"So cold" Kadaj thought as his foot sunk into the snow. "Are you alright, brother?" Yazoo looked back at Kadaj who was behind a few feet away. "It's too cold. I feel numb" Kadaj shut his eyes as snow blew into his face. "Hold on just a little longer, brother" Yazoo walked back and took Kadaj's freezing hand. "I'll try" Kadaj peeked his eyes open a bit. They had hiked a few miles away from the crater and out to the snowy fields. Kadaj felt his legs and arms go limp as the icy wind bit at his face and go through his clothes. "Brother" he said weakly as he fell, but Yazoo caught him. "How are you warm when it's so cold out here?" Kadaj looked up at his older brother. "It is a power of mine" Yazoo smiled down at him. Kadaj layed against his chest, feeling and enjoying his brother's warmth. Yazoo slowly knelt down to the ground and held Kadaj. "I wish I had this power" Kadaj closed his eyes. A growl not too far away made both of them alarmed. "What was that?" Kadaj sat up from Yazoo. "Bandersnatch" Yazoo got up and helped Kadaj. They both turned around and saw three snarling wolves.
"Kadaj, stay behind me" Yazoo took out his weapon. "I want to fight too" Kadaj took the handle of the Souba. "No, little brother. It's too dangerous" Yazoo backed up with Kadaj as the wolves closed in. Yazoo slowly took a bullet out of his pocket and loaded it into the gunblade. "Kadaj, get behind that rock" Yazoo signaled over to the rock. Kadaj ran over and knelt down, just in time to dodge a wolf's strike. Yazoo jumped high into the air and aimed the barrel at one of the wolves. "Die, beast!" he pulled the trigger. Kadaj watched as one of the wolves took the shot for the other. It whimpered a bit, but stood with pride even though it had been struck with pain. Yazoo landed and swung his gunblade at the wolf. It jumped back and jumped at him. Yazoo groaned at the pain after the wolf at bitten his arm and pinned him to the ground. "Yazoo!" Kadaj came from behind the rock and ran over to Yazoo. "No, Kadaj!" Yazoo called to him, but Kadaj kept running to his aid. A different wolf charged at Kadaj and jumped at his leg. "Kadaj!" Yazoo stretched his arm out to him, but was in no reach of his brother. Kadaj cried out at the pain in his leg. He fell backwards into the snow, feeling his blood run down his leg. The wolf pinned him to the ground and growled at him. "Go away!" Kadaj shook his head hesitantly. "Kadaj! Don't move!" Yazoo yelled to him. "But it hurts!" Kadaj felt tears of pain stream down his cheeks. "Trust me!" Yazoo assured him. Kadaj layed his head to the side and closed his eyes. The canine sniffed Kadaj's face and down to his neck. Kadaj gasped at the feel of the cold wet nose against his neck. "Just spirits" he could hear a voice say in his mind. "Spirits?" Kadaj thought.
Yazoo looked over to Kadaj, hoping he was still okay. The wolf pinning him growled, then automatically unpinned him. "Wha?" Yazoo slowly sat up. The other wolf opened its mouth and bit into Kadaj's shoulder. Kadaj tried hard not to let his cry out at the pain, but instead passed out at the cold air and pain to worsen it. The last thing he felt was the wolf's tongue lick at his shoulder and another at his leg. "Hurts so bad" Kadaj thought as his mind came to conciousness. He slowly opened his eyes to a flame infront of him. "Where am I?" Kadaj rubbed his head. He looked down to see himself covered in a blanket and sitting in a chair. Trying to get up, he sat back down immediately feeling the pain in his leg and shoulder. "You're awake" Yazoo's voice sighed with relief. "Brother?" Kadaj turned his head to the side to see Yazoo sitting against the wall. "You passed out. I carried you here as fast as I could" Yazoo smiled. "Where are we?" Kadaj yawned. "We're at a place called the Icicle Inn. They let us stay here due to our injuries" the older brother rubbed his arm. "You're injured!" Kadaj shot up, but shot back down into the chair. "Calm down, brother. You're in worse condition then I am" Yazoo gently set his hand on Kadaj's chest. "What happened after I passed out?" Kadaj stared into his brother's eyes. "The wolf that pinned you let out a howl and walked off with the other two, but before they left it set this on your chest" Yazoo removed his hand off of Kadaj and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small glowing aquamarine orb. "I'm guessing it's materia. It's yours" he handed it to his younger brother. "Materia?" Kadaj held it in his hands. "It's magic of the planet" Yazoo pulled a seat from a table behind Kadaj and sat down.
Kadaj looked at it one last time before carefully putting in his pocket. "Brother?" Kadaj whisperd gently. Yazoo over to him. "When you were fighting, I saw the wolf you were trying to shoot got blocked by another wolf" Kadaj looked into the flames. "Why would they do that?" he looked over to Yazoo. "Because, they are family, little brother. Like you and me, they protect each other" Yazoo looked at him and smiled. "What's a family?" Kadaj tilted his head to the side. "A family is a group of people who love and care for each other, no matter what" Yazoo moved the hair out of Kadaj's face. "Family" Kadaj thought. A tall beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes walked over to them wearing a red long sleeved shirt and black skirt. "Are you two okay?" she asked in a kind voice. "Yes" Yazoo looked over to her. "My name's Hitomi and I work here. When I saw you two come in, I was worried seeing how both of you were injured" she smiled sweetly at them. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked. "I'm not sure" Kadaj shook his head. "Hmm, I know! How about I bring the two of you some hot cocoa?" she suggested. "Um, sure" Yazoo nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes" she smiled and walked off. "What's hot cocoa, brother?" Kadaj turned to Yazoo. "I don't know myself" Yazoo shrugged. "When will we go back out again?" Kadaj looked under the blanket at his bandaged leg. "Our injuries should be healed by tomorrow" Yazoo looked down at his shoulder. "Here are two hot cocoas!" Hitomi came back with two cups. "Thank you" Yazoo nodded as she handed him one. "Thank you" Kadaj said quietly. "You're welcome. Call me if you need anything!" Hitomi walked off again.
"This is hot cocoa?" Kadaj stared into the cup filled with a brown liquid. "Yes" Yazoo nodded. Kadaj stared at it uneasily and looked over to Yazoo. "I guess I could try it" Yazoo sighed and brought the cup to his lips. Yazoo took a sip and looked over to Kadaj. "Is it good?" Kadaj asked. "Yes" Yazoo smiled. Kadaj looked back to his cup and took a sip as well. "This is okay" Kadaj looked into the cup. They both drank together infront of the fireplace until it was late in the night. "I'll carry you to our room" Yazoo set his empty cup down and picked Kadaj up. Kadaj looked around the inn as Yazoo carried him to their room. "This is soft" Kadaj felt his bed and layed onto the pillow. "It's like that for comfort" Yazoo set his gunblade and Kadaj's sword next to the head of his bed. "Comfort?" Kadaj sat up and took off his boots. "So you can sleep better" Yazoo looked over to him. "I like this" Kadaj thought. "But remember, brother. While we're traveling, we might not be able to sleep in beds like this, so enjoy it while it lasts" Yazoo got under the sheets. "Okay" Kadaj nodded and got under his sheets. Yazoo reached over to the lamp and turned off the light. Kadaj stared out the window, seeing some small yellow orbs glowing in the dark. He carefully got up and looked out the window. There stood an animal with four legs and long tail a few feet away from the inn. "A wolf" Kadaj thought to himself. It stared up at Kadaj's window and howled. Kadaj blinked and it looked back down to see the wolf gone.