollow Mountain”

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

By the time you reach the mountain, the snow has turned to ash.

The Hollow Mountain rises black and silent above the tundra, its peak ringed with pale smoke. Steam hisses through the cracks underfoot. Inside, it’s warmer. Too warm. The air glows faintly orange.

Finn’s fur sparks with static. “This place doesn’t like visitors,” he mutters.

A pang of homesickness has you wishing you’d never left. You would never bail on the snowbeasts, but you’ve already had a lot more than you bargained for by joining the beast keepers, and it’s hard not to feel out of your depth.

Clinging to some shred of comfort, you remember a letter from home tucked deep in one of your zippered pockets. You’ve already read it so many times by now you could recite the message from heart alone, and recalling it helps ease your nerves.

You find the first of the slumbering giants soon after. A creature of stone and heat, its chest rising and falling in slow rhythm. Dozens more lie scattered through the cavern, all asleep. But one, near the heart of the mountain, is stirring.
Its eyelids flutter. The ground trembles.

If the giant wakes before the migration ends, the rage from its breath alone could melt half the northern ice. You have to calm it, but how do you soothe something big enough to dream in earthquakes?

You remember Orla’s words, ‘The world doesn’t wait for readiness. It waits for heart.’

So you kneel, place your hand on the warm stone, and whisper. You tell the giant of the frost elk, the owlcats, the foxes who learned to share the sky. You speak of how the world still holds to balance, even now.

Slowly, the tremors fade. The giant’s breathing steadies.

From above, the aurora threads through a crack in the ceiling, painting the cavern in cool light. The ash turns back to snow.

Finn exhales. “You’re getting good at this,” he says. “Remind me to stay on your good side.”

Task:
Share what was written in the Letter below using 100 words or more for full credit. This could be a letter written by a friend or family member, whether entirely fictional or inspired from your own relationships in real life.

Alternatively you can share a fond Memory of someone you care about in 150 words or more!

15 beans/sapphires are available for this task, with an extra 15 for completing all Week Two tasks by end of activity. Deadline is 11:59pm (HOL time) on Wednesday January 21st.

[River Fenwick]

Dear River,

You’re going to do great work at the Beastkeepers’ Lounge, though I can’t believe you’re abandoning us in favor of the cold, desolate Northland Wastes. There were far closer and safer initiatives that rescue beasts, and I can’t pretend to understand your reasoning for not choosing one of them, even if the Northland Wastes has Orla the Keeper. We’ll still support you from afar and hope you remain safe and happy out there. You'd better have some great stories to tell when you finally return, and don’t forget everything you know about the ordinary beasts here in favor of the snowbeasts out there! Butterbeers will be on you for the foreseeable future.

Wishing you the best and safety,
Jordan and Haley

[Emily Spencer]

My Dearest Emily,

I still remember as if it were yesterday the day that you were born. Such a frail, scrawny, little thing, hardly bigger than a minute~. You struggled for each labored breath, and my heart tore in pieces as I struggled right along with you. By all accounts, you should not have lived, but you proved them all wrong, dear girl. Your road has not been an easy one, but you came through fighting all the way.

It doesn’t surprise me at all that your have undertaken this journey. Taking the easy way out was never in your vocabulary. Oh, I worry, of course, but in my heart, I know you’ll be just fine. I cannot wait until you return home to tell me about all of your adventures.

Until then, all my love,

Gran

[Kaylee Oatsong]

Hey Kaylee,

You know I hate writing letters, but I'm writing this for you because I am a great, amazing, super-duper nice brother. And also because I'm going to miss you a lot, and also because I really want to know everything about the Northland Wastes thingy that you keep talking and yapping about! Anyway, I really hope that you have loads of fun (and that you give me loads of gifts but I really doubt you can offer me in this plain of... snow) and that you make lots of friends. Also, you gotta listen to Orla the Keeper, and be the best one out of ALL the other trainees or whatever you call them.

Sorry my English is bad, but it is good enough to have the ability to listen to all the stories you're gonna be telling me! Oh, and mom and dad helped me with the grammar mistakes!

Take care,
Charles the Great