The Thing And The Run away

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

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 everywere

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 sharpely,

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 what he was seeing.

His body ached — not in one place, but everywhere — a deep, bone-heavy pain that made even breathing feel like work. A weak shiver crawled through him, stubborn remnants of the cold clinging to his limbs.

His eyes slid shut again.

He didn’t have the strength to question it.

A cold drop of water struck his cheek.

His eyes snapped 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