The long Earth Wiki
Register
Advertisement
“Your thought, my thought-tt, always at mer-hhrcy of blood, of body. Need other blood, other bodies, to p-hhrove thought. My blood not you-hhrs. My thought not you-hhrs.”
   — Snowy



Snowy is a beagle who lives in the Den called the Eye of the Hunter, on Earth West 1,617,524.[1][2] He traveled aboard the Armstrong II, captained by Maggie Kauffman, to Earth West 250,000,000.[3] His real name is not pronounceable to humans, so around humans he takes on the name Snowy.

Appearance[]

Snowy is larger than other beagles, at around seven foot tall, and heavily muscled. His eyes are icy blue.[4] Given his name, part or all of his fur might be white.

On the beagle homeworld, he wears leather gloves to protect his palms and a utility belt dotted with metal blades.[1] During his time on the Armstrong II, he wore a navy uniform tailored specially for him.[5] Much later, while helping build The Thinker on Apple Pi, he wore a kind of jacket replete with leather loops and deep pockets for storing tools.[6]

The Long War[]

Troll refugees[]

Around May 2040, the trolls, after multiple abuse from humans, decided to leave all the Earths with a human presence.[7][8]

The trolls, who like to be around sapients, seeked refuge on Earth West 1,617,524, the beagles's homeworld.[9]

Meanwhile, around four hundred thousands steps West, Sally Linsay and Monica Jansson helped Mary and Ham, two trolls, escape from the GapSpace facility where they were held against their will.[8]

Hunting at the Rectangles[]

Seeking where the trolls were hiding, Sally got in touch with kobolds who told her to go to the place she called the Rectangles on Earth West 1,617,498.[2]

Unknown to her, Finn McCool, one of the kobolds, also told Snowy about Sally's upcoming arrival.[1] Three weeks after their stunt at the Gap, Sally and Monica finally arrived at the Rectangles. While Sally was hunting by herself, Snowy took that opportunity to sneak up behind her. She noticed his presence too late to be able to do something and just stood there as Snowy stood up on his hind legs and greeted her.

Prisoners[]

Sally, Monica and the trolls were brought to Earth West 1,617,524.[2] Snowy, not being able to step, like all the beagles, had to step while being carried on Finn McCool's back. The beagle made sure to confiscate Monica's Stepper on arrival and left the captives in a rough camp to wait for the return of the Granddaughter Petra, the Den's ruler, actually visiting the Mother's Den.

A week after bringing the humans and the trolls to this world, Petra finally came back to the Eye of the Hunter. Snowy, followed by Finn who got his arm injured in the meantime, came to introduce himself and get the prisoners. Sally, when first hearing his name, couldn't help but laugh. Oblivious to the mockery, Snowy kept on and told them they were to be brought to the Granddaughter's palace.

When Sally asked if Petra knew about them, Snowy replied that his ruler didn't know and that the humans were a gift. The mere thought of Petra's gratitude and her reward were enough to arouse him but he soon walked away from them, looking for the cart that were supposed to carry them to his Den.

The Eye of the Hunter[]

Li-Li, the Den's healer, soon arrived riding a cart drawn by huge birds and jumped off of it to greet Snowy. After running around each other for a bit, the hunter, happy to see her, even went down on all four and wiggled the stub of a tail he had. After that they all embarked on the cart, the prisoners sitting in the back with Finn.

Li-Li told the prisoners they were lucky that Snowy, one of the kind one among the hunters, found them since most of the others only bring back heads or ears.

As the trail they were following soon turned to a mud track, the cart went pass a lake when some deer-like creatures were drinking.[9] Snowy, his hunter instinct awoken was staring at them while still holding the reins as Li-Li was telling him to remember who he was and not succumb to his animal instinct.

They soon reached the belt of farmland that surrounded the Den. Up in the North, some rabbits, originally from the Datum but sold to the beagles by the kobolds, arose Snowy's hunter instinct again. This time he was standing up with the hairs on the back of his neck raised.

Petra[]

Finally, they entered the Eye of the Hunter and reached the Granddaughter's palace.[10] Petra, was waiting for them sitting in a patch of grass in the middle of her chamber, surrounded by her counselor Brian, a pair of guards armed with stone-tipped spears and ray guns and a real dog, an Alsatian, from Datum Earth.

Under Finn's instructions, the two women had to show submission to Petra, which consists of lying down on your back on the ground with your arms and legs in the air.

After this quick humiliating gesture, Petra interrogated them and asked the reason about their presence there, Sally told her they were here to bring Mary and Ham to safety with the other trolls. The beagle princess then expressed her hate for humans because of how they transformed their Earth's wolves into submissive and dumb companions.

Why prompted why she should keep them alive, Sally replied, to Monica and Finn's astonishement, that she could get them more ray guns. After some consideration, Petra left the chamber with her dog on her heels and left the prisoners alive to fight another day.

The emissary[]

Three weeks after the audience with Petra, the humans still didn't deliver the guns but the one called Sally promised the arrival of an emissary of their Granddaughter.[11] She sent the one named Monica to the Rectangles to wait for this emissary. Every day, Snowy had to wait, with Li-Li and other a dozen of guards, at the agreed time of the day, for the arrival of this emissary.

One day, Monica arrived with two male humans : Joshua Valienté and Bill Chambers. After confirming that the one named Joshua was indeed the emissary that Sally promised, Snowy told two of the guards to pin the ambassador to the ground. Li-Li, following her own orders then proceeded to staple Joshua's back.

The deal[]

The newcomers were brought to Petra's chamber.[11] They sitted down Joshua to a chair and waited for him to regain consciousness.

While Joshua was out, the humans made another deal with Petra : Joshua and Bill would be allowed to talk to the trolls and leave if Sally, Monica and Bill delivered new ray guns. Joshua, not being able to step would serve as an hostage to ensure that the women would not run away.

Snowy was standing on the podium, watching over Petra, when the human emissary awoke. After a chat with his friends, Petra told him she wanted new weapons, the ones provided by Finn McCool being long dead and used Snowy’s ray gun to prove her point.

After a short talk with Sally, Joshua asked Petra if they were free to go see the trolls and she replied, with a malicious grin, that he would live on if he displayed honour.

Apologies[]

As Sally, Monica and Finn went to the Rectangles, Joshua and Bill went to a band of trolls, hundreds of them, gathered on the river bank and deployed device that played troll sounds and made a bald human wearing a dress appear.[12] The bald human, apparently named Lobsang, apologies to the trolls.

Run[]

After the talk was done, Snowy approached Joshua and asked him how things were going. After Joshua confirmed that his work was done, Snowy told him to run.

The human instinctively started to run toward the river, slowly followed by Snowy.[13] Petra, ordered Snowy to bring back Joshua’s head to decorate her chamber with it. If Snowy failed, his head would adorn the palace’s wall.

The beagle, wanting to play fair, drop on all fours but closed his eyes to let Joshua gain some distance. When he opened up his eyes again, his prey had jumped into the river and was carried away by the current. Snowy ran past Joshua, who had trouble to keep his head out of the water, and sat on a rock to watch him pass by but still warned him about the rapids that were further downstream.

Joshua got caught in the rapids and were pushed even further along the river. Snowy, leaving his rock, followed. He arrive just in front of Joshua as he was getting out of the river and was starting to run on solid ground again.

The hunter was padding in front of his prey when suddenly he heard a male human voice not far away and ran to it. Snowy found the source of the voice, Finn’s Walkman, and destroyed it with his powerful canine jaws.

A trophy for Petra[]

When he found Joshua again, still some bits of Walkman in his mouth, the human had picked up a tree branch on the ground and smashed it against Snowy’s head. The beagle stumbled, almost fell but came back to his senses as Joshua was trying to get one of the blades that Snowy was carrying in his belt.

The canine sapient easily pushed back Joshua to the ground and pinned him on his back, his paws blocking all the human’s limbs and preventing him to move.

Snowy was licking Joshua’s face as a friendly gesture as Li-Li joined them and proposed to give Petra another trophy, Snowy would have to pretend that he chewed up the head too much for it to be recognizable. Joshua, wanting to stay alive, agreed and Li-Li started to chew on his left wrist.

The Long Mars[]

Aboard the Armstrong II[]

In January 2045, he embarked aboard the USS Neil A. Armstrong II on its way to Earth West 250,000,000 since he volunteered for the expedition.[3]

Having a beagle on board proved useful on several occasions, like on Earth West 17,297,031, an Earth where a crustacean civilization emerged, when the twains' crews witnessed the death sentence of captive enemies of this world's 'emperor' to explain what happened to his human crewmembers or on Earth West 182,674,101 when his enhanced scent helped him find Captain Sam Allen, held captive in a cage in the woods.[5][14]

Harry Ryan, the chief engineer, rigged up a vocal record for Snowy to keep logs of the journey, since the beagles lack conventional literacy.[15]

Apparent tension[]

As life aboard the ship kept on, it became obvious that there was some kind of tension between Mac, the ship's chief surgeon and Snowy.[15]

A bit further on their journey, around May 2045, when they were studying a sample of lifeform from Earth West 182,498,761, Maggie decided to settle the matter once and for all.[16]

2042-2043[]

She summmoned Mac to her cabin and he explained how in 2042-2043, he was sent to the Eye of the Hunter with other scientists and how they tried to reduce the size of the beagles' litters since every time their packs get overpopulated, a war ensues.

In the end, the neighboring Packs, seeing their weakness, invaded and left the Eye of the Hunter in ruins. The scientists left the place when beagles started to blame them.

After telling his tale, Mac went to apologize to Snowy at Maggie's command.

Some good, some bad[]

Snowy showed up at her cabin the day after and Maggie praised him of accepting to travel with them after what happened in 2042. In the end, Snowy explained that he wanted to learn more about humans and conceded that there was good and bad people among the "strink-chhrotch kind" and there was even some good in Mac.[16]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Long War - Chapter 39
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Long War - Chapter 48
  3. 3.0 3.1 The Long Mars - Chapter 11
  4. The Long Mars- page 132
  5. 5.0 5.1 The Long Mars - Chapter 15
  6. The Long Cosmos- page 274
  7. The Long War - Chapter 34
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Long War - Chapter 35
  9. 9.0 9.1 The Long War - Chapter 49
  10. The Long War - Chapter 50
  11. 11.0 11.1 The Long War - Chapter 63
  12. The Long War – Chapter 65
  13. The Long War – Chapter 66
  14. The Long Mars - Chapter 32
  15. 15.0 15.1 The Long Mars - Chapter 22
  16. 16.0 16.1 The Long Mars - Chapter 30
Advertisement