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Your axe swings with tired hands, raining chop after chop of wood onto the snowy ground. Despite your exhaustion, this is a chore that must get done today - you are low on firewood.
Despite your feeling of being watched.
You hope it’s an animal, being so deep in the woods. You fear you are in the stomping grounds of a moose, or a very big bear. At the very least, you have yet to be stampeded by an irate mother.
But the eyes never leave you. In fact, chills go up your spine most times you leave your house, strong with the sensation that someone or something is watching your treks into the forest for supplies.
If not an animal, then a person? A stalker? You fear the determination of a stalker that followed you all the way here, who finds enjoyment in watching you sustain yourself. At the very least, you do not feel open hostility in the gaze. Just that you’re being watched.
*~*
Today, during a light snowfall, you sit on your porch. The early morning sun shines on your face, and bundled three layers deep in clothes with a blanket, you are content with your hot beverage as you watch the sun rise through the snow. It’s peaceful here, slow and magical. The forest has no concept of rush or bustle, which you are coming to appreciate. This house left to you in the deep woods of Norway came at the right time, you suppose.
As if in response, the trees sigh with a breeze traveling through the ancient trunks. You squeeze your mug and huddle, letting it pass. Even with the sun, the wind bites into what little exposed skin you have, so hunch deeper into the blanket.
You need more wood soon, as the days get colder. Hopefully you will have enough for when you assume you will be so snowed in you cannot leave your house. You imagine you will burn through the wood, the temperatures as close to sub zero as they are. You hug yourself just at the thought of it. It’s better to be here, in the quiet, but what will you do when the cold gets desolate?
You will march on. You take a breath, making a list of chores to do.
During this, the eyes return. Steady, ever watchful. What, did your stalker wake up, or something? You squint, attempting to peer through the trees, but the forest is too thick, and there is nothing you can see.
Wait. Further through the trees, what you had originally thought was a snowdrift, it moved. You would have thought it was an animal…yet you swore you saw yellow and green. What bear has that color?
Whatever it was is hiding now, but you can still feel the eyes. Warily, you stand, putting your mug down and clutching the blankets tighter around you.
“Hello?” You call, the sound echoing off the trees. A few startled birds leap into the air, and burrowing animals scatter through the snow. “What do you want?” You try again. You feel a burst of frustration - why stalk you like this? You can’t imagine the creep is getting much enjoyment standing in the freezing cold just watching you.
You are sick of it. Abandoning your chores, you make an irresponsible decision - you are going to take your meeting into your own hands. You will figure out what this person wants, watching you so hard. Alternatively, they could be someone in need of help, but too afraid to approach you.
Your eyes hover over the axe sitting nonchalantly on your porch, but skip it. If this person is just a harmless weirdo, you don’t want to look like an axe murderer either. Instead, you get a small swiss army knife you keep on you, for whenever you need to fix something. You have to be self-sufficient out here, after all.
Your breath fogs up the air as you walk over the snow, blanket traded for a cloak. It drags in the snow behind you, announcing your presence. Your guts twist with nerves inside you - who is it that you will meet? You aren’t very good at first impressions. You aren’t exactly shy, but you never know how to act around a new person. Do you ask why they’ve been watching you? Ask if they need help?
It also sounds a bit silly, but the chance of gaining a friend, however small, gives you a small sense of hope. The realist side of you is afraid that you are being way too optimistic, and you tell yourself as such. But what if? Your heart can’t help but pick up the pace.
Eventually, you break into a clearing. You think this is where you saw the moving snowdrift, it wasn’t that far in the treeline. You look around, trying to find anything that would give you a hint in the pure white snowfall. At the very least, the clearing is beautiful, and you take a moment to appreciate the pristine beauty of the untouched snow and snowlined tree limbs.
But so far, nothing. You frown, peering through the white. You still feel eyes, so they must be around here somewhere. “Hello?” You call again, quieter. You don’t want a bear to come charging at you.
You huff in frustration. “Can you just come out, please?” You plead. You’re not close to paranoia, yet, but this constant staring is getting on your nerves. “Let's just talk. Are you lost?” A gust of wind takes the last of your words away, but you hope they heard. You pull your head down into your cloak, hiding your cheeks. The forest responds with silence.
Well, damn. Now you just look like an idiot. Gritting your teeth, you turn on your heel, resigning yourself to another-
…..
A jack rabbit?
Standing directly in your path is a rabbit. A big one, with long legs and wild eyes, staring directly at you. Its gaze is unnerving, like there is something deeply wrong with this animal. You take a step back, animal fear worming through you. A jackrabbit isn’t exactly an animal to be messed with, but this thing? You aren’t sure what you are looking at, but this is not something you need to be bothering.
You swallow, and step to the side, slowly. It turns to face you. Your guts swarm with fear as its head stays unnervingly still.
For some reason, your heart starts pounding. Do you run? Do you brandish your knife, and hope for the best? You can feel your breathing pick up, teeth clenching in fear.
You take another step back, then another, and run straight into something cold.
Your body jolts. You don’t dare turn around, praying that it was just a tree. Please let it be a tree.
For a moment, the forest seems to hush. You stand unmoving, back freezing against whatever cold thing you lean against. Your gut turns, but you feel as if you are frozen in place. What have you encountered that the sounds of the forest have gone so quiet?
Just as you are about to explode, the jack rabbit takes off like a shot. The cold thing behind you sighs heavily.
Its tone is kind, but the voice that speaks sounds old, like the mountains. “This is..not the first meeting I wanted. But hello, human!”
You take what you see is the only option for this absurd situation.
You run home.
Yet, for the next few days, this older-than-the-hills being is insistent on meeting you. Every single time you exit your cabin, it’s “Hello new friend!” and “What’s the plan for today?” or “You should go this way today!” You can’t seem to shake him, despite walking quickly away or hiding in your cabin. Case in point, you open your curtains to reveal your new shadow, sitting on the porch and staring into the forest.
He must be inorganic, with the eerily still way he sits. Though, the bright yellow body and sun ray shaped triangles circling his flat head is a dead give away of his non-humanness. He’s off putting, not to mention an impossible sight. You look lower as well, tracing the runes marked into his arms with your eyes. Is that how he moves?
You purse your lips. Somehow, this catches his eye - he doesn't have pupils - and he waves at you. You, against your judgement, wave back, the corner of your mouth ticking up awkwardly. This only serves to make him wave more enthusiastically, so you shut the curtains.
You put your head in your hands. Gods above, what now? You’re starting to feel a bit bad for your fear, it's not like this being has done much. And, if you look at it from a certain angle, he did save your life from that strange jack rabbit.
You slap your cheeks. Time to deal with it like a responsible adult.
You wrap a quilt around yourself and open your door, startling the being. He stands, rays spinning side to side. The two of you regard each other, the snow flurrying around you both. If you were to look past the general impossibility of his existence, he is a bit cool to look at, with the snow sliding harmlessly off his chest. You wonder if he is warm.
“Hi.” You mutter, going for an olive branch. It's the first time you have spoken to him. He straightens up entirely and clasps his hands together. “Hi friend!” he says cheerily. “Are we going for a walk? Are we setting traps? Oh and I saw your wood was low, so I got some more!” He points, and your mouth opens in surprise to see an entire pile of chopped wood for you to use. When the hell did he do that??
“Thanks…” You grasp at straws, at a loss. He tilts his head. “What's wrong? Oh, is there not enough? I forgot how much wood humans need, since It’s been so very long. I can go get some more?” You hold up your hands in a surrender motion.
“Slow down..that's..what? That's not the problem. Can we start over?” He seems to fidget in place. He was so still while he waited for you, but now that the two of you are talking he seemingly can’t be still at all.
You bulldoze onward. You tell him your name in a rush, expressing how odd this situation is. “So I guess what I mean to say is, what..exactly are you? Why did you help me..continue helping me?” It occurs to you then that since you are in a Norwegian forest, you could have said something you shouldn’t have. Bound him to you…or something. You aren’t really caught up in your mysterious being lore. You vaguely remember there being a fae of some kind.
His rays do a full spin before answering you. Despite not having pupils, you can feel his gaze all over you, leaving tingles in its wake. “Ah..well, it's just been a very long time since any human has come through here. I am a light spirit, bound to this body.” he gestures to the runes decorating his torso, and you marvel at the intricacies of the markings.
“We protect nature and life, humans fall into that category.” He takes a tentative step closer, as if you were a scared animal. You pull the blanket tighter around yourself, tilting your head further and further up - damn, he’s tall. “It’s very quiet in this forest, and hardly any fun at all! It was nice to see a human again, so I’ve been protecting you this whole time.”
Oh. Meaning, those eyes on your back are from his protection, rather than just staring at you like a creep. But then again… “How do I know you aren’t lying?” For all you know, he’s luring you to some secluded part of the forest to hurt you - something he could have done already, but you never know.
He shrinks in on himself, sun rays receding into his flat head. His hands come up to fidget. “I suppose..you don’t?
The two of you lapse into silence, sizing each other up. Well, more like you’re sizing him up and he seems to be anxiously waiting for your reaction. You sigh. Maybe you are being too paranoid. If this weird spirit just wants to hang out with you, is that so wrong?
“What's your name, then?” He brightens up like his namesake, rays spinning so fast they blur. “I have a lot of names, but humans call me Sun!” You can see why. His smile appears warm and kind, not to mention the triangles around his head.
You step down off your porch, motioning for him to follow. “Care to check my traps with me, then?”
Later, you realize, he said we.
*~*
The two of you fall into some kind of routine. You watch the sun rise and enjoy a cup of tea and conversation, he follows you as you scavenge, he chops your wood, and leaves you be for the night.
You ponder this, what he meant. We? Is there more than one Sun? Granted, he did say spirit, so maybe there are multiple spirits with different personalities. You hope so. Sun is growing on you, but you aren’t sure you can take more than one of him. He’s practically glued to your side as much as he can, offering to do whatever he can to help you. For example, when an animal got too close, he stared at it with this terrifying expression till it went away. You started to get scared, but then he turned to you with a brilliant grin, asking you if you were okay.
He is sweet, if in an overbearing kind of way. But, if there are more you should know about, you really need to ask.
So, when gathering some herbs under his watchful gaze, you take a breath and turn to him.
“Earlier, when telling me about the spirits, you mentioned ‘we’” You air quote to emphasize. “Are there more of you?” His rays spin a few times, a motion you have come to associate with him evaluating a question. It seems there are a few things he’s not sure about telling you.
“Well, yes. He’s ah..he’s not exactly amicable to humans.” You pale. Not amicable? But Sun had said the light spirits protect nature. He may have noticed your expression, because he holds his hands up and backpedals.
“Not like that! He would never hurt you, he just doesn’t trust you.” You raise a brow at that, you’re not sure what one simple human could do against a whole spirit. Was there something you did?
“Oh. Did I make him upset or something?” You don’t want to piss off someone by accident.
“No..ah..not exactly. We’ve been around for a very long time, human.” The way he says this is a little off putting, the words ‘long time’ layered with hidden truths and meanings. You are sure he speaks the truth, with the way the forest accepts him. He walks with you and weaves around the trees as if he knows it like the back of his hand. You turn back to your herb gathering, working the roots up as you ponder.
“I see.” You decide on. Abruptly, you wonder about Sun’s thoughts of you. You had assumed this whole time that he wanted your attention, and subsequently be friends, but it occurs to you that a desire for companionship does not always equate wholehearted trust.
Old, he says. Seen the worst of humanity, has he? “What do you think of me, then?” You at least want to know if he thinks you’re a suspicious human. You hope not. You don’t recall doing much other than just living. You pick a few more herbs, but look up in surprise as he casts a shadow over you.
You feel a short burst of fear. Sun towers over you like this, face darkened. But he wouldn’t do anything. He said he wouldn’t. He tilts his head to the side, smiling strangely. “You want to know what I think about humans, or you, friend?” You swallow, suddenly unsure if you want to know anything at all. “Um. About…me. I think you’ve made your thoughts on humans pretty clear.” You’re sure they probably trashed the forest or tried to hurt them. You guess you’re lucky Sun is bored, willing to keep you safe.
“I think you’re in over your head. But! You’re not a rule breaker and I appreciate that.” His grin gets a little less sharp. “You should stay that way.”
You nod jerkily. You would like to keep his companionship in this lonely forest, and your life, please and thank you. It would also suck to lose the wood chopping service.
A shadow moves behind a tree, another pair of eyes leaving.
*~*
It is not until the winter begins to pick up that you meet this other light spirit. You asked about him a few times, but Sun would only tell you he’d come to you on his own time. You wish there was a way to prove yourself trustworthy. You would like to get on a mysterious being’s good side, after all.
One late night, when your thoughts keep you awake, you wrap yourself tightly with blankets and step onto your porch.
You know you should not be out so late, but the restlessness is driving you nuts, and you need more wood anyway. The night is so cold you burn through your firewood far too quickly.
You also should have taken a lantern, but you are barely a few steps from the house, and the moon is bright, anyway. Your eyes adjust to the darkness, pickup a few logs with your gloved hands. One clatters to the snow.
You curse. You rearrange the others to squat and pick up the wood, gathering the rest into your arms.
Impossibly, a cold weight settles itself along the length of your back. A circular chin rests on your shoulders.
“Out late, are we?” A sweet voice croons.
You freeze in place, eyes wide and unseeing. Oh heavens above, this is not Sun, but rather his friend, resting his weight against you. Sun would not speak in such a raspy whisper. Hands reach out to your arms, tapping your gloves where they curl around the wood. Sun’s friend has trapped you, feeling your arms. “Don’t you know there are things that roam the forest at night, human?” He spits human as if it is a dirty word, and raw fear shoots down your spine. Your legs burn in their squat position.
“Stand up.” he rasps, and shakily you do. He chuckles. “Now go home.” You nod, and chance a glance behind you.
It is so dark you can’t make out much, but you can see blue hues and what appears to be a hood. He grins at you, white razor sharp teeth gleaming in the night. You swallow and go home, chills coming from more than the cold.
That night, your restlessness leaves, giving you a good night's sleep.
Against your better judgement (once more) you stand on your porch a few nights later. Honestly, although you are certain that Sun’s friend would not hurt you, that doesn’t mean you can’t piss him off by disobeying him.
But you are so, so curious. He has a valid reason for disliking humans so much, but you want to show him that you can be trustworthy. You would feel a bit bad if you were friends with someone who your best friend despised. You also want to see what another spirit looks like, how he differs from Sun.
You wrap your blanket tightly around yourself, taking a seat on your porch. To no one’s surprise, you can’t see anything in the pitch darkness, much less a spirit. Regardless, you make yourself comfortable, gazing at the night stars and taking in their beauty. Even if your night ends up fruitless, you are happy you got to enjoy a rather peaceful night.
The snow crushes. You jump a foot, as a hand grabs the banister, and a flat face leans into view.
You are treated to the face of Sun’s friend, who lacks his sun rays and has a hood instead. It shrouds the top half of his face, the only light coming from the red glow of his eyes. His teeth are very, very sharp.
“Hello, foolish human. Didn’t I tell you to stay home at night?” His voice seems to caress you, whispery and low. You swallow, struck by how perfectly opposite he is to Sun.
You blink. Unthinkingly, you blurt “I am home. This is my porch.” For a second, his grin falters at your outburst. A gust of wind blows between you, ruffling his hood. “It's nice to meet you.” You tell him your name as well, just in case Sun didn’t already. You feel he might think you are a little slow, with the way his face tilts inhumanly far to the right. You figure to be frank, maybe he wouldn’t be so wary. Or get up in your space, trying to scare you. You hope that's what he’s doing.
“Are you brave, or just stupid?” He backs off a little, straightening up. He towers over you on the porch. “I know who you are, duh.” He tilts his head this way and that, evaluating you. His eyes narrow. “Why are you here? Humans don’t come and live in isolated cabins themselves, and Sun’s too scared to ask you. Spill.” Well, that's a loaded question. There are a significant number of reasons why you are here, but you are happy he is asking. That's better than assuming you’re here to do something drastic, though you can’t imagine why Sun would be too scared to ask, considering his focus on you earlier.
These two like to use their height to their advantage.
“I inherited it. I like the snow, and um..well, I needed to get away from it all.” He looks over your shoulder at something behind you, but when you turn to look, there is only your house. You turn back, and his pointy expression has turned more thoughtful. “Though if you mean right now, I wanted to meet you again, I guess? Plus, the stars are beautiful at night.”
“Really now.” He hums. He doesn’t sound too convinced. He crosses his arms. “Alright. If you insist on being stupid, don’t leave your porch at night. There are things you don’t want to see out here.” You can get behind that! You have no interest in meeting anything like that jack rabbit ever again. You nod, breaking into a smile. It almost sounds like you can be civil with him!
“What's your name?” You ask cautiously. You hope this won’t piss him off. Surprisingly, he takes a seat next to you. “Moon. Sun and I were put into our bodies by the same human. They have limited naming conventions.” You snort at the concept, but quickly backpedal.
“Wait, I'm not laughing at your name. It's just funny that they took all that time to put a whole spirit into a body, and name them something very simple. I like it though!” He scoffs, ignoring you to look up at the stars glittering above. Shoot. You really need to learn to watch what you say.
You decide not to agitate him further and tilt your head up to peer at the lights as well, marveling at the galaxy spread before you. The lack of light pollution meant the milky way is on full display, the whole swirl of stars putting on a light show for the people below.
“Never got to see this.” You mutter, mostly to yourself. The most you saw in the city was maybe the north star. Perhaps the big dipper, if you squinted. The marvel of the stars makes you relax your tight hold on the blanket.
You feel eyes on you. You turn to find him stiff and looming, once more. Aw, crap.
“Of course you haven’t.” He sneers. “And why do you think that is?” You shrink back, paling. You know what he’s getting at, what with light pollution and the destruction of nature.
“Im sorry.” You try, voice small. “I know how horrible it must be, protecting the forest, to watch it be hurt. I'm sorry you had to go through that.” His red eyes narrow, watching you like a hawk. “And what makes you think you can be here, overlooking beauty?” He sneers back.
You hadn’t thought of that. Do you deserve to be here, in the fathomless beauty of the forest?
“I don’t.” You shift to look at your lap. “But, I’d like to stay. I've learned a lot in my short stay here. I couldn't fathom hurting it.” He visibly takes your words into consideration, looking you up and down.
He stands, a ghostly visage in the night. “Keep your word.” He rumbles, and disappears into the night.
You watch him go, frowning.
*~*
The meeting appeared to give Moon the push he needed, because so long as the sun dipped low enough, he would appear. Sometimes just watching, sometimes rudely pointing out you were picking the wrong herb. Worse, Sun joined in on laughing at you! You huffed indignantly at the two, face flushing.
You also took extra steps to be sure to respect the forest, with two mystical beings watching you. Sometimes Moon corrected you on things you didn’t know, like if that mushroom is poisonous or a poorly placed trap.
Sun, on the other hand, helped you prepare for the deep winter. “Easy enough!” He’d say, nailing coverings to your windows. You get it, with the howling winds and deep snowfalls. At least you have started to accumulate enough jerky to last you for quite some time, if your house gets completely snowed in. He is kind, and excited to do anything to help you. You can’t help but blush a little with his enthusiasm.
However, what truly makes you flustered is how close they would get, the colder it got. The weather outside started to come to a point it was almost too cold to go outside, even bundled up in layers. One of them would be your back, another standing very close to your side, while you carry the last of the catches home. Somehow, they’re warm, despite being in-organic.
In one instance you show them how to make snow angels in the freezing cold. You figure you might as well have fun in your last few outside days.
“Like this.” You explain, wiggling your arms and legs in the snow. They looked at each other, then you. “Dear, don’t you think it's a little cold for that?” Sun tittered. Moon crossed his arms, staring at you disgruntled. Party poopers, both of them.
You frowned. “Aw come on. It's not that cold yet. Plus it's fun!” You sat up and opened your arms in invitation, putting on your best puppy eyes. You watched excitedly as Sun's rays span, his version of blushing.
“For a moment.” Moon muttered, sitting on the snow next to you. Sun sat on the other side, creating a wall from the forest, considering their heights.
“Like this?” Sun asks, flailing the snow so hard it sprays in your eyes and on Moon’s hood. You howl with laughter as Moon growls. “Why you little…” he curses, and lobs a pile of snow at him.
You are subsequently stuck in a snow fight, the two of them throwing snowball after snowball at each other, effectively burying you and your guffaws into the snow. You spit snow out, face red from the cold and the sight of them fighting. Seeing your chance, you lift snow up and hit Sun square in the face. He sputters indignantly, so you wriggle your way out of the snow and stand again.
“Snowball fight!” You shout, and just start hurling snow, your protectors following suit. They’re so gentle with you that despite lobbing the snow like a fastball at each other, the snow bounces off you harmlessly, your laughter ringing through the air. You never want this moment to end.
You look up when the snow stops coming, peering at them. They’re both staring at you awestruck, so you look behind you, expecting to see something noteworthy.
There is not. There is just you, capturing their attention. Your face flushes under the scrutiny.
“...what?” You ask, laughing slightly. Sun’s rays blur as they spin, Moon fiddles with the corner of his hood. You walk up to them, broad grin on your face. Impulsive, you take both of their hands and hold them both to your chest. Both make a noise akin to a steam kettle.
“I'm glad we’re all friends now.” You say cheerily. You beam up at the two of them, who gaze at you like you hung the stars. “Haha! I haven't had this much fun in forever!” You shout, a little over excited.
“Stay with us.” Moon blurts. You blink, tilting your head. “What do you mean?” You are right here, you don’t plan on going anywhere. They cast a glance at each other.
“Let us stay with you for the heavy snows.” Your eyes widen. Come to think of it, neither have been into your house. You are pulled closer in between the two of them, a common occurrence, but something about this is charged. Sun grabs your chin, while Moon settles his hands on your waist. You feel overly warm in your coat.
“We’ll keep you warm. Nothing will touch you.” Moon mutters, like a promise. You sputter, hands coming up while you are squished between them. “Please say yes?” Sun follows, running a thumb along your cheek. Gods above, you are going to implode.
“S-sure! We can..all be in my cabin.” You manage to stutter out. They both look overjoyed. You are suddenly not sure what you signed up for.
*~*
It turns out, it was an endless show of affection. You did not have to lift a single finger, so long as they could do it. The only thing you had to do was cook, since neither of them can eat.
They clean, they snuggle you, they wrap you up with blankets and make you tea sometimes. Your face feels like a tomato, being pampered like this. You protest, sometimes, because you will go crazy just sitting, but it's not that bad.
You play board games with them, watch the snow together, and stick your heads outside to see if the drifts do not cover the door anymore. So far, still locked in.
“I think that's enough blankets, Moon.” You hear muffled voices on the edge of sleep, and burrow deeper into the warmth. The cold feels like a bad dream now, wrapped up in this cocoon of soft blankets. Someone sighs close to you. “Humans die with the drop of the hat. I'd rather them cook than die.” Must be Moon then. He’s the one to wrap you tighter, and then an arm around your waist, pulling you to his chest. You can’t help but wiggle to get closer, savoring his warmth.
Sun sighs and crawls in with the two of you, pressing close against your front. He pets your hair, in the way that makes your body sag with relaxation.
There is no place you would rather be.
Fin.