In the middle of a blizzard, a large female figure slowly became visible. It was difficult to tell what she was since her entire body was covered in a blue flight suit and a thick, red scarf covered her head. She marched through the frozen land as ice and snow crunched underneath her feet. Her arms crossed in a vain attempt to warm herself despite the fact she didn't need to, but her flight suit didn't do much for keeping the body warm. Soon after her appearance, she tripped over something buried underneath the snow.

She was at her wit's end with the current situation she found herself in. She thought to let off some steam by shooting whatever tripped her with her sidearm, only to see a frost-covered arm stick out of the snow. Her anger disappeared as it turned to concern for whoever was there. Ignoring herself and the biting cold, she began to dig up the body of whoever was there in an attempt to save them. Luckily for her, they were still alive, even if they were extremely frostbitten.

She could tell it was a male primate from his physical appearance but seemed to have less fur than what she experienced with her previous team's long-term enemy. His hair was black and his limbs were quickly turning black and expanding rapidly as parts of his clothes were tearing from his expanding skin. Much to her surprise, he was still breathing but was unconscious.

"Damn it, he needs help." The figure said as she lifted him into her arms. She took off her scarf and wrapped it around him to keep at least a part of him warm. Her head was cold, but it was better than letting someone die because she wanted to be comfortable.

Now that the scarf wasn't covering her face, she was now able to be seen for what she was. She was vulpine in appearance with blue fur covering her body with a patch of white on her face and going down her neck. The vulpine holding the primate only emphasized how much taller she was compared to him with her being almost two feet taller.

She looked around for a bit, trying to find a safe place to take the guy so he could start recovering, but she knew that they would have to amputate the limbs at this point since they'd be unusable after he wakes up. Unfortunately, she found nothing and continued to march through the tundra with her new plus one she carried around. She almost immediately praised herself for the idea of what little body heat the primate had helped her a bit. She could only imagine how it would feel after he recover and had a normal body temperature. She didn't see the black whisps coiling around the blackened extremities and the frostbite slowing down and even healing completely in some places, but nothing noticeable.

The primate opened his eyes for a second and caught a glimpse of the vulpine before closing them again and falling asleep and apologizing to her for the inconvenience; even if she couldn't hear him. He subconsciously melted into her arms after a while with them being his only scores of heat, but he couldn't help but get nostalgia. It felt like he was a kid again in the arms of his family as his dreams became memories of the time he spent with them.

The vulpine eventually found a cave for them to stay in while the primate began to recover. After a day of sleeping in the cave, the vulpine began to notice that the primate was getting better, but it was more like he was reversing the damage on his body. It freaked out the vulpine so much that she left the cave for a day under the excuse that she was getting food. When she got back, the fire was out and the primate was completely healed, but he was still resting.

That day turned into a week as she was starting to get accustomed to taking care of him. It was only the two of them so it was easy to separate food evenly between the two even though the primate was still asleep and needed less food than her. Still, she gave him enough food to survive and to prevent any bodily functions from happening. She didn't think he had any spare clothes and didn't want to treat him like a sleeping newborn.

That week turned into a month as the vulpine completely check him over for any sign of frostbite. Nothing could be found anywhere on his body and found out a few biological differences from the usual primates she used to fight beside and against. His legs were longer, his torso and arms were a bit smaller, and his canine teeth weren't as sharp. What immediately stood out was that he had almost no fur on his body except for a few places such as a thick patch on top of his head and the stubble of a mustache and beard. What caught her attention was how she could easily find the reproductive system since there wasn't anything to cover it. Something completely different than what she read about in all the biology books when she first began her studies to understand the larger scope of the universe after joining her previous team. She made sure to cover his waist before the next few checks. Another vulpine creature began to rest near the primate for one reason or another but seemed content just lying near him. She was put off from seeing a lesser evolution of her; it felt weird for her to see it.

After three months with no response from the primate, she began to repeatedly check his pulse every few minutes with the rare exceptions when she'd go hunting for food. She was beginning to think that he was never going to wake up and whatever she did was pointless if nothing was going to change, but those thoughts vanished after she came back from hunting and saw that we moved a bit. Whereas he was lying on his back with his limbs right beside him, now he had the scarf tightly clutched in his hands. She began to put more effort into her care for him seeing that he could wake up soon The creature would move away from her when she got close and would growl when the vulpine got close to the primate. After the first few times, the creature didn't mind the vulpine, but it was clear that it was a tolerance rather than an acceptance.

After four months, she began to look through his pockets to find anything that might be useful to them, but only found a phone, earbuds, a mask, and a wallet. She tried to take the opportunity to learn his name, but everything, except for a few cards, was destroyed. Both ID cards suffered heavy water damage and when she tried to learn what she could through his phone, she found it had a password. She slapped herself after thinking that he didn't have a password on his phone, but was happy that she could finally tell where his species was at in terms of technological development. The vulpine and creature grew closer with a mutual worry for the primate after he was officially a nameless creature to them as well. The creature would lie near the vulpine and would nuzzle her hand. The vulpine got used to the creature and gets a little extra food for it.

Within the fifth month, she decided to leave the cave she had taken the primate. She could tell he was getting better, but she had to get him to professionals to get him checked out. The vulpine pat herself on the back for taking care of him even if what she did to do so was only learned through medical drama shows and what research she did. However, she can't do any thorough checks on him without the proper equipment or training. Even if the blizzard did let up in several months, by far the most bizarre weather phenomenon she ever saw, it was better than doing nothing. Luckily for her, she didn't have to travel far. The creature followed close behind before hopping on the back of the vulpine and hanging over her shoulder.

"Halt!" A commanding voice yelled at the vulpine making her pause for the voice. She knew it couldn't have been the wind or something stupid like that. "State your name and business!" The vulpine hesitated for a second, not wanting to give her name to someone she can't see, But even she knew she didn't have a choice with the comatose primate on her back.

"M-My name is Krystal! I just came across this area on accident! Please help me, he's been asleep for several months!" Krystal yelled in a bit of hope before two figures walked through the fence blizzard and stopped before the now named Krystal. Much to her shock, there stood two snow-white arctic foxes holding metal spears with the blade being infused with obsidian.

They pulled the primate off of her and dumped him in the slow without emotion on their face. One placed the tip of the spear over the primate ready to skewer him. "You can come in, he stays." Krystal pushed them away and pulled her gun on them. "He's not a fox. The sins of the outsiders will taint our species purities; I don't expect a water fox to understand, but we will make an exception since you have some artic fox in you. Be grateful for this opportunity vixen." Krystal didn't have to see them well to understand that they were ready to attack.

"Stay your spear, guardsmen." A female voice said before a gust of wind cut through the blizzard.

Krystal was amazed by the sudden use of this strange power and how it helped her, but what took her breath away was the large city that eclipsed what she's seen at her home; however, it was the form of another vixen in robes and a glowing staff that stole her attention.

It was oddly revealing for something religious, but it covered the important areas making Krystal think that they had more self-control than she thought or that they haven't found the importance in wearing something more modest yet. Yet the vixen's smile held a warmth that put the blue fox at ease. "My name is Aurora, High Priestess of the Arctic Foxes. You don't have to tell me your name, Krystal, I was able to hear it." That gave Krystal a bit of relief; she didn't want to keep saying the same thing again. "What's the name of your friend?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know." Krystal apologized as the guards tightened their grip on the spears. "I found him buried in snow with extreme frostbite. Somehow, he healed, but has woken up in the past five months." Aurora's smile became a little more shallow. Aurora had heard a story like that before, it was why her people were so distrustful of outsiders.

She didn't want to be tricked again and walked forward. "I will have to check. Please, do not resist until my examination is complete." Krystal didn't know when she meant until she found that she couldn't move at all. She took Aurora's advice, if only to prevent another incident, and watched with a mixture of anxiety and disdain. Aurora just placed her staff on his head and immediately found out what happened. "His mana circuits have just been overloaded. They're repairing themselves, but it could be an option month or two before he wakes up." The hold on Krystal dropped and she just took a few seconds to collect her thoughts. She had no reason to attack Aurora, but she wasn't okay with losing her ability to move.

"What does that mean?" Krystal watched as the primate lifted into the air with some odd aura around him. Even if she attacked, she knows she'd lose.

"We'll figure out what to do with him when he wakes up in a couple of months. Till then, you and your Carbuncle can stay. We'll arrange a house for you to stay in." Krystal didn't understand why she was being so hospitable but doesn't look the gift horse in the mouth. Soon another guard appeared and whispered something to her. "Already? Damn it, they have too much coverage." The religious vixen sighed before giving a weary smile to Krystal. "When you're friend wakes up, he'll be put on trial in front of the Parliament. I'll see what I can do to work around their inevitable harsh judgment. In the meantime, make yourself at home." Aurora was disappointed in a flash of light.

Krystal didn't bother trying to understand, the speed of everything being way too much for her to understand. She just wanted to sleep in a bed for the first time in months.

"Princess." The voice came from a male Equine standing on their hind legs. He wore a doctor's coat with a button-down shirt underneath along with khaki pants. "There has been a surge of magic, but it was unnaturally dark. We have reason to believe that Dark Magic might be involved or a desperate outburst of negative emotion. Either way, it came from a creature." The Equine said as he stared at his princess.

The princess had an air of authority around her that also seemed to carry the unconditional love of a mother. She was pure white with a pastel-colored rainbow mane that flowed in an invisible wind. Her form was slender and the dress she wore accented her natural curves. "Thank you for looking into this, Looking Glass. Do you know a more general area of where the surge is?"

"The Wendigo's Eye." The princess sighed knowing looking into it further would be fruitless. Very few have managed to come back after the first few days. Some say they can hear voices while within; believing that they're the spirits of the Crystal Empire or the souls of those who died exploring the unnatural storm. However, in recent years, the idea of the poor souls of the Crystal Empire haunting their home vanished after it came back. "It seems similar to the one that brought her here."

"Thank you again. I'll see about using sensing to figure out the cause." Looking Glass began to walk away before stopping, remembering the other bit of news that would bring her dread. He was just glad the princess's sister wasn't there.

"Celestial Mana Degradation occurred again... I'm sorry Princess Celestia." With that, he left. The guards in the room were left confused but didn't break attention.

Celestia clenched her hands into fists. She hated getting that news, but they were now happening every six months then once every century as they used to one thousand years ago. "Damn, another star fades from the sky." She pushed the dark thoughts out of her mind and began to use Mana Sense to look around the dense mana climate to find the cause of the surge.

Author's Note

The small creature is going to be my favorite Final Fantasy creature: Carbuncle.