Simon and the Prince of the North.
I apologize if this winds up being really long, I will cut it down later if necessary.
The wind finally quieted down, no longer the wild, roaring swirl of stinging ice and snow it had been since before sundown. Simon cautiously peered out from the hole he had taken shelter in, scratching away at some of the snow that had piled up during the storm. The sky was clear of all but a few wispy clouds, the full moon bathing the wide, snowy plain in a pale blue light. The little bean breathed a sigh of relief and pulled himself up out of the ground, shivering as his paws sank into the snow. There had barely been a layer of frost when the storm kicked up, and now the stuff was piled up to his elbows!
Well, that's the cost of adventure, isn't it? he thought, taking the compass from his pouch. He was grateful that the sky had finally cleared, Simon had never liked breathing fire near any of his prizes-- one time he'd actually singed a little book he'd found, it was sheer luck that he'd managed to put it out before the whole thing went up in flames! Flattening his ears in embarrassment at the memory, Simon looked down at the compass, waiting for the needle to settle. A smile appeared on the little dragon's face when he saw that he was indeed going the right direction, true north as he'd been going for the past few days. He returned the compass to his pouch, frowning when his claw brushed against the little paper bag where he usually kept whatever snack he'd bring along for a journey-- it was empty.
No matter, he told himself while he started to break a path through the snow. He'd passed a few villages already, he was certain there'd be another one just over the horizon. There had to be, right? And it wasn't like he was that hungry right now, anyway, he'd find something before it got really bad. Right now, the moon was shining and even if he was a little cold, he was going in the right direction and there appeared to be no obstacles anywhere in sight; just a wide, white expanse stretching out in every direction. That was all the young Jelly needed to calm those little nagging fears.
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"Heey little guy, where's the storm?" came a low, laughing voice. Simon stopped in his tracks, grinning when he saw the familiar face of Marie, a merchant he'd made friends with. She was tall and very pale, with long, dark hair and oddly heavy looking clothes. Something about her had always seemed a bit... odd, compared to the rest of the people in town, she just didn't look like she belonged; nor did the feathery, bubblegum pink dragon that was sitting on her shoulder. Or maybe it was the strange way she spoke sometimes, like she carried an accent from elsewhere. Either way didn't matter much to Simon, he liked Marie; she helped him find new things and sometimes gave him candy.
"Eh fh... hg eo," Simon grunted, trotting over to Marie and dropping the package in his mouth at her feet. "I found a crown!" he said brightly.
"Crown, huh?" Marie said, kneeling down and picking it up, hardly noticing when the little dragon on her shoulder fluttered away to sit on top of the cart. Simon watched with wide eyes as Marie examined the crown, her expression changing from one of polite interest to shock, and then to something... sad? She looked a little sad.
"Where did you find this?" she asked softly.
"In some kinda trash bin," he replied. "D'you know what it is?"
Marie nodded, kneeling down and setting the crown carefully on Simon's head. "Looks like the crown of the North King," she said. "Back where I come from, way up north? Being king's no easy work, you gotta prove yourself. So when they're about... eh, sixteen or eighteen, they send out the oldest kid'a the current leader out to the plains, in the middle of winter when it's all ice and snow out there. All they get's a cloak, compass'n a knife. They got a crown like this-- not the real one a'course-- buried out there, and they gotta find it and bring it back."
Simon's eyes went wide, he'd never heard of anything like this before! Never knew there were kingdoms so far away, or that such trials for taking the throne could exist. "S... so how come they do that? And why's the crown /here/?" he finally said, eager to learn more.
"Shows the kid can survive, y'know? We got all kindsa weird things up there, can't have some namby-pamby prettyboy or girl just sitting there, they have to be able to make it during the worst'a times. And this is just a fake, even of the fake," she replied, tapping the tallest point on the crown. "It's a game durin' Yuletime out there, hide a crown in the tree or snow, and whoever finds it's the king for the day. Really fun," she said with a grin.
"What's Yule like there?" the little jellybean dragon asked, sitting up on his haunches so he was eye-level with Marie. She explained their customs there, that they often lit great fires and that the main foods were meat, but they also had all kinds of candies and cakes and sweets; leading Simon to ask what kind of different sweets they had there, and every explanation prompted more and more questions. All his life, Simon had lived in the same old meadow with the same old foods and the occasional sweet from town. Snow there was thin and annoying, not like the great, deep drifts Marie knew. And then there was the castle, she told him, a castle made of strange stones that seemed like ice, and perhaps it even was ice that had been enchanted. She also told him that Jellybean dragons were virtually unheard of so far north-- all anyone knew of were stories from merchants like herself, and as far as she knew, none had actually been /seen/ there since anyone could remember.
So the day went on like this, Simon asking questions and Marie explaining (when she wasn't with a customer), until just before it was time to go back to his nest, Simon remembered one more question he had.
"So what happens if the prince or princess doesn't find the crown?"
"Well... if they don't come back, they just don't come back," she said with a shrug. "Sad, but true, everyone's accepted it. Sometimes you get turned 'round in a storm and just can't fix it. If they come back without the crown, then they're a failure. They gotta go do it again the next year, or until they don't come back."
"Oh," he said softly, looking at the ground. The idea was... not pleasant.
"Hey, cheer up. That hasn't happened for a hundred years at least, they always find it in the end," Marie said, smiling at him. "Hey, tell ya what-- I'm gonna be heading home myself in a couple days. How about I send Bonnie here to get you before we go, and you can see it all for yourself?"
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The sun was creeping up over the horizon, tinging the sky and snow with pastel yellows, pinks, lavender and orange. Simon had no energy to admire the view, though. He had walked the entire night, pausing only a minute or two at most, but there was still no sign of anyone else around. Once or twice, he thought he might have seen footprints, but they were so oddly shaped that he ignored them, believing them to just be an imprint from a bird or something of that nature. He hadn't been able to check his compass for some time, his little paws had grown almost totally numb from the cold even through his thick fur, and he was growing hungrier and hungrier with every minute.
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It had been a week since Marie said she would be taking Simon along with her. He'd spent every day waiting patiently for a sign of pink feathers, but there had been nothing. He'd even gone into town to see Marie was still there, but everyone he spoke to said she had gone. She hadn't forgotten, had she? She couldn't have, no when he'd been so excited! She... maybe something had happened and she'd had to leave in a rush. Maybe that was it. Yes, that had to be it! Maybe he could go find her, all he had to do was follow the caravan trails, right?
So he gathered his favorite things, made sure to find some snacks, and set out north before the sun rose the next morning.
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Another storm had sprung up. There wasn't as much wind as the last one, but there was so much /snow/! Simon was soaked now, whimpering and shivering and clumsily running as fast as he could, as if he could outrace the storm. Marie's words came back to him, getting turned around in a storm and losing your way so badly you couldn't find anywhere... was that going to happen to him?
It was so cold.
Simon's movements became slower and slower, he was so tired... maybe... maybe he could sit for a minute.
Maybe he could rest his eyes.
Just for a moment.
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A low, hard voice rose up over the wind, but Simon couldn't make out the words. He curled in closer to himself, letting out a tiny jet of flame in an attempt to kindle some warmth into his body, but it did nothing. He simply lay there in the snow, listening to the wind and... crunching?
Footsteps?
Simon's eyes opened just a sliver, then went wide with astonishment when he realized there was something standing in front of him. It was a... he wasn't sure what it was. It looked a tiny bit like Marie's dragon, but this one had no feathers at all, just hard, blue-purple scales, and what appeared to be patches of ice hanging off of its body. It gave a low growl, raising its wings and baring its teeth at Simon. Simon sat up, ready to flee, when that same voice from earlier rang out through the storm.
The words were in a language he didn't recognize, but it was clear that the little ice dragon understood. It lowered its wings and turned around, giving several sharp, loud squawks. The voice replied, closer this time, and the little dragon responded the same way, until at last a figure melted out of the swirling snow.
It was a man, tall and lean, draped in a thick, furry cloak. The little dragon fluttered up to the man's shoulder and seemed to be whispering something to him, occasionally pausing to glare at Simon. Simon, however, was more focused on the man. He looked weary and cold, and... was that?
"You've got a crown!" Simon exclaimed, and both the man and ice dragon gave a startled jump. Simon sat back on his haunches, reaching into his pouch and taking out the tarnished old crown, holding it up for them to see, not noticing that his compass fell out in the process. The man's eyes widened and he knelt down to get a better look.
"Crown... where did you find?" he said, his voice heavy with an accent not unlike Marie's.
"Back... ... really, really far away. I... I'm really lost now," Simon said, glancing at the ground. The wind was beginning to let up now, the snow wasn't quite as thick.
"Hmph. Lost," the man muttered, sitting down on the ground.
"Are... are you lost, too?" Simon asked.
The man nodded.
"How long?"
The man held up eight fingers.
"Clouds and snow. Find north one moment, lose it next," he said in a bitter tone, drawing his knees to his chest and staring at the ground. After a moment, Simon saw a frown cross his face, and the man leaned down to pick something up out of the snow, something Simon recognized to be his compass.
"Hey, that's mi--"
"May I use?" the man said quickly, before Simon could finish. "Can find way back with this. You, come along? I reward you for help."
"Oh... s... sure! Thanks!" Simon said, nodding his head just in case. The man grinned, and as the wind grew still, the three of them set off. By nightfall they had reached their destination; Simon couldn't believe how lucky they were to have been so close. And it was just as Marie had described it; a great castle that looked like it was made of ice!
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And true to his word, the prince rewarded Simon for the use of the compass. Simon was adopted and allowed to remain in the castle. There, he continues his explorations, though they're usually into old books or just exploring the underground parts of the castle itself, there's more than enough history there to keep him content for years!
And yes, if you're wondering, he did find Marie again-- she was deeply sorry for having been unable to contact Simon, word of large storms brewing along the path had forced her and the other merchants to leave as early as possible to get a head start on things.
