Blizzard

Chapter 3: The Cave

Enar was shocked. he had killed a giant ferocious bear in one strike, which was a feat most hunters in his village couldn't do. He felt good, but something about the once beautiful fur on the beast now stained with blood made him feel terrible. He felt like he hadn't worked to get there at all, lazy. These things sent him into deep though.
Enar was in such deep thought, he couldn't even see Eske get up and walk towards the bear. The boy had awoken, and to an otherworldly sight. He stood there, bewildered by the sight of the bloodied beast.
"What...what happened?"the boy said in shock. Enar didn't know how exactly to answer.
"I... don't exactly know myself..."

"Did you... kill that bear?"

"...I think?..."
Enar got up slowly and walked over towards the limp bear. He slowly lowered the creature onto the ground, on its side. The bear, even in death, layed gracefully in the dim sun on the snowy ground. Enar pulled the spear he had found out of the corpse, it sliding clean out of its cold still chest like a clean refined metal. The spear wasn't at all stained, as the blood of the bear trickled off quickly, leaving the spear looking as clean as when he pulled it out the snow. Enar had put his bow around himself once again as they began to trek away once again. Soon, though, the weather began to pick up once again. The clouds grew ever darker as snow once again began to flutter down from the dark noon sky.

"We'll be ok, right?" Eske inquired

"Of course we will, it's just a minor storm I bet."
Enar was deeply mistaken, as just minutes later, the wind began to drastically speed up. Soon it became harder for them to even trudge forward.

"I'm glad we left as early as we did." said Eske.

"I'm not. I wish I had the chance to skin it."

"You would risk our lives for a sack of fur?"

"In this case, yes."

"Fair enough."

At first the storm was nothing big. Snow had first begun to fall with hard winds, then ice. Eventually, trees started to fall. Despite the wind, the brothers began to try to run, but were slowed to a walk.

As they walked, a creaking noise could be faintly heard through the roaring of the storm. Enar looked up to see a giant tree trunk come toppling down. He swiftly pulled Eske up and threw him ahead, making him hit the ground. Enar then rolled out of the way just in time to not get crushed.
"We can't keep aimlessly walking in this weather, we can barely see!" Said Enar over the storm.
Eske shook his head and pointed to a nearby cave. It didn't appear to be the safest option, but it was safer than outside. They began to walk in that direction, when suddenly lightning struck a tree outside of the cave. The tree groaned and slightly leaned, about to land in front of the cave.
"Damn! We have to go!" The older of the two yelled. Eske jumped onto Enar's shoulders and he ran as fast as he could to the cave entrance. The snow didn't help, being up to Enar's ankles at this point. He kept running, hoping that he could make it. He so desperately hoped to save himself and his brother. He couldn't stop, not now. The cold began to subside, the snow at his ankles seemed to melt despite still being solid and freezing. He ran faster through the wind, as it seemed to support him this time. He went faster and faster until he was right at the edge of the cave. He slid himself and his brother under the tree, which was inches from crushing them, and into the cave. The tree had a thick trunk that blocked the entire mouth of the cave, trapping them inside with small dim little lights from cracks around the tree. They both lay there, exhausted and traumatized.

"Best hunting experience ever..." Eske said as he panted on the ground.

There was a thick silence that was filled only by their gasps for air before they both bursted into laughter.

"Trees don't seem to like us very much!" Enar responded.

"Neither do the weather or the animals!" Eske said back.

They both laughed and laughed despite their grim situation.

"I'm going to explore the rest of the cave and make sure there are no creatures already living here." Enar said after a couple moments of laughter. Eske pulled out a bundle of sticks wrapped by a piece of leather and handed it to his brother. Enar created a fire and sparked it on to the bundle of sticks, creating a torch.

"The cracks should provide a small light for you here, stay safe Eske."

"Yes sir." he said poking the ground with a stick.

Enar began to walk through the cave, inspecting the areas within for hidden enemies. He began to see strange markings riddled throughout the cave's walls. Some looked like the ancient runes that many could not read. Odin, who is also god of knowledge, of course knew how to read this language. Enar had always wanted to know himself.

After about 10 minutes of travelling, he came upon a distant light. It definitely wasn't an outside light, it was more like a campfire. He equipped his newly acquired spear and prepared for anything as he neared the corner where the dim light had shone. He could hear someone moving, and could see a shadow in front of the fire. He carefully turned the corner and lifted the spear to attack whatever beast or bandit might be awaiting him. Just as he truned the corner, the stranger had turned to face him.

"Hello Enar. Take a seat, why don't you?"

It was the orange haired boy from before, looking just as friendly and roughed up as before. They gazed into eachothers eyes for a long time as the fire crackled, echoing into the darkness of the cave.