Icebound

**Icebound** is a female snow leopard who resides in the White Spine Mountains, and the mother of Brisk and Sleet. She serves as a minor antagonist in *Creatures of the Flood* and *Journey to the Dragon Mountain*. She saw Winter as a rival while the latter was still alive.

## History

### *Creatures of the Flood*

When Ghost and the Cubs of Winter face Brisk and Sleet, the Cubs Born of Icebound, he mentally notes his adversaries' relationship to Icebound.
When Ghost and his adoptive siblings confront Icebound's cubs at The Endless Maw, Icebound interrupts the cubs with a thunderous roar, leaping in to defend her cubs. Ghost mentally notes that, despite being not much smaller than Icebound, he still finds the snow leopardess intimidating. Brisk tells her mother how Winter's cubs threatened to have Ghost mutilate their faces. Icebound tells Ghost and his siblings to back off in response, then mocking Ghost for his appearance and states that he does not belong in the mountains. Icebound then threatens scar Ghost as a warning to Winter, and suggests that maybe then Winter would agree that Ghost is a freak who has no place in The White Spine. However, Winter arrives to stand up for her children (Particularly Ghost).
Winter lambasts Icebound and her cubs for their behavior and insists that Ghost, along with the rest of her cubs, belongs in the White Spine. In response, Icebound challenges Winter to a duel. The two leopardesses engage in a stand-off. During the battle, Icebound claims that her own cubs are more independent then Winter's, and claims that, even if the latter kills her, Brisk and Sleet will be fine as supposedly they already know how to care for themselves. However, Ghosts doubts this, since he finds that neither Brisk nor Sleet seem to agree with Icebound's claims. Even though Winter has the upper-paw, she yields, and declares Icebound the winner of their duel. After Icebound departs with her cubs, Shiver asks her mother why she did not beat Icebound when she had the chance. Winter responds that it's because their family is much better then Icebound's. After Winter and her cubs return to their cave, Winter tells Ghost not to let Icebound or her children's insults lower his self-esteem, as Icebound is only jealous that Winter has more cubs, and a larger territory than the former, and turned her own cubs into bullies out of fear of losing the territory she does occupy once Brisk and Sleet set out on their own.
When Ghost attempts to cross the Endless Maw, he mentally notes that if he crosses the Endless Maw, Icebound and her cubs will have no choice but to accept that he does belong in the White Spine.
### *Journey to the Dragon Mountain*

Snowstorm mentally notes how several unnamed adult leopards sized the opertunity to challenge her and Frost to their territory following Winter’s death. Although this hasn’t been confirmed, it’s highly probable that Icebound was among the leopards that attempted to take over Winter’s land due to her hatred of the latter.
After Ghost returns to the White Spine, he discovers that Icebound and her cubs have been extorting Snowstorm and Frost by forcing them to give them some of the prey the latter pair had caught. When Icebound confronts Ghost and his adopted siblings he scares her, Brisk and Sleet into fleeing. Snowstorm and Frost praise their brother for his assistance.
## Personality and traits

Icebound is a prideful and cruel leopardess. Although she isn't that much larger than Ghost, the panda still finds the leopard intimidating. Icebound has a rivalry with Winter, and has no qualms picking on the latter's children, particularly Ghost. She does not think Ghost belongs in the mountains, nor does she consider the latter as a cub of Winter due to him being a panda. Icebound is also not above using lethal force to prove her point as shown, when she and her cubs confronted Ghost and Winter's cubs at the Endless Maw, Icebound threatened to physically harm Ghost as a warning to Winter.
While Icebound does have a softer spot for her children, they are not spared entirely, as Icebound disregards her children's safety when she goads Winter to kill the former during their duel and lies that her children can live without her, while Icebound's own parenting corrupted Brisk and Sleet. According to Winter, Icebound is jealous that the former has more cubs to carry on her name and that Winter and her offspring occupy a larger territory. Icebound raised her cubs into bullies out of fear that she'll lose her own territory once Brisk and Sleet leave her. Following Winter’s death, Icebound took the opportunity to force Snowstorm and Frost into giving away some of their prey. However she was unwilling to fight Ghost as she and her cubs fled and confronted by the latter.
## References

1. ↑ *Creatures of the Flood*, Chapter 6
2. ↑ *Creatures of the Flood*, Chapter 6