20th of Zi'da
The world of the north was a cold white, as snow seemed to be a constant. Life there was hard to come by, as the winter wonderland pulled the living down with its icy grasp. Large herbivores left for warmer lands, as the rest hid in holes to keep away from the deathly grasp. Humans though, they seem to be different. They continued to work, play, and wonder. Despite all that, the people who live in Viden would not venture outside the walls often during this time, it would likely mean certain death to those who did.
But deep in the White Forest to the east of Viden, a small area seemed to be inhabited. A small walled camp, snow surrounding it in a great pile. A fire raging in the center of the clearing, a small bellow of smoke and steam from within the camp could be seen over the treetops. It was home to a strange man, Wald, who seemed to always stay out even with a weather this deadly. Normally the man would be alone with his animal companions, though today something strange happened. A human was found buried in the snowfall, they were brought back to Wald's camp. With the hopes of warming the soul up, and to gather answers on why they were out this time of year, where death was just over someone's shoulder.
A white wolf would wonder out of the tent, as the smell of fire reached her nose. Ylfa seemed to be puzzled at the sight, moving over to the cold unmoving body giving it a sniff. Before looking to her master with her head tilted. "Who is this, Master?" The wolf spoke with a curious voice, as she continued to examine the person.
Wald moved around, adding more fuel to the fire, before looking to the wolf then the person laying on a log. "I could not tell you. They were found under the snow." Wald began to check over the body, their cloths were wet to the touch. Snow likely melted on them, it would do no good to keep them on.
It took a while for Wald to decide to do it, as he was not a caregiver but his survival instincts were sharp enough to convince him to do so. Better to be naked near a fire, then drenched in water in the cold. It took a few moments for him to get the clothing off, the buttons seemed to be in the wrong direction then what he was use to. This confused him for a moment, until he noticed something.
Wald's face turned blood red, as he covered his eyes for a moment. It was only then he realized something, as he walked away with the wet clothing to hang dry somewhere. Going to his tent for a moment, he grabbed a pair of his own clothing. Though this may of been a mistake, as Ari came out of the tent with a bolt of speed. Cloths in both hands, Wald had a slight freak out as he saw his panther run out to the fire. Moving quickly he went to stop him, though Ylfa beat him to it. It gave Wald a moment to have a breath in relief.
Mustering up some courage, Wald walked back to the person laying on the log. Wald's face was flustered in red, which contrasted with his blonde hair and beard. Getting the cloths onto the person, laying them back down gently as he went to the cart to grab a few things. Pulling out a huge brown pelt, it was from a bear, a large one at that. This would help with warming up the person, but there was one more thing he needed to do.
Taking some fuel with him, Wald took the bear pelt into the tent. Having Ylfa watch over the person on the log, mostly to keep Ari from messing with them. Laying the pelt down, he started to make a small fire section for the tent. He did not normally like the fire inside, as the smoke tended to stay inside the tarp. Though it was a slight emergency and inside the tent had a strange property. The elements from outside seemed to have no effect inside the tarp walls, it had gained this effect after a mixture of strange events.
After lighting the small fire inside the tent, Wald walked back out to Ylfa growling at Ari. The young feline continued to try and pester the guest who looked to be breathing more regularly. Though their breath seemed to have a strange cutting in it. Likely a cold of some kind, it did not matter to much, as Wald could not help with illness only with certain things. Giving a long sigh, releasing a bellow of mist, Wald leaned down to pick up the body once again. Bringing it into the tent, where the fire had already started to make it feel like a hot summer's day. Laying them back down, Wald would wrap them in the bear pelt, this was all to ensure they warmed up soon enough.
With that done, Wald walked out of the tent looking out on his companions that left the tent. Ari wanted to go inside the tent to look at the strange visitor, but Wald and Ylfa would keep him out. "Ok, Ylfa I need to work on the animals from this morning. Can you keep Ari from entering the tent?" Wald would ask this, his voice cracked a bit, still in a bit of shock from his discovery. Though he would sit down next to the outside fire, where he had a large stone he used as a working table.
Ylfa seemed to nod slowly. "Yes, Master." She proceeded to start pushing Ari around a bit, and pulling him away from the tent. He was getting large in size now, Ylfa would have difficulty dealing with him alone soon enough. Though she was much smarter then a normal wolf, which helped her deal with the feline.
Wald slowly placed a squirrel on the stone, as he took out his knife to begin work. The two companions soon left the camp, getting out of sight of Wald for a moment. He dropped his knife for a second, and took his hand on his face for a moment. Trying to take a few breaths to calm himself down, his mind was in a slight bit of shock. The event that just happened was something he did not expect to happen, at least it was over and he could just get focused on work. After he took a moment to relax.
The moment passed, as he went back to working on processing the animals. Starting with the squirrel he began to slowly start pealing away at the skin, using the knife to slip just under the dermis layer. Cutting away and the connective tissue, which allowed the animal to practically slip out of its own pelt. Doing the same with each of the animals, he had now gained five more pelts before working to gut the animals clean. Being careful not to puncture the organs inside, he did not mind the taste to much, but it was best to not let acid flow over the meat.
The bodies skinned and hollowed out, Wald walked out of the camp to a patch of clean snow. Using the snow to clean out the animals just a little bit more. It was a decent amount of meat, but he would need to go out again soon to hunt, as Ari did eat nothing but the meat. He placed the entrails in a pot, along with the smaller parts of the animals. Ari was able to eat this unlike Wald, so he would get a rabbit out to prepare for cooking.
Using a second pot, Wald began to melt down and boil some snow he gathered. Cutting the rabbit he chose into smaller pieces, as he tried to slice down the bones. Removing them slowly from the muscle, it was extra work, but he was not the only one eating this. Placing strip after strip of flesh to the side, as he processed the full animal. A small pile of bones were now sitting on the stone, as the snow began to turn to water. Taking his knife, Wald did his best to chop them in half, allowing him to scrap out some of the marrow from the bones. It would add extra nutrition to the soup, and maybe flavor but that was not important right now. The pot was now boiling, as Wald began to place the meat in along with the marrow scrappings. It would take some time to cook, as he cleaned up his work area and hid the other animals from Ari. He would eat them all if Wald was not careful.
Time passed for a few moments, as the soup was finally looking to be finished. Though a disturbance was heard from the tent, as a female voice began to scream in confusion and fear.
