Chapter Text
The blistering cold continuously bit at my aching bones. My numb body lay silent in a coat of fluffy snow. How can something so beautiful be so.. miserable? The only good thing about my situation is that the everlasting snow had blown away any pain I would have had along with it. That bad thing is, I'm stuck alone in the thick snow slowly bleeding out.
The bad outweighed the good.
All I did was stare ahead awaiting my inevitable death. It was like the Grim Reaper was playing with me, dangling sweet death just in front of me but just out of range.
It was as if he had heard my wishes, as the late snow still drifted in the winter wind, my eyelids began to weigh down on me. My frozen eyelashes linked together as my eyes shut one last time.
Pop Pop
Huh? My eyes wouldn't open. It was almost as if I was slipping into death but landing on life. My cracked lips tried to make up any sound, but in the end, I failed.
Movement.
It was subtle. Almost too subtle. I could make out the sound; snow being shifted under the weight of something moving through it. Was it a bear? A wolf? Whatever it was, if it was gonna kill me, I prayed it would go for my head, I'd rather not watch it maul away at my stomach. Why is death such a slow process?
"I see blood!"
Oh? That was new. I haven't heard voices in weeks it was almost a euphoric sound, slowly humming through my ears.
"We need to go quick amigo, before this cold finishes what the blood started!"
That voice... it was so familiar, like a distant, foggy memory. The man had been Spanish from what I could pick up but my mind couldn't keep up with full thoughts. The plowing of snow had begun to get clearer. They were finding me. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I might not die. I've taken the past few days coming to terms with it for nothing.
"Around this ledge!"
They had to shout over the fierce wind, like a hallowing whistle right in your ear. But this voice. It was one I could never forget. This new adrenaline gave me just enough strength to sluggishly open my eyes, but there was practically no point in doing so; all that was visible was a fine sheet of white.
They were close. But the chances of them stumbling across me were low. I had to do something. My motivation was high, but my mobility was at an all-time low.
My cracked lips parted as I pulled all my strength to say anything, even if it was a whisper, but it was to no avail. That's when it happened. I saw them but they trudged forward while still searching. No, no, no, no, I can't let this opportunity go, not when I'm so close.
There was a small wiggle behind me. This wasn't the first time an animal had gotten used to my stillness and approached the area with no apparent guard up, but this wasn't the time. The quiet hops circled around me as a small white figure came into my limited view. Was this a joke? A bunny? It watched me with a small twitch of its nose. It felt like complete mockery.
Stupid bunny. My attention switched as I remembered the circumstances, this could be the last face I see. A pale bunny, pray for just about anything, Very repetitive currently.
It took a moment of staring into one another's eyes for the obvious to hit me. A bunny! The one thing I could muster up the strength to do was breathe. Maybe this was just what I needed. I sucked in what my restricted lungs could hold and breathed out my mouth. My breath came out in a weak puff of white, but it was enough to startle the bunny as it turned around and began to hop away as quickly as its little legs would allow it.
"You hear that?"
A strong voice questioned from afar.
"Huh?"
Another questioned
"I heard something, over here."
He directed turning and beginning his backtracking.
"Are you sure Arthur? There's a lot of noise out here."
The Spanish man seemed skeptical. Damnit this guy better not ruin my plan.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."
The man's voice sounded through the heavy wind. Was this it? All I needed was a bunny. Who knew?
My ears perk as I hear my name. God, it's been so long I could have forgotten it. Not long after snowy arms find their way around my limp body. The touch wasn't physically warm but a small patch of warmth spread through me.
Arthur.
"I thought you died.."
His voice was low as the warmth of his breath hit my blue skin. The reminder of why I fought to survive so long came flooding in as an icy tear threatened to slip.
The other man must have caught up because he was the next one to speak.
"Shit, she doesn't look too good."
He had to be right. My eyes felt frozen, littered with scratches, and I must have looked like I was changing color, with a slight blue hue to my pale skin. A sharp whistle pierced the cold air as the man called for his horse.
"The sooner we get her to camp, the better."
Arthur still hasn't moved as if he had been turned into an ice sculpture, frozen in place. His big arms loosely around my waist with his calloused hand supporting my head so he could duck his head into the crook of my neck. If I had the energy to, I'd wrap my arms around him so fast but I was struggling to keep my eyes half open, so that probably wasn't gonna happen. Shuffling came from behind him as the other man patted him on the back in a reassuring manner.
"Come on,"
His voice wasn't in a rushing manner; if anything, it was more understanding as he turned as faint galloping came into earshot.
"We've got two to bring back."
With that being said, Arthur had picked his head up, and his eyes immediately darted to me. If I didn't know better I'd say he was about to cry.
Arthur's arms slowly shifted so one arm hooked around my legs and the other supported my back with my head slumped onto his broad chest. This time it was his time to whistle for his horse but it didn't take nearly as long as the other man's to gallop to our small trio.
His horse was big, but it had some speed on it. Its shiny raven coat came into view as it shook its head in an attempt to shake the snow off its face, for it was soon replaced by newly fallen snow.
When it was close enough Arthur had made his way over to the huffing horse. Every so often, a large puff of smoke would drain out of the big mammal's nose. In a skilled movement, the big man with one arm wrapped around the horn of the saddle and the other around my waist, supporting my weight so I wouldn't collapse, he hoisted both of us up onto the big beast.
I was situated in front of the leather saddle whilst he sat close behind. I could feel his warm breath hit my frostbitten ear as he took in and out, shallow breaths.
Wait.. did he say two?
My mind flickered back to what the man had said. Two? Has someone been out here with me all along and I was blissfully unaware? I wonder how long they've been out here. How long did they have to suffer along beside me? It was almost relieving to know my pain was shared.
The ride back was a snowy blur, no one spoke during the duration of the whole trot home.
"Ah, just up ahead."
The man on the opposite painted horse spoke up for the first time in a while. I lazily looked to see what he had been speaking of, and a small flicker could barely be seen, although the snow had slowed ever so slightly. As we continued out on our trail the small lit fire began to be more evident. The small flame danced in the wind, swaying to its own melody that no one could really hear.
"We need help out here!"
Arthur stayed quiet as he slid the two of us off this mountain of a horse. He held me close as people started to file out of the weathered homes. If you would even call it that.
A rather large group came out of the wooden structure we had parked in front of, and the first thing anyone did was gasp. It had to have been a surprise to the group that they acquired two instead of the initial one they probably went out in search of.
One of the females made her way to us, but we didn't really stay for chit-chat as Arthur spun and began walking away from the crowd. He walked a good 30 feet or something around that before coming to a stop, stepping on a creeping step, and pushing open a door. Not long after we entered I was laid upon a rather hard bed. It was warmer than the snow the snow won in comfort.
"I thought you died.."
He knelt beside me with his colossal hand gently cupping my cheek as if he wasn't trying to hurt me and repeated his words from earlier.
I gave him an awkward smile as the feeling of safety had washed over me. Damn, it's been a while since I've felt this. My hand drops onto his as my eyes repeatedly began to slump and soon took me away as I slipped into a needed sleep.
°•°•°•°•°
I held onto my arm tightly as the warm liquid oozed into my hand, dripping through the small gaps in between my fingers. The wind blew my hair across my face but my body was so ever still. Its long snout let a puff of warm air out in warning. Its brown ears pined back as its stubby legs hit the stone floor of the mountain. The animal wasn't small by any means; if I had to say, it looks like it'd just eaten a week's portion of food.
I guess food isn't too low out here after all..
I put my bleeding hand out as a way to hopefully distract it. Damn if I could only remember what that drunken guy rambled to me. Was it looking big? Or was it act small? I took slow, cautious steps backwards, hoping it might not notice me leaving if I did it slowly enough. I didn't even try to let my eyes seek elsewhere and let the territorial predator out of my line of sight. It didn't like the idea of me leaving so easily, as it showed me just how tall he really was, perched up on his hind legs, reaching well above the average human, letting a bone-chilling growl out before dropping back down and running in my direction.
Ah shit!
His fat swayed in the wind, giving him a cool look as his long hair waved with his jagged movements.
I knew I couldn't outrun him, so I took hold of the first dead stick I saw from the floor and cracked it on my knee just seconds before my back hit the uneven floor. My head ricocheted off the solid stone, causing an instant heartbeat to throb in my head. My lungs simultaneously emptied as 1,000 pounds crashed down on me with a sharp popping sound.
This wasn't gonna feel good in the morning, that is, if I even managed to wiggle myself out of this mess in the first place.
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