Winter's Chill
AN: Our heroine survives and a new character is thrown in the mix as well as a very familiar story line.
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Dead or Alive:
Yukishiro Enishi stalked tiger-like through the densely wooded area. His body wrapped in a thick winter coat and his feet encased in fur-lined boots keeping out the chill and allowing him to travel unmolested while most people huddled up in their homes for warmth. He had been traveling for what seemed an eternity with no destination or purpose. He had no purpose now that his sister's memory was at peace for him and Battousai was not longer an enemy. There were many others that still hated him but their feelings were of little consequence. He walked on purposefully, when an unexpected object caught his foot and sent him reeling. He caught himself on a tree cursing and brushing off his clothes he turned and looked back at the offending object. A round-ish dark object was revealed where his foot had caught it. He had half a mind to go back and kick the thing when he noticed that it appeared to be covered in cloth. Slightly curious, he walked over to it and using his foot scrapped back more of the snow. Soon he was on his knees brushing away furiously as he uncovered what appeared to be a small girl curled up under a blanket of snow. Her skin was translucently pale and as cold as the snow that surrounded her. He doubted that she was still alive.
Reaching down he lifted her stiff body and looked around. He had never been in this place before but there had to be some sort of dwelling she belonged to nearby, someone so small could not have gone far from home, especially not so underdressed. He walked a ways and the snow got heavier. A wall of white confronted him in all directions and soon he gave up on finding her home, and decided to settle for any shelter to protect him from the cold. Suddenly, a large shadowy object came into view. Perhaps he had found her home after all, and certainly even if the girl was dead the parents would let him stay seeing as how he had at least brought back her body.
However the building was less a house than a hut and it seemed wholly unoccupied. He walked up and easily pushed trough the rickety door and into the musty one room building. He set the girl on the floor and looked around. While not warm it at least provided a shelter from the wind and wet. A dark mass in the corner caught his eye. Upon further inspection, he discovered it was a dusty futon and blanked under which was a meager pile of logs and twigs. Well, now he could make a fire and depending on the state of the girl, he or his companion had a bed for the night. He spread the futon out near the small fire pit in the center of the room. He walked back to the girl. Removing a glove he reached down and placed his hand a hairs-breadth from her nose. To his surprise, he thought he felt a tickle of cool breath. He brushed back her damp hair and placed a few fingers on the side of her neck. There was a pulse but very faint and irregular.
Surprised and a bit annoyed at the turn of events he picked her up and moved her to the futon. Her clothes were stiff with ice, and while not wet at the moment if it got any warmer she definitely would be. Grabbing the nearby blanket her pulled it over her and sat back to think.
Her clothes looked fairly simple. Nothing he could not remove fairly easily but if she survived it would put her in a very odd situation, naked, stranded in a hut with only a blanket between her and some strange man. Well, it could be worse, she could be dead.
Enishi was not sure why but he decided to try and help her.
First he pried her body out of the fetal ball she had formed and looked her over. Hmmm, perhaps not as young as he had first surmised. Her clothing was a strange mix of wraps and blue shorts and a top similar to those worn by young boys. What kind of strange creature had he come upon? His eyes traveled from the striking coral obi at her waste to her pale face. Her hair was cut short in the front but fell in a long dark braid in the back. Somehow she seemed familiar, but as of yet, he could not place this strange girl in any of his recent memories. He quickly removed all of the clothes he could without exposing anything too sensitive then covered her with the blanket as he removed the last of her wraps. Free of her icy clothes he wrapped the blanket snuggly around her. Then went to try and build a fire from the measly wood supply he had discovered. The room filled with acrid smelling smoke as the twigs caught and smoldered before a small crackling fire emerged.
Sitting back, Enishi pulled off his gloves and boots and warmed his toes and fingers. After a while his thoughts wandered back to his small charge. She did not seem to be improving all that greatly despite the blanket and the fire. He moved beside her and placed a hand on her face… still chilled. Her breathing had become stronger but she was still too cold. Hoping not to wake her in the process he re-secured the blanket and began briskly rubbing her back and legs to try and stimulate circulation. As he rubbed he realized, yes, she was much older than she had first appeared by the feel of things. After a few minutes he stopped to check her breathing. A hint of color was back in her skin and she breathed normally. Moving back to the head of the futon, he sat and warmed himself. Again he looked down at her; there was something undeniably familiar in that face.
By now, his own clothes, which had been chilled with snow, were thawing and the jacket was getting moist. The fire was warm but not enough to fend off the chill without a somewhat substantial covering. However, he had thoroughly inspected the shack and that futon and blanket were the only contents and from the howl of the wind the snow storm was still at full force and not abating anytime soon. It was looking to be a long cold night or an interesting explanation in the morning.
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Well, that certainly added a twist to it and now we have a familiar scenario but will it have a typical end? Again not even I am sure but the next chapter *is* partially complete so at least one of us will know soon. Again thanks for reading and drop me a line, feed back is always appreciated.
~Merrow