Chapter Text
You try to discern your surroundings, but rain pours down in heavy, thick, drops, limiting your sight and blurring your sense of smell. The ground under your claws is soily, although now reduced to runny mud by the weather, and low ferns brush against your scales. You stagger against a tree and revert to human form, gauging the severity of the dripping gash strapping your midsection. You definitely won't be capable of any heavy movement until that heals up, and it looks like Silver Bullet’s nowhere to be seen.
Actually, where on Earth has Valentine sent you this time? Or rather, which version of it? You'd been nowhere near a forest, and the train tracks you’d been fighting on have somehow disappeared. Is a universe possible so vastly altered at any point as to change the climate itself? Come to think of it, has Valentine ever demonstrated the ability to expel others from the main timeline? No. He would've sent you sooner if he could. Something else is at play here.
Either way, whatever tactic your opponent is trying at, it’s working. Even after a few minutes of generating heat, the elements are taking it faster than you can warm up. You might freeze to death if you don't get to shelter soon, and changing into your cold-blooded form would be practically a death sentence. Instead, you pull your hat closer, your shirt tighter, and your head together to get out of this weather.
In the distance, you see a faint orange light. That’s your ticket, you think. It’s either fire, or people, and you could use both right now. Making your way towards the glow, you press your entire forearm against your stomach to try and stop the bleeding.
It doesn't much succeed, but you get to the light soon enough anyhow. A log cabin stands before you, inviting and firm.
Without hesitation, you burst in through the door and begin sniffing around for the supplies you need. You're losing blood fast, permission from the inhabitants can wait. Since nobody seems to be here, your first goal is first aid. Surprisingly and fortunately, you don't need to find a lantern first because of the bright light bulbs in the ceiling. This is either some undisclosed scientific breakthrough, the work of the supernatural, or these people are wealthy enough to afford the expensive electric lighting. Ugh, you hate rich people.
But It doesn't matter right now. You’ll probably need stitches, but the best you can find in the drawers is a roll of bandages and some metallic scissors, and anyway, you're not exactly in the condition to put them in yourself. Shivering slightly, you remove your wet top and apply pressure while you dress the injury with what you have. After that is the time to heat up, although the cabin is already significantly warmer than outside.
Looking at the place, it seems pretty cozy, albeit a bit messy. Everything seems refined though, and there are tons of materials and objects you don't recognize. This is definitely some old banker's or lawyer's place who’s up in all the newest gear, and now you don't feel too bad about messing it up.
The strange pieces of furniture are mostly made of metal, and box shaped in some capacity. You ignore them for the most part, because their function is a mystery to you, but a large metal grate that sticks out from the wall catches your attention as one that will prove effective in your goal of warmth regardless of activation. You curl up around it under a scavenged quilt, with only pants on, and subconsciously shift into a dinosaur once the threat of freezing to death is gone. You try to stay awake and alert, but the sudden comfort and your fatigue from an eventful day eventually lulls you into night's dream.