[Chr24] A Friend in the Snow

A Friend in the Snow

* in the story indicates to scroll to the bottom of the story and understand the context of the name given

“It’s too fucking cold…”

“I know I know, but it’s worth it! Trust me.”

“If only there was a hot babe against me to keep me warm….”

“Of course.”

Havoc pushed himself through the knee-deep snow, rushing to get to Harper’s side with a surge of renewed vigor. He reached out with his arms, wrapping them around the other buck to bring her up against him. The moment he felt the warmth of his love,  Havoc felt all his irritation and exhaustion from the trek melt away. He stood there for that moment, chin resting atop her head, with his eyes closed, merely basking in the moment and the rush of feeling he always felt when around her. Harper chuckled as he let out a satisfying sigh, and he opened an eye to look down at her. “Hmm? What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. Just entertained by how easily you can forget how miserable you out here.” Affectionately she rubbed his back, gently pushing as well to indicate they needed to continue. Havoc being the man he was, did not get the clue, until Harper cleared her throat.

“Babe?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“It’s time to move.”

“Oh yeah. Yes. You’re right. But see, I was just dreaming about you and me an-...” She playfully cut Havoc off with a playful jab in the ribs.

“Focus! These lil guys are almost as cute as Blueberry*. Almost.”

“What were they called again? Somethin’ somethin’ Vultits?”

“Frosty VulPIPS, Havoc.”

Harper started moving without him, the snow crunching beneath her feet with every step.

It was a gorgeous day for the two of them to be hiking. Nick** was busy taking part in one of his races, and Havoc had originally been content to rot the day away in bed since he rarely got the chance to relax those days. Harper had convinced him to get up and out on an intense hike partway up the Aoembri mountains to look for an elusive fauna that she had been raving about for the past few hours. Apparently she had seen an art piece for sale in a shop at the base of the mountain. As she was admiring it, the shop owner had stopped by and told her all about the small critters that lived in the area and just how much of a nuisance they could be to the average camper. A fire of determination was set within her to see one for herself, and she inquired where to find them. As the shop owner explained, he had reached behind his counter and brought out a piece of strawberry flavored, hard candy. Supposedly the critters loved sweets, and it was the best way to get close to one. As excited as she was, Harper had thanked the shop owner and sprinted back to Havoc to tell him all about it. She had told him about where to find them, where to go, and how to maybe get lucky and see one up close. She had so much enthusiasm and excitement as she explained and….well…Havoc would do anything and everything for his loved ones. So the moment she had asked if he was willing to help her find one, he said yes.

Even though Havoc was fit and in great shape though, going up a mountain worked different muscles in his body that he was not not used to using. Not to mention he smoked often, so his lungs were ass.  The worst part of this entire endeavor had to be his poor tail. The thing had always been way too large for him to ever lift off the ground, and thus it was dragging in the snow behind him. To help keep the end warm, he even had knitted, glove-like material covering most of it with a white pom on the end added by the lovely Harper. Gravity working against him was not ideal in any manner or form. Within half an hour, he was already feeling significant strain on parts of his thighs and calves.Of course Harper was driven by the sheer willpower to see a cute animal, so she looked like she hiked daily.

For what seemed like an eternity, Havoc was merely focusing on not slipping and falling on his ass with every step. At point, it was subtle, but he could tell the ground was leveling out a bit. They were not near the top, maybe just about a third of the way up, but the switchback was becoming much easier to traverse.

As Havoc and Harper trudged up and over the last switchback, the mountain leveled out into a small, flat space. There was a ring of trees surrounding what they assumed would be a field in the springtime, as there was nothing but undisturbed snow on it. The reflection that came off the snow was enough to blind anyone,  but the sight was too beautiful to succumb to it. 

He heard Harper audibly gasp, a smile across her soft features, as he took in the sights herself. She was too distracted to see Havoc’s own soft look as he stared at her, wondering how he was ever so lucky.

Before she caught him staring however, he looked down at the snow beneath them and noticed some small, tiny footprints on the surface of the deep snow. Whatever it was, it was adapted to live in these areas and was able to walk on top of the snow rather than have to go through it. What Havoc wouldn’t give for that in the moment. 

Harper followed his eyes and gasped.

“The Vuttit?” he asked.

“VulPIP.”

A smirk. “Oh I’m well aware.”

She giggled. “Let’s follow the tracks and see if it leads us to one.”

The tracks lead the two bucks out into the field, their heavier steps ruining the undisturbed sight of the snow. Both of them were using their clawed hands as a brim against their foreheads, attempting to block the reflection of the sun off the snow. Eventually the trail led them back to the trees, heading towards another switchback that Havoc was praying he did not have to go up. Just as he believed his fate to be decided, the tracks turned abruptly to the right, and eventually back to the field. 

As they were nearing the edge of the tree line again, Havoc gently grasped Harper’s gloved wrist to stop her from moving forward.

“Do you hear that?”

She gave him an eyebrow raised in question and honed in on what he was attempting to listen to.

It was faint…so very faint, but the bone-chilling, cold silent stillness of the mountain allowed them to barely make out the sound of snow crunching underneath a small foot, then another.  Harper’s eyes glowed with excitement, and they slowly inched more towards the edge of the field.

Just as the climax began to unfold before Havoc and Harper, the excitement of spotting the critter they were following, their joyous faces turned into disappointed frowns as what they saw was anything but what Harper was after.

Out in the field was a small creature with big teeth for chewing, and small eyes. Its nose was large compared to the rest of its head, and it had some clawed feet. Most of it was brown, but there were tufts of white coming off of it as well. The critter was smelling the snow underneath it, stopped, then began to dig, no doubt looking for food. 

Just as their attention was captured by this other adorable (but not quite as cute) critter, Havoc felt a sudden weight on his tail. The weight was pinpointed all onto one spot. As he turned, his eyes widened at the creature before him. 

It was beautiful. The majority of its fur was a sparkling blue, almost like the sky reflecting off ice itself. White was intertwined through its fur, the bulk of it being around the creature’s neck and on its tail that split two ways towards the end. There were small antlers on the top of its head, and tall ears directed towards him. 

Except it was not looking at him. The creature was fixated on the pom at the tip of Havoc’s tail, clearly entranced by it. It backed up, its rear end up in the air, chest nearly on the ground. There was a moment before it jumped almost directly up into the air, then back down, pouncing on the pom and Havoc’s tail with its two front feet. As quietly as he could, he did not take his eyes off the Vulpip and reached his hand over to tug on Harper’s fingers.

A sound began to come from her mouth as if to speak, but stopped immediately as she turned and saw the Vulpip playing with Havoc’s tail. It took every ounce in her body to not get over excited and scare the vulpip off.

As quiet as she could, she asked, “Pst. Havoc. Do you have the candy the shop owner gave us??” The vulpip stopped what it was doing and looked up at the two of them, inquisitive as was its nature, cocking its head to the side as it studied the two bucks.

“No…..I uh. Ate it?”

“Did you really?”

He grinned  mischeviously. “No. Here.” Slowly, with his eyes locked onto vulpip, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the sweet treat the shop owner had given them to offer. Once in his hand, he pulled it out and reached over to Harper’s, placing it in her palm. 

The vulipip flattened its ears, skeptical of what the two bucks were doing. It briefly looked down at the pom and pawed at it, before looking back up and seeing Harper squatted down, hand outstretched and palm flat with the strawberry flavored treat as an offering. Havoc did not move to join her in the squat, and he was careful to not move his tail to make sure the fauna was still entranced by the little pom.

Initially the critter flinched, threatening to run off, but it quickly caught onto the scent of the sweet treat in Harper’s hand. It inched forward, raising up a leg only to pause and look between her and Havoc, then taking another step and repeating the process. Though it felt like an eternity, it finally seemed to gain some confidence that neither of the two bucks were out to harm it at that moment as it approached a tad more quickly and was soon right at Harper’s hand.

Its small nose twitched, sniffing the piece of candy suspiciously. It looked up at Harper with its piercing blue eyes and gave her hand the smallest lick. Before Harper could react, the vulpip snatched the hard candy out of her hand and sprinted back into the woods. 

There was a brief silence hanging between the two bucks as they watched where the creature disappeared, almost in disbelief that they had been so lucky  to see it so close. Eventually, Havoc broke the silence. “Okay but….we need one, right? Can we get one? We definitely need one.”

Harper laughed, standing back up and wiping the snow that stuck to her clothes off. “I don’t think Blueberry would appreciate another animal, let alone one that might eat him.”

The loudest, most dramatic sign erupted from Havoc as he shook his head and started walking back towards the switchback they came from with Harper next to him. “...Fine. Fine. I get it.”

Havoc felt the warmth of his lover’s hand intertwining with his, briefly stopping him. She was smiling softly, reaching up with her other one to brush away the hair in front of his face. “Thanks for coming out with me.”

Immediately the disappointment was gone from Havoc’s face, replaced with a softened gaze and the barest hint of smile on the corner of his mouth. “Of course,” he replied, leaning down to gently brush his lips against hers for a moment. “Anything for you.” 

She grinned as he pulled her against his body, a hand around his waist as they started their long descent.Trailing behind them, as quiet as a mouse, was the vulpip, curious if its new buck friends had any more snacks that they may happen to lose on the way down. 

*Blueberry is a pet rabbit that Havoc and Harper own

*Nick is Havoc/Harper’s other dedicated partner