Chapter Text
Waves crashed nearby, steady and reassuring, like a heartbeat. The breeze that swept off the ocean was pleasantly cool against the constant heat of the sun. Her body felt light and heavy. If she didn’t focus, she would just float away, limbs separating like driftwood from a shipwreck. Thinking was like treading water, slow and with great effort. She gave up and allowed her body stretch languidly in the sun, letting oblivion swallow her again until she was able to grasp the world again.
She snapped awake.
The sand beneath her was cool, as was the wind skimming off the waves that were reaching up the beach to lick at her feet. She sat up, then fell as the blood rushed from her head. As she waited for the pounding in her temples to die down, she surveyed the night sky. Stars were spattered across it liberally, twinkling gently behind sparse clouds. It was gorgeous, actually. Reminded her of camping with her family, gazing up at the sky by the fire. A fire would be great right now.
She tried sitting up again, slower this time, and shivered on the sand. The waves practically whispered over the sand and she scooted away from it. The beach was empty when she scanned it, stretching endlessly to the left and curving around a bluff to her right.
Her biggest worry was, how did she get here? It reminded her vaguely of her summer vacation spot, but that had a caravan park right on top of it and she couldn’t see people anywhere. If it weren’t for the cold permeating her thin clothes, she would have passed this off as a dream. She still could, but the sea spray tasted salty and the sand was making her legs numb, and she had never been here before in her life.
She had to move, the cold was too much. Her legs wobbled beneath her and she stumbled across the sand like a newborn lamb. Behind her was a forest, unfamiliar trees weaved together into a tight blockade against the oceanside wind. As soon as she slipped into a gap in the trees the waves were muffled. Inside the forest was dim, moonlight filtered through the branches and she squinted to make out the shape of the undergrowth.
If she knew anything about surviving in an unknown area, it was that she needed a place to sleep. Exploring a foreign place in the dark was asking for a snakebite, or worse. Dreams were usually fuzzier about pain, more a suggestion of discomfort than the sharp prick of stones under her feet. Shrubs crunched as she pushed them aside, making her pause and check her surroundings. More than once she jumped as she spotted luminous eyes on the edges of her vision, but they disappeared when she looked for them.
She tripped over a hollow log and it caved around her leg. Her face hit the dirt hard and the force of the impact sent her glasses skittering off into the grass. Snorting the dirt out of her nose, she pushed herself up and twisted to look at her leg. It wasn’t hurt - not badly anyway - but she couldn’t force it out. An experimental pull had her hissing in pain as bark dug sharply into her leg, peeling away the skin. Her first instinct was to struggle but she tried to keep calm and think. Maybe she could push, unhook whatever’s gotten into her? She gave it a tentative try and gasped as the wood cinched tight to her calf. No, no, definitely not.
Her nose scrunches up in concentration. Maybe she could break the-
The dry crackling of leaves to her right made her freeze. Did something hear her struggling and go out looking for an easy meal? She remained where she was, leaning uncomfortably on her shoulder in a cold sweat. God, she didn’t want to die here, eaten by some random animal. She laid there for an eternity, ears straining for any noise. The wind rustling the treetops put her on edge. Her shoulder was screaming when she finally moved again, curling in slowly on herself to dig her finger into the rotting wood.
She wasn’t going to die here. She would fight whatever it was away with a piece of this stupid log if she had to. The creaking of the wood was impossibly loud and she grit her teeth against the rising panic. A sharp crack and she was free. Splinters dug into her fingers where she gripped the piece of wood and she whirled around, brandishing it in front of her like a sword.
The forest was silent.
Her pulse was fast in her ears as she forcibly calmed her shaky breathing. It must have been the wind, or she had scared it away with her sudden motion. The unease lingered in the air, and in the way her legs trembled beneath her. She dropped her arms but kept a tight hold of the wood. A quick test of her leg proved that she could still walk, but it hurt like hell. Her uneven stride had her wincing but it dulled all the other small pains she had.
After what could have been minutes or hours, she realised the sky was starting to lighten. Or, wait, not the sky. The forest around her. She stopped, peering between the tree trunks. To her left there was some kind of light, faint and flickering but definitely there. People, maybe? Some kind of civilisation?
It could have been an abandoned outhouse, she was desperate for anything in her situation. She limped toward it quickly, leaning on tree trunks and crashing through the underbrush. It was getting brighter, it smelled amazing. A fire? A wood fire, maybe some campers? Please, anyone who could help her would be a blessing.
She broke the tree line suddenly, unaware it even had an end, and found herself on the edge of a circular field. A quick glance showed that it was man made, the forest ending abruptly and tents scattered throughout. The fire was crackling merrily, some kind of meat skewered over the top, but it seemed wrong.
The tents weren’t canvas, or nylon, or any fabric. They looked to be made out of animal skins, furs draped over the cross beams for warmth. There were no sleeping bags, or coolers, and it was totally empty. The fire was unattended, and as she looked the atmosphere sucked the warmth from her. She took a tentative step back, suddenly unsure if she wanted to meet the people that lived here, but she stepped onto her bad leg and tumbled, knocking her head against a tree.
She slammed her eyes shut against the pain and cursed quietly, threading her fingers into her hair to cup the sore spot protectively. Her sigh came out as more of a growl at her bad luck. She snapped her eyes open and froze, as another pair caught hers from between the branches. Time seemed to stop.
And then it returned at double speed as the thing dropped down directly where she had been. She wasn’t sticking around to look at it, already she had rolled to the side and scrambled to her feet. The adrenalin kick cured her of her limp as she sprinted across the open ground, cursing her mistake as shadows dropped from what seemed like every tree. She skidded to a stop and tried to make a sharp turn but everywhere she looked there was another creature.
Terror welled up inside her. It swelled her throat shut and made her mouth dry, her legs trembled and she kept a white-knuckle grip on her pitiful piece of wood. A wordless noise made her spin on her heel to face the first thing she had seen. It was covered in the same furs as the tents, stalking toward her on two feet. The only thing she could make out was the glint of the fire in its eyes. The fear rose again, choking her and narrowing her vision. It approached and she raised the wood between them defensively.
It cocked its head to the side and something akin to laughter rumbled out of it. She was so scared, and hurt, and confused, and suddenly angry. So, so very angry. She snarled, as bestial as the vision before her and in two strides leapt upon it.
It gave a strangled yell as she struck out wildly, catching it by the throat. Her vicious growl was drowned out by its own and she was slammed to the ground. As the back of her head cracked against the dirt she saw white and let out a scream. The grip on her front loosened and she kicked up into the mass hard. She felt her foot connect to something and it grunted, but instead of retreating it pressed further over her.
Her panicked breathing filled the space between them and as it leaned closer she snarled in warning. It was breathy and weak but it backed off. Movement caught her eye and she glanced at the others. They were still encircling them, but at a distance. They hadn’t interfered at all. Although, pinned to the ground as she was, it’s not like they really had anything to fear.
Her attention snapped to the one on top of her as it reached up and tugged the hood of its… cloak? It shook its head and peered down at her and she inhaled sharply.
It was a man. Flaming red hair tugged tight into a braid, kept it away from his face. Three dark stripes sliced down his face, messy and crude. He smelt like fire, were they ashes? They made his eyes seem luminous and manic.
He inspected her as she did him, and eventually gave a feral smile. ‘ Og hver, nákvæmlega, ert þú ?’
‘... What?’