Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was cold.

So, so, so cold.

Every shaky breath Fundy took of the freezing air that surrounded him felt as if he was inhaling needles, puncturing his insides and bringing a deep coldness into him.

What was he doing here?


Food . A distant thought, but one that did bring some memories to his foggy memory.

He was looking for food. He had just ran out of supplies back at the cabin and decided to go hunt some animals or gather some berries instead of going all the way to the city. It seemed like the easier choice.

He couldn't have known that a storm was coming straight towards him.
He was very deep in the forest when the first snowflakes began to fall, but he didn't turn back right away.

Maybe if he had done that, he would be home right now. Warming up in front of the fireplace as the blizzard waged on outside.

Instead, he was in the middle of a snowstorm, his paws freezi-

Wait a second. Paws?



He looked down at himself and instead of his usual human form, he was an orange fox. If he had any energy left in him, he would have been annoyed, but as it was he just let out a small sigh. This was the result of one of his many shifter instincts. Whenever he was in danger, he almost always transformed.

He wasn't exactly a fan of being in his animal form, especially in what appeared to be his final moments.

Who was going to ever find his body if he died as a fox? Not that many people would look for him anyways. 

Prime, what life was he on? This was his second right?

He was really going to die out here, wasn't he? He couldn't even tell if he was still breathing or if he even had his eyes open. All he saw around him was a blinding, bright white.

Everywhere except for… a spot. Out in the distance. Just a single, black spot.

Fundy wondered if it was limbo, slowly coming towards him as he got closer and closer to passing out.

He didn't know, but he felt as if he should get closer to it.

So that's what he did.

“Techno, did you make sure Carl and Steve are alright?”

Phil’s voice took Techno out of the book he was reading, bringing him back to the present moment. The fireplace was lazily burning, bathing the whole house in warmth.

In the kitchen Phil was preparing dinner for the two of them, the sounds of meat sizzling and pans clinging were already making the piglin’s stomach growl. The whole atmosphere was…surprisingly cozy.
A thought Techno quickly shooed out of his mind.

“Why wouldn't they be fine?”

“Mate it's not exactly great weather outside.”

“Heh? What are you saying?” As he spoke he moved towards the windows, pushing aside the curtains that until then, had been blocking the view. “It was fine a seco- oh.”

The weather was indeed “not great”. Techno has seen quite a few brutal snowstorms in his life, but this one definitely had to be one of the top ten worst ones. He felt himself get goosebumps just looking outside.

It almost looked like a solid, white wall.

“Yeah, I'll go check on them.”

Both of the animals should be in the barn, safe and sound, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

“Be careful out there!”

“They’re less than fifty blocks away Phil,” he grunted, putting his cloak on. “I’ll be fine.”

And with that, he opened the door.

Instantly he was hit with a wave of coldness, the fireplace in the background almost going out. Snowflakes started filling the room, and Techno quickly went to step outside in order to close the door behind him.

As he did so, he saw a spot of color popping out of the white sea. 

Directly in front of his feet, was a ball of fur.

A fox , he recognized. Arctic foxes were not uncommon around these parts, but as he looked closer, his eyes widened just the slighted bit in surprise. The animal in front of him was no arctic fox, but an orange one. It had spent so much time out there that its coat was almost fully covered in snowflakes.

He keeled down and put his hand on the small creature. As he waited to see if the animal was still alive, Techno worried that he found it too late.

But then he felt it. A small movement. The fox took one shaky breath, its chest slightly moving upwards, before dropping back down.


That’s all the piglin needed. He picked up the small animal and wrapped his cloak around it.

“Techno, did you leave the door open?”

“Oh.” He had indeed forgotten to do that. He held the fox tight and made his way back inside, making sure to close the door behind him.

The floor was covered with snow, and the fireplace was out, the cold from outside doing a good job getting into the house and snuffing out all the warmth.

“Techno?”

“I'll be with you in a sec!”

He put the fox on the couch, making sure to wrap it as best as he could in both the cloak and an old blanket that was thrown on the floor before making his way to the kitchen.

“So did you check on the-”

Before he finished speaking, Techno grabbed him by the arm. “Come ‘ere”

“Woah what's the rush?” he asked, wiggling his way out of his friend’s grasp. “I can't leave the food unattended, I'll be with you in a sec.”

“Found a fox outside. You need to take care of it,” he bluntly stated, seeing the concern on Phil’s face.

“Is it hurt?”

Old sap , Techno thought. He knew Phil couldn't resist helping an animal in need, so he just nodded his head in response.

“ Gods , fine let me see.” He pushed past the piglin and started heading towards the living room. “You could have at least hurried up a little and not let all this snow get insi- OH JESUS CHRIST!”

“What are you scared of foxes now?” he laughed, but as soon as Techno came out of the kitchen he almost let out a shocked squeal.

On the couch, instead of the small fox he had seen, there was someone else sitting there. It took him a moment to realize who it was, but by the time he did, Phil had already spoken.

“Fundy?”

He woke up feeling…warm.

It took a while for Fundy’s senses to come back to him, but when they finally did he almost passed out again.

Where am I?

He tried to move, but there was something blocking his movement.

Have I been kidnapped?

His eyes were finally starting to adjust to seeing colors other than white and he saw that he was blocked by… blankets ?

He was wrapped in at least five blankets, the only part of his body that he could freely move was his head.

It took a bit of struggling to get out from under all those covers, but he managed to do it. He started looking around the room and as soon as he saw the door he made a beeline towards it. He started to turn the doorknob when he heard voices.

“You think he woke up?”

“Maybe? I don't know mate, I should go check on him.”

“Make sure you at least bring him some tea, it's in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, yeah.”


Fundy’s blood ran colder than it did when he was out in the snowstorm.

If he was right about who those two voices belonged to, he would have rather woken up in the back of a white van surrounded by criminals than being here.

His eyes darted across the room, his mind scrambling about ways he could leave.

The window. 

He ran towards it and, without even checking how high the room he was in was, started opening it. It took a bit of force (something that he sadly didn't have much of, especially after waking from a mini coma) but he got it open.

There was probably snow at the bottom right? So the fall couldn't be that bad. 

He just needed to-

“Hopefully he woke up by now-”

That was the only warning Fundy got before the door opened.

He couldn't bear to even open his eyes as he heard the person who just entered stop dead in their tracks.

Limbo would be better than this.

The silence only lasted for a second however, Techno’s snort breaking the tension between them.

“If you want to leave you can take the door Fundy,” he said, placing the cup of tea he was carrying on the nightstand near the bed. “You're not a prisoner.”

The fox slowly opened his eyes, and saw Techno looking him dead in the eyes. His fur was sitting upright as if he had been hit by lightning, and his tail was fluffed up double the size, but he slowly started to relax when he saw the piglin going for the door.

Before he was fully out the door however, he turned towards Fundy once more. “I mean…if you want to break your legs, be my guest. But Phil did spend the whole day making some soup so we’ll leave a bowl out for you.”

By the time Phil was done with Fundy, the fox had enough soup to last him for a week and a wardrobe worth of new winter clothes.

He tried to refuse them, insisting that the bowl of soup he ate was more than enough, but both Phil and Techno seemed set on giving him every conceivable item they thought the fox might one day need.

The piglin gave him a big backpack full of different potions of regeneration alongside diamond tools and enchanting books, while the crow offered him food and clothes.

He looked like a little kid going to school, dressed in winter clothes that were far too big for him, and carrying a bag twice his size.

But somehow, as he waved the two goodbye and made his way back to the cabin (not before Phil made him promise to visit again soon and Techno semi-threatening that he would come hunt him down if he didn't)  the fox couldn't help but have a little more pep to his step.

He felt…warm.

And he couldn't tell if it was because of the clothes, the warm soup he had just eaten, or something else entirely.

All he knew was that he was warm

So, so warm.