Work Text:
AROUND 1000 AD
A small polar bear walked down a small pathway in a crowded forest of maple trees. Snow drifted down through parted branches and stuck to the maple leaves. The polar bear sat next to a small snow covered rock and began to groom his matted fur. The bear looked at the large trunked trees and sighed. Then he heard a strange noise. It was crying. The polar bear got back up on his four paws and looked around silently. He walked through a bush and and spotted what was emitting the noise. It was a child. A very young boy lay in a pile of maple leaves crying. The young boy was wearing a white lace dress with a red ribbon tied around his collar. The boy had light violet eyes and tears streamed down his pinkish cheeks. The bear peered curiously at the boy. The only other humans he ever saw were in a village far away near the coast. The polar bear turned away but then curiosity took ahold of him. He began to wonder why this young boy was so far from the other humans. The polar bear slowly approached the boy. The boy stopped crying and looked at him with wide violet eyes. The bear stood a few feet away from the boy and then he took cautious steps towards him. He sat next to the boy and sniffed his hair but then he realized something. He knew that all humans smelled differently but they all have an identifying scent like all species. The boy though didn’t smell…. human…. he smelled like the land for an odd reason. The bear smelled the boy again causing the young boy to giggle and smile gently. The bear tilted his head to the side and he let the young boy pet him. After cheering the boy up the bear began to wander away but then he heard shuffling behind him and saw the boy crawling behind him. The boy’s eyes were filled with curiosity. The bear tried to lose the boy but the young boy always found him. The bear crawled onto the boy and sat on him but the boy just giggled happily. The bear licked the boys face and came to the realization that this boy was not going to leave him alone. It became bark soon after their encounter and the stars came out from behind the clouds. The boy looked up in awe at the sky as if it was his first time seeing the stars which the bear assumed it was. The polar bear glanced at the boy and curled up next to him on the snowy ground. The boy gazed at the bear and then curled up to him. While the boy held the bear’s left paw the two drifted softly to sleep.
The sun came out after a few hours begin the start of a new day. The bear opened his coal black eyes and look up at the trees. Then he peered down at the young boy who lay asleep on the ground next to him. The bear, using his paws and upper strength, managed to find a way to place the boy on his back without him sliding off or waking up. The bear walked slowly through the dense forest and out of it into a large clearing. In front of him was a field with a large ice and silver colored snow layered pond to the far right. He slipped the boy off of him carefully and walked into the thin ice toward a hole in the ice that he had created days ago. The bear glanced once more at the boy then he jumped into the cold dark water. Such as any bear, he had to eat but he knew from observations that people ate too. He caught several small fishes and put them on a pile near the young sleeping boy. He shook his fur dry and licked the boy’s face. The boy peeked his violet eyes open and smiled at the polar bear. The bear picked a small fish with his paws and gave it to the boy who peered at the new specimens carefully. Then the bear picked up another small fish and ate it whole while avoiding most bones though. He looked up at the boy and motioned him while his nose to go ahead. The boy tried biting into the fish but tears welled in his eyes and he shook his head while sliding the fish away. The bear sighed and and looked around the clearing. He spotted a berry bush that contained non poisonous berries. The bear walked over and tore off a branch of berries then placed it in front of the boy. He took off one berry of the branch with his claw and held it up to the boy. The young child shook his head but the bear had seen humans eat the berries before so he pinned down the boy and placed it in his mouth. The boy chewed reluctantly but found he enjoyed the taste. The bear rolled his eyes while getting off the boy and allowed the boy to eat the rest of the berries. The bear lay silently on the silver snow layered ground while the boy used him as a pillow. The boy began to mutter but then found his voice.
“W-Who….?”
The bear peered at the boy who had just uttered his first word. The boy looked at the bear with his violet eyes shining and smiled. The bear nudged him and the boy tried speaking again with more confidence.
“Who.”
The bear recognized the word and patted the boy’s head gently with his paw. The boy took the bear’s paw between his hands and hugged it. The bear drifted off to sleep as the boy continued to repeat the word ‘who’ over and over again. The bear woke up later to see the young boy struggling to walk on his two feet towards the pond. The bear ran over and stopped the boy before he walked onto a patch of thin ice. The boy used the bear’s back for support and they both trudged back slowly to a large maple tree and laid down on a patch of dry grass. The young boy sat down confused for a moment then looked to the bear and uttered a question he had practiced the entire time the bear was asleep.
“Who are y-you?”
The bear crawled onto the boy’s back and sniffed him again. He smelled nothing like a human or any other species he knew. The boy smelled like the land. The maple trees and the springs that ran through the soil. The whole package. He smelled of nothing else which caused the bear to become more curious. The young boy rolled onto his back and hugged the polar bear. The boy looked around and blinked his violet eyes. He stuffed his face in the bear’s matted white fur and closed his eyes. The boy felt confused because he seemed to know things he didn't think he knew about. The bear crawled off the boy and sat up.
“I-I am s-someone….”
The young boy whispered quietly. The boy looked at the bear and smiled. He stood up carefully and picked up the polar bear, to the bears surprise, and held him close. The bear noticed the boy looked a bit differently to him than before. The boy’s violet eyes were shining more than before and his blonde hair had a strand that was curled and sticked out from his head. The boy put the bear down and sat on the ground smiling. The bear licked the boy’s face and the boy giggled.
“Who are you?”
The boy asked the bear softly. The bear found his voice but more importantly he found that he had the ability to speak at all. He thought quickly about what he wanted to be called and who he wanted to be to this boy. The polar bear snuggled up to the young boy and decided to tell who he was and he knew he was going to take care of this boy.
“I am Kumajirou. Who are you?”
“I am…. Kanata.”
Kumajirou and Kanata stood up together as silver snowflakes drifted down from the light blue sky. The small boy smiled as he began to see the world with his new friend and together they would discover the world. Together alone the two began their journey through the dense forest of maple trees and patches of silver snow.