It's cold as she awakes, hugged by the arms of a powdery white blanket. Snow. Calming and steady breaths escape her lungs into the crisp air that fills her. She slowly sits up, not a thought in her head. Her eyes wander, dancing around, observing. Gnarled old trees stand dormant, whispering soft sighs. There are no birds, no animals. There is nothing.

Muffled sounds of trickling water steals away her attention...River Hokkaido has not yet frozen over. Calm and smooth like wet mirrors, it reflects the tree branches into TheiR world. Rhyndelle. She leans over the edge of the riverbank, taking in the beautiful cherry blossom trees, the Soul Trees. They susurrate soothing sorrowful chants, saturated with melancholy. Without any sign of a slight breeze, the water surface ripples. It becomes windy TherE, something terrible has happened, she can feel it pulse in her putty-like bones. The moon stays suspended within the night sky, watching over the Soul Trees of Rhyndelle, for the tides no longer exist in the real reality. Her heart stops, flat lining, frozen along with the rest of the world.

She looks around her, there is still no wind, no sign of life other than hers. The precious cherry blossom petals begin to swirl in sparse eddies. All of a sudden the wind is cut short, the petals no longer engaged in their intricate dance. They fall to the ground, lifeless beauties in the night. Thickset cumulonimbus clouds intrude the peace of the white skies, thrusting the moon out of view. She starts backing away from the edge of Hokkaido, suddenly horrified by the rapid change of the scene. Something tugs at her memory...This has happened before, she can feel it, she knows it. Someone is coming. Her thoughts become frantic and out of control. She cringes in the snow, hugging her knees tightly, anything to make the world stop. Just stop...just stop. And it does– but it's already too late.