Over a Winters Season

Once upon a time.

Everything was a haze of blurry colors and clanging of metal. All he remembered was walking through the bamboo forest trying to find his way when everything suddenly started to spin and he passed out. From then on he got small glimpses of muffled voices, sharp pricks in his neck, and the sound of a cart rolling over a stone road or clanking of metal. The noises finally stopped and he felt himself lifted from the cart, another prick at his neck and everything went black. He felt the cold clamps of shackles slap around his wrists and ankles, a thick collar clamped around his neck a bit to tight making his already dry throat ache. "You'll be the perfect bait, such a shame a beauty like yourself is such a lowly creature. But at least you'll serve your purpose." A gruff voice whispered in his ear like a snake, harshly cupping his jaw. He was then left in the shackles in the harsh winter snow, it nipped at his ears and skin until the colors faded again.

Hours later he awoke to the sounds of heavy flapping, as shadow swirled down with the snow blocking the moonlight from his eyes as it grew closer. The large winged figure landed, feathers dropped passed his cheek grazing it lightly. The figure was dressed in bright orange in great contrast from their large wings that extended to block out the light as their hands dipped into a bag on its waist. The contents glowed and he felt the shackles that bound him to the ground by his limbs and neck disappear, and soft hands slipped under his back and legs. His head lolled when he had a moment of clarity, deep black feathers curled around them and glowing brown eyes starred back at his like they were starring into his soul. Their was a fast gust of wind when the colors blurred and his eyes gazed down at the shrinking white and green. "Don't worry, your safe now." A voice whispered, but it was different from the last. Soft, kind, and reassuring while the other was dripping with venom that made his skin crawl. "Rest, you've been injured." The brown eyes whispered from under their hood lulled him to sleep again.

He awoke with a start to a sound of loud whistle ringing in the air, sitting up he found himself sitting in a bed covered in several thick blankets. His red poncho had been fixed and laid on the side table along with his gold chain headdress. His arms and chest were wrapped in heavy bandages, whatever injuries underneath stung as he swung his legs onto the cold wooden floor. There was a small cracked mirror across on the wall, his blonde and brown hair was a mess- he seriously needed to groom himself. He had bags under his gold eyes and he could practically hear Kuroo telling him to get more sleep.

The hut he sat in wasn't large but the ceilings were high and teaming with hanging bottles and bags from every rafter, from glass bottles, wooden gourds, and wicker baskets filled with herbs. His eyes trailed to the source of the whistling sound to a brass kettle on a small flame, steam shooting out the top and smelled of. . . Apples? Crunch, crunch, crunch! His ears twitched at the sound of footsteps on the roof, "No, no, no, no!" He whispered to himself. Then grabbed his coat and ducked under the table as the door swung open with a large shadow covering the floor. Heavy steps walked over to a shelf trailing snow behind the large black wings that dragged on the floor, he peeked out from under the table to see the owner of the large wings was eye level with a tall shelf he was riffling through. He was huge!

He reached for a large stone pestle from the table and crept closer to the man who was grumbling to himself. His fur covered feet made no noise as he lifted the pestle about to strike when the men suddenly sneezed, "Achoo! God i hate win-" the person turned and their eyes met. "Oh hello there!" He greeted, hopping down from the stool he was standing on.

He blinked, the once large menacing man turned out to be a boy about the same height as him if not a few inches shorter. He was dressed in a orange fur lined jacket that was caked in snow like his leather boots with a leather belt strapped around his waist. His tangerine hair had two feathers hanging in the front while the rest stuck up like a bush his pale cheeks were turned pink from the cold. He carefully patted the snow from his giant wings that dragged on the floor with his thick leather gloves before turning to wave. "I'm glad to see your doing better but you might want to sit back down, your injuries aren't fully healed yet."