Earlier in the day, the sun had shone bright on the towering peaks of Misty Mountain. It had been a stunning sight to behold; the snow had glittered like diamonds, its slopes wreathed in only the slightest hint of fog. It had seemed like an ideal place to spend a day, a tranquil retreat.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving.

Edelweiss was, of course, fully aware of this. She’d had enough bad experiences involving mountains to know their dangers. But the most important thing to know about Edelweiss was that she was an optimist.

You see, the thing about optimists is that they don’t always think like normal people. Normally, when the average person has a bad experience, they think: well, that went badly, I won’t make the same mistake again. However, optimists don’t think that way. Instead, they delude themselves into thinking that even if it went badly the first time, surely it will go better the next time.

So the teen had ventured up on to the mountain, and everything had appeared to go well. At least, until the weather had turned. In what had seemed like moments, the day had morphed from sunshine to something far more ominous.

As the sky above her darkened, the tawny pelted female stumbled down the mountainside, anxiety rising. She needed to get off the mountain before the weather got any worse. She’d heard stories of wolves freezing to death when caught out by elements and she had no desire to join their ranks.

Behind her, the mountain loomed like a colossal giant, just waiting to crush the young wolf. The breeze, which had been so gentle early in the day, howled in her ears, sending flurries of snow racing up into her face. Shaking her head, she looked around, trying to orientate herself, only to come to a sudden halt.

She didn’t know where she was. A thick fog obscured her surroundings, reducing everything to dark, featureless shapes. There was no way to tell where to go. Dread thundering through her veins, she panicked and bolted downhill. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she ran, blocking out all logical thought, leaving only the desire to escape.

It wasn’t until she felt her paws slid out from under her and the ground drop away that she realised her mistake.

For a few instants, she was weightless.

Then she hit the ground, hard.

The shock was so intense that she didn’t feel the pain at first. However, the reprieve did not last long, and in a matter of seconds she felt a dull, bone deep ache begin permeate through body even as white-hot pain pulsed through her right forepaw.

For a period of time (exactly how long she wasn’t quite sure), she lay where she’d fallen, breath coming in rapid-fire pants. From her position, she could see she’d only fallen a metre or so, but the speed she’d being going had made her impact far worse than it should have been.

Gradually, her eyelids became heavier and heavier and it was all she could do it keep herself awake. It would be so easy to just stay here and go… to… sleep…. As her eyes fluttered shut, she became aware of a small voice screamed in her head. GET UP!!!, it yelled, GET UP NOW OR YOU WILL DIE!. It grew louder and louder until, even in her insensate state she could not ignore it.

Edelweiss forced her eyes open, her resolve to live forcing her awake. She was not going to die her, not on this god awful, forsaken excuse for a mountain. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stand, only to nearly collapse as her injured paw gave out beneath her. Swaying unsteadily on her three remaining paws, she took one shaky step, and then another and another, forcing herself forward despite her pain.

Though she didn’t know where she was, she angled herself downhill, hoping her chosen path would lead her to safer grounds.