In My Time of Need - Chapter 5
Story by ElijahHusky on SoFurry
Chapter 5! :3
Good evening my furs! (Or for those of you reading when you wake up good morning!) Finished this chapter a little late as I had a bit of a distraction halfway through the chapter *ahem* YOUTUBE *ahem* so yeah. XD But never fear the chapter is here! Hope you all enjoy and I'll see you all at the bottom of the page! ^_^
I stirred slightly at the wind that was currently piercing my sensitive wet nose. My eyes stung slightly from the cold as I peered through squinted eyelids and I could barely bring myself to move let alone I risk losing all the warmth I'd gathered up.
Sitting up slightly so I could roll over I kept the blanket wrapped tightly around my body. I let my eyes wander the tent and found that Baron and Roy were both still asleep. The sun hadn't risen yet being there would be no relief from the cold there, leaving the only other option to be the fire outside.
Bracing myself for the cold I stood up and unzipped the tent door. The first thing I noticed was the layer of white that coated the ground and the tents, not a lot but enough to where you could not see the ground below.
I'd seen and been in snow before so I was able to refrain from hopping and skipping through the white flurries currently floating around. Second was the distinct lack of a fire going, likely extinguished because of the snow.
Sighing I closed the zipper on the tent before crawling back onto my cot, shivering like a little cub. One of the many disadvantages of being locked away for multiple years with no exposure to the outside world is that my internal clock was severely disturbed.
This being so my body was unsure when my winter coat was supposed to grow in, so as I laid in silent agony from the cold nipping at my body I could only try to curl up further into my blanket. I tried to suppress my teeth chattering so the other two could sleep, but it finally got to the point where Baron stirred slightly from his slumber.
He was already facing me and his face said it all when he felt the cold. He grabbed his own comforter and threw it over himself, laying back down to curl up as well. It was then that he glanced over at my shivering form.
“Oh come on it's not that cold." He whispered to me. I could only whimper in response, I was not doing well at the moment. He face dropped slightly and his brow creased with worry.
“Hey are you okay?" He asked concernedly. I shook my head slightly.
“I c-can't f-feel my t-tail or my f-feet." I replied, forcing my muzzle back under the cover.
“My winter c-coat never grew i-in, stupid l-lab." I added, teeth continuing to chatter. His eyes widened slightly in response and I watched with curiosity as he reached an arm out to grab the side of my bed.
He gave a strong tug and I had to force my weight down to keep from falling off the cot. He dragged the cot across the dirt to his own cot before the arm rolled my current fox-in-a-burrito form closer to him.
“Roll out of the blankets." He told me. He rolled his eyes at the look I gave him. “Trust me, you'll be much warmer I promise." He exclaimed. I nodded and unwrapped myself from the burrito and yelped in surprise when I was dragged muzzle to muzzle with the shepherd.
He threw both of our blankets over top of us, heads included. I lifted my body slightly so I could drag the blanket underneath me and he did as well, effectively creating a fox-shepherd burrito combo. Our hot breath slowly began to warm the inside of the blankets.
“Bring your tail up to your body so you can warm it up." He instructed me. Because my tail was currently immobile at the moment from the lack of circulation I had to manually reach between my legs to grab the fluffy appendage. I wrapped my arms around it the same way I had the night before, it's coldness slowly fading away.
I sighed contentedly as I felt myself finally begin to warm up. The effect doubled once I realized that I was currently laying muzzle to muzzle with Baron, whose chestnut brown eyes gazed back at my light blues curiously.
“Feeling a little better?" His tail was also drawn close to his body, and as he shuffled slightly to get into a more comfortable position his fur brushed against my own. I shivered this time because of the physical contact rather than the cold.
“Y-yeah, much better. Being stuck in that lab really messed up my cycles, and so when I woke up this morning to go sit by the fire the last thing I expected to see was snow." I explained.
“It's snowing?" He asked.
“Yeah, an inch or two at most but it's there." I told him. He grinned slightly at the prospect of snow.
“That means the snow hares will be out, much bigger than their grey haired cousins." He commented, licking his chops. His tongue brushed against my muzzle causing both of us to blush slightly.
“Heh, sorry about that. Hungry just thinking about them." He smiled sheepishly.
“N-no problem." I smiled shyly as well.
“Damn that's cold!" A voice shouted next to us. I could only assume it was Roy with our vision being blocked still.
“Yeah, Nathan says there's snow. Someone's gonna go have to relight the fire." Baron commented.
“Whose turn is it?" The brown wolf asked.
“Yours last time I checked!" Baron chuckled. The wolf grumbled in response as the zipper to the tent opened.
“It's lightening up a bit, sun should be up in about 30 minutes which'll help." He informed us before the zipper closed again, leaving Baron and I alone. We laid nose to nose in awkward silence, both waiting for the other to say something.
“So tell me about your brother. Does he look like you…?" He poked at me. I nodded in response.
“He's like my twin, if I weren't a few years older than him we could probably pass as twins." I smiled at the thought.
“I can't wait to meet him, it's been awhile since we've had anyone other than an adult in camp." The shepherd chuckled.
“He'll probably need a day or two to open up, he's shy around new people so don't feel offended if he doesn't talk to you." I informed him.
“Then I'll be sure to take the utmost offense to make him feel bad." He said sarcastically. Reaching a paw up between us I bopped him on the nose.
“Hey that hurts! My nose is cold which stings even more!" He said as he rubbed his nose, but the mischievous glint in his eyes told me it was all in good fun.
“Do you have any siblings? Or is it just you and your dad?" I asked curiously. He shook his head.
“Nope, just me and dad. My mom she… y'know. Lost her marbles and all, but it was such a long time ago." Baron confessed, his voice slightly down toned. I nodded in response.
“When were we going to leave? I'm anxious just talking about it." I questioned.
“Not tomorrow but the day after. I want to make sure everyone who went on the first trip that's going on the second has enough time to rest and prepare. I'd also like for this snow to pass over, it'll make the trip a lot easier." He explained.
“Yeah, I might have to wear some big jackets to make up for my missing coat." I chuckled.
“That's crazy that happened, do you think now that your body knows it's time to grow it out that it will? Or will it decide to grow out in the middle of summer instead?" The shepherd asked.
“I mean I hope it grows out sooner than later. I miss my fluff y'know?" I tried to puff out my coat slightly which only seemed to let more cold air into the spaces between the fur. The sound of the zipper sliding open once again alerted us both to a presence standing in the entrance of the tent.
“Fire's lit if you two wanna come on out, it'll warm you up quick." The voice of Roy said. He left the tent open which indicated he would prefer us to come out rather than stay inside the warm tent, likely still bitter about having to light the fire in the first place. Baron glanced at me as I sighed at the thought of having to face the cold again.
“That fire will keep us warm, c'mon." The shepherd smiled as he threw the covers off of us.
“Hey I wasn't ready!" I pouted as I used both blankets to keep myself warm. Baron crawled up off the ground and stretched his sore muscles before helping me off the cot. The flurries had stopped falling but the fresh layer of snow still coated the ground.
“I don't have any type of foot protection." I told him.
“They'll warm up once we're by the fire I promise." He replied. The last time he promised me something he was right so I sighed in defeat before taking the first step out into the snow. The cold shot up through my body, although the blankets wrapped around me helped negate the shivers once again.
The two of us trudged through the snow towards the fire where numerous stumps were positioned conveniently around it. I found the one closest to the fire and almost thrust my feet into the flames in attempts to get them warmed up.
“Easy there, some fur is better than no fur at all." Roy commented. Taking his advice I drew my feet away from the fire and slowly I was able to regain feeling in them once again. The fire did wonders for the rest of my body as well as a feeling of warmth surged through me.
“Told you, nothing like a warm fire to heat you up." Baron smiled at my reaction, drawing a warm smile out of me as well. Baron and Roy's idle chatting flowed through my head as I gazed off into the distance.
I watched the sun rising up over the horizon for the first time in three years and I couldn't help but get a bit emotional at the sight. The tears stung my dry, cold eyes, but the sun rising brought even more warmth to my body then the raging fire right next to me.
“I've missed that." I commented as I continued gazing off. Both canines glanced towards me and followed my vision off towards the sun. Understanding what I was referring to they smiled thoughtfully, even the little things were worth appreciating.
“Morning boys, mind if I join you?" A feminine voice made itself known as Aubrey approached. She took the stump to my right, yawning.
“Nice weather huh?" She commented to me. I shook my head at her statement.
“Maybe if I had my winter coat but since it never grew in I unfortunately have to disagree there." I replied.
“Oh yeah, forgot about that. We've got some extra fur coats in storage if you want one?" She responded, already standing up.
“That'd be great, just no fox furs please." I chuckled as she rolled her eyes at the statement and started back through the snow towards one of the other tents. She returned shortly with a coat, handing it to me.
“Thanks, this coat should make up for my lack thereof." I told her as I pulled the gray furry coat on. It was still somewhat chilly from sitting in the storage area exposed to the cold, but it warmed up quickly upon making contact with my fur. I was definitely warmer than I'd woken up to, grateful to everyone for helping me out.
I watched as the camp slowly came to life, a few more people beginning to crawl out of their tents into the cold. Most of them I'd only seen for the first time at the meeting the night before. A white furred tiger made her way over to the fire, waving at everyone as she held her hands close to her body.
“Morning Jasmine, feeling any better?" Aubrey asked the tiger.
“A little, not sure how much this weather is going to help me though." She replied, wrapping her long tail around her body. She sounded somewhat congested which would explain why Aubrey was asking if she was feeling better.
Her shorter hair didn't help shield against the cold very much so I reached over my shoulder pulling one of my blankets off. I held it out to her gesturing for her to take it. She glanced gratefully at me as she took it from me.
“Thank you, Nathan right?" She asked as she wrapped the blanket around her, shivering slightly subsiding. I nodded in response to her question.
“Yeah, nice to meet you." I smiled at her.
“Can I ask you a couple questions Aubrey since you led the mission yesterday?" I directed at the rabbit next to me.
“Sure, fire away." She replied.
“How long did it take you guys to get over there yesterday?" I questioned.
“About 3 hours, but we took breaks somewhat frequently so probably two and a half hours." She responded.
“Did you guys actually go inside?" I continued.
“Yes, but there wasn't much left. We found what assume was you and your brother's cells. Which reminds me of something actually, be right back." She told me as she hopped up from her stump. I glanced confusedly at Jasmine who had been listening in on our conversation who only shrugged in response.
“I'm afraid that the snow might cover the tracks, although if they're as deep as she says they are there should still be imprints." She commented. I felt somewhat anxious at the thought but put it aside as the rabbit approached us once again. She was dangling a small wooden necklace in her hand which I recognized instantly.
“We found this in one of the desks towards the middle of the building, wasn't sure who's it was but I grabbed it just in case." She explained. I held out my hand and she dropped the necklace in my hand. I ran my cold thumb over the patterns on the front of the crescent shaped idol before clutching it tightly in my grip.
“It was my brother's necklace that my mother gave him before she passed. He took it with him everywhere but when we got to the lab the warden took it from him. He was devastated, he'll be happy to see this again. Thank you so much for grabbing it." I whispered to Aubrey. She nodded in response and squeezed my thigh reassuringly. I pocketed the idol to make sure it stayed safe.
“You don't think the snow will erase the tracks do you?" I brought back the question Jasmine had mentioned earlier. Aubrey shook her head.
“I don't think so, if anything it might help to solidify them. Rain is the only thing we have to worry about but as long as it stays cold like this we shouldn't have to worry about rain." She replied. I nodded my head in response. Suddenly the voice of Andros rang through the camp.
“Baron! Come here please!" He called. Baron grumbled slightly about why his father was up already before standing up and trudging through the snow in the direction of the cave towards the back of the camp.
“Ever had fish Nathan?" Aubrey's question took me by surprise.
“Nope, never had the chance. I hear it tastes kind of fishy though." I chuckled at my own joke.
“Well you're about to, be right back." My grin faded and I looked toward Jasmine for help.
“I like it because it's just a stereotypical feline taste that I've acquired, but it's not for everyone. I think you'll like it though." She winked at me as Aubrey rejoined us with two silver fish in her grasp.
"Can you reach under your stump and grab the grill tray?" Aubrey asked me. I nodded and felt underneath my seat, flinching upon feeling the cold metal. I pulled out what almost looked like a metal step stool, only the part you would stand on was scored with bars across the surface. I looked questioningly at Aubrey as to what to do with it.
"It should fit right over the fire pit, careful not to burn your paw." She instructed. I nodded and gently placed it around the fire. "One for you and one for me! Just hold it up and use those nails of yours to scrape the scales off, they've been cleaned and gutted so they should fall off pretty easy." She continued as she handed me a fish.
I glanced at my blunt nails before brushing them across the surface of the fish and true to her word the scales fell off easily for the most part. "Now, since Roy was so nice to gut them for us you shouldn't have to worry about bones or anything. Just throw it on there and give it a bit to cook and it should be fine to eat." She demonstrated by setting her fish on the rack, leaving room for mine next to it.
I followed her lead and put my fish on the makeshift grill, the scent drifting to my nose was odd but not unpleasant. I watched with hungry eyes as the fish cooked, the scent growing more and more appealing.
"That's a good sign that you aren't recoiling from the smell. It's definitely not for everyone." Jasmine commented staring at the fish with a lick across her muzzle. After a few minutes Aubrey told me I could take it off using the convenient skewer also located under my seat.
I impaled the fish on the pole and brought it close to my nose so I could get a better idea of what it smelled like. Eventually my stomach overpowered my nose sending a message to my brain that it was time to eat.
I reached out with my muzzle and took a small bite just in case the smell was just fooling me. Thankfully that was not the case as I chewed. The texture was softer than that of the rabbit from the day before which was tough and gamey. Swallowing quickly I took another bite of the tasty fish.
“So foxy likes fishy, I'll let Sam know to grab a few extra when he goes out." Aubrey commented.
“Sam?" I questioned her taking another bite of fish. “He does the fishing out at the lake a mile or two out. He only goes once every couple weeks but he always comes back with a ton of fish." She informed me.
“Probably frozen over right now, might have to wait till it warms up again." Jasmine commented as she watched us eat.
“You two are making me hungry now, I might just go grab myself one of those." She added before standing up. We both chuckled as we finished our fish. I licked my muzzle clean of any food residue. I watched the small flickers of the flame letting my mind wander freely to different things.
The moment was short lived as the sound of yelling echoed from the cave. Aubrey and I shared a glance before we both jumped up and ran towards the cave. A growl tore through my throat as we entered just in time for me to catch a dark brown paw coming down across the muzzle of Baron.
Oooooooh a cliffie! Sorry guys, had to cut this chapter a bit short because it was getting kind of late on my end. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter and I'll see you all tomorrow for the next chapter of Silent Soul! Byeee! :D