It was a very cold day in the snowy side of Hailfire Peaks. At the top of a frozen volcano, the sounds of roaring could be heard. "And don't trespass here again!" The long necked ice dragon, Chilly Willy, roared as he swung his neck along the side before colliding it with the trespassers and knocking them down off the side of the mountain. The echoing screams during the long fall eventually faded and the dragon went back to resting within its home.
At the base of the mountain area, a brown furred honey bear in yellow shorts had just slammed onto the ground, groaning. "Are you okay, Banjo?" Banjo heard, looking over his shoulder, seeing his bright feathered breegull friend tucked away safely within his backpack. She usually assisted him in combat or getting around terrain and obstacles when needed. "Yeah. Thanks, Kazooie. I just didn't jump high enough," Banjo laughed at himself, somewhat finding the fall fun. He was used to falling from great heights, but the snow had made it a softer landing at least. He stood back up, stretching, looking at sky. He couldn't see the sun as things seemed to be getting darker.
"Banjo, I think we should get out of here, or head over to the fiery side," Kazooie suggested. She knew it would get even colder during the night, so the fiery side would give them warmth. "Yeah. Maybe there's a Jiggy at the top of that volcano I saw," the bear thought before trying to get up, only for his leg to shoot out a shockwave of pain through his lower body. He just fell back down to the wintry ground. "Ugh... I think I might have landed on a rock," he gave a half hearted laugh, never seeing it as too serious. Kazooie climbed out of the backpack, walking alongside him. "Jeez... does anything get you down?" she had to question while helping him to his feet. He was a bit heavy, so she didn't know how long she could really help him stay on his feet.
"Well, the only times I think I'm ever sad are when you or Tooty are in trouble," Banjo answered. She had to admit, he was hard to be angry at or around even when she felt like snapping in fury, and she never went off at him specifically. It didn't take long for the two to arrive to a small cave. When inside, Banjo sat down, leaning against the icy wall. "Thanks, Kazooie... but I think we're going to be stuck here for a while," Banjo confessed, not sure how long it was going to take until his leg would heal up. "Just take it easy," the breegull insisted before climbing back into his backpack so she could stay warm, planning on just sleeping, knowing he would probably fall asleep soon himself and his loud snoring would keep her awake.
An hour had passed since the two had taken refuge in the cave. The dark winter area looked beautiful to Banjo, seeing the night stars in the sky shimmering around the moon while the snowflakes fell to the ground. He did enjoy the sight but he was shivering. It was too cold for him to sleep. His fur was not able to keep him warm on its own while. His teeth chattered while he stayed idle. Before he knew it, he felt his rucksack rustling before seeing Kazooie pop out of it, having been awoken by his shaking. "Are you okay? You're shaking pretty bad," she asked if he was alright or not. "N-not really... sorry for w-waking you, Kazooie," Banjo shivered out his answer, apologizing. He knew he woke her up a lot with his snoring alone and he was aware that he kept her up a lot, but she never got mad at him over it. Sometimes, he had to wonder about it.
"You just need to keep your mind off the cold," Kazooie suggested. The bear just thought for a second. She was awake now, so starting a conversation to get his mind out of the frozen environment felt like a good idea right now. "I-I remember how we first met, Kazooie..." he started while looking at their reflections in the floor. "...I-I was with my parents on a picnic around spiral mountain. We saw you running around everywhere until you crashed into me. ...Mom took us home to take care of you and dad found your nest. He could never find your parents though. He kept going back and back while mom treated you," Banjo reminisced. He had a feeling it was most possibly insensitive to talk about such a delicate matter, but to him, it was a precious memory of how she had practically become a member of the family.
"Yeah... and after a month, you guys decided to raise me. He still went a few times every now and then..." Kazooie continued his story while sniffling. Remembering the story did upset her but she couldn't tell if it was by sadness or happiness at the memories of childhood with Banjo. "I miss them a lot. I even went with dad a few times to look for your parents, but when mom died and he wasn't there... I think that broke him. Tooty was too young to know what had been going on," Banjo continued remembering that the last time their father attempted to find Kazooie's parents was around when his mother had died. His father had gone far and travelled to a lot of the areas around to at least search for them. He did his best and Kazooie was more than very thankful for all his family had done for her. She had given up hope of seeing her parents again. Something might have happened to them, she had already thought. And maybe, just maybe, not knowing was better than knowing their fate.
Banjo went silent after the memory as he felt something begin to wrap around him. Kazooie's long, feathered wings were wrapped around him. He looked at her, seeing her emerald eyes that met his gaze. "Let's enjoy the peace while we have it. We'll kick Gruntilda's butt tomorrow," she suggested. Banjo smiled, feeling a lot warmer already with her feathers covering him. He just leaned against her, starting to fall asleep. He just wanted to enjoy the moment while they had it, the stillness of the night, while it encased them.
