Another seemingly normal day befell upon the untroubled territory of Eirwen. Birds were chirping lovely morning tunes in the sky, and the cool morning breeze brushed upon people's skin. Somewhere along its bustling civilization, loud and lively chatter scattered all throughout a well-known market. 

Shopkeepers and normal citizens alike were all caught up in their own business. Some were buying food for the day, others were bargaining for lower prices of certain goods, and there were a few mere onlookers curiously eyeing unique products that were out on display. 

It wasn't long when a commotion suddenly arose within the area. Surprised gasps and curious murmers eventually replaced earlier's calm conversations. In the center pathway, people started to quickly make way for a white creature furiously running away from an armored figure, knocking some stalls down in the process much to their owner's complaints.

Shock and skepticism appeared on their faces the moment they identified the creature as a wolf. It had fur as white as snow, except for the area towards its ears which were a contrasting black, just like his snout. But the most striking feature was its cerulean blue eyes. The figure chasing it was just as unexpected. 

It was a small, panicked young girl, averaging the age of nine. Some onlookers murmured in concern at the sight of a medium-sized red gash adorning her arm.

As the chase continued, a few were able to take notice of three additional youngsters behind them pursuing both. Unlike the armored girl ahead, the three behind her were only draped in brown leathery winter coats. Said leather-clad youngsters started to converse amongst themselves frantically. 

"Why is she suddenly so fast? She's never this fast in training!" 

"Stop whining and keep running, Jimin!" 

The dark-haired boy groaned in frustration and willed himself to run faster at the shorter girl's behest. Beside them, another taller boy with chestnut colored hair silently kept up. 

"Frost!" 

The trio perked up at the armored girl's frantic voice calling out to the white creature. It was only then when they realized that they already exited the town, and were starting to venture off into the more secluded villages. The murmers never died down, playing as vague sounds in the background to their ears. They passed by houses in different shapes and sizes, all commonly covered with thick snow.

"We need to bring both of them back as soon as possible. We're not even allowed to step a foot outside Myungbok's Gate, much less the woods!" The taller boy exclaimed beside them. His voice clearly expressed panic, fearing the possibility of being reprimanded by their teachers. 

"The woods? What do you—oh you have got to be joking." The shorter girl's eyes widened. 

True to his words, a long sturdy stone bridge, and along with it the entrance of the woods presented itself into their sights. They didn't even realize that they were running for that long already, too consumed with the adrenaline and worry that were fueling their bodies. 

The three shared the same thoughts, all wishing that they'd catch up to their friend and her companion before they reached the woods. But of course the odds decided that they were going to be stacked against them. Now that there were no people around besides them, the white wolf suddenly stretched out a pair of long, majestic white wings and flew away. As much as it was a pain for them, it was also a relief that nobody was around to witness it. If word got out that a snow guardian was out of the palace and wreaking havoc in public, they would be in so much trouble.

They all watched in panic as the winged wolf flew into the trees, promptly disappearing from their sights. 

On the brighter side, the three were able to slowly shorten the distance between them and their friend. It seemed as though she was starting to reach her limit, and soon enough she was only an arm's length away. 

"Seulgi-unnie!" 

The armored girl—Seulgi, turned to look at the voice that belonged to the figure now running beside her. Her monolid eyes widened in shock. 

"Dahyun?" She breathlessly exclaimed. 

"Don't forget Jimin and Jeongguk." The shorter blonde girl gestured to her left. 

Seulgi turned to look at where she was gesturing, and indeed found her two male friends keeping up with them as well. 

"Idiot, you're not supposed to be roaming outside here! Plus you're injured!" Jimin reprimanded her. 

Seulgi frowned. "Then do you just expect me to not run after Frost when he's clearly upset?" 

The dark-haired boy was about to give another scolding quip, when Jeongguk interjected. "This is not the time to fight, let's just focus on catching up to Frost first." 

They all unanimously agreed by keeping silent, but Jimin couldn't help himself and let out a small indignant huff. 

As they went deeper into the woods, they figured Frost wouldn't be able to navigate in the air anymore. The pine trees started to appear taller, multiplying in number, and the snow beneath their feet thicker. 

Though they were all born and raised in the cold, their young bodies still held a certain limit as to how much they can take. Now with a fair distance between them and the nearest civilization—which was shrouded with inventions they made in the past years to generate heat and keep them warm—they started to feel more conscious of the cold sensation seeping underneath their clothes and onto their skins. The fact that they've been running without rest for a while now, also didn't aid to their situation. Their breathing started to get heavy, hearts pounding loudly in their chests. 

As they reached a certain clearing in the woods, the quartet was suddenly forced to bring their gloved hands up to shield their eyes, a blinding ray of sunlight abruptly shining upon them. A strong gust of wind whistled through thick, snow-capped pine trees, and the sun blazed down on the vast snowy terrain. 

"Frost! Come back here boy!" Seulgi called out desperately, her voice echoing through the trees.

Her snow guardian which was now indeed back on the ground, never turned back and kept on running. But as the girl strained her ears, she could make out small whimpers coming out of the winged creature. The sound absolutely broke her heart.

"Frost, it's okay!"

Seulgi's breathing became labored with every heavy step she took, but paid it no mind. She was solely focused on her mission of stopping her snow guardian from running away. Although, maybe a little too much, that she didn't see a small camouflaged log in her path. The impact caused her to trip and come tumbling down face first, with the snow fortunately cushioning her fall.

"Ow." The girl released a faint groan, rolling on her back. She could hear her friends shuffling towards her.

"Are you okay, noona?" Came Jeongguk's concerned voice. She could feel both Dahyun and Jimin propping her body back up.

"I'm fine, Jeongguk." Seulgi reassured the younger boy as she started to dust the snow off her body and face. 

When she opened her eyes, she was surprisingly met with Frost's cerulean blue ones. Seulgi blinked a few times, before tilting her head, grinning. "You always come back for me, huh?"

Frost growled. For a brief second she could've sworn that he rolled his eyes at her.

The young girl sighed, her features softening. She slowly brought up a hand to graze it through her guardian's thick fur, the latter purring lowly as he reveled in his owner's comforting actions. She smiled at this, figuring that he felt better now.

Seulgi held Frost's face so that he was facing her, her tone turned reassuring. "It is not your fault that I got injured in training, okay? We are just both equally clumsy."

"Got that right."

Both Seulgi and Frost glared at a heaving Jimin. For a moment, the latter got taken aback by how similarly fierce they both looked. Jeongguk and Dahyun's simultaneous smack to the back of his head caused him to protest.

The girl ignored the other three and turned her attention back to the white wolf. "Really Frost, I'm fine. So are we okay now?"

Frost let out a happy bark, snuggling his much bigger head under the young girl's neck as if to say, 'We're okay now.'

___

"You kind of deserved it, Seul, plus you fell so funnily."

"Shut up, Jimin."

The four kids along with Frost were starting to venture back into town, ignoring all sorts of looks thrown at their way. Thankfully snow guardians have the ability to camouflage their wings, so they mostly stared at the group's weary appearance. They walked at a slow pace, bodies too sluggish from fatigue to function well. A whole afternoon of running around, stacked on top of a whole morning of training was going to do that to you.

Jimin faced Seulgi, discreetly eyeing her wound. A couple more of silent steps were taken before he spoke again. "In all seriousness though, it's dangerous to suddenly wander out of here, not to mention your wound."

A small grin tugged on Seulgi's lips. She clapped the boy's shoulder with her uninjured arm. "Aw, I didn't know you were that worried, dear cousin."

"Shut up, Seulgi."

Dahyun watched in amusement at the older two, while Jeongguk merely smiled. With Dahyun's attention back on the older girl's arm, it wasn't long when she reiterated Jimin's sentiments.

"But unnie, we really need to have that checked out properly though."

Seulgi turned to Dahyun, following the younger girl's line of sight. Her eyes landed on her injury, which was covered with a clean piece of cloth for now. She knew that Dahyun was right.

Frost never liked small insects, he absolutely despised them. So at the sight of one particular crawling creature at their daily practice a few hours ago, he completely freaked out, inevitably injuring his owner in the process who was sat on his back. Seulgi was too worried about her guardian to care about her own pain, so she wasted no time in chasing after him, ignoring her teacher and peers' shouts.

Which leads them to their current predicament now.

"I know, but imagine the earful I'm going to get before I get this wound tended to." Seulgi shuddered, imagining Teacher Kim's scary face and inevitable long speech about how she should be responsible enough at this age.

"You mean the earful we're going to get." Jimin retorted.

"You know, Jimin, one second you're worried for me, the next you're all up in my face." Seulgi's face scrunched up. "Why is that?"

"Oh, you didn't know? It's a requirement as your cousin, I'm basically meant to annoy you for life."

"Well you don't even have to try, your face is annoying in itself!"

"No your face is!"

It was at times like this when Dahyun couldn't believe that they were the older ones. Even Frost thought so, if the puff of air he just released was any indication. The shorter girl merely facepalmed as the two resumed to their bickering, when Jeongguk suddenly tugged on her coat. She faced the slightly taller boy, e