Chapter Text
A red cloak flapped violently against winds that carried a white whirlwind of snow deep in a forest somewhere in the Kingdom of Vale. The wearer, arm raised to block the onslaught of snow battering their face, took slow but determined steps through the snowy landscape, doing their best to stay on a now buried path. Every few steps, their arm would lower, allowing silver eyes to scan their surroundings for any sign they were still on the right path, blissfully unaware of the shadow watching them from a distance. The storm made it impossible to make out details more than a few feet away, and despite their focus, the girl in red would be forced to her knees. Exhaustion from her efforts had started to take its toll, and a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow had cause her to slip, her hands barely catching herself as she slumped down in the snow.
Her head lifted, eyes wincing as she faced forward, and finding herself without the strength to stand back up she began to crawl instead. Her destination felt so close, yet so far away, and despite the growing likelihood that she wouldn’t make it to wherever she was going, a small smile rested on her lips. Her hands had begun to turn purple, barely able to lift her stiffening arms or flex her fingers, and as the ability to crawl left her she would eventually slump down into the snow.
“Either way… I’ll see you soon…”
It was a comforting thought as the silver eyes began to flutter shut. Her smile remained firmly on her lips, growing wider as the girl nestled her body into the snow as if it were the most comfortable bed in the world, more than ready to drift off to sleep. As her waking mind began to tip to darkness, a shadow that loomed in her mind felt more physical than metaphorical, and though she was close to drifting away, her curiosity caused her eyes to flutter back open. Forcing herself up, enough to take in her surroundings once more, she found herself in the presence of an enormous white wolf, their body half the height of the trees with a mouth that could consume a person in a single bite.
“No, not a wolf… a fox?”
As much as the creature seemed canine in nature, there were features that felt equally feline. Her mind couldn’t quite process the type of animal that had appeared before her, but what she did know was that the snowy white fur painted with sky blue patches was beautiful.
“Are you… a Grimm?”
It was a rhetorical question, the girl giving a weak laugh with what shaky breath she could muster, but to her surprise she was given a response.
“How dare you.” Words were carried beneath the surface of a low growl, an ethereal beauty to them that contrasted the rough bestial tone. “Those single minded beasts share not a single quality with the Kitsune.”
“So… you’re not… going to eat me?” Another weak laugh, given with an incredulous expression as the girl stared up at the beast.
To the demon, this girl was nothing more than a brief curiosity in its travel through these unfamiliar lands, but its interest grew as it gazed down at hollow eyes. The question, while obvious to the beast in these circumstances, felt like it had been laced with disappointment.
Raising its head it scanned their surroundings, wondering why a human would come out so far during such a storm. The closest settlement was back the way the girl had come, and there was little in the way of points of interest within this forest, at least to the best of its knowledge.
“No.”
As its gaze turned back to the girl, the hollowness seemed to grow, the small smile from her bewildered laughter breaking.
“Oh.”
Her silver eyes lowered back to the snow, her body slowly laying back, the intensity of the storm already covering her body with a thin layer of snow.
“Where are you headed?” With a few steps, the beast did its best to block the path of the wind and the snow, creating a barrier with its body in the hopes to buy a few more seconds of conversation.
“To… my family…” Her words were muffled by the snow, but the beast’s senses had no issue in hearing them.
“I see.”
For a few moments the only sound to be heard was the wind. The girl’s eyes had started to flutter shut again, when she felt a warmth coat her. She could tell the beast had drawn closer, no doubt the warmth of its own breath washing over her. Had it decided to eat her after all? Why bother lying…?
Razor sharp teeth pinched onto the back of the cloak the girl was wearing, a surprising gentleness that avoided shredding it entirely on display as the beast lifted the girl up and onto its back, the warmth of its fur a sharp contrast to the welcoming cold of the snow. The expression of the girl shifted, her misplaced joy being replaced by confusion and disappointment.
“Just… let me…” Her words had grown weaker still, her body shifting as she tried to roll herself off of the creature.
“Where are they?”
“Huh…?”
“Your family. If death is your desire, then grant them one final meeting before you depart from this world.”
There was another lingering silence, though the girl made no further attempts to roll off the beast’s back. As the silence grew, the beast began to wonder if the girl had passed away despite the warmth its body had provided, but eventually her silver eyes forced themselves open. With slow turns of her head, the girl eventually lifted a hand with enough strength to point in a direction, and with a nod of its own head the beast began to walk through the snowy forest.
In the continued silence, a tight squeeze onto its fur was the only indication the creature had that its passenger was still conscious, and more importantly, alive. Occasionally there would be a pull in one direction or the other, an amused understanding that it was being steered in the appropriate direction by its rider, but the deeper into the forest they moved the more curious the beast became. Even though its time in this region had been brief, not once had there been any signs that a city, home, or even a shelter existed anywhere within this forest, so where were they headed?
Lost in thought as it walked, the creature allowing itself to be steered by the girl, there was eventually a tight tug backwards that caught it off guard.
Had they passed their destination? Did they perhaps need to slow down? There was nothing-
The silence was broken by the sound of stones toppling and clattering against one another, the creature's paw having toppled over a tiny mound of stones beneath it. In that moment the girl had forced herself to roll, an unexpected amount of energy on display as she threw herself from the back of the beast, though she was snatched from the air by the jaws of the beast before she could hit the ground.
With a few steps back from what seemed to be a grave marker or shrine, the beast lowered the girl to the pile of stones it had knocked over, and again the girl seemed to find a store of energy that she used to put the tower back together.
“Your family?”
The question floated in the air, and once the girl finished the tower she once more began to smile, curling up beside the tower with a weak nod.
“Mmhmm.”
While the creature had hoped for more, some degree of follow-up, perhaps an explanation, the silent smile of the girl told it that this would be the end of their time together. Turning away, it managed a single step, before turning back.
“Am I to assume, then, that at this point your life is forfeit?”
“Mmhmm.”
“If that is the case, may I then also assume you have no objections if I were to take your life?”
“All yours.”
It was almost laughable how, given the implications, such a casual colloquialism was used to surrender a life.
“Very well then.”
With a smile on her lips, the girl curled in the snow began to drift away once more, entering a deep sleep she hoped to never wake from.
Within the storm, a whirlwind of snow enveloped the beast standing over her, growing in intensity before gradually reducing in size. From it stepped a young woman, her snowy white hair braided along her back with her pale skin wrapped in a shimmering blue dress that gave the illusion of snowflakes glistening in sunlight as she walked. Her bare feet stepped through the snow without any signs of the cold bothering her, and she crouched down beside the now unconscious girl. Her skin had become a deepening shade of purple, but the smile on her lips remained.
Reaching out, the woman brushed her thumb across the stiff cheek of the girl, and from her touch the hypothermia left the girl’s body, the purple hues transitioning back to her regular albeit pale complexion. Her expression twitched, her body shifting as life and warmth returned to it, though for the time being, she remained at rest.
“I accept your life.”