Whumpuary Day 3: Hypothermia
Language: English Genre: an attempt at whump I guess Character: my OC Calren (+ a mention of Soph's OC Amilía)
CN: hypothermia induced by being outside in cold weather for too long, including, among other symptoms, confusion, poor judgement, disorientation and memory issues; mentions of kidnapping, captivity, murder, death
Author's Note: Sooo I decided to unprivate this blog for now bc I wrote something for @whumpuary 2023 and thought, what fun is a challenge if I don't even share my stuff with the community? So yeah. Here's a random thing about a random OC of mine nobody on here knows anything about. (For context: In this, the guy just escaped his kidnapper who held him captive for several months, and is now trying to find his way to his ex's house.) There's technically a part 2 to this, pls bear with me, I'll try to get it up soon! Enjoy I guess 🤙
***
Calren has been walking for too long.
He comes to a halt at a junction, leans against the wet outer wall of a nearby house. Through the pitch black night and the dazzling white snow storm that is haunting the city, he can't quite tell where he is.
Maybe he shouldn't have run away in weather like this. Maybe he should have waited until spring, only a few more months — but now that Amilía has her beloved back, would she even have let him live? Would she have kept him until the frost thawed and the leaves turned green again and he got his chance at freedom, or would she have disposed of him once she didn’t need him anymore to fill the void in her heart, unwilling to leave a victim — a witness — alive?
In his heart, he knows the answer, and it’s exactly what brought him here, wherever here is.
He has a feeling he wanted to go somewhere, some place he could find shelter, but he has been walking through the cold for so long he can't remember where that was. Even if he could, his sense of direction is long gone, the familiar paths of the city he thought he remembered so well replaced by one iced-over street after another, lined by houses drowning so deep in snow they’re barely recognisable, definitely no help to anyone trying to find their way.
Does it even matter where he is? At least the shivering has stopped, now that he's resting, and, weirdly, he doesn't feel as cold anymore; he just feels tired, endlessly tired, like there's this deep exhaustion that has settled into his bones and won't let him go any further.
Maybe he won't freeze to death, after all. Maybe he just needs to rest.
Calren vaguely knows that he shouldn’t stay here for too long, should keep on moving, should go somewhere safe instead of resting. But it’s surprisingly peaceful here, all things considered; he can’t resist closing his eyes, and the knowledge seems to slip from his mind as he lets his head fall back against the wall he’s leaning on.
Maybe the storm will cease so the winter sun can wake him in the morning, and when he feels a bit better, a bit less drained and confused, he can go to that safe place he can't for the life of him picture in his mind right now.