...Timnichan stopped in mid-air, curled up into a ball.
"Why is she?" Yueret found this strange.
"There," Unana hid behind her brother, but pointed to the hand sticking out of the ground.
A blue aura appeared around Yueret's shield. The next moment, an energy copy of it separated from the shield and, with a faint trail like a comet's, flew toward the "enemy"...
...Unana peered cautiously over her brother's shoulder and saw an eyeball rise into the air. A bow appeared in the girl's hands, and soon a purple energy arrow flew out...
… Unana hid behind her brother, crouched down, and closed her eyes. The bow in her hands disappeared, but the arrow fired from it met the eye in the air.
For a moment, the sky above the clearing turned purple, after which Timnichan landed on the log.
At first, the lizard girl didn't know where she was, but she soon got her bearings and even summoned an ice crossbow. But the "enemy" was no longer there. The eye, struck by the arrow, simply vanished into thin air, and the hand that held it hung from a branch of a nearby large tree.
"I don't know what it was, but it's gone," Yueret said.
Unana peered over her brother's shoulder.
"Did you do this?"
The archer didn't answer. Fear and disgust hadn't yet completely left her.
Yueret turned around, but saw only his trembling younger sister, who didn't look like a creature capable of harming anyone.
"That eye just disappeared," Yueret thought. "I imagined it."
Unana only agreed with this statement. She herself began to feel as if the hand and eye in the air were merely an illusion, caused by fear.
Yueret dropped his shield, took his sister's hand, and began looking around to check for dolls or doll parts, but all he found was the lizard girl standing on a log, hiding something behind her back.
"What do you have there?" Yueret asked.
"It's too early for the cubs to know that," Timnichan answered.
"Show me, I'm already big," Yueret asked.
"The first creator told me not to show what's left of the dolls," Timnichan explained.
"What?"
Yueret let go of his sister's hand and fell to his knees. Unana now had nowhere to hide, but fortunately, in her fear and disgust, she barely understood what the "stupid lizard" was saying.
"You know that doll with pink hair?" Yueret asked after he'd recovered from his shock a bit.
"No," Timnichan answered. "She only has an arm."
"Eeeh…"
Now Yueret began to guess what exactly the foolish character was hiding.
"You know something," Yueret pointed his sword at Timnichan.
"No," the lizard girl smiled, of course.
"You know."
"No."
Yueret activated his aura and within moments was standing next to the character.
"You're like the first creator," Timnichan said.
"Do you know anything about him?"
"No."
The whole time, the lizard girl smiled stupidly. Over the time he spent with this creature, Yueret began to feel like this smile was part of her face.
"How stupid and funny it is at the same time," Yueret thought. "But I don't find it funny right now."
Timnichan jumped back off the log. Yueret noticed a pink-nailed finger peeking out from behind the cold lizard spirit's hand.
"Show me what you have in your hand."
"Why?" Timnichan asked.
"What if it's something dangerous?" "It's not moving. It's not doing anything. The first creator told me to pick up the dolls' hands so they wouldn't assemble."
"I take it he didn't say 'don't tell anyone about this,'" Yueret guessed. "Now I at least know what she's holding. But I need to find out how dad is connected to the dolls. They're not just watching us."
"What did the creator tell you to do with the doll parts?" Yueret continued.
"The first creator told me to put them in my inventory and bring them to him," Timnichan suddenly stopped smiling.
"What will he do with these things?"
"I don't know. He didn't say anything about that. He also told me to hide the doll parts from the bear cubs so they wouldn't get scared."
Yueret looked at his little sister. Unana was gazing at the mountains rising ahead.
"Why does dad need dolls? He has so many weird things that it doesn't seem like anything special."
But the next moment, another thought entered Yueret's mind, causing him to almost faint. He recalled the words of the man with the carrot-like nose who had spoken of creating dolls.
"Do you know how a living creature becomes a doll? The data in his brain is being replaced."
"Could dad really… have made these dolls?" Yueret had to lean against a tree trunk to keep from falling. "No, if that were true, instead of this stupid lizard, it would have been a stupid doll. It would have been even better as a guide."
But doubts troubled Yueret. He looked at the forested mountainside, which sloped upward, hiding the snow-capped peak behind it.
"I need to figure this out."
"Let's go," Yueret approached his sister and grabbed her hand.
Unana didn't immediately understand what her brother wanted, so she continued to stare at the mountains. Only when the lizard girl's hand flashed past, holding another, separate hand, did the archer realize something had changed.
"Yueret, look over there..."
Unana began looking around to find her brother and soon found his head between her legs. The younger sister jumped onto Yueret's shoulders again and didn't even notice.
"Bear cubs, where are you going?" this was said the nasty voice of Timnichan.
Yueret turned and saw the lizard girl holding the very same hand with the pink nails.
Unana, meanwhile, was thinking about something else. She imagined an eyeball in her palm, glistening in the sun, and at the same time tried to turn away or at least close her eyes.
But her body wouldn't obey the "little" archer. Fear paralyzed her and turned her into some kind of doll. At least, that's what it looked like.
"Bear cubs, what's wrong?" Timnichan asked. "Did you see something?"
"Yeah," Yueret answered. "You have a doll's hand?"
Timnichan looked at the hand with pink nails. A smile returned to the lizard girl's face, which was actually an accident.
"Yup, it's a doll's hand," Timnichan said, waving her free hand in front of her. "But this hand isn't for you."
A screen with a blue frame and many cells appeared in front of the lizard girl. Some were empty, while others were filled with various icons. But some cells were gray, making them stand out from their peers.
"What's this?" Yueret thought. "Is there something in there? I've never seen slots like this anywhere. Maybe it's some kind of special inventory?"
Soon the secret of the gray cells was revealed. Timnichan touched the doll's hand with the index finger of her free hand and dragged it into the gray cell.
"Now she's with the first creator," the lizard girl said. "Oh, I said something wrong. Bear cubs, you didn't see anything. Okay?"
The grey cell into which Timnichan moved the doll's hand disappeared. In its place appeared a regular slot with the hat that had previously been on the right.
"Yeah, I didn't see anything," Yueret confirmed. "Unana, you didn't see the doll's hand either?"
Unana didn't answer. She remained paralyzed with fear, though she could still hear her brother's words. At the mention of "doll's hand," the girl's eyes even widened; making her resemble even more the creature she so feared becoming.
"Let's go up," Timnichan said, pointing to the upper part of the slope. "There's a passage through the mountains there. It's underground, so you won't have to walk through snow and ice."
"Uh, at least dad did something good," Yueret looked at the slope, beyond which the snow-covered peak was no longer visible.
Timnichan leaped to the other side of the ashes and disappeared behind the tree trunks. Yueret followed her, but soon felt something heavy on his back, and then saw black fur boots with thick legs.
"Unana, get down," Yueret guessed. "I'm not a dog to be ridden."
"You're a bearry," his sister answered sleepily.
"Are you asleep?"
"Yum-yum…"
After this phrase, Yueret began to suspect something was wrong. He lowered his sister to the ground, then noticed that her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open as if she were about to accept a piece of cake.
"Unana, wake up," Yueret grabbed his sister's hands.
"The bears are cold," his sister answered. "They're sleeping."
"But it's spring already. The bears should be waking up."
"Uh, it's always like this every year," Yueret heard a high-pitched voice. "They don't let the bear cubs sleep."
"Who is that?"
Yueret turned around and saw a white-blue small bear cub with glowing blue eyes, "hanging" in the air.
"It should be in my inventory," Yueret thought. "I put it there. I remember that."
"You're a bad little bear," the voice answered. "You didn't give me a name. Without one, I can't wake up."
"Are you speaking to me through my thoughts?"
"Yup, I have antennas in my ears. They're very small, so as not to interfere with other creatures. Only cubs like you need them."
"Who are you?"
"For now, I'm just a little bear. Tell me my name so I can answer."
"I'm not going to play childish games. I'm not Unana. I'm her big brother."
"You're her big brother, but to someone else, you're a little bear cub."
"Get back into my inventory and don't leave, or I'll block you. I know how to do it."
The small bear cub disappeared. Yueret opened his inventory and confirmed that the creature was in its slot, after which he realized he could think again.
"This is truly strange. I have one bear cub, Unana has the other, but they're different colors. What are they for? If this is a joke, it's a very stupid one."
Meanwhile, Unana came out of her half-asleep state and looked at her brother with bulging eyes. It seemed she had no idea where she was or even recognized the man closest to her.
"Unana, let's get out of here," Yueret said. "Just don't sit on my neck, you're too heavy."
Unana didn't answer. Her gaze shifted downwards, to a black-gray log lying among the young conifer trees.
"What happened?" Yueret looked at the log too. "Is there something there?"
"No," Unana blinked, but continued to stare at one point. "I heard a voice in my head."
"What voice?"
"It's Unachan's voice. It spoke to me."
"What did it say?"
"It wants a big brother or sister."
"Aren't little brothers or sisters aren't good enough for it?"
"Uh... I didn't ask."
"These bear cubs are strange. There are two of them, just like us. But why are they different colors? Are they from different elements?"
"My bear has red eyes. Yours has blue eyes?"
"Yeah, this is probably a kind of opposition: fire and water, or fire and ice."
"The stupid lizard said something about an inner fire. It probably has something to do with the color of Unachan's eyes."
"Sometimes Timnichan says things she shouldn't. By the way, where is she?"
Yueret looked around, but could only find a squirrel perched on a black-barked tree branch, holding a small, flower-like tree cone.
"She's gone again," Yueret noted.
"Finally," Unana sat down on a log, her expression weary. "At least we'll get a little break from this stupidity. Maybe we'll even become a little smarter."
"But without her, we don't know where to go."
"Daddy, why…" Unana thought and slapped her hand on the log.
"We can see where that lizard is," Yueret recalled. "Dad gave us access to some program."
"Yeah..." Unana climbed down from the log and saw that she was kneeling on the moss. The little sister's mouth was open as if she was trying to eat the whole cake.
Yueret summoned the screen and after a while found an icon shaped like a coffin:
"I think this is it, Mausoleum of Nature."
Yueret launched the program. Another screen appeared over the start screen, one with an image of a lizard girl in a blue frame and buttons to the right.
"At least she's not smiling here," Yueret sighed.
Unana glanced at the screen, but immediately turned away when she saw the wet creature.
"She even seems normal," Yueret continued.
Unana shuddered at the word "normal" and looked at the screen. Her heart raced, almost causing her to faint.
"She..."
"No, I don't like her," Yueret said, raising his finger to one of the buttons. "I already have a little sister, the cutest bear cub little sister."
"Uh..."
Unana blushed and turned away so that her brother wouldn't see her face, but it was no use. Yueret didn't look away from the screen.
"Here," Yueret pressed a button, and a map of the surrounding area opened before him. "I found the map. Look."
Green mountains with white spots on their peaks stood next to an equally green plain, dotted with coniferous trees. Numerous blue lines separated the mountain ranges, then widened against the green background and disappeared beyond the map's borders.
"The mountains here aren't completely snow-covered, like there," Yueret noted. "It's probably early spring now, and the snow hasn't melted yet, like on the map. But where's the lizard? There should be a mark here."
"There are two circles here, or maybe they're not circles, but dots," Unana pointed at the red mark. "One is red; the other is blue, like our bear cubs' eyes."
"They're not our cubs. I'll give mine to my dad when I meet him, or to my mom."
"But it's a gift."
"You don't even know who it's really from."
"But Unachan is cute, like your bear cub little sis."
"Actually, it was a joke, about the little sister."
"But... the bear cubs are really cute."
"Until they grow up and bite your head off."
The red mark was next to a gray rectangular sign that blocked the blue line.
"She seems to be nearby, but she doesn't come here," Unana noted.
"Yeah, that's just like her. This lizard only does what our dad tells her to do."
"Does she want us to come here?"
Two blue marks were located a little further down the slope, very close to each other, merging into one large dot.
"Looks like we'll have to go," Yueret closed both screens. "Dolls..."
Unana grabbed her brother's hand.
"There are no dolls here, Unana," Yueret said.
"Uh..." Unana turned away. "It's so we don't get lost."
The "cubs" walked up the slope and soon reached the spot marked on the map. It turned out to be a bridge over a stream that flowed through a ditch. Somewhere below, the ditch widened, turning into a ravine, and then a canyon.
But the most important thing, the spirit of the cold lizard was missing.
"Where is she hiding?" Yueret looked around.
"There," Unana pointed toward the bridge.
Yueret approached the bridge and could see the top of the horned head "hiding" behind a rock. The blue-green hair and gray scaly cap on top of the head could have camouflaged the character in the water, but since the stream was shallow, the spirit of cold lizard decided to hide behind whatever was there.
"Come out, Timnichan," Yueret said. "I see you."
Horns, along with part of a head, emerged from behind the rock. This time, the lizard girl's face was too serious. Yueret even began to think she was a different creature, but then she opened her mouth:
"Don't eat me, bear cub. You're too little for that."
"What?" Yueret couldn't understand.
"She thinks we've come to eat her," Unana cupped her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut. "But we didn't come to eat, although, eating is fine too."
"You're always hungry," Yueret said. "If you keep doing that, you'll turn into a real bear cub."
"I'll be furry," Unana patted her belly. "And I'll be able to eat as much as I want. And when Yueret comes to wake me, I'll say I'm hibernating, even if it's summer."
"You bear cubs are so cute," Timnichan said with a serious expression. "That's how brother and sister should be. Their bond is the strongest bond between beings. The first creator said so. Let's go to him."
Timnichan jumped onto the bridge, and then pointed at one of the rocks hidden behind the bushes.
"She's not smiling," Unana and Yueret realized something important was about to happen.
And it happened. The lizard girl activated her elemental aura, leaped toward the rock, opened her mouth, and stuck out her tongue.
Within a few moments, the bushes were covered in ice, after which Timnichan smashed them with her foot.
Her thick blue tongue descended upon the symbol carved into the stone...