The sun was already dipping beneath the tree tops, when you emerged from the forest with hulking, sulking Hina in toe.

"Alright. We're here." You smiled and ushered Hina through.

You both stood on a broad overhang, a wide strip of land that reached out over the sea as if it strove to touch the horizon. The sounds of the ocean rose from below, stirred by the breeze. The lapping of waves lulled you into a calm, enough to ignore the plump seabirds as they sang their hardy songs of fish and crab. Without peering over the edge, you could still imagine the sapphire waters, always glazed with a thin sheet of ice. How it sparkled under the stars...

All those sweet memories. You remembered those days when you and Hina would play here. Making Snowmen, playing Pirates, maybe throwing a pebble or two at those noisy seabirds...

You watched with relief as Hina's features settled a bit. The anxiousness drained from his face, and the tension slacked. With an unprecedented exhaustion, the young Imuchakk trudged closer to the edge and threw his body down in defeat. There he sat in solemn reservation, letting a foot dangle above the vast, vast sea.

Hesitantly, you joined him.

In the soft, rosy glow of dusk, off among the distant beds of ice, a red, spiked horn pierced the ocean's surface. A serpentine head followed, weaving in and out of the water, snapping up fat, bumbling fish as it slithered under the depths.

Hina had noticed the creature as well. His normally delightful demeanor was shadowed by grim resentment. He glared and only glared.

Carefully, you inched closer. "Hina? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

You slid closer still, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You can't beat yourself up like this. Please, tell me."

With a jarring jerk, Hina cut self from the conversation. "Leave me be."

The mellow shades of dusk darkened and bled into a starless night. The moon, nestled on a bed of clouds, lit the earth with a pale, blue radiance.

His shame seemed to claim every inch of the remaining blackness for itself. It tugged at you from every inky pool of shadow. 

A long, weary sigh escaped into the brisk night air, floating off in a silver ribbon of vapor. The stress that suspended Hina's poor frame dissolved, and his shoulders slumped.

"I don't know if I can do it."

Instinctively, you wished to comfort, console. The words came stumbling out of your head, and got jumbled just behind your lips. Nothing was enough. 

Swallowing your half-baked apologies, you decided to listen instead. It was the best you could do.

You made a low humming sound in response.

"He says he's proud of me, but... It's in his eyes, the disappointment. I just don't know if I can fail him again."

You knew exactly who he was talking about. His father was the chief after all, everyone knew him. And everyone knew that his son was to defeat the Abare Narwhal within a year's time. 

"Oh, Hina", your tone was warm, almost motherly, "I couldn't imagine anyone more capable of being chief. I mean, your kind, caring, generous, and you already worry enough for a whole village."

"Wow, thanks." He granted you a faint smile. 

"Seriously, you can do amazing things."

"Like?"

You tilted your head abit. "Well, you managed to beat me in a snowball fight. That's no small feat."

"And, I almost killed you."

You bounced a bit closer. "Then that Narwhal doesn't stand a chance!"

 Those doubting eyes parted from the endless sea and trailed to you. He must have seen something as the melancholy subsided. "Do you really mean it?" 

You leaned in slowly, eyes connecting. Before you knew it, your lips embraced his and passion rushed through your body, drawing every sweet second into an eternity. When you parted, all the pain, and insecurity had vanished, melted away. 

You rested your head on Hina's shoulder and gazed off at the smooth shapes of night. 

There, in that rich silence, a tenderness enveloped you. It was a magical sensation, a sense of understanding that seemed to connect every fiber of his being to yours. "I believe in you, Snowflake."