Chapter Text
Dustesh cursed under his breath.
The storm was picking up, sending snowflakes and small pieces of ice dancing through the air, a flurry of white surrounding him. It was impossible to make out the tracks that he’d left when coming out here, and he’d lost his orientation what felt like hours ago by now. There was just the howling wind tearing at his hood and the all surrounding white.
He should have listened to his sister. Natesha had tried to stop him when he left, telling him to wait out the storm brewing on the horizon. But he had so desperately wanted to get rid of the beast that had been mauling their livestock.
‘I should have listened’, Dustesh thought again and again, clutching the gash on his side. His blood was slowly seeping through the leather of his glove, cold and wet. Part of it had already begun to freeze.
He had underestimated the polar bear. Had underestimated how quickly the blizzard would descend on him. Overestimated his own abilities.
His foot caught on something, making him stumble and he was barely able to catch himself. Red speckled the snow before it was whipped away with the next gust of freezing wind. His vision started to swim, the blood loss and frost gripping his body, a heavy, cold tiredness settling in his bones. He tried to blink it away, but his eyelids seemed to be made out of lead. It took him more and more energy to open them back up every time he closed them. The world was a transition of white, black, white, black, white…
Until all that was left was black.
~
A sound rang through the darkness and silence that had blanketed him. It was barely audible, a steady, quiet noise somewhere in the back of his mind. Like rain tapping against the roof of a tent, but it wasn’t water, no…
He shifted, and the next sensation that returned to him was the feeling of fur against his skin. His vision followed closely behind, a dim, warm light filtering through his closed eyelids. Just as Dustesh was beginning to wonder where he might be, he felt the stinging pain in his abdomen, splitting his body in two and he curled up on himself involuntarily.
“Careful, or you’ll tear it open again”, he heard a smooth, unfamiliar voice say, barely audible over his own heavy breathing and the dull ringing in his ears.
The kalashtar forced his eyes open and squinted against the light of a small fire. Walls made of snow surrounded him, probably a cave rather than an igloo judging by how uneven they were. But what caught his attention more than the white walls was the figure sitting opposite of the fire.
The orange glow flickering across his form and the haze still clouding Dusteshs eyes made it hard to notice any details, but the blueish-grey color of his skin and the twisting horns protruding from his almost colorless hair were still more than obvious. A heavy cloak was draped over his broad shoulders, and the kalashtar could feel piercing crimson eyes on him.
Out of reflex, Dustesh reached for his crossbow, but it wasn’t on his side anymore. The movement sent another wave of pain through him, making his eyes water and a small curse escaped his lips.
The man spoke again, his voice a low, somewhat melodic hum: “Relax. I was barely able to patch you back up again. Don’t make my work go to waste.”
Still suspicious of the stranger, he tried to calm his racing heart and slowly moved into a sitting position.
“...what did you do to me?”, he asked, grimacing at how weak his voice sounded.
The man tilted his head, looking at him as if he was nothing more than some curious animal.
“What a weird first question. No “Who are you?”, “Where am I?” or even a simple “Thank you”?”, Dustesh didn’t deign to answer him, keeping his gaze locked on the other instead, until he continued: “I saved you. I found you out in the storm when I was looking for shelter. We’re both lucky to still be alive.”
Dusteshs eyes narrowed.
“I know creatures like you”, he snarled, “You don’t save people. You just bring chaos and destruction, and we hunt you like the monst-”
With a wave of his hand the stranger interrupted him: “Yes, yes, I know. You and your folk have given us quite the trouble in the past. Which is astounding, given how few you are.”
He paused, and Dustesh felt like those rubys stared straight into his soul.
“But I can see now where that strength comes from. You have a fire inside you. Even injured and half dead - your first instinct is to fight. It is… fascinating. A few members of the court could take some inspiration from you.”
“If all you want to do is butter me up, you can save your breath”, the blonde replied while hoisting himself up carefully, “I need to get back to my clan.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to endure my company a bit longer. There’s still a blizzard going on outside. I would guess even a kaltese like yourself would freeze to death before reaching his home in this weather.”
The fire started to die down, but with another flick of his wrist, it flared back up again. Silence settled between them, the crackling of the flames and the wind howling outside of the cave being the only sound inside the small cave. Dustesh could see stray snowflakes drifting in through the tunnel leading out, confirming the strangers words.
Huffing, the kalashtar settled back down.
Knowing storms like these, they would be stuck here for more than a few days.
The fiendish man smiled, revealing sharp canines as he said: “You can call me Naoise. It’s a pleasure.”