Frostbite- Lady Dimitrescu x OC

On My Own/Savior

                                                (Italics show past things or flashbacks)

    

       When I think back to that fateful day, I remember how cold it was. It was the coldest day yet of that winter, not that it got very much warmer in the spring or summer, given the seemingly eternal grey clouds that always hovered above the village. In the distance, the castle loomed like some mysterious beast, watching all the inhabitants below it with wary eyes, as if it were waiting to pounce on any civilian willing to pass too close to its gates, and I was wondering, not for the first time, what lay within its stony walls. I had been warned day and night about not going close to it during my hunting trips, ever since I was a tiny baby, but I longed to, certain that whatever lay inside couldn't be worse than what came for the village every night. My parents had always been strict about when I was to return from hunting, forbidding me to stay out past sunset, the pitch black night bringing with it terror and death.. I had never seen the strange creatures with my own eyes, but the bloody remains of several villagers had proved their existence to me many times.

      Those bloody corpses had struck fear into me, for I was, after all, only a small child at the time, but I had to venture out to find food for our whole village, afraid or not. Almost all the men had been slaughtered by the creatures while trying to fight them off, the women had no idea how to fight, and the boys were either too young, too scared, or too busy taking care of their mothers to take on the task, and I was the only one in the village who excelled with both blade and arrows, able to hit my mark from a hundred yards away with eerie precision. So my father had taken it upon himself to volunteer me, as if I were some magnificent trophy to show off, instead of a mere girl, but I knew how desperate we all were for food, and many of us were already starving to death.

     So I ventured forth through the snow on that day, just as I had many times before, feeling the icy cold burying itself into my very bones, chilling me, making me wonder if this was how it felt to die, becoming lonely and cold all at once. I shook my head, clearing those dark thoughts from my head, knowing I needed to focus if I was to catch any worthwhile game, and trudged quietly up the mountain, into the dense forest surrounding it, wrapping my flimsy cloak tighter around my small body. For twelve years of age, I was average height, but still smaller than most of the children my age, which caused them to occasionally make fun of me, but they would quickly stop when I clenched my fists, knowing I could easily deflate their ego with a single punch, and I was often ill, but chose to hunt, even in those conditions, not one to let others down when they counted on me.

     After a long while, my body was going numb, but I arrived at the center of the forest, quietly perching on a bank of deep snow, going as silent as I was able to, waiting for some animal to show itself. Few of them came out in winter, but deer were known to frequent the area, and after the measly few rabbits I had brought back the last time, I was hoping I could take home a decent sized buck, though dragging back one so big would be difficult without a way to carry it, so I would likely have to skin it and remove its organs soon after killing it, and place the venison in the bag I carried with me. That would delay my return even more, but it was the simplest decision.. I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of a twig snapping, and I felt relief wash over me, as a buck bent down nearby to gnaw on a small patch of grass sticking out of the snow, and I silently pulled out my bow, notched an arrow, and drew back the string, taking slow breaths, aiming steadily, before launching the arrow into the poor thing's heart, watching it kick for a few moments in its death throws, before it stilled, blood pooling underneath it.

     I made quick work of removing the arrow, then carefully skinned the corpse, rolling the fur up to take back and use as blankets and coats, then removed the organs, leaving them where the birds and other animals could use them as food. After all, every creature deserved a decent meal to survive such harsh weather.. I placed the venison into my bag, right as the sun began going down, and started the descent back down to my home, hurrying as fast as I could, slipping and sliding on the ice and snow beneath my feet. By the time I arrived, I felt fear gnaw at me, darkness surrounding me on all sides, and heard low growls and snarls, though without some kind of light, I couldn't see an inch in front of me, much less what happened to be hiding in the dark, but what concerned me was that I knew I was in the village, and there wasn't a single torch or lantern lit. which was unusual. I staggered to my home, knowing the direction to walk after walking it a thousand times, tripping over rocks and other things, and managed to get inside, but it was dead silent and cold.