The mountain howled in a fierce storm

  Layers of white drifting down onto the already covered mountain pass to cement the truth of this pass: anyone who travels it shall forever travel as energy once the cold takes them.

  A boy heaves his withering body through whipping wind, his breath drawing desperate pants in the air

  The boy whispers “Keep....moving”

  a plea to his own body to go past its limits even further...

  His legs give out

  He collapses into the snow, his dull fingers grasping at the very thing that is killing him

  His vision flickers

  His lips tremble

  “Help...”

  Like death hanging over him, a shadow forms over his shaken body

  The child turns his head, mustering up the last sums of his energy

  His eyes widen with surprise

  At first, he believed the shadow to belong to an animal

  However, he couldn’t tell what it truly was

  The figure continued to loom over it, its figure hidden with layers of clothes

  A puffy hood obscures the features of its face

  It appears as if it is keeping itself warm but...something is wrong

  Its hands are bare, fingers black with frostbite yet it makes no attempt at warming them

  Its clothes are torn in places as if stolen

  No shivering or clutching at itself even in this harrowing blizzard

  It shuffled forward towards the child, movement not of someone caught in a blizzard, too smooth to be walking through 2 feet of snow.

  It slowly crouched down and now the child can see its face

  Its human, at least it appears to be

  Its skin is pale as if to be already kissed by death, small black markings that look like stitches are spread across its face in multiple lines

  But it’s eyes...

  Black

  Not the black of shadow or night. A void, all-consuming. Unlike the child's, they reflect nothing. Not the storm, not the snow and not even himself.

  In that reflectionless gaze, the child knew that was he was facing was indeed inhuman.

  As they studied each other, its eyes widened slightly and its mouth creeped into a frown.

  Its hand began to rose and the child closed his eyes gently, accepting whatever fate this thing has for it.

  Its voice slithered from its mouth in a bored tone

  “What...is that?’’

  Its calmness an opposite to the child's panic

  The child opens his eyes wide, his heart beating weakly in his ears

  It was...copying him

  Crudely yes but unmistakable. This was its way of displaying fear

  The child's lips tremble

  His mouth opening for a response but all that comes out are forced wheezes

  The thing watched him struggle for a response

  Watching the boy’s mouth open and close, producing nothing but broken air

  It tilted its head slightly

  “you can’t speak”

  No concern or disappointment

  Just a clear and cold observation

  The boy reached toward it weakly, his fingers scraping against the snow

  For a moment, it simply stared at the motion

  As if it was trying to understand why such a weak creature would bother to cling to life in such a way

  Then it stood

  Its interest gone

  It turned away from the dying child and began to walk, footsteps soft against the piling snow

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The storm engulfed the boys broken breathes

  Sound dulled

  Pain numbing

  Even the cold which grasped him began to disappear

  His vision blurred into streaks of white and grey as the world slowly released him

  His fingers relax in the snow

  His body long having lost the strength to plead

  But something inside of him refused to quiet

  A snarling, desperate beast buried deep in his chest

  “I don’t want to die...”

  “I don’t want to die...”

  "I don’t want to die...”

  His heartbeat staggered

  Weak

  Uneven

  Yet still clawing at fate

  Fear coiled around its paws like barbed wire

  His eyes slid shut

  The figure that had begun to retreat stopped

  It turned back, eyes narrowing as it studied the boy once more

  The air twisted

  Something began to coil around the child

  Snow bent away from a massive shape that wasn’t truly there

  Heavy paws formed and pressed into the snow yet left no impression

  Claws extended, curved like sharp sickles

  A low breath rolled from its jaws, steam spilling into the storm from a mouth fixed in a snarl

  Black fur bled into the white world, war paint like stripes curling across its body like wounds carved into shadoww

  A tiger

  Standing over the boy

  Guarding him

  Its predatory eyes faced forward, fixed on the world with stubborn defiance

  Yet its haunches trembled, fur standing on end

  A beast ready to flee even as it refused to move

  “Fascinating...”

  It murmurs as it steps forward, raising his blackened hand up to the tiger's muzzle

  The tiger did not bite

  nor did it flee

  The tigers form flickering as Its hand phases through it

  Its eyes shoot back to the still boy; his body now covered in a thin layer of snow.

  Its hands move from the fading tiger's muzzle and slowly inched towards the boy, grasping the back of the boy's robe and lifts him from the snow...

  Slowly, the boy's eyes squinted open only to be met by a stone ceiling washed in a soft orange glow

  For a moment, He didn’t understand whether he was alive or dead

  His body ached

  Not in one place but everywhere

  A deep, settled pain that made even breathing feel like work. A weak shiver crawled through him, stubborn remnants of the cold clinging to him

  His eyes slid shut again

  He didn’t have the strength to think

  A cold drop of water struck his cheek

  His eyes snapping open

  Another drop fell from the cave ceiling, landing just beside his eye and trailing down his temple like melting ice

  The boy inhaled sharply and forced himself upright.

  His arms trembled violently under his own weight, muscles barely responding as if they belonged to someone else.

  The world tilted.

  His thoughts lagged, mind wrapped in a heavy fog now that the desperation of survival had faded and left exhaustion in its wake.

  His eyes slowly search the cave, the smell of faint burning filling his nostrils

  A breathing that isn’t his own echoes through the cave

  His eyes eventually land on a figure sat on the floor next to a fire

  The figures pale, stitched skin grazed against the flame though they made no attempt to move

  They turn their head

  Slowly

  Methodically

  As if having known the boy was awake the entire time

  “Your awake. Good’’ It says with a cold tone, almost bored even

  The boy's eyes widen

  It saved him?

  He struggles to find words for a moment before responding shakenly “w-what do you want?”

  He backs up slightly on the floor, the things oversized coat that was wrapped around his shoulders sliding down his body further

  The thing studies him for a moment too long

  Cold water dripping from the ceiling

  Warm fire twisting and turning beside the thing as it slowly rose to its feet.

  It walks over to the boy then squats down so its face level

  “Tell me what you felt”

  The boys shuddering breathing pauses

  “W-What...?”

  It cuts him off. Not rushing. Not harsh

  Just unwillin to wait

  “What. Did. You. Feel”

  It voices blank yet commanding an answer

  Like a blank canvas standing among beautifully painted pieces.

  The boy's eyes furrow and he looks away for a moment

  “I...I was scared...I still am”

  “Why?”

  The response comes instantly. Not letting a single beat pass

  Frustration runs through the boy and he sits up a bit more against the cool cave wall

  “I was going to die a-and you left me!”

  His voice raising but still shaking

  Water droplets fall in between them

  Drip

  Drip

  Drip

  A steady rhythm filling the air in between them

  it stands up slowly

  The fire causing a looming shadow to form over the boy

  “A necessary step”

  The boys heart beats loudly in his ear and his fury only increases

  His fear increasing

  “How?! W-who just leaves someone like that?!”

  The boy stands up quickly and clenches his hands tightly

  His legs wobble

  He catches himself on the wall

  “There it is”

  It says as it tilts its head, its eyebrows furrowing

  Copying the boy's expression again

  “You’re scared. Too many unknowns so you reactively become aggressive. A natural human response is to yell, like any animal”

  It slowly moves to put its hand above the boys' head and it looms over him

  Eyebrows still furrowed

  Its outstretched arm cuts off the dripping water, breaking the natural rythym in between them

  The boys breathing quickens, echoing through the cave

  He scans its body, looking for any sudden movements

  It's hard, unblinking gaze beats down on him

  “But you can yell inwardly. How?”

  The boy looks down for a moment and his breathing slows

  His shoulders relax but then tense again as he looks up at the thing

  “I...I didn’t want to die. I needed to live”

  The boys gaze hardens slightly, and his body turns more rigid

  Less tense

  More assertive

  “You won’t scare me; nothing will until I do what I need to”

  It pauses

  Its eyes settling back into its usual blank stare

  “Fascinating...Your name?”

  It asks as it backs away from the boy

  Finally allowing breathing room in between them

  Its first curiousity seemingly being quelled

  Its shadow retreating from the boy

  The boy’s eyes furrow in confusion

  Body tilting to the side protectively but his shoulders relaxing

  “Kouta”

  Kouta’s voice quiet

  A long pause following

  “And you? If you have one...”

  It stares at him eerily before sliding down onto the floor

  Its head resting in its hand

  “My name at the moment is Reikuro”

  Reikuro lifts his head from his hand to stare at the boy more intensely

  Crackling fire whispering with the wind outside

  “I want you to teach me more, Kouta”

  Kouta swallows hard

  The words sending a shiver through his body

  A shiver that's different to the cold shivers that have been running through his body

  This one clings to his back, making his hairs stand on edge

  “O-okay...but first, you're going to tell me what you are”

  Their eyes locking from across the cave as Kouta steels his resolve

  And Reikuro?

  There was nothing inside of him that needed steeling