"Friends are all the family you need when your family isn't around"

***

By the time they reached the centre of the forest, the sun had started to set beyond the horizon. It painted the sky with vibrant colours of yellow, deep orange and red. The sun itself was white like a clean, bare sheet of paper.

Casey's motivated steps had been reduced to careless trudging through deep snow. They had been walking for hours without end, without any breaks, and the low temperatures really started to get to him. His legs quivered with every step, he couldn't feel his feet anymore because they'd gone numb from cold and from his water-lodged shoes. His brand new sneakers that his older brother had gotten him for his birthday were now soggy and holes started to form in the soles from his trudging. Now he wished he hadn't put them on before he'd left the house, but how was he supposed to know he'd end up in Russia!

Up ahead padded three bear-cat creatures that he had met upon his awakening. To his knowledge, they were siblings, triplets even, but each one was nothing like the other.
Aero was a very energetic and curious creature with a special fearlessness in new things. Casey quite liked her daring personality and would love to get to know her better. She was the only one that talked to him without her words sounding like poison or like a bittersweet coating.

Now Shade, she was a different story. She was the type that would shoot first and ask questions later, or not at all. Her mere frightening gaze chilled him to the bone. No matter how many times Aero told him she doesn't bite, she still terrified him. He was sure she would kill him with no hesitation if she had the chance. He tried to avoid coming near her, let alone talk to her altogether. Living and surviving was his biggest concern at the moment even if this was a dream. A very unusual, scary and strangely realistic dream.

Lastly there was Pyro, who was the only male out of the three. At first Casey thought they would get along...until Pyro's unnaturally warm body said those words laced with with a tone colder than ice. 'I didn't do it because I want you to live,' Pyro growled lowly. 'I want you dead as much as Shade does.' Those words echoed in his head as if the male creature had shouted them into a network of tunnels and caves.

Suddenly the feeling of soft, frozen water engulfed Casey and for a moment all he could see was white. The orange light of the dusk faded, the three creatures faded from his sight and so did his thoughts. A voice rang in his ears. "You must carry on..." it sang in a soothing tone. He recognised this voice. It was the same voice he heard calling to him before this dream started. That's how he felt right now, like he was dreaming, because his body felt so light.
This is the feeling he felt when he was just about to wake up.
Whenever he woke up, it was mostly because his brother threw something at him. Most of the time it was a pillow, fallen from the bed during the night before because of the boy's tossing and turning. However this feeling in particular only happened when Casey woke up on his own, a rare occasion indeed.

Then he suddenly felt a powerful tug at the collar of his shirt, pulling him back into reality. Dangerous teeth nipped at the back of his neck and for a moment he couldn't breathe as his own clothes strangled him.

"If you're trying to kill yourself then do it after we get to Aasmyr." The sharp hiss distracted him from the pain at his throat. He gasped as Shade's grip on him vanished and he landed on his hands and knees in front of the female like a dog. It should've struck embarrassment in the boy's gut, but he was still in shock to realise the position.

A nudge at his shoulder helped Casey to his feet. "You're tired," Aero's calm voice told him and brought his heart to a rhythmic slow beat. He shot her a grateful look as he stumbled with the first step. He'd never felt so fatigued before. If Aero wasn't there to support his weight with her furry shoulder, he'd have fallen again and this time Shade most likely would've left him to freeze and die. Maybe she'd even leave him along with her siblings and some other creature would eat him, turning him into a nutritious meal for its offspring. Or perhaps she'd show him mercy and end him right there and then, put him out of his misery. Either way he'd end up as something for vultures to pick at. To his surprise the dark-furred feline let out a low growl, following by the command to continue.

Casey assumed she didn't ditch him because of the order Pyro reminded her about earlier. Suddenly his heart sunk. He remembered them talking about taking him somewhere while referring to him like he was a foul meal. He wanted to ask about where they were headed, but he was too tired to ask. His knees got shaky again, threatening to drop him once again into the cold, white substance.

"Come on!" Aero exclaimed in a bit of an annoyed tone. When Casey stayed where he was, she called to her brother, and said something unusual. It sounded like a different language of some sort, but it wasn't anything he recognised. It didn't sound like it was Russian. He knew that from the kid in his class that spoke it sometimes. It could've been that all those words were used in vain since Casey only heard them when the kid was frustrated. That'd usually be followed by laughter from the whole class and shushing from the teacher. In the end he decided it wasn't Russian, but a language similar to it. Ukrainian, Polish, Bulgarian perhaps. He wasn't sure which though so he dropped the debate altogether. It was a good thing because he was soon knocked onto the back of a very warm and furry being.

"You're not as heavy as I thought," Pyro's husky voice comment as he awaited the boy to get comfortable on his back. It was difficult since Casey had to mount the feline-bear like a horse despite the obviously different anatomy. The soft warmth was a bonus to the relief he felt when his feet were off the ground.

Now the journey went along much quicker. In just a few minutes Casey could see the sky through the dense woods. Wait...did the ground end past those trees?! The thought of it ending so abruptly caused him to tighten the grip on Pyro's thick mane fur. The thought of being thrown off the edge raced through his mind, his heartbeat quickened, and he could only imagine how far the fall was. If he was lucky there'd be water, maybe the ocean was nearby. Or it could be cliff spikes and he'd end up smashing his body against hard, spiky rocks. Either way his body was be smashed against the surface, even against water if the drop was far enough. From the thought of falling, his mind switched the topic to the ocean. Now he could smell the salty taste the wind carried downwind towards him. But the ocean, crashing waves against rock, or rolling if there was a clean, sandy beach. The sand warmed by sunlight, turning cold and wet and smooth after a wave swept across it. Maybe the waves carried shells and washed them up at the shore or maybe wild sea-life, allowing the land-dwellers observe their beauty. In the distance were seagulls calling out to the orangey-purple clouds above, painted by the setting sun that was getting swallowed by the hungry ocean. No matter how dangerous the reality of the waters were, the perfect picture stayed in his mind. It was a bittersweet moment of imagination. How long has it been since he was last at the beach?

"You're gonna love Aasmyr!"

Aero's shrill voice made the graceful image of the ocean vanish. It wasn't something to be sad for long about, it was the least of his worries at the moment, no matter how mesmerising and tempting it was. Casey shook his head. "What's Aasmyr? Is it a country?"

"Is it a country?!" Aero repeated, her voice sounding like she was chocking on her own laughter which was probably the case with her. Her cheeks blew up, capturing the air in her body from leaving. It was a hilarious sight. She looked like a chipmunk with its cheeks stuffed with nuts. "That's funny, but Aasmyr isn't that big. It's only the capital of Kazga!"

"If it's a capital then it should still be quite big. Weird...Kazga...." the boy repeated the name Aero mentioned. It was unfamiliar to him, even if he wasn't that good in geography. But he knew something for sure now or, at least, he understood something better. Either Aero was crazy and he was dreaming or he really wasn't in Russia. It was the accent that supported his theory. It wasn't north-eastern and it definitely didn't sound like the accent from the kid in his class.

The whole time Pyro has his brows furrowed. He was confused because it sounded like Casey had never heard of Aasmyr or Kazga before. He didn't want to accuse the newcomer from the sky that his sense of orientation was out of order.

As Casey looked at the last few trees in front of him, Aero shot past him like a swift arrow. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but it was too late. The female furry creature has leaped off the edge of the cliff. A sudden sense of panic took over him and he jumped off Pyro's back, running towards the edge after regaining his balance. "Aero!!" To his surprise, his expectations didn't meet the reality of the situation. Instead of seeing Aero's skinny body smashed against rocks or water with blood all around, she was perfectly peaceful sitting on the sloped roof of a house beside a bushy red-leafed tree. She was laughing at his shocked expression, even Pyro chuckled behind him as Casey looked down.
"Are you crazy?!" The boy shouted to her, trying to relax and clear the panic in his mind. Aero responded with a 'maybe' and a 'probably' as she leaped off the building as well. He knew cats always landed on their feet when falling but even from this height she should've broken something. And yet she remained unharmed.

Casey took this chance to look around. The view was breathtaking. Below the cliffs were dense trees right along the side of where the rocks met solid ground. They masked the jagged points and even protected those that would fall, if they'd survive the fall. The entire cliffs circled a large village. Some houses were different than others but there was a very good word that described what they had in common. Medieval. They were beautiful pieces of architecture that even someone who didn't like medieval times would be in awe at the houses. East of the centre point of the village was a house that was much larger than the rest and from here Casey could make out the stone statues of wolves guarding the entrance to the building. Whoever was in charge of the village must've lived in there. All the houses also had a sloped roof like the one Aero had landed on. They had stabilising stone walls with wooden frames and dull coloured roofs to blend in with the surroundings.

Beyond the village was a small slope leading to a white sandy beach. That's why the wind tasted salty. The ocean was right there. It was beautiful with the setting sun reflecting along calm waters. It was better than Casey had imagined because it was real.

"There's a passage down so don't worry. You won't fall to your death today," Pyro stated, amusement tingling on his calm expression.

Casey nodded and followed Pyro to the entrance although he had no idea how they'd get down. He was pretty sure lifts didn't exist here. And he was right.

Shade tapped a spot on a tree with her hind paw, a tree that seemed very ordinary with nothing special or different from the other trees or the forest behind it. It was just a tree. However soon the ground tumbled a bit and for a moment Casey thought the cliff would collapse, but the only thing that vanished was a small part of the ground a few meters away from the tree.

In that hole was a stone staircase winding down into darkness. Shade went down first and immediately he lost sight of her. Next was Pyro, and the darkness swallowed him whole as well.

Casey stood at the edge of the entrance, hoping for some sign to show that it was safe, but there was nothing. After a short while, the male headed down into the dark...