Return To The Mountain I

I take his paw expecting something to happen. My vision goes blurry as I try to keep myself upright. The room spins and the last thing I see is his smile. It's twisted. He knew what he was doing. He did trick me!

A blast of cold air hits my face. It's blistering cold as I feel something wet hit my fur. My eyes open to try to adjust to the blinding light. I hear something roaring overhead. I try to look up but I haven't adjusted to the light. It's a shape that's just moving away from me. I hear my name being called over and over again.

"Madam Odette, what do we do now?"

I can see where it's coming from. I look around to try and get my bearings. There's nothing around me that I recognize. There it is again. That voice.

"Madam Odette?"

I move to look and see a familiar face of red and white fur. Those bright green eyes that can pierce my soul with the right glance, "Red…"

"Madam Odette, is something wrong?

I try to form words but I can't seem to. Everything just feels off. This is my body, right? I'm still me? The next words that come out of my mouth don't seem to be mine, "Yes, um, right. Survival training!" Survival training? When did this happen?

"You're in charge. Your goal is to get us home safely. How you do it is up to you. I imagine that if we make good time…" It begins to click. The idea begins to form in my head as I inform him of the goal. "...we should be back in five days with a good time. I imagine it will take us about… seven… days…"

Is this happening? Did Red send me back? Am I on top of that mountain where I had him survive? Is this what he meant that I would have seven days? There's too much!

"Madam Odette!"

I'm snapped back to where we are. "Madam Odette, what is going on? You're spacing out which is incredibly uncharacteristic of you." I grit my teeth as I breathe in the cold air. I let it out slowly obscuring my vision with the cloud escaping my mouth, "My apologies. Just… a lot going through my mind as I try to sort out what I need you to do while we are out here."

"Then let me help. What is the end goal I need to focus on?"

"Right! First and foremost! You will lead us back to my home taking care of both of us along the way. That includes shelter, food, and rest."

If I have been sent back, then we are still in trouble. We need to survive this. I reach around my coat to find the one thing I needed to find. The transmitter will always be broadcasting my location. If all else fails, I will make it back.

"Red." I get his attention one more time before we head out, "These next few days are going to be rough on both of us. I want you to remember them well."

"Yes, Madam Odette. I will not let you down."

What changed in this young man from this moment until then? His eyes are so full of joy even though he is faced with such a challenge that many would never undertake it. His enthusiasm is what got us through this ordeal the first time. He was level-headed as he wracked his brain to try and find solutions to the problems that we came across.

He's in charge and he directs me in which actions to take and which direction to go. We travel through the snow as he looks for somewhere that is heavily wooded to make traversal easier. This mountain was always a great place for me to test myself now and again. It kept my skills sharp. I could never afford to lose a step. Knowing that his young man was coming to learn from me, I stepped it up even further.

He directs us to take a break for the moment. We can't move too quickly and he knows it. "Red." I get his attention. "Yes?" he answers. "What do you want to do with your life now that you've found out about yourself?" I can see he's working on an answer. He's digging deep to try and find what he believes.

"I don't really know at the moment. Everything is so new that I almost feel like I've started over. I need direction in this world that's opened up before me. That's why I rely so heavily on you for things. A lot of it is guidance right now so I can try to figure out what I want to do."

There's an air of innocence in his answer. He does just want to figure himself out. Most boys, well I guess men, his age are still learning about the world around them and what they want to do with it. His path was thrust upon him but he took it in stride.

We travel all day until the sun begins to set. I'm ordered to wait until he returns. I look in my pockets while he's gone to find my knife. I don't remember grabbing this. I always seemed to keep it on me. I have to ask myself if I will be able to do this. He's such an innocent kid. How did he turn into the monster that I know?

He returns with a bunch of sticks and twigs. "OK! This should only take one moment. I just need you to stay close to me and crouch down." I follow his instructions as he lifts a blanket of snow around us. It solidifies into a dome that is thick enough that the wind won't be able to hit us. "And there we go. It's snug, but it will provide. But first…" He punches a small hole in the top.

He starts a small fire to get us some warmth and allows the smoke a way to escape. "Red." I get his attention as the fire begins to burn. "Yes, Madam Odette?"

"...never mind. We'll be able to talk about it later. We should get some rest."

Maybe there's still hope for him. Maybe there's a way to influence his path forward. Or maybe it's a vain hope and I should kill him here.