Eldarya: Imagine

Ezarel | Arctic

"Shit" you breath out as you quickly unclasp the fastening of your cloak and force your boots off, the sweater, pants and socks following right after before you jump in the freezing water. You force the ready to escape breath to stay in your lungs as your eyes open and search through the icy liquid, quickly catching a glimpse of blue that you immediately reach for.

Your right arm wraps around the cloaked chest while your left helps your legs as they work hard to get you to the surface, adrenaline somehow keeping you conscious and strong enough to reach the sharp edge of the blowhole the man accidentally cracked in the ice.

The nails of your free hand scratch the slippery surface as you fight to keep your head over the water, before a swirly blue antler is almost showed at your face and you thankfully grab on it to let the animal help you get yourself and the elf out of the water.

The air is even colder now as you cough out the little bit of water that got in your system when you almost fell back under the surface, but you still have work to do. And as you ignore the cold and embracing him across his chest drag Ezarel further from the danger, you lift your eyes once more at the danalasm.

"Find a cave" it bows its head slightly and dashes over the snow-covered ice and ground while you turn back to the unconscious man.

You check for the breath and curse when you find none, quickly moving your lips onto his.

'He'll kill me later' you think as you give him five breaths, before your palms land on his chest to continue the resuscitation until a choke on the water comes but no signs of returning consciousness arrive.

When you're sure he breathes again you pause before proceeding with what you know has to be done. Your teeth chatter from cold, so you throw your cloak around your shoulders before you unbutton his outerwear with your already numb fingers. It's hard but not impossible and soon enough only the underwear is left and as you close your eyes and turn your head to the side, your face burning, you force your hands to get rid of those too, before shrugging the cloak off of you and wrapping him in it the best you can while not looking... too much. You know you can use a blanket for that but it's deep in your bag and you as well are aware that it'll take forever to unfasten it with the current state of your hands.

A thought passes your mind that if not because of the "kiss", you're definitely going to get killed now if the elf learns about the fact you just stripped him, but honestly it's the last thing you should care about now. It's now you who you have to take care of and you think little as you shrug off your underwear before quickly pulling your remaining clothes on. They're already cold from being left alone yet still dry and you know they'll save you from freezing to death as your quickly rub your arms to bring some warmth back to your shivering body.

You prop Ezarel's head on your lap, your hand placed close enough to his nose to keep watch on his breathing, while you look around, waiting for your companion's return. The white drifts surrounding you make the scene seem even more surreal than it is. Calm, although your hearth is racing still from the all emotions bubbling in your heart even since you heard the crack. You two have been too reckless to walk through the wet grounds, even with the grand frost that iced them over. After all, it's never been a secret to you that in places like this the water often stays a little warmer right below the surface, not to mention the places with naturally weak ice that happen as long as the temperature does not go under twenty Celsius degrees for three days straight.

You thought this world would work a little different than the one you come from, but that made you forget the fact physics laws have proven to you many times to work similarly in both worlds.

Just then from the white surrounding you jumps a flash of blue and gold, and you let out a breath of relief.

It takes you much more time than you'd like to get to the cave it found, since not only do you have to drag the elf there but also pay close attention to your cloak so that it does not accidentally slip off of him as you flounder through the snowdrifts while staying alert in case you accidentally slipped from the solid ground to the ice again. And when you finally reach your destination you're out of breath.