Dancing With Bullets

Grisly Encounter

The two of us sat huddled next to each other on a log, trying to converse heat but also gain it from the fire at our feet. Tord prodded at the embers with a twig to keep the fire alight. I leaned into him, tugging the hefty coat over my chest before outstretching my arms towards the fire's warmth.
"So this was your plan?" I smiled softly when I felt one of Tord's free arms draped over my shoulders. "To run away and start all over again with a clean slate?"

"Mhm, just you and me. No forbidden ground between us." He responded in the thick Norwegian accent I had grown so fond of. I pulled my gaze away from the fire and looked to him. The brunette was still fixated on the fire, but had noticed my slight shift and turned to stare back. He cracked his iconic toothy smile and I snickered in reply. However, we both knew we hadn't escaped the threat of war just yet. The fear of facing the armies we'd gone AWOL from settled in the pits of our stomachs, but we pushed that feeling down farther.
As we sat in the comfortable silence that we shared, white speckles began dancing before my vision. Tord had noticed aswell and looked to the cracks in the tree canopy to see the starless, cloudy sky. Flurries of pure white snow fluttered to the ground and sizzled in the fire.
"It's snowing-" I murmured, holding my already frigid palms out into the open air. A few flakes of snow landed and melted almost immediately upon contact with my skin. Tord's eyes seemed lost while observing me, yet a fond smile still stuck to his lips. After my finger tips grew cold enough I whipped my head around to face the norski with a devious grin. He lifted an eyebrow,
"What're you doing?"

"Nothing~" I cooed and quickly reached forward to touch his exposed neck with my frosty hands. He yelped and flinched away,
"Hey! Don't do that!" Tord lifted his arms to defend himself, snickering while I nearly fell off the log from my giggling fit. A huff was heard from Tord as he swiftly scooped up a small patch of snow and stuffed it down the back of my shirt. I shrieked and lept to my feet, trying to shake the melting ice from my clothes. After all I could feel was the cold water dripping down my back, i crossed my arms and turned to the mischievous Norwegian with a scowl.
"What was that for?!"
He rose and leaned so close to my face I could feel his warm breath brush against my nose.
"Pay back~" Tord purred as a heavy blush grew on my face. My heart was pounding my my chest. It was so loud I was afraid even he might hear it. The brunette pulled back and laughed lightly, having gained the reaction he sought after.
"You're just too cute when you're flustered." The Norwegian teased and began picking through the brush to find more kindle for the fire. I shook myself from my stunned state and promptly helped him. After the fire was burning on new fuel we set out to grab some larger branches to build ourselves some sort of makeshift shelter. It wouldn't be the best, but if we built it a bit around the fire it would catch more warmth. I dragged over a few logs and began thrusting them into the ground. The snow and cold began to numb my fingers as I reached for my wood to create walls of wood. It became a little harder to find lumber with the snow piling up layer over layer on the ground. Occasionally one of us would take a break and tend to the dwindling fire. The last thing I wanted was for our only source of warmth to extinguish.
After maybe a good half an hour later the hut was finished. It was very shaggy in appearance but held the warmth of the blaze that somehow kept burning. It consisted of three full walls and something reminiscent of a roof. I sat down, exhausted and cold, in the shelter with my hands panning around the fire. Tord took his seat next to me, pulling his arm around me. I allowed myself to lean into him, relax a moment, but that moment didn't last awfully long.
There was a loud crack in the woods around us. I tensed up, ready to pounce into action. Tord however grabbed his rifle and stopped me from getting up and joining him.
"No, stay here." He whispered and stepped from the hut. I didn't heed his command and crawled on all fours to peek from around the wall. The horned brunette stood firmly while scanning the either with both his eyes the barrel of his G36. My first thoughts were of the enemy, until another set of crackling came followed by the gurgling growl of an angry, inhuman creature. A shadow shifted in my peripheral vision,
"Tord, watch out!" I hollered at the top of my lungs to warn him. He whipped around to confront the sound and came face to face with a grizzly towering over him on its hind legs. It pounced down on Tord, pinning him to the ground as he struggled to keep it from tearing away at his face. He now had the side of his rifle wedged between the jaws of the beast. It was a power struggle, and it was clear who would be loosing if I didn't do something. I broke my stare from the fight and snatched up the M9 nearby. After loading in a new mag, I fired off 4 consecutive rounds into the side of the bear. It twitched and growled more ferociously than before. It's attention tore away from the Norwegian and was engrossed with my smaller figure.
"Oh no-" Tord uttered before the grizzly came bounding my way. I let out another flurry of bullets, but had completely forgotten how thick a bear's skull was. It rose on its hind legs again to strike me with one of its massive paws before a loud gunshot made the entire perimeter go silent. The grizzly teetered back and fro before limply falling forward just a mere few inches from my feet. Tord stood just behind it, breathing heavily and staring at the corpse of the bear. His rifle was lifted and began to lower after seeing that it was dead. The Norwegian dropped his rifle as I stepped forward to embrace him. He tugged me into a loving cuddling, murmuring an inquiry into my ear,
"Are you alright, min kjærlighet?"

I regarded his question with a simple nod, nuzzling my face into his warm chest. Tord rest his chin atop my head as we stayed silent like that. Being in his arms was comforting, I just felt safe knowing that he'd saved my life, and even his own, from a grisly death- (Bu Dun czzzzzzzzzz! Ya get it? No? A-alright I'll stop ; v ;)