Submission (#7562) Approved

It was cold, as per usual, and the frozen hills of Strynhalde shimmered under the pale winter sun, blanketed in sparkling snow. Mew and Wem, the inseparable twin kittoms, zipped, zapped, and criss crossed through the icy slopes on their wee little sleds. Mew was precise and cautious, her pink fur standing out against the white backdrop, while Wem, with his bright blue coat, was….well…. He was more about speed than steering.

“Watch me, Meeeeeew! I’m gonna hit Mach speed!” Wem squealed, his sled gaining alarming momentum as he hurtled downhill.

“Wem, watch out for—” Mew started, but it was too late. Wem slammed straight into a tree. Snow rained down from the branches, and Wem tumbled off the sled, landing in a puff of powdery snow.

Mew scampered over, her heart racing. “Are you okay?!”

“Ugh… yeah. I think I’m fine,” Wem groaned, shaking off the snow. Then his eyes widened. “Whoa, what’s that?”

Near the base of the tree was something round and glimmering faintly. Mew carefully approached it, her pink paws brushing away the snow. A smooth, shiny and shimmering shell appeared, hues of light green swirling faintly over its surface.

“It’s an egg!” Mew exclaimed, she squealed with awe.

“Not just any egg,” Wem added, his blue ears twitching. “It’s glowing… Do you think it’s fey touched?”

Mew tilted her head, examining the egg closer. Fe -touched objects were said to be rare and magical, often tied to the Fey folkl beings of Eyre. “It might be. Look at how it shimmers.”

“What should we do with it?” Wem asked, bouncing up and down on his paws. “We can’t leave it here, it’s too cold!”

Mew thought for a moment, her pink ears twitching as she surveyed their surroundings. “We can’t take it back yet, it’s too far, and we need to keep it warm now. What if we made a fire here? We could use it to keep the egg nice and cozy.”

“A fire? Outside?!” Wem gasped, his blue eyes lighting up. “Like adventurers! I love it!”

Mew rolled her eyes fondly. “Yes, like adventurers. But we have to be careful. The fire has to be small, and the egg can’t be too close.”

The twins scurried into action. Wem gathered sticks from the snowy ground, picking out the driest ones he could find, while Mew padded back to the sled to retrieve a woolen blanket she’d brought along. The blanket, a soft cream color with embroidered snowflakes, would make the perfect nest.

“Got the wood!” Wem called, dragging over an armful of twigs and small branches.

“And I’ve got the egg,” Mew said, carefully cradling their precious find. The egg’s faint glow pulsed warmly against her pink fur.

They decided to use the base of the igloo they’d built earlier that morning as a windbreak. Wem stacked the twigs into a neat little pyramid while Mew worked to tuck the egg snugly into the blanket.

Once the fire was lit, its small flames crackling gently, Mew placed the blanketed egg on a flat rock near the fire. She adjusted the position until the warmth seemed just right, not too close to risk burning the small delicate egg, but near enough for the heat to reach it.

“There,” Mew said, sitting back and sighing in relief. “That should keep it warm.”

Wem plopped down beside her, his tail swishing as he watched the flames. “Do you think the fire will make it hatch faster?”

Mew shook her head. “I don’t think it works that way. The egg needs time, not rushing,” she said while flicking her brother's forehead.

“Owwwwww, what was that for!?” Wem yelled.

“For being so impatient.”

Wem grumbled at his sister, muttering under his breath that he was just excited, before sighing and accepting she was right.

They both leaned in, their faces illuminated by the soft orange glow of the fire and the egg’s faint shimmer. Snowflakes drifted down around them, the world hushed by the blanket of winter.

“You know,” Wem said after a moment, his blue paws fiddling with a stick. “This is kinda nice. Just us, the fire, and the egg. It’s like we’re…protecting something important.”

“We are,” Mew said softly, her pink eyes reflecting the firelight. “Whatever’s inside, it’s counting on us.”