"What is it?" Noru asked.
"I don't know," Kimchan answered. "My creator, your master, didn't talk about a glowing ground."
The dog girls simultaneously jumped in opposite directions. At their previous location, the ground suddenly bulged, then exploded and released a large yellow barrel...
Noru and Kimchan activated their auras, and only then were they able to see properly in the dark.
"What is this?" the dog girls sniffed the air.
The barrel lid moved. Noru extended her hand forward to cast some kind of ranged skill, while her "little sister" took a few steps back and raised her tail.
"Sis, this is the very thing our creator spoke of," Kimchan said. "It can walk underground."
"That's good," Noru sighed. "Then we just have to wait for this creature to emerge from this thing."
But the creature didn't come out. Soon, Noru grew tired of waiting and pointed her hand at the barrel with the bright yellow patterns.
A spark appeared above the lid and flared violently…
"Sis, don't…" Kimchan tried to stop her impatient "big sister," but it was too late.
A spark exploded above the barrel. The lid flew out like a cork, landing somewhere in the darkness on the ground.
"Hey, you!" a voice came from the barrel. "I'm here!"
Black, spiral-shaped horns appeared from the strange object.
"What's that?" Noru took a step toward the barrel.
"It's a goat," Kimchan explained. "It has horns. Don't come near her, sis, it will butt you."
Soon the horns emerged completely from the barrel, along with a head with yellow hair.
"It's a goat animal girl," Noru sniffed the air, as if she could identify the unfamiliar creature by its scent.
"I'm not a goat, I'm a sheep," the head in the barrel yawned.
"What difference does it make?" Noru frowned.
"Sheep are stupid, but goats are not," the sheep girl answered.
"Ask your creator to put something in your head," Noru said.
"I can't," the sheep-girl's neck emerged from the barrel. "I don't know who my creator is. I don't even know my own name."
"We came specifically for this," Noru scratched her dog ear with her hand. "But I forgot what it's called. Sis, can you get that thing out?"
Kimchan waved her hand, causing a screen with multiple slots to appear in front of her. One of them contained a memory card with several symbols.
"Yup, that's the thing," Noru confirmed.
Kimchan slapped the slot with her palm. The card floated into the air, after which the dog girl slapped it again.
The card flew straight at the sheep girl, hit her horns, and turned into a screen with large red symbols.
"I-me-rii," the sheep-girl read syllable by syllable. "Is this... my name?"
"Yup," Kimchan lowered her ears. "It's your name. It's yours alone."
Imerii stared at the ground for several dozen moments, as if trying to find an answer there, but then she looked at Kimchan:
"Where is the proof?"
Kimchan scratched her dog ear with her foot, and then summoned another screen, this one with a screenshot from the game. It depicted the same sheep-like girl sitting in a stone barrel, with a few symbols written above.
"She looks like me," Imerii noted. "I need to go boo-boo with her."
The sheep girl tilted her head and pointed her horns at the image on the screen. The next moment, the stone barrel rushed forward...
Kimchan jumped to the side, and the screen moved with her. The barrel rolled a few steps and turned toward the "enemy."
"Sis, she really is a sheep," Kimchan said.
The barrel rolled forward again. This time, Kimchan closed the screen, activated her elemental aura, and appeared next to her "big sister."
"You're bullying the animal girl, who's also my little sister," Noru looked at the barrel. "But you're an animal girl yourself. How can that be?"
"Sis, she's just stupid," Kimchan explained. "Don't hit her. She's good, just a sheep."
While the dog girls were deciding what to do with the horned mischief-maker, Imerii looked around, searching for her "enemy."
"Where are you?" the sheep girl looked at the ground. "You can't hide there! I know everything there."
The barrel shook and then began to drill into the ground. Soon, Imerii's head disappeared into a large hole, and several mounds of earth appeared on the surface.
"Our master said we needed to do something else with her," Noru said. "Look, sis. You know more symbols and read faster than me."
Kimchan opened the screen again, but didn't have time to find the icon she needed. Something large erupted from the ground, throwing the dog girls back.
"There you are!" Something large object turned out to be a stone barrel with bright yellow lines and a "rider" in the shape of a sheep-girl's head.
"Sis, I'll have to beat her," Noru sighed, then smiled. "But after that, she'll definitely understand."
"Just don't blow her up," Kimchan said quietly.
"Okay. In the meantime, look for a message from our master."
Noru was obviously happy that she finally had a real opponent, so she activated her aura and flew forward.
Unfortunately, Noru hadn't considered what material the barrel was made of. The dog girl had to back away and land on her feet.
"Well done, you're strong, Imeriichen," the sheep girl stroked the side of the barrel. "I knew you could do it one day."
"Is she talking to the thing she's in?" Noru thought. "Is it alive?"
The sheep-girl's hands came out of the barrel and rested against its walls.
"She's trying to get out," Noru licked her lips. "I could just demolish her head off right now... Ahh, she's not a doll! We need to think of something else."
While Noru was thinking, Imerii climbed almost completely out of the barrel and even dangled one of her legs, with a hoof-shaped boot, from it.
"She even has fighting legs," Noru pressed her breasts with her hands to look at her legs. "And my master didn't give me anything. But this is even better. I can fly, and this horned one can only hide underground."
"Oh," Imerii dangled her other leg, then jumped to the ground.
Now Noru could see her opponent fully. Besides the hoof-like boots, the creature wore a short yellow dress composed of stone plates divided by black lines. Her yellow hair reached her neck, and then parted into several braids and regular strands. But what most struck the dog-girl were her hips. They were so wide they miraculously fit inside a stone barrel.
"She'll crush me," Noru raised one eyebrow.
"Go ahead," Imerii bowed her head and thrust her horns forward. "Attack me!"
"I'll keep my distance," Noru said. "Do you agree?"
"Yup, I can endure anything. You can do with me whatever you want, just like the great master did."
"Is this her creator?" Noru thought. "I call Itinit master, my sister calls him creator and this girl, she's a sheep, and that's why she calls him that."
Imerii closed her eyes. The stone barrel disappeared underground. Noru extended her hand forward and began concentrating the spark in her palm. It seemed the two animal girls were about to clash in a most gigantic manner, but Kimchan's voice interrupted it.
"Sis, I found her! We need to take it and give it to her creator."
"What?" Noru lowered her hand.
"Is the great lord looking for me?" Imerii asked.
"Do you have a creator?" Noru asked.
"Yup," the sheep girl raised her head. "But I lost him."
"What?" One of Noru's dog ears twitched.
"I forgot about him," Imerii smiled. "But now I remember him. He hit me on the head, but Imeriichen saved me."
The stone barrel partially emerged from the ground. The sheep girl stood with her hoof on the edge of the barrel.
"Does your creator abuse the animal girls?" Noru asked.
"No, it didn't hurt," Imerii grabbed one of her horns. "I have a hard head. I'm the spirit of a stone sheep. I'm hard all over, and with Imeriichen I'm even harder!"
"Your barrel has almost the same name as you," Noru noted.
"Yeah," the sheep girl looked up and grabbed the second horn with her other hand. "It's not a barrel. It's Imeriichen, my pet."
"But this thing isn't alive," Noru twitched her ears. "It can't be a pet."
Imerii slammed her hoof-like boot against the side of the barrel. In response, the bright yellow lines faded, almost blending into the yellow-brown background.
"It doesn't glow," the sheep-girl leaned over to look at her feet and nearly fell to the ground.
"Okay," Noru waved her hand. "This thing's alive. I said something, but I don't remember what. Sis..."
"Yup," Kimchan looked at her "big sister." "You meant that this little sheep didn't remember her own name, but she remembered the name of her barrel. She might have guessed what her name was if she hadn't been such a sheep."
"Yeah!" Noru jumped up. "You guessed everything correctly. Sis, you're definitely my sis. But you got that last word wrong."
"I..." Kimchan bowed her head, and then covered her face with her hand. "I can't say that."
"What can't you say?" Imerii asked.
"You're so stupid," Noru answered instead of her "little sister." Sis said you're stupid."
"The great lord said all sheep are stupid," Imerii closed her eyes.
The dog girls looked at the sheep girl, who was standing on her hooves on the edge of the barrel and smiling, as if she was proud of something that normal creatures were ashamed of.
"Do you want to find your creator?" Noru asked.
"No," Imerii lifted one leg, as if trying to take a step. "My great lord himself promised to come to me."
"But he didn't come," Kimchan guessed.
"Yeah," Imerii moved her raised leg to the side, and then spun around her standing leg without even falling.
"How does she do that?" the dog girls licked their lips.
"My great lord said that if I remember my name, he will come to me," Imerii continued. "So I just need to wait."
"But… what if your creator doesn't come?" Kimchan asked with a groan.
"Then I'll look for him," Imerii jumped up, then landed on her hooves on the edge of the barrel. "But first, I'll wait."
"How long?" Noru asked.
"What?" The sheep girl swayed, but didn't fall.
"Sis wanted to ask how long you'll be waiting," Kimchan explained.
This question seemed to be too much for the stone sheep spirit's brain to handle. Imerii no longer smiled. Her face became so serious it looked stupid.
"Hey, horned one, answer!" The fur bracelets on Noru's arms lit up.
"Sis, she doesn't understand," Kimchan said quietly.
"What doesn't she understand?" Noru stuck out her tongue and almost bit it.
"Sis, she's a sheep," Kimchan lowered her dog ears.
"Poor thing," Noru released a small cloud of fire from her mouth. "Let's get her."
"I... I... I'm afraid this won't work," Kimchan pointed at the stone barrel.
"It will work," Noru's hair began to smoke.
"Sis, don't!"
Kimchan rushed at her "big sister" to put it out, but it was too late...
... The two fireballs flew one after the other until they turned into comets and collided in the night sky...
… A dog-girl with a fiery aura, long white-yellow hair and two tails that peeked out from behind her thick thighs sank to the ground.
"Who are you?" Imerii asked.
"I am Noruluya, the dog spirit," the dog girl sighed.
"And I am a sheep girl, not a goat."
"I see. Your horns are crooked."
"They're not crooked, but strong enough not to break."
"It seems that all the animal girls have some peculiarities."
Noruluya looked at the sheep girl with red-brown eyes with lights instead of pupils.
"Did you see the two dog girls?"
"Yup," Imerii jumped to the ground. "They were like you."
"These are my sisters, Noru and Kimchan. I haven't seen them in a while. It's good they're still together."
"They've gone somewhere."
Noruluya looked up at the black night sky. For some reason, Imerii looked up too.
"Are they there?" the sheep girl asked.
"When the sky is black, you can see the stars," Noruluya smiled. "Our creator said these stars are my little sisters, but I didn't believe him. I can't have so many sisters. But two of them are very bright. They're not like the others. They're red and always fly down because they want to be together, but in the sky they can only be apart, in their own places."
"I didn't understand anything."
"You're a sheep spirit; you don't need to understand that."
Noruluya knelt down. Her short white and yellow fur dress, which began below her shoulders and ended mid-thigh, almost reached the ground.
"My sisters are somewhere far away now," Noruluya continued to look at the sky and smile. "But we all fly in the same sky. It's big, and someday we'll meet again."
"You want to meet your sisters?" Imerii finally understood.
"Even sheep seem to understand that. That's the bond we have. No one can separate us, not even mushrooms."
"Did the mushrooms do something to you?"
"Don't mind me. Want me to show you how stars fall?"
"It won't hurt me?"
"No. They're not alive. Close your eyes. When you hear the sound of fire, and then open them."
Imerii closed her eyes and waited...
"What if my creator comes now?" the sheep girl thought. "I'll open my eyes, and he'll appear."
…The sky exploded with fireworks. A multitude of sparks fell from the sky, but instead of reaching the ground, they burned up in the air. Only two, the largest and brightest, ignited and turned into comets…
…Imerii opened her eyes, but instead of her creator, she saw two fireballs flying straight at her.
"Okay, I'll wait a bit longer," the spirit of sheep closed her eyes again.
Imerii didn't see the fireballs explode right in front of her, but her ears heard them. The sheep girl guessed from the sound that something had happened, and only then did she remember the dog spirit's words:
"When you hear the sound of fire, and then open them."
Imerii opened her eyes, but again she couldn't see her creator. Instead, two burning, brown-haired dog girls stood on the ground.
"Where is my creator?" Imerii looked around, but saw nothing new except the darkness of the night. "Perhaps he won't come, and I will wait for him like an obedient sheep."
And so, for the first time, movement began in the mind of the stone sheep spirit...
***
The train stopped in front of a fallen tree in the middle of a coniferous forest.
"We're already there," Itinit looked out the front window, which offered a view of the snow-capped mountains and the wooden station building.
"Not yet," Kyotyoryon touched the wall of the locomotive with her hand. "I still have my metal."
"But there's tree there," Itinit countered.
"If the pillar isn't standing, but lying down, it can be cut," Kyotyoryon kicked the wall of the train.
The train understood the command and extended a shield from a slot on its head, from which two blades then extended.
"I didn't know this train had such a thing," Itinit looked down. "The train must just be old."
"No, this is my new skill," Kyotyoryon approached the front window. "It's called Revenge on the Pillars. Now you'll see how it cuts this wicked, fat pillar. Just don't tell my creator."
Itinit turned around, but saw only a locked door at the end of the locomotive, leading into a single car.
"Your creator is still asleep. You may begin."
Kyotyoryon crouched down and touched the metal wall beneath the front window.
...The shield suddenly thrust forward and pierced the tree trunk. A loud crack rang out, deafening Itinit for a few moments...
The trunk, as thick as two bears, split into equal pieces, which then lay along the rail like benches.
"That's it," Kyotyoryon stood up and saw the results of her skill. "Did you see?"
"What?" Itinit asked.
"You're made of meat," Kyotyoryon grabbed the guy's hair, pushed it back, and found a human ear. "I've seen these things in the store. Are they to keep water from getting into your head?"
While the two creatures were talking, the train arrived at an abandoned station where the tracks ended and stopped. The wooden station building was now fully visible, and the mountains grew closer.
"My metal is gone," Kyotyoryon looked out the front window and saw the end of the rail.
"Good. Now we can wake your creator."
The metal spirit ran to the car door. Itinit decided to look at the mountains and accidentally saw a head with purple hair hanging down from above...