You were starting to lost hope. Not a single sign of life except for the sound of the chattering of your own teeth.That was when you saw it: it made you jumped for joy. From afar, you could see the shape of a house. You could see light from what you assumed to be a window.
You took yourself into a final sprint. At least your legs were willing to abide to this command. Within what felt like a eternity, you found yourself staring at a door with a snowflake engraved at the centre. Odd.
You dismissed the queerness and held up a fist. Knock, knock.
Patiently you waited for an answer, but there was none. You sighed, and knocked again.
Knock, knock, knock. You waited again, but the result was the same. You were on the verge of smashing the door to smithereens with your cold, bare fists, when the door opened. You knew there was a person, but the blinding blizzard made it hard for you to see.
The person stepped aside, and you took it as a gesture for you to enter. And so you did. The person closed the door, and warmth greeted you like a mother cat who had lost her kitten but found it again. All the stiffness in your muscles seemed to melt away, and your legs sang for joy. You lowered the hood of your snow-covered cloak, and turned around to thank the person. 'Thanks-'
What you saw surprised you. The girl was young, about 17 with long, straight snow-white hair that ended just beneath her chest-level. Her lilac eyes greeted you with a hint of mystery, and a sense of chilliness as cold as the blizzard you had just experienced, if not colder. She was unusually pale, and stood at about 1.63 centimetres with a slim and fit build.
You stared at her, and she regarded you with nothing more than a silent gaze before walking off. You stayed there, dumbfounded.
And you remained standing there until she returned, holding a tray food in one hand and a teapot in another, She sat herself down on a red velvet armchair, setting up the teacups. 'I thought that the cold would not have damaged you to the point of not being able to yourself down as I fetched refreshments.' she spoke in a clear and reserved voice. Though there was an obvious coldness to her voice, somehow you knew to not take it personally. You slowly made your way over to the armchair opposite her, trying in vain to dust the snow off your cloak.
'Thank you... um...' you trailed off as you received the hot cup of tea, struggling with a name to call this person by.
'Snowflake.'
You took a sip from the cup. 'I'm ______. I appreciate your hospitality, Snowflake.' You could feel yourself warming up almost instantly. 'It's exceptionally cold for this time of the year.'
Snowflake gave a polite nod. 'Not many dare to venture out into these mountains. The blizzards are strong.'
'Actually,' you stated as you took a bite out of the hot chocolate cake she offered you, 'I was sent here to investigate something.' You swallowed the sweet mound of deliciousness. 'The Council was informed of unusually strong blizzards occurring for the past few nights.'
'Mmhmm?'
'They sent me here to investigate the cause, and hopefully with the information I find, they can find a way to stop this.' You leaned back onto the armchair. 'I wonder what's causing this monstrosity.'
'This monstrosity is my security system.'
You sit up straight and stared at Snowflake, taken aback. 'Pardon me?'
'Wild creatures come out at night, looking for food. There have been many incidents where my cottage was almost damaged beyond repair. So I set the blizzard as my security.' Her nonchalant way of replying made you confused and... to be honest, a bit nervous.
'Can you explain further?' you asked, warily. She smiled at you, and you instantly felt shivers running down your spine. She was a beautiful girl for her age, no doubt... but her smile was cold beyond measure.
'I suppose you've heard rumours about people who spit fire, dance with water and fly above the wind?' she inquired. You nodded. There were many rumours from the city you came from, and one of them was what you thought to be a tall tale about people who wielded power beyond human nature.
The pale girl glanced at your cloak, and the snow immediately flew up into the air, and gradually disappeared. You gaped at her, and then at the now-clean cloak. You were about to say something, when she spoke up.
'I assume this is a lot to take in,' she pointed out, getting up and heading towards one of her bookshelves. She looked over the spines, and, carefully, slid one out of its place. She came back and sat down. 'Why not a little story?'
You were speechless. One moment she removed snow from your cloak with a thought, and now she was asking you to read something.
'It's not a very fun-filled life up here all by yourself, so in my spare time I write.' She handed you the white book. A Collection of Stories by Snowflake, the big, lilac letters read.
You were about to flip to the very first page when you heard ringing. Reaching into your cloak pocket, you pulled out the alarm. Oh dear, looked like you had to return to the Council for the report.
'I see you have to go.' She took the book from your hands. 'Perhaps you can come back when you have the time.'
'But-' You struggled to find the words. 'You haven't explained to me about-'
She smiled again. Though it was warmer this time, it still held a sense of mystery to it. 'Let's make a deal, shall we?'
That struck an even greater interest. 'A deal?'
'Every time you come back and finish a story, I'll tell you a bit more about myself, if that's alright with you.'
You grinned. 'Sure.' You started to put on your cloak.
'No.' You looked to her, surprised at her sudden prohibition. She headed towards the door, and you followed.
The moment the door opened, the gust of cold wind that you expected to hit never came. You looked around. There was a blanket of snow over the fields, but the blizzard was gone. It wasn't too cold, either. You gaped at Snowflake for the second time that day. She smiled, and this time it felt warm, without hints of mystery or chill. 'I suppose that I can tone down with the security. That is, until you get far enough from this area.
You returned her smile with the biggest you could manage. You bid her farewell, and promised to return as soon as possible.
As you made your way across the snow blanket, you thought about what you would say to the Council.
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Hello, this is my very first collection of stories here in the parlour
. Thank you for taking the time to read this, it really means a lot to me to have people actually taking time to read what I wrote 
Critiques and comments will be very much appreciated! I hope I can improve on my writing with the help of you all
Once again, I would like to say thank you for reading this, and I hope you'll stick around!