Her Heart or His Desire

The Mountain Hike

(Keegan P.O.V.)

Mandy shadowed me and pouted most of the day as I packed what I was going to need for my trip up the mountain. Since no one had been up there in centuries, there was no clear answer to how long the journey would take. Even looking through the journal I was given, it didn't give any clear answers and the best guess I could make was that it would be safest to pack at least a week's worth of provisions. According to Mr. Damond there should still be an intact outpost a few days into my journey to safely rest and resupply if need be.

By the time the sun had started to set, I was packed and ready to go. Come first light, I would be starting a journey that there was no coming back from and would hopefully help me feel whole again. Mr. Damond and Nana were positive that once I reached my family's lair, my memories would come back almost instantly. Their theory was that since they were magically removed, being back home would, in theory, also place them back where they belong.

It was an exhausting day of packing and trying to convince Mady that this was home too and once I got my memories back, I would be back. Once she had finally accepted that, we read an hour's worth of books till she finally fell asleep and I could sneak out and collapse from exhaustion in my own bed.

It didn't take long for the darkness of sleep to envelop me and whisk me away to a snowy peak. I was beginning to recognize this place as home. It made me feel safe and protected like a child in a mother's warm embrace.

As I walked deeper into the mountain's caverns, the walls and ground began to vibrate softly. I slowed my footsteps and the sound of the ice crunching beneath my feet felt like it had suddenly gotten louder rather than softer.

When I finally turned the corner, lying elbow deep in the snow lapping up water from a pool of water, it was the largest wolf I am sure I have ever seen. If it wasn't for the silver sheen, I would never have seen her.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously.

She stopped, her ears suddenly perked up and turned to face me.

My chest suddenly felt constricted as the air was pushed out of my lungs. Her eyes, the color of two soft gold pearls, had suddenly held me captive.

"Hello," she said, her voice just as soft and gentle as her eyes, "Are you what keeps calling us here?" she asked, flashing an image of a young woman into my subconscious.

She had the body of a goddess, full hips and breast to match with deep garnet-colored hair that brushed past her shoulders and, like the wolf in front of me, she too had enchanting eyes, a light brown with touches of gold. It was such a brief glimpse at the young woman that I was surprised I was able to absorb as many of her details as I did.

I cleared my throat when I realized I was still staring, "I don't know-but if I am, then I am glad that it has given me a chance to meet you," I said confidently with a smile, only to be met with an eye roll.

"You clearly think you're coming off as confident, oozing with as much charm as you are. Instead, dearest, you are only coming off as cocky and arrogant. Perhaps try asking for our names next time, dear stranger," she said as she faded from her spot by the little pool.

I stood there staring at the now vacant spot, smiling. I wasn't turned down but she also wasn't leaping into my arms and swooning over me like I had assumed she would. Or maybe it was just a subconscious hope? Whatever it was, there was one thing that I was confident about; we would meet again.

*Four Days Later*

After meeting the wolf, my day started right at sunrise and with an immense amount of promise. I was so full of adrenaline that I had almost forgotten some of the provisions that Mr. Damond's wife and Nana had made for me for my first day away. Between knowing I would be gaining a sense of self soon and meeting that wolf in my dreams, I felt like I was on top of the world. There was something that made me feel like my world would soon be complete. But first I had to climb a literal mountain to start placing the necessary pieces together.

The first day I made more progress than I had anticipated and that may have been from the adrenaline rush I had felt starting off. By the evening, I was paying for it and my whole body was screaming at me. Seeing as I still wasn't too high up in the mountains and the cold didn't bother me much, I didn't bother with a tent and just slept under the stars.

The next two days I had paced myself and by the end of the third night I had made it to the outpost that Mr. Damond had mentioned. The air was getting thinner and the higher elevation made the nights colder, so not needing to hassle with a tent for one night was a welcome treat. I mindlessly stared into the fire and could feel feelings of anger and resentment bubble forward and before they could completely surface I shook the feelings away. For whatever reason, I kept telling myself that I needed to be the one with a clear head and I couldn't let his fire consume me.

I curled into my sleeping bag on the couch and forced myself to fall asleep. Soon... soon I would get the answers that I desired and I hoped that I could find some peace at the end of it all.

The following morning it looked like the sun was hidden behind a cloudy haze despite it being a clear day.

Hair on the back of my neck and up and down my arms were standing at attention as if I were surrounded by electricity. I packed quickly and began hastily climbing the mountain trail again. Today there was something in the air that wasn't there the night before. It felt like there was something watching me from afar. I kept the knife I had hidden on my hip unlatched and ready in case a predator decided to try and make a meal out of me but otherwise made no attempt to acknowledge its presence. In case it hadn't noticed me, I didn't want to draw its unwanted attention my way.

Once it was close to nightfall and the feeling of being watched hadn't gone away, I decided I was going to have to lure it out of whatever hiding spot it was watching me from. I prepared a small fire and lay out my sleeping bag, pretending to fall asleep. After a few tense minutes of nothing, I felt the ground rumble with movement. Something big was slowly making its way towards me. The air around me felt as though it had dramatically dropped a couple of degrees in just mere seconds. It began making low guttural growls and snorts as it began to quietly riffle through my stuff.

The vibrations of its footsteps got louder as it got closer. When it felt like it was nearly above me, I jumped up with the knife I had hidden beneath my bag. The thing standing over me was well over nine feet tall with a humanoid ape-like face. It was covered in fur that was white, gray and blue-gray, making it camouflage perfectly into the snowy mountains.

"What the f**k are you!" I shrieked as I fell backwards, not really anticipating an answer from the beast.

It seemed to have been taken aback. It looked confused and acted as if I had hurt its feelings. It leaned forward with its large index finger extended, gently touching my forehead.

I closed my eyes as I fought against the urge to flee and waited to see what it would do next.

The moment its soft leathery fingertip touched my forehead, a flash of light burst behind my eyelids. Memories that I had shared with it, the Yeti, had surfaced and began stitching itself back into its proper place.

I looked up at my oldest friend with tears, "I remember you..."