"Shh, shh!" Atomu waved at the three, and finally, they all went silent. He looked at the moon, which accompanied the noises of the winds around the forest. He glanced at the ice of the river and the long path upwards, which would take them to the lake.

There was no other sound present, and nothing else to be seen.

"Okay, quickly, after me," he squeezed through the bushes, jumping out to the snow.

Jyuzou punched the leaves around with his book, Morio leapt above and Chyuuichi had a twig in his hair because he forced his way through.

The second they stepped out in the open, a light wind picked up behind, and a heavy one in the distance, reminiscent of one that saved them earlier. Atomu started pacing forth, along the lines of the river, and the others followed.

Hush remained only for a while, however.

The screech sounded again, piercing through the trees and shaking their leaves.

It stood atop a nearby hill, staring at them and extending its various limbs, as if it was an animal, spotting its feast.

"R-RUN!" Jyuzou uttered, as the four picked up the pace almost instantly, and up the river, splitting into four different paths.

Jyuzou ran around in the grass, shaking off the snow around him. He looked down, ensuring he didn't fall into any of the thick lumps below or tumble into bushes full of seed. All of a sudden, one of the creature's limbs grabbed his leg, trying to pull him away. He flopped to the ground, trying to stop himself with his fingers, but then turned back, angrily. He started shaking his foot, as the limb snatched his boot. He breathed in, terrified and began running again, a bit cold on one foot, but still alive. He passed by a tree, and stopped for a moment, holding onto its bark, before groaning loudly, as he continued treading, feeling its piercing presence.

Atomu sprinted, covering his face, before the limbs grew out of the ground, changing into bones, blocking his path. He immediately rolled onto the ground and through the snow, before one of the limbs followed him as if it was a rabbit, chasing after one another, carrying nahi fruits atop their small heads.

The Paladian quickly stood up, kicking the dark matter with his foot, as the noise of bone-shattering sounded, and the creature bellowed once more. He covered his ears and ground his teeth, and so did the others, turning around for moments at a time.

When Chyuuichi spotted its shadow, it immediately moved on from Atomu's attack and headed right for the Mirillian, who tried his best to slide on top of the ice, and the creature barely missed his body a few dozen times. From time to time, however, it struck, destroying some of the ice. His hand slipped in once, forming a small wound, but he didn't stop advancing.

Then, as if all the silence ensued, it disappeared right when the river widened. Atomu stumbled into Chyuuichi, with two almost falling into a freshly created puddle, while Jyuzou stopped near the few grasses surrounding the edges, and under the branches of a tree leading towards an even bigger body of water.

"Morio," Jyuzou uttered. "W-Where's Morio?"

Atomu pushed the Mirillian away and trod into the darkness, spotting a silhouette. The mentioned Morian ran in between the trees, as a massive dark cloud stormed behind him, composed of thousands of sharp bones and fleshy insides.

Morio breathed heavily, closing his eyes. He kept running, each step making his legs feel weaker and heavier. The three ran in the front, seldom sliding atop the frosted ground or tumbling around. Either way, Morio was further away from the safe spot he mentioned.

"MORIO, GO!" Jyuzou suddenly screamed out, and everyone glanced at the Morian. His eyes were half-open, and his body seemed to lose coordination with each second that passed. The creature grew near, extending a new dark limb above him. "MORIO! PLEASE, DON'T STOP RUNNING!"

Morio did not intend on stopping. He looked down as every time he sprung forth, his legs would feel shorter. They were asking for that little bit of rest, they wanted him to catch a breath, but he couldn't. He needed to keep running, otherwise, it could all be over in a snap.

His dreams, motivations, and this adventure they all embarked on. Most importantly, he'd fail the one person he promised something to.

He gazed forward. From the darkness slowly reaching his body and inside his blurry vision, he made out the shape, of three people reaching their hands out. Who he saw were future Demonears, brave, strong and determined, so why wasn't he there, standing amongst the others?

He couldn't be worse. He couldn't be weaker. He had to be just like them.

The creature started forming back into its fleshy self, and Morio didn't stop. He wasn't fast, but he was one stubborn Morian.

He finally heard the yells of Atomu and Jyuzou, even Chyuuichi, and at the of the forest, at the place where the river transitioned into the lake, he jumped down, sliding on the ice and landing on both hands. He quickly turned, as the creature put one of its hands on the tree, carefully glancing at the three and disappeared into the surrounding darkness.

Morio gulped, subconsciously grabbing Jyuzou's hand.

They were safe.

***

Lots of Morians lived in these two-floor huts around the lake's edge, not too far from Magna or any other source of food. They weren't Demonears, and didn't connect much with the neighbours spread all around the half-circle they shared.

The four sought refuge in a hut nearby and were fortunately welcomed by two Morians, an older man and his daughter. They stayed for the night, Atomu and Jyuzou ate a rather modest supper, describing to the pair what they saw, much to their confusion.

The two lay down on the carpet, right beside the fireplace and the stairs to the upper floor, while Chyuuichi and Morio rested in the other room, with the Morian in the bed of the man's daughter. Morio had a habit of sleeping very soundly in beds that weren't his. In fact, the second he stepped in, he crashed without a word, much to the owner's dismay.

In the morning, Jyuzou pulled Morio out of bed, and Atomu had to convince Chyuuichi to leave the couch with three riddles because the Mirillian said so. Either way, they were eventually just kicked out. The owners set out to Magna by boat when the sun rose, and they were left in the same place, wandering about.

"Maan! I didn't stretch my limbs enough!" Chyuuichi blinked twice. "Five more minutes, jeez."

"They were nice enough to let us sleep in the first place," Jyuzou said.

"I'm still half-asleep." Morio stepped around, stumbling into Jyuzou and putting his head on his shoulder. Jyuzou slowly patted his head.

"Wow." Atomu covered his mouth.

"What?" Jyuzou squinted his eyes.

"No, nothing." he giggled. "I just thought, you're not the type of person to do this, Jyuzou." he brushed through his long hair. "At the same time, I don't know you that well."

"Have you ever had to run for your life, Atomu?"

"A few times."

"Well then. I'm sure there were a few people that comforted you afterwards." Jyuzou said.

"Not really?" Atomu was confused. "Mostly just strange looks."

Jyuzou sighed. "Morians are different. You guys are tall and all, and if I had to run with legs as short as his-"

Morio suddenly moved back, angered. "I am fully awake."

Jyuzou sighed. "Just the truth."

"Hey, Jyuzou." Morio pointed to his sock that had a little plant sewn on its side. Jyuzou quickly moved his pant leg down, embarrassed. "Exactly," Morio smirked, putting his hands on his hips.

"You lost a shoe?" Atomu asked.

"It's whatever." he rolled his eyes. "I'll make myself a thicker sock in its place with the cloth I have."

"Are you also going to embroider a plant at the side?" Morio asked.

"Shut up, Morio." Jyuzou sighed.

"Back to you, glassy idiot!" he pointed.

"With or without boots, I'm still taller than you."

"Boots are a first, then." Atomu put his hand over his forehead, already tired of their shenanigans. He breathed in, calming down. "Secondly, we need to figure out what the hell that thing was." he put his hands together, glancing at Morio.

"...thirdly," Jyuzou muttered. "What on earth are we supposed to do about him?" he waved his hand in the general direction of Chyuuichi, who seemed to step around the ice, sliding in joyous wonder. He waved at Jyuzou as well, and Jyuzou growled, stomping.

"He seems harmless now." Atomu rubbed the back of his head.

"HARMLESS?! REALLY?!" Jyuzou yelled out.

"I d-did get a little bit angry back then but he seemed to atone for his words rather quickly." Atomu continued. "We all make mistakes."

"Ah?! AH??"

"Jyuzou, you're being a prick again." Morio squinted his eyes. "He's just carelessly skating on the ice."

"It's not about the ice~!" Jyuzou said, right as Chyuuichi bumped into someone, causing them to fall inside the small hole carved into the frozen lake.

"It is, about the ice." Morio finished, and Jyuzou started heading towards Chyuuichi, with the Morian following right after.

However, Atomu stopped him at that moment.

"Huh?" Morio looked up.

"I wanted to ask you about what Chyuuichi said y-yesterday," Atomu uttered, still gazing at the two, before turning to Morio. "I don't mean to pry in, but do you know why that thing could've been after you?"

"No clue." Morio scratched his head. "I could make guesses, but that's about it."

The Morian continued, and the Paladian stood still for a while longer.

"For a moment there, I saw you grabbing and squeezing something under your vest.

"What?" Morio looked back.

"I want to see it, Morio. If it's something dangerous that aggroed whatever that was." he shook his head. "It's best if we get rid of it."

Morio's heart skipped a bit, and Atomu's words echoed through his mind. He reached below his button-up, took out the necklace and placed it in his hands, passing it to Atomu.

The sun reflected on its metallic emblem.

"A necklace?" he asked.

"M-Mama gave it to me before a demon attacked her." he quickly snatched it away from his hands. "I wasn't sure if w-were going to make it out of that forest with our lives intact." he beamed, tightly. "I wanted to make sure she was there with me too, for that moment."