Which Do You Prefer, Hot or Cold?

There is a town named Fortuna that has a most unusual guardian. The guardian is a nineteen year old girl named Snjór White. She is a brave, yet kind, warrior who mainly relays on ice in battle. Not only can she conjure up icicles and launch them at opponents, she is also extremely agile and can fight for a long time. In her spare time, she enjoys ice hockey, ice cream, and snowball fights. Normally she's always on a constant vigil, never letting her guard down for anything bad, or out of the ordinary, thing to occur. However, she'll discover that some of the things she likes can get the better of her.


One winter morning after a snowball fight with her pet snow dragon, Aeron, Snjór felt a little rumble in her belly.

Snjór: *feels rumbling belly* "Boy, all that snowball fighting is making me hungry. I know, I'll have those ice cream sandwiches I made."

She got to her bag that contained her delicious desserts. But when she opened it, she discovered that there was nothing but crumbs.

Snjór: *turns to Aeron* "Aeron, did you eat my sandwiches?"

Aeron covered his face with his wings in shame.

Snjór: *smiles* "Don't be ashamed, boy. I know my treats are delicious, but you should've known that I didn't have enough for both of us. Now I'll have to get the ingredients all over again."

Suddenly, she remembered something.

Snjór: *remembers something* "What a minute. There's a new ice cream shop in town! We can get ice cream from there. *climbs up on Aeron* Come on, boy. I scream for ice cream!"

Aeron let out a mighty bellow and flew down the mountain with his owner in tow.


They reached Fortuna without any trouble in their way. Snjór leapt from the dragon's back and went to the new shop as fast as she could.

Snjór: *to Aeron as she ran to the shop* "I'll be back soon, Aeron. Just stay there."

Aeron shook his head and got comfortable.

Once inside the shop, Snjór could see all the flavors of ice cream the place had.

Snjór: *mouth watering* "Look at all those flavors. I can't decide what to pick!"

Just then, a young employee of the shop arrived.

Employee: "I see you're having trouble there."

Snjór: *sees the man* "Oh yes, sir!"

Employee: "Let me remedy that for you."


He soon brought up two containers, each containing a pint of ice cream. However the dessert looked quite different from the other flavors. This flavor had a bluish white coloring to it and made white smoke appear. The smoke looked like as if a person's breath appeared in the cold air. This meant that the ice cream was very cold indeed.

Snjór: *opens the lid on one of the containers* "Fascinating. What flavor is it?"

Employee: *grins* "It's my secret."

Snjór: "Okay, how much do I owe you?"

Employee: "Since you're the first one that is going to try it, I will make these free of charge."

Snjór: "Thank you, sir! I will be sure to enjoy it. Have a nice day." *leaves the shop with glee*

Employee: *smiles* "I hope you enjoy it."

Outside, Snjór ran up to her dragon friend.

Snjór: *runs up to Aeron* "Aeron, It's ice cream time!" *gets on Aeron*

Aeron roared and the two flew back to the mountain.


Once they reached the mountain, Snjór knew that it was time to eat! She opened the containers that were filled with ice cream.

Snjór: *after opening the containers* "What do you think, Aeron?"

Aeron sniffed the ice cream and snorted. He sensed that something wasn't right with the ice cream.

Snjór: *puzzled* "That's weird, I thought you liked ice cream. I guess because it's a new flavor and you don't want to try it yet. Oh well, I'll just save it for later." *puts a container away*

Normally his master would've known that something was wrong. However since she wanted to eat, hunger out weighed caution.

Snjór: *gets a spoon out* "It passed the smell test, now lets see if it can past the taste test."

She took a spoonful of the dessert and ate it.

Snjór: *after swallowing it* "Hey, this is delicious!" *continues eating*


So Snjór liked it so much, she continued to eat until the container was completely empty! Thankfully she ate her fill and was satisfied.

Snjór: *relaxed* "That was so good. I wonder what that flavor was."

So she took a closer look at the empty container and found that the flavor had no name on it!

Snjór: *confused* "Huh?"

Suddenly, her body felt very cold!

Snjór: *feels cold and curls in a ball* "Brrrrr!"

Then, she felt something fill up inside of her body. It was causing her body to expand into a spherical shape!

Snjór: *scared* "Help me!"

Aeron could only watch as his master was getting bigger and rounder before his very eyes! However after a few, intense minutes, she stopped swelling. Unfortunately, she was a big ball with a sunken head and limbs!

Snjór: *muffled* "EEEK! I'm a giant snow girl!"


Fortunately, her clothes were durable enough to cover the giant ball of a girl.

Snjór: *thinking* "It must be something in that ice cream. Looks like I'll have to pay him a vist. *muffled* Aeron!"

Aeron slowly approached his big, round master.

Snjór: *muffled* "We need to go back to the ice cream place and see why this ice cream has made me like this!"

Aeron nodded in approval, grabbed his master by the belly, and tried to lift her off the ground. Unfortunately for Aeron, Snjór was too heavy could barely hang on. Then Snjór had an idea.

Snjór: *muffled* "Aeron, push me down the mountain."

Aeron was unsure about the decision.

Snjór: *muffled* "I know it's risky, but it's the quickest way to Fortuna right now."

So Aeron put his fore legs on his master's back and waited for her to yell the signal.

Snjór: *muffled* "NOW!"


Aeron gave a big push and Snjór rolled down the mountain like a giant boulder! Aeron quickly flew to the bottom of the mountain and waited for his master. Once he saw her, he braced for impact. Due to the speed of Snjór's roll down the mountain, Aeron used all his might to prevent her from rolling through Fortuna. By the time Snjór stopped rolling, Fortuna was barely a few feet away from her! Both Snjór and Aeron gave a huge sigh of relief.

Snjór:*muffled* "That was close, Aeron."

Aeron nodded in agreement.

Snjór: *muffled* "Okay, boy. I want you to get that man out here so that I can talk to him in person. Obviously I can't get in the shop, because I'm too big."

Aeron shook his head and went into Fortuna to find the man. 

Snjór: *thinking* "I hope he has an answer for this problem."

Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone shouting for help.

Snjór: *thinking* "Sounds like Aeron found what we were looking for."


Sure enough, she was right. There, flying toward her, was Aeron with the man held by his talons.

Employee: *struggling* "Put me down, you beast! I have a shop to run."

Aeron growled at the man, showing him that he will drop him if he didn't cooperate.

Employee: *quietly* "Very well, forget what I said."

Aeron soon landed on the ground and let the man go to observe the giant snow girl.

Employee: "I don't understand it. *looks at Aeron* Why are you showing me this?"

Snjór: *annoyed and muffled* "Because you have some explaining to do!"

The man was shocked that the giant sphere shouted, but soon regained his composure when he recognized what it was wearing.

Employee: "Wait a minute, you look familiar. Although, *chuckles* It seems that you've gained a bit of weight since I last saw you."

Snjór: *angry and muffled* "I'm like this because of you! Why did you make me like this?!"


Suddenly, the man remembered something.

Employee: "Oh dear, this must be a side effect to the new flavor."

Snjór: *confused and muffled* "Huh, what are you talking about?"

Employee: "Allow me to explain. You see, I wanted to make the ultimate flavor of ice cream for the grand opening of my new shop. At the time, I couldn't think of a name for it."

Snjór: *muffled* "That must be why I didn't see any name tag on the containers I got."

Employee: "Yes and I'm terribly sorry for all this. I honestly had no idea that this would happen!" *begins to beg*

Snjór: *muffled* "You should've tested the flavor before releasing it. Now how do I get back to normal?" *shifts a little and makes a crackling sound*

Employee: *hears the sound* "Wait a minute." *puts his hands and head on Snjór's belly*

Snjór: *muffled* "Hey! What are you doing?"

Employee: "Listening. *removes his hands and head from her* It seems that you have hard snow inside of you."

Snjór: *muffled* "That must've been why I was able to roll down the mountain with ease."

Employee: "Yep and I believe I have just the sort of thing for that. Wait right here." *runs back into the shop*

Snjór: *confused and muffled* "I wonder what it could be."


In no time, the employee ran back to the spherical snow girl with a container filled with ice cream.

Employee: "If I'm right, this should help you." *opens the container*

The container had a reddish dessert with a smell that Aeron seemed to like. The red vapor of it soon went into Snjór's nose, but she was worried about it.

Snjór: *nervously and muffled* "Excuse me sir, but what flavor is it?"

Employee: *inspects the container* "It's another new flavor I made: spice cream."

Snjór: *in disgust and muffled* "SPICE CREAM?! EE-YUCKO!"

If there was one kind of food that Snjór hated the most, it would be anything hot and/or spicy. Not only does she hate hot food, she also has an intense fear of fire. Even the smell of smoke is enough to make her cringe. She would probably be the poster child of pyrophobia.

Employee: "I know it sounds bad to you, and probably a lot of people, but this is the only way you can be normal again."

Snjór: *gulps* "Well if it's to help me get back, then I'm afraid I have no choice in the matter." *rolls on her belly*  

The man took a spoonful of the red, steaming dessert and fed it to Snjór. She made a face of disgust as it turned red due to the heat, but she swallowed it. Just as the man was about to give her another spoonful, Snjór's belly turned red!

Snjór: *scared and muffled* "What's going on now?!"


Aeron and the man watched as Snjór's body was turning red. She was losing her spherical shape and getting a new sloshy one. After a few minutes, her body got it's normal coloring back. Only this time, she looked like a water balloon! She was having a hard time keeping her balance while in this form.

Employee: "It seems that the spoonful of spice cream was too much for the snow inside of you. I thought you'd have to eat the entire container to melt all of it."

Snjór: *trying to keep her balance* "Good to hear, but how do I get the water of out my body?"

Employee: "I think your dragon friend can help you with that. I bet if he gave you a big hug, you'll squirt the water out of your mouth like a water gun. However, we might have to turn you around so you don't flood the town."

Snjór: "That might work. Aeron, hug me!"

Aeron turned his master to an empty lake, grabbed her by the waist, and gave her a big hug. Just as the man said, the water shot out of her mouth like a water gun. The water filled up the lake all the way to the top, pleasing the people who live nearby. Once all the water was out of her body, Snjór was back to her old self.

Snjór: *relieved* "Thank you, Aeron. *looks at the man* Thank you, sir."

Employee: "Even after what I did, you still thanked me?"

Snjór: "Of course, I did. All you did was just an accident. Everyone makes mistakes. Just try not to sell that flavor into the market."

Employee: "You're right. I'll continue to work on it and make sure that everyone can enjoy it, without going what you went through."

Snjór: *giggles* "Yeah. By the way, my name's Snjór."

Employee: *surprised* "You're Snjór?! I've heard that you're a hero around these parts. It's quite an honor to meet you, albeit that it was awkward."

Snjór: *giggles* "It's alright. I have to go now. Come on, Aeron." *hops on Aeron*

Employee: "Goodbye, Snjór! I'll work hard on the flavor."

Snjór: "I bet you will, sir."

Employee: "Please, call me Monty."

Snjór: "Goodbye, Monty."

With that, the dragon let out a mighty roar and flew off into the mountain with his master in tow. All the while, Monty watched them until they were out of sight.

Monty: *thinking* "What a day this has been." 


During the summer, Monty finally perfected the formula for the ultimate flavor of ice cream. The flavor was a success and everyone enjoyed having it during the blistering heat. Though he had a lot of names for the flavor, only one name stood out. He named the flavor, "Snjór blast" after the hero of the town and the first one to try it.



The End