Hello everyone! I took a bit of a break from Dragons Rising to write this out after a request. It got a bit emotional, but why not, the kid deserves some therapy. Since Kataru was locked in Vex's prison for so long and Vex really hated the Formlings, I feel like he would take that anger out on Kataru. Akita definitely has demons of her own, but I feel like she wouldn't have as much trouble sharing them, so Kataru's would go on unresolved for longer. And Akita wouldn't be happy about that.

Enjoy

Cold.

Biting, clawing cold that tore into his body no matter how many layers he put on. It shredded his soul and broke his sanity into smaller and smaller pieces, until he was teetering on the edge of an endless pit.

Even through the blinding whiteness of the snow surrounding him, he could see them all, his people, his parents, his sister, all disappearing under layers of ice, reaching out to him in their terrifying stillness.

And then came the eyes. Giant glowing eyes of a winged nightmare that snatched him up in its claws and flew him towards a looming fortress where the monstrous Emperor awaited, ready to subject him to even greater pains. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't escape. The doors of the castle opened like monstrous jaws and swallowed him whole, and he fell deeper and deeper and-

Kataru shot up on his bed, his breathing heavy and cold sweat running down his face. His eyes flickered frantically around the room. Every shadow seemed like the ice dragon coming to take him again.

He pressed himself up against the wall and tried to focus only on his breathing.

Slowly, his panic subdued. He was home, safe, the dragon was gone and so was the Emperor.

So why don't the nightmares go away?

With a sigh, he threw off his blanket and headed for his dresser. He used to enjoy the cold and his clothing was often the thinnest in the village even during the harshest parts of winter. But things had changed.

With a thick fur coat draped over his shoulders, Kataru stepped outside his and Akita's home.

The morning was chilly, but still warmer than most in the past few months. The sky was clear and sunlight transformed the snow into a blanket of sparkling crystals. It had only been a couple months since the Ice Emperor lost his throne, but the village was already bustling with life and nothing remained of the damages on their homes.

A couple of the villagers waved or greeted him and Kataru returned the gestures, trying to push away the images of their faces frozen in terrified masks.

"Kataru, good morning!"

He turned around, an actual, genuine smile spreading across his face when he saw his twin sister rushing up to him. When she reached him, he pulled her into a hug, relishing in the warmth of her.

She was alive, no ice, no snow, no glaze of death over her eyes.

"Uh, Kataru? You can let go now," Akita chuckled after the hug dragged on for a minute too long.

"Oh... right. Sorry," Kataru mumbled before reluctantly letting her go. Akita's expression turned into one of concern.

"Did you have another nightmare again?" she asked quietly.

Kataru opened his mouth to deny it, but couldn't quite get the words out. His resulting silence was answer enough.

Akita's frowned and opened her mouth, but before she could question him more, the two were approached by the village chief.

"Ah, Kataru, good. I have a task for you if you feel up to it," the older Formling smiled at the boy.

"Whatever you need, chief, I'm happy to help," Kataru nodded, glad to have a reason to look away from Akita's wide puppy eyes.

"Very good. As you know, the Thawing season is coming to an end, which means the Boneset in the eastward swamp will be in bloom. Our healers' supply of it just ran out and I need someone to go gather more before the frost freezes the swamp again. I was hoping you could go, since our usual gatherers are at the westward swamp already."

Kataru hesitated and avoided the chief's eyes, absently chewing his lower lip. The east swamp was a good half day run away from the village. He wouldn't get back until dark, and his path would take him past the ice fields where he and Akita were playing right before the village was-

He shut his eyes tightly and forced himself to take a slow deep breath. That was all in the past. Akita was here, safe, and so was he.

"I know that you've been hesitant to leave the village," the chief continued gently when he noticed his hesitation, "If you don't want to go so far this early, I can find someone else."

Although he would rather the chief did so, Kataru shook his head, "No, no, it's alright. I'll go."

The chief nodded, his expression a mix of concern and pride.

"Alright, but don't push yourself, young one. The road is long and the swamp can be treacherous when one is not careful. Rest there through the night and we'll expect you back tomorrow."

Kataru nodded, although he already knew that he wouldn't rest. He won't stay away from the village any longer than absolutely needed.

The chief watched him with knowing eyes and then sighed, but didn't push him for which Kataru was grateful.

"I will go tell the healers they will have their ingredients soon then. Good luck, Kataru," he said and patted him on the shoulder before leaving them.

"So, when do we leave?" Akita asked, excited sparks dancing in her eyes. It had been a while since the two ran together.

Kataru considered her for a moment and then shook his head.

"Not we, sister. I am going alone."

Akita bristled.

"What?! But Kataru, we always go together!"

"You heard what the chief said, Akita, the swamp can be dangerous."

"It's dangerous for you too, so why go alone? I can take care of myself."

Kataru groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Of course she could, he knew that. She was his sister, brave and stubborn and loyal to a fault. But he just couldn't risk taking her with him, not with how the last time turned out. In the village, she would be safe without him, but out in the wilderness, if he lost sight of her even for a second…

Ice. The dragon's claws so close to his sister. Two figures looming on the hill. Screaming.

He already saw what would happen then.

"I said no, Akita. I'm going alone."

"You can't leave me here just because you're afraid something will happen to me," the girl snapped.

Kataru froze, but managed to keep up a calm mask.

"Akita-"

"May I remind you that while you were locked up in the Ice Emperor's castle, I was out here surviving on my own, and I did just fine!"

"Akita, stop."

"Whatever you're dealing with, Kataru, pushing me away won't solve it."

"I SAID ENOUGH!"

Akita flinched and took a step back, and a couple villagers turned to the sound of Kataru's shout. Realising his mistake, Kataru quickly schooled his features into an indifferent mask, hiding all his regret and pain behind it.

"I'll be back before sunset," he said quietly while turning away, unable to look at the hurt in his sister's face, "take care of yourself until then."

There was no answer and Kataru had to fight with everything he had not to change his mind right then and there.

It hurt, but it was for Akita's own good. He couldn't bare losing her again, not so soon after he got her back.

He couldn't fail again.

...

The snow crunched under Kataru's paws when he came to a stop. His breath came out in large, semi-transparent puffs, slightly obscuring his vision of the swamp in front of him.

He ran the whole way without stopping, and his entire body was shaking with exhaustion, but even now he refused to rest. The sun was right overhead. If he hurried with gathering the Boneset, he could still make it home before sunset like he promised Akita.

With that thought in mind, he forced his tired legs to carry him forward.

The lumpy trees the swamp was dotted with closed around him, reaching down with their drooping branches as if they wanted to ensnare him. The air here was still and much warmer than on the plains. Mud pools of various sizes were everywhere, some still covered with a thin layer of ice, while others were already fully thawed and bubbling lazily.

Lost deep in his thought, Kataru made his way further into the swamp where the Boneset bloomed. His argument with Akita kept replaying in his mind, overpowering even the horrible memories that plagued him since he was freed from the Ice Emperor.

Was he too harsh on her? He knew she was strong, but he just couldn't stop thinking about her alone, lost in the wilderness where he couldn't reach her. What if there was someone like the Ice Emperor out there, just waiting for a chance to strike? All that was needed was a few seconds of inattention and his precious sister would be torn away from him again and subjected to the same horrible pains he had been.

Phantom pain flared up in his old wounds and Kataru gritted his teeth and marched on, his bear paws thudding against the ground with increased force.

He failed her, that was for sure. And he would never let it happen again, even if he had to do things that she didn't like, or that he didn't want to. He couldn't put her in danger just because he wanted her always at his side like before. That was his duty as her brother and he wouldn't break, even if-

*Screeeee*

Kataru froze and slowly looked down. Spiderweb cracks were spreading from his left front paw, further and further. Under the layer of ice he was standing on, he could see the churning brown of another mud pool.

He'd wandered right in the middle of one that was about to thaw.

Trying not to freak out, Kataru took a soft step backwards. The ice held so he made another, and then another. Just two more and he would be back on solid ground.

He was alright, he just got a little careless. He'll calm down, change back to his human form so he would weigh less, just like he should have before he even entered the swamp, and-

The ice under his left back paw gave in and the entire appendage was swallowed by thick cold mud. Kataru's mind went blank.

The ice dragon's claws closing around him, dragging him away from everything he knew, deeper and colder to a dark hole he would never get out of. A cell with just the smallest, bars and guards keeping him inside, no escape. The knowledge that he was only alive for Vex's amusement, that every minute could be his last.

Without thinking, Kataru started thrashing around, fighting with every remaining bit of strength to escape the mud's cold grip. The ice under him groaned dangerously, but he didn't even hear it. He just wanted to get out and away, far far away.

With a deafening screech, the ice broke and Kataru's remaining paws were plunged deep into the mud. The young Formling's panic only increased and he continued fighting, pulling on his feet with all his bear strength. All it did was make him sink faster.

When the ice reached up to his knees, the last bits of strength left him and he slumped in defeat, breathing heavily.

The mud continued pulling him down.

It was just touching his stomach when he calmed down enough to look around. A couple trees that were nearby had branches low enough for him to grab from the ground, but they were all too far from the pool. Even the smallest movement was almost impossible and only plunged him deeper.

There was no escape. Just like back in his cell.

Kataru choked back a sob.

The village wasn't expecting him back until tomorrow, so no one would come looking until then. All they would find would be his tracks, and that was only if it didn't snow.

What would Akita think? Would she believe that he abandoned her? If she did, he couldn't blame her. It was the truth, really, he was just too blind to see it before. And now the last memory his sister would have of him was when he hurt her.

Kataru pulled his head back and released a mournful howl. He didn't know if he meant it as an apology to Akita, a curse to Vex for driving him away from his sister, or a plea to whoever might be listening to not let this be his end.

The mud closed over his back, leaving only his neck and head exposed. At least the lower layers of it were warmer, somewhat pushing back the onslaught of freezing memories.

It climbed higher, covering his jugular, jaw and ears.

Kataru kept his head raised, still somehow desperate enough to cling to every last second, despite the small voice in the back of his head whispering that this was for the best. That at least in death, memories of Vex wouldn't haunt him anymore.

He closed his eyes when the mud reached them and his world was plunged into darkness. Somewhere in that darkness, the dragon's eyes still glowed ominously.

Surrendering to his fate, Kataru took one last long breath, probably the last of his life. A familiar calming scent reached his nose, faint enough that he could chalk it up to his imagination.

Akita…

The mud closed over him, fully cutting him off from the world.

Goodbye, sister. I'm so-

Something grabbed the back of his neck and pulled. The mud resisted and Kataru felt like all his joints were about to pop out from the two opposing forces. It brought another memory on the back of his eyelids. Four frozen samurai that grabbed his legs and arms and pulled. Vex's face floated over him, chapped lips pulled back in an evil smile.

Instinctively, he tried to struggle, but the mud was closed around him tighter than any restraints.

The grip on his neck kept didn't relent, and very slowly, he started rising. Was someone trying to help him?

Just as the air in his lungs was running out, the tip of his nose rose above the mud. He snorted a couple times and shook his head as much as he could to get the rest out of his nose, and then took another breath, one that he thought he never would. And with it he also caught that same scent as before.

The grip on his neck loosened before tightening again and pulling with renewed strength, and Kataru recognised it. It was the grip of teeth, gentle enough not to harm him unlike the jaws of the ice dragon.

He knew who it was.

His face emerged from the mud and he blinked furiously to clear his eyes. His vision was blurry and full of brown splotches, but he could see the form of a white wolf with red markings fighting for his freedom.

Akita's entire face was covered with mud, and bubbles appeared around her nostrils as she struggled to breathe through it. Her claws scratched the surface of the ice as she continued to pull his enormous bear body out of the mud.

Their animal forms did give them enhanced strength, but Kataru had never seen anyone pull off a feat like this.

But whatever miraculous strength she had managed to gather still wasn't enough. By the time Kataru's shoulders were above the surface, she had to stop pulling and struggled just to keep him from sinking again.

One of her legs slipped and she yelped, almost falling into the pit after him before she managed to regain her balance.

At this rate, not only would she not be able to pull him out, she would fall in with him.

If only he was in his smaller human form, then she could pull him out. But transforming without movement was hard, and his thoughts were running around like frightened rabbits, unable to calm down enough for even a regular transformation.

Akita whimpered when she slipped again, but the sound quickly transformed into a determined growl as she started pulling again.

And Kataru bound all of himself to that one sound, to the knowledge that there was someone here who cared enough for him to risk their own life to save his.

He was no longer alone.

And he wouldn't fail her again.

A flash of light cut through the air and Akita yelped again when Kataru's smaller human form was ripped free of the mud just before it could close around him again. The two tumbled away and stopped at the base of a nearby tree, tangled together like they'd just had another one of their childhood play fights.

They laid like that in silence for a few moments, just breathing and processing what had just happened.

"You… you came for me," Kataru said slowly when his mind finally caught up to everything.

Akita huffed and Kataru was momentarily blinded by the flash of her own transformation. In the next second, his sister was sitting next to him, grinning tiredly through the mud that still covered her face.

"Of course I did. I knew you couldn't handle even something this easy alone, you grumpy bear," she said while waving a bag filled with Boneset in front of him.

"I went ahead to show you up, but you never showed up. Then I heard your call so I went to look for you. I didn't think you'd get yourself stuck like this."

"You should have stayed in the village like I told you. You could have fallen in too," Kataru interrupted her, the scolding almost instinctive. He was endlessly glad she came, but the thought of her running through the ice plains alone terrified him almost as much as the one of her stuck in another mud pool.

Akita sighed, but instead of getting angry like she did back in the village, she looked at him with sadness.

"Kataru, please don't push me away anymore. I know you're hurting, and it's killing me that you won't let me in. You barely sleep and when you do, you keep shouting and pleading for the pain to stop."

Kataru hung his head while Akita scooted closer to him and took his hand in hers.

"When I thought you were dead, I regretted nothing more than the things I wanted to tell you and didn't. I can't imagine the things you went through in the years we were apart, brother, but I want to help you through it. So please, just... tell me."

Slowly, Kataru turned to her. She was looking at him with the same giant brown eyes as when they were kids, the ones he could never say no.

And something inside him broke.

"He... he tortured me, Akita," he whispered, his voice breaking, "After I was captured, Vex tortured me all the time in as many ways as he could think up. More than once, he pulled me back from the brink of death just so he could send me there again. There were times when… when I hoped that I wouldn't wake up again just so I wouldn't have to feel that pain again. Every time I close my eyes, I'm afraid I'll open them in that cell, with Vex outside the door. Every time a cloud passes the sun, I think it's the Ice Emperor's dragon coming to take me away again."

Akita's hold on his hand tightened and when he didn't move, she pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in her tunic and tried to control the sobs wrecking his body, but to no avail.

"How can I move past this Akita? Am I... too broken to heal?"

"You are not broken, Kataru. You went through a horrible experience, and you survived. You escaped and you found me again. Zane the Ice Ninja is a good person, and Vex the Formless is too far to hurt us, if he even survived the Wastelands this long. We are safe now," Akita said softly while tracing calming circles on his back.

"I know that," Kataru sobbed, "But I still see him everywhere. And more than anything, I'm worried that he'll come and take you away."

Akita's hand paused in its motion before resuming. The girl let out a small chuckle.

"Of course that even when it comes to traumas, you still worry more about me than yourself."

Kataru also couldn't help a laugh and pulled out of the hug to wipe his eyes.

"Well, I am your older brother. It's my duty to worry about you."

"You're older by twelve minutes!" Akita exclaimed, echoing an argument the two had had many times before. They both laughed at the memories before growing serious again.

"Kataru, it's okay to need time to heal, and it's okay if you want to be alone for it, but don't isolate yourself just because you want to protect us from your pain. Me, the chief, the other younglings, everyone in the village is here for you. You just have to let us."

Kataru mulled her words over for a bit, sparing a glance at the pit where he almost lost his life. The scratches of wolf claws were much closer to the opening in the ice than he thought.

...Akita was right, he probably wouldn't have ended up there had he just talked to her. And even though he only shared a fraction of what was weighing down on him, he was already feeling much better than he had for months. Not even the cold was as biting as before, though that may have been due to the mud that was covering him.

"Alright," he responded to his sister's question quietly, "I'll… I'll try."

Akita nodded in satisfaction and then jumped to her feet, grasping his arm to pull him up too. He stumbled and she quickly slipped his arm over her shoulders to support him. She seemed so small against him, and yet she had no trouble holding up his weight.

"Everything alright?" she asked worriedly.

Kataru looked down at his precious sister, and felt the ice-lined wound on his soul begin to heal. It would take time, but he would be alright. He knew that now.

"It is now," he smiled at her, "Let's go home, Akita."

Fun fact: Boneset is a real flower that grows in swamps and is used in medicine to treat fevers, colds, and flu-like symptoms. I used google for that in case you can't tell.

Anywho, I'm going back to binge-watching the hell out of Dragons Rising Season 2 (again). Hope you guys enjoyed!

See ya in the next one.