USM 2021 Bingo

Lost in the Woods (Part 2)

Valentine's Day Updated!

Note: I took did some tweaks to the Nova Helmet lore that you're going to pick up on in the story if you know anything about the helmets. So, heads up for that I guess.

They walked in the direction of the cabin, although walking was a loose term. Peter limped, having to lean on Sam for most of the journey, which made it more of an awkward shuffle than anything. He was shivering hard by the time they were halfway there, and Sam only lasted a few more minutes of full-body shaking before activating the nova force.

Peter immediately relaxed into the tingling warmth, feeling it drive away the bitter bite of the snow, before going rigid and looking at Sam in alarm, "Wait, isn't Titus tracking you? Won't this alert him?"

Sam bit his lip in thought, "It might," he admitted, "He doesn't have anything that could track me, per se, but I don't think he'll find us that fast. A lot of alien races like to think of Earth as some backwater planet, and they aren't exactly wrong, but they don't usually plan for its more extreme weather. I'm hoping this storm caught Titus off guard, so it might take him a while to track us."

Peter frowned, looking down in a way that meant he was worrying again, "You're sure this won't speed it up?"

"I honestly don't know Peter, but we both know how cold you get and how dangerous it is out here, especially for you. We need to keep you warm before your inner spider decides to go for a cat-nap."

It would be so much worse than a catnap. So much worse.

Some spiders hibernate in the winter, and others die. Peter's mesh of spider and human biology compromised in the middle. He started out lethargic and would eventually collapse in slumber if subjected to the elements for a while, but if his body dropped low enough in temperature, it was going to become a much more permanent sleep. Basically, the same it was for anyone who happened to get caught in frigid weather, it just affected Peter way, way, WAY sooner, and on a much larger scale.

By the time they made it to the cabin, snow was coming down with vengeance, and without the light of the nova force, they wouldn't have been able to see 3 feet in front of them. After a few minutes of pointless squinting, Peter gave up trying to help navigate and allowed himself to be pulled along by Sam.

The cabin is less of a cabin and more of a shack. The whole thing is only one room, and it's not very big to begin with. Barely bigger than Peter's living room. There are a few nails on the wall, suggesting it was used to house hunting equipment, and a couple of boxes shoved in the corner. There is no fire grate, but Peter supposed it didn't matter, seeing how they didn't have much to start a fire with.

Sam carefully set Peter down in a corner of the room and scoured the place for anything useful. The room was bare enough as it was and the only thing that turned up in the boxes was a ratty old hunting coat that was moth-eaten and grimy. He shook it off as best he could and returned it to Peter.

The thing was gross and would be crawling with bugs if not for the cold, but Peter must be especially worn out if he wasn't commenting on that as Sam wrapped the coat around his shoulders. It worried him. In the few minutes that he'd left him alone, Peter's temperature had already dropped, and without the nova force keeping him warm his body was shaking again.

Curse spiders and their inability to thermoregulate.

Sam knelt next to him to button the top buttons, so it'd stay on, and it seemed to finally rouse Peter from his daze and he looked down at what he was wearing. "Are you sure you just don't want to burn it?"

Sam gave him a look and firmly buttoned another button, to prove a point.

"Thanks," Peter said, wiggling a finger through a particularly large hole in the front, "I feel much warmer now."