Chapter 37: The Blue Rabbit

Finally, the patrol made it to the bottom of the hill. Ash was colder than ever. He felt like his paws would freeze to ice.
It was so cloudy, all Ash could see of Mt. Ice was a black figure. He couldn't see any details.
"It's ch-chilly!" Charlotte gasped.
"Yeah," Dust agreed. He huddled up with Rusty for warmth.
The patrol headed for Mt. Ice. Airia was least cold. Ash could tell she was a little cold, but she didn't look as cold as the others.
"C-Come on," Fan's beak chattered. The patrol headed towards Mt. Ice.
Once they got near it, Ash marveled at how tall it was. It was way in the sky.
Something crunched behind Ash. He whipped around. When he did, he saw nothing, however.
They began to hike up the mountain. The snow was chilly under Ash's underbelly. Charlotte climbed on his right side, and Rusty and Dust climbed on his left side. Fan was gliding up the mountain, Creature was climbing behind Ash, Stone was ahead of the patrol, Airia was flying up Mt. Ice with Slice on her back.
"Why does S-Slice get to be c-carried?" Dust protested.
"Because as a Firebenders, she's very sensitive to snow," Creature explained, "so Airia volunteered to carry her up Mt. Ice."
Ash nodded. It made sense - if Firebenders lived near a volcano where it was hot, the cold shock would startle Slice.
As the patrol climbed further, they spotted a cave. It was big, and by the smell, nothing was in it.
"Why are we climbing up Mt. Ice? C-Can't we j-just continue the short way?" Rusty wondered aloud.
"Because we need shelter for the night," Ash answered.
"Mm," Dust nodded.
The patrol finally made it into the cave. It was warmer than the mountain was. Ash thought he heard pawsteps behind him, but once again, nothing was there.
When Slice entered, she created a fire to warm them up. For the first time in the journey towards Mt. Ice, Ash felt warm.
When he sniffed the air, Ash could smell a rabbit. He was confused.
"Why do I smell rabbit?" He asked Fan.
Fan started thinking. Then, she looked at Ash. "I just remembered! A-"
"Hello," said a voice.
The patrol turned around. By the wall was a blue bunny. He had metal gloves and a weird stick with fuzz on the ends. The fuzz-ends were on his ears.
"Who are you?" Dust asked.
"My name is Masang," the bunny nodded.
"And what's that...that fuzz on your ears?" Ash asked. Seeing a rabbit, he felt the urge to pounce on it and eat it.
"Humans call it 'earmuffs'. It keeps your ears from getting too cold," Masang explained. "Humans dropped them on the snow, so I grabbed them and put them on."
"Lucky," Rusty mumbled.
"No, you're lucky," Masang sighed. "I want to live in The Bending Tower. But Goldwing said I couldn't."
"What?" Ash gasped. Goldwing would never be so mean. "Why did Goldwing say no?"
"Because," Masang began, "there are too many predators there. I'd be a wolf if I could. But I was born a rabbit. So Goldwing said I couldn't stay because of too many predators."
"Well, it's kinda good..." Charlotte said, "because we would've eaten you in no time flat."
Masang looked at her. "You guys aren't eating me now!"
Rusty sort of looked like he was having some sort of seizure. "You have no idea what I'm going through to not pounce on you and eat you!"
Masang grew wide-eyed. "Er, I'm going to be on the far end of the cave..." with that, he hopped away.

Author's Note:
Masang belongs to Greenmax. Thanks for your character, Greenmax! Sorry I had to have you wait so long.