#little bit inspired by recent wintertime adventures of my own

[creaturefeatures-and-mysticyarns]

In the Snow (An Orcish Adventure Tale) 1

Characters: gender-neutral reader, nonbinary orc (they/them)

Content Warnings: None? Trapped in a blizzard, probably inaccurate descriptions of hypothermia

Rating: PG

Word Count: 2235

Part One of a Three-ish Part series. I’m planning for this to be a little bit more of an adventure story with a romantic sub-focus instead of a straight romance. 

You shivered, hunching your shoulders and pulling your coat closer around you. The wind howled, snow swirled, and shadows danced between the skeletal trees. You sank further into the knee-deep drifts and sighed. You had hoped to make it back to town today, ideally before the storm hit fully, but at this rate, there was no chance of that. Looking through the gloom, you hoped for a place to take shelter instead and trudged onward when you saw nothing.

Several hours later, the forest had plunged into total darkness, you had lost the path completely, and the snow and wind cut off whatever hope you might have had, slim as it was, to spot anything. Still, on you walked, shivering incessantly, nearly doubled over to shield yourself from the wind, hoping that you hadn’t gotten turned around and would eventually clear the trees before you froze to death.

You were beginning to give up hope. You wanted to cry, but it was too cold and the moisture seemed to freeze within the ducts. You stopped short as you suddenly crashed into something solid, soft-ish, and just a little too warm in the depth of the snow to be anything but alive.

A gasp caught in your throat as whoever, or whatever, it was slowly turned to face you. Even in the total darkness, their eyes seemed to reflect a light as they stared down at you. They towered over you, surely at least seven feet tall. They inhaled deeply, and for some reason that made you flinch.

“Little human,” the deep, rumbling voice, almost a grunt, jarred you after the silent (or near silent if you counted the wind through the trees) forest. “You should not be out here.” Their accent identified them, after a moment, as one of the orcs from the nearby stronghold.

“I know,” you felt annoyed at their statement of the obvious, “but the storm hit before I made it to town. Didn’t have much choice to keep going or freeze to death.”

“You’ll do that anyway.”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence. And who are you to judge me when you’re also standing around in a blizzard? At least I was moving and trying to get out of the storm.”

“Some of us aren’t so weak as others.”

“Weak? Really?” you glared, despite not being sure if they could even see you.

“Yes,” you could see just enough to guess that they shrugged. “Might not be your fault, but it’s still a fact.”

You felt a particularly intense shiver run up your body, followed almost immediately by another, so forceful and all-encompassing that you could not respond and struggled to even keep your feet. You tried to keep the panic from your mind, knowing that it was a sign of your body shutting down.

The orc in front of you grunted, almost scoffed, and bent, hooking an arm behind your knees and the other under your armpits, effortlessly scooping you into a carry-hold against their chest.

“Wha…what are…you…d-d-doing?” you struggled to force sound out through your frozen lips and chattering teeth, every breath needed to do so feeling like knives down your throat and into your lungs.

They said nothing, merely turning and trudging off into the trees. As you were carried off, you struggled to keep your eyes open, wanting nothing more than to sleep but fearing what might happen if you did.

“You can rest, Little Human,” they grunted upon feeling you jerk yourself back awake for the third or fourth time. “No harm will come to you.”

A voice in the back of your mind told you not to believe them, not to risk it, but you ignored that voice, your body sapped of too much energy to fight it any longer.

~

The first thing you noticed when you stirred was warmth. You still felt the chill of the snowstorm at your core, but it was less severe, less total than it had been, and the air of your surroundings was no longer making it worse. The next, as you slowly came back to full awareness, were the softness and weight of the blankets piled on top of you and the soft, orange light of where you were. It didn’t reach the ceiling, but it flickered along the wall beside you, exaggerating the cracks and irregularities in the rough stone.

Pulling the first layer of blanket tighter around you, you slowly sat up and looked around further. You were in a small, roughly egg-shaped cave. The tunnel entrance at its “point” was dark, unreached by the light of the fire that had been set in a shallow bowl at the center of the space. The only other thing in the room was a shadowy shape against the opposite wall, which you assumed was your rescuer, or were they now your captor? Their soft snoring mingled with the crackling of the fire in an oddly comforting symphony.

Sighing softly, you slowly climbed to your feet, wincing as you made contact with the cold stone floor. It was then that you really noted, almost absentmindedly, that you had been stripped to your underclothes and the rest were laid out by the fire. You padded over to them to discover that they were still damp. You shrugged and pulled the blanket even tighter around your shoulders, and moved toward the cave entrance.

“Don’t,” you started at the soft grunt from your companion.

“What?” you asked, wincing at how loud your voice bounced around the room.

“You should stay here,” the orc said, sitting up, blankets pooling at their lap and exposing their bare shoulders.

“I was just going to look around,” you offered, frowning. “Is that a problem?”

They shook their head in response. “It’s not safe to wander around, Little Human. The storm won’t have stopped yet, and the others won’t like that I brought you here.”

“Others? What others?”

“This cave, it’s part of a sort of…warren of safe resting places. The only people who know about it are the hunters and scouts and leaders of our clan. We’re not the only ones waiting out the storm here tonight. If they caught a stranger, particularly a human, here all hell would break loose I think.”

“Then why bring me here if it would cause such a problem?”

“Would you rather I left you to freeze to death?”

“I didn’t say that! I just don’t get why you bothered or didn’t just take me somewhere else?”

“It needed to be somewhere close, you were in bad shape. It wouldn’t have been right not to help.” They shrugged nonchalantly. “Human or not.”

“Well, thank you, I suppose. But what happens now?”

“You should rest more. It is still late. Later, I will check to see if the storm has passed, and collect us food from the communal stores. Once it is clear and we have rested and eaten, I will escort you home safely.”

“I don’t need an escort. Just point me in the right direction and I can manage alone.”

“No. I will escort you. It would be pointless to have saved you just to let you wander off and get hurt.”

You huffed and rolled your eyes but didn’t argue. “I don’t feel like I need more rest. Can’t we just leave now?”

They shook their head and chuckled. “There is no way the storm has passed. Be patient, Little Human.”

“Well then, can we talk instead of sleeping? It’ll still be somewhat restful, and I’d like to know more about my savior.”

They nodded in acquiescence and you moved back to your nest of blankets, bundling into them and sitting to face the orc, studying them. The fire light danced along their long raven-wing-colored braids and pebble-grey skin, and you couldn’t help the light flush that crawled across your cheeks as you admired their muscular form.

“So, Little Human, what would you like to know?” They raised a scarred black eyebrow.

“What’s your name?”

They smiled, large lower canines poking out over their upper lip. “I am Vornan Girsmak, as you can guess of the Kheredod clan.”

“Nice to formally meet you, Vornan.” You smiled back and introduced yourself in turn.

“What were you doing out in the storm,” you asked, “especially so far from the stronghold?”

They chuckled. “I cannot tell you that, Little Human. All I can say is that I had duties that took me into the forest, and was as caught off-guard by the snows as you.”

“But you were just standing around like you were waiting for something.”

“I was.”

“So saving me got in the way of your job?”

“The person I was waiting for won’t have risked the weather. We will meet another time.”

You were silent for a long while, staring into the fire thinking on what you knew and wanted to know.

“What about you Little Human? What brought you into the storm?” they asked.

“I told you, I was travelling and the storm hit before I could make it back to town.”

“Travelling where?” they frowned. “There is little through the forest for humans to take an interest in.”

You hesitated, unsure if you should tell them about what had brought you out so far from the standard path.

“You need not tell me if you don’t wish to.”

“I was running from the ambassador’s caravan to the Kheredod Stronghold.”

A shadow crossed Vornan’s face and their voice was tinged with a new darkness when they asked, “And why would you do that?”

“I work for the diplomat’s wife,” you said as if that explained anything. “I…saw something I shouldn’t have. I felt obligated to take it back to Lord Dumas.” You bit your lip and turned away, fearing what you might see on their face.

“Is my clan in danger from what you saw?”

You sighed. “I don’t know. Not directly, but it’s complicated. If their secret purpose is successful, the backlash may be against your clan, but the direct target is the Lord and town.”

“That is sufficient. Say no more,” they nodded and then stood. “I will check on the state of the storm and get us food. Wait here.”

They exited swiftly and you waited, simultaneously hopeful that it was safe to travel and apprehensive of what awaited you at the end of the road. When they returned a short while later, they handed you several large, lumpy biscuits and placed a small pan over the fire, rough hunks of bacon (or at least salted pork of some sort) sizzling immediately.

“The snows are still heavy. It would be wise to wait,” they said, sighing and poking at the meat rather than meet your eyes. “But if you think it necessary, we could leave now.”

You shook your head, swallowing a mouthful of surprisingly soft biscuit before speaking. “Better to wait until we’re sure than leave now and risk getting caught out in a worsening situation again.”

They nodded. “Good.”

A moment later, they passed you several pieces of the meat, grease almost instantly soaking into the split open second biscuit you used in lieu of a plate. Silence settled over the cave, heavy and thick as the pair of you ate, but it was surprisingly not an awkward one.

~

The journey back to your sleepy little town of Rivermarch was smooth and quiet, taking the better part of the day for you and Vornan to make your way through the snow-blanketed forest even at the clipping pace they set. The snow was knee-deep at its lowest, and some drifts came to well past your hips, slowing you down as you tried to plow through. The pair of you didn’t speak much, but even in the silence you found yourself drawn to the orc and wanting to spending more time with them.

It was nearly sunset when you arrived at the gate. They stopped just out of sight of the guard peering suspiciously out from the top of the wall.

“Our people are not enemies, Little Human,” they said when you gave them a quizzical look, “But we are also not exactly welcome in your town all the same. And I would not have my presence taint your news with suspicion.”

You nodded. “I understand. But is there some way for me to contact you, you know, if things look bad?”

“Very wise.” They thought for a long moment before reaching into a belt pouch and pulling out a battered tin whistle. “There are birds that my people have trained, hawks and the like. Three short notes on this will call one. Attach your note and tell it ‘return.’ Be sure my name is on the note’s outside and it will get to me.”

You took the whistle, tucking it carefully into the inner pocket of your coat.

“Well, this is where we part then,” you said, thrusting your arm out to invite a handshake. “Thank you again for your help Vornan.”

They grasped your arm at the elbow, pressing your forearms together.

“Farewell, Little Human. May the ancestors smile on your path for many years to come.” They released you and turned back the way you had come. You watched them fade into the evening shadows beneath the trees, a strange lump in your throat. Then, setting your shoulders, you walked to the gates of Rivermarch to finish your mission.