1 Tell me a story...

"Tell me a story, " she beams. "You're a storyteller, right? So you must know lots of stories!"

Their voice, speaking together in unison, both male and female, They utter broken speech until a clear sentence comes through, "You mistake us for something else entirely."

The winter cub tilts her head holding a puzzled stare, taken back by Their voices yet curious just the same, "But, you look like one. What else would you be if not a storyteller?"

They pause as if considering the question. As if They could be anything else. Shyly They drop Their gaze for They already know the answer to that question.

"I don't know," He answers first, His voice echoing over Hers for the first time in a long time. The distinct difference only draws the cub in closer, so unafraid, too curious. They sink back further into the dark.

The cub panics, hurrying across the vertebrae column bridging across the chasm to get to the other side before They disappear completely from her view. "Wait! Don't go! Maybe I can help you!"

They fade into the darkness like a shadow but Their voices still sound off the walls of the cavern as if They've become a spirit, "Go home little cub. I do not wish to harm you."

The cub stops at the end of the thoracic, just between the shoulder blades and the cervical vertebrae connecting the skull. There's a cracking sound before an abrupt shift in the spine. Before realizing what is happening the skeleton of one of the ancient beasts falters and collapses, sending the cub plummeting down into the abyss.

Her screams are deafening, echoing throughout the cave system until a swift motion of wind catches her. Her eyes squint open revealing her savior to be Them standing over her, together and safe on the other side. Their eyes were wide with fear but harden at her smile.

"I knew you would never harm me. Storytellers never harm anyone unless they were bad things."

"I am not a storyteller," They snap with a snarl before disappearing back into the dark.