Snowflakes fell softly over the ground. The cold wind moved the trees letting some of the gathered up snow fall in piles as they danced with it. In the silence of the winter forest you could softly hear the steps on the cracking of the new snow.
A white wolf came running smelling some of the trees, getting a scent that was new for him.
-FANG don’t go so far – a voice said in the forest, the white wolf turned towards the voice and kept walking keeping with the scent. He finally stopped and looked up, almost in shock he stood motionless...a thunder was heard far away almost shaking the earth making even more piles of snow fall hard down on the ground. The wolf howled long and loud and suddenly started running towards the strange sound.
-FANG!!! Dammit just hold on boy!- a young man came running, he had a cape with a gray wolf pelt covering him, he took the hood from his face….revealing his blue light skin, his long dark blue hair and wolf like green eyes shinning as he looked for his companion. He was catching his breath trying to keep with his friend that was definitely behind something…
He stopped looking for his tracks, because of all the snow falling he couldn’t keep up with him and then suddenly he heard him barking, he picked up his step fast and steady to find his companion. It wasn’t normal for Fang to be all worked up for something, he probably heard and smell something out of the ordinary and usually he was right on following him.
The howl of the wolf sounded again but this time he was barking and whimpering as he did it.
-I’M COMING!- he said as he ran quick in the snow, it was a difficult ability but he mastered with all his years of living in the forest. A clear path was upon him making him run a bit faster.
He could see light on the trees, he was probably on a clear area and then… he dead stopped. In the clearing of the trees there was a meadow and in the middle what it seemed to look like a bubble of floating water just up in the air, was just hovering over the ground. He walked slowly to it as he saw his friend completely confused by the sight, much like him.
-what… is...this? - he looked at it with curiosity, the sky was still covered in clouds, thunder could be heard in the distance. He walked slowly towards the bubble of water...he could see something floating inside of it, completely still… The wolf whimpered as his owner walked closer to it, trying to see what it was.
He took his thick leather gloves off, like if something was compelling him to do so, he couldn’t stop himself from trying to get close to it. He softly touched the water, it was… like if he putted his hand near a body of water, it felt almost warm even. He then reached in it, he felt whatever was in and grabbed it… as he pulled it out it was a hand...a slim delicate hand, and it felt warm...-wh...what…?- the hand suddenly spasm and grabbed from him. Stunned he let go of it but it held to him and pulled itself out of the water… gasping for air a red hair girl emerged screamed and held tight and desperately from him almost desperate for her to get out of that water, he held her and pulled her out completely of it in one swift movement and as he did the bubble vanished before them as they both fell on the snow hard.
She felt heavy over him as she was gasping and coughing as she finally got some air … she open her eyes…and she finally screamed in terror pushing herself away from him, dragging herself on the cold snow.
-AHHH!! WHERE AM I WHO ARE YOU?? THE HANDS AHHHH THE HANDS!!!!- she screamed in confusion. He was in shock still with the strange woman that came out of the alien bubble that was just in front of them. She tried to get up over and over again as she kept screaming and muttering nonsensical things to him.
-hey hey HEY!! - he said as he stood and walked slowly towards her as she was clearly confused and terrified , she tried to stand up looking at where she was… she felt the cold and started to shiver uncontrollably.
- what did you do to me…?- she said as she turned to him but she realized… it wasn’t the same man from that bridge. – wait...you are not him… where is he? - as she turned looking away like she was looking for someone else.
- Ma’m you need to calm down, I am as confused as you are ... can you tell me where you come from?- He asked as he was too looking around for anything else that seemed suspicious. She turned towards him…
- I… I… - she started to feel dizzy and suddenly fell on her side hard on the snow. He stood up and turned her around, she was getting colder. He took his heavy cloak and covered her in it.
-Fang… let’s go home AND FAST -He picked her up in his arms and started to move fast to where he was coming from. He saw her for moments as they moved fast between the forest, she seemed in shock mumbling things in her unconsciousness… only something was understandable...
– charlie… - she whispered sadly.
He ran as fast as he could trying to not fall on the way, they got in to the path that seemed familiar to him, it was more taken care of and not covered in snow, almost like a dirt road. As he fast walked he got in to another trail and after a bit of being surrounded by pine trees he saw his hill… on the top of the small hill in a big opened area there was a cabin built of logs, it was well kept and decent sized. He ran as fast as he could with her in his arms, trying to keep her safe.
He kicked hard the front door of his cabin, inside it was warm and cozy… he had a fire going earlier that day so the temperature was well isolated in. He walked quickly to the bedroom, he rushed putting her still covered in the cloak he wrapped her in. He took his gloves off and touch her forehead… she felt warm but not feverish. He opened the cloak to see her clothes where completely drenched… almost as he uncovered her she started to shiver again.
-Dammit – he said frustrated, as he took the cloak off of her, with her wet clothes she could get sick or had hypothermia so he had to act as quick as he could. He started to strip her off from them, throwing them in the wooden floor, they fell heavy in to the wooden planks. He picked her up and putted her under the thick blankets, Fang jumped in to the bed and just laid beside her licking her face a bit. The backpack she had with her was thrown on the side heavily, he really didn’t even know what that was and left it there in the floor.
He sat on the bed beside her catching his breath… suddenly he heard the wind started howling outside. He sighed knowing there was a storm coming and soon, of course. He looked at the door as the fire was starting to be a bit low, he needed to bring back up if he wanted her to be warmer. The wind even kicked harder coming from the opened door he just kicked. He got up and walked towards it looking at the threatening clouds that he had ignored this whole time… at least a good storm was going to hit them. He closed the door shut and shut it tight for the wind to not coming in. As he walked towards the fire pit he threw a couple of more logs to revive a bit the fire in it.
As it rose up, he walked back in to the bedroom.
-Can’t bring her to check on this girl… I am going to have to trust myself on this- He looked at her. She was breathing softly, she had some color on her cheeks which was good and her trembling stopped. Fang laid his head on her chest, he could see his friend a bit concerned for the new person in the home.
He dragged a chair next to the bed and sat looking at her, still confused on what just happened back there…
“what the hell is going on?” he thought as he sat quietly besides her.
***
She started to finally react. The first thing she noticed was a light smell of food, she tried to move a bit but she felt very heavy and tired. She opened her eyes… it was a bit dark so she took a bit of time to focus to the dim lighting of the room. She looked up and noticed the ceiling of it, a window was just over her… very high up in the ceiling, she could barely see what she was looking at because it seemed dark. She moved her head a bit and tried to sit up and felt a heavy bulk over her, she lifted her hand out of he covers and felt fur, warm and thick fur. Suddenly the big white wolf turned as he felt her… it was a very very big wolf. She felt scared for a moment till he leaned and sniffed her face all over and licked her face happy like a puppy.
- Oh.. your just a big doggy...- she said faintly. She sat up slowly to pet him, and that when she realized she was undressed only sitting in her under wear.
- What the?? -
-Are you OK, mam? - a voice said. He stood on the doorway trying not to scare her. She just grabbed the blanket slowly trying to cover herself up.
-Y...yes...- she answered as she looked blushed in colors of red she did not think she would see her face in.
- Are you hurt? Does it hurt somewhere or in any way? -
- NO… no I am fine… - she said as she covered herself some more.
- Ok good… are you hungry? -
- yes…?- she answered admitting it as her stomach was growling from the smell.
He walked away for a bit and came back with a bowl of something that looked like a soup.
-It will make you feel better… you need to keep warm – he said giving her the wooden bowl. She took it a bit hesitant but the smell was very inviting, she grabbed the spoon and she started sipping from it, the taste was so good… seemed to be a mushroom broth that just warm her up almost instantly. He grabbed the chair that was next to the bed, it seemed like he was keeping watch of her all his time.
-Thank you…- she left the bowl down, she felt it was kinda proper to just present herself at this point, after all he did saved her… or that’s what she remembers.
- My name is Nebbia – she said, he smiled a bit.
- My name is Frost, are you feeling better Miss Nebbia- he said politely
-eh… yeah, please you don’t need to be so ...formal? Just… Nebbia is fine - she said a bit ashamed.
- very well, Nebbia… -they both stood quiet for a moment.
- I don’t think I need to ask but… - she said very confused.
-We are in the winter lands up in the north, far away from the territory of FallFolk if you where wondering- he said not even hesitant in responding her. Nebbia was still rather confused. - Oh… waaay north, from...SummerIsland? - he said a bit confused himself.
-I know the words, but I have no clue what are you referring to...-she said completely lost in the in his answer. Frost crossed his arms.
-So...you are not FallFolk?- he asked, Nebbia nodded – Nor SummerIslander? -
-no… what are you talking about? - he leaned towards her looking at her skin tone and hair.
-You...look like either one of them, maybe more FallFolk… I honestly thought you came from those lands… then where do you come from?- he asked as he dragged the chair closer to her.
- Earth?… I guess, earth?- she answered as confused as him.
-Earth… as in like the ground? - he said pointing to the floor.
-as the planet earth…- They both looked at each other in silence. Frost was as confused as she was. The wind blew hard outside as they kept in silence trying to think on how to explain the situation.
- I think the right question is… Why are you here? - he finally asked, she looked at him still not having an answer to respond with. Frost cleared his throat and finally came with the right question – How… did you get here? I mean … what happened exactly? -
Nebbia looked at her warm bowl of soup, she adjusted a bit her hands and left it over her lap, in her head she tried to find the right way to explain to him what happened, it was just too surreal and so impossible… but hence she was sitting in some winter land with a man with blue skin right across from her.
- Well… I’ll just say how it went, it’ll be easier for me...- she looked at him – It was already late in night time ...- she suddenly stopped -no.. wait..- she remembered the strange events in her apartment – this started earlier that day… -
- What happened ? - he said taking the bowl and putting it over a little table that was on the side of the bed. She passed her fingers over her face and she looked kinda rattled.
- I was at my home… just before my friend came for me, I just got home and was grabbing my things to get ready to go out… but there was something there – she remembered the lingering creepy feeling she had when she just got there, like if there was someone with her. The more she thought about it the more it became present in her memory – I heard things in my home, I live by myself… something fell on the kitchen, something was thrown on my bedroom… just before Charlie showed up there was just a very scary feeling overwhelming me. - her skin crawled as she remembers the moment.
- Mmm… sounds like something was following you for a bit, had it happen before?- he asked as he sat back crossing his arms.
-I never did pay attention to anything till that day, my life was pretty calm and with no mayor problems, it was just a regular living day by day kind of life...- she said covering herself a bit more with the blanket.
-So what happened after all this? -
- I got with my friend and we went to her school district… she had a place of her own near the party where we where headed...- she stopped for a second – and… when I just got there I saw him. Actually I first felt his eyes on me, his eyes… almost piercing in me, it was very intense… maybe at that moment I didn’t look shaken by it but inside of me I was terrified – she held tight from the blanket, Frost noticed that she was shivering while remembering that night – The rest of the night I didn’t see him, I was more focused on my things… till I decided to walk back to my friends place by myself, she left me for a while now and I just didn’t like being alone in big crowds… so I walked back, and along the way there’s a river that crosses the area we have to walk over a big bridge to make it to the other side… and there he was-
She had a vivid memory almost, she could even remember the smell of the place, the wind caressing her face, the complete silence of the area.
-He say anything to you? - Nebbia looked at him.
- He started talking about… I imagine his lost lover, it was his fault that she died or something along those lines… I actually did confront him, I asked him if he was following me I ever threaten him on calling for someone to help but… he instantly forgave himself . Then he started explaining what he was passing by and… I honestly felt bad for him… I never was in that position but I felt such sadness from him...-
-So… it was a person standing there? -
-I don’t know… - she said as she bit her finger, she was trembling – the thing is… I tried to touch him, like be reassuring to him putting my hand over his shoulder… I mean by then I though he was a creep trying to get to me – she stopped.
Frost leaned forward and putted his hand over the blanket. She opened her mouth...let a sigh go and felt a weird sickness, like she was going to puke right there, she putted her hands over her mouth and she was shaking. -Hey! it’s ok… - he said as he tried to comfort her but she curled back away from him.
- I saw… a lot… of twisted things… when I touched him – she said – I heard… screams… I felt pain...all at the same time everything just came so fast and so loud – she closed her eyes almost trying to forget the feeling and the nightmare that she was being put upon – Then it happened he deformed on a strange thing with arms bursting out of his body, he lift me up in to the air and… the last thing that I remember was him saying that “I need to go home and help him” - she opened her eyes and looked at him – then he threw me in to the water, and I felt more hands grabbing me and sinking me deep in the water… I can remember seeing a smiling grinning woman… gray horrible skin and black hair so long she could cover me entirely… I feel it was just a second an instant before I felt you grabbing me from it and pulling me out of the water – Nebbia just broke in tears after she finished, she felt so scared and so lost… the fact that she was far away and nobody knew where she was over powered her in that moment.
Frost covered her a bit with the blanket, he stood up and called his wolf -I need to go to town...- he said, his friend jumped in the bed and curled with her obediently.
He grabbed his cape and putted his gloves on, after a moment he walked back to the room … Nebbia was petting the wolf that seemed calming her down.
- I won’t be long, we are not far from the village but I may take a bit more because of the snow… Fang will take care of you while I’m away -he putted his hand on her back – You are safe here, I’ll be back as soon as I can...- he said as he started to walk away from the room, she heard as the door opened and the wind whistled inside… then the door closed hard behind him.
-I… don’t want to be alone...- she said in silence as she kept petting the wolf. She could still hear the whistling of the wind outside but after that it was just her by herself once more.
CHAPTER 3 ON NOVEMBER 13
Thank you for reading!
If you want to check the little prelude Check it here!
Check The last Episode here!
Check for updates of artworks and other stuff on my twitter - X and my streams on Twitch!
That was a great chapter and it kinda gave me chance to calm down from the surprise in the last chapter. It had a wholesomeness to it and I enjoyed it. I love when different worlds collide and the perspectives are different and new! Looking forward to the next!!!