It had been nearly twelve hours since I'd gotten separated from my hunting group. I'd made the mistake of wandering too far into the forest when a powerful winter storm swept in and pummeled our lands. I quickly realized that I couldn't see or hear anyone. I hoped that my friends found somewhere to take shelter, though perhaps I would never know. To be lost in the middle of the woods in the dead of winter is almost certainly a death sentence. If the freezing temperatures didn't kill me, the starvation surely would.
I huddled against a thick tree trunk until the blizzard died down enough to see, and then I decided to look for help. The wind whipped my face as I trudged through the drift, struggling to lift my legs through nearly three feet of snow. I began to panic when I went to take a step and found that I couldn't lift my foot -- I was stuck in the snow and muck. Clearly, the storm had decided this was as far as I would go.
I began to panic, but then paused when I heard a rustling in the trees not too far away. I couldn't quite make out the misshapen shape lurking in the shadows. What kind of animal would even be out during a storm? Any woodland creature with a scrap of common sense would have abandoned these parts days ago.
The mysterious being moved into the light and that's when I got a better look. If I had possessed the ability to run through snow, I would have been gone at first glance of the beast standing a stone's throw away from me.
We were told stories of the snow-beasts as children, but we never believed them. They had many names -- yeti, snow-beast, abominable snowman, etc. Apart from the fact that they are powerful creatures who prefer to live in isolation, not much else is known about them. I couldn't believe I was seeing one with my own two eyes.
He was nearly ten feet tall and covered in thick, white hair -- the kind of hair that would make it easy to survive these wintery conditions. His shape was relatively similar to that of an ape, but more human-like, with long limbs and a thick neck. His large, padded hands were the size of my head, and probably capable of crushing me with little effort. He was so covered in hair that I could barely make out any facial features except for two glassy black eyes, a squashed nose, and a mouthful of sharp teeth. He watched me for a few moments in contemplative silence.
I wondered, had he ever met a human before? Was he simply curious, or did he want to turn me into supper?
He suddenly broke free of his stillness and moved towards me through the tall snow with ease. I instinctively tried to step backwards, and immediately fell onto my ass in the snow. The snow-beast lifted me and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
I was too cold, and too exhausted, to fight my capture. We walked for a bit, and I wondered absently where he was taking me. Why not just kill me on the spot? As far as dying goes, it would be a much preferable option to hypothermia.
The storm picked up a bit, and the snow-beast stopped for a moment to rest and wipe the ice chips from his eyes. He set me on the ground with a plop, and then rubbed his hands up and down my arms -- trying to create friction, I realized. I took the fact that he was trying to warm me up as a sign he wasn't going to hurt me.
"Can you talk?" I asked. He grunted in response, so I took that as a "no".
Finally, we arrived back at his cave.