Chapter Text
The stars twinkled with a warm glow. Trillions of miles away: an incomprehensible distance for anyone to truly grasp, but I didn't mind that. I took my eyes off for only a moment to look at the small group. They whispered amongst themselves, but I couldn't hear their words from here. I didn't need to, anyway; I already saw the shared despair in their eyes, their bodies trembling despite their heavy layers. It wouldn't keep them warm for long if the weather continued to get colder, but nobody needed to say that out loud. We hadn't been prepared to take this journey, but there was no turning back now.
Mother had splintered off away from the others to try fishing by the ocean water, but so far had come up hungry. I could only wish for the sun to come back soon. It was too dark and dangerous to keep traveling now, but if we kept stopping for the night, we were going to run out of what little food we had soon. The animals had already made their journey far from this valley. I turned course her way, but she reacted very little once I was beside her. Her net was still strung in the water, but without a boat, the fish close to the shore wouldn't feed a baby. She sighed and reeled it back in,
"Help me throw. We'll get more distance."
I knew it was pointless, but I did it anyway. No God would help us now. The net was cast farther out with both of us working together, and I turned my attention to her. Scrawny and growing weaker, but still determined. I didn't understand it... Why she was fighting so hard. Everyone else had given up already. Myself included. The days were far too short for travel, and the nights were too dark to move as a group.
"If Dad didn't make that deal-" I was fully ready to complain and speak my mind, but she hushed me swiftly with a raise of her hand,
"It doesn't matter now. Just keep moving. We have to beat the winter storm before it hits."
Yeah, that's what she said. What she was always saying. It really started to make me mad!
"We're not going to make it." I didn't care if she didn't want to hear it; she had to. "The moon isn't enough to see where we're going, and we lost two at the last ridge. I know it's dangerous, but if we keep stopping every sunset, we're going to die either way. We should turn back and keep fighting!"
I knew it was a foolish plan, but it made me feel better to suggest it at all. No matter where we went now, only death awaited.
My mother only sighed, but her fingers were suddenly pulled as something met the net. What was that pull? No way a fish that strong was this close! I didn't think before I began to help her reel it in. I held my breath with anticipation. What was going to be in the net? Would it feed us all? My excitement grew, only to sink when I saw it was nothing more than a box lifted from the waves. Great, we wasted precious energy on a lost jewelry box. I was ready to throw it back, but my mother's curiosity led her to untangle it and open it up. What was inside was... As expected, jewelry.
"Yeah, that'll feed and warm us." I could've rolled my eyes at the mere thought and took one out. A pretty pendant, but a pointless weight to carry with us. We should just leave it here. My mother smiled weakly, her lips slightly discolored from the cold,
"Oh, where's the fun you used to have? Try it on. It's a gift from the seas."
"It's someone's lost junk, and this looks made for a woman. We don't have time for fun. We should be focusing on food."
I nearly threw it back, but she took it from my hand before I could,
"Humor me. It's not often we find something like this, and I don't have a daughter to dress up."
For goodness sake... I could've rolled my eyes into the heavens, but I bowed my head so she could slip it around my neck. I couldn't care less about this, but my mother was my mother.
I thought that was that, but when it began to glow, my mother quickly jolted back in surprise. I did the same, except it was attached to me and I couldn't move away. What was this?! It lasted for mere moments, but my heart was still pounding when something was suddenly floating in front of me.
"A little... Creature... Thing. A bird?" What was I looking at? What bird looked like that? It definitely wasn't a bird, but it was floating!
The animal opened large, glistening eyes and stretched its tiny arms. Like it was fully waking up, a long, fluffy tail twitched and uncoiled from a fuzzy body.
"It's been so long! This is such a cozy chill," The... Thing grinned with sharp canines before finally looking at me, "Oh, nice to meet you, new holder! I'm Roffe, the kwami of life! At your service!"
A... A what? I looked to my mom, but she was just as perplexed as I was. The kwami flew around my head, suddenly poking my cheek, "Hey, wake up! Didn't you hear me? When you want to use me, just say 'Roffe, ignite!'"
This was too much for me. Way too much! My hand fell on the pendant, and I wanted to pull it off, but my mom finally moved,
"Roffe? What does it mean to be... Life? Can you bring back the dead? Are you a God?"
"A God?" It giggled when it looked at her, "Depends on your definition. I can't do that, though. Those already claimed by the concept of death are beyond me. I can't disrupt another's powers. But I can bring you the lifeblood of warmth and fire! My first holder used me to cook the first meat. They say they discovered fire, but I'll let you in on a little secret," He grinned when he flew up beside her, "It was me! I can cook your food or light your torches or-"
I couldn't keep listening to this. This was too good to be true; it had to be some joke! I had never heard of something called a kwami before, and I wasn't going to leave our lives to some strange creature.
"We can't really believe this? You dragged it in by net! We need real solutions, not the magic of a bug!"
"I'm not an 'it', or a bug!" Roffe switched up into anger quickly, "Maybe you don't deserve to be my new holder! I am an Arctic fox, and I demand respect! You just haven't seen what I can do!"
The thing began to glow even brighter, and with a sudden burst of light, it shot into the sky. It was difficult to understand what I was seeing at first, but the beautiful light danced across my vision along the night sky. What was so dark only moments ago now glowed a warm shade of green that rippled like water. It was... Incredible.
The light spread across the valley like a second sun, with the movements akin to the fox's tail itself. A fire in the sky...
"Mom..." I turned back down and looked around us. We could see, we could keep traveling! "We're saved."
When Roffe came back down, he was breathing heavily, but nervously raised his attention above,
"... Oops... I wasn't supposed to do that without a holder."