[13+] Taezan & the Mice [Kim Taehyung] Christmas 2022

December 19th

Taking a closer look, Taezan saw a tall shape shuffling in the snow, and Noah had mentioned that there usually weren't any humans around here, so he felt certain.

"Over there!" Pointing in Namzoom's direction, he started running and yelling. "Namzoom! Down here!"

Taezan had been right!

Getting closer, he waved his arms high over his head as he kept yelling. "Namzoom! Namzoom!"

Kaya had joined in, calling out for the giant, but to no avail; as Namzoom showed no signs of having seen or heard them.

"We need to get his attention!" Frustrated, Taezan looked around, trying to find a solution, but drawing a blank. "He can hear us, so how..."

"I don't know..." Kaya dragged the words, then suddenly let out a squeak. "Pull at his pants leg!"

"That could work!" Encouraged, Taezan ran as fast as his short legs could take him in Namzoom's direction. Leaping forward, he reached for the fabric, but missed as his shipmate took another step, leaving Taezan to faceplant in the snow. Spitting it out, he brushed it off his face and tried again.

And again.

And again.

"This isn't working!" Taezan whined. "Why does he have to be so big?! His steps are too long. There is no way for me to reach him in time."

"Oh! I know!" Kaya yelled, pointing to footprints. "He's walking in circles! So if we wait here, he'll circle back to come to us!"

"You're right!" Looking along the path Namzoom had made, Taezan could indeed see that they made a circle. And there, to his side, he could see a tall, very thin tree with a lot of branches.

He got an idea.

"Be careful!" Kaya had made her way over to him, and watched as Taezan tried to climb.

"If I can just get high enough..." Taezan mumbled as he moved upwards from one branch to another.

"He's coming!" Kaya yelled from the ground. "Get ready!"

Moving up a few more branches, Taezan grabbed around one of them and carefully crawled down it. He reached the middle of the branch just in time, and as he saw movement beneath him, he shook the branch as hard as he could; drizzling snow down on Namzoom's head.

Namzoom stopped, his hand reaching up to his head.

Success!

His victory was cut short as the branch swayed. Taezan felt his fingers slip, and with a yelp of fear, he fell.

He didn't fall far, but Taezan landed on Namzoom's shoulder, his relief was short-lived. He couldn't find grip. Trying desperately to hold onto anything, he failed, sliding down the material before he rolled off; now free-falling towards the ground.

Taezan screamed at the top of his lungs, sure he was going to die. But, as he braced himself for impact, a gust of wind grabbed a hold of him, whisking him away to land softly in a pile of leaves and snow.

It took Taezan a few seconds to come to grips with what had just happened, but sitting up he saw Kaya running toward him.

"Are you okay?" Crouched down next to him, she patted his body. "Any broken bones?"

"I'm fine." Looking past her, Taezan's eyes were on Namzoom; watching as he looked at the ground around him while removing snow from his hair. "He must have felt me land on him! He must have heard me scream!" He got up and ran for his friend. "Come on, you giant, I'm right here!"

Namzoom shook his head, but then he continued walking - but not in the circle. Instead, the senior officer took a right turn, heading to a group of tall stones. Without effort, he climbed over them, brushing his pants before walking out of sight.

Taezan collapsed onto his knees in the snow. There was no way they would be able to follow him up there - those stones had no branches or anything else to climb on. They had failed, and he let out a sigh of defeat.

"We can try again tomorrow." Kaya put a paw on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

It was with heavy hearts that they made their way back to their temporary shelter. Feeling more than a little defeated, they sank down on the pile of clothes; wrapping pieces of fabric around themselves to keep as warm as possible.

A low rumble sounded from Taezan's stomach, and he gripped it tightly. He was starving, but knew there was no point in complaining. There wasn't any food to be had, but hopefully, they would find some tomorrow. It would be another long day, so he should try to sleep.