Nilo chased after Barbaranth through the trees along the mountainside, laughing as the bear rose on his hind legs and softly batted at him. He jumped out of the way, throwing an elbow into the bear’s thick side, where he flopped on his back and yawned lazily. Barbaranth rolled onto his stomach and pushed to his paws, tail wagging as he chased after Nilo. The two danced around one another, Nilo jumping on the bear’s back and wrapping his arms tight around his neck as he tried to throw him off.
He laughed as Barbaranth licked his check, flinging him forward so he dangled from around the massive bear’s furry neck. Nilo released his grip and plopped onto the grass, chuckling as the sun bear looked to the sky, distracted by the fire geese that flocked overhead. While the bear wasn’t focusing on him, Nilo quickly struck, lunging so the surprise shifted his weight, sending them both down in a heap. Barbaranth grunted and lapped at his face as Nilo laughed victoriously.
“I finally got you, Barbar!”
The bear gently nipped the back of his hair, slumping back lazily into the grass as Nilo flopped on top of him and gazed up at the clouds. They drifted, trimmed orange by the sun as he sighed and closed his eyes.
Screams started to fill his head, and they only grew louder the tighter he squeezed his eyes shut. In his mind’s eye, he saw mountains of snow and a frozen village, people tinted blue and screaming in pain as frostbite ate at them. In the midst of the chaos, he saw that frozen, crying woman, her sobs piercing through him. Long caramel waves traced down her back, her orange dress tattered at the ends and blood stained. When she turned, it wasn’t her face though, but instead that girl’s.
Her grayish-brown eyes were rimmed with tears, pleading with him as she reached out a hand. That blue tattoo spiraled up her arm to her shoulder, glowing bright blue like before.
“We have to make it stop.”
His voice wavered. “W-what’s happening? Who are you?”
She appeared right before him, wrapping him in a tight embrace and cradling him to her chest. Something melted inside him, all tension released from his muscles as he felt like a comforted child. Her heart beat against his ear, and it seemed to fall in rhythm with his own as he closed his eyes and listened. She was so warm, her embrace chasing every bad feeling from his bones so he never wanted her to let him go.
"Please don’t leave me,” he whispered. “I don’t know what to do.”
She lifted his chin. “You need to find me.”
“How?”
“Find me, Nilo. So we can save the world.”
Her eyes started to glow bright blue, and all those good feelings raced from him as quickly as they came. An intense heat flooded his heart, and he clutched at his chest hoping to extinguish the flames. The girl raised her arms and the snow around her melted, a vortex of water spiraling around her. The water froze over into jagged shards, and he covered his face as they came hurdling straight for him.
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