New story idea...! Has been forever since I updated but thought would. give it a go once more. Here is the prologue so see what y'all think...
Summary: Nine year old Clary is playing by a frozen lake when she meets her soulmate.Shame he's a Sabertooth tiger cub. Set during the Stone Age.Clary/Jace AU
Chapter One - two hungry wolves and a sabertooth tiger
3409 BCE. Somewhere in the Ötzal Alps (present day border between Austria and Italy)
Clary POV
On the east ridge of the Fineilspitz, tucked away below the peak of the mountain, there is a a lake. During the winter it is housed in an unforgiving landscape - frozen and devoid of warmth, comfort and visible signs of any kind of human presence. It is more inviting in the summer; hunter gatherers frequent there to fish and bathe, as well as trade with neighbouring tribes. At this time the lake and its surrounding area is a social hub, you'd be hard pressed to find a moment of solitude devoid of human presence.
The contrast in winter could not be more stark, which is why little Clary loved it so much. She knew her mother didn't approve of her disappearing alone to venture further into the fabric of the east ridge. It's not that she didn't care, but that she simply couldn't help herself. She was captivated by the lake's formidable beauty but especially so with her favourite cave, unbeknownst to everyone but her. The entrance was obscured by rocks, so narrow you had to wiggle through on your tummy to find yourself inside it. Clary, the keen explorer that she was, discovered it when playing a few months prior. She had been thoroughly told off by her mother on her return home, especially when she protested that "the pretty fairies told me to go to the lake so I followed them". It was truly magical.
Clary was imagining she was the chief of the tribe, plotting an adventure in her hideaway to travel to distant lands. She spoke to the icicles like they were her advisories, taking their suggestions into consideration as she attempted to map her treacherous route with tiny pebbles on the ground. She was so enthralled with her mystical quest that she wasn't aware of the world around her, the rapidly setting sun, the danger surrounding the lake as darkness began to settle.
"Yes, Icy you're right. If we turn into falcons we can fly for days on end! How far we will travel. The things we will see!"
The sharp cry of a wolf's howl sent immediate shivers down Clary's spine. Several wolves answered with howls of their own. They were close, and there were a lot of them. The winters here were harsh; they would most likely be half starved and desperate for nourishment. She barely registered the remaining pebbles in her hand as they clattered onto the icy floor, more preoccupied with trying to ascertain the proximity of the danger and her escape route. She wasn't too scared yet, instead aware that this may be the calmest she would get to feel before a torrent of emotion rushed through her body and action required.
"That's a stupid idea Icy and you know it," Clary whispered indignantly to the icicle she considered the most talkative, "if I stay here they'll sniff me out and I'll be trapped. I have to get into more space."
She watched her breath as it escaped in an icy cloud in front of her face, fascinated by how quickly it disappeared. Even the air around her was urging swift movement.
Clary gingerly went onto all fours and crept closer to the cave entrance, then wiggled on her tummy through to peek out. The sun had long set for the night and the moon proudly took its place to govern over the land below. Thankfully the night sky was clear and the shine of the moon considerable. The frozen lake acted almost as a mirror to illuminate the area surrounding the cave.
There were two routes back to the village. You could either turn right, climb up over the cave and go around the lake to get to the other side where the forest with her home was or cut across the lake to get to the edge of the clearing quicker. The vast stretch of ice was not particularly inviting. It hadn't been winter for that long and the frozen ice was still relatively new.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves which were threatening to envelop her. The howls had continued to get ever closer and she couldn't help but feel they had the smug confidence of predators that knew they were approaching their prey. Perhaps she shouldn't have patted every rock and tree on her way over and spoken to them like they were all her loyal tribespeople, her scent would lead them with welcoming arms right to the cave entrance. Clary's nostrils flared in annoyance at her own stupidity, her mother's voice echoing in her mind with the scolding she was sure to get when she got home. If she got home that is. Clary was increasingly concerned that she might not make it out of this alive.
These concerns were certainly justifiable after a few tentative steps immediately right of the cave in preparation to scramble around the edge of the lake. Right in front of her she could see a horizontal row of four eyes boring into the very core of her being. Clary gulped, and it felt as though she was swallowing her very heart it was so loud. Thump thump. Thump thump. She was fast, the fastest kid in her tribe, small and wiry too, but she wasn't faster than a pair of hungry wolves. There's no way she could dodge around them, they'd catch up in an instant. Short cut it would be, then. The wolves emitted an ominous growl as they edged closer and closer, as if daring Clary to make one move to try and escape her sealed fate. She shuffled tentatively backwards in as minute steps as possible, pausing as she heard the shallow crack of ice below her heel. She had reached the edge of the lake.
As if sensing what she was about to do the wolves stiffened and poised to attack. Instincts kicking in as Clary swivelled and trod as lightly and as quickly as she could across the lake, trying to ignore the sound of cracks on the ice below. She could hear the pants of the wolves behind, clearly not perturbed by the potential danger of the lake's surface in the slightest. It was as if they relished the opportunity, as hungry for the challenge as for their next meal.
Clary's eyes watered as she braced the fierce chill of the winter wind. When had it gotten so cold! She was certain this was the most danger she had ever been in in her life (albeit a short one) so far, and pleaded with the gods above that should she get through this alive she would always be safer than in this moment. She was nearing the middle of the lake now, and though she could hear them approaching, she had no idea just how close they were. Clary risked a glance behind her and immediately regretted it; not only was one frighteningly near but she then lost her footing as a result and tripped, her body crashing onto the ice and sliding across. Limbs flailing, she tried relentlessly to regain her balance. Clary was distantly aware of the yelps of anticipation from the ravenous wolves swiftly gaining on her.
Her skidding body gradually came to a stop, and Clary took this opportunity to try one desperate attempt to get back up to continue to run. Her fall had enabled her to get tantalisingly close to the other edge of the lake; it seemed somehow crueller for her to meet her demise here rather than by the cave itself. Her attempts were futile, but Clary didn't give up, couldn't give up. She'd die fighting to escape. One of the wolves had caught up to her and snarled in victory, eliciting a gasp of horror from Clary. She swore there was an almost human glint to its eye as it bent to pounce on her. A blood-curdling scream erupted from the little girl as the wolf leapt towards her. Clary raised her arm to cover her face as she prepared herself, scrunching her eyes closed as hard as she could. But the impact never came. Clary's eyes snapped back open instinctively when she heard a new noise, a ferocious snarl which drowned out the surprised yelp of the wolf as it was flung off to the side, crashing down on the ice several meters from Clary. She rubbed at her eyes, convinced she must be dreaming as fear coarse through her blood even faster than before. The two wolves were now being fought by a sabertooth tiger cub. An inexplicable giggle rose up within Clary and escaped, the dissonant sound at odds with the gravity of the situation unfolding around her. She must have hit her head too hard when she fell initially, because as darkness enveloped her Clary laughed, before everything went black.