The chilled air was quiet with just the low whistling of wind through the trees of the Everwhite Forest. Glistening white snow covered everything in a thick white blanket.

Scratching. A tiny pink nose broke through the dirt and snow and stuck up out of the snow, sniffing the rolling winds to make sure that all is clear to return to the surface. The nose lifted further and behind it was a thin, white mouse. It wore a cloth cape and hood and also had a small pack strapped to its back. The mouse continued to dig itself out until it was completely free from the dirt and snow and then crawled out. It stood on its hind legs, twisting round to check the ground around it. There were large paw prints in the snow. Lots of paw prints that led along a trail guided by stone walls along the way to a frozen river.

“Are they gone now, mummy?” A high-pitched voice squeaked from the hole. A smaller mouse poked its head out. It too wore a cape and hood.

“Keep down, Mavis!” The mother mouse hissed, gesturing with one of her paws for the little mouse to get back down into the hole.

“Mythril! Would you just calm down for a minute!” An old female mouse said from deep in the hole. “Being so jumpy won't get us home!”

“Mother!” The scrawny white mouse helped the elderly mouse out of the hole. The elderly mouse was wrapped in thick sheets of wool clothes and she carried a small twig to support herself. Mavis climbed out after followed by one last mouse. This mouse was just as small as Mavis but has slightly ruffled, grey fur and a black cloak, Mackerel.

“Now let's get home, Mythril, before I catch my death of cold!” The elderly mouse began shuffling through the snow. The children following close behind.

Mythril rushed to take the lead again and they began walking towards the river.

“Should we be going to where the wolves went?” Mackerel asked.

“This is the way home. Now come along” Mythril said, keeping her head forward.

As they drew closer to the river, they noticed a decrepit wooden bridge that spanned the river. From what they could tell, the bridge was made from two wooden planks that were black and rotten.

Once they got to the bridge the others looked at Mythril with a concerned look on their faces.

The children's whiskers twitched in agitation.

Mythril could feel that they were waiting on her to take the first steps on the bridge. Which now seemed much longer than it was before. But she was confident that it could hold them. They were small mice after all.

Mythril stepped onto the bridge. Making it a few steps before turning to the others and gesturing for them to follow. They did. The old mouse walked towards Mythril, her twig cane tapping on the surface of the bridge planks with each other step. The children shuffled cautiously behind her.

There was the crunching of snow as something big moved near, then there was growling.

The mice stopped suddenly and stared at something at the other end of the bridge.

Mythril looked through the corner of her eye to see what it was, but she dared not make a sudden move, or even turn around to face it.

It was a large, grey wolf. Covered in fresh scars and bite marks along its body.

“ 'ello there little mice.” It said with a raspy voice. The wolf crept closer, fixated on the mice, it hardly noticed that the wood began to bend slightly as it came to the centre of the bridge.

“The boys thought that I was no use. But bringing you all back will earn me a spot back with them.”

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Mythril slowly moved the others back to the start of the bridge.

The wolf leaned back, getting ready to pounce upon them.

Mythril took a deep breath before shouting “Run!”

Mavis and Mackerel didn't hesitate to turn tail and dash to safe ground, but the old mouse couldn't move as fast, even with Mythril pushing and pulling her.

The wolf leapt up high to pounce on the mice and the bridge snapped in two as it kicked off.

Mythril and her mother to thrown into the air.

One of the broken planks smacked the wolf and sent it back down and through the frozen river. Shattering the thin ice.

Mythril and her mother fell in after it. SPLASH! into the freezing cold waters.

The old mouse could hardly move let alone swim. Her old joints wouldn't get her up to the surface and so she began sinking.

The wolf sank into the depths of the river, unconscious after being hit by the plank, it seemed unnaturally still as it laid on the river bed.

Mythril grabbed her mother by her coat and with as much strength as she could muster brought her to the surface. The two made it back onto the river bank on the side where they came from, though Mythril had to drag the old mouse who was shivering in her soaked clothes.

“Mother!” Mythril called to the old mouse, holding her in her arms, lightly shaking her to keep her awake.

Her mother suddenly stopped shivering. She pulled a cold, soaked paw to Mythril's cheek.

For a moment she was quiet, struggling to breathe in, finally she spoke. “I remember when you were young. You were so carefree.” From a pocket in her clothes, she pulled out a small chain bracelet with a bright blue, glassy gem in it and placed it in one of Mythril's hands. “Please. Keep this safe.”

“Mum. Stop it. You'll be all right.” Mythril choked. “We're almost at our new home.”

Her mother's arm went limp. Her entire body became heavy and she exhaled one last breath. “Mum? Mother? Mum!” Mythril wept. She held her mother's body close.

Soon her children walked up to her. Unsure of what to do and still caught in the tension on the bridge.

“Mum?” Mavis said.

“I- I'll be fine, Mavis. Just give me a moment.” Mythril replied.

It was a short funeral. Mythril only covered her mother in the snow around the bank. Then the mice had to carry on in their short but quiet journey. arriving at an old village by evening time.

The village once belonged to humans, the mice made use of it now.

In one of the houses was an entrance. A hole in the front door which orange light peeked through.

Past the entrance, was a town that housed the population of mice. A huge network of stacked boxes and tin cans that filled a single human sized cabin. There was also a tall tower that dwarfed surrounding buildings. It was well built with details that looked like it was constructed with utmost care.

For security there was a giant plank that a rope team would lower onto two hooks behind the door to keep it sealed shut. There was also a stone that would be rolled in front of the mouse-hole.

The population was bustling. The mice seemed content with their current life. They ran to and fro. Most of them looked like they were moving into their new homes.

Two guards stood watch at the entrance of the mouse town. They had thimble helmets and leather tunics torn from old coats. They held spears made from pins attached to thin paint-brush handles.

One of the mice had brown fur and the other had white fur.

“Good evening ma'am.” The mouse with brown fur said to Mythril.

“Hello.” She replied. “Is Pyrite here?”

“You must be Mythril.”

“I am.”

“I'll go find him. He has been waiting for a while now.” The brown mouse ran off to an old lockbox that had been converted into a barrack. Another white mouse in a black leather vest paced in front of the barrack. The brown mouse guard spoke briefly to him. The mouse in the vest turned to Mythril and ran to her, stopping when he had his arms around her in a tight hug. “Sister! You're finally here!” Pyrite said.