// TW/Spoiler alert: Hypothermia & some drownin'

One thing had been made clear to you as you sat against a cold wall, hugging your knees to your chest: you were a prisoner -or something of the sort. You were sure that if the spirit had wanted to eat you, it would have done so by now. Yet, it hadn't and you had been left alone in one piece and -quite literally- in the dark.

You couldn't bear the cold, though. The cave you had spent probably around an hour in was cold, humid and smelling of fish. Your clothes refused to dry and you were looking for a semblance of warmth in curling up in the corner. Your fingers had become numb to the point where the muscle underneath felt like snapping each time you clenched the drenched fabric of your dress and you were shivering. You weren't exactly aware of the latter fact; your mind was racing with thoughts about your future.

Am I going to die? Is this it? -truth be told, any time you pondered about your death, you were adamant on dying of old age. It was pitiful, to die with no one to ever find your body under the lake -inside an underwater cave nonetheless. You'd end up as a lifeless husk with algae for hair and the tide for a grave. It was so unfair but you could do nothing.

You had thought of going through the tunnel once but the way your body shook and your eyes stung changed your mind pretty quickly. Your muscles ached even at the thought of standing up. Instead, your body pathetically continued to shiver in the corner far away to the cave's only entrance.

Φ

It felt like an hour had passed but without a clock, you couldn't be sure. You had refused to sleep and your brain was getting back at you by blacking out and filling your memory with blanks -not that there were any changes you would have liked to remember anyway. Honestly, the only difference between falling asleep and being awake was the lighting that would change ever so slightly -it was not very noticeable. It was just your eyes drawing shapes on the black canvas laid in front of them whenever you would close them, chasing after whatever little shine was around.

Out of nowhere came a sound. A sound of water splashing and hitting against the cold walls of stone. Through the deafening static of silence, it was too loud; loud enough to make you want to drown it out by screaming but that would be a bad idea so you shut it down quickly. Instead, you covered your ears with your hands, eyes darting to find what had made the water go wild. You could hardly make out any shapes in the cave but you saw a big spot darker than it was before in the water. And then there were hoofsteps and the sound of something rising from the depths.

The water spirit had returned and it brought with it the shaking feeling of terror. You huddled closer to the corner, as if that would help you escape and the creature drew closer.

Its eyes shined brightly, brighter than your eyes could handle at the moment but you kept them glued on those eclipses of eyes it had. Perhaps those would be your only signs of light for as long as it wanted to keep you around.

Something landed on your lap; something soft yet wet and gross to the touch. Was it... grass? Flax stems? It most definitely felt like flax, the texture had been thwarted greatly, diluted by water, but the length was a major giveaway -and you hadn't seen any long grass in the clearing; it had probably been kept short by the wildlife. What was it doing on your lap, though? And then another batch came after the first. What was the thing trying to accomplish? Bury you? You weren't dead yet. Sure, you had a fever and with how cold and humid the cave was, you would not survive for long -especially with no food. Was it just waiting for you to die of hypothermia and starvation? That is just awful, and if you had the idea of crying, your body certainly didn't.

There was hot breath on your face. Big puffs of warm air that you instinctively moved towards. You soon realized that it was the water horse's breath escaping in clouds through wet nostrils. You were quick to retract yourself, recoil into a ball like before and stay away from it at all costs. The spirit huffed, raised a hoof and dug the ground in impatience, tail flicking and cracking through the air like a whip. The sound was too much and once again your hands found their way to your ears.

What was about to happen to you? The telltale of trouble rang clear through your head. Bella would do the same actions whenever she was frustrated with something; like that one time you had eaten one apple more than she had from the picnic basket. That was a happy memory, one that you found yourself silently cherishing and calling yourself an idiot for taking life experiences for granted.

I promise you, Bella, even if you can't hear me, I will give you ten more apples when I see you again.

If you see her again.

God, would you see any of your family again? The villagers you had grown to love and help in any way you could? Were they looking for you? Chasing Bella to the lake and waiting until you returned home? You would never return home, that was a given in your situation. Being kidnapped by a spirit you barely knew anything about.

What did it even want? Taking you and causing grief to befall the village; your home. Then again, it was an evil spirit, maybe it had done all that to bring misery and depression. Was that its goal? And if you asked, would it even answer -let alone, understand words?

There was a body where there shouldn't have been beside you. A stiff leg, slim and fur soft and dry. Warm. You couldn't lean in, though. Who knew what intentions the creature had? Then again, a quicker death would have been appreciated? You couldn't see a way to escape from the cave. There was no light in the depths and especially not in the tunnel you had been taken through.

All the flax must have been some sort of salad to accompany the meal anyway. That thought made you throw the flax to the ground. What felt like a carpet of kelp laid next to your feet, wet and uncomfortable. Yup, definitely a salad. But there was no information stating that water spirits ate kelp and other greenery.

Before you knew it, you were lifted by the collar of your tattered dress by strong teeth. Those eyes of yellow and orange rings closer than they had been just a second ago. You wanted to scream but through the haze of an oncoming fever, you found the task hard. Your mouth opened and closed, teeth chattering and grinding painfully as you gasped for breath. You could hear your hard pound faster as you were dragged across the floor to the edge.

Suddenly, you were in water, unable to breath and unable to struggle. Your eyes stang so you closed them, your fingers were pinching your nose shut and you struggled to get a grip on the spirit's long mane that was too slippery in the water. What is happening? Where is it taking me? Well, those questions would remain unanswered by words. They were soon answered by actions.

You were suddenly on the surface, fingers carding through green grass as you sputtered and gasped for mouthfuls of air. Dear oxygen, never leave again! You could hear so much more, feel so much more and it was overwhelming for a minute. You noticed it was morning, the sun beating on the field gently and warm. You spotted no clouds on the horizon when you looked with strained eyes. Everything was blurry when you would move your head, a slight vertigo that formed into a headache -surely a fault of that cave and its awful humidity.

You did not understand why you were on the surface, though. Were you not good enough to eat? That would be a good thing, especially if you managed to somehow get up on your feet and run before it changed its mind. You thought of yourself as a good runner with adequate endurance but no one could outrun a horse; an animal made to run distances longer than the known world and migrate across the lands.

Or waters in this case but that's beside the point.

There were footsteps behind you. Wait... footsteps? Human feet? Was it a person? One of your neighbors? Your father maybe? Weakly, you turned your head and the first thing you questioned was where the water horse had run off to. You hadn't heard it run away but maybe that was due to the water clogging your poor ears.

Your eyes landed on a man with long, black hair and a penetrating, amber gaze. The tiniest bit of concern was on the man's face as he knelt down near you, a hesitant hand extended towards your quaking form. Oh. You were still shivering. At least the sun was helping with its heat to keep yourself warm. Who are you?, you thought but maybe you had mumbled out the words a tad too loud because he retracted his hand quickly.

He looked lost, thin lips pulled into a line, sharp eyes looking around in search of something. Had the spirit been scared off? Had he saved you? He shook his head slightly, hair that puddled on the grass moving and waving beautifully with unperceived grace.

"Who was that woman?"

"She was a water spirit, one of the evil and mischievous sort. Even though she resembled perfectly the woman of my dreams, I saw straight through the spirit's disguise and threw a rock at her. Immediately, she turned into a horse and jumped in the lake. She wanted nothing else but to eat me whole and have my kidneys for dessert! I grabbed my wagon and booked it from that town"

Your conversation with the fisherman wafted through your head. That's right, water horses were shapeshifters, the sort to use their ability to trick and kill with. In front of you stood such a water horse in human form. How it had turned human was beyond you but that was the least of your worries.

For one, he was naked. A naked man in front of your virgin eyes which you hid once you realized how far down they had wondered. You face flushed with embarrassment behind your hands. Right, a spirit is a thing of nature, you shouldn't expect to see pants and clothes on it. Was it even an 'it' at this point? It was in the form of a man. It confused you even though you could not afford to be confused.

A hand had grabbed your wrist, bony yet strong and tentative. It was gentle but the unknown intent scared you. Then you could see again and a hand was on your chin, lifting your head until your eyes fell on yellows of lightning.

It pointed at you and mouthed the word 'Cold', then at the sun and mouthed the word 'Warm'.

You put two and two together then. It wasn't a salad it was making back in that cave. It was trying to make a sort of nest to warm it up -to warm you up. Until it realised that the grasses would not dry and took you out of there.

That was... a way to treat a prisoner -er, hostage? You were unsure of what position you were in -a dangerous one, sure, but the rank was unclear.

So, now what?

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Hello, lovely readers!
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