"Why?" Sogotoh fell to his knees. "Why did you say that?"
"I remembered the bear girl's name," Imerii said proudly. "I'm not stupid."
Sogotoh closed his eyes and imagined a bear's paw with long black claws descending on his head, after which he "saw" the smiling face of a blue-white bear girl.
"I forgot you're a sheep," Sogotoh said.
"Yup," Imerii waved her hand. "I'm the spirit of the stone sheep. I have Imeriichen. I'm boo-booing on it. And this is your new character?"
The sheep girl looked at Unana, who was standing nearby and did not understand what was happening.
"Let's be friends," Imerii placed her hands on the unfortunate girl's shoulders.
"You..." Unana finally managed to speak. "Did you get out of the barrel?"
"Yup," the sheep girl closed one eye. "But it's not a barrel. It's my pet. Its name is Imeriichen, and mine is Imerii."
"I see. Who comes up with such strange names?"
"This."
Imerii stuck out her tongue and pointed at Sogotoh.
"I see," Unana thought. "Probably, riding and flying in a stone barrel is even normal for such creatures. Why am I surprised by this?"
"Are we going to be friends or not?" Imerii put her tongue back in her mouth and stamped her foot.
"Ahh... You're a sheep..." Unana turned away.
"You're not friends with animals?"
"No. I love animals. But you..."
"How can I explain to her that what she's saying is shameful and stupid?" Unana thought and looked at her father. "Come on, dad, do something with her. She's your character."
But Sogotoh had no time for that. He knelt with his eyes closed, seemingly resigned to his end. Unana had to act on her own.
"You're stupid," the archer looked at the sheep girl, whose stupid and angry expression confirmed her words.
"I'm not stupid," Imerii jumped out of the barrel, landing on one leg and pointing the other at Unana. "I used to be stupid, like all sheep, but then I remembered my name. Other, ordinary sheep don't know their names, but I do. I also know the name of my pet. Its name comes from mine."
"You know your creator's name too?"
"Uh... My creator's name is Creator."
"It's not a name. The creator is like a big brother, little sister, mom, or dad."
"That's how it is for you. It's different for me. I'm not stupid."
"She's even worse than a stupid lizard," Unana thought. "Now it's clear why dad left her in an unknown place..."
"I also know the bear girl's name," Imerii continued. "She is Hotuka. She's a blue-white bearry. She almost chewed my legs off! It's good she doesn't exist."
Imerii smiled. The sheep girl didn't notice a shadow peeking out from behind the barrel.
"There's something in there..." Unana pointed at the barrel.
"What?" Imerii turned to the barrel, but at that moment the shadow vanished. "There's nothing in there. They might be dolls, but they're soft. My Imeriichen will give them a boo-boo..."
The patterns on the stone barrel activated with a bright glow. A few moments later, the same thing happened to the patterns on the sheep girl's armor-dress.
"Imeriichen says something another got into it," Imerii looked down and "read" the pattern. "Imeriichen is asking for help. I need to tell it to deal with the dolls itself. I want to be friends with you."
Imerii tried to pounce on Unana, but the archer dodged. The sheep-girl fell to the cobblestones, but thanks to her stone clothing and chest, she was unharmed.
"Why do you want to be friends with me?" Unana asked. "I'm not stupid, and I don't have horns."
"You are powerful," Imerii stood on her head, after which she somersaulted onto her hoof-boots.
"Why?"
"Here," Imerii grabbed the lower part of her chest, enclosed in the dress-armor, with her hands, and then felt it move. "Oh. We can't be friends. Let's be friends later. Imeriichen is in trouble."
Something was indeed happening to the stone barrel. It was shaking as if it were about to shatter.
"There's something there," Unana took a step back. "I hope it's not a hand and an eye."
Imerii turned to the barrel to check it, but didn't have time to do anything. A head with blue-green hair, straight blue horns, and a gray scaly cap on top emerged from the barrel.
"It's just a lizard," Unana said, glad for the first time to see Timnichan.
"Hey, brown one," the lizard girl raised her hand and waved. "Come on top of me."
"I don't want to," Unana answered automatically.
"It's the creator's secret plan."
Unana looked at her father, who seemed to be returning to normal, though he still couldn't get up.
"Dad, that lizard..."
"I know," Sogotoh turned to his daughter. "Timnichan is telling the truth. I've made a plan even for this."
"But I don't want to abandon you and Yueret."
"You have to, otherwise the plan won't work. Timnichan will take you to safety."
"What will happen to Yueret?"
"He has to complete his part of the game. Remember how I said there are two parts to the game? You've already completed yours. Now it's his turn. If Yueret succeeds, the white-blue bear girl will be persuaded."
"But the bear girl isn't here."
"It won't be for long. You'll have to leave."
Unana tried to protest, but something large lifted her into the air and dragged her back...
…The house quickly moved away, and then completely disappeared behind the trees. Instead of the hard paving stones, Unana found herself on the back of a large, cold lizard, floating on its belly through a narrow, water-filled ditch.
The ditch quickly turned into a stream, flowing down the steep slope of the mountain. Unana nearly fell, but fortunately, her thick thighs gripped the "boat" tightly.
The lizard swam between the rapids as if it had known them for a long time. Only a waterfall cascading over a cliff could stop this strange creature.
Unana was finally able to see the river bank and saw a girl with white and yellow ears on her head, which was standing on all fours with her mouth open, and apparently trying to drink water from the waterfall.
"Am I in this world now or am I already in the game?" Unana looked around.
Ahead, beyond the waterfall, a snow-capped mountain peak was visible. Along the riverbanks grew endless forests of dark green and black trees, their needles yet to bloom.
"These worlds are too similar," Unana realized she couldn't tell anything from the landscape alone.
The rider looked at her hands and quickly confirmed that they had no bear paws or long nails. Even her clothes were ordinary, if a little odd for this weather.
"Yueret was right," Unana opened the clothing tab and pulled out a dark blue jacket. "Fur clothing isn't just for looking like a wild animal. I never understood that before. I'm sorry, Yueret. I hope the dolls don't bite your head off."
While the sister was mentally addressing her brother, the lizard beneath her emerged from the water and threw the rider onto the shore.
Unana felt a solid surface beneath her, after which she accidentally noticed the animal girl again, trying to drink from the waterfall.
"I didn't know animals like that lived here," Unana thought, her gaze landing on the creature's ears. "It's so nice up north. I could just sail down the river and see this. By the way, what's that?"
Unana looked at the white and yellow tail sticking out from the fur shorts, then at the ears, but she still couldn't figure out what kind of animal it was.
"She's so cute and fluffy," Unana thought and blushed. "I need to cuddle her somehow. But she looks kind of human, so I doubt she'll let me."
Unana barely restrained herself from approaching the animal girl and touching her ears. Fortunately, the archer's gaze shifted to the creature's bare legs and fur shorts.
"Her legs aren't cold, but her upper body is. The bearry girl felt the same way."
A white and blue hooded jacket completely covered her upper body. Dark purple shorts served as a kind of boundary between the two parts of the creature, which were surprisingly different from each other.
Unana hid behind the nearest conifer tree, summoned her camera, and zoomed in with a flick of her finger.
"She's cute, isn't she?" a sudden voice stopped Unana's finger, which was almost to the round black button.
The archer turned sharply and saw a familiar man with brown hair.
"Dad…"
"No, I'm your uncle," the man answered. "I'm Itinit."
"Ahh... Right… You're wearing different clothes."
"Looks like you've already met him?"
"Yes," Unana bowed her head.
"I won't tell anyone you're spying on the little animal. Just put the camera away."
Unana resummoned the camera, but the screen still managed to take one photo before disappearing.
"Does this girl not like being watched?" Unana asked.
"I don't think that's the issue," Itinit answered.
"What's the issue?"
Itinit turned to one of the trees and waved his hand. A few moments later, a dinosaur's head with white feathers peered out.
Two screams echoed through the forest: one a bird's cry, the other a human's…
Unana found herself perched atop a small coniferous tree. In the archer's hands, of course, was her fearsome weapon, charged with an electric arrow.
"What... is this animal?" Unana noticed a frightened dinosaur on the ground, trying to cover itself with a small semicircular shield on its elbow.
"Don't be afraid, he's my friend," Itinit explained. "He's a dinosaur, but he doesn't eat people. He doesn't even eat dogs."
"A dinosaur…" Unana lowered her weapon.
"Yeah, a dinosaur… They're those birds that, for some reason, can speak like humans."
"It's cute," the bow and the electric arrow vanished into thin air. "It's just like a regular bird. I've never touched a live bird. I wonder if they're soft."
Unana jumped to the ground and only then noticed that she was missing the purple aura. Fortunately, Itinit created a rectangular platform of blue energy just in time, cushioning her fall.
"Don't be afraid, Tuot, she's just scared," Itinit approached the platform and moved it away with a wave of his hand.
Unana fell right onto her uncle's neck.
"You've become heavier," Itinit noticed.
"I'm not small," Unana jumped to the ground. "You don't need to carry me."
"If anything happens to you, your dad will do..."
"That's it, no more, please!"
Unana closed her eyes and imagined her father slapping his uncle on the head with his energy hand and driving him into the ground like a nail.
"Now I'm absolutely certain you met him," Itinit continued. "Is he old man?"
"No," Unana looked at the ground. "He's like you. I even mistook him for Yueret once. It's kind of strange."
"He must be many years old by now. Maybe he was frozen, that's why he's so well preserved?"
"Yup..." Unana remembered the ice capsule with "something brown" inside. "It was frozen by the white-blue bearry girl."
"Bearry girl…" Itinit and Tuot said simultaneously.
"Have you seen her too? She's cute, but daddy's afraid of her."
"I've only seen the brown bear girl. She's really scary."
"Uh..." Tuot opened his mouth wide and took a step back.
"Tuot, what's wrong?" Itinit asked. "You don't find girls with ears and tails scary."
"Yeah, I didn't believe you at first," the dinosaur explained. "But then I remembered one of your dog girls and I..."
"Scared," Itinit covered his mouth with his hand.
"No," Tuot answered. "I want to see the bear girl."
"Dad said I needed to go somewhere safe," Unana said. "He even sent a lizard, but it abandoned me and disappeared."
"A lizard…" Itinit looked at the riverbank. "There it is, sticking out of the water."
Unana turned to the river and saw Timnichan's head peeking out of the water, smiling. The archer immediately hid behind the trunk of a nearby thick tree.
"Is this your friend?" Itinit asked.
"No, that's dad's character," Unana bowed her head and blushed slightly. "He made her take me to safety."
"The lizard probably thinks this place is safe," Itinit concluded.
"My dad just didn't tell her where exactly to go," Unana peeked out from behind a tree. "So she figured the dolls wouldn't find me here."
"But that's not true," Itinit looked around, but saw nothing but the forest and the river. "You need to go back to Yenekit. By the way, where's your brother?"
Unana talked about her experience in the game and what her dad told her.
"Now I understand," Itinit bowed his head. "That explains a lot. He didn't even tell me anything, even though I'm his little brother."
"But you knew more than we did," Unana frowned. "My dad had a plan. No… He had many plans."
"Maybe what happened just now was also one of his plans?"
"No. But..."
Unana hid behind the tree again. Now the archer wasn't sure her father was lying to her.
"Don't worry, we'll find out soon enough," Itinit approached the tree behind which his niece was hiding. "I'm going there specifically to meet him."
"Itinit," Unana looked at the moss growing between the trees. "Why are you more like my dad than my dad is like my dad?"
Itinit smiled. He remembered his first meeting with Unana in the abandoned village and imagined his big brother in his place.
"I wish you were my dad," Unana closed her eyes. "You definitely wouldn't have sent me a stupid, cold lizard, but sent a warm, furry dog. Kimchan could have slept in my bed with me, like a stuffed animal. She would have licked my cheeks with her warm tongue and nuzzled me with her cold nose."
"I can't be your dad," Itinit turned away. "It's impossible."
"Why?"
"In our world, you can't erase events like in a game and choose a different storyline if it didn't work out for you. But even if you did, you'd hardly survive."
"Why?"
"I can't generate such detailed plans as my big brother. He created not just characters but entire worlds, so he knew exactly what you should be like."
Unana opened her eyes and peered out from behind a tree. Itinit sensed it and turned. Uncle and niece's gazes met for a moment.
"If you were my daughter, you'd be different," the creator of the dog girls said. "Maybe you wouldn't have something truly important that you have now."
"Yueret..." Unana hid behind the tree again. "He wouldn't exist either?"
"Probably... Bear cubs are born in pairs. There are two of you, too, even though you weren't born at the same time. You are still human, after all."
There was a silence that did not last long. From the river came the terrifying cries of birds.
"Tuot," Itinit guessed. "Unana, stay here… Don't go anywhere."
The creator of the dog girls emerged from the forest and saw a dinosaur with a green aura and a shield on its elbow on the riverbank. An arctic fox girl in her winter form knelt nearby, but the lizard girl was gone.
"What is it, Tuot?" Itinit asked. "Did you see the doll?"
The dinosaur turned around. Its eyes trembled, but its limbs remained motionless due to the aura.
"It's not a doll," Tuot answered. "It's much worse."
"Is it a lizard?" Itinit approached the water.
Tuot wanted to answer, but didn't have time. Something thick and blue emerged from the water and immediately pounced on Itinit. The dog girl creator managed to create a barrier in the form of an energy wall in front of him, but the enemy circled around the obstacle and attacked from the side...
"Creator!"
"Master!"
Bright fireballs flashed between the barrier and Itinit. Something blue felt the warmth and quickly disappeared into the water.
"Creator!"
"Master!"
Two nearly identical dog girls ran up to Itinit from opposite sides and began licking his cheeks.
"Noru, Kimchan, this is too much," Itinit grimaced.
"I finally got you, master." Noru stopped licking her creator's cheek to say something, but then continued.
"Noru did it herself, I only came afterward," Kimchan knelt down and bowed her head. "Don't punish me. And don't punish my sis either. She just has such a tongue..."
Itinit hugged the dog girls. For the first time, he was happy that his characters were together, and he didn't want to punish them at all.