Snow, Blood, & Memories - Ethubs AU

Prologue

Why hello there!

Welcome to yet another Ethubs fic. Hope you enjoy!

TW: blood

Etho wasn't planning to be up at one in the morning, but he heard a bloodcurdling scream.

He jolted awake and almost ran to the window. He pulled open the curtains and looked out. There was another blizzard in progress, which is what he got for living in a snowy tundra village. Through the snow he could make out something... was that a man lying in the snow?

He put on his mask, grabbed his jacket, pulling it on and putting on snow boots before racing outside, still mostly in his pajamas. He ran to the form on the ground.

There was a horse going crazy next to the lump in the snow. "Woah, girl, easy now," Etho said, grabbing the horse's reins to try and steady it. Etho wasn't good with animals, that was Gem's domain.

Gem. He could take this horse to Gem, and Gem could take care of it.

It had taken a lot of brain power to come to that decision. Etho had never realized how slow your brain worked at one in the morning.

The horse had calmed down just a little. "Easy, girl. I'll get you out of the cold soon."

The horse seemed very interested in the lump in the snow. "Is that your owner?" Etho asked, like the horse could give him an answer.

He took the horse's agitation as a yes and started unburying the guy in the snow. The man underneath had brown hair tied back with a red bandana and a green fuzzy sweater on. There was blood on the guy's temple and on his arm and clothes, and there was a gash in the sweater.

Etho let go of the horse's reins to heave the man over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Both the man and the horse needed help, and he started to trudge toward's Gem's house. She wouldn't appreciate being woken up at this ungodly hour, but she'd understand. He knew it.

He got to Gem's door and knocked three times, loud and hard. A bleary-eyed woman with frizzy red hair and green eyes opened the door. "What is it- Etho?"

"Heard a scream. Found this guy. And the horse. Can you take care of the horse until morning?" Etho explained, out of breath. The guy on his shoulders was short, but decently heavy.

"Etho, it's one thirty in the morning."

"Gem, this horse could die if you don't help."

That caught Gem's attention, and she looked over the horse. She sighed. "Okay. I'll help. Should we tell X?"

X, or Xisuma, was the unofficial leader-mayor-thing of their village. "Wait till morning. Not urgent yet."

Gem nodded. "I'd better get so many IOU's for this, Etho Slab."

"Keep this horse alive and I'll get you whatever you want, Gemini Tay."

Gem smiled slightly and led the horse to her barn. Etho waved and trudged back to his house.

He closed the door behind him and carried the man to the guest room. He laid the man down on the bed and ran to get some clothes. He quickly changed the guy's garments and cleaned up the blood.

But wait. There was no head injury. Or any chest injury. The only injury the dude had was on his arm, and there was no way that had produced so much blood.

Etho shrugged it off, tucking the man under the covers. Some problems could wait until the sun was up.

[Word Count: 573]

Hope you enjoyed, see you in the next chapter!

~Matteo