Small, fox-like ears wriggled in the harsh snowstorm. The massive, yet somehow small, body of a wolf-like beast floated mid-air as a white-haired woman in exquisite, noble clothing scratched him right by the ear, his deep blue fur floating around him. As the woman spoke.
"Dear Child, since I've created you, I'll name you Niva. And from now on, I'm your only family, so let's stick together, alright?"
Niva tilted his head sideways, confused, unable to understand her words. He looked at her face, but it was scratched—like someone had wanted to erase her from a painting. Not her face, but the space surrounding her.
"I see, you seem to not understand my language. That's okay." She caressed his fur as she chuckled. "With time you'll learn. You will."
Niva stared at her as she slowly walked forward towards a massive castle on the horizon, its walls spreading across the landscape. Its massive, sturdy metal gates slowly opened. "Come on, I don't want to leave you alone!" she gestured with her arm for Niva to follow her.
And so he did—confused and unsure what to do, but knowing only one thing: he didn't want to be alone.
***
"So you can speak now? Do you?" the white-haired woman said, now clad in an awfully familiar knight's armor.
She wore pure white armor, so pure that it stood out against the snow-covered land. It looked heavy but was light to the touch, adorned and built to withstand harsh and brutal conditions, scarred from countless battles on its surface. From behind the scratched-out space where her face should be dangled earrings—red, rectangular earrings. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
Niva nodded, saying, "I… do. Why… ask?"
"Why not? I just wanted to teach you as fast as I could, hehe. You know, I created you as my child, so that I'd feel less lonely on the battlefield… selfish of me, right?" her voice cracked as she asked
Niva shook his head, saying, "No… not selfish… understandable."
The woman chuckled warmly as she grabbed Niva into a hug, walking over the hill and slowly making her way to the top.
"I really feel happy that you are here. Is that how a mother feels? I'll never know."
"...Why?" Niva asked, but she stayed silent. Niva somewhat understood not to ask again.
As she reached the top of the hill, a truly painful sight beheld them. "Truly a successful march!"
A grassy plains full of sharp poles struck into the ground, on each one a dead human pierced through, their guts spilling to the ground and their blood tainting the earth itself, turning it red.
Niva observed the sight but didn't understand what to feel. It was his first time seeing such a thing, but hearing his mother's response, he said, "Yes… truly."
***
Niva floated in the sky, watching from above as in the meadows his mother and a tribe of white fox beastmen slowly built the foundation for a village, with a shrine at its center.
Niva's mother tried to help them, but the fox people adamantly refused her help, saying, "We can do it ourselves, my lady. You can just rest and watch as we build."
And as she sat down with a handkerchief in her hand, she coughed into it and a thick, black gel-like substance flew from her mouth. Niva didn't understand why she would cough up something like that—he had never met anyone who did so.
He felt concerned for her.
***
In the shrine, on the third floor where her room was, she laid in bed. White lilies sprouted from her skin, which was fully tainted with black rot. As she breathed in and out, a black dust seeped from her side, seemingly from her lungs. She slowly panned her eyes to Niva, in a room full of white fox people.
"Son, I'm sorry… I will leave you… alone… I regret creating… you."
Niva felt a sting in his heart at those words as he said, "Please don't say that. Why would you feel that way?"
She glanced away from him, saying, "You will… live forever… alone. Perhaps… not."
"Even so! I don't regret living. You created me to live with you, and I enjoyed our ten years together!"
The woman chuckled as she coughed out a pile of black liquid from her mouth, a white lily sprouting from her left, rotten eye. "I have… to tell you… something."
"I will listen and fulfill whatever you desire, mom!" Niva said as he brought his snout close to her mouth.
"Then… listen. After me will… come many me… not different… the same… I will die… they will rise… my soul will go to different… bodies… the same… happened with previous me… it stretched for a long… long time."
"Find… the next me and… follow her." She stopped, having no strength anymore.
Niva's throat stung as he said abruptly, "I will. You can trust me," tears flowing from his eyes like a waterfall.
And as everyone gathered around her, with Niva beside her arm, the woman took her last breath, falling silent forever.
Winni had passed away.
***
Niva floated on the lake's surface. In the distance, white-haired Theia splashed Luna, whose hair was pink.
Luna, without holding back, laughed at the top of her lungs at Sina, who periodically slipped while sinking deeper into the lake. Her laughter echoed to Niva's ears.
He watched as the clouds passed by. "Clouds really never change…"
"Mother… I have fulfilled your request yet again," Niva said, chuckling as he closed his eyes and drifted away.