Icy wind tore at Verunt's ragged clothes as he slowly made his way through the deep snow. He was nothing more than a grey-brown dot in an ocean of white under the dark sky. He had gone days without food and hunger clawed inside him like a wild beast. The first snowflakes from an incoming storm hurled through the air. The bare, scattered trees would be near useless in protecting him from a blizzard.

This is finally it, he thought, there's no way I'll survive to see the break of dawn.

His last strength faded as he pushed himself forward. His sight was covered in a white fog and he no longer had any idea of where he stepped. The snowflakes increased in numbers so that only the closest tree trunks were visible. They turned into black and purple shadows and creeped closer, looking for a way to reach him.

A strong gust of wind from behind pushed him face first into the soft snow. He struggled but couldn't stand. He curled up on one side against a thick trunk, hoping it would all end soon. As the snow tucked him in as a mother would a child, the cold faded away and his shiver eased. Reality burst at the seams. He closed his eyes and was instantly home in his bed, warm and safe.

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Soon after the blizzard had passed came a young man, accompanied by a big mossy green wolf, through the forest. The wolf was merrily dragging a sled on which thick branches laid. She enjoyed the bright morning sun while the dark skinned man searched the nearby ground with his bright green eyes. He walked as easily in the snow as he would have in high grass, without a rush in the world.

"Come here Mitra", Virid said while picking up another branch the fierce winds had ripped from a tree. The wolf came closer with the sled but stopped in the middle of a step. She cautiously smelled the air before determinedly walking past Virid to the other side of a big oak, standing a few feet away. Puzzled Virid followed, Mitra only ignored him like that when he told her she wasn't allowed to swim.

When Virid reached the other side of the grand tree, Mitra was digging purposefully in the snow with her big front paws. He gasped when a huddle of ragged clothes became visible. They weren't like any other he'd seen before. While his own wool cloak was soft and flexible, this stranger's looked stiff and hard. Virid helped Mitra and a few moments later they had uncovered a young man with dark brown locks, not much older than Virid himself. He was as pale as the snow surrounding him and as stiff as the tree he lay next to. Despite this, miraculously, his heart kept it's rhythm. 

Wait, what am I doing? he thought, backing away from the stranger. I shouldn't help him. He's from outside, he could be dangerous. But... Virid took a few steps closer. But, what if he's not. 

"Shit, we can't just leave him here to die, Mitra. Come."

A few minutes later Virid had replaced Verunt's cloak with his own, laid him on the sled instead of the branches and began to drag him towards the City. 

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A/N: What are your thoughts? Please consider giving this story's chapters votes if you like them. Anyways, enjoy the rest!