"Let me go-o-o-o, master!" the dog girl howled. "I only wanted to destroy this terrible thing!"
"I think it's too scary," Itinit said. "You will get scared and run away."
Noru's hair began to smoke. Itinit let go of the pet so as not to get burned, but the fire did not occur. The dog girl looked up at her creator and moaned softly.
"Don't ask like that, you're not Kimchan," Itinit answered. "But I wouldn't even allow her to."
"Do you love my sis more than me?" Noru asked.
"For me, you are the same," Itinit sighed.
Noru made a sound that was like a growl and a groan at the same time.
"It's only about appearance," Itinit explained. "You behave differently."
Noru shook her head, then knelt down and stuck out her tongue.
"I know you want to see your sister," Itinit looked at the forest, over which Ikte's purple silhouette was already flying. "But I can't promise that yet."
"I want her back forever," Noru frowned. "If you don't bring my sister back, I'll go look for her."
"You don't know where she is."
"It's a good thing I'm the only one with the location of Kimchan," Itinit thought.
"I was able to find the arctic fox girl, so I'll find my sister too," Noru stood up.
"By the way, where is she?" Itinit looked around.
Etinnei was nowhere to be found.
"This is too much," Itinit sighed. "I can't chase two animals at a time like this."
Noru looked at the forest, and then twitched her dog ears.
"There," the dog girl pointed to the trees. "There is something."
Itinit looked at the forest and noticed several tree ferns that were swaying unnaturally. A few moments later, a panting sound was heard from there...
An arctic fox girl without a hood ran out onto the shore. Her black hair was disheveled, and her chest in a fur top moved up and down by inertia.
"I found her again!" Noru jumped with joy and began to smoke.
Itinit sighed and turned away, wanting to take a moment's rest from these restless creatures, but suddenly he smelled something burning...
Etinnei stood at the edge of the forest, trying to understand what was happening, and a small column of smoke rose behind her.
"It's good that we're not on the Northern Continent," Itinit thought happily. "Otherwise we'd have to put out the fire with energy bubbles of water. I don't even know if that's possible. It's easier to create a barrier and limit the fire inside it."
But the smoke didn't last long. Noru came out of the forest in about the same condition as her friend, and then stood next to her. Itinit immediately took advantage of the situation and called the camera to take a photo while the characters didn't understand anything.
"Another photo for the rare species collection," Itinit pressed a round black button. "There are two animal girls standing next to each other, as if they were wild animals. Too bad Tuot isn't here. He would have liked it."
Soon Etinnei realized that her friend was standing next to her and licked her cheek. Noru immediately shook her head, looked at the arctic fox girl and also greeted her in a dog-like manner.
"I wanted to catch up with the creator, but I couldn't get through the forest," Etinnei said. "There are too many plants there. They make it difficult to walk."
"They are very strong," Noru looked at the trees. "I have burned them many times, but they don't even burn! They just smoke, and not for long."
By this point, the smoke in the forest had stopped, which confirmed the dog girl's words.
"Let's fly to your creator," Noru suggested. "I can't make the forest not exist, but I can fly over it."
"I don't know where to fly," Etinnei looked at the sand. "If we fly anywhere, we won't find our creator, but some scary creatures."
Noru tried to answer, but felt a slight pain in her leg. The dog girl pressed her chest to look down...
The red-shelled crab grabbed Noru's thumb with its claw, and tried to grab the other finger with its other claw. The dog girl instantly activated her elemental aura, which made the "enemy" let go of its "prey" and jump back.
"What did you say?" Noru looked at her friend.
"I said that it won't be possible to fly to any place," Etinnei reminded. "There might be…"
"Then we need to ask Itinit. He knows where to fly."
Noru looked ahead and finally noticed the creator, who was standing in front of the virtual camera and smiling.
"I hope this isn't a meat-cooking device," Noru frowned.
"It's a camera," Etinnei also looked ahead. "It remembers what happens."
"So if you stick your tongue out, it will remember it?"
"Yup, Tuot showed me this thing. He has a whole collection of my photos. He said it was very cute."
"Maybe food looks cute to him..."
"The camera doesn't eat anyone. It just remembers the image."
"Itinit didn't say anything about it. He kept this thing from me."
Noru was at the creator's side in one jerk, but as usual, she was stopped by an energy wall.
"Master, you are hiding something from me."
"What?" Itinit looked at the screen in front of him.
"There's something there. Etinnei told me what it does."
Noru deactivated her aura, then walked around the barrier and saw something orange against the forest.
"Uh, is that me?" Noru's mouth dropped open.
"Yeah," Itinit answered.
"I'm not cute. Show me where I am cute!"
Itinit sighed heavily and realized that he was about to find himself in a difficult situation.
"Now is not the time for this," the creator answered. "Let's first sort out the business, and then..."
"Then you will deceive me again, like you deceived my sister!"
"Well, if you want, I will show you something."
Itinit scrolled past the frame of the screen that actually held the video and stopped at the next frame, the one with the photo.
"I look like I haven't been fed for two days, and I've also had my hair and tail pulled," Noru showed her teeth. "I'm not going to stay like this, am I?"
"No, the camera only records the image that exists at the moment," Itinit explained. "If you change, the image will change too."
"Then sign me up again. I don't want to be a beaten dog."
Noru sat down on the sand, folded her hands together at chin level, stuck out her tongue, and closed one eye.
"I'll just take one picture," Itinit said. "I don't have time for this."
Itinit touched a round button on the screen, and an image of a grimacing dog girl appeared on it.
"Now I'm going to turn into a puppy," Noru said.
"Turn into a big dog and take us to the refuge," Itinit sighed. "I really don't have time for this."
"Your creator speaks the truth," Etinnei approached the screen. "If you delay him, something terrible will happen."
"What?" Noru rose from the sand and looked at her friend with alarm.
"I don't know," Etinnei looked at the forest. "But I'm afraid. It seems to me that there are many scary creatures walking around here, and we even met one."
"That dinosaur skull with three horns," Noru was now scared. "I don't want it to come to me."
"The skull of a three-horned dinosaur," Itinit shuddered. "She saw the server of the "Mausoleum of Nature?" But… even I have only seen it in a picture generated from Sanachan's dreams. It is in a very secret place."
Itinit wanted to ask about the skull, but he didn't have time. A few moments later, he found himself and Etinnei riding a burning dog that was flying over the forests...
***
"My creator told me that there are evil and good creatures. But the creator deceived me. In fact, everyone is evil, except me. Everyone wants to lock me in some place, cut me up and disassembled me. And when I want to do this to them, they don't like it."
Kyotyoryon opened her eyes and saw a large hall with stone walls and stands and in the middle of it a large round space.
"I'm already in another place," the spirit of metal guessed.
Kyotyoryon tried to move her arm, then her leg, and soon realized that there was nothing holding her anymore. The spirit of metal stood at the edge of this circular space and looked at the exit from it on the opposite end.
Kyotyoryon immediately decided what to do. She ran forward to get out of this place, but at the exit from the arena, something heavy and metallic blocked her path.
"You are made of my metal," Kyotyoryon looked down at the creature.
The creature looked like a man in plate armor, but it had no head. On its elbows and knees was something round and transparent that resembled eyes.
"Have you come to take me away from here?" Kyotyoryon asked.
The "eyes" on the creature's arms and legs activated with a blue glow, after which the plates on its stomach moved apart and formed something like a mouth.
"You shouldn't rely on it," a voice came from the creature's belly. "It's a robot. It's just following my orders."
"Are you a doll?" Kyotyoryon released the blades from the bracelets on her hands.
"You're smart. You immediately guessed who I am. Kuttanai didn't choose you by chance."
"Why did you steal my metal?"
"It's not yours. Metal doesn't belong to any creature."
"The metal is mine! I am the spirit of metal, and you are just a doll that speaks through non-living being."
Kyotyoryon extended her hand forward, but nothing happened to the robot.
"Why?" the metal spirit cried. "Not only have you stolen my metal, but you are preventing me from getting it back!"
"The robot works thanks to the energy that has accumulated in it," the voice from the creature's belly answered. "That's why you can't control metal."
Then I'll cut him up and take him apart so you can't order him around!
"Looks like we've reached an agreement, you fight the robot, and if you win, you'll get out of here. But I can't promise anything outside this arena. There are a lot of dolls in this crypt, and they can all attack you."
The robot stamped his foot. A purple energy circle with a vortex symbol in the middle appeared on the floor.
Kyotyoryon jumped back to the center of the arena, outside the range of the enemy's skill, and then assumed her battle form.
"I always wanted to see two robots fight," a voice from the enemy's belly said. "Now my dream will come true. Only now I've become a doll and I can't feel what it's like when your dream comes true."
"She's saying something strange to confuse me," Kyotyoryon thought. "I shouldn't listen to her, I should do it."
Several short metal spears appeared around the metal spirit, which then flew to attack, but did not reach their target. A wind flow suddenly appeared above the energy circle, knocking down the objects, and then sending them to the floor, where they disappeared.
"That's why it needs that glowing thing on the floor. I need to cut it up so it doesn't get in the way."
The spirit of metal flew at the robot, but only managed to fly a little further than the summoned weapon. A circular stream of wind appeared above the energy circle, which captured Kyotyoryon, and then began to rotate rapidly...
The spirit of metal found herself in the center of the arena in human form and saw a tornado in front of her, which quickly dissipated.
"I don't need to jump on this thing. The boo-boo from it is very strong. I thought it couldn't lift me because I was heavy, but it lifted me and threw me. This wind is too evil."
Kyotyoryon rose to her feet, and saw something spinning, flying quickly towards her...
It turned out to be two blades, united together in the middle. The strange object froze in the air in front of Kyotyoryon's palm.
"You can actually control metal. It came out of the robot's belly and was supposed to take your head. But apparently I didn't use enough power and the thing isn't working right."
"This is my metal," Kyotyoryon smiled. "Only I can send it where I want, but you and your robot cannot!"
The united blades flew back at the enemy. The wind flow appeared above the energy circle again to catch the object, but it was moving too fast...
The robot's legs fell to the floor, followed by its torso. The energy circle, along with the wind flow, dissolved into thin air, as if it had never existed.
"You have won," the voice echoed throughout the hall. "I will let you out of here, but I warn you – there may be more dolls in the crypt."
The remains of the robot disappeared. Kyotyoryon ran to the aisle, and accidentally noticed a blue glowing silhouette of a humanoid creature in the stands, which disappeared a few moments later.
The fiery comet fell onto a round stone platform surrounded by water, after which it turned into a large brown dog and threw off its two passengers.
"Kimchan, are we there yet?" Unana grabbed her head with her hands.
The dog responded with an affirmative bark. Unana looked around and noticed on one side a harsh gray-blue sea with waves rolling across it, and on the other, on the shore, low mountains with snow-capped peaks, covered with coniferous forests.
"We're somewhere on the coast of the mainland," Yueret opened the map with a wave of his hand. "We've flown very far. It's still winter here."
Kimchan assumed an almost human form, and then fell face down on the platform.
"Kimchan is very tired," Yueret noted. "Is there a place here where we can rest?"
"And not freeze," Unana added.
Yueret looked at his sister. The girl's upper body was quite dressed for the weather: a black and purple fur jacket with a hood, on her hands there were even gloves in the shape of bear paws, but the lower part...
"Unana, why are you wearing fur shorts?" Yueret asked.
"They're cute," Unana had to tilt her head to see the black fur shorts. "They're also warm."
"Where are they warm?"
"Here."
Unana ran her hand from the middle of her thigh, where the strange garment began. Yueret sighed, and then noticed that he had released steam from his mouth.
"Okay, let's go somewhere where we can hide," Yueret approached the water.
Unana raised her leg, looked at the black fur boot, above which was a stocking, and smiled. But the next moment the smile disappeared from her face.
A lizard's head with gray scales emerged from the water and looked at Yueret, who was too busy to notice the animal.
A small purple bow with an electric arrow instantly appeared in Unana's hand. The archer didn't even notice how she pulled the energy bowstring...
The arrow hit the lizard in the head, but was only able to move it slightly. The current passed through its thick scales, and then went into the water.
"Yueret," Unana ran up to her brother. "Can't you see what's in the water?"
"What?" Yueret looked ahead.
The lizard's head disappeared under the water, leaving bubbles on the surface. Unana grabbed her brother's hand and pulled him to the center of the platform, away from the "shore."
"It's just a cold lizard," Yueret seemed to understand what had happened in the water. "But it's winter now. Cold lizards should be hibernating. Something's wrong here. We need to get to shore."
Yueret looked at the shore, which was a distance comparable to the width of an average river. Coniferous trees growing near the coastal rocks cast shadows on the ice floes that the current had washed ashore.
"You can fly over the water if you activate the purple aura," Yueret told his sister. "Then I will send you energy, and we will establish an energy bridge. It's a pity that Kimchan can't. She would quickly transfer us."
Unana looked at the dog girl, who was still lying on the platform, but now face up.
"Sis..." Kimchan groaned quietly. "Master, save my sis. I'm already over."
Kimchan closed her eyes. Unana ran to the character, took a small transparent package with a piece of meat from her inventory and placed it.
At that moment, a miracle happened. Kimchan's mouth opened, after which her long tongue reached for the package...
Unana smiled and let a few tears fall from her eyes. She was so happy that she didn't notice how gray horns appeared from the water near the edge of the platform...