Hunter Or Huntress

'Gods, my head. Why is it always the head and so gods damn cold.' Sapphire winced as she lay flat on her bed, eyes blinking open for the first time in a long time. Everything felt so heavy, her mind slow. Even if she had wanted to she wouldn't have the strength to lift an arm yet. The cold was taking its toll despite the divine protections still lingering in her veins.

How long it had been she didn't know, but as she stared at the ceiling nothing seemed wrong with it, other than the threatening drop of water dangling from the beam over her head. Not long ago most of it would have been covered in a layer of frost, but the keep was thawing out. Fires were likely blazing away in every place you could safely put one. Just the thought of a warm fire was almost enough to make her shed a tear as she tried to wiggle a finger to only limited success.

It was always a little surreal to think about how she had been lying there like some icicle while the world froze around them. She just hoped they would only have to do it once this winter. Some people thought that hibernation was good for you. Saph agreed with the camp that thought anything which leaves you lethargic for days afterwards is likely not healthy. Not to mention those who never woke up again, be they the very young, old, or sick.

'Nunuk best still be kicking, and little Jinaro… Winters are depressing enough when everyone makes it through…' Sapphire thought to herself, her mind still slow and hazy. Normally the kind of feeling that would have you fearing for your life as you drifted off to sleep anyway, but today things were getting warmer.

She took the time to try and wiggle everything she could think of, feeling for any damage. She had heard all manner of tales about digits lost, even a chunk being taken out of a leg or a section of wing, though that might have been a folktale. They had always had Rachuck at the keep to keep an eye on them all, and this year he had even had help, so she wasn't that worried. But it was still nice to make sure.

She couldn't feel anything wrong, though it was quite hard to tell. Everything was either numb or protested loudly upon being moved.

'I wonder if Tom has gotten himself into any trouble? Hopefully it's only the kind we can have a laugh at… They could have gotten a bit more of a fire going though, this is taking forever… Maybe I can make it down to a fire.'

She really didn't feel like leaving her bed, or really moving at all. She was so cold she could hardly think. In fact she felt like she wanted nothing more than to go right back to sleep, but the thoughts of a warm fire and a cup of tea were enticing enough to keep her eyes from shutting once more.

Slowly and carefully she twisted her head to look towards the door. Her neck felt stiff and weak, but it obeyed. Nothing in her room looked amiss as far as she could see. There was a tiny bit of light peeking through the shutters from outside, so the sun was up. Most of the light, however, came from the open door leading to the warmly lit hallway. So far she couldn't hear anything moving yet, but the orange light peeking through looked so inviting, like the sight of it alone could warm you up.

With a great effort she started to move, folding up a leg and slowly pushing herself over onto her side. Her tail ached in relief, finally free to move at the root. The promise of warmth egged her on.

'One step at a time, come on girl. For the hot tea.'

Gently she dangled her legs over the side of the bed and with a great push got herself sitting upright, arm wobbling under the strain as her breath grew laboured. 'Silverstreak Rayland, more like silvered old hag Rayland.' She chuckled to herself weakly as she took a moment to just sit on the bed, slumped over like an old woman. She certainly felt like she was one hundred and fifty right now.

"I bet you Jacky is up and about already, cuddling her little hotrock," she muttered to herself, her first words spoken in what some might call the new year. 'Maybe that's a little harsh.' She chuckled weakly then simply sighed, looking towards the door. "If we want a hot rock or a waterskin we have to go get it ourselves apparently."

She sat there for a while trying to gather the will to actually try standing up. She felt like she would just topple over if she tried it, so instead she started stretching out one stiff muscle after another, ever so slowly regaining feeling through her body. The feeling was mostly pain, but that certainly helped her wake up.

"Gods, next year Tom better have the heat thingy working. I will not miss any of this," she complained to herself as her wings unfolded and spread wide, slowly and carefully. They felt just as weak as they always did after months indoors. "Who knows? Maybe it would even be possible to stretch your wings inside the new factory next winter. One can dream."

With a bit more time spent staring at the open door she felt it was time to at least try. It wasn't exactly warm inside her room, but maybe it was better in the hallway. It looked so very lovely… Glancing down at herself, there was something she needed to do first however. "Gotta grab a fur or something," she mumbled, twisting on the bed, back letting out a row of cracks to rival a half-decent crash.

"Waow… By the gates," she sighed before twisting the other way, savoring the feeling of the best back crack she would get all year. Just about the only upside to it all. "Right, stand up, then fur."

With a hand braced on the side of the bed she slowly started putting weight on wobbly legs, knees shooting sharp jolts of pain up her legs as they protested. 'Come on you old goat, you're worse than Nunuk.'

With the force of what felt like squatting with three deer over her neck, she pushed herself upright, one hand on the bed, the other hurriedly finding the small table to steady herself as she stood hunched for a moment before slowly straightening up. 'That's more like it. Gods I'm out of breath already. This is what it's like being old. Poor Nunuk.'

Snatching up a fur from the bed, she gingerly wrapped herself up. It wouldn't help her get warmer any quicker, but it would provide modesty as she turned towards the door, still steadying herself. Slowly she started to take one step after another, little by little and with all the confidence of a toddler taking their first steps as she edged closer and closer to her goal. Just as her hand grasped the doorframe she heard the sound of claws on wood, walking swiftly. Someone was hurrying up the stairs and into the hallway.

She stuck her head out just in time to catch a hurrying Rachuck, arms full of waterskins, strutting into Fengi's room, not even having noticed Sapphire.

'By the gods yes. Gimme one of those,' Sapphire thought to herself as she stepped out into the hallway proper, still leaning on the wall with an expression like that of the walking dead.

Nothing was heard from inside save some ruffling of sheets before Rachuck was again on the move, clacking claws betraying him.

"Boo!" Sapphire went with all the vigour of a fieldmouse, successfully scaring the captain as he came back out the door right into her face.

"Oh, good lord, Sapphire you are up already. I was just bringing up some skins, would you like one?"

"Would I ever. She up yet?" She tried to do a side nod towards Fengi's room, but it wasn't much more than a slight shake of the head.

"Oh no, I simply slid one under the sheets."

"Right, took you long enough, gimme." She reached out a sluggish hand for one of the sacks of warming bliss, but Rachuck deftly moved them away.

"Manners Sapphire, you are young and sprightly, I put them all with the young and the old first. Now it was your turn," the captain retorted, much to her annoyance. He did hold out a waterskin for her though, so she took it, sliding it in under her nice fur, pinning it to her side with a wing.

"Can I have another, pleeaaaase?" she tried as she lent on the wall to help with balance.

"Very well, but there have to be a few for Herron, you know how he is."

"He will still be sleeping tomorrow." She sighed as the captain nodded. The second hot water skin was handed over and she pinned it against her other side, savoring the warmth that was already radiating through her. "So where are the others?"

"In the grand hall. Tom has prepared a surprise, I do believe you will enjoy it. Is Maiko awake yet?"

"Who?" Sapphire questioned, dumbly looking at the captain, who for once looked just as clueless in return.

"Maiko… Maiko the Royal Guardsman… The one you have been sharing a room with for months."

"Oooooh." Sapphire bobbed her head up and down. "Sorry, still sleepy. Uhm… I don't know."

"Right. Oh uhm." The captain raised his gaze to look over her shoulder growing all stiff in his posture for some reason.

She slowly turned around but didn't see anyone there. He coughed slightly and she turned back to look at him confused at what had him standing at attention all of a sudden.

"Your fur, Sapphire."

She look down at herself confused. The fur had slipped a little so she readjusted, dropping one of her waterskins in the process. She just stared at it not really wanting to bend down to pick it up, but at the same time it was so lovely and warm.

"Do you want another?" Rachuck offered as she stared dumbly at the floor.

"Yeah…"

"There you go." Rachuck offered a replacement for her. She took it without much grace and got it in under the fur right away as he bent down to pick up the dropped one. "I shall go see to the rest of them. It is warmer in the hall, do go down there and do not wander."

"Yes mum," Sapphire mumbled in reply as she started to ever so slowly move past the captain one wobbly step at a time, leaning a horn against the wall for balance with every step, tail still too stiff to be useful.

The captain didn't mind the rudeness as he moved on down the hallway, leaving Sapphire to her expedition.

At the stairs she seriously considered just sitting and sliding down them. They were wet enough it would probably work. Instead she opted for sitting down, wrapped up in her fur and simply moving down one step at a time.

She finally started to hear the hustle and bustle of laughter and what sounded like clattering plates. Maybe even the crackle of a fire, but that might just be her imagination. It was quiet and subdued, most of them likely not really awake yet, but everyone was definitely doing something. Something she wanted to be a part of. She picked up the pace, bumping down one step after another. The air felt warmer too, and it was starting to get cozy underneath her lovely fur, working muscles helping heat her up as well, little by little.

"It smells nice too," she finally noticed. It was food, definitely food. Grilled venison and maybe also rabbit or hare. There were smells she didn't recognize too. Or maybe that was just her nose still being a bit frozen.

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As she made it to the final step she waited for a moment before deciding to stand up. It took less effort this time, and she wobbled a little less too. And with a steadying hand she walked down being greeted by something she most certainly did not expect.

"What in the…"

Every sconce and lantern was lit, all three fireplaces roaring with life, the tables set with plates and food from end to end. Looking up, colorful garlands hung dangling, most of them leftover from the summer festival, but there were new ones too. In the center of the room, for whatever reason stood some sort of evergreen which had been covered in stuff. Most of the children were sitting on the floor around it playing with their toys. The little ones always heated up first; Jinaro didn't weigh much more than a good hotrock after all.

"Am I still sleeping? Is this a vision maybe?" Her eyes kept wandering. The food on the tables looked strange indeed. A few bits she recognized, but most she had no clue at all. Rather than attempting to understand she stepped down the last few steps onto the warm wooden floor, the kitchen below having warmed them up long ago.

Not everyone was there, but quite a lot of faces had already made it. Half were still wrapped in blankets and furs, Paulin waddling around alone in a traveling outfit for dragonback sporting a mug of tea.

"If it's a vision, blessed be the chance to have something warm. Or at least feel like it," Sapphire concluded as she set forth towards the nearest table. She just about kept her balance on wobbly legs without anything to lean on before she felt a pair of arms around her waist and she was lifted from the ground.

"I have captured some kind of sleepy sausage!" The very energetic and depressingly familiar voice of Jacky came from behind her. Saph really didn't feel like playing games right now as she dangled in the larger woman's grasp, unable to even try to resist.

"Jacky please… sore… I just want some tea."

"Oh we can do better than tea," Jacky retorted as she started walking with her prize. To Sapphire's relief she was at least heading for the tables and before long she was plonked down in front of an empty plate. "We got soup and some new thing Tom worked out. It's warm, and you'll love it."

Sapphire didn't argue as Jacky moved off in a hurry, likely going to fetch this new invention. Sapphire reached for the big pot of what she assumed to be hot boiled water, ladling some up into the empty mug by her seat. But as it came out it wasn't clear. And there were chunks in it.

"Oh…" she bent down to sniff just what she had poured into her mug, getting a rather savory whiff. "Soup?..."

She straightened back up and looked at it for a while, considering, then she just shrugged and picked it up, having a sip. Who says soup can't go in mugs after all? Giving it a gentle sip, it was a quite lovely fatty soup possibly made from boiled bones or some other such thing. She didn't care, it was warm and tasted nice. She sat on the bench, perfectly content in her own little world under her fur slowly warming up more and more.

She wasn't even halfway done when Jacky set down another plate in front of her, this one loaded with… Saph honestly didn't even know.

"Some sort of strings?" she tried, looking to Jacky for an explanation. "Did he boil a ball of yarn by accident?"

"Nah, trust me. Try it. It's good," Jacky egged on with the sort of confidence that led Saph to suspect a trap of some kind.

She looked to the plate and picked up a fork to poke at it a little. It felt almost gelatinous, so it wasn't yarn at least. It smelled quite good, and there were flecks of meat to be found in the sauce all around so it couldn't be that bad. If nothing else she could lick the sauce off.

Sticking the fork into the bouncy mass she pulled up, revealing long flat threads which just seemed to keep going.

"Go on, put it in your mouth," Jacky beckoned, still watching, which didn't fill Sapphire with confidence.

"That is what he said," Sapphire retorted halfheartedly, though Jacky certainly burst out laughing.

Saph did curl a very slight smile as she tried putting the strings in her mouth, causing a bit of a mess right away as she just couldn't be bothered to hold her head in over the plate. She chewed a little on the strange bouncy texture. It felt almost like a boiled bread dumpling of sorts, but long and thin. The sauce was excellent though. Savory, meaty, cheesy, salty. Exactly what she wanted right about now.

Eating more of it proved a touch tricky and eventually she resorted to leaning in and just shoveling it into her mouth, letting the excess hang out until it was chewed off and fell to the plate.

"See, I told you. Would I ever lie to you?"

"Yes," Sapphire managed between mouthfuls as Jacky chuckled, giving Saph a solid slap on the shoulder.

"Good to have you back, what would I ever do without you?" Jacky scoffed, giving Sapphire another slightly harder slap on the back. "Warm up a bit then come on over to the tree. He's been damn busy."

'That's usually a bad thing,' Sapphire thought to herself as she was finally left alone with her food. She had spared a glance down the table where a fair few familiar faces were sitting hunched over, wrapped up in a varied assortment of stuff to get warm, all eating either the strange strings or hot soup.

All in all this was certainly the strangest awakening she had ever had. It was quite nice though. Once she was warmed up she might even join in the festivities. What she couldn't work out was why? Was this the Christmas stuff Tom had talked about before? She couldn't think of anything else really. Normally there wasn't much to celebrate, nor anyone around who wanted to put in the work…

Saph stopped for a moment and leant back to look up into the rafters. The garlands were all hung from upon high. 'Did he really get Rachuck to do the decorating?' She glanced down the table at all the dishes and nicely set tables. 'And he cooked all this himself?...' Turning around to look at the noble's table and the large fireplace behind it, there was a whole deer there, spinning merrily under the supervision of… no one seemingly. 'He hunted a deer? And prepared it? And of course he made something to get it to spin by itself, because why not…'

She pondered for a moment, glancing about before looking back to the fire, squinting at it hard. "He didn't prepare that?"

"He didn't what?" a very sleepy sounding Fengi questioned as she sat down next to Sapphire. The young huntress seemingly revived thanks to Rachuck's waterskin delivery.

"That deer. On the big fire. He didn't do that."

"Huh," Fengi clearly wasn't quite with them yet, but she did look. "Hehe, who let the neck stay on? That'll be so dry," Fengi responded before yawning as wide as she could. "So dumb."

Sapphire did a double take, but true to her word the lower part of the neck was indeed still there. A pretty bad cut normally, often just thrown in the soup pot bones and all. Even Jacky wouldn't make that mistake. Maybe it was Tom who'd done it after all.

"He's gotten a lot better with a knife then, it's trimmed quite well otherwise."

"How long were we sleeping, do you know?" Fengi questioned as she looked at Sapphire's plate. "What's that?"

"I don't know, and I don't know. Here I'll get you some soup first." Saph reached out for the ladle once more and this time put the soup in the bowl where it belonged. "It's good for you."

"Thanks."

As Fengi set about slowly eating the nice warm soup, Sapphire looked at the strange tree where the kids were playing. Underneath sat a few wrapped up parcels, and the tree itself had been covered in what she now realized were shavings from the mill or maybe the lathe, many different colors. They even sorta shined a little. And at the top of the tree sat a wooden star for some reason.

'One of the strangest things I ever saw. Like Naulk and Oleg got engaged.' Two gods who hated each other more you didn't find inside the court of light. Even if Oleg was technically in the grey court, it still counted in her mind. As she kept staring she spotted the human at last, coming up towards the noble's table with a spring in his step, looking like he was hurrying. With a quick leap he was up on top of the table, careful to not step on the plates or the food as he turned to address them all.

"Hear hear, listen up, those who can. Last living souls should be joining us pretty soon. Ahr there's one of the sleepy ones," the voice of Tom rang out as he addressed them all. Sapphire spared a glance towards the stairs where Herron was indeed making his way down, looking about as surprised as she surely had. "You've been gone for a while so I thought something nice would be well… nice. Anywho, pasta and soup for starters. Main course is fresh venison with a nice sauce and some freshly baked bread. Dessert is my best attempt at fruit pie with what I could find in the dried stores. So dig in. Once we've finished there is a little something for the kids to unwrap. And by popular request, tonight we'll all get to watch a movie. With subtitles you can actually understand for once. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. So I'll leave you to it. I got a cake to go poke at."

With that he hopped on down, receiving an equal dose of applause and puzzled looks as he walked off towards the kitchen, Jacky hot on his heels.

Saph sat and wondered for a bit, then shook her head. "Nuh uh, no way. He didn't do all that by himself while thawing out the keep too. Not possible. He takes half a day to trim a deer, not possible. Fresh bread as well?"

"Saaaaaph, what are subtitles?"

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"Yeaaaa, yup that's looking good, nice and bouncy, needle is clean. Time for them to come out," Tom declared as kitchen assistant Jacky started putting on the heavy woolen mitts for dealing with hot stuff.

Tom may or may not have stolen several hotrocks and stuffed them under her covers early in the morning as they were just starting to get the keep fired back up to temperature. He had needed a hand or two after Nick and Elsa departed that very same morning, complete with tote bag for the quick hop to Deriva, just in case it proved tricky to find it under the white blanket of snow that was still covering most everything outside.

Rachuck hadn't been very pleased, but he was too busy with thawing people out to help in the kitchens so Tom had improvised. He was glad he did, she had been over joyed to see him. Tears welling in her eyes as she refused to let go of him.

He'd let her of course, it wasn't as if he had a choice in the matter even if she was weak from the cold. It had been quite the battle to convince her there was work to be done. The cold slowing her mind. It was almost like she wasn't quite there to start with, But he had eventually managed to convince it was time to get moving, though it too some time before her mental fog quite cleared up.

"Coming up. I didn't know you baked things," she questioned as she leant back away from the oven, holding the large clay cooking vessel which was soon deposited on a well worn oaken table to rest.

"Come on, I helped bake the cake for the summer festival. All I have to do is follow the recipe," Tom protested as he gave her a hug from behind. They hadn't had much time to just be the pair of them since she woke up. Hopefully someone else could do the dishes tonight.

"I don't know man, my stuff always came out wonky. I can do a flatbread though," she replied, standing there for a little bit as she let out a small sigh. "But I am about to learn why aren't I?"

"Well you haven't been using fine scales and a thermometer now have you?" Tom teased as he hugged a little tighter.

"You used a metal needle, Tom."

"I know I know, but I do still have a thermometer. Anyway, that needs to rest for a moment and then we need to bring up the bread and stuff then it's time for the main course."

"Right, big baskets, we got butter?" she said, looking around the kitchen till she spotted the breadbaskets.

"Sure do, I'll get that and the carving set." He reluctantly let go as they both went to grab the stuff.

"You are not carving that deer, even if you did shoot it," Jacky protested as she pulled the hampers down from the shelves. Tom sneaked a glance as she went up onto her tiptoes to grab the very top ones

"Fiiine, you do the honors then." It wasn't like he minded, nor had he shot it, he was just hoping no one would figure that part out.

"Yes! That means the best cuts are all for me." She spoke under her breath as she turned around, arms full of hampers.

Tom hadn't actually been doing anything other than looking, so he quickly got to work getting the butter out and unwrapped. Jacky started loading the bread in just as they heard claws coming down the stairs at a measured pace. Turning to look, a familiar wingless dragonette came back down the other way dressed in her all too familiar old cleaner's clothes.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Uhm, not really Ray. I think we have things in hand…" Tom replied as she stood there expectantly, eyes like a puppy, hands clasped in front of her. "Actually. There might be one thing."

"Yes, what is it?" she asked, voice brightening.

"Go put on something nice, and report back to the tree. I have a treat for the kids. And I'll need someone to help keep them in check after they have it."

"Oh…" That evidently wasn't quite what she had in mind, but luckily Tom had managed to explain why before she objected.

"Besides, it's Christmas! It's customary to wear your best clothes."

"Oh I see. Uhm… Sorry. Should I go tell everyone? Most are just wrapped up in what they could find. Or- or what was warmest."

"It's fine, not like it's a regular Christmas anyway. But come on, that can't be particularly warm?" Tom questioned, gesturing to the quite thin brown linen clothes. It looked only one step removed from what you might use for a sack of flour.

"I uhm, yes. Yes I got a vest and a few other things."

"Well go put 'em on then. Can't have you freezing either. I'm sorry I didn't get the heating working, but hopefully it won't be too long."

"Oh, no no Tom, you have done so much. This is lovely, fresh warm food. Warm fires. It's such a nice way to wake up again. I uhm… It wasn't this nice in the city, ever."

"Well that's good to hear. And you're quite welcome. Oh and I don't have a gift for you personally either, but I'm working on it," Tom replied with a wink, which he regretted almost immediately as Ray took a moment to stare at him, thinking, before it clicked what he might be referring to.

Her face lit up like the sun as she looked primed for an outburst of sheer joy. She huddled her arms up close to her sides, breathing rapidly, before turning away and quickly scampering back up the stairs with a bit of a squeak as she hurried away.

'Oh you poor thing… Tom you idiot, now you have to get that done in a hurry. Tally ho chaps, time to make scaffolding fly… Jacky's gonna kill me if she crashes and burns. Actually no, Saph would… and Fengi… And definitely Tiguan… God dammit Tom.'

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