Sae wakes in the early hours of morning unaware of the changes that happened overnight until he steps out of his temple and sees a world of snow and crystalline ice hanging from trees and from the eaves of his roof. He stares in awe, a smile spreading wide across his face.

The shadowlands don’t have seasons, or even day and night. In that place it is always cold and dark with only a handful of gracious stars to light up the sky. This scenery brings Sae back to when he was a small child running around his family’s temple with his brother, learning to skate over the icy lake, and sledding down the slopes at breakneck speeds.

He laughs and calls outs for Scripp and Strigg. “Look! Look! It snowed!” He unabashedly jumps into the snow, sinking all the way to his knees, and laughs out again. Strigg paws at the snow from the threshold with a suspicious expression. Scripp looks over her partner’s shoulder with a more curious expression. “It's water,” Sae explains, “but it’s not wet… until it melts at least.”

Strigg walks out cautiously. The snow crunches under his paws and he sinks a few inches, but otherwise it’s no different than walking on solid ground. He gives a flick of his tail indicating that it’s safe for Scripp to join him. Scripp bounds out playfully and purrs at the sight of the ice and snow sparkling in the sunlight. Since it’s winter that means the sun goddess Jira is sleeping and the sunlight is harmless to the shadows.

Sae bites his lips and then without any thought of consequences gathers a handful of snow and lobs it at Strigg. The white clings to his coat and causes Sae to burst out in laughter. Strigg stares back at him, unamused by his antics as he shakes the snow off. With his mind now set on retaliation Strigg crouches down low into the snow and then pounces onto Sae completely bowling him over.

Sae shouts and laughs as he wriggles from underneath the hulking shadowkin. When he finally manages to squirm free he grabs more snow to throw at Strigg and then runs off like a monster is hot on his heels. The two servants share a look and then without any words needing to be passed between the two of them they’re both off, racing behind Sae, eager to catch up and pummel him into the snow.

The three effortlessly bound through the forest—avoiding rocks, downed trees, and ditches that might trip up a human, but these three creatures navigate the treacherous terrain with ease.

Sae is in the middle of climbing over a small boulder when he sees two figures in the distance watching him and his servants. He stops what he’s doing, but then Scripp barrels into him accidentally causing the two of them to plummet into a snow pile.

“Oof! You’re heavy!” Sae complains as he climbs to his feet. Scripp doesn’t pay him any mind and continue to roll around in the snow. Sae looks again to where he’d seen the two strangers, but there’s no one there now.

For a moment he thinks they must have left, but then he hears a boy say, “Do you like the snow?”

Sae’s eyes jerk up to the top of the boulder where he’d fallen down from to see the two kids staring down at him. A young boy and girl. The girl is dressed all in white with her long black hair twisted into two braids that fall down to her waist, she quietly watches him with bright blue eyes that are as pale as the icicles hanging from the trees. The boy grins down at Sae with a more animated demeanor. He wears a simple tunic and trousers that are cut from a gray silk and belted around his waist is an intricate piece of embroidery with clouds and lightning decorating the fabric. Both of them have a subtle, but unmistakeable ethereal glow about them that marks them as gods.

Sae smiles broadly, “Yeah, the snow is great! Do you wanna play with us?”

The two young gods share a look and then nod their heads. “Sure.” The boy agrees and then two lightly jump down to stand next to Sae.

Sae’s eyes light up in delight, “Great!” Before they have time to introduce themselves Sae grabs a handful of snow and hurls it into the boy’s face. The look of shock on his face is enough to send Sae reeling into a fit of laughter. A burst of laughter also escapes past the girl’s lips, the sound rings out as clear as crystal.

“You!” The boy sputters, but Sae doesn’t look the least bit worried.

“Ha! Catch me if you can!” He shouts before running off again. He scoops up more snow and tosses it behind him, the ball just narrowly misses the girl who expertly dodges out of the way. Her feet skip lightly over the ground and she easily retaliates with a victorious grin.

The group of gods and shadows run around the mountain with their laughter and merriment sounding all around them. The breeze carries the noise down the mountain and all who hear their mirth and playfulness find a smile tugging at the corners of their lips even though they have no idea for why.

It’s afternoon when Sae and his servants finally collapse in an exhausted heap in front of his temple. The three comfortably pile together in a way that makes it clear that they are very familiar with each other. The boy and girl sit on the ground next to them.

“Father was right, you are fun.” The boy declares with shining eyes.

Sae grins, “Shaolin was talking about me?”

Upon seeing the two children Sae had immediately recognized them, and so didn’t think any types of introductions were necessary. There are only two children gods after all, Polo and Yula, both of them the children of Shaolin. Polo is the god of clouds and rain while his sister Yula is the goddess of snow and winter. The two are often depicted together on shrines. You don’t give offerings to one without giving to the other as well. The story goes that they were born when Shaolin cried of heartbreak. The two were the very tears that fell from his eyes and flooded the heavens after he and Jira broke apart.

“Hmm.” Polo confirms. “We were curious about you and wanted to see what you’re like. Everybody is talking about you, the shadowkin that’s come to live in the lightlands.” He says in a nearly ominous manner.

Sae rolls over to his stomach and gives Polo a hard look, “I'm only half shadowkin. And is that really all you came to see me about?” He quirks a brow and his expression lets it be known that he doesn’t completely believe Polo’s story.

Yula leans over and whispers into her brother’s ear. “Alright, alright, I was getting to it.” He tells her before redirecting his attention back to Sae. “Well, honestly, there was another reason we came by…” Sae sits up and dutifully gives the god his full attention. Polo hesitantly explains, “Yula and I don’t get a lot of prayers. Most humans would prefer for less rain and snow.” He smiles wryly at this, “It's not surprising and it’s never bothered us. We have our seasons and we do our jobs regardless of the humans.” Sae nods his head along in understanding. “Recently though someone has been sending us prayers and offerings everyday.” The young god’s brow furrows as he says this.

“Isn't that a good thing though?” Sae interrupts, “The more prayers and offerings you get, the more powerful you become.”

“Well, aye, but the problem isn’t the prayers, it’s what they’re praying for.” He glances over at Yula before continuing. Yula looks down at the ground with a shy expression and Sae has the impression that the prayers are likely for her specifically. “They want us to fight monsters.” Polo says with an aggravated look. “But we’re weather gods, we don’t have any business with monsters at all.”

“So just ignore the prayers.” Sae suggests. It seems like a simple solution to him. “If it’s monsters causing problems than there are other gods that can handle that, there’s no reason for you two to get involved specifically.”

“Aye, but the real problem is that the prayers are coming from Yula’s main shrine. We already don’t get many prayers, ignoring the ones at her largest shrine could cause us to lose our powers.” Polo leans in close, “And if the rumors are true that there’s a war coming, now isn’t the time for humans to be losing faith in us.”

Sae wrinkles his nose as he digests this information. “So, if I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying that you want me to answer the prayers for you?”

Polo beams, “Exactly! You’re fearsome and powerful. You can knock down any monster that’s bothering the humans. In return we’ll give you our support in the war.”

Sae scoffs, “I was already going to get your support.” He points out tactlessly. “I was chosen by Shaolin to be his champion. It’s not like you’re going to fight against your own father.”

The two children wince and squirm under Sae’s scrutinizing stare. “Well, aye, but so what? You should still help us!” Polo argues back.

Sae laughs and waves Polo’s concern off, “Aye, aye. Don’t fret about that, all you had to was ask, I’m happy to oblige. Killing monsters is fun.” Sae leans back and stares up at the sky as he thinks the request through, “You said it was Yula’s main shrine? Where is that?”

Yula gazes at Sae with her crystal blue eyes, she leans in close and vey quietly whispers in his ear, “The Westin clan’s temple.” A cold shiver travels down Sae’s spine at her words, but at the same time his chest grows warm at the prospect of getting to see Hona again.

Sae grins, “Sounds like fun!” He laughs brightly.