Nini broke ahead first, her paws carving four swift tracks through the rising snow. She darted low to the ground, fur rippling like flame in the storm, tail tucked for speed. Behind her came the others, slower, more human in their limits.

Liam held a scrap of cloth tight across his mouth, breath fogging it white with each exhale. His other arm shielded his eyes against the barrage of snow and ice that stung like thrown pebbles. His legs pumped as hard as they could manage.

Beside him Ryuu ran, coat flapping violently in the wind. His face was grim, jaw set, one hand clenched around the torch that sputtered and swayed but refused to go out. The flame flickered thin and red at the edges, fighting the storm as fiercely as any of them did. In his other hand, he too held a cloth over his mouth, though the wind kept yanking it aside, forcing him to constantly reposition it between panting breaths.

Mumu lagged only slightly behind them—not because he lacked speed, but because each step he planted was solid, like he was hammering stakes into the earth. His stitched form didn't shiver, didn't falter. He felt the storm differently, less like cold and more like pure resistance. His arms were crossed before him, blocking sleet and shards of ice like they were nothing more than leaves.

Nini didn't look back. She couldn't. Dama was somewhere ahead. That was all that mattered. Her ears pinned against her head and the snow beneath her paws squealed under the force of her movement.

Liam could barely keep her shape in view. He wanted to shout "Slow down! Don't get separated!" but his voice would have been swallowed by the roar before even reaching her.

And more importantly, he knew: if anyone could find Dama through this storm, it was Nini.

She knew him. Knew the thread of him in her chest the same way Mumu did.

But then the blizzard shifted.

No, it surged.

A wall of wind slammed into the group without warning, like the sky itself had swung its arm. The snow deepened instantly. The world phasd into white.

Liam's feet skidded across ice; he stumbled, caught himself, skidded again. He hunched low and dug his boots in, but the storm kept shoving him backward, forcing him to fight just to stay upright.

Ryuu nearly lost the torch. His fingers clenched around its shaft so tightly, fingers began denting the wood. The flame guttered wildly, shrinking to a trembling bead. He bent over it instinctively, shielding it with his entire body, teeth clenched hard enough to hurt.

Mumu stopped moving entirely. He crossed his arms into that same unyielding barricade of reinforced stuffing and fur, legs braced wide. Snow piled against him but couldn't topple him; his heels carved twin pits where he held himself anchored. Even so, the storm pushed him back an inch. Then another.

Nini didn't stand a chance.

The gust hit her side-on, flipping her clean off her paws. She tumbled in the snow—once, twice, three full rolls—until she skidded to a stop beside Mumu. Ice crusted in the fur around her and Mumu's snout.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

The storm howled.

It wasn't just wind. Not just cold. It carried something with it — something raw and thrumming. A feeling.

Liam felt it like a hand around his ribs, squeezing. Mumu felt it like a pressure in the chest where a heart should be. Nini felt it like a cry that lived behind her own thoughts.

Anger. Grief. Fear. The Oni's emotions bled into the blizzard like ink into water.

"…it's… hurting," Liam murmured, barely audible, eyes wide and stinging.

Ryuu's voice cut through the cold like the snap of a spear haft. "Don't stop! This means we're close! Keep moving!"

And they forced their feet forward again. Through the howl. Toward whatever waited.

Nini tore ahead like a streak of winter-white lightning, claws digging into snow that vanished under the torrent of wind. Her stitched tail streamed behind her, shaking like a banner caught in a storm. She didn't look back. She couldn't. If Dama was ahead, every heartbeat mattered.

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Liam and Ryuu sprinted behind her, half-blinded by the gale. They held strips of cloth over their mouths, breath fogging and freezing on the fibers. Liam's remaining arm shielded his eyes as best it could; the storm bit at any exposed skin with a thousand tiny teeth. Ryuu's torch guttered, its flame clinging to life like a stubborn soul refusing to be swallowed by the cold.

Mumu came next, lumbering but steady, his weight and rigid frame letting him plow through where the others had to fight for every step. Snow piled in his seams, rattling when he moved.

"Keep her in sight!" Liam shouted, or thought he did; the wind devoured his voice before it reached anyone.

The storm answered with a sudden howl, sharp as metal scraping glass. The blizzard surged. The ground seemed to tilt.

The wind slammed into them.

Liam felt his feet leave the earth—just for a heartbeat—before he caught himself, boots skidding. Ryuu staggered, torch dipping low, his muscles trembling as he fought to keep the flame upright. Snow and shards of ice whipped through the air like thrown knives. Their clothes snapped and cracked from the force.

Mumu locked his arms before him in a cross, lowering his center of gravity. His carved body sunk inches into the snow, rooted. Even then, he was pushed back—slowly, stubbornly—as though the wind were a giant trying to move a boulder.

Nini was struck the hardest. Her small frame lifted clean off the ground. She tumbled, rolled, then skidded, claws scrambling for purchase as she spun back toward her brother. She landed beside Mumu, chest heaving, ears flattened to her skull.

For a moment, all of them were still. Not from exhaustion—but because something else rode the wind.

Sadness. Fear. Anger.

The storm was not just weather. It was a full of emotion.

Liam felt his breath seize. The emotion vibrated in his bones like a struck bell. Mumu and Nini felt it too—deeply, instinctively—like animals sensing a wounded soul in the dark.

Ryuu's voice cut through the choking cold, raw and loud: "Move! This means we're close!"

Nini sprang ahead again without hesitation.

Mumu followed.

Liam and Ryuu pushed after them.

The closer they drew to the origin of the blizzard, the more it pressed back. Step by step, Liam and Ryuu fell behind—not for lack of effort, but because human bodies were simply not made for weather like this.

At last, they were forced to stop entirely. Boots dug deep. Muscles locked. Their coats snapped like flags in a hurricane. The cold bit straight through their layers, eating warmth like fire ate dry grass. Vision narrowed to white and shadows.

Ryuu forced the torch upright with both hands now, eyes squeezed shut.

Liam cracked one eye open and saw Mumu looking back.

It was obvious on Mumu's face that he was worried and uncertain.

Liam shook his head fiercely and shouted into the wind: "Go! Follow Nini! Protect them! We'll catch up!"

The words barely traveled, but the meaning—carried by urgency, by fear, by love—reached.

However, Mumu hesitated. He knew humans were fragile. That Liam and Ryuu could freeze, could be swept away, could break unlike him. He was not made of blood; he did not fear death, hunger, or cold. They did.

But Dama was ahead in the eye of the storm. Dama, who was also flesh and blood, was even more fragile.

Nini was already vanishing into the storm.

With little time to spare, Mumu lowered his head in a small, aching nod. Then he turned, braced himself against the wind, and ran after his sister into the white roar, hoping he could trust Liam's words. Liam hadn't failed him nor Dama ever, so why now?

Now alone, the two men braced themselves against the whipping wind, snow slicing past their faces like shards of glass. The air stung, thick with static, and the sound of the gale roared in their ears like a living creature.

Ryuu crouched low, his cape whipping violently behind him. "I see..." he said through gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes at Liam. "You've got a plan, don't you?"

Liam's jaw was tight, his breath fogging in the freezing air. His blonde, usually neat hair was now drenched and matted to his forehead, his coat fluttering wildly. "I do," he shouted back, "but it's a long shot. I don't even know if it'll work."

Ryuu raised an eyebrow, squinting against the snow. "Better than nothing, what is it?"

The wind howled louder, rattling nearby fences and sending loose debris tumbling across the street. Liam steadied himself on a lamp post as he spoke. "First, we need higher ground! Somewhere we can get a better angle!"

Ryuu pointed behind them. "Don't worry, I know a good place. We've already passed it actually, a house with some crates stacked by the wall. We could use those to climb onto the roof!" He shouted.

Liam's eyes lit up. "Perfect! Let's move before the wind changes!"

The two sprinted through the snow, their boots crunching deep into the frozen slush.

When they reached the house, Ryuu jumped first onto the crates, then grabbing the edge of the roof. With surprising strength, he hauled himself up with only one hand with practiced ease.

Liam followed behind, though struggling a bit to even pull himself up, something he made not of to change in the near future. Ryuu ended up giving him a hand, hauling Liam too up onto the roof. Both of them crouched low as they caught their breath in their cloths on the roof.

Taking a big exhale, Ryuu looked up. "Alright," he said, glancing around, "we're a bit further back now. The storm's not as harsh here." He turned toward Liam, brow furrowed. "But what now?"

Liam straightened slowly, eyes narrowing toward the churning clouds in the distance. The storm pulsed with unnatural energy, flashes of light-blue lightning bursting from within its heart. His voice was steady but low, almost reverent.

"Now," he said, "we see if my theory's right…"

-

Next: (Chapter 104) Decisive Shot: Part 2

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