In fear of everything new happening around her Christa made to look around. She whipped off the sheets around her and made to get up, only it was harder than she expected. Her leg hurt so bad it almost made her go blind after putting her feet on the ground so hard. Looking down she noticed she was not wearing her own clothes. She was dressed in a light white bed gown that covered her to her knees. She blushed thinking about how that may have happened. She remembered her own injury because of the pain but bravely tried to get around anyway. Making her way to the wardrobe to her side, violently limping all the way, she opened the doors to find her own bloody clothes and muddy boots hung up with nothing else to accompany them. Christa gathered her breath and started making her way toward the door with fear in her heart. Once she had made it she tried the door, already knowing in the back of her mind that it would be locked, which it was. She sniffed, trying to keep the tears back from fright and pain. Finally, slowly, she made her way to the window beside the bed and gasped at what she saw. She was high in the hills, forest surrounding everything. Squinting to see further into the distance she recognized the collection of villages she had lived in all her life, now sitting on one of the surrounding hills. She twisted her neck to try to see the rest of the building from the outside but could only see a few spires, which clued her that this might very well be a castle. Looking down it could be seen that she was easily 3 stories up from the ground. She whimpered as tears pricked her eyes once more, shaking from everything she had experienced thus far. Looking down at her self again, she saw blood peaking through the white night-gown and slipping down her leg. She collapsed back on the bed at her side and closed her eyes. Her own whimper softly carried her back to sleep.
Christa awoke to the sound of a door creaking. She opened her eyes cautiously. It was dark and the figure getting nearer to her was difficult to make out. Fear gripped her chest tightly.
"Who are you?!" she questioned a little louder than she intended. The figure did not cease it's advance, unfazed by Christa's exclamation. "Stay away!" She started trying to get out of bed.
"Stop," it spoke. It was a woman, who had held her hand up when Christa started moving, "you'll reopen your wounds." At this the young farm girl obeyed. She layed back down slowly, careful of her leg.
"Who are you? Why am I here?"She was less frightened but still very cautious. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness more and she was starting to make out a rather tall woman who was holding something.
"You got hurt very badly and I didn't know where you lived...you should eat this." She held out a wooden bowl that contained soup that, Christa had to say, smelled amazing.
"How...how long have I been here?"
"Only a day..." The woman urged her to take the bowl. Between spoonfuls Christa was taking in the now much clearer sight of her...captor? Savior? She had dark brown hair held up in the back, falling slightly in her face in the front where her golden eyes peaked out. She was dressed plainly, but like a man, and a warm looking cloak that reached the small of her back. She never took her eyes off Christa.
Gathering courage Christa asked again, "Who are you?"
"You may call me Ymir...if you tell me your name..." The tall woman replied after a moment of silence.
"Tell me what happened last night first." Christa answered defiantly, wondering where her boldness had come from. Ymir visibly bristled. There was more silence before,
"You were attacked, I helped you."
"What happened to the other girl?"
"You are trying my patients with these questions, little one." Ymir moved to leave, clearly angered.
"Christa..." The taller woman turned around to face her.
"What?"
"That's...that's my name." Ymir's expression softened.
"Christa..." She muttered quietly, and stared at the young girl's face. "What do you remember about last night?"
"Wolves attacked me and my sister...I got hurt bad...I woke up here. Those wolves...I swear one of them spoke to me..." Ymir's expression was unreadable.
"What about before the wolves?"
"There was a group of men...they were traveling showmen. They invited us to drink with them at their campsite. I think...I think the wolves were them...I know that sounds crazy," Christa finished sheepishly.
"It doesn't...I believe they lured you out purposefully." Ymir's expression became conflicted and she looked at the floor. "You should rest."
"Wait, please. Did you save me?"
"...yes."
"Did...did you see my sister? She has long brown hair..." The older woman met her eyes again.
"I did not see another. I'm sorry. But I am going to need to change your bandages, do you want to rest more first?"
"Oh, I uh...I think I opened my wound earlier today." Christa peeled the covers back to reveal the site of the injury. It was covered in dried blood that had also gotten on the sheets at some point. Ymir's eyes widened and she backed up.
"Oh.." she breathed and turned away slowly, "I'll get a rag to clean that up, don't move around." Christa sat patiently for the woman to return after she left through the old wooden door, which creaked dramatically. What a mysterious person, this Ymir. But she couldn't be that bad, she had already saved her. Now she was feeding her and tending to her wounds. Still, she couldn't figure out how to feel about her current situation. She was also beyond worried for Sasha. What was their mother thinking? The door opened loudly again to reveal Ymir with the promised rag.
"Alright, pull back your sheets again." Christa obliged and her savoir leaned over her and was careful lifting the nightgown up to her upper thigh. Christa blushed at the gentle touch. Ymir started unwrapping the wound. "Can you lift you leg?" Christa nodded and winced as she did. The older woman was able to get the bandages off before it really started hurting under the strain. "This will be a little cold, sorry." Ymir started carefully whipping off dried blood, trying not to put too mch pressure on the deep bite marks. Christa looked at her own leg and was surprised by the severity of the injury. Multiple punctures characterized the full bit mark, reminding her how large the wolf had been.
"Can you stand?" Ymir asked once the blood on her leg was cleaned up.
"Not without bleeding more..." She nodded once and, without warning, put her arms under Christa's knees and neck, swiftly pulling her up from the bed. Christa squeaked slightly at the surprise.
"I need to change those sheets and redress your wounds." Christa nodded mutely and let herself be carried out of the room. Once through the door she tried her best to take in the new surroundings. She was being carried down a stone hallway lit by torches and lacking windows for the most part. She did her best to relax into Ymir's hold, as it seemed she was safe right now. The cloak she was wearing was very warm but Ymir's hands were quite cold in comparison. After descending down a flight of stairs and turning a corner they ended up in what looked like a small infirmary. It was much smaller than the room she woke up in. It contained a metal slab that was already marred with blood and had the attachments one would need to tie someone down. Along all the walls were shelves and they were highly stocked with jars full of murky water and medical instruments and a mix of medical solution. Christa was layed gently on the cold slab and Ymir easily reached for a roll of bandages and a jar of something clear.
"Okay, this is going to sting for a bit, are you ready?"she asked after picking up a clean rag.
"Um...yeah, I guess." Christa answered nervously. The second rag was applied to the bite and she was right, it stung a lot! But soon enough it was only tingling. Unrolling the bandage wraps Ymir touched under Christa's knee to get her to lift her leg again. As she was being fixed up she couldn't help glancing around. seeing blood spattered in more than one place.
"Do you, uh, live here?" By yourself?"
"I do right now, yes...but I haven't been here that long. And yes, by myself," answered the dark woman. "Okay, you're all fixed up but I need to change the sheets on your bedding, unless you want to sleep in dried blood." Christa shook her head. "It'll be a little bit so um..." again she lifted the young girl and carried her out of the small room and further down the hall toward a large set of doors much like the one that guarded the room she woke up in. She hesitated to call it her bedroom. Ymir kicked the doors open, careful not to move the girl in her arms around long. Christa gasped because the room they entered was an enormous library complete with arm chairs and a fire place. The walls seemed to be made of books, worn and dusty. She was set into one of the four armchairs arraigned around the fire. "I'll try not to take too long."
Ymir left without another word. Christa gazed around the fanciest room she'd ever seen. The fire place cracked and flickered with the life of a warm fire. It silhouetted everything in the room. Next to the chair she sat in was a stack of books. Picking one up, she examined it. Flipping through the pages she could tell it was some kind of medical journal about surgery but it was in a language she didn't understand, perhaps French or English. Did Ymir practice surgery? But she was a woman, so how could she? Perhaps she was a nurse, but living in a place like this that didn't make sense either. She would have to ask her if she felt bold again. Ymir didn't seem to like questions at all. Upon continuing to search the room with her eyes she noted that everything seemed relatively well kept. Some of the books were dusty but for the most part everything was clean. She wondered if Ymir came from nobility, living here in a place like this.
She had so many unanswered questions about everything that had happened over the last day or so but her host hadn't been very open about anything except, it seemed, taking care of her. She was so lucky Ymir had been passing by and not up here in this castle, but that also begged the question of what she had been doing in that forested area to begin with. She couldn't do much without her host present so she tried to relax and feel the fire's warmth on her bare feet.
The doors opening woke her from her shallow slumber. She didn't even remember closing her eyes.
"you've got clean sheets to sleep on now, do you want me to take you back?"
"Actually, do you mind if we just talk here? I'm sick of sleeping right now." That wasn't totally truthful but she didn't want to sleep right now, so strange was her situation. Ymir silently looked at her before sitting on the chair across from her. She waved her hand as an invitation for Christa to talk.
"Those men...they were also the wolves, weren't they?" After Ymir took a deep breath she said,
"Yes, that's correct."
"So...were-wolves? Like from children's stories?"
"If that's what you like to call them, I suppose that's right. They are different from what I know of traditional lore in these parts." This was, as of yet, the longest conversation they'd had. Christa felt her nerve returning.
"Do you know the difference?" Confliction once more made it to Ymir's face. She sighed,
"I believe I do, but I don't expect I know everything. As far as I know it is not a curse, and changing shape is voluntary. THeir nature is pack-like and they are not adverse to feasting on humans. I don't know much more about it." Christa steeled herself for her host getting mad.
"How do you know all this?" All she received was a silent glare. Then,
"Time." She rose from the armchair. "I think that's quite enough questions for tonight, I'm taking you back upstairs."
"No, please, I won't be so invasive, can we just talk?" Exasperated, Ymir replied,
"What do you have to say besides questions?"
"I want to thank you. I've just never...been treated so well when it comes to my health. You've been very kind." Christa blushed and looked at her lap. Ymir was clearly not expecting that. She looked shocked at first then a little sheepish.
"Oh well...you're welcome. I guess." She sat back down. There was a comfortable silence between them for a few minutes. The fire characterized the room wonderfully, bathing it in a warm flow akin to a sunset. Somewhat idly Christa started sifting through the small stack of books on the side table in her reach where she found the medical journal. Before opening the books she checked to see if they were in German. She didn't speak a word of anything else. She spotted one, and upon reading the title, she picked it up cautiously.
"This is...or I think this is what they were reading from..." Ymir gave her a questioning look. "The wolves, they read this book aloud to us just before..." She trailed off remembering the previous night again. The other girl noticed the shift in mood.
"Read it to me." Ymir's request took her away from the memory.
"What?"
"Read something from it to me, it's small stories, right? Pick a different story."
"oh...alright." She flipped through the pages looking for a different title than the one about the young girl and the wolf. "Um, alright. This story is called Snow White and Rose Red..." as the story began Ymir settled into her chair, putting her feet on top of a matching ottoman and closing her eyes.
When the story had concluded Ymir wordlessly took the book from Christa's hands and picked her up once more.
"You really do need to rest now, I think, you seem tired." Christa lazily nodded into the heavy cotton of Ymir's cloak that rested over her chest.