The storm had come up out of nowhere; many leaves remained on the trees, catching mounds of sticky snow and dumping clumps onto the hunters' heads as they tried to move faster. As wind from the north became harsher, the temperature dropped, wet snow turning to tiny ice pellets. When Cena tripped, the one in the lead, they all stood around panting after they had helped him up.
"I don't think we're going to make it tonight," said Jayo, looking around. "The Cherry Shack is just over that hill, I think."
"Town is only a few hills away," Loni said. "We should get the meat back tonight."
"You're worried Moud is going to eat it all?" said Cena, shivering. "Wherever we go, we should get moving, because this standing still is killing me. I vote Cherry Shack, personally."
"Me, too," said Jayo. "The storm is getting worse."
"We can make town," said Loni determinedly.
Mata nodded concurrence with her, as they knew he would so easily that it didn't matter they couldn't see him for snow. He realised he couldn't see them either, and added, "We can do anything we put our minds to."
His friends all laughed. "Moud?" Loni asked.
"Cherry Shack," he said. Often the deciding vote was his, and he mostly sided with Loni and Mata. He blew into his hands, "Sorry guys, but my feet are going to fall off."
The types of trees marked the way, and they were able to find the path despite the blizzard by the dark bark of the cherry wood that gave the shack its name. They were practically upon it when they noticed the smoke of a fire within and guessed that some other hunting group had been caught out by the unexpected storm.
After stowing their supplies in the winter cabinet, they entered expecting to see friends, but a young man none of them recognized slept on the bed nearest the fire. That would have been fine, the purpose of such shacks, in fact, if not for the mess he had made of the supplies. Ten sampled jars lay open on the table, filthy clothes lay strewn across the floor amid puddles of dirty water.
"He must have been really exhausted," Loni said charitably as she took a pickle that was still mostly cucumber and screwed the lid back on. "We should just let him sleep."
Mata looked unhappy about it, but nodded, hanging his wet outer clothes as well as those of the stranger.
Cena shrugged, easy going as ever, and grabbed the mop to deal with melted snow and a spill from a jar of preserves left on its side. Loni and Moud prepared a quick meal while the other three set the shack in order. The young man yawned and rolled over as they sat down to eat.
He looked at them blearily, his hair tied back and obviously long under a hat. "Oh, is this your place?"
"Our town uses and stocks it, along with two others," Moud said. "You're welcome here."
"Thanks, man," the stranger said, grinning. "I thought I was going to die in that blizzard, probably would have if I hadn't found this place. That storm really rushed up in a hurry, didn't it?"
"Join us," said Loni, moving closer to Jayo to make room. They each donated a little to the sixth plate.
"You travelling somewhere?" Jayo asked. "A warrior?"
The man pulled his shirt collar down to show the medallion as he sat with them. "What about you guys? You take turns on that luscious little vixen, or do you do it all at once?"
The five friends stared at him, uncomprehending. Loni, after a long awkward moment, caught on first. The blush that rose on her cheeks were all the clue the others needed to catch up, other than Mata. "What does that mean?" he asked at lengths, genuinely baffled.
"It's not like that at all," said Jayo.
"We're just hunting," Loni assured him. "We hunt together, always have. These men are like my brothers."
"Oh," said the man with his mouth full of half the food he'd been given. He swallowed with some difficulty. "Do you have any brothers?"
Loni frowned, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I just mean... we don't feel... that way."
"Who exactly is this 'we' you speak of?" the warrior asked innocently. "Why would these guys take a woman along into the woods unless they want into her pants?"
"Loni is a really good hunter," said Moud.
"And that means you don't want to sleep with her for some reason?" the man asked. "Why?"
"No, it doesn't mean..."
"So you do. Want to sleep with her?"
Moud glanced at his friend, and she looked back, equally at a loss.
The stranger met her eyes, arrested them, and his were so soft, yet piercing. "She's plain, shy, doesn't stand out since she puts so much more energy into capability than appearance, and I for one think that's incredibly sexy," he told her, and glanced at one of her childhood friends. "Don't you think so?"
"Yeah," Jayo admitted with a sigh.
The man looked at another, "I'm married," said Moud.
"That doesn't really answer the question," said the stranger, and looked at Mata.
At long last, understanding had come upon him, and Mata was looking at Loni with open awe.
"I think this guy just noticed you're a woman," said the stranger. He nodded toward Cena. "But this guy has imagined you in every position he's ever heard of, though that likely isn't much of a selection."
"I imagined you in a lot of positions I had to make up myself," Cena admitted. He turned redder, looking at his food. "Sorry. I know you're not interested in me."
"She's not interested in any of us," Jayo said. "She's, you know, interested in ladies."
"Is that really what she said?" the stranger smirked. "Or did she just nod because she's more worried about awkwardness than she is about shallow physical gratification?"
All her friends now looking at her with the same astonishment Mata had shown, Loni felt like her face would burst into flame. "Are you a Waren or something?" she muttered.
The warrior smiled to confirm it, and her friends all gasped. She had only kissed girls, and only to fit in with her friends, repressing any desire she had felt to keep her life simple and smooth. "You're attracted to men, aren't you?" He smiled at her and she tried to stop blushing, tried not to squirm. "You're attracted to me?"
"You're... attractive," she murmured in agreement.
"So are you," he said. "These guys obviously have more willpower than I do; I wouldn't be able to stop telling you how lovely you are. Or maybe they're just blind."
"We're not blind," said Cena.
"That's not really how things are done around here," Jayo said. "If a girl likes you, they're supposed to give you a card..."
"Sorry, Loni," Cena said. "It just always seemed like..."
"Listen, she was right," the Waren admitted. "This is kind of awkward. Let's get back to how pretty she is."
"She is," Cena agreed.
"Loni, I love you," said Jayo. "I have for so long."
"Not really on topic," the Waren said thinly. He looked at Loni with a readable lust. No one had ever looked at her like that. "She's a forceful woman, free to act as she likes, yet when it comes to bed, she longs to be taken. Don't you, darling?"
"Get... get out of my head," she said. "It isn't fair."
"I know," he agreed. "I apologise, it just seemed to me so clear and obvious. I felt yearning as I slept and it woke me in a weird mood. Now I'm awake and we're looking at each other, I feel it even stronger, but it isn't from your mind. It's your body that calls to me. I wish I could see more of it."
Loni toyed with the button at the collar of her baggy shirt. She glanced around at her friends, unsure of what to do.
The stranger was handsome, and apparently had a deal of experience. She wanted him to touch her, but she could never articulate such a thing, which had led to this situation. He stood from the table, walked to the end, and pushed it against the wall, a distance of three quarters it's length, and offered his hand as he stood before her. She met it.
As she stood, she stepped toward him, against him. Though only an inch taller than her, there was something imposing about him, something Loni liked.
"Please," he whispered, picking gently at the shoulder of her shirt. "Just a little skin."
"They're watching," Loni whispered back.
"So? Cabins and longhouses have that look away if you don't like it rule, yes? If they do like it, that's even better. Let me see just a little, the base of your neck." He popped the top button and pulled her collar wider at the left side. "Yeah, that's the stuff." He kissed her tenderly on the newly exposed flesh, and Loni trembled. "A little more?" he asked. "Just your shoulder?"
Loni nodded, letting loose the next button.
"Yeah," he sighed, sliding his hand beneath. He bent to her shoulder as he bared it. "So lovely, perfect. I love your strong shoulder, can I see more?"
"This is..." said Moud uncomfortably. "I'm married."
"So what?" the Waren said. "If you don't like it, leave."
"Leave? Into the blizzard?"
"If you like, or just shut up. This isn't about you, it's about her." He unfasted two more buttons, lifted it off her other shoulder, and revealed the body wrap that held her breasts flat and still. Just this much skin was more than anyone else had seen since they had grown in. "You're so gorgeous," he said, as he coaxed her arm downward. She frowned as he uncovered the scar that reached halfway up her ribcage and disappeared behind the tight fabric.
"Don't be self-conscious," he begged her. "Every inch of you deserves of be worshipped." He stepped closer, against her, pushing her back until she was sitting on the table. He put his hand over her breast, the one missing a slice from the bottom, and rubbed them both gently, teasing. "Your tits feel perfect to me, how do they feel to you?"
"They feel good," she admitted.
"They look way too covered still," he told her, pinching her nipple softly through the cloth. "Do they feel that way?"
