Chapter 3 of 5

The King of Winter

When the group had first stirred in this world, the ambient air hadn't been terribly cold. And yet, Wilbur knew it would be a foolish thought to believe that this would last long. After all, Maxwell seemed to have quite the fondness for extreme cold.

To his surprise, even the two humans of the group- the ones with a pitiful sense of seasonal change- seemed fully aware that they needed to take advantage of the weather before it turned icy. There were no words about it, just the innate knowledge that cold was Maxwell's favorite weapon.

It was clear that the prey was also taking as much advantage of the relative warmth. Wilbur was pleasantly surprised at how well his and Wilson's hunt had gone. The man was a decent hunter, especially for a human.

And, under Wilbur's knowledgeable claws, they were able to salvage most of the rabbits' pelts. It wasn't a lot of coverage, of course, but there was still enough hide to cover the more vulnerable parts of their bodies. Wilbur had almost forgotten what it felt like to have warm ears, and it was clear that Wilson was relishing in having something decently protective over his arms.

This was a joy that, for whatever reason, Tyler refused to partake in.

Wilbur had offered to make the boy earmuffs, gloves, even foot coverings, but he denied any of them with a wide, toothy smile. "Save the pelts for you guys. I've got plenty of fur already."

(And if Wilbur still struggled his hardest to give him something, well, it wasn't like anyone would complain. Especially since just a few hours later, he had seen Tyler with soft pelts covering his feet and hands, with not a single word spoken from either side about it.)

So, for all intents and purposes, they were doing fairly well already! Sure, it wasn't as if any of them had experience with making clothing and, as such, every attempt was crude and poorly put together, but the fact of the matter was they worked well enough.

And, hey, Wilbur may have no experience with cold, but he did have plenty of experience with cooking! Emboldened by the decent temperature and abundance of food, he decided to go all out.

The looks on his companions' faces as they ate warmed his heart. His skills were unmatched in that particular field, and the little bit of levity was a joy.

In the end, it was a good thing they decided to do as much as they did during the first couple of days. Because when winter started to set in, it set in hard and fast.

When Wilbur woke up on the dawn of the third morning, he was shivering. The fire they had been tending to had diminished to a lowly ember, which the prime ape wasted no time in bringing back into a controlled blaze. The heat chased away some of the chill, but it didn't stop the thick snowflakes from falling, or the brisk wind creeping through the trees. His fur had thickened a bit after weeks of cold, but it was far from thick enough to protect him well against all this. He pulled his jury-rigged earmuffs back on from when they had slipped off during the night, but even once his furless ears, hands, and feet were covered, ice still crawled through his veins.

Wilson appeared to still be asleep, as did Tyler a few feet away, but Winona woke as Wilbur restocked the fire. He watched as she blinked sleep from her eyes before promptly dragging herself up and getting to work tidying everything.

"If you keep busy, you'll be warmer," Winona said after noticing Wilbur's gaze. "But you don't want to work yourself too hard, because then you'll start to sweat."

Wilbur grimaced at the thought. "Note taken." Following her lead, he got to his feet as well and walked small circles around the fire. The heat was preventing any snow from sticking to the ground around it, but it did make the ground feel wet and slushy underfoot. Tiny ice crystals cracked under his feet as he paced. "You think we could manage one last hunting trip before it gets worse?"

"We have enough food to last for awhile," she said.

"Mmm, yeah, but we could always use more."

"Or you just can't think of anything better to do." Winona shot a glance towards him, her lips quirked into a grin. "We've got a pretty solid set up for now. Plenty of wood and food to last for a good few days. Maybe we could all just relax for a bit. Catch our know."

"Yeah, something tells me that would be a very bad idea. Maxwell, as you can tell, likes to keep his games interesting. If we try to rest, I have a feeling he'll step in real quick to make things worse."

"Okay, but what's the chance of dying of hypothermia the second you walk out there?" Despite her attempts to sound cheeky, her voice dripped with concern.

"Approximately sixty-two percent, give or take two or three percent depending on which one of us you're talking about."

"I'm the 'give three percent' he's thinking of," Tyler muttered from his position on the ground. His eyes were still closed, and he had wrapped himself into a tight ball, but as Wilbur watched, the boy rolled over and stretched his arms out with a yawn. "Although sixty-five is a hopeful estimate. Bump me up to seventy-five and you'll be on track."

"He's right," Wilbur said without missing a beat. "In case you were curious, you were the 'take three percent'. I'd probably rank you the least likely to die stupidly. That's the highest honor I can bestow, Winona. I'd bask in it if I were you."

The concern was still present, but Winona's face softened again into amusement. She turned her attention towards Tyler. "How's the stomach, Ty?"

"Like someone- not saying names but thinking one very loudly- tore a hole in it and made me deal with the aftermath." At that, his eyes finally opened with a faded smile. "Been worse."

"Maybe that'll teach our unspecified culprit to not eat spider meat." Wilbur waved one hand out, causing Tyler to once again make that too-toothy grin. It never reached his eyes.

"What about your stomach, Wilbur?" Tyler suddenly added. "I see it's free of a knife so things must be going well hunting with Wilson?"

The unexpected comment caused Wilbur to huff with amusement. He was being paranoid. The boy was clearly in a good mood; what was there to be concerned about? "He's not a bad hunter. Until now, I just kind of assumed you carried this whole time."

"You've never even seen me be a decent hunter," he complained. "I've been awful at it lately."

"You're right," Wilbur teased. "I was talking about Winona."

Tyler let out a noise of protest and stuck his tongue out at the woman, who reciprocated the action immediately. A spark of something genuine glowed in his eyes, and when he talked, he suddenly took on a very different tone- one of feigned disinterest. "Winona? Psshhh, she didn't know that rabbits have antlers. Does that sound like the mark of a hunter to you?"

Winona's immediate response was to march up to the boy and furiously ruffle the fur on his head. He sputtered indignantly and waved his hands at her as if trying to shoo her away. When he tried to scramble back, she only wrapped one arm around his back in order to noogie him fiercer. Tyler's protests quickly transformed into whining complaints, to which Winona reacted. "Listen to the furious hunter now!" She taunted. "You're so scary!" She sounded like she was talking to a baby animal, which riled him up even more. When she finally released him, his eye was wide with surprise and his fur was so mussed it looked as if he had been bathed in pure static electricity. He blinked several times, only adding to the laughter already building in both Wilbur and Winona's chests.

"Could you guys be any louder?" Wilson complained. He had rolled himself closer to the fire, but kept his eyes stubbornly closed as if trying to fall back asleep. Instead of responding immediately, Wilbur rested his arms on the scientist and used the new perch to examine his claws.

"It would simply be wrong," Wilbur said helpfully. "To assume that we couldn't be louder."

"Can you go back to not talking? I think I like that version of you better."

"Eh. If I did that, I'd just use it to talk smack about you to your face without you understanding." Wilbur poked Wilson's shoulder to get more of a reaction. "Isn't that right, Tyler?" He called in spider.

"Talking smack about people in front of them is pretty fun," Tyler lamented in the same language.

This was apparently enough to force Wilson to fully stir. "Wait, what are you saying about me?" Neither party responded, and he turned his attention to Tyler instead. "No, wait, really, what are you saying about me?"

"We should do this more often. If it makes Wilson think we're talking crap about him."

The smile on Tyler's face turned a little more strained. Closer to the too-wide one from earlier. He turned his gaze down to tug at the coverings over his hands. "Yeah. More often. We'll have plenty of time for that."

It was… a weird way to put something like that.

An uncomfortable silence followed, one only broken by Winona brushing herself off and folding her arms. "So! What are our plans for the day? Just sitting around doing nothing isn't gonna get us anything but colder!"

"Wood should be a priority," Wilson said. "We could set something up to keep any fresh wood off of the ground so it doesn't absorb any water. After the past couple of days, I'd say we're doing pretty well on food, so hopefully we can put off hunting and foraging for a bit. As long as we ration decently." Murmurs of agreement followed his words, and he clasped his hands together. "Wilbur, you've proved decent at firebuilding in the past. Want to set all of that up?"

Wilbur decided to take his time responding. He stretched each of his limbs out, pulling the stiffness from his arms and legs as he did so. Then, he dutifully adjusted his earmuffs and gave a thumbs up. Honestly, he was quite glad to be given a task like this- it was something he had plenty of practice in during his many years, and something he could do without even thinking about it anymore. He might not have been well-versed in cold, but Wilbur knew how to deal with wind and wet. He had lived on a tropical island for four thousand years, after all.

As Wilson doled out further tasks, Wilbur turned his attention to their current stocks. They hadn't exactly skimped on gathering kindling, but the immediate focus had been on food. The others probably had their own reason for this, but Wilbur was personally doing his best to get Tyler back on his feet after the last two worlds. Although his motives were probably pretty obvious to the others. It wasn't as if he kept any of it a secret.

When Wilson turned to the boy to give him orders, Wilbur cut him off without looking the scientist's way. "He's with me. I'm gonna need him."

"Wilbur…" Wilson sighed, pinching his nose. Tyler puffed his cheeks out in indignance, but who it was aimed at, he couldn't be sure.

"Wilson." Wilbur's voice came out more curt and stunted. It sounded more like a warning than the reminder it was intended to be, but who was paying attention?

Finally, Wilson relented. He let out a heavy sigh. "Are you good to help him?"

"I can do something on my own," Tyler protested. "You don't have to babysit me, Wilbur. Wilson, what do you need me to do?"

"Whoa, hey, stop right there." Wilbur immediately paused in taking inventory and twirled around to face the hybrid. "Let's get a few things straight." He held out his fingers and raised one up with each point. "One: Hanging out with your own kid isn't babysitting. It's parenting. Two: Nobody said anything about babysitting in the first place. Three: I actually do need assistance and it just so happens I like you the most."

He didn't look entirely convinced. "Assistance how? And don't say moral support."

"Gathering branches. Making rope. Holding things together. Whatever the opposite of moral support is. Demoralization. Make your saddest, grumpiest takes. Tell me all about the worst things in the world."

Wilbur counted it as a win as Tyler's expression melted into relief and faint amusement. "Volt goats are endangered due to overhunting for their horns," he announced, the first of the aforementioned demoralizing takes.

"Really?" Wilbur didn't know what a volt goat was.

"Dunno. It'd be demoralizing though, right?"

Wilson shook his head with a long-suffering sigh, but Wilbur didn't miss the way he chuckled. "Okay, fine. We've got plenty of time anyway." With that, the scientist set to his own devices, taking on whatever tasks he had left out of assigning his companions. Wilbur nodded towards Tyler, an action that the boy returned, and shuffled through the slush towards the edges of the fire's reach. Once you got far enough away that the heat no longer reached, the snow piled up tall and wide.

For a moment, he entertained the fantasy of finding a sturdy drift to pack together and carve out, something far beyond his skills, but the thought process led him to remembering the bramble shelter he and Winona had taken shelter in the world before. He called for her attention, and offered his thoughts.

"That would probably be difficult," she mused, rubbing circles into one gloved hand with the thumb of the other. "But I could definitely see the appeal. If we could make a shelter big enough, we could keep a decent sized fire in it too." Wilbur could see blueprints and ideas swarming in her eyes, before Winona gave a single nod. "I think it'd be worth it to try."

"What errand are you supposed to be running at the moment?"

"Just wood gathering," she said.

"Well good. We're going that way, too." He beckoned Tyler closer. The boy obliged with little protest, following closely at Winona's heels with Wilbur taking the back. "Ty, we're not looking for anything really for the fire. No logs or anything. I'm thinking branches. Preferably a mix of sturdy ones and malleable ones. Keep an eye out."

"I can do that." A dim light had lit in Tyler's eyes, as if doing something helpful was something he had been eager to do for longer than he would admit. "Do they have to be dry?"

For the next half hour or so, soft conversation filtered between the trio. Wilbur felt his chest grow warm as they alternated between friendly banter, questions and answers, and short anecdotes about silly things. He was smiling wildly once he was sure they had enough to at least start, but he felt the smile slip off of his face as he noticed the way the task seemed to drain Tyler of energy faster than normal.

No matter how good of a face he put on, the boy was still recovering from everything that had happened to him in the last two worlds. His steps quickly grew sluggish, and small grimaces betrayed the pain that must have still lingered in his abdomen. He was stubborn, though, and in a state of furious denial about any need for help.

(He needed help. He needed help so badly.)

While Wilbur was struggling to come up with something to say, something to convince Tyler to ease up, Winona was actually the one to come up with something.

"Bet I can carry you and the wood at the same time."

Tyler blinked several times at her, confusion dawning on his face. "...what?"

Winona grinned at him. "You heard me. I bet I could carry you and the wood at the same time."

He shifted the weight of the wood in his arms. He shot Wilbur a glance, and the prime ape couldn't help but smile widely back. "I opt to bet the opposite," he said conspiratorially. "Wood on its own is heavy, but with a whole kid on your back? Nah. Doubt."

She let out a faux gasp of offense, placing one hand against her chest. "Wilbur, you doubt me? Come on, Ty, I've got something to prove now."

He hesitated, clearly unsure about the arrangement. Finally, Winona took the initiative and scooped him up with little effort. Tyler shouted in protest, but he didn't fight it as she promptly perched him up on her shoulders. As soon as it looked like he wasn't going to fall, she crouched to grab her fallen kindling with an exaggerated grunt of effort.

To Wilbur's surprise, she looked almost entirely unbothered by his weight. Sure, he probably wasn't as heavy as he should have been due to recent events, but Wilbur had seen first hand how much of that kid's body was muscle under his fur. Winona looked as if she wasn't even carrying anything on her back, a glimmer of triumph in her eyes and a bubble of laughter in her chest.

Wilbur puffed his cheeks out and stood straight up. He placed a closed fist against his chest. "You might be able to conquer this trial, but what about the added weight of a prime ape?"

"I'm incapable of saying no to a challenge." Winona shifted herself slightly, jostling Tyler enough that he quickly leaned forward and steadied himself against her. "Bring it on!"

Wilbur poked his tongue out of his mouth as he abandoned his own armful of branches in favor of climbing on top of Tyler's shoulders. He had to lean part of his weight forward to prevent all three of them from toppling over, but the startled laughter coming from Tyler was enough to make the ordeal worth it.

After another moment of balancing, Winona lifted her chin and shouted: "Forward!"

It didn't last for long. Truth be told, it was precarious from the start. They landed on the ground in a pile of branches and limbs, giggling madly all the while.

"Maybe just Tyler," Winona managed between laughs. "I think Wilbur's just a bit too much for me!"

He stuck his tongue out at her, but as he did, he shot his gaze towards Tyler. He was the first to pull himself to his knees, but in favor of clutching his stomach tightly while tears streamed down his face. Fear shot through Wilbur and he nearly started bombarding the boy with questions- Are you okay? What happened? But something was so strange about the shake of his shoulders, the crinkle of his eyes.

Then, Wilbur finally realized: he was laughing. In between gasps of air, Tyler had fallen into such a fit of violent laughter that no sound even came out of his mouth anymore.

Immediately, the fear melted away, leaving nothing but a light sense of joy. Winona reached forward and ruffled Tyler's head fur again, which was enough to cause his joy to become audible again.

Wilbur even heard a soft rumble rising from his chest. A purr. Tyler was purring, and quite loud. It was enough to make his voice tremble in time with it when he spoke again, begging Winona to leave his fur alone despite clearly enjoying the attention now.

Any wood they had previously gathered was now thoroughly soaked with snowmelt, as was every inch of his and Tyler's fur and Winona's clothes. And yet, Wilbur didn't feel cold at all. Rather, he felt warm from head to toe, basking in the innocent fun of a family making light of a bad situation.

Wilbur and Tyler didn't exactly need dry wood to start on their project, but Winona certainly did. Wilbur knew that she was fully capable of gathering fresh firewood herself, but she didn't protest when the two stuck around anyway. Without struggle or even protest, Tyler allowed himself to be perched on Winona's shoulders the entire time. His purrs had gone deeper, more centered in his chest than rising in his throat. It wasn't as audible, but Wilbur could see it well enough.

Eventually, they did turn back- Winona with fresh, dry firewood and Wilbur with his own bundle of branches. When Wilbur shot another look up towards his kid, Tyler had long since drifted off with all of his weight pressed into Winona's shoulders and the back of her head.

Wilbur couldn't help but smile.