Looking up, the snow continued to fall, with no sign of stopping.

Huno was cold. Behind him was the cave he just walked out from. The cave was not deep and its mouth was at the bottom of a small mountain. Ahead and in all directions, he could see only snow.

Huno decided and turned back to the cave only to gasp. Something stood behind him, right beside the cave entrance.

Standing to the right, ten feet away from the entrance, was a four-legged animal. It seems to look like a jaguar but it had three tails and it was about five feet tall.

The animal straightened up and roared. It wanted to catch its prey by surprise, but unfortunately, Huno caught it in the act.

Huno panted. His thought stagnated for a while and when he came back to his senses, he heard a rumbling sound.

As if replying to the animal’s roar, the small mountain growled slightly. Both Huno and the animal stared up and realized something was running down at a fast speed.

~Avalanche!!~

Huno wanted to rush to the cave but seeing the animal rushing to it, he turned right and rushed away as fast as his leg could take him.

‘Slow! Too slow, come on!! Ah!’ Huno yelled in pain as he dragged his body as fast as he could.

But it wasn’t fast enough in a few minutes the avalanche will be over him but even though he kept going. He tripped and fell to the ground. He stood up and kept running.

After taking a few more steps, Huno fell into a pit that was covered in snow. When his body hit the ground, Huno felt an enormous amount of pain all over his body. He struggled up to his knees and crawled, and after crawling for a while, he fell unconscious.

…

An unknown amount of time passed. Huno woke up and the first thing to hit him was the strong pain he felt all over his body.

He looked around and saw he was in an enormous cave. It was quite cold and there was a hill of snow in it and lots of shining rocks with different colors that brightened the supposed dark cave.

‘Ahhh!!! I should be happy I’m alive, right?’ Huno growled and shouted.

His voice echoed in the cave several times, seeming to mock him. Huno kept quiet and tried to get up when a hoarse voice came,

‘Is someone there?’

Startled by the voice, Huno quickly got up and looked around but found nothing.

‘Is anyone there?’ the voice came again. Huno looked around and still saw no one around.

‘I guess not, I must’ve been hearing things again!’ the voice said to itself.

‘Yes, there’s someone here,’ Huno said and asked, ‘Where are you? Can you show yourself?’.

‘I don’t know where I am? It’s quite dark here. I can’t see anything,’ the voice said.

‘How long have you been there?’ Huno asked.

‘I don’t remember. It has been very long,’ the voice said.

‘What’s your name?’

‘I don’t know,’

‘This is quite troublesome,’ Huno said and scratched his head with his left hand.

‘Alright, I’ll try to find you just keep shouting ahh lowly,’ he said after thinking for a while. And added immediately. ‘Don't have any hope yet though, I may not help you even if I find where you are. I’m in a terrible state right now,’.

‘Oh, what happened to you?’ the voice asked.

‘I had an accident and afterwards. My experience has been quite bumpy,’ Huno replied.

‘What’s bumpy?’ the voice asked.

‘Um... I don’t know how to explain it, let’s just say it means unsteady,’ Huno replied.

‘Oh I see, sorry about that,’ the voice said.

‘Yeah, alright start shouting as low as possible, if it’s too loud it will echo and I won’t be able to find you,’ Huno said.

‘Okay, what’s echo?’ the voice said lowly.

‘I don’t know how to explain,’ Huno said and stopped talking.

He listened quietly and dragged his body, following the sound. He went around the snow hill and arrived at an area where the colored stones were a lot more than any other area in the cave.

On the wall behind the densely packed colored stones, there seems to be a rectangle with a strange pattern in it. And at the center of the rectangle was a circle with a line vertically crossing it and dividing it.

At a closer look, the line seems to be in the middle of both the circle and the rectangle. And the whole thing seems to be a gate merged into the wall.

‘Hey, how loud is my voice now?’ Huno asked.

‘Quite louder than before, I can hear it clearly at least,’ the voice said.

‘Alright you can stop shouting, I’ve found where you are at. There seems to be a strange gate here,’ Huno said.

‘What’s a gate?’ the voice asked.

‘I find it weird how you understand some things and don’t understand some others.’

‘I’m sorry, I have been here so long I have forgotten a lot.’

‘Why were you placed here, then? It seems someone locked you in,’ Huno questioned.

‘I don’t remember why. I didn’t even know someone locked me up here. And I don’t know where here is. Everything around me is dark,’

‘Ah! This is a pain in the ass. It’s not that I don’t want to, but what would happen if I help you out?’ Huno asked. ‘How do I know you won’t kill me or wreak havoc?’

‘What is… wreak havoc?’

‘Um... To cause destruction, who knows if I let you out, will you go on a killing spree?’

‘What’s a killing spree?’

‘Ha! Killing many people,’ Huno replied.

‘Oh, I understand. I don’t even know if I’ll do that. Do you think that’s why they locked me up?’

‘I don’t know. I can’t tell,’

‘It’s likely, right?’

‘Even you think so?’ Huno asked. ‘Well, who knows? Besides, I’m not sure I can even open it. There are strange complicated things on it,’

‘I understand, but please, can you do me a favor?’

‘Let’s hear it out first,’ Huno replied.

‘‘Please, even if you don’t let me out, can you stay for a while? It’s quite lonely here,’ the voice said and added quickly. ‘It's not like I’m saying you should stay forever, just stay for a little while.’

‘When last did you talk with someone else?’

‘As far as I can remember, never,’

‘That’s strange and depressing. Well sure, it’s not like I can leave here in my current condition,’

‘Your condition isn’t good?’ the voice asked.

‘Yeah, it isn’t? I’m hurt pretty bad,’

‘I’m so sorry, I wish I could help, but even if I could, I don’t even know what I can do.’

‘It’s alright, it’s not life-threatening yet,’

‘I feel... I don’t know what this feeling is,’

‘What do you mean? Describe it,’

‘Whats describe?’ the voice asked.

Huno felt like choking. He got his chest and said. ‘Forget that. Just say how you feel.’

‘Okay, well, how do I explain? The first person I ever encountered, I’m unable to offer any help. Doesn’t that make me useless? yeah that’s it. I feel useless right now,’

‘Oh well, you don’t have to feel that way. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. We have no obligation to help one another,’

‘What’s obligations?’

Huno couldn’t help but laugh out. ‘Duty or work,’

‘Okay,’ the voice said.

Huno stared at his body and after a while, he stared at the hill of snow that was bigger than before. He thought for some time, wondering if he was ever going to leave in place.

‘What if I can’t leave? Will I stay here forever? If so, how long will I last here? It’s quite cold and getting colder,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Funny how I survived, only to end up going to die because of the cold,’

‘Hello, are you still there?’ the voice asked, dragging Huno’s consciousness back.

‘Did you go already?’ the voice asked again quietly, seeming to talk to itself.

‘Did you leave already?’ the voice asked again.

This time Huno could feel the despair and loneliness in that question. A low sob sound came into his ears as the voice said.

‘Please, come back... Please don’t leave me,’

Huno looked at the wall, not saying anything.

‘What am I afraid of?’ he thought. ‘I’ll probably die here anyway,’

He stood and, seeming to hear Huno’s footstep, the voice stopped sobbing and listened quietly.

‘Stop crying. I’m still here,’ Huno said and walked up to the wall.

‘You didn’t leave?’ the voice asked happily.

‘No, I was thinking of something,’ Huno replied and stood right in front of the wall.

‘Okay, sorry, what’s the meaning of crying?’ the voice asked.

Huno couldn't help but frown. ‘What you just did, that’s crying. You can also call it sobbing,’

‘So... bbing,’ the voice repeated.

‘Yeah, it usually occurs when one is in pain,’ Huno said. ‘I wish I knew what these patterns are. Maybe I can remove the gate from the wall if I did.’

‘Gate? Patterns?’

‘A gate is like a door, but sometimes bigger and stronger. A pattern well you can say it’s a strange symbol or drawing,’ Huno explained.

‘Oh okay,’ the voice said. ‘You want to let me out?’

‘Yeah, but I don’t think I can. I don’t even understand what I am seeing.’ Huno paused and then apologized ‘Sorry,’

‘It’s okay, at least you’re still here. I have to thank you for that,’ the voice replied.

‘You shouldn’t. If I could leave, I would have. I’m here because I don’t have a choice,’ Huno said.

‘Oh. Well, even though thank you,’

‘Whatever,’ Huno said and laugh.

He continued to stare at the pattern and said. ‘Try to remember. Maybe you know something.’

‘I wish I did. The only thing I remember is complete darkness, nothing else. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been here for too long.’

‘Alright,’

Huno stretched his left hand to touch the line on the wall. It seemed to be a line on the wall but when he touched it; it was a crack. The crack was just a narrow and shallow one.

‘Oh yeah, you asked what’s my name is,’ the voice said and quickly continued. ‘Please don’t be angry. What’s a name?’

‘Well, it’s what you are called, or rather what you call yourself,’ Huno replied.

‘Oh, so what are you called?’

‘Hunochiro, you can call me Huno or Hiro for short.’

‘Hu...nochi...ro,’ the voice said.

‘Yeah, my friends usually call me Huno,’ Huno said as he kept looking at the pattern on the wall.

‘What’s a friend?’

Currently, Huno was tired of the question and answer. Yet, the childlike behavior intrigued him.

‘Um... Someone who you are familiar with or close with. Or someone who isn’t a stranger,’ Huno replied.

‘Oh, I don’t have one. Can you be my friend?’

‘Sure, why not?’ Huno replied and added, ‘wait for a second,’.

Huno turn to look at his left hand, because he felt something crawling on it. What he saw shocked him and frightened him.

‘Okay, is something wrong?’ the voice asked.

‘Yeah, I think so. Stop talking for a moment.’

Huno said and stared at his hand with a frightened expression on his face.

Both his dried-up blood and the blood from his wound on his left hand flowed along his arm to the wall and into the pattern.

What made him frightened was that no matter how he tried, he couldn’t remove his hand from the wall. His hand seems to be glued permanently to the wall.

‘Not good, not good,’ Huno yelled and kept on pulling his hand away.

‘What’s wrong!?’

‘This gate won’t let my hand go,’ Huno replied.

‘What? Why?’

‘I don’t know,’ Huno replied, still trying to get his hand off the wall.

The patterns turned red as his blood flowed through them in every direction of the gate.

‘Hey let go, I said let go,’ Huno screamed angrily, not knowing what to do.

‘I didn’t have any bad intention, so I don’t know why you want my blood, I just wanted to open you!’ Huno yelled.

‘Who are you talking to?’

‘The gate!’ Huno shouted and said. ‘Don’t mind me, when I’m really worried I talk to anything, it’s a bad habit of mine,’

‘Oh, what you going to do now?’

‘What can I do? Wait and see,’ Huno said and stopped struggling. ‘Let’s see what happens, haha. The worse is it will suck my blood dry and open or it won’t open,’

Huno said and watched his blood flow through the pattern.

‘What’s blood?’

‘I’m not in the mood to explain properly, so manage this. It’s a very important liquid that flows through the body,’ Huno replied.

‘Oh, what happens if it gets dried up?’

‘I’ll probably die,’ Huno replied.

‘What does it mean to die?’

‘Seriously? Um... To stop living or to fall into a sleep where you can’t wake up,’

‘Oh, that’s bad.’

Huno stared at the pattern, his blood just completely flowed into all of them.

‘Yeah very,’ he said. ‘Too bad there’s nothing I can do. It won’t even come out,’

Almost immediately after he finished replying, the strange pattern buzzed and his blood flowed into his left hand.

‘That’s weird,’ Huno said.

‘What was that sound?’

‘I don’t know,’.

As the blood flowed back, the pattern disappeared slowly. ‘Hey, if things go well you may come out,’ Huno said. ‘But if not, haha, I’ll be dead and you won’t have anyone to talk to again.’

‘Please don’t die,’

‘Even I don’t want to die,’.

When all the strange patterns outside the circle disappeared, the rectangle disappeared too and the colored stones shone brightly.

‘That doesn’t look good,’ Huno said.

‘What’s wrong?’

Almost immediately Huno’s scream sounded and in seconds it became louder and louder.

‘Ah! Ah!”

...

After what felt like forever, Huno’s screaming came to a halt.

‘Hey are you alright?’ the voice asked.

There was no reply, so the voice asked again and again and again, but still nothing.

‘Are you alright?’

The voice sobbed quietly and after an unknown amount of time, Huno’s voice came.

‘I thought I said you should stop crying,’.

‘Are you alright?’ the voice asked worriedly.

‘I think so. I’m a little dizzy and my arm is numb,’ Huno replied and added. ‘You don’t have to talk in my ear and shift back a little,’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Stop talking in my ear and shift a... Huh? Where are you?’ Huno asked, surprised.

‘I’m still here. It’s still the dark place,’

‘What? You didn’t come out? Then why are you talking in my ear?’ Huno asked.

‘I don’t know. What happened?’ the voice said.

‘The gate in the wall is gone, so you should be out. Why... Ooh!’

‘What?’

‘I’m not sure, it seems the gate moved to my body,’ Huno replied. ‘whoever locked you up never planned on giving you a chance out of this,’

‘Oh, but are you alright? You didn’t get hurt, right?’

‘I’m good don’t bother about me,’

‘That’s good,’

‘I want to try something,’

‘Okay what?’

Almost immediately, Huno yelled. ‘Open’

In the dark place, there was a rumbling sound, something split up and from that opening, light shone through into the dark place.

…