◇《 - ¤ W i n t e r   B e a r ¤ - 》◇

" A lonely figure in the white. "

The sun rose high above the white forest. Morning came. Birds sang in harmony as a sign of gratitude. Every animal had woken up, including her. Her big, fluffy figure was already up, wandering the forest. Nothing was new. It was all the same. She was used to all of it by now. Wandering was what she did every day.

Roll in the snow, sit and lay down. That was all. Nothing else. Friends? How could she make friends when almost everything was afraid of her? Even a lone wolf had his pack in the end, but she couldn't get a family. She was cursed to be this way, a lone bear, or so she thought. Her heavy paws left prints in the snow as she walked.

The further she walked, the heavier her steps got. She was getting tired, so she came to a stop. The blue lake. The lake where everything started. The lake was where she had taken her past life and restarted a cursed one. The lake where her curse was given. It was beautiful to most, but those who knew, knew the lake held many memories. Bad ones.

The phrase was true. Not everything was perfect. She stood near the lake, looking down at the beautiful lake that held so much of her pain. The bear in the water stared back at her. Fur as white as the snow. Black shiny nose. It was the icy blue eyes that stood out the most. They did not belong to a bear. They were a symbol of her curse.

She lay down in the cold snow, fur protecting her, and began to reminisce.

"Wanna go ice skating?"

"Sure!"

"Catch me if you can!"

"Gotcha!"

"You always catch me! That's not fair."

"Well, I caught you because I never want to let you go. You are my sister and you will always be. Don't ever leave me, promise?"

"Promise!"

"Tch! Did you hear what she said? Ew."

"Why don't you say it in front of her?"

"Pfft! You think I can? Her brother would hate me. I am trying to make an impression on her brother. That's why I waste my precious time talking to her."

"That’s cruel."

"So what?"

"Her brother found out about it. About us sending her away."

"What did he say? "

"Let's just send her away."

She snarled, sharp teeth flashing, claws scratching the ground, growling. She walked over to a tree, roaring, and scratched it, leaving a claw mark. Her breathing was heavy. She glared at the lake. She felt so lost. She didn't know what to feel anymore.

She had hated her life before. She had wanted to be lonely, but now that she was, she regretted it.

She would never know what she wanted. Loneliness was such a hard feeling to get over. It felt like she was stuck in a maze with no exit. She wished someone would get rid of the maze's wall for her, but who? No one was there.

The person she once believed would save her was just a hologram. A fake person that you could never rely on. After learning the truth, she left it, forever. She sighed, turning her back on the lake and walking back into the forest. She walked for a few minutes before dropping to the ground. She just wanted to lay down for now. She was tired, both physically and mentally.

A little tear seeped out. "You hurt me, but why do I still miss you?" she asked, but no one answered. No one understood. She closed her eyes and decided to take a nap.

It was a long and peaceful nap until growling and fast footsteps woke her.

"What was that?"she asked herself. She heaved herself up and stuck her nose in the air, sniffing. She caught a scent coming from nearby.

"A human...and wolves?" she thought to herself. She began to walk in the direction the scent was coming from.

The scent got stronger with every step she took. She stopped when she realised it was just behind the bushes. She just had to go through it and someone would be there. She did her best to go through it with her big body. However, when she came out of the thick bushes, the scent of the wolves had disappeared.

"They must have run away after picking up my scent," she thought to herself and shook herself to get rid of the snow clinging to her fur. Suddenly, she heard a squeak. Immediately, her head went up high, sniffing to check if there was anyone nearby.

"Human scent, it's stronger now," she thought and continued sniffing. She followed the scent, soon realising that it led to her left. And there was Taehyung sitting there frozen. She flinched a little at the sight.

This was the second time she had seen a human up close. Last time it had also been a man. That time she was in her human form, but the man still ran away like a scaredy cat. However, what confused her was that Taehyung was still there, sitting on the ground looking up at her, unmoving.

Shouldn't he be running away by now? She got closer, but he still stayed, frozen in place.

"I guess it's a dumb one that can't move when they are scared." She scoffed. She stared at him. He had dark brown eyes. For others, they held warmth, but all she felt when she looked at them was jealousy. Why couldn’t she have eyes like that?

"I wish I had eyes like his," she thought to herself. She didn't realise that Taehyung was so immersed in her eyes’ beauty because she was too busy criticising herself. She simply turned her back on him and started to walk off.

She badly wanted to forget all her past memories, but they kept plaguing her, so she walked off before she ended up hurting Taehyung. He was innocent.

Again she was walking aimlessly in the forest. Should she be mad? Should she blame herself? Should she hate herself for everything that happened?

"No. Because it’s not my fault that my life went this way. What did I do to deserve this pain? I never asked for it," she thought to herself. Oh, how she wished life were different. Never be filled with those disgusting and fake people who judge your appearance and what you have.

They only want to be close to you because they want what you have. Just like she did. The person that no one could get close to except her. The brother she used to trust, love and whom shared her happiness with. Now, he was nothing but a nightmare that haunted her forever.

It took her so many years to realise that she was just those ugly grey stairs that people used to get where they wanted to go, but even though she helped them, they hated and criticised her for making them tired. When they found an elevator for an easy way up, they dumped her like a piece of trash. Why? Just why?

She stopped in her place, trying to push away the overwhelming thoughts. Tears didn’t come out anymore, making it worse. She couldn't cry out her pain, cry out for help, she just couldn't. She would remain in the empty glass box, locked in it forever no matter how many times she cried out for help.

Her voice was loud but no one could hear her. Only silence answered her. Suddenly, a loud gunshot was heard, followed by growling.

"Someone is in danger." Without a second thought she ran towards the sound. It took her a few minutes to arrive, but when she did she was shocked.

A big body identical to hers lay on the ground, white fur stained with red. Her eyes widened when she saw a man with a gun. The man was laughing as he grabbed a baby bear.

The baby polar bear was trying to release himself from his grip but to no avail. She looked at the polar bear that was covered in blood.

"It's his mother...." she realised. Sudden rage rose up in her. She bared her teeth, snarling, claws sticking out and blue eyes filled with rage.

Memories were creeping up, making her angry. That’s when she lost it. Something just snapped inside her, causing her to turn wild. She didn't want to hold in her anger anymore. Rage flowed through her veins. Then she let out a loud growl and charged towards the man.

The man flinched and without realising he let go of the baby polar bear. The baby bear dropped to the ground with a thud. Before the man could react or point the gun at her, she pounced on him and took a big bite out of his shoulder. The man screamed for help, but no one was there to help him. She bit his neck as well, sharp teeth digging into his skin and blood splattering onto the snow like a red paint on a white canvas.

The man took his final breath and died. She bit again to make sure he really was dead, then she let go. The man’s eyes were still open. His were filled with shock and horror while hers were emotionless and showed no sympathy. She was merciless.

The man's blood was dripping from her mouth but she didn't mind at all. The taste of iron filled her mouth. Snowflakes floated down from the sky, slowly covering up the man's body. Her blue eyes glint under the fading sunlight. She stared at the man with pure anger and disgust. Then she looked to the side to see the baby bear. It kept growling at his dead mom, calling for her to wake up, but she was long gone.

The baby bear passed out on the ground from exhaustion. Her blue, deadly, emotionless eyes were the last thing he saw before he was drawn into total darkness.

《 - ♡ - 》

Just an art. :)

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