Eleo, now 12 years old, sat at the kitchen table, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Across from him, Abby and Lucy stared.
"I'm leaving," Eleo said, matter-of-factly.
Silence.
Lucy set down the dish she was drying. Slowly. Then she crossed the kitchen, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from him with the careful deliberateness of a woman deciding how to handle something.
"Eleo," she said, "tell me what you're thinking."
Not a shout. Not a facepalm. Just her full attention, which somehow felt heavier.
Eleo blinked. He'd prepared for yelling. This was harder. "I... I wanna see the world. Get stronger. I can't do that if I stay here my whole life."
"Your whole life," Lucy repeated. "You're twelve."
"It feels like a whole life!"
The corner of her mouth moved. Not quite a smile. "It does at twelve," she said, and she said it like she meant it, like she actually remembered what twelve felt like. "Where will you go?"
"I'll figure it out as I go!"
Abby's ears drooped. "But... why?"
Eleo scratched his head, feeling the weight of both of them watching him. "I know it's sudden. But I've always wanted this. I need to go, Abby."
Abby gripped her sleeves. "But you're my only friend, Eleo. My best friend."
The words hit him like a punch. He opened his mouth and couldn't find anything.
Abby's voice dropped. "Do you remember when we first met? It was snowing. We were both five. That big jerk Nico was picking on me."
---
The air was freezing, snowflakes drifting lazily.
A small Abby stood alone, trembling. Surrounding her were a group of kids, all laughing. At the front stood Nico, a young wolf kid, smug grin plastered on.
"Look at her, all alone! Guess no one wants to be friends with a weakling!"
The kids snickered. Abby's ears flattened.
Then—
SMACK!
A snowball slammed into Nico's face.
Everyone turned.
A short bunny kid with messy fur and a furious scowl stood a few feet away, panting.
Eleo pointed. "HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Nico wiped snow from his face. "Oh, you wanna play hero?" He cracked his knuckles. "GET HIM."
Eleo's eyes went wide. "Oh."
BAM. SMACK. THUD.
The bullies walked away laughing. Eleo lay face-first in the snow, twitching.
Abby walked over slowly. She reached down and pulled him out. His face was swollen and covered in snow.
A tear fell from her cheek onto his.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why did you help me?"
She thought he was unconscious.
"It's my fault. If I wasn't weak—"
Eleo leaped up.
"BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE COOL~!"
He immediately collapsed back into the snow.
Abby stared.
Then she laughed. Real, surprised, warm. For the first time that day, she felt it.
---
Back at the table, Abby wiped her eyes. "That was the day. You were a total idiot. But you were my idiot."
Eleo scratched the back of his head. "...I'm still an idiot."
"At least you're consistent," Lucy said, quietly.
Abby took a breath. "Do you really have to go?"
Eleo stood. He put on his best confident face. "Yeah. But I'll come back. I swear it."
Abby looked at him for a long moment. "Promise?"
He held out his pinky. "Pinky swear."
She hesitated. Then she linked hers with his.
"Fine. But if you die, I'm bringing you back just to kill you myself."
Lucy raised her hand. "I'll assist."
Eleo laughed. "I like the confidence!"
"Eleo," Lucy said. "Wait here."
She disappeared into the back. They heard the soft sounds of a cabinet opening, something being moved aside, a careful handling of something that had been sitting undisturbed for a while.
She came back with two things folded over her arm. She set them on the table.
A hoodie. White, long-sleeved, the kind that had started soft and gotten softer with age. There was a small patch worn at the left cuff from years of use, and the hem had been washed so many times it had gone from white to the particular warm off-white of something genuinely loved. The second item was a pair of dark gray pants, clean and sturdy, clearly new.
"The hoodie was Kuma's," Lucy said. "He left it here years ago, when he was young. Before he got too big for it." She smoothed the sleeve with her thumb once. "I kept it. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe I always thought it would end up with someone who needed it." She looked at Eleo. "He trained you. He believed in you. I think he'd want you to have it."
Eleo stared at it.
"The pants are from me," Lucy added. "New ones. You're going to need them."
Eleo picked up the hoodie carefully. It was light in his hands. The fabric smelled faintly of cedar from wherever Lucy had stored it.
He put it on.
It fit perfectly, sleeves long past his wrists, hem down to his hips, exactly the way a slightly oversized hand-me-down should fit on a twelve-year-old setting out to do something impossible.
He looked down at himself. Then up at Lucy.
He didn't say anything for a second.
"...Thank you, Miss Lucy."
She looked at him the same way she had that morning two years ago, when she'd noticed the ink on his ear. The filing-away look. Like she was making sure she remembered this exactly.
"You eat properly," she said. "You sleep when you need to. And you come back."
"Yes, Miss Lucy."
"I mean it, Eleo."
He met her eyes. "I know."
She nodded once. Then she stepped forward and pressed the folded dark gray pants into his arms and went back to the kitchen like the conversation was finished, but he noticed she didn't turn away immediately, just stood at the counter for a moment with her back to them.
---
"WAIT!" Abby called, as he headed for the door.
Eleo stopped. "Huh? Did I forget something? My bag? My carrots?! MY EARS?!"
Lucy, from the kitchen: "Still on your head."
"Oh, phew."
Abby held out a necklace. Small. A carved wooden pendant on a cord.
"There's a little carving of me on it," she said. "So you won't forget me."
Eleo slung it around his neck immediately. "Now I have my own tiny Abby! I'll never be lonely!"
Abby's eyes went slightly bright. "Don't forget me, okay?"
"Pfft. Like I could forget you." He grinned. "I promise."
"Don't do anything stupid out there."
Lucy muttered, "Impossible."
---
The whole village gathered at the dock. Eleo climbed into his tiny wooden boat, waving both arms wildly.
"BYE, LUCY! BYE, ABBY! BYE, EVERYONE!!!"
Abby and Lucy stood side by side, watching the little boat drift out.
Abby whispered, "Be safe, Eleo."
Lucy said nothing. She just watched until the boat was small against the water, the white hoodie catching the light, and then she put her hand briefly on top of Abby's head, the same way she always had, and they stood there together until he was gone.
---
The sun was high. Eleo sat cross-legged in the boat, arms folded, nodding seriously.
"Alright!" he declared. "Now it's time to... uh..."
Silence.
He scratched his head. "Wait... where do I go exactly?"
A long pause.
He blinked.
He scratched his head harder.
Then, with complete confidence, he shouted—
"MEH! I'LL JUST GO STRAIGHT! THAT ALWAYS WORKS!"
His stomach growled.
"Luckily, I have all my carrots in this bag!" He patted the big cloth sack filled with bright orange carrots. "As long as I have these, I won't starve to death!"
He pulled one out, took a big chomp, and grinned.
"Yup! I'm a genius!"
Then—
SPLASH.
A dark fin rose from the water.
Eleo's chewing slowed.
"Uhhh..."
The fin circled his tiny boat.
His eyes widened. "WAIT A SECOND. DON'T TELL ME... OH NO... IT'S..."
A massive bear shark leaped out of the water, snarling—a terrifying beast with the body of a shark and the massive, furry arms of a bear.
Eleo's eyes sparkled.
"COOL! I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE UP CLOSE BEFORE!"
The bear shark roared, opening its enormous jaws, ready to chomp Eleo in half.
Eleo beamed. "Wait, does this mean I get to fight it?! FINALLY!"
The shark lunged.
Eleo stood up in the boat, cracked his knuckles, and grinned like an idiot.
"INK BARRAGE!"
He started swinging his fists wildly, flailing like a madman.
WHAM! BAM! POW!
His punches landed at random, smacking the bear shark's face over and over until—
BOOM!
The massive creature was sent flying across the ocean, spiraling into the sky like a Team Rocket villain.
Eleo stood on his boat, panting, hands on his hips.
"Haha! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, YA BIG JERK!"
The bear shark disappeared into the distance, leaving only a tiny sparkle in the sky.
Eleo nodded to himself. "Welp. That takes care of that!"
Then—
CRACK.
His eyes widened.
He slowly looked down.
His tiny wooden boat now had a giant hole in it.
"...Oh."
The boat sank immediately.
A long pause.
Eleo floated in the water, blinking.
Then, grinning like an idiot, he pumped his fist in the air.
"I'M WINNING AT LIFE!"
And then he sank.
Eleo floated in the water, arms crossed, nodding to himself.
"Okay, so maybe punching the bear shark so hard that I sunk my own boat wasn't my best idea... BUT! I won the fight, and that's what really matters!"
Then—
"Huh?"
His ears twitched.
A massive ship drifted nearby, its golden sails shimmering under the sun, its polished wooden hull gleaming.
Eleo's eyes sparkled.
"OH, JUST MY LUCK! A NEW BOAT!"
He grinned, raising his hand. "Time to use my big brain!"
He formed an ink rope, twirling it like a lasso.
"Three… two… ONE!"
He threw it—
THWIP! The ink rope wrapped around the ship's rail.
Eleo grabbed his precious carrot bag and yanked himself up—
"WHOOOOAAAA—!"
THUD!
He landed face-first on the deck.
Silence.
Fancy music played. Dozens of people in elegant suits and gowns were drinking wine, dancing, and laughing.
One man, holding a monocle, slowly turned. "My word… what is that?"
A lady in a luxurious purple dress gasped. "Oh, dear, did a wild animal sneak aboard?"
Eleo pushed himself up, rubbing his face.
"Wow! I've never seen anything like this before!" His ears twitched as he glanced around. "It's so shiny and fancy and…"
He paused, blinking.
Everyone sipped tea.
A man adjusted his perfectly polished shoes.
A lady fanned herself gracefully.
A waiter poured wine.
Eleo squinted. "…Boring."
The entire fancy crowd gasped.
"HOW DARE HE?!"
"THIS IS A HIGH-CLASS EVENT!"
"WHO EVEN IS THIS RUFFIAN?!"
Eleo, completely ignoring their outrage, turned his head and saw something even crazier.
Another massive ship—but this one was flying.
"WHOA."
The ship hovered in the air, sleek black with blue energy glowing beneath it.
A cannon on the side charged up, glowing bright green—
BOOM!
A massive energy ball blasted toward the fancy ship.
"WOW!" Eleo grinned, watching as everyone else screamed.
"OH NOOOO!"
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
The crew of the fancy ship suddenly sprang into action.
A bunch of men in sleek white uniforms, each one bearing an eagle emblem on their chest, stormed the deck.
One of them adjusted his gloves. "Activate battle protocol!"
Another pulled out a sleek, futuristic blaster.
"FIRE!"
PYEW! PYEW! PYEW!
Bright laser shots tore through the sky, aiming at the flying ship.
Eleo sat cross-legged on the deck, munching a carrot, eyes sparkling.
"THIS. IS. AWESOME!"