Winter Hearts
 

Yuki was all alone high on top of the mountain where she lives and never come into contact with people. It was perfect for skiing, snowboarding and other snow activities of the like since this mountain was constantly covered in snow and it never went or even close to the melting point of snow. This place on earth was devoid of any heat and yet she was never cold. She had her own body guard, a large pure white wolf who kept her company and yet she was still lonely. Seeing humans together having fun, she often wished sh could join them but her existence shouldn't be known to anyone. The mountain never had a lot of people on it which made her all the more lonely. Her wolf companion could only do so much. But she noticed a man out in the distance getting ready to ski down. It was quite dangerous for him to be alone. She decided to keep an eye on him, not that she was allowed to save hi if anything happened but still, she just wanted to watch. Getting closer and closer, Yuki was well hidden behind the trees as she was just a short distance away from him in a matter of seconds.

Yemon was grumbling about how cumbersome the skiis were, not quite used them them yet, but getting better, almost good enough to teach like he was trying to do. He doesn't know how well he'll do with that, but even if that doesn't work out being a live-in maintenance worker wasn't too bad either. There wasn't anyone around, so if he messed up there wasn't anyone to laugh at him, so he gets ready for the plunge. Going down the side he's wobbly at first, but steadies as he goes. He gains more confidence, but doesn't see the ice patch on the slope, spinning out of control. Panicking he doesn't know what to do and just tries to keep himself upright.

Yuki followed him, seemingly to glide like he was with the skiis. She watched him spin out of control and debated whether or not she should help him. She had never witnessed a death of a human and if this continued, she would have to break the rule, it wasn't like there was a force stopping her from protecting him. Taking in a deep breath, she whistled for her companion while he did his own thing at times, though he was never far off. The wolf was there instantly, hopping onto his back, she got him to go to the man, grabbing his arm and lifting him up onto the wolf. Going down to the bottom of the mountain, in the wooded area, she hopped off the wolf, helping the human down also. "I have seen many people ski on my mountain, it's not to be taken lightly." She warned. "You could have died you know. I don't know if I will be able to save you next time so bring someone along." She warned.

Everything happened so quickly Yemon wasn't sure what was going on. One second he was out of control on his skiis, then was suddenly on the wolf holding onto the woman riding it. All he could do at first was just stare at her in surprise, then finally his brain starts working again, "Why would it matter to a complete stranger if I had ended up dead? Though I am grateful that you helped me. If there's anything I can do to help you tell me." His expression was natural, not really caring either way, but he did watch the wolf, not having seen such a friendly one before. At the same time he takes in the woman's appearance, which was unusual to him, even for his village he's from.

Looking at the sky he notices that its getting darker as time goes by and that he'd have to leave soon. He wonders if it would be faster to try climbing back up to the lodge or try to find the bus down at the base and show them his ID to get a lift back up. Either way it will be long past dark before he gets back.

Yuki just stared at him curiously. "Well, how would you feel if you saw someone in need and you knew you could do something about it and yet did nothing? I don't know if I will get into trouble for saving you but I much rather be punished than to have the memory of your death burn into conscious." The cold wind whipped her long silver hair back. Her exposed pal skin didn't even show any signs of getting cold, but one would think with how light her pure white dress was that she would be cold. Her beauty was strange, otherworldly in fact.

It took a bit of time before she registered what was happening at this moment. She was actually talking to a human! Her eyes lit up as her mouth showed no signs of a smile. She didn't want him to go so she thought of a plan. "Was that your first time skiing?" She questioned as she looked up to see snow clouds coming in. "It looks like it will snow, do you want to come with me? Or are you wanting to leave?" She asked. "I heard it is going to be a nasty snow storm."

Yemon scratches his head, "To be honest I'd probably help, but only because of the morals I posses, not everyone has the same morals as me. I've experienced that more than enough times back home." He looks at her curiously, wondering who this unnaturally beautiful woman was and how she could withstand such cold weather, that dress was not meant for freezing temperatures.

"No, it wasn't, but I'm still fairly new. I didn't see that ice patch, I can't afford getting all the ski equipment, and the goggles help with the glare on the slopes. But I don't have a pair, but its not like you're required to have them, but its usually for the shallower slopes that people don't bother wearing them." At the mention of possible snow he covers his eyes with his hand and looks up, seeing hints of the sky greying. Sighing he lowers his head and looks to the strange woman, "Either way its a long trek to where I need to go, and I won't be able to get back before the storm before the looks of it. If you're taking me to someplace nearby that would be better than trying to brave the storm." He shakes the snow off the skis and uses them like snow shoes to follow her.

"Even if I get into trouble, I don't mind. I have never witnessed a human death before." Yuki froze as she said the word human, he must realize by now that she wasn't and by saying that just confirms it. But she wasn't about to admit to anything. Yuki didn't realize that he could have taken it that she saw animals die but not a person.

Noticing him wearing the skis she cocked her head slightly to the side out of curiosity. "We're not walking. She knew of some cabins that were seemingly abandoned by people before. She was rather excited as he said that he would stay, she knew that she couldn't make the storm last for too long, just overnight and maybe into the morning but her plan worked perfectly. Calling for the wolf, seeing as how it went to do its own thing again, the wolf heard and was back immediately. Grabbing onto the man's hand, she felt how warm he was, she looked at him utterly shocked. Her skin was icy cold. Curiosity getting the better of her, she began touching his face seeing if it was warm also. Realizing that it must have been strange for her to do that, she took her cold yet soft, elegant long hands off of him and grabbed his warm hand again. She jumped up onto the wolf's back easily. The wolf was as big as a horse, if not a bit bigger and she effortlessly jumped up onto its back.

"This mountain is huge. Its my home so I have seen a few people who ski and sled. But it's really dangerous because it is heavily wooded in certain areas. My wolf likes roaming around there mostly but he stays close to me."She rubbed his ears. "His name is Kiba. He's very protective over me." It was just a matter of minutes before the arrived despite how far they actually traveled from where they once stood. The snow came down in full force once they arrived and got inside. Snow had fallen from a tree top and barricaded the door which wasn't actually her doing. The cabin wasn't abandoned looking, there were blankets, logs for the fire place, everything but food and drinks. "Maybe it's not abandoned. I didn't know that. If it's not abandoned then why would someone hardly ever come here?" Yuki didn't realize that this was just a vacation home and that it wasn't meant to live in for long periods of time. "If you're hungry my wolf will go get us some food." She told him.

He doesn't think much of what she says about humans dying, he's seen plenty of animals die but not humans himself. When she grabs his hand though he realizes her hands were ice cold, making him think that her clothing really wasn't enough for her after all. The coldness touching his face makes him shiver, "What? I don't have a fever or anything." When Kiba is introduced to him, he cautiously reaches out and pets him, scratching him behind his other ear a bit before letting this woman help him up on the wolf.

When the reach the cabin he hurries in and quickly shuts the door behind them. Looking around he realizes its one of the vacation homes scattered across the mountain. When she mentions Kiba getting them food he shakes his head, "There's no need for that, this is a cabin run by the lodge I work at, there should be some food already here. It's stocked during the off seasons in case people get stuck during blizzards. Here, I'll show you." Going over to a cabinet he opens it up to reveal some canned foods. Mostly thing like canned veggies, salmon and things kids would eat like spaghetti-o's.

Kiba thoroughly enjoyed the scratching. behind his ear. But he wasn't going to let down his guard too much since he needed to protect Yuki, no matter who or what it was that tried to cause her harm.

The cabin was warmer than the outside and she could feel it. She didn't care for the degree difference between being outside and being inside. She tried to not show that she was becoming rather weak. Grabbing a can from the cabinet, she just stared at it confusingly. "It's nothing but rock with a weird design. She licked it and furrowed her eyebrows. "I much rather have an animal to eat, thank you though." She told him. Beads of water, which looked like sweat began to roll down her face. She could feel her body weaken but she did her best to keep it under control. Oh, I never introduced myself, I'm Yuki." She told him.

His look is one of confusion, wondering how had never had canned food before, but he does notice that she's sweating for some odd reason. A nervous sweat maybe? He wasn't sure, but begins looking for a can opener, soon finding one. "I didn't introduce myself either, so don't feel bad Yuki. My name is Yemon, Yemon Kita, and give me a second and I'll have the can open." He finally finds the can opener and uses it to pop the lid off one of the Spaghetti-o's. Grabbing a spoon he hands her the can with the spoon stuck in it to try while he opens another can for himself and one of the cans of veggies for them both to share. "It's best if we stay inside and stay out of the storm. You don't need to heat anything up, anything canned can be eaten cold. The downside to cans are the salt content in them."

Yuki stared at the spoon curiously and then looked into the thing he had called a can. "Salt content?" She wasn't sure what that meant but it must have been bad since he said it was a downside. Watching Yemon, she copied how he used the spoon to eat the food. She found it rather hot, like inside this cabin. "I thought you said it was cold." She told him. Even the animals she would eat, she always made sure that their meat was cold before eating it because that would have been too extreme of heat for her. Yuki didn't even notice the taste of the spaghetti-o's. She was still sweating from how warm it was in the cabin. Every degree counted for her and even though it wasn't like the heat was blasting in there, she could feel such a significant difference.

"Hmm? Well, I meant not heated up. Usually these are cooked to be hot meals, but I guess to someone who doesn't seem to have had one before it wouldn't feel cold. And are you alright? You're sweating an awful lot there." Grabbing a paper towel from the counter he dabs it at her face some to get the sweat dripping down.

"I would have thought that you'd be freezing outside dressed like that, but I guess you just have an unusual tolerance for cold weather and hardly any tolerance for warm. I've heard of people with poor blood circulation getting cold easily, but that's the opposite of you. Maybe warm blooded would be it?" He continues eating his meal, not really a fan of it, but he did need some carbs for his trip back to the lodge. So he can't just eat the veggies, which he was now dumping half of it into the now empty can of Spaghetti-o's.

"Hot meals? No thank you. I have to make sure that everything is icy cold before I eat it." Yuki told him. She looked down at his hand as he dabs the sweat. "I'm fine. I uh, just have an unnatural body temperature to where I get really hot very easily. Really, anything above the freezing point of water is too hot, even if its just by a few degrees. So I stay here where there's snow. My clothing are made of this material that helps keep me cool. Even food temperature gets to me so I have to have everything ice cold." She explained. "But...what about you? Do you like the cold?" She asked curiously. Despite not ever smiling, she seemed rather friendly enough. "And tomorrow, I can take you as close to where you have to go as possible. I...I really can't have anyone knowing about me so please don't mention me, my name or my wolf ok?" She told him. "Do you have any family or friends who would miss you if anything ever happened to you?" She asked.

A brow raises as Yemon hears all of this, the more she told him the less she even sounded like she was even human. With the mention of her body having to be kept at freezing temperatures and the special clothing he realizes that she must not be human, "Me? The cold doesn't bother me too much, or at least not as much as most other people. But humans can die if they get too cold, there's many a person who has died in such storms." He eats some more of the veggies, grunting a bit at her mentioning family.

"That would be fine with me, but why not tell anyone? I can understand your wolf, Kiba, but why not you? I already know about you since you're sitting here talking to me. Not to mention with what you said earlier you made it apparent that you're not human. As for my family, let's just say me and my family don't really see eye to eye, and I'm a bit of an outcast to them. I haven't spoken to them in a few years, and they haven't tried speaking to me either. None of them tried to stop me when I left, and if anything everyone was glad to be gone. That's just how things are for me."

Her eyes grew wide as she heard him say that she wasn't human. Her body began to tremble as her heart pounded against her chest. How did he even know? What gave it away? She sighed as she tried to calm down. "I-I'm human. Don't make such an absurd comment!" She told him. If he didn't believe her she didn't know what she would do. She couldn't let him go back to the humans and talk about her! "My condition is just very rare among humans. There's only five of us who are like this!" She told him hoping to convince him that she was human. "It's just, I have been living out here all of my life, I don't know much things." She was still shaking like a leaf as she just hoped that maybe, just maybe he would buy it.

"That's really sad. I just have Kiba, I have never spoken to anyone since all I can remember. My family gave up on trying to cure me and didn't want their house constantly freezing so I was forced to leave and live here. You're the first human I have talked to since then." Honestly, she didn't know if she even had a family. She actually didn't know much about herself, only her real name and that she wasn't allowed to interfere with humans' fate.

Sighing Yemon shakes his head, "I'm not going to do anything to you. Normally it would be the other way around, most other humans would be terrified of you." Finishing off the can he gets up and rinses it off in the sink and sets it on the counter. "Well, to my family and the village I'm from I was the trouble maker. They believed in the concept that the strong should be on top and the others would bully those weaker than them. I never liked that so I pushed back and tried to help those that got bullied. But things just got worse and even those I helped started to not want anything to do with me. So when I got old enough to I left, got my certificate saying I made it through high school and then went looking for a job. I only landed this job because of being able to withstand the cold and having lived in the mountains before coming here. I mean, I'm thankful for my parents having given birth to me, but other than that I want nothing to do with them and they want nothing to do with me." Going to the fridge he opens the freezer section. Grabbing the ice cube tray he holds it out to her, "Here, these will probably help you feel better. Or maybe getting into the fridge since its probably colder in there than in the rest of the cottage."

Yuki grabbed the ice cube was and rather delighted when it actually cooled her off but it melted on her within a matter of minutes. She knew that she wouldn't be able to convince him that she was human so she just nodded at him. "I'm not human. My real name is Khione but honestly, that's really all I know about myself. My memory is completely gone for the times before I arrived here. I don't even know how long ago that even was. But I also know that I'm not allowed to interfere with a human's fate. Talking to you, saving you, I might get into trouble by someone, just don't know who really. But like I said, I really don't want to watch someone die knowing that I could have saved them." She explained. There really was no reason for her to keep denying that she wasn't human. He wasn't going to believe her anyway about it. "If you want to leave now, you can. I will stop the snow and I can take you where you need to go, as so long as it's somewhere on this mountain. She told him. Yuki didn't want to delay the inevitable any longer.

He just shrugs his shoulders and goes about making another tray full of ice cubes, taking the second tray out and handing it to her. "I see no reason to leave now, you seem pretty lonely after all. Besides, how do you know if I was supposed to die or not? I could have just hit a snow drift and ended up fine, if I little bruised and sore. You have no idea what the future has in store for a person, so how do you know if you're changing their fate? Unless someone comes out and tells you straight up that you're not supposed to do something I don't know how you're doing anything wrong." After placing the tray now filled with water he goes into the bedroom and grabs some pillows and blankets, setting them on the couch.

"Well, I would offer the couch to you, but that would probably be too warm for you, you might be better off sleeping on the kitchen floor because of the tile. That is if you do sleep..."

She rubbed the ice cubes all over herself until one would melt, then she grabbed another. "I don't know really. But I think I will only get into trouble if you're being buried in snow or about to hit a tree and I save you, I think that's when I will get into trouble." She went on saying. Yuki really wished that she knew more about herself, and about her situation.

"I might actually sleep outside. It's just too warm for me to stay in here." Yuki said. "That's where I usually sleep anyway." She stared out of the window. "I have noticed that it's been getting warmer and warmer. I have never felt it before. If it gets too warm and all the snow melts, I'm afraid of what will happen to me. I don't know where I would go."

Laying down on the couch he puts his hands behind his head, thinking for a bit. Sitting up he looks at Yuki, "Can't you go further up the mountain where its colder? Or maybe a cave up that high? I know caves tend to get cold, but I haven't been on this mountain for long to know how cold the peak will get. But I have the feeling that would probably be your best bet if you don't want to melt. But if you've never experienced this kind of heat before that you can remember, I would think you hadn't been here for long. Or at least not this mountain or else you would probably remember feeling things getting warm because of the change in the seasons."

Yemon wonders why she doesn't remember the weather getting warmer, from his impressions she's been around for a while. But with her not having been through the weather getting warmer maybe she's been here less than a year and just doesn't remember?

"Season changing? I don't really understand. But the mountain is always cold." She nodded. She then entered her mind where she began to think about the past. Thinking more about it, she felt like there were these gaps in her memory that she really didn't notice before. "I won't melt. Why would I melt?" She questioned him. Talking to him just brought up so many questions that she wished she could get answers for. The number one being who was she exactly. It was the question that was mostly popping out in her mind. That and this so called, changing of the seasons. What was that about? "I have been on this mountain for a long time. I know it!" Or was he correct in that? "I don't like talking to you. You're confusing me. "Oh wait, I think I know what's going on here, you're trying to confuse me! Why I don't know but you have some goal in mind don't you? You probably knew about me and only acted like you were in distress so I would save you! That's how you knew I wasn't human, because you have known all along! Whatever you're planning, I'm not falling for it!" She warned.

Sighing he shakes his head, "If I was planning to do something to you I wouldn't have let you trap me in a cabin. As it stands you have the power to kill me whenever you want if you can summon a blizzard. Secondly, I said melting because that's what you sweating was making me think of melting ice. Anyways, three are four seasons, Winter Spring, Summer and Autumn, each lasting roughly three months. Though with global warming Summer seems to be lasting longer and getting hotter than it used to be. And its getting towards the end of the season, so soon Winter will be ending. Winter is the coldest season, so the other seasons might be too hot for you. That's why I said something about going higher up in the mountain because it seems anything warmer than the current temperature really affects you, so it was out of concern for your well being. Honestly, you must really not get to talk to people much if you came to that kind of conclusion about me. All you have to do is walk out the door and I won't be able to follow you because of the blizzard, most humans would die in one after all." A bit annoyed for being accused for having bad intentions for no reason he lays back down on the couch and turns so that he's facing the back of the couch and his back is exposed to the rest of the room.

Yuki listened very intrigue of this thing called seasons. She wondered what the other seasons were like. "Winter is ending? I-if Winter ends...do I end?" She tried hard to think about any time in the past where she felt the mountain getting hot but when she did, it just caused her to get a massive headache. "Not good, definitely not good!" She stated. "You're the first human, the first anything I really talked to." She told him. Sighing, she went to the door but a bunch of snow came falling in when she opened it. Using her powers to clear it out, she let him be and patted Kiba. "Do you know anything about me?" She asked as she stared at the wolf. All he did was yawn and licked her gently. "Yeah, didn't think so. If I disappear, I wonder if you will miss me. I don't want to disappear. I don't to melt away when this so called summer comes." She kiss Kiba and just laid down in the snow. Sh stopped sweating immediately once she became colder. "Am I really melting?" The thought frightened her.

"I don't know if you'll end, for all I know you could become something else entirely." He was trying to go to sleep, but her getting scared was unsettling to him, so he couldn't. Finally he gets up and looks at her, "Inside of worry about it why not just enjoy your life? We all must die eventually anyways. As long as its not an unnatural death just let it come when it does. That way the people who knew you and liked you can celebrate the life that you lead because it was what you wanted to do. Now get some sleep or whatever it is that you do since I don't even know if you need sleep." Cuddling back under the blanket and settles into the couch in order to sleep. The door being open quickly got him cold again though, even more so because it was night now. Eventually he gets up, moves the couch to a corner of the room where the wind from outside doesn't get to him, and then tries to sleep in that position, which is much better.

Yuki petted Kiba and just laid beside him without sleeping until dawn finally came. She couldn't sleep as she thought about how she might possibly die soon and it scared her so much. She had never been so afraid before. Walking inside the cabin, she still had such a glum look on her face. "You don't understand, there's no one who knows me. No one will miss me. No one will care that I don't exist anymore." She sighed as she just stared at him. he was mostly talking to herself since she assumed that he was still asleep. "I only have Kiba. Yuki wondered around the cabin but nothing she did could get her to stop thinking about what Yemon told her.

Fortunately for Yuki, and unfortunately for Yemon, he's a light sleeper, grumbling a bit sleepily as he awakens. Stretching and yawn he tries to say something, but has to repeat himself because of the yawn, "Well Kiba will definitely miss you, if he's anything like the dogs or wolves that I've heard of. And even though we haven't known each other I would miss you some too. You're an interesting person to talk to and doesn't scorn my mere presence. Maybe we should become friends if you're worried that there will be no one to mourn you, at least then you wouldn't have to worry about that." Getting up he gathers the blanket and pillows back up and putts them back on the bed. Then he moves the couch back to where it was and begins making himself breakfast.

"You probably will want Kiba to get you something to eat, since food that's cold to me is still too warm for you to eat."

Yuki just eyed Yemon cautiously. "We only just met, how can you miss a stranger? Besides, you will eventually forget about me. I much rather be alone, what's the point in having a friend anyone i I know I'm just going to end up in the back of your mind where I will stay an be forgotten. So I much rather you just go hoe, go where ever and forget about me. I appreciate the gesture." She told him. Her heart was shattered into millions of little pieces and just his simple gesture helped with a few of it. But one person wanting to be friends out of pity wasn't going to do much for her. She knew that it was just an empty gesture. "I will take you where ever you need to go, just let me know when you're ready to go." She yawned and rubbed her head. Looking outside, the sun was shining brightly, there were no evidence of the storm she created last night besides the extra foot of snow. "Don't worry, I won't make a blizzard." She assured him.

"I really wouldn't say we're strangers anymore since we did talk for a while and found out something about each other, so we're at least acquaintances if nothing else. And besides, you can't make friends if you hole yourself away for the rest of your life. Then your life will really mean nothing, or at least in my opinion." He finishes heating up some food, cleaning up after himself and then gathering his stuff. "I wasn't expecting you to keep me here against my will, you were more concerned about me doing something like that to you last night after all. I don't think you have a single mean bone in your body. Anyways, I'll try to keep an eye out for you and tell you stories of different things if you want, this way you can at least learn about humans if nothing else and it will help take your mind off of death."

Heading back towards the lodge he waves bye to Yuki, wondering why someone would just leave her alone like that, she was a nice girl after all. Nothing like any of the girls he met, they had either scorned him are were too fixated on how they looked and wore hardly anything in order to look 'pretty'. Thinking to himself he guesses maybe he likes modest beauty more than anything else. After a while he reaches the lodge, explaining to his boss that he got caught in the sudden blizzard and which cabin he ended up in so that someone could be sent out to clean it. For the time being though his boss wanted him to get some real food, do some general cleaning and then get some rest. As he drifts to sleep, he can't help but thing how its not right for Yuki to be all alone like that, even though he himself chose to be alone, but it didn't seem like she chose to herself.

Yuki sighed as she watched him leave. She was alone yet again. A part of her really wished that he would have just ignored her and said, no I will stay with you, but alas, now she had to deal with the whole dying thing alone. She had no on who would miss her. Yemon wouldn't even know when exactly sh would have died. Going out, she went hunting with Kiba. She managed to get a rabbit and let the meat cool down before digging into it. After she got down eating it , she didn't know what to do now. She just played with Kiba like she often did whenever she was bored and lonely.

The next day Yemon was sent out to mark down paths that people can ski down on a map given to him. So he has some snow shoes on as he walks from path to path looking at all the routes, also taking notes on what areas need some maintaining or cleaning from people traveling up and down the slopes. All the while he keeps an eye out for Yuki, though not sure if he'd find her because of how pale she is normally, she could probably be sitting on top of the snow and he'd have a hard time spotting him. Either way, he's looking around for her as he goes, and also for Kiba since he might be easier to see.

Yuki noticed Yemon was out walking, holding something in his hand. Kiba noticed him before she was able to call him back and he took off running towards Yemon. "Kiba!" She yelled in a whisper to maybe get him to come back but sh knew it was useless. She didn't understand why the dog was so keen on Yemon anyway, wasn't like they bonded or anything. Sighing, she went after the wolf and ultimately mt up with him. "Kiba wanted to see you." She told him as she cleared her throat. "What are you doing anyway?" She questioned as she walked closer to him. She would constantly take glances all around to make sure that no one would see her. "Since Kiba likes you for some reason, you can visit me whenever you're able. He's never far from me unless he's chasing an animal." She patted Kiba who was trying to get his attention by nuzzling up to him and what not and even licking him. His tongue was ice cold.

Yemon is a bit surprised to see Kiba some running towards him, even more surprised when he has Kiba trying to get attention from him. He can't help but smile at Kiba's antics and begins scratching him behind the ears, "You're lucky no one else is seeing this, they probably would have thought I was in trouble or something." Then he notices Yuki as she also approaches, "I was actually hoping to see you again, I did promise to tell you stories about humans and explain things to you so you know more about humans. As for what I'm doing, since I'm planning on becoming an instructor for beginners I need to know the courses, what ones shouldn't be run because of conditions, and what ones different levels of skiers can do. I have to know these things before I can advance into a better paying job." Holding up the map he shows her the notes he's been taking and how some of the slopes were affected by the blizzard she made yesterday. Then a thought crosses his mind, "Yuki, do you know how to read or write?"

"Yeah, he's really big compared to other wolves." Yuki looked up and down at him. Kiba just wagged his tail. Yuki just shook her head and sighed at the sight. "You're too spoiled. I'm going to have to teach you how NOT to be spoiled." She stated and rubbed his head. Yuki was confused as she stared at the map and then at Yemon. "Of course I know how." She said proudly though she had no idea what reading and writing were. "Why do you ask though? Are you going to use me, or well, my powers, to your advantage?" She asked curiously. She thought it would actually be fun, that way she could interact with the humans without being seen.

He stares at her for a moment and then sighs, "There are signs posted by humans all over the place, and knowing what the signs say can help get you out of trouble or avoid humans if you don't want to be bothered by them. You being able to read wouldn't really give me any power over you, unless you felt like you have to repay me. But that I would decline since you did help me out the other day. Here, I'll write the letters in the snow and teach them to you, I'll just start and having you learn what each one is called and once you've got that down I'll teach you how to spell." Picking up a stick he begins writing the letters into the snow, then points to each one saying their names. Once she starts getting the hang of it he nods in approval, "Would you like to learn a song?" Smiling he sings the alphabet song, something she can learn to sing to help remember her alphabet.

Yuki raised an eyebrow as she listened to him. She was rather embarrassed that he knew she didn't know how to read, that he could tell that she was lying. She was hesitant to learn them because she didn't understand why really. But she eventually started to warm up to it and began to follow along and repeated the alphabet after him. She began to sing along with him the best she could, Yuki tripped up quite a few times though. She slowly began to get the hang of it. "You know, I have avoided humans without ever reading your so called sign. You're the only reason why I'm at risk for a human to see me and Kiba." She told him.

"Really? You probably just kept away from places you saw humans then, but either way I think having this kind of skill will come in handy for you. Not to mention since Kiba looks like a wolf who's been around a while, he'd probably warn you if you were in trouble, isn't that right big guy?" Yemon affectionately scratches behind his ear for a bit, then looks up at the sun. "Well, I better get back, I'll look for you again tomorrow, you don't have to come so close to human places though since it could cause problems for you."

"Kiba is my guard wolf. He will protect me. He might not talk but I know he understands me and knows when I'm in trouble and what not." She patted Kiba It was obvious how much he was enjoying the attention with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, his tail wagging. It looked like he was giving a wolf like grin. Being honest with herself, the thought of hi leaving again upset her because she didn't want to be alone anymore. Yemon was the only person she was able to talk to, the only one who she could trust with her secret, that being the secret of her very own existence. She didn't do much, just let Kiba hunt for her and ate the animal that he would capture and just survive until the next day.

The next day wasn't at all pleasant, in fact, it was forty degrees hotter than normal and a portion of the snow had melted. Yuki tried her best to not to melt. But water kept dripping off of her. She was trying her best to cool herself down but when she would lay in the snow, it would melt underneath her.

After having identified the paths that would need maintenance, Yemon's boss sent him out to clean them up and restock some of the cabins with food. While he's out with the snowmobiles he looks for Yuki, since its much warmer he's afraid she'll be melting again. Sure enough he soon finds her laying in the snow, the snow melting around her.

"I thought this might happen," looking back at the sledge the snowmobile he's got a tarp covering the top of the sledge. Going over to Yuki he scoops her up, setting her on the tarp, then starts packing as much snow around her as he can to try and keep her cool. "I'm going to take you as close to the top of the mountain that I can, the suddenly warm weather seems to be a bit much for you. Just hang in there Yuki."

Once she's been settled in he goes as quickly as he can with the snowmobile to the top, trying to avoid commonly traveled paths because he wanted to avoid people. Along these paths the trees are dense, making it a bit hard to see what's further up so he has to slow down some to make it through the trees without crashing.

Kiba wasn't too friendly this time around as he wasn't sure what Yemon was doing and he was worried about Yuki. "Kiba, He's going to help." She assured the wolf as she patted him. She was breathing slowly. "What if going to the top doesn't help me when Spring comes? What if all the snow melts, what if I melt? What will happen to me then?" She asked. She couldn't even form snow clouds though she could still move the snow that was already on the ground but that was it. "I'm really scared Yemon. I don't ever remember being this scared before." She told him. Kiba stayed right behind to make sure that his beloved master wouldn't get hurt or anything. "What if this really doesn't work?" She questioned. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she was filled with fear of dying.

As he continued up the mountain, there was a naked girl in the fetal position covered up with long brown hair with a short leafy green dress on that seem to incorporate flowers into it.

As Yemon is driving the snowmobile, he notices another girl, this one also laying unconcious much like Yuki is, though like Yuki her dress is also strange. Either way, concerned about her well being he stops the snowmobile near her. Unzipping his coat he picks her up, trying to wrap her up in the coat partially to try and warm her up. Since she seems to be similar to Yuki, he suspects that the flower mean she's a person of Spring like how Yuki seems to be a person of Winter. Getting back on the Snowmobile he holds her to his chest and steers with one hand, which quires him to drive more slowly then he had before.

Eventually he reaches the highest point he can go with the snowmobile, not really seeing much of a difference besides less melted snow. Getting a blanket out of the emergency kit on the snowmobile he wraps the new girl in it and sets her in the seat of the snowmobile. Then he quickly grabs Yuki out of the tarp and places her in the snow, packing it around her so that only her face is visible in hopes of that keeping her alive for a little bit longer.

"I'm sorry Yuki, this is the best I can do, it seems you won't last too much longer. You made things a bit more interesting and made me realize that maybe its better to have at least one friend than no friend at all, even if its a bit painful. I hope you'll be back again next winter since you don't seem to remember anything but winter time. If we do meet again we I can teach you more songs that we can sing together, alright?" He sits down next to her, upset that someone he had just met was already fading away from him. Someone he could actually call his friend.