Looming cold

Chapter 1

It had been a few weeks since Caramel first met Lumi and slowly he had gotten more accustomed to being around his ‘Goddess’. Gradually, he even started thinking of her more as a friend, than anything else. She often was a lot bigger of course, but still!

The summer had been surprisingly warm this year - even in their extremely harsh corner of the world. The sun felt warm on your face and the skies were clear. As always in the summer, the sun only glanced against the horizon - it never set. This made it difficult for Lumi to grow in this warm weather, but it didn’t really matter all that much. This time of the year did not have the dangerous storms, the icy rain and the hazardous frost snaps the winter brought that Lumi had to keep the village safe from.

To make the most of the summertime, Lumi and Caramel went to the mountains, a small distance from the village, where the weather was still bitter due to the elevation. Snow still covered everything the eyes could see, unlike. in the village where the rocks poked out of the snow cover at every opportunity.

“Catch!” Lumi yelled with a laugh, as she jumped out from behind a small mound of snow. A well-aimed snowball hit the bunny on the side of the head, who made a sound very close to “argh” and wobbled a bit, before joining in with Lumi’s laughter.

“Not the most impressive catch.” Lumi teased patting her snowboot-covered paw on the snow. Caramel grinned. “Ohhh! You’re gonna get it now!” Said the bunny as he scooped two hands full of snow, forming them into a loose sphere as he ran towards the Sneasel.

While Lumi was a good head taller than Caramel, she still played along and turned around, pretending to run away from the bunny. He of course was a lot faster than her, and jumped on to her back. The Sneasel squeaked and giggled, while the rabbit pulled open the collar of her suit and shoved the icy snow down there to get his revenge.

Lumi let out an unexpected squeal, and shortly after, a small vibration shook the bunny and he was lifted up. Slowly and steadily, as Lumi hummed happily, she grew underneath Caramel. He quickly clung to her neck, as a giggle from the expanding Sneasel shook him and he found himself being plucked up by a pair of hands half the size of his body.

The young rabbit was greeted by the grinning face of Lumimyrsky, filling most of his vision. She had to be at least twelve feet tall now, which given his barely four-foot-tall frame meant that she was at least three times his size!

“You did that on purpose!” Lumi said with a laugh. Up in the mountains, her growth ability was still stronger than in the sun-bathed village, but still not as strong during the winter. As a result, she had received quite the boost. The bunny blushed, smirking sheepishly; she was of right of course. The rabbit was the one who suggested the location, after all. Fortunately it appeared that Lumi didn’t seem to mind too much!

“... Maybe” He said with a grin, which prompted Lumi to laugh again and seat him on her shoulders. “You’re the worst.” She joked with a chuckle, as the bunny held onto her fluffy hat.

Chapter 2

By the time they arrived back at the village, Lumi had almost returned to her normal size, leaving her only a little taller than usual, leaving the teenage girl at a comfortable 6 feet in height. She was still considerably taller than her rabbit friend, but she no longer loomed over him as prominently as before. Caramel wore a goofy smile as they went back into the village, holding her hand a little awkwardly.

The villagers smiled as they watched the two walk on by, down the street to Caramel’s house. It had become common knowledge that the two were spending a lot of time together and while many people were still a little uneasy about Lumi, they couldn’t deny that the two made a cute pair.

For Lumi and Caramel, very little was wrong in the cold land of Frystökebyen. Unfortunately, not everyone in the village was as carefree as the two teenagers. As the warmer days of the year prolonged, the village became more and more exposed, and the glaciers that normally shielded the village from the cold winds of the snowy expanse drew back further and further.

One of the elders of the village, Mr. Rikhard, was especially concerned with the glacier directly behind the village. The glacier was almost two hundred feet tall, but it had melted substantially during the warmer days, as the sun was constantly reflecting off of it and heated the rocks below. While the rainbows and occasional bursts of water and ice were an amazing sight during the summer, it had developed a plateau thatlooked more and more unstable every day. Mr Rikhard was deeply concerned that should the glacier give way, an avalanche of ice and snow would bury the village and surely destroy everything in it’s path - it would be a catastrophic outcome!

Mr. Rikhard wasn’t particularly fond of Lumi or her methods. He would prefer to evacuate the village or even be nomadic, as his ancestors had been, but even he had learned to appreciate her assistance during the harsher winter months. He also knew that he was no longer as young as he used to be... He risked another look at the edge of the glacier, his binoculars showing him another piece of ice breaking off from the dangerously thinned-out middle of the glacier. He had to inform Lumi, or they would have to leave their village behind as soon as possible.

The unusually tall teenager and her comparatively tiny friend were enjoying a meal with one another after their time outside the village, which was a long and challenging hike up the mountains - at least at someone of normal size. With a sly grin on his face, Caramel, suggested ice cream. Lumi only laughed and ruffled his hair, realising exactly why he was suggesting it. Together they decided upon pizza, because… Well, who doesn’t like pizza? Enjoying the sunshine, the pair sat outside the bistro, enjoying their tuna- and carrot-slice pizzas respectively.

Frystökebyen was a small enough village that that everyone happened to know everybody else. So it wasn’t too big a surprise for Lumi when she saw Mr. Rikhard, the school’s science professor in the street seemingly looking for someone. What was surprising however was when he jumped when he spotted Lumi, (who still had a tiny bit of trouble fitting into her chair at her current height). The Sneasel raised a brow as he hurried over. He had never really talked much to her in the past, and like many others, seemed intimidated by her presence.

“Miss Talvinen! Good to see you out here - we need to talk.” He didn’t even ask for permission as he pulled the chair towards the table and sat down in it, completely disregarding the third person sat at the table.

“I’ve been watching the northern glacier for the past few weeks.” the professor began, with a deeply concerned expression on his face. “It’s becoming more and more unstable. The run-off water is carving cracks into the ice and it’s structure is weakening.”

The tall teenager blinked; was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? “...What I mean is…” The teacher struggled with finding the right words. “We.” He sighed. “Someone. Should act pre-emptively. It would be best to remove the overhang from the glacier before it crashes down upon the village. The process cannot be stopped any more at this point, It could break in a matter of days!”

“Ahh. I see.” Lumi said, nodding lightly. “And that… Someone - means me, right?” She was already thinking about it. In the winter it would be absolutely no problem. It would be cold enough for her to just break it off and throw it back into the icy wastes of the north pole but in the middle of summer? Right now? She was barely able to grow to twice her normal height while she was in the village!

“Y… Yes.” Her teacher admitted after a moment of silence. “It won’t be a problem, right? You can just… ‘Do your thing’. You know. Get really really huge. And then do it, right?”

The Sneasel was just about to explain that this may be more problematic than he had imagined in the current climate, when her bunny companion suddenly spoke up.

“Sure thing!” He exclaimed. “Lumi can get super-mega-huge! It’s like no problem, consider it done!” The little rabbit beamed with projected pride.

Professor Rikhard blinked at the bunny, as he only now realized he was even there. He looked back towards Lumi, who was also inspecting Caramel, somewhat surprised herself. The Professor took this as an agreement and stood back up. “All right. Thank you, Lumimyrsky! Frystökebyen is counting on you!” The professor seemed happy to have this weight off his shoulders and hurried away again, most likely to watch the situation from a safe distance.

The shorter of the two teenagers grinned to the other proudly. “Caramel!” Lumi said in a somewhat accusing voice. Now her friend’s ears were folding down a little.

“It’s not a lie! I saw you before, being huuuuge!” He made a large, all-encompassing gesture with his hands. “It’ll be a piece of cake! Just gotta… Cool you down a lil’ and bam! Village saved!”

Lumi scratched her head and looked over to the looming glacier. “A little? That thing is at least two hundred feet tall! And... And it’s summer! It’s really hard to…” She paused, looking at Caramel. He looked like his world was about to fall apart. His new best friend Lumi unable to do something? Impossible! The Sneasel pouted with a sigh, disappointing the bunny was not something she was particularly keen on.

“... All right. I mean, I am sure we can figure something out. With a little help from lil’ ol’ you, it should be possible! … Right?” She didn’t sound too convinced of her own words, but Caramel’s face lit up like a christmas tree.

“Help you? Ohhh! Sure! I can do that! We’ll be a team! Saving the town together!” The little guy bounced around in excitement. Lumi smirked to herself and ruffled his hair again, which made him swat at her paw in half-hearted fashion, giggling as he did.

“Okay then.” Lumi said, tapping her chin in thought. “But… We still don’t have an idea how to get me even close to that size… It’s just not cold enough! Even if I try my upmost, I won’t get anywhere near that huge!”

Caramel pondered a little as well. “Ice cream?” He suggested once again with a grin. Lumi smirked down at the bunny and ruffled his hair again, which made him squeal a little.

Chapter 3

Back at Lumi’s cabin, the Sneasel and her short friend were rummaging through the freezer, looking for things that would help out. “Uhh… Frozen sugar peas?” Caramel asked, holding them up. His friend grimaced in disgust. “That sounds… Really nasty. Why do I even have those?”

Caramel chuckled. “Well, other than that we haaave… Frozen Indian food and some ice cubes!” He held out a tray of ice cubes. They were rather tiny. “... I have a feeling those won’t do.” It also seemed like Lumi may not have the most varied diet on the pole.

Caramel handed Lumi the ice cubes, she sighed, looking down at them, as she felt the cold of the tray seep into her hands. “What trouble did you get us into, Caramel?” Well, it wasn’t really like they had much choice at this point - abandoning the village just couldn’t be the solution. “Well, we have to start somewhere!” The tall girl said with a shrug and began to pop out the ice cubes from the tray, which was also a little frozen over. She popped one into her mouth and smiled down at Caramel, who stood in front of her and watched her with bated breath.

Lumi, liked to tease the little bunny, so with a grin, she held back the effects for now. “Mhhh… Doesn’t seem to be working!” Caramel’s ears drooped. He seemed VERY disappointed. “What? But… But it has to! It’s all cold and stuff! Just like the snow the other day! And uhm… M… Maybe you need to relax some? Like uhm… A massage! I could give that a shot…” He said, obviously desperate in trying to keep his promise to the professor.

“Oh?” The Sneasel chuckled. “Are you offering?” She smirked to herself, knowing full well that’d throw her small friend for a loop. Caramel blushed, embarrassed by that thought. He looked at his feet and shuffled them awkwardly. Lumi giggled, highly amused by his antics. The bunny glanced back at the fridge and struggled for the next few words.

“I’ll uh… Check the fridge real quick first, okay?” Caramel said, trying to evade the awkward moment. Lumi smirked and nodded. “You do that.”

The bunny inspected the contents of the freezer, but it was still as empty as it was before. His eyes wandered a bit, then rested on a fire extinguisher and the fire blanket. It was Carbon Dioxide , sooo… If it was expelled, it would cool down a lot and… With that insulating blanket… Mhhh… He quickly pulled a chair up to the counter and hopped onto it, pulling both items off the wall.

“Hey… I have an idea…” He said, turning back to the Sneasel and holding the two items triumphantly in his hands, smiling proudly. Lumi raised an eyebrow. “I totally forgot I had that! That… Actually might work! But I’m not sure how well.”

Caramel bounced over to Lumi excitedly and pulled out the fire blanket. “Okay so! If we… Put you under this blanket, head sticking out of course and open up the extinguisher, that should get you really cold, right?” Lumi only nodded. “Yeah! Yeah, that might work! Good idea, Caramel!” She took the blanket from her momentarily stunned friend, who was blushing fiercely after her compliment. She gave him a beaming smile.

“All right. So…” Lumi lay down on the ground carefully, pulling the the fire blanket over her body. “Make sure to open the valve gently. We first want to figure out how well this works!” The bunny nodded, eager to give this new idea a try. It was his idea after all!

He removed the fire extinguisher safety catch and lifted the blanket up into the air, holding the nozzle underneath.

“This… Is kind of awkward…” The bunny thought to himself, trying not to dwell too much on what he was doing. His fingers squeezed around the handle of the device, but it wouldn’t budge. He let out a small grunt. “I think it’s stu… Augh!” A loud clanking sound was heard as the handle became ‘un-stuck’ and was slammed against the metal body of the extinguisher. He yelped as a large gush of Carbon Dioxide was released from the device, which knocked him back unexpectedly.

The second yelp came from Lumi who, despite the blanket flapping around under the sudden gust of cold, was cooled down to below freezing within a second. The yelp and following loud rumbling made the bunny look up and jump to his feet. “Lumi! Are you o… Ack!” Caramel didn’t really get to finish his sentence, as a paw the size of his entire body suddenly hit him. He squeaked surprised, clinging to a paw that was expanding in his grasp and forcing his his arms apart. He couldn’t see anything behind the huge growing paw, but his ears twitched as he heard Lumi’s voice hum happily as she grew bigger and bigger.

The pair simultaneously made a "Ooof" sound as Lumi hit the roof and Caramel was pushed against the wall - even lifted up a little as he was unceremoniously caught between her toes. He squeaked helplessly and wiggled. "L... Lumi?" He asked nervously, but almost immediately felt himself being lifted away from the wall by the massive paw. He clung to the toes, dangling in the air but feeling himself gently held between two toes.

Caramel held on to Lumi’s giant toes as best as he could, just as he heard the walls of her cabin crash down behind him. Lumi's humming had stopped and she groaned. "Augh... I broke my house again!". Still holding on as best as he could, Caramel suddenly saw a shadow cast over him as two big fingers plucked him up by the scruff. He mweeped and kicked out his legs.

"Caramel!" She said accusingly. "I said only a little!" The bunny squeaked again, blushing substantially as he dangled in front of her huge eyes. "I... My hand slipped! I think! I didn't mean to..." Lumi's eyes narrowed, looking at the bunny, who squeaked again, sounding intimidated.

Lumi sighed, feeling a little concerned for her emotion-confused friend. "Well, I guess we got what we wanted..." She plopped the bunny on her head - almost 70 feet in the air. She looked over to the glacier, which still was looming more than twice as high as the now giant Sneasel.

Caramel was making sounds of awe and astonishment, as he clung onto the hair of his huge friend, looking around from this amazing vantage point. Lumi took a step forwards, looking up. Her paw impacted the street close to her house, rattling windows, snowmobiles and mailboxes. A spiderweb-like impact formed on the street around her paw. She hummed, watching the glacier.

"Still not enough." she stated, the disappointment obvious in her booming voice. The bunny felt reminded of those days when he first witnessed her during a winter storm, filling the entire sky. Granted, she wasn't there yet but even still, it was hard not to be reminded of this first 'meeting' even if she wasn't aware of him at all at the time.

Caramel answered, stuttering a little, still awestruck from the change of size and scenery. "W... Well... It's a good start!" He chuckled a little to himself. He still remembered those research guys, who took all the ice core samples when they first encountered Lumi. They were terrified! Just like some of the people in the village still were. He even suspected they built their research lab a little more away from the village than they normally would.

"The research lab!" The bunny suddenly squeaked out, an idea popping into his head. "I was there once with my class! They have a really complicated cooling system to keep the core samples intact! Liquid... Somethingorother! I'm sure it'll get you big enough to stop the glacier and save the town!"

Lumimyrsky hummed, pondering the idea, which made the bunny shake on top of her head. He held onto her hair to not fall off, which made it more than obvious for him just how huge she had got. "That would work, but... It may work too good. I don't want to be too huge!"

This was of course a valid concern; it would be bad if she accidentally broke the village or even be the cause of the avalanche, but it seemed the relatively tiny rabbit was rather eager to put his idea to the test. "Well! The station is miles away from the village! If anything, more size will only make it easier, right? I saw the controls of their cooling system. I bet I could just enable it for a few seconds or so!"

"Like you only fired that fire extinguisher for a few seconds?" The Sneasel replied, poking fun at her small friend a little. He grumbled in response. "It caught me by surprise... And then your paw did too!" Lumi blushed deeply as she was reminded of it, not that the bunny could tell from his point of view. It was true that she had been bigger before - much, much bigger - but she never really interacted with anyone when she was that huge. She was able to keep the whole village in her hand - but she had never felt anyone in her hands before - having her little bunny friend pressed up against her paw, plucking him up like that - it was a strange sensation, but she really liked it. And Caramel did too, judging from the blush that was beaming across his face. He was really bad at hiding his love for seeing her loom over him. She smirked to herself. He was pretty cute, all things considered.

The Sneasel's train of thought was interrupted by a loud bang and cracking sound. All eyes in the village raised up the glacier glistening in the sun north to the village. A large crack had just appeared, going all the way up to the tip of the ice. As a result, it looked even more dangerous and unstable than ever before. There was no doubt the village now knew what was going on - and, as a result, was very concerned. Some of course already had seen Lumi - already looming 70 feet into the air - and were hoping that she would be the one to save them.

"... I think we just ran out of time." Caramel stated with a nervous gulp. Lumi nodded lightly, making the bunny cling to her hair and squeak in surprise. "... Right. Let's go to the research lab, then. It's a few miles on the eastern land mass, right?” The bunny nodded. "Y... Yes!" He said nervously, and squeaked again as he felt the Sneasel accelerate into a run. Her feet were impacting the ground heavily with every footfall , kicking up dust, ice and smaller rocks in her wake. Footprints were left behind the running teen, each at least half a foot deep and filled with the remains of the asphalt, unfortunate mailboxes and other debris. One of her feathered tails had knocked over parked snowmobiles and she even accidentally kicked a tree far into the distance, uprooting it easily as she ran.

With Caramel’s guidance Lumi made her way to the research lab, which they reached in record time. It helped that Lumi was big enough to make a many-mile trip in a matter of minutes. When they arrived, Lumi held her hand out for Caramel, who gingerly did so. He felt his stomach turn a little as she lowered him to the ground and in front of the door to the complex. She was by far too big to get into the small hut used to control everything, but maybe she could somehow get into the storage and find something cold enough in there.

Caramel hopped over to the door of the station. It was well known that the researchers had left for the summer and weren't expected to be back until the official start of the winter season. He pulled on the door, trying to open it, which made it rattle and caused some snow sail down from it's edge. Unfortunately despite his best efforts, it wouldn't budge. He sighed. "Dang. It's locked!" He looked up to Lumi expectantly. She seemed a little hesitant. This was technically breaking and entering... But then again, this was pretty much a life or death situation. So after a moment or two, she used the claw of one of her fingers to break the hinge of the door apart, which groaned and creaked in protest, the metal not able to stand up to the giant teenager.

Her smaller friend, who was blushing fiercely after this display of power quickly hurried inside, looking at the controls of the outpost. It all seemed rather straight-forward, really. Robot arm controls - and a temperature dial. Kind of like a gigantic fridge... With robot arms. Lumi sat outside and waited for Caramel to report back. She could hear and feel the huge cooling apparatus of the outpost spring to life. The tiny rabbit had turned one of the dials all the way to the left and watched as foggy gas poured into the room behind the isolation glass. The temperature indicator measuring the temperature in the room was rapidly descending, dropping from around freezing to at least 200 degrees below. A 'snow' of dry ice was falling out of the air and collecting on the ground.

Lumi, sat patiently outside the the research lab looking like child sitting next to a pair of tiny doll houses. She perked up as she saw Caramel stick his head out of the door again. "I think it's cold enough! But you gotta get to it first! And make sure it doesn't disperse too quickly, I guess..." He pondered that, while Lumi was already smiling down at him, offering her hand to climb on. "Don't worry, I have an idea already!" She lifted the wobbling bunny up, then put him into one of the pockets of her jacket, where he poked his head out of the top. "You stay safe in here, okay?" She instructed, looking down, to which the bunny nodded to in response.

Lumi smiled and very gently patted the pouch of her jacket with the bunny in, who yelped a little and giggled. Lumi fell to her her knees and leaned over the relatively small structure. With an extended finger, Lumi took a deep breath and poked a hole in the building, quickly putting her mouth over the opening and feeling the incredibly cold gas fill her lungs.

Back at the village, the professor was still watching the glacier with a worried expression. Many people had approached him now, concerned and worried - but he assured them that he was taking care of it. He was only hoping Lumi would show up in time. He saw another piece of ice crumble down at one of the many openings in the ice. It was getting close!

Professor Rikhard's study was rudely interrupted as the ground suddenly started to shake and rumble. He first thought it was an earthquake - unusual, but not unheard of for the region. However, this idea was quickly dismissed when he heard the surprised exhale of a girl - a girl he knew all too well. Her voice was humming, reverberating through the ground and the ice all around her.

The Professor hurried outside, only to see the whole village collectively looking up in awe at the source of the tremors - Lumi! She was far away, but rapidly swelling in size. Rikhard gasped. She had to be many times the size of the entire village, and she was still growing! In comparison to the titanic Sneasel, everything - the glacier, the harbour, the lab - everything was becoming so tiny it was becoming hard for her to even see. She had to be many thousand feet tall, her happy hum shaking the village to it's core. Her long shadow grew and grew, creeping over the village and blocking out the sun. Everyone was speechless. No one ever had seen her that large on a sunny day - it was hard to see anything in the thick winter storms. And it was a truly breathtaking sight!

A large crackling sound finally cut through the rumble, as the glacier was finally giving in. Instigated by the violent tremors the Sneasel was accidentally causing, the ice was dislodged, gravity taking hold and rushing it towards the villagers, who now could do nothing but look at it with terror. Suddenly, the titanic teenager shifted, and the ice disappeared behind a single, tremendous index finger, which then moved upwards, carving through the ice as if it was made out of sand. Her finger easily dug a huge and deep trench around the village, leading the ice and water melting off of it around her friends. She grinned down at the village, her face many times it's size. "Done it, Professor!" She said with a proud wink, not exactly able to see him - but correctly assuming that he'd be watching.

What followed was silence for a few seconds, before the people of the village broke into a roaring cheer for their savior. Lumi had once again done the impossible - and saved the village. The professor sighed as he flopped into his chair. Well, she was almost too late, but that was... That certainly was one way to solve it! Lumi smiled as she heard the faint cheers from the village and, twitching her ears, she thought she could also hear her tiny bunny friend in the distance. With a smile, she layed back down in the ice, the whole glacier serving as her bed. "Well... I guess all I can do now is sunbathe and get back down to a more manageable size..." She thought to herself. And after that... Maybe... Just maybe... She'd ask Caramel out for a date.