The cold had never effected Cole in a lasting way, however after he became more human the snow was much less forgiving than it had been before. Luckily Dorian is there to help with some magic and stern words. AO3
It was snowing at Skyhold, and while snow was hardly rare at the fortress what was rare was how hard it was coming down. What started as soft flakes billowing gently down had turned into such downpour that mixed with the setting sun made it difficult to see anything past one's own arm.
No one was fool enough to wander around outside or even stray from their fire, no one but Cole that was. He had been in the tavern as the snow tumbled down and had hardly known it was falling until he heard someone shouting about how high it had gotten.
His thoughts jumped to Missy, a bobtail who he had fed once and who had taken to him immediately following that. Missy tended to avoid most people and places, and Cole was filled with the need to make sure she was ok.
So he left the tavern and began his slow march to the far courtyard, the wind started to pick up and soon the snow was biting his skin. He didn’t find her in her usual spot in the courtyard and so he entered the battlement and slowly began trekking to where he had once followed the cat.
His limbs ached and his body shook, though Cole paid it little mind. What mattered was making sure Missy was warm, he had been cold before and it always went away.
Though he couldn’t remember a previous time that his feet felt new stabs of pain each time he took a step. After many twists and turns he found it, a hole in the wall that his friend was curled up in. At hearing him approach the cat lifted it head and viewed him curiously, she gave a soft meow that had Cole smiling.
Though he frowned once again when he realized that Missy was probably still cold, he had seen animals frozen to death before and resolutely removed his outer shirt. It was somehow difficult to do with how bad the shaking had gotten but when the article came off he gingerly went to lay it on the animal.
Cole stopped when he noticed how wet the garment was, it even had ice forming on it, instead he laid it closer to the cat to use if she so desired. Missy stared at the garment before watching him and giving another, louder meow as if trying to convey her disapproval.
Cole gave a jerky nod, “I’ll let you sleep. See you later Missy.” He truly meant to leave but when he tried to step forward his legs folded underneath of him, he was able to throw out his arms in time to spare his head but the impact still hurt.
He tried to convince his legs that they needed to move and stand but they didn’t listen, his shivering grew harder and Cole realized just how tired he was. He often times had difficulty ‘knowing his limits’ as Varric put it and this wouldn’t be the first time he had all but collapsed from sleep deprivation.
It was odd because Cole knew that he had slept the night before but the cold was finally starting to hurt less and he let his arms fold as well. As he laid on the cold tile he saw Missy enter his field of vision and blinked, he hadn’t noticed her until then, she meowed at him loudly and Cole found the strength to give her a small pat on the head.
He noted as he did so that his fingers had turned an odd color but as the weariness grew he couldn’t recall what that meant exactly. Cole let his eyes fall shut and was distantly aware that Missy had chosen to lie on his face.
“Come on, imekari. Come back to us.” It took a moment for Cole to recognize who the voice belonged to and try as he might he didn’t understand the words The Iron Bull had said.
Had he gone somewhere? Cole tried to focus in on what was happening around him. It was difficult to feel past the numbness but when he did he felt strong arms pushing him to a broad chest, he was sure he felt thick fingers going through his hair but it was too far away to tell for certain.
The Iron Bulls voice rang out again and when it did the chest he was pressed against rumbled, so caught up in this new discovery he missed what he was saying. Something enveloped him, a warm heat that started off pleasant but became fire hot.
He wanted to cry out and move but his body didn’t move, slowly the fire spread through him lighting everything up with its touch. When it began to fade the shivering started again, wracking Cole’s body so hard his teeth clanged together.
“He’s shivering.” The Iron Bull said it with an odd tone and Cole wanted to look but his own thoughts were too loud.
“I can see that, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet. I have to careful warming him up or he’ll go into shock. I can’t imagine it will be pleasant so hold him steady.”
The arms around Cole tightened slightly in preparation and the fire started again, but this time it felt hotter and burned worse than before. Cole didn’t think he was making any noise until The Iron Bull once again patted his head, “shh, it’s ok imekari. Calm down, it’ll be over soon.” That was the only warning he got before the fire spread once more and Cole let himself drift away despite the raised voices telling him not to.
The fire giving a loud crackle woke Cole up, the numbness was gone but so was The Iron Bull, Cole could tell he was laying on a bed though it felt to nice to be his.
The fire made more noise as someone poked at it and with great difficulty Cole opened his eyes, the fire was the only light so it must mean that it was night. Though the teen found that odd, his body felt heavy like it did when he slept for a long time but if it was still night then it had only been a few hours since he went out.
A soft rumbling to his left had him rolling his head to look at the curled up Missy sleeping on his pillow, he wanted to reach out and pet her but found his arms trapped by covers.
He squirmed around to try and free the appendage but all he accomplished was attracting the attention of the rooms other occupant, footsteps approaching him had him rolling his head the other way to see Dorian walking closer. “Finally awake are we?”
Cole tried to speak but all he could manage was an odd croak that had Dorian crowding around him to help him sit up, he othered a cup of water and helped the teen hold it. “Take small sips now, I don’t want you throwing it back up on me.”
Dorian ordered him gently and Cole made a small hum before taking a sip, it wasn’t cold and felt like liquid gold down his throat. However, all to soon Dorian was pulling away the cup and Cole was reaching for it, but when he saw his bandaged hands he drew them closer to look.
His left middle finger was missing a piece, or rather the whole top joint had been removed and he stared at the bandage curiously. Cole reached over with his other hand, which had all its parts he noted, and gently touched the now vacant area.
The moment he did he hissed in pain and Dorian whirled back around, at seeing what the young man was doing his frown deepened. “You’re lucky that and two of your toes were the only things you lost to frostbite. Honestly sleeping during a blizzard has got to be the most foolish thing I’ve seen in a long time, and keep in mind that Sera exists. Do you have some sort of death wish you failed to mention to us, or did you just fail to think?”
Cole went silent as Dorian turned back around to glower into the fire, “cold. Cold. Still, he’s so still. Pale, he’s white with black and not moving. Dead. He died while I was laughing inside.” Dorian had tensed up as Cole spoke and after a beat Cole spoke again, “I’m sorry for upsetting you.”
At the true pain in his tone Dorian turned back around to see Cole’s ‘kicked puppy’ look in full effect, “I’m not mad, just- it was a jarring sight. The only reason we found you at all was because that cat was wailing so loudly, and the only reason anyone was out looking was because Bull noticed how long you’d been out and got worried.”
Dorian let out a breath and sat back down with a hand on his head, “Cole I need to know what happened.” Cole kept his gaze before he found it unexplainably hard to do so and looked down, “the cold never affected me like that before. It would sting but then fade, never stayed long, never got bad. When I found Missy and I got tired, I didn’t realize I was real enough for this to happen.”
Dorian gave a hum of understanding, though he didn’t look comforted by the information. “Well in light of that information I propose a new strategy. In any weather or situation you want to go into that would be deadly or harmful to an average person, you tell someone. Well someone who would notice, like one of us. Alright? No more going out into a blizzard with barely any clothes on, ever.”
Cole dutifully nodded, “alright and Dorian, thank you for saving me.” Dorian seemed momentarily stunned into silence before he stood with a small smile and gave Cole a gentle kiss on the forehead, “of course. Now time to get some soup into you, oh and a great deal of people have been waiting for you to come to so prepare yourself.” That was Cole’s warning before Dorian opened the door and the room was flooded by people who called him family.
What are you supposed to do when one day, all that you once believed in gets tossed back at you in the form of a bullet and a fall to your death?
Your supposed death.
Because Shay Cormac wasn’t dead, just a little dazed. And that was an equally terrifying reality because that meant that no one would be looking for him. The snow was deceptively soft in the sense that it felt like it was lulling him to sleep yet going to sleep here would guarantee death. And in a terrible, taunting contrast, there was a fire in his shoulder that was a horrible safety line to keeping him awake.
It just wasn’t enough though. The fire in his shoulders dulled to embers, and his body started shaking, trying to curl in on itself in an effort to stave off the frost. But that wasn’t helping. Very slowly, the trembling slowed, and he struggled to even move his fingertips.
Come on now, he told himself trying anything to shift and keep it going. Because even if he was cold, even if he was bleeding, if he was moving, he was alive. Once that stopped – once he stopped moving completely… then that would be it for him.
Slowly, slowly, the darkness at the edges of his vision travelled inwards, and he finally had to admit it: he was dead. The trembling stopped, and he laid there in his deathbed.
In the corners of his consciousness – in the shadows of his mind, he can feel hands around him, warmth grace his face, and a hope for life he can’t process.
