Chapter Text
Dear Mama. Today marks another cold and snowy day on my journey across the ice. It’s been two moon cycles since I left you and I’m starting to get lonely. I never see anything on the ice and haven’t seen another polar bear at all. Where did they all go? Why can’t I find any?
Yibo chuffs, the air billowing out of his snout into a foggy cloud before dissipating in the frigid Arctic air. He’s looking up to the thousands of bright dots that light up the night sky as he relays his daily message to his mother.
I went under the ice today looking for food. I was able to catch some fish, but nothing else. I’m so hungry these days. I hope that I can find some food to eat soon.
Yibo licks his nose, the thought of biting into the fatty flesh of an arctic seal making him salivate and his stomach grumble. But it also causes a roll of something uncomfortable and guilty to go through him. He ignores it for now and continues on with his report.
I haven’t had any luck finding the magic place that the older bears talked about. Everyday I walk so far, but nothing has appeared to me. Is it possible that it’s just a made up story? Something to tell young cubs before hibernation, so when we don’t leave our snow caves for months on end, we dream of a world out there where magic is possible and anything can be done?
Settling his large head onto his front paws, Yibo closes his eyes to sleep.
I don’t want to give up. I’ll prove everyone back home wrong. I’ll find the magic place and change my nature; nothing will stop me!
A cold wind blows over the barren land, snow flying through the air and landing in a flurry. A collection of colorful light plays across the sky, illuminating the night and reflecting off of the pure white snow. And in a clumsily dug hole, a polar bear rests before continuing on his journey.
*~~**~*~~***~~*
Yibo isn’t sure exactly when it happened.
He knows that it was when the sun was high in the sky, never setting beyond the horizon, his shadow a constant companion and playmate. His mother always scolded him for wandering off too far, warning him of the dangers of crumbling ice and demanding he stay close.
One day, he was waiting for his mother to bring back food when he saw movement in the distance. She told him under no circumstances was he to leave the snow hole she left him in, but he was curious! It wasn’t often that he saw things out on the ice and he couldn’t waste this rare opportunity.
He stumbled out of the hole, his short legs sinking into the snow and his claws getting caught on the ice. He wasn’t born yesterday, but he still wasn’t big enough to walk without tripping a few times. His mother usually helped him out of the bigger snow drifts, but until she came back, he had to do this on his own!
Determined, Yibo huffed and padded his way through the snow, running when he could and keeping one eye out for the thing still sitting out on the ice. As he got closer, the snow got more shallow and he could walk easier. When he touched the ice, his nails clicked against it which startled whatever it was he was approaching.
He watched it bounce and turn around, and when he saw its face, he knew exactly what it was! A seal!
“Hey! Hey, what’re you doing out here? You’re kind of fluffy looking, just like me! Do you want to play?” He ran toward it in a playful gallop.
When the seal began to hop faster, body slipping and wobbling closer to the water, Yibo started to slow down. Why was it going in the opposite direction? Didn’t it want to play with him?
Yibo let out a cry as the white body of the seal fell into the water. Even he knew getting close to the water was a bad idea. Even though he wanted to follow the seal, he had no choice but to turn around and trudge his way back up to his snow hole.
When his mother came back, she nuzzled his head, biting at his ear telling him to come out for food.
Burying his head into his paws, he complained, “Mama, why don’t I have anyone to play with? All the other cubs have brothers and sisters, but I only have me.”
“Don’t go thinking about those other cubs. They’re not half as good as you, or as special. I only had you because that’s all I needed.” She cuddled him into her side and touched her nose to his in a kiss. “Come, it’s time to eat.”
When he exited the hole, it was to find a fat, adult-sized seal, dead and bleeding into the snow. He hesitated, but his mother continued forward and started ripping into it, setting aside some of the bigger chunks for him.
He grimaced and asked, “Do we have to eat seals? Can’t we eat something else?” His paw prodded at the food he was given.
“Of course we have to eat seals. What else are we supposed to eat? Stop wasting time or some other bear is going to come by and steal this.”
Yibo did as he was told, but the entire time he ate, he couldn’t help but remember the white fluffy seal he’d seen out on the ice.
What if I don’t want to eat them though? What if I just want to be their friend?
*~~**~*~~***~~*
He never stopped thinking about it after that day. Why couldn’t he just eat something else? As long as he was fed and happy, he didn’t have to eat seals.
To be honest, he’s not even sure how most bears went through with it! Seals were so cute. So fat, and adorable. All Yibo wanted to do was cuddle up to one and be friends.
When he tried to talk about it with the other cubs, they laughed uproariously, thinking that he was making a joke. When he told them he was serious, they laughed even harder and told him he was crazy. He beat those cubs up.
No one understood. Maybe it was because no one even took the time to consider them as friends; they only saw seals as their next meal. But Yibo didn’t want to be like that. So he made the decision that when he was able, he was going to travel far and wide, looking for the magic place where he could change his nature. He was going to prove all of those other bears wrong, even his mama. And after that, he was going to find a seal and be friends with them.
If only they didn’t swim away as soon as they took one glance at him…
*~~**~*~~***~~*
It’s one day when Yibo is traversing across the snow and ice, belly full of delicious fish, that it finally happens; he sees a seal. Its furry, white back is facing him, and it seems to be digging its nose into the snow like it’s looking for something.
So. Cute!
Yibo approaches it quietly, not wanting to alert it of his presence too soon in case it decides to run off like all of the other seals. He places his paws in a gentle strut, his head down low as he gets closer and closer to his target. His heart is beating so fast and his excitement is pulsing so strongly through his body he almost feels as if he could fly.
When he’s about three meters away, he stops abruptly. The seal is crying softly, its little sniffles loud in the quiet of the open tundra. A fierce urge to protect and comfort it whooshes through his body, and without thinking he quickly closes the distance between him and the little seal.
“Who did this?! Why are you crying? Do you need me to beat someone up for you??” Yibo demands.
The seal startles, it’s blubbery body jumping in the air in surprise. It shuffles to face Yibo and when he sees it, all the fight flees from his body.
SO. CUTE!~
The seal has big obsidian eyes, a pouty mouth and when it looks up at Yibo, he falls completely in love. This is it. This is the seal he is going to spend the rest of his life with. He will accept no other, and he’ll dedicate his entire self to it.
He breaks out of his trance when the seal’s cries only grow louder and his body starts shaking uncontrollably. Yibo picks out words between his cries such as, “No!” and “Please don’t!” and tilts his head in confusion.
“Please don’t what? Don’t cry little seal, I’m here now.” Yibo lowers himself onto his belly so he can be level with the trembling seal. But when he puts his nose closer to it, it shrieks loudly.
“DON’T EAT MEEEE!!!!”
*~~**~*~~***~~*
Staycalmstaycalmstaycalm OH MY GOD he’s getting closer!!!!
Xiao Zhan has had better days. Not that he’s had that many days in his life yet, but he’s sure that this will be remembered as one of his worst days ever.
He was on the ice, minding his own business and wallowing because his mother just left him. He’d had a wonderful two weeks of being with her, learning how to swim and later how to hunt and now she’s gone, swimming up north with the other male seals for another season of mating. So he’s allowed to be sad! He’d decided he was going to have a few hours of doing nothing and then he would get on his way, probably to find some shelter for the night.
But then this BIG, this HULKING, monster of a bear showed up out of nowhere! He wasn’t even going to live two hours past his mother leaving! What a failure of a seal pup.
He’s shivering in fear, begging the enormous bear to spare him and not eat him when the bear tilts its head as if it doesn’t understand the situation. How can it be confused at what is going on?! It’s pretty clear if you ask him.
“Eat you?” The bear blinks slowly at him, and it would be cute if he wasn’t a huge, carnivorous predator about to swallow him whole!
Xiao Zhan just keeps up a mantra of “Pleasedon’teatme, PLEASE don’t eat me!” when the bear jumps up. The movement startles him, his mouth shutting with a clack, and he does his best to sit very, very still. Maybe if he doesn’t move the bear will move on?
“NO! I would never eat you. I want to marry you!”
... Or maybe he won’t.
“M-marry me? But I’m a boy!” Even Xiao Zhan knows that two males can’t mate. Just where exactly did this bear grow up?
“I don’t care about that. You’re perfect. Your eyes are so big and adorable, and your body is soft and perfectly round. Do you know that you have a spot to the lower left of your mouth? I’ve never seen a seal with that.”
I can’t tell if he’s complimenting me or complimenting the presentation of his next meal!
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Zhan works to control his shivering. It doesn’t seem that he’s in any immediate danger of being eaten, but like his mother always said: “Remain vigilant.”
“S-so—so, you’re not going to eat me?” he clarifies nervously.
The bear shakes his head exaggeratedly. “No! First, I don’t like eating seals. Second, I told you before and I’ll say it a million times. You’re perfect. You’re so cute and I just want to cuddle you and rub my face in your fur.”
Xiao Zhan wishes his fins were longer just so he could use one to reach up to make sure his mouth wasn’t hanging open.
“You’re a bear,” he states.
The bear dreamily says, “Yes. And you’re my mate.”
Xiao Zhan looks out around the ice, wondering if there’s anything else around. Is he being pranked? Is a whole group of bears about to burst from under the ice and this guy was just sent as the distraction?
“Are you attracted to me? I’m very attracted to you. My favorite of your features is definitely your roundness.”
Xiao Zhan doesn’t answer. How in mother nature is he supposed to answer that? It’s a bear.
“What’s your name? I’m Yibo, but you can call me Bo-ge.”
Xiao Zhan burrows his belly down into the ice, neck retreating back into his body in embarrassment. He can’t believe he’s going to indulge him.
He mumbles, “My name is Xiao Zhan,” and the bear’s—no, Yibo’s—eyes sparkle.
“Xiao Zhan! Can I call you Zhan-ge?”
He’s slowly inching forward, his head settled on his paws so that his eyes are looking directly into Xiao Zhan’s. It’s not comfortable, but hardly anything about this situation is.
“That doesn’t make sense. We can’t both be ‘ge,’” he argues. I can’t believe I’m challenging my natural predator!!
Yibo seems to think about this, rolling his head from side to side in thought. When he comes to a conclusion, he zeroes in on Xiao Zhan and says, “Then why don’t you just call me ‘Gege’ and I’ll call you ‘Zhan-ge.’”
That’s no different!!!
Xiao Zhan gathers up his courage and says, “Look. If you’re not going to eat me—”
“I’m not!!”
“—then I’m going to leave.”
Yibo stands up, his true height so intimidating that Xiao Zhan’s fins start to quiver against his sides again.
“Oh great! Where are we going?”
“You should go back to wherever you came from! I’m going—uh, I’m going…” Xiao Zhan trails off, unsure. He doesn’t really have a plan yet. There’s gotta be other seal pups nearby. Maybe he can find them and they can form a group?
“Zhan-ge,” Yibo whines next to him. The sound is unexpected, his deep timber echoing off of the ice, “I can’t go back to where I came from. I have to go find the magical place first. And we have to get married! You’ll marry me, right?”
“W-who would marry you?!”
Yibo puts his large paw to his chest, standing back on his hind legs. Xiao Zhan has to tilt his neck back so far to see him that he ends up rolling over onto his back, losing his balance.
“Zhan-ge, you can’t say such mean things to your future husband! I promise that I’ll protect and love you from this da—ah! Zhan-ge, you fell over! I’ll help you!”
Before Xiao Zhan can tell him no, he’s being picked up into the air. He feels weightless for one moment, everything in his vision upside down until he’s suddenly righted and set down gently onto the ground.
“There. All better.” Yibo pats him on his fur, his large paw seeping warmth into Xiao Zhan’s back. “You’re so much softer than I imagined. Let’s cuddle, Zhan-ge.”
And with that, Yibo pulls Xiao Zhan under his arm, snuggling him close to his side, his nose nuzzling the side of his face. If it weren’t such strange circumstances, Xiao Zhan would admit to how comfortable it truly feels; Yibo is big and warm, his fur softer than it looks.
I really don’t know what’s going on anymore…
*~~**~*~~***~~*
Yibo was on Cloud Nine. He was over the moon. He felt as if he would float right off this patch of ice, his happiness making him feel as light as a snowflake.
Xiao Zhan—his Zhan-ge!—is cuddled next to him and he’d finally stopped shivering. He seems to be sleeping, his breath puffing out softly against Yibo’s fur and Yibo is doing everything in his power to hold still and not move a muscle. He doesn’t want to startle Xiao Zhan again, or mother nature forbid, wake him up.
He may have only known Xiao Zhan for a total of one hour (or less), but he already felt that he would kill anything that tried to hurt him. Xiao Zhan is his mate; he knows that as a fact. He feels it deep in his bones, all the way to the tips of his rounded ears and claws on his toes. They had a connection that no one or anything could come between.
Mama, I haven’t found the magic place, but I have found something magical. This is Zhan-ge. We’re going to be together from now on.
He tilts his head, resting his snout on the snow next to Xiao Zhan’s small, blubbery body. Yibo slowly begins drifting off into sleep, the excitement of the day finally catching up with him and pulling him under. Before he fully falls asleep, he whispers a promise.
“I’m so happy I’ve found you, Zhan-ge. We’re always going to have each other from now on. I’ll make sure you’re well fed everyday, clean your fur, and keep you warm. I won’t stop looking for the magic place, and with you at my side, I know that we’ll find it soon.”
Yibo sleeps comfortable and content, knowing that when he wakes up, tomorrow he’ll have his Zhan-ge with him.
He doesn’t notice the large black eyes staring at him in the darkness of the night, curious and a little bit awed.
*~~**~*~~***~~*