The snow was falling relentlessly. Yrsa finally dragged the two men to her cabin and pulled them up the stairs to the door on the second floor. She swept the snow aside and pushed open the door and practically dumped the two exhausted men in the foyer as she pushed the door closed against the gusting wind and relentless snow that was going to pile up high before the storm moved on.
Javier fell to the floor as the strength that was supporting him was suddenly gone. Both him and Huan Li were nothing more than heaps of flesh as they breathed deeply, heaving their chest trying to catch their breath and maybe in an hour or two pick themselves off the nice warm wooden floor.
Yrsa locked and secured the door against the storm and turned to face her two guests, “I guess I am stuck with you for a while longer.” She kicked off her snow shoes and began sliding her broad shoulders from her heavy winter leather jacket.
Javier struggled to raise himself up to something that he hoped resembled a more dignified stance then him sprawling on the floor. He was able to slowly unshackle the snow shoes from his feet and kicked them away.
As he struggled with his garb, Yrsa stepped over the two men on the floor and went into her kitchen and began bringing out things for dinner. It didn’t make much sense for her to keep them locked in the basement. She didn’t trust them, not by a long shot, but she could at least be civil with her two guests. She put a pot on the wood stove to boil. She rested her hands on the wooden handle and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and sighing.
When she used her strength for long periods of time, like dragging two grown men through the snow at speed for instance, she always had to calm herself. The Berserker rage that fueled her strength had to be stilled. She was not a monster; she was nothing like them. Her strength was her own; her rage did not control her. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and was calm once again.
“Are you alright?” Javier asked from the entryway.
Yrsa silently cursed herself for showing even the barest hint of weakness, “I’m fine.” She stated flatly.
Javier looked at the preparations for dinner. He had managed to get his snow shoes and over coat off and was now just in his pants and long sleeve shirt. “Do you need any help?” Yrsa shook her head. “Come on, I could never sit by and watch a woman work in the kitchen by herself. My mother always taught us to help if we wanted to eat.”
Yrsa really didn’t want to argue with anyone at the moment. She nodded her head and pointed to her basement, “Go get some vegetables and meat.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Javier smiled, nodding his head. It wasn’t exactly an open armed profession of friendship but it was a start at least.
After they had eaten, Huan Li excused himself early and went to bed, leaving Javier and Yrsa sitting in two chairs facing at an angle in between each other and the roaring fire in the fireplace.
Javier was the first one to break the silence, “I never have sat in front of the fireplace like this before. I had wondered if it was a thing for anyone anymore.”
Yrsa arched an eyebrow, “Why would sitting in front of the fireplace not be a thing?”
Javier smiled, “I grew up in apartment buildings, and they never had fireplaces. I just grew up thinking the fireplace was a lie, like Santa Clause or the tooth fairy.”
“Sinterklaas is hardly a lie,” Yrsa retorted. “He isn’t the fat man in a red coat like your America says he is, but Sinterklaas is very real.”
Javier thought for a moment, “So are fireplaces it seems.” He looked away from the flames and their hypnotic dance to glance towards the darkened window. Outside the storm raged, he could hear the wind buffet the cabin on all sides and the snow could be seen even through the darkness as it fell rapidly, showing no signs of stopping. “When do you think this will let up?”
Yrsa shook her head, “This time of year storms are numerous and all are bad. This storm may not break for several days, a week? Or it might last a month or more.”
Javier’s eyes opened wide in shock and surprise, “A whole month? You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not.”
Javier’s neck went limp as he let his head fall back against the padded high back of the chair he sat in. “But that’s so long. My friends could be in danger, they could be dead.” As he said it, he felt the acute absence of Erato’s presence from his mind. He could feel the rest of his pack. They were out there, all except Erato. “Can we go out if the storm lets up? Please, I have to find my pack.”
Yrsa looked at him evenly, “You could go out in this if you want, I’m not stopping you.” With a hand wave she dismissed the topic, “But you’d be lost and dead before morning. I’m not leaving this house till I can be sure that leaving this house isn’t some fool’s errand that will get me killed.”
Javier seethed with rage. He wanted to direct it at her, at whoever had taken his pack from him, at the weather! How could she not understand that his packed needed him! He wanted to shift and rip through this house doing nothing but causing as much damage as possible. His fists balled themselves up and he strained his muscles as he stared deeply into the fire.
Yrsa watched him levelly, “Whatever you are thinking about trying, don’t. Even if I can’t stop you and that horrid beast that you carry inside you, nature can. Nothing and no one can stand before the might of nature. If you try, you’ll be buried just like the trees of this forest are being buried.”
Javier blinked and gritted his teeth, “What do you care?!” He spat. “You’ve done nothing but treat me like a rabid dog since Huan Li told you what we are!” Javier stood up and turned to fully face the woman who was on her feet in an instant, facing the man in front of her. He wanted to. God, he wanted to shift to feel the clarity, the strength, vision, scents, everything and all his lunar gifts were so close all he had to do was shift, a simple flexing of the mind and body and he would be wrapped in all his power, that which granted him the ability to do anything.
