With nothing but snow as far as the eye can see I impatiently wait for the preparation period to end. As I am waiting I pull out my winter gear and put it on, immediately the cold stops bothering me. This time I get a message and a counter, the message is "Survive!" and the counter is five days.

Now just surviving in a frozen wasteland for five days isn't much of a test. So I am assuming that there is going to be more to it, after all this is the seventh test. Kneeling down I brush the snow away and clear an area, as I feared there is ice under the snow.

That means I am above a body of water, maybe a lake or ocean. It also means that I need to be wary of something coming up through the ice. First things first, I attempt to fly, but I find out that flight is restricted yet again.

Luckily, it seems gliding isn't restricted so at least I don't end up crashing into the snow. What I really want to do first is get off the ice and find shelter. So I make my best guess as to which way is south and start walking.

When I hear a boom and cracking sounds I immediately jump as high as I can and spread my wings. As I am gliding away a huge mouth comes up through the ice and snaps closed where I was standing. That is exactly why I want to get off the ice. I have watched too many monster movies to think the ice is safe.

As soon as my glide ends I take off running, but as I run I am listening intently. At the first sound of something happening under me I plan to jump and glide again. For right now that is my best chance of escaping whatever is hunting me from under the ice.

It should be hunting me through the vibrations of my footsteps, which are fairly heavy. As I run I am trying to think of a form that would be faster but still able to handle the cold. After all, it seems to be day now, although it is hard to tell with the clouds, so night will be much colder.

My first thought is a wooly mammoth, but that would be too heavy and might even crash through the ice. My next thought is a saber-tooth tiger, which should actually work just fine. Besides, I am fairly used to cat forms and shouldn't have any trouble using it to the fullest.

Once my mind is made up I start creating the image in my mind piece by piece. Cracking sounds from in front of me interrupt me as I am forced to jump and glide again. This time the mouth comes up where I would have been if I had kept running.

'Clever girl!'

Once again I build the image in my mind, trying to finish it before I reach the ground. Even though I have only seen the mouth, the fact that it was able to pass me even though I was running worries me. At this point as I finish the image I just have to hope it is going to be fast enough.

Form added: Black Saber-tooth Tiger!

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'Huh? Nothing special? Guess I was wrong!'

My timing was perfect, I shifted into the new form just as I reached the ground. As soon as my feet hit the ground I take off at twice my normal speed. Not only is the tiger form faster, its claws give it much better traction.

This form also has heat vision, I don't know if that is normal or not. While I know about saber-tooth tigers from various movies, I am certainly no expert. With the heat vision I am able to see the shadow of whatever is hunting me.

This means when it turns upwards to hit the ice I can change direction and avoid it fairly easily. It also means I can get a decent idea of its size, similar to a blue whale. Considering how big it is, all I can really do is keep dodging until it gives up.

At least that is the plan until I suddenly run out of ice, ahead of me is open water. This likely means I am on some kind of ice shelf, there might not be any solid land for me to hide on. Since just standing here is suicide I choose left and take off running again.

Considering the splashing and crunching sounds from behind me I moved just in time. I don't even bother looking back, I just run as fast as I can and watch for shadows. Maybe I should have gone north originally, the ice should be thicker towards the north.

Too late to think of that now, I just have to keep running and hope I can outlast this thing. After dodging two more attempts to eat me I am starting to think that it is about to give up. Just then the snow ahead of me suddenly starts moving as something stands up.

It turns out to be a lot of somethings, about two dozen, and they don't look friendly. In fact they are downright ugly, they have heads like seals, bodies like wolves, and tails like lizards. When they spot me they all let out roars and start charging towards me.

Normally I would just fight them, but if I stop for any length of time the thing underwater will try to eat me again. So instead of fighting them I turn and run north, with them chasing right behind me. Once I see how fast they are I slow down until they are right behind me.

When the ugly things are literally snapping at my heels I maintain my speed and stay just ahead of them. Then when I see the shadow of the big fish, or whatever it is, coming up ahead of me I act. I stop, spin in place, and jump back over the ugly things before they can react.

Once I land I freeze in place and do everything I can not to make a sound. The ugly things are gone, all that's left of them are a few blood splatters. I am hoping the big fish will be satisfied with its meal and not stick around to look for me.

Just to be safe I stand still for a full hour before daring to move, even then I try to move silently. When I don't see any shadow coming for me I turn back to the east and walk away, very quietly. Only after another hour without being attacked do I start to move faster.

When I check the timer I see that I still have four days and a few hours to go. By now the sun has set and it has gotten a lot colder, but the cold doesn't bother me in this form. Still, as I walk I am keeping an eye out for any type of shelter, but so far it is nothing but ice and snow.

If I could just get off the ice I would stop and make an attempt at building an igloo. However, as long as I am on the ice I don't dare to stop and try to sleep. If need be I can stay awake for the full five days, I would just prefer not to.

In the end I walk through the night and most of the next day before I finally spot something different. Off to the north I spot a higher area, so I turn and head that way. When I reach it I find that not only is it higher, but there is rock under the snow instead of ice.