The ship entered the bay. The mountain slopes, dark from coniferous forests, were partly covered in shadow and partly illuminated by the sun. In the middle of the island, opposite the middle of the bay, rose a mountain with steep slopes and a flat snow-capped peak.
Tuot went up to the deck and saw Etinnei there, who was examining the surroundings with curiosity. The Arctic fox girl smiled and wagged her tail from side to side.
“Have you never been here?” Tuot asked.
“I don’t know,” Etinnei answered. “I don’t recognize anything that’s here. And Minniges does not appear to give me my memories. He's probably scared.”
“This is after that incident on the island with the man with the carrot nose?”
Etinnei stopped smiling and raised her tail.
“Don’t talk about this creature,” the arctic fox girl asked. “He’s so creepy that I couldn’t even look at him.”
“He’s really scary,” Tuot thought. “But I noticed that he uses a wrench to manipulate objects in the air, like Halankuo. Is he really related to her?”
Etinnei looked at the mountains that were approaching and began to smile again.
“Look, Tuot, there’s an ice cream-mountain!” Etinnei pointed to the white peak of the mountain in the middle of the island.
“Does it look like ice cream?” Tuot asked.
“Isn’t it similar?”
“It’s just a volcano. They often come in this shape. It has a white top because there is snow or ice. This is not ice cream.”
“I know what a volcano is. It is hot inside and should not be eaten. Snow and ice can be edible.”
“Do you eat ice?”
“Yup. I can even create it. But I can't make ice cream. But Minniges can. True, his ice cream isn’t real, but it’s delicious.”
“What?”
“You suck your finger and it tastes good. But when you bite your finger, it becomes painful. Then you realize the ice cream wasn't real.”
“Can only you see ice cream?”
“Not only me. Minniges can also see.”
“But Minniges lives in your head. Can anyone besides you two see this?”
“I don't know. I didn't show the ice cream to anyone. Every time Minniges treated me to ice cream, I forgot that it was not real, and only remembered it when I bit my finger. But despite this, I am grateful to Minniges for the delicious ice cream and want to try it again. This is ice cream that cannot be eaten, but which you can enjoy forever.”
Etinnei looked at the sea and saw behind the deck of the ship a white and blue penguin with a translucent horn on its forehead, which was floating in the air.
“Would you like some ice cream, refrigerator girl?” a voice sounded in Etinnei’s head.
“Yup,” the animal girl answered mentally. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I still live in your head. Thanks to you, I wasn’t completely taken out of you. So I decided to share some ice cream with you. Do you really want him? It's unusual. You can't eat it.”
“I'm glad I can try it again. Your ice cream is very tasty. I hope one day I can eat it for real.”
Minniges's horn began to emit a blue glow. Soon, an ice cream cone appeared in Etinnei's hand. The Arctic fox girl licked it and felt a cold but sweet taste in her mouth.
But only Etinnei saw the ice cream. Tuot looked at the Arctic fox girl and saw her licking her index finger.
“Now it’s clear how Etinnei eats ice cream,” the dinosaur thought. “She doesn’t notice that it’s her finger. Good for her. She can get food when there is none. But I have to not eat, even when the food is in front of me and it’s real, because food might be my friend.”
The shores of the island were approaching. The mountains now overhung the bay and cast shadows into the water.
On the shore, between coastal stones and a coniferous forest, the head of a mammoth, covered with brown fur and surrounded by a purple energy bubble, was floating in the air.
“There’s someone there,” Etinnei noted. “And it flies.”
Tuot saw the creature on the shore, closed his eyes, turned away, after which he opened his eyes and looked at the shore.
“It’s real,” the dinosaur thought. “I was afraid that a creature like Etinnei’s had also appeared in my head.”
Itinit climbed onto the deck.
“What's there on the shore?” Etinnei pointed with her sleeve at the strange creature in the bubble.
“A character,” Itinit answered. “Like you, only without legs and arms.”
“It must be hard for him to live,” the arctic fox girl’s face became sad.
“No, he’s okay,” Itinit smiled. “Legs are needed to walk.”
“And to scratch behind the ear,” Etinnei looked at her legs.
“I will refrain,” Tuot thought. “Otherwise they’ll know what kind of food I like.”
“He flies, so he doesn’t need legs,” Itinit continued. “And he doesn’t need hands either. He moves objects through the air.”
“How is Taikuron?” Tuot asked.
“Do you remember him?” the smile disappeared from Itinit’s face.
Tuot remembered how antennas came out of the ceiling in the cave cafe, and then the head of a penguin poked out of there. The dinosaur shuddered.
“I don’t want him to come,” Tuot said. “He won’t come here, will he? That is, it won’t fly.”
“Why would he fly here?” Itinit thought. “Taikuron is looking for his other half. If she's not here, then he shouldn't be here either.”
“What are you talking about?” Etinnei asked.
“Nothing,” Tuot answered. “It doesn't matter.”
Tuot did not want to tell his girlfriend what happened in the cafe in Yenekit. But then he remembered how, during the battle with Kuttanai, he saw a creature similar to Taikuron. Then the dinosaur was busy saving his girlfriend and himself, so he did not attach any importance to this.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“Maybe I imagined it?” Tuot thought. “There was coldness coming from that penguin. He has different abilities than Taikuron, but he also has an antenna. Are these creatures somehow connected? Maybe tell Etinnei about this? Although no, I won’t. This is too scary.”
The ship landed on the shore. Itinit jumped to the ground in front of the creature in the energy bubble and bowed.
“I no longer hoped to see you again, Myuryuri,” Itinit said. “Do you remember me?”
“As long as my barrier is intact, I will remember you,” the creature answered. “Let's leave from here. Although this island is secret, it is better not to walk on the shore. The ship will sail away to the underwater parking lot. He's a robot, so nothing will happen to him.”
Myuryuri slowly flew towards the forest. Itinit, Tuot and Etinnei followed him.
“Do you know this creature?” Tuot asked his friend.
“Yes,” Itinit answered. “His name is Myuryuri. He taught me how to use energy barriers.”
“Like this?” Tuot was surprised. “Something’s wrong here...”
“No, that’s all right,” Itinit laughed. “I just grew up on this island.”
A road of horizontally lying logs led up the slope through a dark coniferous forest. Thick old trees stood like pillars and covered with their branches the faint light that penetrated the cloudy sky. Here and there along the road there were small ferns and blue translucent mushrooms.
“Itinit, why does this mushroom glow?” Tuot asked his friend.
“This is an energy mushroom that is found only here,” Itinit answered. “It feeds on the energy of the surrounding space.”
“This is strange,” Tuot remarked.
“This is the Island of Energy Mushrooms of,” Itinit explained. “There are a lot of strange things here. Therefore, do not be surprised.”
Etinnei walked up to the glowing mushroom and sniffed it, then licked it. The mushroom burst and released a wave of blue energy, some of which went into the arctic fox girl's mouth, and some of which scattered into the air.
“Tuot, he disappeared,” Etinnei’s voice said.
Tuot turned around and saw his girlfriend sitting on a log and crying.
“Let’s go,” Tuot said. “If you fall behind, a big mushroom will come and eat you.”
Etinnei instantly found herself near Tuot, grabbed him by the tail and followed him.
“I was joking,” the dinosaur admitted.
Etinnei let go of her friend's tail and cried even harder.
Suddenly, Tuot felt something heavy fall on his head. The next moment, a brown tail hit the dinosaur's face. Tuot jumped back and activated a green energy aura.
A girl with brown dog ears and a tail landed on the log path between Tuot and Etinnei.
“Why are you scaring the animal girl?” the dog girl asked.
From fright, Tuot did not know what to answer. The short, curved sword that had almost appeared in his hand disappeared, but the aura remained.
“Don’t be afraid, Tuot,” Itinit’s voice sounded. “This is not an enemy.”
Tuot turned his head to his friend. The aura around him disappeared.
“Do you know her?” the dinosaur asked.
“Of course he knows!” the dog girl shouted. “He is my creator, and I am his favorite character!”
Tuot looked at the new animal girl. Short brown hair almost blended into the long triangular ears on top of her head. Red-brown eyes stared motionlessly at Itinit. The mouth and eyebrows froze in a tense state. The chest, which barely fit into the brown fur top, was still moving due to inertia after landing. Thick, “edible” legs were spread wide apart, and the tail, which protruded from the hole in the furry shorts, was raised up. There are brown fur bracelets on the arms and legs.
“Creator, you promised to return my little sister!” the dog girl shouted. “Where is she? I can't smell her!”
The dog girl sniffed the air and then turned to Etinnei.
“But you brought some new animal girl,” the dog girl continued. “For some reason she has small ears. Poor girl, how can she hear with such ears?”
“I’m an arctic fox,” Etinnei explained. “That’s why I have such ears.”
The dog girl approached Etinnei, got down on all fours and began to sniff her.
“You smell tasty,” the dog girl said.
Etinnei widened her eyes and took a few steps back. Her tail rose up and an icicle emerged from the sleeve of her grey-purple fur top.
“I’m not going to eat you,” the dog girl said. “Do not be afraid of me.”
The icicle went back into the sleeve, and the tail hung. Etinnei looked down at the log under her feet.
“You brought the wrong animal girl,” the dog girl approached her creator. “I need my little sister. She looks like me. This one is not similar.”
“Your sister is on a mission,” Itinit explained.
The dog girl tried to jump at her creator, but was stopped by a blue energy translucent wall that appeared in front of Itinit and threw her back.
“Be patient for a little while, Noru,” Itinit said. “Kimchan will return when the mission is completed.”
The dog girl lowered her head, stood on all fours and whined.
***
Evening was coming. Unana walked slowly through the forest and breathed heavily. The archer had almost no strength left, because she had been walking all day in search of her pet.
“If I find her, I won’t try to kill her anymore,” Unana thought. “I just want to find her. Yueret will not forgive me if his puppy disappears.”
The archer accidentally came to a thick coniferous tree and sat down near it to rest.
“Night will soon come,” Unana looked at the rays of the setting sun that made their way through the branches of the trees. “It’s good that I’m not afraid of the dark.” I'm only afraid that Yueret will come and not see me. He'll think the dolls or someone else stole me. Now I won’t have time to return home, and I won’t be able to. I can barely walk.”
But soon strength began to slowly return to Unana. The girl looked up and saw something brown among the many thin branches.
“Bear!” this thought made the tired girl jump away from the tree almost instantly.
“A bear is too big to climb trees,” Unana guessed. “There's something different there. Maybe it's a little bear? I need to cuddle him.”
Unana walked up to the thick tree and looked up again. Something brown turned out to be hair and dog ears that stuck out from under it.
“This is not a bearry,” Unana sighed. “This is some other animal. But it's high. How can I get close to it and touch it?”
The girl looked at the branches, of which there were many, but they were all thin.
“I could rise with the help of an aura,” Unana thought. “But now I don’t have the strength for this.”
The girl looked at her hands.
“There is a lot of resin on coniferous trees,” Unana thought. “It’s tasteless and makes your tongue stick to your teeth.”
The archer entered her inventory and then selected the button with the glove icon. Soon the purple gloves moved to the girl's hands.
Unana jumped, grabbed the lowest branch with her hand, and then momentarily activated her purple aura and used it to jump a little higher than usual. The archer's feet were on a branch, and her hand grabbed the brown creature...
... There was a dog squealing. Something big and fluffy attacked Unana. Already on the ground, on a layer of fallen pine needles, the girl finally understood who this creature was.
It was her pet, Kimchan, who was sitting on Unana’s stomach and looking at her in fear.
“Are you... not in pain?” Kimchan asked.
“My back doesn’t hurt,” Unana answered. “But if you don’t get off me, my belly will burst and stain you with blood.”
Kimchan immediately jumped to the side and looked warily at her owner. Her tail was raised up.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Unana said. “Do not be afraid of me.”
But the dog girl did not believe her cruel owner. She tucked her tail and hid behind the nearest tree.
Unana rose to her feet, summoned her inventory, returned her gloves to their place, and then began to look for her pet.
“Where are you?” Unana said quietly. “Kimchan, come here. I won't do anything bad to you. And I won’t kill either.”
Unana began to cry and fell to her knees. She no longer had the strength to look for the missing dog.
“I didn’t want to kill you,” the archer said. “I’m just really worried about my older brother. I thought you might hurt him because you're a girl. If he hangs out with other girls, he could get into trouble. Other girls won't worry about him or protect him because they are strangers to him. The younger sister is your own. He will be safe with his younger sister. That's why I want to be the only girl for Yueret.”
Unana felt her last strength leaving along with her tears. The girl began to fall down, but suddenly felt something soft and warm.
That something turned out to be a large brown animal. Unana even mistook him for a bear, but she could no longer jump away as before. The girl closed her eyes from fatigue and realized that she would not return home again, not only today, but in general. There was no longer any strength to resist the beast.
But sleep never came. The hot air and the sound of fire made Unana to wake up. The girl was sitting astride a large brown dog, which was surrounded by a fiery aura, and smoke was coming from its tail. The animal was flying over a mixed forest at high speed, like a comet.
The sun has not yet set below the horizon. Several clearings appeared in the middle of the continuous forest. On one of them stood a large wooden house - the only building in the radius to the horizon.
“This is my home,” Unana immediately recognized the place where she lived. “But why is this dog carrying me there?”
And then the girl began to guess who this fiery dog really was. As soon as the house appeared directly below them, the animal tilted its head down and quickly collapsed to the ground...
... A small crater appeared in the ground near the house. Kimchan sat nearby in almost human form, surrounded by a fiery aura and looked at the results of her fall. From the dog-girl's face one could assume that she was very surprised by the appearance of such a strange depression in the ground and did not understand where it came from.
Unana stood on the roof in a violet aura, which gradually dissolved into the air.
“It’s good that the passive skill worked,” the archer breathed heavily. “Otherwise I would have crashed.”
This was the last thought in Unana's head. The activation of the aura drained the girl's last strength. She instantly lost consciousness and fell from the roof to the ground.