Inspired by "What Happened During The Ice Storm" - By Jim Heynen

Memories are our greatest treasure.

In a world where position and power mean all the difference, memories are the thing that keep us grounded in true reality. It separates the notion of fact and fantasy, of lies and truth. It's the foundation that builds off our own personality and thoughts, that make us grow on our own as a human being. And while all the creatures that exist on this planet all share collective knowledge of simple ideas of survival, it's the personal moments and people we meet during our own existence that keeps us thinking fondly about the time we spent to get us somewhere we never thought we could reach before. It's those fond moments of reflection that make us realize the flaws and mistakes one once had, and it builds us onto the path of self improvement. Even when the opposite can be true, when the experiences made before haunt our soul, it's still a necessity for us to grow and change. To make us into something bigger then you ever thought to be. In a way, memories can be it's own teacher that paves the way toward a better future for us.

No matter who it is, memories define one's soul. It defines who they were and who they've since become. What they strive for comes from the past, and that past was filled with influences to help them become stronger. Motivate them even further to achieve their goals. So what happens when one loses the memories they've spent so long building? Do they lose themselves? Become lost of their greater purpose? Do their past mistakes no longer matter since it's been erased from their collective mind? Is it even possible to regain such memories that have built us in the first place?

It's a question that's so profound, so important, that one can never truly get an answer unless it's searched for ruthlessly. Days and nights locked away, researching, studying, collecting. Multiple expeditions and experiments to answer a question plaguing scientist minds. Or rather, plaguing human minds. For what happens when someone you care about barely remembers you? Your existence is nothing then a passing thought in the darkest corner of their brain. Always forgotten, never remembered. It's a chilling thought to think, especially when the strong bond you formed with them fades into nothing. The cold winter nights you've shared. The jokes you used to tell. All gone like a fading candle light. Maybe then, once you've vanished from their mind, you realize you never really existed to them.

The strongest case of this could be found with the gloriously popular Great Raven. The god who appears once every year above the skies of Trolberg to bask the city in his presence. Such a powerful being like him, to live for thousands of years. A lifespan that long is sure to come with many personal moments. Some even longer then before he ever made it to Trolberg. Long before he even met Hilda and her friends. Imagine the experiences he went through. The things he's seen. The lessons he's learned. The memories he's made are sure to stick forever in him. Right? A god like him could never lose such important truths.

Yet on the day of the most recent Bird Parade, where a simple rock was thrown as a joke, Raven's memories were suddenly and effectively cut away forever. And while some would argue he recollected them once Hilda revealed his identity, there are some parts of the mind that can never be returned. Some memories that are sadly locked away. Despite the growing bonds he's made before Trolberg, some have since faded from his mind. The people he's met before are gone. Only a few stick in his brain as he traverses the world, learning new things. A few have impacted him heavily like Hilda. Some have made little impression like Victoria.

But he's since forgotten those cold winter days, when a boy saved his life from the chilling cold. It wasn't years, or even decades, but instead centuries when Raven met the boy. Yes, it's been so long since it's be recounted. He might've forgotten it that day when the rock struck him, but it still exists in reality. The day when he almost died in the icy fields.

Raven has had many close calls before. Some almost resulting in his death. When you're a large target like a thunder bird, mistakes and attacks can happen often. Yet Raven took great care to avoid these as much as possible. He never much cared for confrontation, and whenever he was forced into one, he did his best to flee. And at a last resort to fight back if the dangers proved to big for him. But he always managed to escape without that many injuries. If anything, the opponents facing him had a lot more trouble taking him on. They would mostly either end up retreating or becoming to weak to fight due to his powers. Because of this, Raven didn't have to worry so much about anyone attacking him. Nothing was ruthless enough.

But then the day came when the skies were clouded with white, and snow fell through the air like speeding rain drops. Wind crashed into mountains with such force that rock was lifted away in nothing. Trees swayed violently. Sticks became glazed like glass and then broke like glass. Birds flied away in panic from the roaring sound. Humans shut their doors and locked the windows. And critters scattered along the forest floor in an attempt to find a secured shelter of warmth.

The Great Raven himself was no such exception to this.

Finding himself in the deadly storm, Raven realized his grave mistake and found himself quickly landing inside a freezing cave to avoid the worst effects. Of course, the storms power was enough to shoot inside the mouth of the cave and cycle around it's rocky insides, freezing the walls with glimmering ice. He realized it wouldn't be very smart to stay in the middle of a raging ice storm like that, so he transformed into his normal form and attempted to fly above the clouds. That way, the storm wouldn't even be able reach him.

But of course, turning into such a large form meant becoming easily seen. And sure enough, a bold farmer attempting to save his animals saw such a shadow rising above the forest. Fearing it was a giant, he quickly took out his rifle and shot into the air to warn others farmers into the area. This quickly brought the attention of Raven, and every single other farmer in the area. Seeing his large shadow through the clouds, the farmers acting out of paranoia and fear, started shooting continuously at him. This was a situation Raven had never found himself in before, as humans never really bothered him. But with the strange power of the ice storm and the huge terrifying figure of the Raven, the farmers quickly used their deduction that big equaled bad and shot wordlessly into the sky.

Somehow despite the blurred fog and snow blocking their view, the bullets began to strike him. Two bullets penetrated through his left wing, and one struck itself right into his chest. This wouldn't usually be such a problem since he was so big, but he had never been shot before. Thus, he didn't know about the pain that would come spreading itself upon him. Terrified and confused about what was happening, he started wildly flapping away in an attempt to escape the range of the bullets. But of course, the farmers were ruthless in their attacks. Two more bullets shot through his back. And that's when he plummeted toward the white Earth.

The landing was harsh, and the environment did him no favors in softening the blow. He crashed painfully into the side of huge trees, sticks plunging into him as he spiraled into the snow. Bark flew, trees snapped, and the sound of a booming crash over came him as he landed into the frozen river bank. The water damped his black feathers, burning into him like fire from the effects of the freezing air. Blood gushed out of his wounds. His eyes started to close. He had become so tired from what just had transpired.

However, even in the situation, he knew he had to flee. His feathers were mushed and wet from the burning water. Multiple wounds spread pain all over his body. He was stuck in such a massive form that anyone could find him easily. Especially those farmers, who Raven could hear approaching. Flying away was not an option, which meant that his only choice was to hide away.

With a painful limp in his step, Raven began to hobble away from the crash site and search for somewhere warm. But everywhere he turned he found nothing but snow. Snow on the trees. Snow in the caves. Snow in random mounds. There was no where to hide, and the farmers wrapped up in layers of winter clothes were catching up to him easily. He started to hop away now, wrapping his wings around himself as he attempted to hide. He quickly found a rock and began to hide behind it. He was cold, dazed from the impact of his recent crash. He wasn't even thinking straight at the moment. He had to get away. The memories he had of what humans were like had not prepared him for this.

The only thing he had going for him was his massive size. He was currently disguised as a small bird, but he could easily switch back to his large thunder bird form. He could easily scare the farmers with his lighting and size alone. And that's exactly what he did. Using methods from his past experiences, he started to hide behind some trees. And then when the farmers finally came with their pointed rifles and angry shouts, he quickly whipped back into his large form. His wings spread wide, lighting erupting into the sky. He let out a terrifying bird like screech that was so loud even gods would fear it.

It was enough to horrify the farmers, who's screams echoed through the frozen trees as they ran back home.

He sighed after the deed was done and quickly transformed back into his smaller form. Despite his slight regret frightening the farmers, his biggest danger was now gone. But now that came with a whole new set of problems to deal with. The blood from his wounds were pouring out of him, staining the snow in gleaming crimson. He was lost, and hurt, and so damn tired. Where would he go from here? He had no idea. He had no memory of the area, and all he could do was continue to hobble in the freezing cold to hopefully come across shelter.

The ice storm began to lessen in power, but that didn't mean the damage hadn't been done. Trees had died. The sky was clouded. All of this confused Raven even more. He was used to sunny days where he could fly without worry, looking down on the glowing land where animals would play around in. He even took a few trips there himself, landing on branches and looking for shiny things to fuel his bird needs. But everything was different. The snow was glowing. The trees were glowing. Everything was glowing so brightly that he felt like he was becoming blind. He had to get out of the forest, find someplace to heal before he could leave this area forever.

He had no idea he was currently in the country side where houses were few and far between. Animals native to the knew there way around storms like these, which were commonly shown to Raven as he made his way through the forest. He watched as a family of foxes curled up tightly in the open snow, their thick warm coats and big bushy tails protecting them from the harsh environment. A little further into the woods he would see a Woffs flying overhead, avoiding the worst of the storm by making their way above the clouds. Birds of all colors perched on branches and snuggled with one another, generating warmth from their dry feathers.

Most animals were safe. But not Raven. He could feel his own eyes starting to freeze shut. He couldn't couldn't transform into his normal self. He feathers were damp. He was wounded. All these factors culminated into an intense despair within him as he climbed up the snow banks into a pure white field. Things around him were shining and dripping with icy rain. Branches. Leaves. Even his own feathers. He had never seen such beauty in something so deadly.

Eventually in the icy fields he came upon a blurred sight. A home. Standing tall an proud in the field with lights shining inside. It was clearly lived in, but Raven didn't seem to care. The amount of frozen bushes by the fence was what caught his attention. A semi decent spot to hide and warm up until the storm calmed down. Then he could transform and leave this place. But before he could make his way over he froze up. One of the farmers from before was walking toward the house, his rifle held tight in hand, yelling and ordering someone inside. It struck fear in Raven for just a moment that he never felt before. But then the man went inside, and relief overtook him instead.

He hobbled his way to the fence, seeing dark spots along the way. His vision was fading. He could feel his life draining away from the bullets that had struck him. The cold around him though numbed his senses, distracting Raven from realizing how bad his injuries really were. Everything burned. His wings felt broken. It was all he could do to make his way into the bushes and hide there.

The cluttered leaves offered him some heat, but that was the most it could do. It was still freezing out, and Raven was still shivering from his fall in the river. All of this thanks to a couple of humans. He had never had any bad memories involving them before. No awful encounters. But this was by far the worst one he's ever been through. He hadn't known humans could be this cruel. This ignorant and ruthless. It almost made him angry at them, but he couldn't do that. He'd known he scared them with his presence. He couldn't blame them for freaking out. And yet, he still was mad. And tired. And hurt.

He could hear laughter now. This made him curious, causing him to peer through the bushes to see other farmers skating around clubbing helpless birds in roadside ditches. He didn't know what species those birds were, but he knew that they were being killed before his very eyes. Taken by farmers and shoved into sacks. He was confused by their actions, but also scared. This was the worst situation he'd ever been in before. Bleeding. Tired. Seeing humans for what they truly were.

Before he thought nothing of them. But now he could feel a growing fear from seeing them alone. It caused him to slink further into the bushes and lower his head between his wings, shivering in cold. His wounds were freezing now, the blood running down his feathers turning into ice. He was shaking, both from fear and pain. He couldn't transform and fly away. He once could fly, but now he was stuck on the ground hiding who knows where. He hated walking. He always enjoyed seeing things from a higher perspective. But now he was stuck, wishing the farmers would go away.

They eventually did, but nothing could prepare Raven for what would come out after those words.

He watched as the farmers went inside their homes, clutching sacks of birds ripe for cooking. But as he watched them return home, he faintly could see a short boy looking out the window of the home he was hiding near. He looked left and right, and then opened the ice filtered window, hopping out and landing into the snow. His black boots helped the boy steady himself as he suddenly started approaching the fence, his hands tugging onto his brown plaid cape. He had wild brown hair, escaping from a tight fitted newsboy cap on his head. He wore what Raven could only depict as city clothes he saw from other humans, complete with a buttoned up vest and bow tie. Even in Raven's wounded state, he could tell the boy looked out of place against his surroundings.

The boy was shivering just like Raven, but he could tell with the cape he had was blocking the worst of the cold Raven was feeling, Despite that though, Raven silently begged in his mind that the boy wouldn't come anywhere near his hiding spot.

It was useless.

The boy started approaching the area he was hiding, carefully sliding down the ice covered snow to approach even closer. This caused Raven to slink back even further into the bushes, watching as the boy suddenly started rummaging through the leaves. He must've been looking for something, but what it was Raven didn't know. He had come from one of the farmers homes, so he assumed that the boy had the same intent as the farmers to harm him. However, he couldn't transform to scare the boy away. All he could so was hope he would grow bored and leave him alone to heal in peace.

The boy quickly found him, crouching down to meet his eye. The moment he saw him, the boy let out a small gasp, seeming more surprised than Raven at his sudden discovery. The boy stood still in the icy rain, his breath coming out in slow puffs of steam. Raven's breath came out in quick little white puffs from fear of potential capture. He couldn't transform because of his wounds, so all he could do was watch as the boy slowly reached out for him.

Raven winced and backed away when the hand got to close, causing the boy to retreat just a bit in response. It was only then when Raven saw that the boy had not brought clubs, or rifles, or anything else but himself. Confused and a bit skeptical, Raven looked at the boy, who appeared even more afraid then him. He could now see that he was wearing glasses, which were quickly freezing up from the cold. The longer he stayed out here, the worse his condition would be. So why was the boy standing there?

They stared at each other for the longest time as the rain fell around them, Raven wondering what was going to happen. He could feel his blood leaving him, his soul leaving from him. It was so cold that Raven couldn't even be bothered to care about the boy anymore. He just started to let his eyes close. Letting his soul finally leave him.

And that's when it happened.

Suddenly, the boy took off his small cape and wrapped it around Raven like a blanket. This surprised the thunder bird so much that he almost backed away before the boy could finish positioning it. The last thing Raven thought the boy would do was help him in some way, and yet that was exactly what he was doing, fixing up the cape in such a way that an immense amount of warmth started heating up his frozen feathers. This strange gesture of kindness confused Raven after everything that just transpired, making him barely notice the over-sized newsboy cap being placed onto his head. Both warmed him up significantly.

The boy no longer protected from the elements started to shake violently, but he still somehow managed to produce a smile that warmed up Raven's heart. Even from the gunshot wounds in his chest, he couldn't help but feel calm now that he was warm. As long as he could get himself warmed up, he could transform again. But now even that faded away from memory. The boy that just helped him, despite the circumstances, was smiling at him. And that's all Raven cared about.

And that's suddenly when he did the most peculiar thing. He started to smile back. He had never had an interaction like this before, so he wasn't sure if he should speak or not. But he felt like he could respond well enough with a simple smile back. Sure enough, the boy stepped back in surprise from this, but then found himself quickly looking at Raven in a sort of awe.

After everything that happened, he couldn't be more grateful for what the boy did.

A booming voice echoed in the field, calling the boys name, William. This quickly stopped the small moment between them from preceding any further. The boy looked back in shock, and then toward Raven once again. Even without words, he could tell that the boy was worried about him, and that this was probably the last time he would see him ever again, but he couldn't help but cherish this small moment between them. And because of that, he slightly nodded to give the boy the okay to go home. Almost as if he was saying, it's okay, i'll be fine now.

With the notion he would be okay, the boy waved goodbye and clumsily ran back to the house, ending the quick moment between them forever. Yet Raven felt as if he would remember it for a long time as the snow started to vanish, and the warmth of the cape started to encase snugly around him.

That happened centuries ago. After the storm he quickly healed thanks to the warmth from the cape and flew away into the strange unknown lands with a new memory. He had forgotten that memory though ever since that rock struck him in the head. The memories of the pain, cold, and strange hope he felt when the boy and him met each other. Some might call it a blessing that the memory never came back to him. That he was able to create fond, new memories with Hilda in Trolberg with the identity of the Great Raven. But even in the worst of times, lessons are to be learned. And what Raven learned that day very much changed his indifferent opinions on humans ever since.

The kindness the boy showed him saved his life, and on some days when Raven is flying over the parade filled with cheers of citizens and friends, he can't help but faintly remember a time when cold and warmth mixed into one, bringing two unlikely souls together to share a memory of comfort.