Ice Cold

"Wow!" Ryan exclaimed. "This view is amazing!"
"Aye." The captain, who was standing next to him said. "Reminds me of my previous job."
"What was that?" Ryan asked.
"Ferry captain." He replied. "But being captain of a cargo ship is a lot safer. Bigger ship, bigger storm resistance."
"Why would that be a concern?" Ryan asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it…" The captain sighed.

Ryan, not wanting to talk about it anymore, left the captain to his own thoughts.
He made his way back to his room.
Not wanting to go to an orphanage after his parents' sudden death, he found work as a crew member on a new cargo boat.
Being only eleven, the captain was nice enough to hire him, provide him with food and shelter, and give him the easier jobs.

He wasn't able to rest in his room long, however, as a siren went off.
Not knowing what this siren meant, since it wasn't the fire alarm or anything like that, he panicked and ran onto deck.
"What going on?!" He hurriedly asked one of the crew members.
"Ship raiding!" he replied before running off again.

Suddenly, Ryan was met face to face with another man, one he didn't recognize.
"You part of the crew?" He asked menacingly.
"Y-yeah…" Ryan answered timidly.
The man stared at the cowering boy for a few seconds.
"You're lucky we don't hurt kids." He said, forcing Ryan to the floor.

The man then went over to the captain.
He pulled out a knife and threatened the middle aged man.
Ryan, knowing he had to act fast, tackled the attacker to the ground.
"You little brat!" The man yelled.
He got up quickly and picked up Ryan by his shirt collar.
"I know I said I'd never hurt kids," He growled. "But I'll make an exception."

He walked slowly over to the side of the ship.
Ryan struggled fiercely, but to no avail.
"See ya kid." The man smiled.
With one heavy heave, he threw young Ryan overboard.

"Ugh…" Ryan groaned. "Where am I…?"
He awoke on a strange beach.
It was surrounding a large, seemingly unclimbable, mountain.
Even though the sun was completely shining directly on him, and it was summer, he was feeling slightly chilly.
"What is this place?" He questioned.
Taking a closer look at the beach he was on, he noticed something.
The sand was frozen like it would be in winter!
"What is this place?" He asked himself. "I've never seen anything like it…"

He slowly got up, glad to find that he had no leg injuries.
After recovering slightly, he started to wander around.
'There has to be a boat dock somewhere…' He thought. 'I mean, this island's giant, it has to have someone on it.'

After about an hour of walking around the shoreline, he noticed something strange in the side of the mountain.
It was an almost unnoticeable stair case, leading right to the top of the mountain.
Seeing the spot where he woke up was just a little further from that point, Ryan decided that there were no boats anywhere.
His last hope was that there would be a heliport or something at the top.

After climbing the lengthy stairwell, he reached the top of the mountain.
There was a short path to what seemed like a giant nest.
"What is this thing…?" Ryan wondered aloud as he approached it.
However, as soon as he did, a large, blue, bird-like creature flew down from the heavens and landed in front of Ryan.
He jumped back, startled.

"Calm yourself." The large bird spoke. "I am not here to harm you."
"Wh-what are you…?" Ryan asked, still slightly shaken.
"I am Articuno, one of the three legendary bird Pokémon." It answered.
"Wow..." Was all Ryan was able to say.

"Ryan, since you are here, I request your…assistance." The Articuno said.
"H-how do you know my name?" Ryan questioned.
"Because I am a legendary Pokémon, it's part of my job." The bird answered. "Now will you help on not?"
"What other choice do I have?" Ryan sighed.
"Very good." The bird said, obviously happy. "Now one moment, this may hurt a little."
"Hurt…?" Ryan started to ask.
But before he could finish, the Articuno grabbed him in its wing.

Ryan started to feel really cold all of a sudden.
He then felt a slight stinging on his arm.
Looking, he was flabbergasted to see that light blue feathers were steadily spreading across it.
As his arm was covered in the feathers, they stretched out, thinning at the same time.
His fingers also stretched out a great amount.
After a few more large feathers grew across the bottom of his arm, he now had a wing.

"Wow…" Ryan marveled, stunned at his new wing.
Before he knew it, his other arm had also become a wing of the same size and color.
His chest was covered with a large tuff of lighter blue feathers, as the rest of his body was covered in feathers of the same color of his wings.
Then, the feathers strangely stopped at the tops of his legs.
Instead, his legs were covered in scale-like skin as they became thinner.
His toes started changing too.
One disappeared, one moved to the back of his foot, and all of them became longer and grew white talons.
He felt a tug on his back as a few long, dark blue, tail-like feathers grew out from where his tailbone is.
Strangely, shrunk until he was about one-fourth of the Articuno's height.

Ryan then started to feel the final changes occurring as the light blue feathers covered his head, making his hair fall out.
His face pushed out and hardened into a beak.
His nose melted into his face, leaving just two nostrils on the end of his beak.
His forehead grew three dark blue, diamond shaped feathers.
Lastly, his irises became a brownish-red.
"There, all done." The Articuno said happily.
"Why did you do this to me…?" Ryan asked, still marveling his new form.
"I desperately wanted a child." The Articuno started. "But being one of the three legendary birds, I wasn't allowed to have one. So, after that Zapdos got a kid, it motivated me to find one. However, I could not find a worthy child. Then, you came along."
"You think I'm…a worthy child?" Ryan questioned.
"Yes." The Articuno smiled, well, as best as a bird could. "Now, let's show you the ropes."