As Lewis slowed his pace to a simple stroll, the two of them were met with an unusual sight: a quaint cottage hidden between the trees, where smoke was swirling up from the chimney. Little light could be seen from the windows, making any object indistinguishable behind the frost. Above the house, the sun was steadily drifting towards the horizon, bathing it in colors of red and orange. Framed by the snowy trees, the scenery looked almost picturesque even, if it weren't for Lewis' deep-seated growl. He could smell it, as strong as it could be under the reddish sky.

The pungent odor of blood.

The leftovers of chopped wood.

The sharp cry that came from inside.

All accompanied a beautiful painting that concealed a sinister truth.

"There's no doubt about it…" Lewis crouched from behind the shrubbery, lowering his ears. "...This abode doesn't belong to any creature here."

"How can you be so sure?" Edward asked, still gathering his bearings from having been clamped between someone's teeth. "–I mean, if you've seen the place I live in, then I'd say it's my life's greatest work!"

"...There's no scent of any animals nearby," Lewis explained. "These Keepers you mentioned before…How often do they guard the borders?"

"Ha, it'd be better to ask an actual member than a literal outsider! But if I recall correctly…" Perching his chin, the ermine continued, "...Fitzgerald mentioned that they have to do patrols twice a day. So it's surprising that one managed to slip past them."

"Not one." Shaking his head, the lynx threw a pointed look towards one of the windows. There, a lumbering silhouette passed by the window, accompanied by two others. Squinting his eyes, Lewis noticed that they wore clothing fashioned for a peddler, including corduroy slacks, patchwork shawls, and leather boots. "...There seems to be three in the living room. And one of them happens to be carrying a child."

"Woah, really?" Leaping onto the lynx's head, Edward scanned the vicinity. "You seem to know a lot about this, Mr. Lynx. What, did those villagers down the hill rub off you or something?"

"It's Lewis. And quite the contrary, seeing I only converse with them for my own survival. While you, on the other hand–" Paying him a dismissive glance, the lynx finished, "–Seem so intent on imitating their behavior despite having never been around one."

"Ha, if you can't bother calling me by my name, then why should I?" Edward scowled with his tail raised. "And I actually have! Don't assume you know everything about me!" he nearly shouted before the lynx covered his mouth with his paw.

"Wait, one of them is coming outside. Could be the group's leader," Lewis noted, watching a bearded man carry an axe over his shoulder. Dust smothered his overalls, and the boots were caked with dry mud. His face seemed to be wrinkled with age, which was compounded by the intense scrutiny of his brows. As he rounded behind the house, the two animals breathed a sigh of relief.

"...Judging by the time of day, safe to say they're actual humans—" Edward remarked before glancing up at the sky. And his eyes widened.

The sun was close to slumbering on the horizon, where its liquid fire was doused by the sea of blue and purple. And when the rivers of light vanished from view, it cast the sky into the night's ephemeral embrace. Before he felt an all-too-familiar sensation tingling on his skin–first starting as an annoying itch, before engulfing his body like a carpet of burning stars.

"Hold up, the sun's already setting—!" Edward exclaimed, wincing as a cloud of fur erupted from him. As his disheveled fur turned into a fringe of white, his paws into calloused hands, and his eyes hidden behind his handmade spectacles, the former ermine erratically coughed before fixing his glasses.

As Edward's vision readjusted against the evening backdrop, he stood face to face with a taller man, whose eyes and features were chiseled by time.

Cloaked by a pile of wool garments, Lewis shook himself off, clearing away the snow that had fallen on his beard and hair. They're the color of his fur, Edward noted, seeing splotches of copper accentuating his silverish-grey hair. Every strand spilled over his broad shoulders before being braided with a dark feather clasp. His eyes remained as luminescent yellow as ever, but there seemed to be a charm of lucidity in those tender pupils.

Meanwhile, Edward's short hair was as pristine as snow, while also being tipped in ebony black. He wore modest clothing of a long-sleeved shirt, a leather vest, and burlap pants tied at the bottom. Pushing up his spectacles, which he made from twigs and kaleidoscopic glass, Edward remarked, "...This is probably the first time I've seen your human form, Mr. Ly–I mean, Lewis," while scratching his neck.

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Glancing at the shorter man before him, Lewis stoically muttered, "So it has."

. . .

"You're lankier than I thought—"

"Ack, hear that? That's the sound of my self-esteem breaking apart into ice shards!" Edward yelped, clutching his chest like the whole world came crashing through. "But that's beside the point—Look over there." After he pointed a finger, the two of them took notice of the candlelight flickering from inside, illuminating a woman carrying a bundle to her chest. "You were right. Looks like a small family is living here. But why haven't the Keepers done anything about them yet?" Edward tilted his head, seemingly perturbed.

"That's what I'd like to know. Based on what you mentioned, these Keepers wouldn't have left these humans alone for the time being. Unless they've moved here recently or there's another reason why the Keepers haven't engaged with them yet, who can say?" Lewis surmised, perching his bearded chin.

"And we still haven't found whose blood that was. If your nose led us here, then chances are that whatever was slaughtered there wasn't human. Maybe it was one of the haven's residents, or…" Edward added, his shaky hands grabbing onto the bushes. "...Something we haven't seen yet?"

"Hm…There was only the stench of humans, but apart from that…" Thinking back to the scene, the burly man muttered, "...I didn't catch any scent of an animal being there. I had to surmise that perhaps its blood was concealing its original scent, or that they masked themselves with a different odor." Before he caught sight of Edward's erratic shivering.

"What's wrong? Are you getting cold?" he asked, causing his companion to face him with a trembling grin.

"That, and also…" Hugging himself tighter, Edward mumbled, "All this talk of humans has me wondering…What if the Keepers are planning on striking tonight? I-I can't tolerate seeing that guy's face again! Especially if it's him mutilating some human–That'll make everything more worse! Who knows when I'll stomach eating meat again?"

"You mean…this Fitzgerald person?" Lewis inquired, scrutinizing the bespectacled man.

"Of course! Agh, just thinking about him is already giving me the shivers–" Edward exclaimed before feeling something soft draped over his head. Blinking with wide eyes, he noticed that this was one of the cloaks Lewis was wearing, whose edges were tattered with loose stitches. But it kept him warm all the same, seeing that the wind couldn't penetrate through its fuzzy outer lining.

"Take this deerskin for the time being. We'll continue to hide out here," Lewis assured, with the former imploring, "Eh? But what does this have to do anything with us? Let's just walk out of here and let the Keepers take care of everything."

"No. Perhaps it seems easy enough to leave it to the haven's guardians, but…" Clenching his hand, that inconceivable feeling resurfaced again, shackling his chest with a kind of poignant heaviness. His ribcage kept his drumming heart inside, but each sound ricocheted off like orchestrated notes, as if melodiously filling his hollow bones. Of chained guilt that could never be dissipated, or the fleeting relief that comes from repentance. "...I think it'd be best…if we warn them to leave now."

"What?" Aghast, the bespectacled man angrily rebuked, "Why should we do them the favor? They're the intruders here, not us."

"It's better than having bloodshed on our account. I've yet to see the corpses you mentioned before, but even still…we can't assume that these humans came here intentionally or out of curiosity. And…" Squeezing his eyes shut, he gritted his teeth. He remembered the times the poor villagers had to beg from the alleyways, or their stomachs growling from having no food to eat. For the children more so, whose innocent voices yearned for a better future. To be relinquished before realizing their dream was something that pained him to witness.

"I can't listen to a child crying while they're suffering," Lewis reluctantly finished with his face averted.

"...Oh." Edward's mouth dried as he awkwardly glanced away. "I didn't even consider that," he thought. For all his life, he thought of humans as these ubiquitous creatures who could do anything, whether it was making a bridge across an entire ocean or even building a tower that could reach the skies. But little did he know that humans were only one of the species living in the world, among the vast number of inhabitants living alongside them—such as lycanthropes who lived on the snowy mountains, mermaids that swam at the deepest depths, and even spirits that concealed themselves behind every mirror. But having never seen them, they only amounted to fairytale characters–in contrast to the very real two-legged creatures in front of him. Two-legged creatures, that without any rhyme or reason, slaughtered the one inventor Edward aspired to be.

"I can't even sympathize with them, let alone feel guilty. I couldn't even care less about my own family," Edward ruminated, his shoulders stiffening. "What if…I'm less of a human than I once thought?" No matter how much he imitated them, how much he ate what they ate, and even behaved like they did, he'll never become one of them.

"How did you find it in your heart to accept these creatures, Erwin?" he wanted to ask so many times, but the person in question wasn't there. Not now, not ever. So when he bit his bottom lip, Edward did something befitting of what the person named, "Erwin", would do.

"...Fine. But if they do anything to attack you, then that's our cue to run."

Lewis passed him a surprised look before graciously nodding. "Very well then. But you better not run off without me."

"Ha, you'll have to catch my tail first if that'd ever happen. Good thing I don't have it right now."