White. It was floating around his face, some specks wandering past, while others landed on his cheeks and melted in an instant. Snow. As he got up, he realized that it was surrounding him. Miles in each direction were covered with nothing but snow. The only signs of life had been some patches of grass and dead plants spread across the snowy wasteland. He brushed the snow from his shirt and looked around in confusion trying to figure how he got to this place. From last he could remember, he was relaxing in a distant land where snow had been a thing that only existed in the high mountains where only the bravest people had climbed. Randy had not been as bold as them.

Now what seemed to be a distant worry was now an all too real reality for him. He shivered violently as he looked around to find some kind of shelter where he could get some warmth. He saw the sun rising so he started walking towards the south towards rising hills in hopes of reaching warmer climates.

He shuffled through the snow while huddling his arms to keep his hands from getting hypothermia. While he walked, he found the the land was uneven and kept stumbling through the snow and slipping on the slick stone underneath. The place where he had woken had been a small plot of land as he reached the hill he had seen from before, and he realized this hill was in fact a mountain. He looked grimly at the top and slowly moved around the foot of the mountain in hopes of finding some kind of cave where he could take refuge. It had been several hours until he finally reached it.

There was a crevice that had been sunken about 30 feet from the base of the mountain. It was just in time too since the sun had just started to set and he needed to find shelter soon. He carefully walked into the cave being careful of any slick rocks that could cause him to fall. From what he could see, the cave was safe and enough from him to find a sanctuary from the cold. The only danger he could see was a hole that opened to a larger cave opening that seemed to go even deeper.

It was a brutal night as he as covered himself with as much frosted snow and he could in order to insulated himself as much as he could, but found no comfort in what little warmth he could get. During the night he could hear strange things in the darker part of the cave which kept him awake with an even deeper sense of dread than the cold. He heard strange moaning in the depths and a strange clattering which he could only describe as bones hitting each other. He winced and tried not to hear it. Morning came all too soon.

He slowly woke as the sun shone through the cave onto his shivering body. It proved little comfort as the hunger from the day before had grown even more fierce. He stepped out the cave shielding his eyes and again started to make his way south.

Every once and a while he would come across sticks and wood and was able to fashion a sword for his protection or for whatever animal he could find to butcher. Sadly the only animals he could find on his way were small chickens but was happy for any kind of food to eat. He found it hard to slaughter the small creature and the little food that it provided seemed to only make him hungrier and he progressed across this frozen wasteland.

After about 6 days of travel, the most he had on him was a couple rocks, some wood, and the patches of grass that he used as a blanket. On the seventh day, he found something interesting while he made his way over a hill that had a small tree growing at the crest. As he looked down the hill he saw two pumpkins next to a frozen pond. As strange a sight as it was, he grabbed the two pumpkins and found the nearest cave before the sun set.

He hollowed out the pumpkins, carved out crude faces with the sharpest rock he had and put them on bodies that me made of snow while he used some of the extra sticks he had to make their arms. As he looked at them, he felt a little comfort thinking that he had companions that could stand guard for him outside of his cave and keep him company on his journey. They were his snow warriors that could watch over him as he slept.

Another week past and Randytan had noticed that the weather had started to get warmer and more grass had started to appear around him. He had found a cow a couple days back and was able to use the leather as means of warmth and the meat had been more than enough to keep his hunger at bay. But his snowmen soldiers had not been suffering more and more. Each night he set them to their posts, the snow had been harder and harder to make for their bodies and one morning Randytan even found one of his soldiers next to a collapsed body with a pumpkin on a pile of snow.

Randytan had felt that his salvation was close at hand but as he looked towards the horizon he saw a large mountain looming in the distance. He looked at his two pumpkins that hung from his back, looked towards the summit, and started the climb. The climb was rigorous and the frost bit at his fingers as he climbed.

He was higher than he has ever been. He could see distances farther than he has ever seen before. He continued until his fingers were numb and toes were raw from climbing the rocks.

He had finally reached the top and he saw what he had been searching for over the weeks of travel and hunger that had afflicted him. Over the mountain laid a vast forest and bay than he could provide him with fertile ground and plentiful water that would provide enough food for him to survive.

As he reached the forest, he laid his pumpkins down, and started to collect as much wood that he could collect. As he was able to get what supplies he could, he looked back at his pumpkins and remembered the comfort and safety that the pumpkin soldiers had gave him as he huddled in the darkness waiting for the night to end. He grabbed his pumpkins and collected what seeds he could find.

He started to breed chickens for their eggs but didn’t harm any from his past experiences and found sugar cane from the adjacent bay to create pumpkin pies. From his two friends that had given him such comfort and safety, Randytan had used their seeds to grow a mass amount of pumpkins from their seeds. As he farmed the sugar cane and eggs, he was able to create pumpkin pies for as long as he could need. He would never fear being hungry ever again and had overcome his fear of heights and started to build towers around his forest as a way to farm more supplies for his pumpkin pies.