Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Friendo woke up buried in the snow. They could feel their flesh being gnawed on by the cold, frostbite and hyperthermia feeling like they were just mere moments away from settling in and taking Friendo over. What the hell happened? They dug their way out of the snow, and found themself on an abandoned highway. They brought their hands up to their face, and yelled for their friend.

“Buddy? Buddy? Where are you? What happened?” Friendo frantically looked around, seeing nothing but the blinding snow and abandoned cars. They heard something behind them, and turned around. They saw Buddy's arm break out from a pile of snow, Buddy fully emerging from it soon after.

“Friendo! Are you okay?” Buddy asked, panic flooding their voice, running towards Friendo and lifting them up into a hug.

“I think I am? I’m freezing.” Friendo answered, holding onto Buddy tight.

“I can tell. I’m guessing you don’t know how we got here either?” Buddy walked around the cold wasteland idly, looking at all the turned over, beaten up, rusty cars.

“Not a single clue. I can’t even remember anything that happened before I woke up.”

“Strangely enough, I also can’t remember anything. Guess we're stuck here until we can figure that out, huh?”

“Seems like it.”

Buddy set Friendo down, and they began searching the cars for any clothes, fire starting materials, and maybe even some food. Friendo couldn’t find anything other than a few boxes of matches and a bag of somehow moldy beef jerky. They turned around and went to find Buddy to see if they had any better luck with scavenging.

“Any luck, Bud?” They yelled, still not sure where they were.

“Depends on what you think is lucky.” Buddy yelled back, emerging from one of the cars in the distance. They were wearing a mint-green windbreaker, a dark blue beanie, and dark grey snow pants that didn’t fit them in the slightest bit. Friendo could see that they were carrying a pile of clothes in one hand.

“Holy shit, where’d you find all those clothes?” Friendo asked, running towards them, nearly slipping and falling over the iced over highway.

“You uh,” Buddy looked back at the turned over red car they emerged from just a moment ago, and then back to Friendo, “you wouldn’t want to know.”

Friendo immediately knew what Buddy meant, and grabbed the clothes from Buddy. Friendo went into a relatively un-destroyed car and changed into the clothes, Buddy waiting nearby. When Friendo got out the car, Buddy looked over and realized that this was the first time they’d ever seen Friendo without their costume.

“Oh wow.”

“Hmm? What is it?” Friendo looked up at Buddy, wondering what was fascinating them.

“Oh nothing, I’ve just never seen you wear anything other than your ghost costume, that’s all. You look nice.” Buddy explained, looking at Friendo's new outfit.

The costume they were wearing was now wrapped around them like a cloak, and they were wearing an oversized blue hoodie under it, along with black snow pants that were far too long for them. Their boots were clearly also too big, but they were far better than just walking through the snow barefoot. Friendo was quite pale, almost sickly pale, and their hair was as white as the snow around them. Their eyes were black, having white pupils that were glowing.

“Oh! Thanks,” Friendo responded, blushing slightly, “uh, did you find anything we could use for a fire?” Friendo shook their head and asked.

“No, I think we'll have to go exploring more for that.” Buddy answered, and looked to see how close it was to the sun setting. It was about mid-day, so they still had some time to gather resources and find a safe place to rest.

Buddy and Friendo found a small shallow cave in the side of a mountain that seemed stable enough to rest in. They had made sure to grab as many sticks and branches as they traveled, enough to at least last the night. Friendo and Buddy arranged the sticks and used some of the matches Friendo found to light the fire.

“I'll keep an eye on the fire, you get some rest, alright?” Buddy told Friendo, who was still shivering from the cold.

“I will, don’t worry. Just gonna try to warm up first.” Friendo responded, “it was so cold that I felt like I was warming up again while we were picking up those sticks.” They added.

“Hah, yeah. At least you’re lucky enough to have shoes that you're able to wear.” Buddy laughed, pointing at their own snow covered doorstopperesque feet.

“Yeah, but these shoes you found are so big that they probably could fit you!” Friendo laughed, gesturing at the snow boots that were so large they looked like clown shoes on them.

After the two got done laughing, Buddy sat next to them by the fire, eventually picking them up and setting them on their lap so they could warm up faster. It was oddly peaceful. The dark cave being illuminated by the warm glow of the fire, the smell of the wood burning, the contrast between the sounds of the fire crackling while the wind wailed just outside the mouth of the cave, it was almost comforting.

“I'm glad I'm here with you, Buddy.” Friendo said quietly, clearly tired, yet content.

“I'm glad I'm here with you too, Friendo.” Buddy said back, just as quiet.

Buddy wrapped their arms around Friendo as they dozed off to sleep. They unzipped their windbreaker and wrapped that around them, zipping it up for them, hoping that it would keep them more warm. Buddy didn't need to sleep, but they still enjoyed being able to take the time to rest with their friend during such a stressful time.

Every now and then, Buddy would have to toss a stick into the fire, but it was easy to manage. At least, it was easy to manage until Buddy realized they had thrown the last stick into the fire and how not even half of the night had gone by. Buddy had set Friendo down by the fire, leaving them against a rock formation in the cave, and then went to the mouth of said cave, looking around the area. They noticed some large branches nearby, and ran up to them. They were too large to just carry inside the cave, so they had to break the branches down into smaller pieces.

As they grabbed the now broken down pieces of the branch, they noticed some lights in the distance. As Buddy focused on the lights more, they realized that it seemed to be a group of people exploring. They weren’t going in the exact direction of the cave, but they were passing by at a distance. Buddy watched as one of the figures stopped and gestured with their torch towards the cave. Buddy retreated back into the cave with the firewood soon after.

Putting some of the wood into the fire, Buddy sat back down next to Friendo, who was now awake, “We didn't get enough?” They asked sleepily.

“Yeah, I had to break up some branches outside. I saw some people while I was out there.”

“People?”

“Mhm. They had torches and were passing by. I think they saw the cave.”

“What makes you think that? Do you think we'll be safe?” Buddy noticed that Friendo seemed to be a bit more panicked, and so they wrapped their arm around them and got a bit closer.

“I saw one of them waving their torch towards the cave, but I don’t think they’re a threat. I didn’t see any weapons on them, at least.” Though they easily could have had some as they were pretty far away, Buddy thought.

“Alright, we should still be careful if they come here though. We're in a completely different world now.”

“I know.”

Friendo ended up falling back asleep, and Buddy went back to tending to the fire. They couldn’t stop thinking about those people they saw. They were clearly advanced enough to be able to travel during the night, but did they have their own place? If they did, then did that mean there are other civilizations? Were they other people who got taken out of their world? Buddy wouldn’t know unless their paths cross.

Their curiosity got the best of them and they checked outside the cave again. There was no trace of the people they saw. Buddy wanted to figure out where they were, but they didn’t want to just leave Friendo alone in the cave. They went back inside, tossed more wood into the fire, and laid down next to Friendo, waiting for the Sun to rise.

“Good morning sleepy head!” Buddy said to Friendo.

“Is it day yet?” Friendo responded, sitting up and warming their hands by the dwindling fire.

“Almost, it looks like the sun is about to rise.” They leaned a bit closer as they began to notice something, Friendo scooting next to Buddy so they could watch the Sun rise up.

By the time Buddy figured out what they were seeing, they were greeted by a small group of people holding torches and wearing layered clothes made of animal pelts. Before Buddy or Friendo could do anything, one of the men looked back at what appeared to be the only woman in the group.

“By Yisrea, Ezra! You were right!” A bulky man with a long braided beard shouted in a gruff voice.

The man ran up to Friendo, and got down on one knee, still having to tilt his head down to look Friendo in the eyes, “We're here the help you, alright? Is there anyone else around?” His voice was more soft and comforting than before. As Friendo opened their mouth to respond, they heard one of the other men begin talking quietly to another.

“Another kid?” A short man with inconsistent stubble who appeared to be blind in his right eye said to the much taller man with a prosthetic arm that was right next to him.

“Seems like it.” The man responded. Friendo stood up, and began to speak.

“Hey! I know I'm short, but I'm not a kid!”

“Oh,” The bulky man began, “I apologize. Is there anyone else?”

“Mhm.” Buddy said, standing up, towering over the men in front of them. The man with the rough voice stumbled backwards, and fell to the floor, dropping his torch.

“H-HOLY SHIT!” The tall man screamed, dropping his torch and then reaching to grab what appeared to be a crossbow that was on his back, but he dropped it and froze, eyes shaking as they locked onto Buddy.

“Simon you idiot! You don’t just pull out your crossbow for no reason!” The ginger girl, presumably named Ezra, scolded the frozen man.

“Yeah! What the hell is wrong with you?” The partially blind man added.

“ARE YOU TWO NOT SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING? I THINK I HAVE A PRETTY GOOD RE-” Simon began to shout back, but was cut off.

“Simon, Ezra, Mark, zip it!” The big man said to the three, sighed, and then turned to the only person who hadn’t spoke yet, “I'll make sure to tell the chief about your good behavior, Yamo.”

“S-sorry Mackenzie.” Simon responded.

“I apologize about that,” Mackenzie turned to face Buddy and Friendo, “we're not that familiar with the people of Frostland, only the terrain itself.” He explained.

“I understand. You said something about a chief?” Buddy asked.

“Indeed I did. We have a settlement not too far from here, only a few hours away. Would you two like to accompany us back?”

“Like, an actual settlement? Somewhere to sleep without having to worry about getting eaten by something?” Friendo asked with hope in their voice, Buddy laughing at how that was what Friendo deemed the most important part.

“It’s the best settlement in Frostland as far as we're aware.”

“Then we'll go.” Buddy said, looking at Friendo, and then the group of people.

“As you’ve probably figured out, I'm Mackenzie,” he waved for the two to follow him as he turned around, “the leader of STR, Scout Team Ruby.”

The group of now seven left the cave, and began to travel. Mackenzie went on to introducing Buddy and Friendo to the other scouts, as they didn’t want to talk directly to them, presumably out of fear. Buddy understood why they were afraid of them, but it still hurt. They were just happy that they and Friendo were now on the path to having a new home, with bigger and better adventures ahead...

Chapter Text

The group had been traveling for roughly two hours at this point. The journey to the settlement was almost completely silent, the only noises heard being the crunching of snow and the howling of the wind. As the seven climbed up a hill, Mackenzie looked back at Buddy and Friendo.

"Look up ahead, we're almost there now." He said. The two looked out into the distance when they reached the top and saw smoke rising out of a large crater in the ground, along with a hot air balloon high in the sky above it.

"It ain't much, but it's better than nothing." The two heard a quiet voice talk to them. It was Yamo, the boy with curly ginger hair like Ezra's. His voice was much higher than the voices of the other men. He looked away when Friendo looked at him.

Friendo noticed how there were several groups of people by the settlement. Some were walking away, and others were going inside. They tapped Buddy's leg to get their attention.

"How many people do you think they send out everyday?" Friendo whispered to them, prompting Buddy to notice the other people.

"At least four."

The group arrived at the settlement, and descended down the elevator shaft into the crater. Mackenzie pulled out shoddy megaphone, and began making an announcement.

"Hear ye, hear ye! I am Mackenzie of STR and we have returned safely with two survivors from the Frostland!" He yelled through the megaphone, and began walking towards the large generator. Buddy and Friendo followed behind them, unsure what else to do.

They watched as at least a hundred people gathered around the generator watching the scout team, their hands clasped together loosely. Some were children, some were akin to walking corpses. They all bowed their heads as Mackenzie stepped into the inner city.

"It's always good to have some new faces around here." A woman in the crowd could be heard.

"We've been needing some new good men in the mines." A man said to another.

"I wonder if they're from any of the fallen settlements." Another woman said in an airy voice, almost like she was trying to whisper, sounding much older than the other women in the crowd.

As soon as Buddy and Friendo got into sight, however, the banter had completely stopped. The two were startled when they heard a woman screaming, followed by the other people in crowd shouting at them.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

"You call THAT a survivor?!"

"That thing doesn't belong here!"

"Is it even alive?!"

They were all pointing at Buddy specifically. The group of people started getting louder, everyone yelling over each other, but Buddy didn’t move. All the people around seemed scared of them, and they were afraid something would happened if they moved even just an inch. 

Suddenly, someone jumped out of the crowd in front of them. It was a large bald guy with an unkept beard who looked like he had just woken up. He wore armor not unlike the armor the scouts wore, and held a shield and sword with a wooden handle and pommel. Buddy noticed a long scar under his chin. “Who are you?! And how dare you come into my town?!” He yelled, pointing his sword up in Buddy’s direction. They stumbled backwards.

"Kaydan! Everyone! What has gotten into you?" Mackenzie shouted, getting in front of Buddy and Friendo and holding out his shield.

"Have you all gone mad?!" Kaydan shouted at Mackenzie and the rest of the team. "Look at it! That thing isn't a fucking human! It's a monster! We can't trust it!"

It seemed like all hell was about to break loose as Mackenzie began to reach for his crossbow, all until bells chimed and a heavenly voice was heard.

"Everyone! What is with all the commotion?" The man let every syllable linger as he spoke. Everyone stopped yelling and looked over. A man with purple robes with gold accents holding a large staff was speaking through a megaphone. His white hood covered the upper half of his face, only his lengthy gray beard showing. The staff was shaped like a T, the area where the top and bottom met was a half circle instead. A small spike on the middle of both sides of the half circle under the top of the modified T.

"Do you not see this absolute monstrosity STR brought here?!" Kaydan shouted at the man. He looked at Buddy, Friendo, and then Mackenzie.

"Where did you find these two?" He asked.

"Ezra noticed smoke coming out of cave while we were on the way to the fishing huts. On our way back, we checked it out, and found them." Mackenzie explained.

"I uh, I freaked out and almost shot the tall one when I saw them." Simon added.

"And did they return any sort of hostility?"

"Not at all."

The robed man looked around the crowd, and began to speak louder, refraining from using the megaphone. "I want everyone to give these two a chance then. Yisrea would not want us to banish them for just how they look. They're as human as you and I." He turned specifically to meet Kaydan's gaze for that final statement.

Kaydan grunted and turned around, going into one of the houses surrounding the generator. The crowd began to break up, but they all kept their eyes on Buddy for as long as they could as they walked away. Buddy turned to look at Friendo, and noticed that everyone in the scout team except Yamo and Mackenzie had left.

"I'm sorry about that, you two." Yamo quietly said to Buddy and Friendo.

"They'll warm up to you guys, I'm sure. It might take a while, though." Mackenzie added.

"So uh," Friendo looked around, "what now?"

"Oh, right. Yamo, go take these guys to the house over there," Mackenzie began, pointing to a street that wrapped around a large rock, "you know which house."

"Alright boss." Yamo watched as Mackenzie walked into what appeared to be a tavern.

"We get our own house?" Friendo asked Yamo.

"Mhm," he began walking down the street and waved for Buddy and Friendo to follow, "you'll have a roommate, but he's a nice guy. I know you two will be safe with him."

The two reached the houses that bordered the street. "You'll be living in that one." Yamo said, pointing at the one all the way in the back on the left. He walked back towards the generator.

Buddy and Friendo went to the house, and pushed the door open. They were instantly shocked by just how warm it was inside the house, being at least 30, maybe even 40°C warmer than it was outside. There was someone on the leather couch by the fireplace who immediately jumped up to greet the two.

"Oh, hey! I didn't know you two were going to be living here." He stumbled over to them, making the two notice that both of his legs were prosthetic. "I'm Erik, what are your names? I don't think they were ever said at the gathering."

"My name is Buddy, and this is Friendo." Buddy answered. Friendo took off their boots and windbreaker before sitting down on the couch, Buddy walked over to sit down too. "Sorry for just walking in like that." They said.

"No problem, no problem! I wasn't doing anything important." Erik pulled out a chair from a table and moved it next to the couch. "Are you guys okay? You two look exhausted." He asked.

"Yeah, we could use some rest." Friendo replied.

"I've never seen anything like that." Buddy said, "Those people looked terrified."

"Yeah, you're quite different from the rest as I'm sure you've noticed. I'm glad the chief himself stepped in, if it were just the faith keepers things probably wouldn't have gone as well as they did." Erik stood up, pulling two mugs off the shelf and putting them on a tray next to the stove. He made a tea for both himself and Friendo before returning to sit beside the two.

"What happened to your legs?" Buddy asked Erik.

"Oh, frostbite. Pretty much everyone with a prosthetic has it cause of that. Not that many cases anymore, the heating in the workplaces have finally been fixed, but it still happens." Erik explained, sipping his tea. "Food rations are about to be handed out," Erik began, "do you need to eat?" He asked Friendo.

"Yeah, the only thing I've had was some moldy beef jerky last night." They answered.

"Damn, I'll go run to the cook house right now then. I'll be back in a few minutes, make yourself comfy!" Erik left the house.

"He seems nice." Buddy said to Friendo.

"He does, yeah." Friendo responded, drinking more of their tea. The two sat in silence enjoying the warmth, waiting for Erik to come back.

"Hey! Sorry for taking so long, one of the automations broke down in front of the cook house so nobody could go inside." Erik said as he opened the door and walked inside. Friendo was asleep on the couch under a fur blanket with Buddy, but was woken up by Erik.

"Oh, I forgot you were getting food." Buddy said as Friendo drowsily sat up. Erik set a bowl of soup down on the mantle of the fireplace, and handed Friendo a plate of...something that was vaguely meat, and what looked like very depressed, watery, mashed potatoes on the side.

"They told me to give you the soup, but from what you told me, you probably haven't had a real meal in a long time, huh?" Erik said as he picked up his bowl of soup from off the mantle and sat down in the chair.

"Far too long since." Friendo replied, hesitantly taking a bite of the meal. It didn't seem to have any seasoning, but the mystery meat was tender and juicy. They still had no idea what it was, but they didn't want to know at this point. The mashed potatoes were as depressing as they looked, resembling more of a sauce if anything.

"The potatoes are usually a lot better, I promise." Erik said to Friendo as he watched the potatoes drip off their fork and back on the plate. Buddy looked around the house and noticed the same T that the chief had his staff shaped like hanging on the wall. Above the mantle of the fireplace, there was a plaque that had 'Yisrea Watches Over Thou' engraved on it.

"Who is Yisrea?" Buddy asked Erik.

"Our God. She's the one who gave us the strength to build this settlement and survive," Erik began explaining, "or at least, that's what our chief Yismer managed to make half the people here believe."

"The chief made it up?" Friendo asked in-between bites.

"Yeah, but we got to be quiet about it. They punish non-believers." Erik responded.

"So that's why you have the T and the plaque then." Buddy thought aloud.

"Yisrea's Cross, yeah." Erik said, finishing his soup. A few moments later, Friendo finished their meal too. "I'll take these dishes back to the cook house. The bedrooms are upstairs, they're all free, I sleep down here." Erik took the plate and fork from Friendo, and left the house again.

The two got off the couch and went upstairs. The first thing they noticed was that only a few of the rooms actually had doors, the rest just had the doorway covered up with animal hide. The rooms were all laid out the same, a window across from the door, a bed that just barely fit sideways against the back wall under the window, a nightstand, and a closet.

"I don't think the beds are even half as long as me." Buddy said, barely able to even fit in the room without bumping into anything.

"Maybe we can ask Erik if you can stay downstairs? It looks like that's the only place you'll fit." Friendo said to Buddy, sitting down on the bed.

"Maybe."

Friendo looked out the window, and saw that it was already dark out. They watched Erik run down the street back to the house. "You can ask him now, actually. He's almost here." Buddy went downstairs, and Friendo laid down on the bed. They couldn't help but think about their old home with Buddy as they tried to fall asleep in the bed.

"Alright, he said yes." Buddy said as they opened the door, startling the half asleep Friendo. "Oh, I'm sorry for scaring you." Buddy quickly apologized.

"It's okay Buddy, I've been having troubles falling asleep anyways."

"Oh? What's wrong?" Buddy knelt down next to the bed.

"I miss our home." They said after a moment of silence.

"I miss it too, Friendo, but this is our new home now." Buddy put their hand on Friendo's head.

"I know." Friendo said quietly.

Buddy could feel just how cold Friendo was, along with the air around the bed. It was like Buddy has stuck their hand into a deep freezer. The window must have had a crack in it or something, they thought.

"I'll be right back." Buddy told Friendo, getting up and leaving the room, shutting the door quietly. Friendo sat up and looked out the window again. They watched people gather around the generator, but it was too far away to figure out what was really going on. They heard their door open.

"You're already back?" Friendo asked, turning to look at Buddy, who was holding a large fur blanket bigger than the one they were using on the couch.

"Yeah, I asked Erik if he had another one of these, and he gave me this to give to you." Buddy said as they covered Friendo with the fur.

"Oh, thank you Buddy!" They could already feel themself getting warmer.

"My pleasure, Friendo. I'll be downstairs, okay? Get some good rest, we both deserve it." Buddy said to them, leaving the room once again. Friendo shut their eyes, and began to drift off to sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day...

Chapter Text

It was quiet inside the house. Only the sounds of the lit fireplace crackling and the tapping of Buddy's foot filled the room. They were sitting on the stairs, trying to make time go by faster. They looked out the window next to the staircase, moving the hide curtain to the side. Buddy couldn't get a good view of the generator due to the giant ass rock, but they could still see groups of people moving about the streets that were in view.

Buddy was getting quite bored, and looked around for anything that could tell them the time, and found something that sort of resembled a clock. But instead of the twelve hour format, it used the twenty-four hour format. It was about four, so they figured that at least Erik would be awake in a few hours. Buddy got off the steps and went upstairs to check on Friendo. They doubted that they would be awake, but they cracked the door open anyways.

Friendo was asleep on the bed, curled up into a ball like a little pill bug with the blankets covering their entire body. It was cold inside the room, but Buddy hoped that the blankets helped. They stepped inside the room, and grabbed the pillow that was on the bed. Buddy gently lifted Friendo's covered head up, and slid the pillow under them. Buddy laid down on the cold hardwood floor, and rested their head on the bed's mattress. It wasn't comfortable at all, they might as well have been back inside the cave, but they wanted to be closer to Friendo. They were the only person they knew they could actually trust.

Buddy found themself able to actually relax and let time pass by, Friendo's slow and steady breathing soothing them in a way. They knew that Friendo would never leave them. They knew that they would be safe with them. They knew that they would never hurt them.

"ACK!" Buddy yelped as Friendo threw the pillow at them. They sat up and turned to look at Friendo, who was trying to get out of the blanket fortress they wrapped around themself.

"Here, here, let me help you Friendo." Buddy said as they unraveled Friendo from the furry blanket cocoon. Once their head was free, they climbed out of their fabric tomb and sat down on the bed.

"I thought you were going to be staying downstairs?" Friendo asked, sounding like they were already about to fall back asleep.

"I was, but I missed you." Buddy told them, contorting their body so they could sit on the bed next to Friendo. Buddy hugged them tightly.

"You did?" Friendo asked.

"Mhm." Was all Buddy responded with, still hugging them. They were confused, but they enjoyed being close with Buddy, so they didn't say anything about how they weren't even separated for that long. They wrapped their arms around them, and hugged them back.

"Are you cold?" Buddy asked.

"Not anymore." Was all Friendo replied with. They closed their eyes, and Buddy could tell that they were already back asleep in the matter of seconds.

Buddy stayed with them up until they noticed sun trickling in the room through the window, and Friendo waking back up.

"You stayed with me the entire time?" They asked rubbing their eyes, quite drowsy.

"I didn't even realize so much time went by." Buddy responded. Soon enough, the two heard a knock on the door, Erik on the other side.

"Figured you went up here, Bud." He said after opening the door, stepping into the room. "Come downstairs soon, work shift is starting in two hours."

"Okay. Wait. Work? We have jobs?" Buddy asked, tilting their head at Erik.

"Not yet, but you two'll need some. It's how you get respect around here." He explained.

"Are you sure we'll be able to get a job?" Buddy asked as they walked down the street with Erik and Friendo.

"When it comes to the settlement as a whole, hell no, they probably wouldn't even accept you guys on the mail delivery team. But when it comes to the gal in particular I'm taking you guys to, there's no doubt about it, hah!." Erik said as he continued to guide the other two to the other side of the settlement.

Eventually, they made it to a section that appeared to be reserved specifically to coal mining. Before anyone could say anything, a large muscular woman came out of a gathering post and yelled for Erik. Buddy grabbed Friendo and hid behind a factory.

"Did you get me some new workers yet?" She asked, her voice gruff and loud.

"I did!" Erik said, motioning the two to come out of hiding. As soon as Buddy came into view, the woman's eyes went wide.

"Erik." She said, still staring at Buddy.

"Gretchen." He responded.

"What in bloody hell am I looking at?" She asked, placing her right hand on her hip and gesturing at Buddy with the other.

"That's Buddy," Erik pointed at them, "and that's Friendo." He pointed to the other. Gretchen was quiet for a moment, looking at the ground, her left hand rubbing her eyes as she thought to herself.

"Can they work?" She finally asked Erik.

"Probably!"

"Good enough for me. Follow." She said, walking back into the gathering post, the two quickly following behind.

"Wait, we're employed just like that?" Buddy asked Gretchen.

"Mhm. What did you expect? A job interview?" She said, grabbing two pickaxes off the wall inside the post.

"I just." Buddy gestured at themself.

"I've employed three-legged mail courier dogs here, you could be a literal cockroach and I couldn't care less." She tossed a pickaxe at Buddy, and then at Friendo, walking over to a pile of coal produced by a coal thumper.

"Thanks?"

"If you can follow basic instructions, you can work here. Speaking of, you see these piles of coal?"

Buddy and Friendo nodded.

"Good. Get to mining then. I'll be watching." She began walking away.

"Wait!" Buddy shouted.

"What?" Gretchen questioned, her voice lowering and growing more raspy, clearly annoyed.

"I don't know how to use this." Buddy explained, scratching the back of their head.

"Oh. Okay. I'll show you then." She walked over and took the pickaxe that Buddy had, and walked up to a coal pile. "Watch." She took a few steps back, spread her legs out just the slightest bit, raised the pickaxe over her head, and striked it down into the coal. "You try."

She gave the pickaxe back to them, and let them give it a shot. They tried their best to mimic what Gretchen did. They stepped back, spread their legs out a bit, lifted the pickaxe up, and dug into the coal.

"Was that good?" Buddy asked.

"You're using the wrong end."

"Huh?"

"You need to use the chisel end."

"..."

"Turn it around." She said, moving her pointer finger to draw circles, getting annoyed.

"Oh." Buddy turned the pickaxe around, and tried again.

"What about now?"

"Well, it's better than the majority, I have to admit. Still terrible though. Bend at your waist, NOT with your back. That'll just make the pain of living more painful, trust me."

Friendo watched as Gretchen guided Buddy through every step, pushing and pulling Buddy's body into the proper position whenever they had it wrong. Everytime, Buddy still struggled with keeping their back straight, but had everything else down.

"I think I might be too tall?" Buddy said to Gretchen.

"Shit. Hmm." She scratched her chin. "Get on your knees."

"Okay." Buddy got on their knees and tried it again.

"There we go. Good job. Good to finally have someone who listens." Gretchen congratulated Buddy flatly, her focus changing to Friendo.

"Hey Franky, I hope you were watching to learn how to mine." She yelled at Friendo, laughing.

"T-that's not even my name!"

"I don't care. Now show me what you learned."

Friendo swung their pickaxe, and turned to Gretchen.

"That good?"

Gretchen laughed. "You stick your ass out more than the prostitutes at the pub!" She laughed, making Buddy look over.

"Hey!" Friendo yelled, stomping their foot.

"Gretchen, don't talk to Friendo like that." Buddy said to her.

"I'm just telling the truth, Buster." She laughed more. "It's pretty good other than that though." She added.

The three looked at the generator in the distance when they heard a large siren blaring.

"Welp, that's the work alarm, get to mining you two!" She walked off into the gathering post.

"Hey Friendo?"

"Yes Buddy?"

Buddy looked around for a moment.

"What is a prostitute?"

"u h -"

Hours had gone by and the two's work shift was finally over. Gretchen had given Buddy and Friendo a slip to allow them to get some actual clothes from the tailor, and sent them off back home.

"We're gonna have to do that every day?" Friendo said, somewhat out of breath.

"Seems like it." Buddy replied, holding their hand as they walked back to their house.

When they got to the generator, they were surprised to hear dogs barking. Before they could stop and look around for said dogs, Buddy got jumped by three dogs wearing satchels with newspapers sticking out.

"Oi! Get off 'em!" A lady yelled, getting the dogs off of Buddy. It was Ezra. "I'm sorry about that, these ones are new to the team."

"DOG."

"DOG."

"HEY DON'T PET THE BLOODY MAIL DOGS-"

But it was too late, the two had already bombarded the husky dogs with love, petting and giving back scratches to the three. Friendo even let the dog lick their face, laughing as it did.

"That isn't very sanitary, Friendo." Buddy said, still petting the two dogs that had claimed Buddy as their bed, laying on top of them.

"These dogs are never going to get trained." The two heard Ezra say under her breath, but continued loving the dogs anyways.

"We used to drink pond water!" Friendo yelled, laughing.

"AND?"

Ezra lifted the dogs off of Buddy, and somehow managed to grab the dog by Friendo too, muttering something to the dogs and setting them down. "You two got a job yet?" Ezra asked Buddy and Friendo.

"We were actually just getting back from mining coal at the coal thumpers." Buddy said, Friendo nodding.

"That's good, that's good. You guys live with Erik, right?"

"Mhm."

"Here, take this." Ezra handed Buddy a newspaper from one of the dog's satchels. "New issue of New London Sports."

"New London?"

"Yeah? Wait. Did no one tell you that's what this place is called?"

The two shook their heads no.

"DAMN IT YAMO I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" Ezra yelled, running off with the dogs. The two shrugged it off and continued walking back home.

When they got inside, they were met by Erik sitting on the couch.

"Ah, I see Gretchen didn't kill you guys, hah!" Erik got up and grabbed the newspaper from Buddy. "How are you two doing?" He asked, sitting back down.

"Good. Gretchen gave us a slip to get some clothes custom made." Buddy said, showing him the paper.

"We also got to pet some dogs!" Friendo added.

"Heh, I thought I heard some barking." Erik said grabbing a plate of the mystery meat and what appeared to be microcarrots with some burnt pieces of unidentifiable crunchy mass. "Your plate is on the mantle, Friendo."

Friendo grabbed the plate, and sat down next to Erik.

"You gonna sit with us?" Friendo asked Buddy.

"I'll be upstairs, I have an idea." Buddy said, climbing the stairs on all fours like an animal.

"I."

"You saw that, right?" Erik asked Friendo.

"Do the temples do exorcisms?" Friendo asked.

"Well they will now." The two laughed.

About an hour went by, the majority of it being spent by Erik hyping Friendo up to eat their plate of disturbing food. When they finished, they went upstairs to go to their room and get some well deserved rest, completely forgetting that Buddy had gone up there. They opened the door and were met by the room having a bunch of beds moved into it, making the bed longer by basically stretching it to fill a good half of the room. Buddy was laying on the bed. Their feet still would hang off, but now they were able to actually lay down without contorting their body into easily some of the most uncomfortable positions known to mankind.

"Oh wow." Friendo said as they shut the door behind them. "How many beds did you have to grab?"

"At least four."

"God damn it." Friendo laughed and laid down next to Buddy.

"You going to bed now?" Buddy asked.

"..."

"Aaaand they're already asleep." They laughed to themself quietly, and grabbed the blanket next to them and cover the both of them up.

"Goodnight, sleepyhead."

Chapter Text

Buddy and Friendo were finishing up their second day mining the coal piles at the thumpers. The horn, which had been changed to be a series of ringing bells, went off, Yismir informing everyone that the work shift was over.

"I can't wait to get some actual shoes!" Friendo said to Buddy as they put their pickaxe up, "Gretchen said it was around the generator somewhere, right?"

"I think so. Let me check." Buddy replied pulling the paper out of the pockets of their snow pants.

"OLI N' CO. TAILORY" it read at the top, along with some of Gretchen's writing that could only be described as comically bad supposedly saying that she'd cover the clothes.

"Doesn't say, but we can probably find it." Buddy responded after examining the slip.

The two walked around the central ring a bit, only notable business held there being the pub. They noticed two young men sitting by the generator talking, the bigger of the two eyeballing Buddy.

"I'm going to ask these gentlemen for directions." Buddy told Friendo.

"You sure? They don't really look that nice." Friendo responded. One was built like a fallen twig from a tree, the other like the trunk of said tree. The bigger one had dark brown hair, so dark it could be mistaken as black. The other had dirty blonde hair and a sole patch with stubble around it. They both wore clothes that valued warmth below the waist more than that above it, the majority of their pecs showing for some reason.

"I mean, it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Buddy said back to Friendo.

"True." Friendo watched as Buddy approached the men.

"Good evening sirs, do you two know where Oli's Tailory is? My friend and I here are having troubles finding it." Buddy asked the two.

The blonde seemed like he was about to speak, but the other stood up and began talking instead.

"Like yer kind would even need to 'fend from the cold." He said with a strong cockney accent, stumbling in place, the smell of moonshine coming off of his breath.

"Henry, calm down." The other man said more posh, standing up and getting between Buddy and him.

"Why should I?" Henry asked.

"Just look at it." The blonde responded, Henry looking Buddy up and down for a moment.

"And? Bloody fella looks like 'er from a kiddo's sketchbook! I bet I could take it on right 'ere right now, Will!"

"Henry, don't-"

"Freakshow!" Henry pushed Will out of the way and yelled as he pointed at Buddy, "I challenge ye to a duel!"

"A... duel?" Buddy asked, trying to ignore all the insults from the man.

"Gonna beat the shit out of each other till one o' us can't no more!" Henry pushed Buddy and stepped back. "It's been a while since I've had a real fight, if ye can give me that, we'll show you where Oli's is!"

"Look Henry, I really don't think this is a good idea." Will said.

"Yeah and I really don't think I should listen to you, so I won't." Henry said back.

Buddy looked over to Friendo, and then back at Henry.

"I don't do much of the fighting. Friendo's good though!" Buddy said, Friendo looking at them with an expression that simply stated 'why the fuck'

"Oh really? Well let's see how true that is!" Henry pushed Buddy out of the way and approached Friendo, grabbing them and lifting them up slightly by the collar of their windbreaker. "Ye ready for an ass whoopin'?"

"Depends, are you?" Friendo said, a bit afraid, but confident that they would deal with a drunk guy using only his fists. They looked over and noticed that Buddy was completely locked onto Henry.

"Kind of a silly question is that? Of course I am!" Henry dropped them, and balled his hands into fists, getting into a fighting stance.

"Hands only, right?" Friendo asked.

"You got shit for brains or what boy!? No more stupid questions, just get to it!"

"Okay, okay."

The two moved over to a more open part of the center ring, a small crowd forming to watch the duel, Buddy and Will included. Henry charged at Friendo, immediately goimg for a right hook. They saw it coming, and dodged out of the way, feeling the way the freezing air moved against their skin. Friendo took this time to look and see just how inebriated the man was. They could tell from the way Henry recovered from the hook, he was clearly strong, but it took noticeably longer to recover from it than it should.

Friendo pawed at him, quickly jumping back. Surprisingly, Henry responded swiftly to the fake, the punch probably not landing if it were real, but he stumbled in place afterwards.

"You can do this Friendo!" Buddy cheered from the small crowd, Will right next to them looking absolutely dead inside.

Friendo determined that they had learned everything they needed to know about their opponent, and got into the mindset of taking the duel to it's actual first level. They had a plan in mind.

Henry ran up, and attempted to punch Friendo, but they hit him with a shoulder roll, and shifted their weight onto their back foot, hitting them with a hard counter right cross. His chest already red from it, skin stinging from the pain. He tried to toss an uppercut, but was too sluggish with it as Friendo didn't even have to be swift with their dodge.

Friendo was already tired with the fight, knowing that their opponent clearly wasn't anything good sober, let alone intoxicated, so they got behind Henry and did a quick kidney punch to end it. The crowd gasped as Henry fell forward onto the road.

"T-that was an illegal punch, kid." Henry said, panting to catch his breath, glaring up and back at Friendo.

"This was a street fight, not boxing last time I checked." They responded, putting their hands down to their sides.

"You have no respect fir the art of fighting." Henry stumbled back up on his feet.

"And yet you do?" Friendo retorted.

"Oh shit, he ain't gonna like that." Will said to Buddy.

"We're having a bloody rematch, right 'ere, right now, you berkeley hunt!" Henry yelled as he charged at Friendo. They dodged the punch he swung out, but was interrupted by a sudden stab of pain in their arm, followed by the sudden fast footsteps of Buddy charging at Henry.

Buddy had pounced onto him, pinning him onto the ground, punching his face making Henry's jaw swing back and forth like a pendulum. Friendo felt warmth flow down their arm from the pain and realized that the stab of pain wasn't just from a good hit.

They had actually gotten stabbed.

Blood was pouring down their entire arm.

The crowd was already mostly in shock by the sudden addition of Buddy to the fight, but once they noticed the blood, everyone was.

"Quick! Get a medic!" A man from the crowd yelled, followed by the hurried footsteps of multiple people. By the time this was said, Buddy had already left more than just a mark on Henry, getting off, but still standing over him.

"Fuck that fir!?" Henry yelled, borderline incomprehensible.

"My friend throws an illegal punch so you stab them? That doesn't add up." They simply said, medic engineers rushing by to patch up Friendo's arm. Henry tried to get up, but fell down, seemingly now unconscious. Buddy stepped to the side and let some of the medics tend to Henry, walking to Friendo to check on them.

"Is it okay?" Buddy asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm-" Friendo was cut off by having to take a sharp inhale from the stinging of the medics disinfecting the wound, "-fine." They gave Buddy a pained smile.

"Friendo will have to spend the night in one of the medical outposts, but it's nothing to worry about." One of the young medical engineers said.

"The entire night!?" Buddy and Friendo asked a bit too loud.

"It's a really deep gash." An older engi said.

"Guess I'm not getting shoes that actually fit me then." Friendo laughed weakly.

"Seems like it." Buddy said, upset that they'd have to spend the rest of the night alone. Buddy watched as the medics escorted both Friendo and Henry to a medical outpost.

"See ya tomorrow Bud."

"I can't wait." Buddy said, a smile in their voice. They turned over to Will, "so where's the tailory?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot that was what this was about. It's attached to the town square over there." Will pointed over to the road next to the pub.

"Thank you."

Buddy got to walking, and quickly arrived at the town square. It was surrounded by businesses and areas for recreational activities, such as gardening. They walked up to the tailory, and peaked inside through the glass. It was dark inside, but they opened the door anyways.

"Welcome to my tailory! Please take a seat and I'll be out there in a jiffy!" A chipper man with a nasally voice said from the back of the place as the bell attached to the door rang out.

Buddy found some chairs, and sat down in the one they deemed had the best back support. The tailory was very cluttered, filled with all sorts of materials for clothes all over the place. Hell, they weren't even sure if the rugs on the floor were rugs or material that was used for clothes.

"Alright! Sorry about that, I was putting away my cleaning suppli-" Oli came out from the back room, and stopped talking once he saw Buddy. He cleared his throat, muttering "And I thought Simon was tall.." under his breath.

"Yeah, it might take a while to make me something I can wear, sorry." Buddy said, hearing what Oli had mumbled out.

"No no, don't apologize! You're uh, you're quite different from the other people here. I've never met someone without a face. Err, someone without a face who can talk..." Oli grabbed a tape measure, "mind if I take your measurements?"

"Go ahead." Buddy answered.

"Good, good." Oli said.

Hours had went by, Buddy watching as Oli sewed custom clothing for them. The cold wasn't something they needed to fend against that much, but it gave them bad memories from before Friendo ever came along.

"Aaaaand... done!" Oli said, handing Buddy the pile of thick clothes, and a pair of comically large shoes on top.

"Thank you. Friendo was supposed to be here to get theirs made, but-"

"The duel? Yeah I was watching. Poor fella, I never would of thought Henry would do anything like that to 'em. Guessing they'll come by tomorrow or something?"

"If everything goes well, then yeah." Buddy answered as they tried their shoes on. They looked similar to mukluks, being laced and big, yet not impairing mobility that much. The fur in it was a very light grey.

"Those fit well?" Oli asked.

"Very!" Buddy answered, a lot of joy present in their voice.

"Changing room is over there, by the way." Oli pointed over to an animal hide curtain that lead to what looked like a repurposed supply closet.

A few minutes went by, and Buddy came out of the changing room in their new clothes. It was made with what seemed to be the hide and pelts of abnormally large white wolves. Buddy opted out of having any large torso coverings, as they hate the idea of fur against their "stomach" all day everyday. They did, however, have a small piece that went over their head and would cover their shoulders slightly, as that was needed to have the sleeves connected to each other instead of separate. Despite how unmatching and overall completely unnecessary it was, Buddy kept the beanie they found on their head.

"How ya like it?" Oli asked.

"I love it! Thank you so much, Oli." Buddy walked up and shook his hand.

"No problem. Now, if ya don't mind, I need to get some sleep, so you should probably get going home."

"Oh yeah, it's real late, isn't it?"

"Very late."

Buddy left the shop, and immediately realized it was seemingly the middle of the night, maybe even only a few hours from sunrise. They looked at all the businesses around the square. Of course there was Oli N' Co. Tailory, but there were also places like the Silver-Blood Armory, Smith's Dog Breeder, and the ominous abandoned building. It looked like the path next to the mysterious building wrapped around all the way to the somewhat separated area of houses that Erik's house was, so they decided to take it. The scenic route and all that.

Streetlights lit up the path and noticed up ahead was what looked like another town square, but it had temples and other places of prayer around it, along with a cemetery. A cemetery that was currently having a burial. Buddy was curious, and stood by the square once they reached it, looking into the cemetery. They could recognize Mackenzie, and some of the other scouts around the lit up tombstone.

One of the people, Yamo, looked back and noticed Buddy. He quickly looked away back at the grave, and Buddy turned back to continue walking down the path. They didn't want to interrupt what looked like a personal ceremony of sorts. Buddy walked by one of the gardens connected to the smaller square, happening to pass by someone in robes similar to the ones Yismer wore, he was drawing one of the flowers in what looked like a journal.

"You're out late, Frostlander." The old man said, turning to Buddy and walking by them. "That was quite the fight you put up with Henry."

"Are you trying to say I need to repent?" Buddy asked.

"By the outcome of it, I'd say Yisrea is already on your side." The bishop laughed.

"Then why are you talking to me?" Buddy said with genuine curiosity.

"You're going through a temporary loss, everyone needs comfort through that." He answered.

"Friendo's just in a medical outpost for the night though, you don't have to waste your time on me instead of something else you'd rather do." They told him, internally beating himself up saying that they could handle it.

"I chose to accompany you, but if you do not want my company, I shall-" The man began, but Buddy cut him off.

"Wait, d-don't leave. I appreciate your company a lot." They said, stumbling over their words.

"As I knew." The two continued walking down the snowy road.

"What's your name?" Buddy asked the man.

"You can just call me Father. That's who I am now." He answered, hazel eyes looking up at them. "And what may I call you?"

"Buddy."

"Two Frostlanders with names based off friendship, I assume the platonic parts of life are most important to that culture?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Buddy couldn't help but think about the north town when he asked that question. They wondered if this happened to all of the villagers, or if they and Friendo were just outliers.

Father nodded, and the two spent the rest of the walk in silence, taking in the sound of snow crunching, and the winds of the eternal winter. They reached the doorstep of Erik's house, and Buddy began to unlock the door.

"Yisrea bless your soul, Frostlander Buddy." Buddy opened the door.

"Thank you, Father." They went inside and turned around to wave him bye, but he was already gone. After locking the door, Buddy took off their shoes, and put them next to the small pelt that was being used as a welcome mat, walking upstairs to their room afterwards.

"Thank you so much for patching me up, guys." Friendo said as they unlocked the front to the two medics that escorted them back home.

"Just doing our job, Friendo." One said, the other nodding along.

They walked inside and shut the door behind them, making sure to remember locking it. They took their shoes off, and went straight upstairs. Opening the door, they were greeted by Buddy sitting on the bed.

"FRIENDO!"

"BUDDY!"

Friendo ran up and hugged Buddy, and laid down next to them.

"How's your arm doing?" Buddy asked, looking at the blood stained bandaging wrapped around their arm, their sleeves pulled up to their shoulder.

"It hurts, but I'm able to work apparently." Friendo responded, and touched the fur trim of Buddy's shoulder piece. "I see you got your clothes made!"

"Yeah! Did you see my shoes downstairs? They're massive!" Buddy laughed.

"I bet they are!" Friendo laughed back, getting under the blankets. "How long did it take to make all that?"

"At least four hours."