Swish, swish, swish, came the unmistakable tail of a particular furious feline.

Oh, but she wasn't feeling fighty today. More like... confused. Polaris was temperate most of the time-- sometimes there would be highs or lows, or someone casting magic rain into the air, but other than that? Relatively even.

That was why it baffled her when she woke up to nothing but white.

Twisted didn't even know what this snow was. The... thing was soft, and pale, and a little fluffy, like the texture of a baby mouse right after you kill it. Okay, a pretty gruesome metaphor, but those are the ones she understood best. She stuck a black paw into it, and immediately drew it back, cursing. This stuff was freezing! Who's idea was this?!

'Madhukar.'

Of course, in Twisted's mind, if something bad happened it must have come from Ms. Sparkle Kitty. Still, this seemed... odd. It wasn't in Mad's inventory to create snow, just lightning and rain. This had to be the work of someone else.

Well, no amount of ranting would get it to go away, so the siamese kitten figured she might as well explore it. The frosty winds blew in from the northern wall-- was there something there? Someone? It certainly was an intriguing mystery, and one Twisted wanted to solve. Hey, maybe if it was the latter, she could beat them up afterwards for making it so god-damn snowy.

Twisted steeled herself north, adolescent body bracing to take on the wind. Where she was right now it was only the faintest of breezes, but up ahead the flurry slowly thickened into a deep blizzard. This would take a lot of luck.

Well, the first part was easy-dandy. She skipped through the snow like a bouncing baby deer, completely oblivious to the happenings-- and gembound-- around her.

Twisted decided that she liked this "snow" thing. It was soft, fluffy, and easy to pass through. And yeah, it practically froze off her paws with every step she took, but hey, by this point she was quickly growing a tolerance to pain. She'd just have to power through it if she wanted to see what was at the end.

Soft flurries of snowflakes swirled past her and settled on her fur. It wasn't as bad as rain, but the kitten still shivered when it melted down into her fluff. Still, she pressed on. It was surprisingly easy, and Twisted vaguely wondered if she was going the wrong direction. Nah, she was just awesome. Like she always was.

But then something slipped from behind the snowbanks and caught Twisted by surprise. It was light-- no, dark, and giant, but at the same time swirling through the air like a butterfly. 'What?' The black-and-white kitten stopped and stared in bafflement. No, her eyes weren't fooling her: something was definitely there, obscured partially by the blinding white. Something interesting. It drifted through the air, slowly coming towards--

"Madhukar?!"

Oh fucking-- that snob-faced, vomit-colored, sparkly wretch was here?! And she was trekking towards the same place she was? Twisted's green eyes glared straight through the swirling flakes. The monsoon-bringer only brought livid wrath (and a bit of jealousy) to her mind. Stupid, stupid, stupid--

Oh wait, that strange entity was still there, right?

Well, she was gonna get it before Mad. Just to send a message.

A quick hiss-- "It's mine!"-- and the foul-mouthed feline came sprinting forward, lanky legs aiming to barrel over the strange object. Broken tail streaming, claws slightly outstretched, and emerald eyes aiming straight for the hunt. She wasn't giving up this shot.

She caught it! She caught it! And the thing Twisted caught was a... a feather. Oh. It was longer than her entire kitten body, a deep gray with golden tips. Was there a bird here? Were there even birds this large? Her head shot up and scanned the snowy air warily. There didn't seem to be any. Weird.

Oh wait, Madhukar was going ahead, wasn't she? Aw, come on! She was supposed to be impressed--- er, or jealous! Envious! But she was leaving without even a glare? What a bummer.

The siamese mix trotted forward, the feather shaft neatly held between her teeth. Her pawsteps were certain and her tail was held high-- well, as high as she could raise it. "Hey-- hey! Look at this feather," Twisted called forth. Her voice was still arrogant, but by this point she was a bit more interested in showing it off than starting another fight. She held it high, shaking it between her teeth a bit to get rid of the snow. "--'s big."

The snow was getting deep all around Twisted, and the kitten found herself falling into the footsteps of something greater. Big, flat divots in the snow, as if something had just been travelling this way. It, along with another set of alien prints, continued on to the north like an ominous trail. That was pretty interesting. What-- or who-- had come here?

Still, she had a reputation to maintain. With a harsh swish of her tail, Twisted splashed a little plume of snow towards the torbie. Just to annoy her. She challenged: "Hey, sparkles. Wanna bet I can reach the end of this before you?" Twisted shook the snow off her fur, and then sprinted forward without waiting for a reply. She stumbled a bit with a little "Eep!", but immediately picked herself on and kept powering forward. She wasn't going to show struggle in front of her enemy.

The cat pounded forward, feeling the snow and wind smack into her fur. Twisted was not a feline built for cold temperatures, and she winced as the cold bit at her paws with each step. Thankfully enough, those funny tracks provided slight protection from the storm, so she fell into their steps and powered on.

She hadn't heard Madhukar behind her this entire time. Weird. Still, she had a reputation to maintain. Even if this "reputation" was completely incoherent and bizarre to anyone but herself. Twisted kept her black head high, her crooked tail raised proudly, and powered on to the other side. She'd win this race, even if she wasn't sure Maddy was even partaking in it.

But alas, she was not strong enough for winter. The ground quickly became slick with ice, hisses penetrating the air as she struggled to maintain secure footing. A paw slipped and the kitten fell, completely vulnerable to the high wind and streaking blizzard.

Looks like neither of them were fit to finish this race.