My Big Brother Norway

To the Mountain

When you released Oslo from your second embrace, his ears and tail raised high flashing warning. Oslo swiftly swept you up with his antlers and flung you onto his back. When your body landed, he was already speeding out of the clearing; turning your head you saw a group of strange and mystic looking creatures pass through it.

Your eyes met with a pair of glowing yellow ones. The yellow eyes belonged to that of a mountain troll. Frightened you turned your head back around and leaned forward onto Oslo's back. 

When you and Oslo escaped from the forest he ran up a hill just outside the forest. The snow was up to his chest, causing you to go up the hill a little slower. After a few more steps you both reached the peak of the hill.

Both of you were breathing heavily causing moist breath clouds to spew from your mouths/nostrils. After you took a moment to catch your breath, you took in your surroundings. Turning your head slightly you noticed the lake you saw earlier. Pulling gently on Oslo's fur, you tried to get his attention. Oslo turned his head to you as you were pointing at the frozen lake.

Oslo snorted and ran off toward it. Jumping easily through the snow as you made it to the lake quickly. The morning rays reflected off of its smooth surface. When you stopped moving, you ended up at a side of the lake where there was just a thin layer of ice.

Rearing his hooves up Oslo thrusted them into the ice causing it to instantly break. But from his sudden movements you fell off of his back into the snow as he did so. Groaning from the landing you stood up and stumbled uneasily back over to Oslo. Looking at his desended head.

"Hey," you spoke out slightly annoyed. "You should warn me the next time you're gonna fling me off like that."

Oslo sheepishly looked at you and sort of grunted an apology. At least that's what you thought it was anyways. Smiling a bit you walked over and leaned against him.

"Even though I have no idea what you meant by that. I forgive you."

You got up, and moved away from his neck. Kneeling down you grabbed your bag again and started rummaging through it. Finding a wooden bowl, you took it out and scooped up some of the ice cold water.

Looking inside it you saw some floating ice chunks. Your mouth started to dry the longer you stared at it. So bringing the bowl up to your lips, you gulped down the cold liquid quickly. The refreshing feeling of the chilled water sliding down your throat felt like heaven, making you simultaneously shiver.

Exhaling in satisfaction you returned the bowl back to your bag and stood. You wiped your mouth gently with the back of your hand and walked over to Oslo. When you returned you mounted his back. When your body weight fully rested on him, he raised his head up from the water and began to trot off.

While you left the lake, your thoughts slipped back to the group of mystical creatures and the troll. As your thoughts wondered, you didn't notice that Oslo had stopped moving.

After a while Oslo grunted for your attention. When you didn't respond Oslo hit you on the head with one of his antlers. 

Rubbing your now sore head with your hands, you glared at him and released a muffled whined ",Why'd you do that?"

Oslo motioned his head forward and you looked to where he was pointing, and you were met with the sun shining off of the snow in the valley. Where in its center you saw a gigantic herd of caribou tearing up the snow. On the far side of the valley stood a single colossal mountain that bordered the valley.

The sight of the migrating caribou caused you to remember your mother's amazing caribou meal, which brought you a wave of hunger. Leaving your stomach growling at the mere thought of her delicious cooking.

Being raved with hunger you looked around to see if you could find any food, for both you and Oslo. Noticing a large patch of Lingonberry bushes you got a hold on one of Oslo's low hanging antlers and tugged on it slightly. He turned slightly towards you but turned it back to look at the mountains. Shrugging you jumped off of his back and walked down the hill and toward the berry bushes.

 Noticing that you weren't on his back anymore, Oslo looked around for where you had gone. Soon enough his eyes fell upon your retreating figure and he ran to catch up with you.

At the very bottom of the hill sat the delicious looking berries, causing you to speed up your pace. This startled Oslo behind you, making him lose his footing, and caused him to tumble down the rest of the hill.

While you continued to walk down the hill a speeding ball of fluff flew past you and land in the bushes. When you made it there, Oslo's head popped out. The sight of him caused you to start laughing. When your laughter calmed you began to pick some berries. Popping some in your mouth you looked at Oslo.

",If you wanted the berries so badly you should've just told me."
He just grunted and stumbled out of the bush with a few leaves and twigs sticking to his fur. Covering your mouth before you burst into another laughing fit. Oslo looked at you again making you quickly look away and return to berry picking. Walking over to you Oslo nudged your back with his head, almost pushing you over.

You turned around to face him with a hand full of delicious berries. But when you saw his face you couldn't hold in your laughter anymore and exploded.Confused by your laughter, Oslo decided to care nothing of it and only focusing on the berries that you were holding in your hands. As you laughed, the berries scattered onto the snowy ground. You didn't notice they were missing so Oslo took advantage and ate them. When your laughing fit settled you looked to your hands and found them empty.

Looking at the ground you couldn't see a single berry in sight. So you looked up at Oslo, and found his lips covered in a light purple dye. Deciding to dismiss the action, you continued to pick berries and Oslo started eating the berries that you left behind. Grabbing the bowl from your bag you had no trouble filling it.

Packing the bowl, you noticed that the sun was beginning to shift from mid-day. With your secured inside your bag, you extended that strap and was able to attached it onto Oslo's back with a saddlebag and mounted him.

He was a bit startled by the weight change again but adjusted easily. Gingerly grabbing the back of his antlers you gently turned them to the left. Oslo followed the direction and you both began heading across the expansive valley. The caribou had already passed through so you had an easier time crossing.

With a thick lush green forests a ways ahead of you, you suspected that you'd get there by nightfall. Even though you were making good progress, you wouldn't be able to get to the mountain until tomorrow. As you passed through the valley you had an uneasy feeling as if someone was waiting for you on the other side.