Winter Warmth

*Meless, a human male, living secluded in the forest, finally gets a chance to hunt for food after a long snow storm. Unfortunately, the boar he shot got claimed by a Kanis female, the canine anthro race and mortal enemies to humans.

*warning; there's only one short erotic scene in this fantasy story

*Literotica rules apply

Critique appreciated

*

Silent.

The world had turned silent again after the storm. Wind had died down, so not even the tree branches creaked under the weight of the snow. The white world gave me the image of having died from the cold, although the clouds of my breath proved I was still alive.

I slung my bow to my back and tried my luck at the stream. I had used up all my food in the days that the storm blew. Going outside during those days was no option since I would get lost three steps out the door. At the stream I might just find some wood boars. These creatures eat the hard grass and thin twigs during winter, so there's always a supply of meat available. As long as they stayed close enough to my cabin and hadn't moved somewhere else.

The snow came up to my knees, the crunching sound of every step echoing around me and betraying my presence. I just hoped any prey I spotted would ignore me for long enough to sneak up on it and kill it. If I couldn't catch something today, I might starve if another storm came down.

I did have my share of luck though and heard the grunt of a boar at the same time I heard the stream. My heart beat faster at the prospect of filling my stomach if I could shoot it. I halted, taking my bow slowly, loading an arrow. With careful, slow steps I moved forward, sliding, more than stepping through the snow. I felt rather proud of how silent I could move. I went into the direction of the sound, keeping an eye out on the slightest sight of the animal. If I scared it, it would take long to find another target.

From the sound of it, it seemed busy eating at a bush. The snaps and crunches of twigs hopefully covered any accidental sounds I made. Tension filled my body and I pulled my arrow, cursing inwardly at the creak of the wood bending. I saw a movement between two trees up ahead and froze for a while. It continued and I let out my breath. I was safe so far.

Sliding through the snow further, I got a better view of it. It was a nice, big boar. It would give me some trouble taking it back, but would be enough meat to keep me going for a while. I wanted to shoot it badly, but I needed a better position to pierce its chest.

I moved sideways, keeping myself hidden by the trees, until I had a clearer shot. Aiming my arrow, I pulled it back further, giving it more energy to kill its target. I held my breath, the boar looked up and bolted before I could release my arrow.

'Son of a..' I let go through my clenched teeth. Something must have startled it. I moved to the stream, hoping to see it near, or a trail from where it went. Reaching the stream I could see it walk down along it further away . My footsteps would be masked by the stream, so I decided to follow it. I might get another chance to shoot it.

A little later I spotted it again at the edge of a clearing. It was pushing its snout through the snow, presumingly snacking on the tough grass underneath it. I kept to the edge of the bank, providing me with some cover while I got closer. I pulled at the bowstring again, moving closer step by step. I might have to wait for it to turn its back away from me, to shoot it in the chest. Judging I was close enough, I aimed my arrow once more at it. It sniffed and rummaged in the snow, unaware of me, then turned its body.

My arrow flew through the air, a thud and squeal telling me it hit the target. 'Yes!' I said, happy to see I could fill my stomach today again as the boar sank through its legs.

I hurried up to it and could almost reach out to it when I saw a Kanis hunter reach out for it as well. At once we drew our bows and aimed at each other.

'Stay away from my kill!' it said, glaring at me over the length of the arrow pointing at my head.

'It's my kill!' I said. 'I shot it!'

'I was the one who shot it! That's my arrow!' it said, its ears pushed flat against its head.

I took a quick glance at the boar and saw another arrow sticking into its other side. 'And that's mine!' I said with a nod of my head.

It's golden eyes moved away from me for a moment, then returned. 'I shot it first.'

'Damned.' I said, not in the mood for childish games. 'It was alive when my arrow hit it.'

My mind went trough the possibilities of getting away unharmed. With the boar if I could help it. The Kanis were not on good terms with humans to say the least. So far any encounter had turned to bloody fights and loss of life.

I tried to measure this one up, calculating my chances of killing or wounding it. It was just a little smaller than me, had the thick grey-brown fur typical for their kind and wore the loincloth and wrapping around the chest like the females did.

'Female?' I said to myself, triggering an even more hateful look in her eyes.

'Got a problem with that!? Do you think you'd be able to take me on just because I'm female!? I'll kill you like I did the boar!'

I focused on her hands again in case she really would shoot me. 'I had no such thought! It was just an observation!'

We glared for a while.

'I'm not giving up the boar!' she said.

'Neither am I!'

'Find your own!'

'Why don't you!'

We kept glaring at each other, the white world silent around us. A grumble from her stomach broke it.

I flexed every muscle in my face to keep it straight while I saw her eyes twitch, trying to keep her focus on me.

Then another grumble escaped and I could see her struggle to keep instilling fear in me. Despite the instant death staring into my face I slowly started to lose the fear for my life. If she did shoot me I would have let out a loud laugh.

I also lost any will to fight her over the boar. I didn't care about her being Kanis, I just couldn't deprive a hungry woman of her meal. 'I'm going to lower my bow.' I said. 'You can have the boar.'

Her eyes grew and lost the hateful look to turn to surprised. I pointed the arrow away from her and relaxed the bowstring. I'd just have to see if I could find another boar or deer at the clearing further up the mountain. I sighed as I looked one more time at the lost stash of meat and wanted to go on my way when another grumble filled the silence. This time it was my stomach though. I laughed out loud at the stupidity. I looked back at her as she lowered her bow and I shook my head. 'Looks like I'm sharing the embarrassment.' I said and gave her a wave. 'Enjoy your meal.'

I had hardly taken a couple of steps when she said 'Wait!'.

'Hmm?' I said, turning my head back to her.

I thought she looked a little lost with one ear standing and one flat, her bow hanging loosely from her hand, looking sideways at the ground. Cute was the word that popped up in the back of my head.

'I can't accept it like this.'

'Why not?'

'Because you're human!' she snapped. 'I won't accept kindness from a human!'

I sighed. 'It's not kindness. I didn't think my chances were good if I fought you, so I yielded.' I said and turned away. 'You won.'

A twang next to my foot grabbed my attention. An arrow quivered in the snow.

'Are you crazy!?' I shouted at her. 'Shooting at me like that!? Were you trying to kill me!?' Stupid question.

She looked like she would stamp her feet and have a fit, but her eyes kept moving from me to the ground and back. 'I will not accept it..' she growled.

'Then I'll take it.' I said.

The sullen look on her face and her eyes moving to the boar and back told me she didn't want that either.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A chill stroke my cheek. 'Fine, we'll divide the meat.' I said, watching dark clouds coming closer. 'Looks like there's another storm coming, so we'd better hurry.' I looked at her. 'Is that okay with you?'

She nodded.

We pulled out our arrows and took out our knifes. First thing was to cut its belly open and remove the organs. The guts spilled out over the snow, steaming in the cold. I got ready to cut it all loose and throw it aside when I realised I didn't know if Kanis ate those.

'Do you want any of this?' I asked. 'I don't.'

She shook her head and I was somehow glad they didn't eat everything like the wild animals did. Snowflakes came down while the wind picked up. I looked up at the skies and saw the dark clouds coming much faster than expected.

'Shit.. We're running out of time.' I said, cutting faster into the boar.

'We might just have to cut off what we can now and leave.' she said.

'That's too much to waste in leaving here.' I said, looking into the direction of my cabin. 'And if this storm lasts as long as the last one we won't have enough to eat.' I looked back at her. 'Your place is not close to here, is it?'

She looked up suspiciously at me. 'Why do you ask?'

'I haven't seen any of your kind around here before, so I think you won't be able to reach home before the storm hits you. Am I right?'

Her ears flattened again. 'I can make it.'

'I know you're a strong race, but even you won't survive the cold and wind for long. Come with me to my cabin. There we can divide the meat completely and you can wait out the storm.'

Her eyes grew big and she backed off. 'Go with a human!? Do you think you can fool me!? You're just planning on killing me there when I'm not looking!'

I groaned in anger. 'Look, I'm not planning anything other than giving another person in need a place of shelter, all right!? I don't care if you hate me during that time and never come back after you leave, but I'm trying to be nice and show you that I'm not one of those humans you need to fear!' I stood up. 'I'm going to drag anything I can back to my cabin, so if you want to starve or die in the cold, fine by me, but not in this area! You can do that later and far away from me!'

The snow came down harder and formed a thin layer on the carcass. She looked up at me, then away. 'I leave after the storm, and you give your word you won't try anything.'

'I swear upon my skin I will not try anything! Can we go now?'

She nodded and I let out a sigh. We each grabbed a leg and pulled the heavy carcass through the snow up to my cabin. By the time we got there the wind had picked up and we were covered in snow. We entered the entry and I closed the door behind her before opening the inner door. She looked around a little nervous as we dragged the carcass into the corner I used for cooking.

'Welcome to my humble home.' I said, taking off my outdoor tunic and boots and hanging them next to the door to dry.

She looked around the room lit by the lamp on shelves in one corner and the small fire in the fireplace. 'I've never seen anything like this.'

I stoked up the fire with another log. 'I expect not. I build it myself.' I said, taking a dry sheet of thick cloth and handing it to her. 'Here, to dry your fur.' She took it timidly from me. 'The outside walls are made of three layers of planks, keeping out most of the cold in winter and heat in summer, as does the entry I made. I also lead the warmth of the fire through a space above the ceiling to get the most of it.'

She nodded, feeling the warmth with just the small fire burning.

'I've got store rooms in the back for keeping things cold in winter, and a big basement to keep things cool in summer.' I said, feeling rather proud of what I had achieved.

My stomach reminded me of the reason for ending up with a Kanis female at my home. I went and lit the fire under my oven. 'I hope you like the meat roasted.' I said, looking sideways at her. She nodded as she sat down by the fire, still looking around. I chuckled at how quiet she had become, when she was so fierce before.

I cut off a nice piece of the meat, then took the rest of the boar into the freezing store room where we could cut it up later. I seasoned the meat lightly and put it on a tray in the oven. I smiled as I found her asleep in front of the fireplace. She had curled up, her bushy tail wrapped around her legs. My instinct was right, she was cute.

*

'Time to eat..' I whispered, squeezing her shoulder gently.

She sprang up, looking around in confusion.

'Relax, you were asleep.' I said, holding out a dish to her. 'Food is ready.'

She kept her eyes on me as she sniffed the roasted meat. 'What did you do with it?'

'Just a little seasoning.' I said, taking a bite from my piece. I was so happy to eat again.

She touched the meat quickly with the tip of her tongue, let the taste sink in, and started to eat. I was happy to see her enjoying my cooking, her ears upright as if to hear the taste of the meat. She must have been at least as hungry as I was and I joined in her delight to eat. I put the dish aside, seeing her lick her lips with her agile tongue and chuckled.

'What!?' she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

'I'm just happy to see I made something to your taste.' I said, taking her dish and getting up to wash them.

'I was just very hungry! Hadn't eaten in days..'

I scrubbed the dishes, then put them up to dry. 'You had to wait out the storm too?' I asked, returning to the warm fire with two mugs of water. 'Where have you been staying all this time?'

'Why would I tell you?' she said looking at the fire, the reflection making her eyes burn brightly.

I sat down, putting a mug next to her. 'Just curious. I haven't come across another hut, or any of your kind around here. I understand if you don't want to tell me, I'm a human after all.'

I sipped my water silently, staring into the flames because I didn't want to push my questions about her.

'You're not bad for a human.' she said softly after a while.

I smiled a little. 'I'll take that as a compliment. I'm glad to have met you, despite the circumstances.'

She drank some water, then tried to hold back a yawn. I got up to take my blankets from a shelf and laid them out in front of the fire.

'I hope this'll be soft enough to sleep on.'

'I'm Kanis. We don't need blankets.' she said. 'And these smell of you.'

'Sorry, I have nothing else. And I do envy your pretty fur.' I said, removing the rest of my clothes but my pants. 'Would keep me a lot warmer these days.'

'It's useful, not pretty.'

'If you say so.' I said turning off the lamp, making the fire the only source of light, and moved between my stack of blankets. 'Sleep well.'

I woke up a little later, turned to check up on her and saw her on top of the blankets I had laid out. A smile came to my face and I went back to sleep.

***

I woke up to the sounds of her setting a new fire. It had died down during the night but since the warmth doesn't fade quickly in my cabin it wasn't too cold when I woke up.

I stretched and rubbed my eyes. 'Thanks.'

'I figured you'd freeze if I didn't do this.'

I chuckled. 'Well, it's a lot nicer to wake up in a warm place in winter.'

'The storm hasn't lessened.'

I heard the wind howl outside. 'Sounds like we'll have to stay indoors for a while.'

'I can't..' she said.

I looked at her, seeing her sit uncomfortable, wondering for a moment what she meant before I realised I needed to do the same. 'Oh, there's no need to go outside.'

She glanced at me. 'Yes, there is.'

I stood up and held out my hand to her. 'Come.'

She raised one of her lighter coloured eyebrows. 'Where?'

'I'll show you what I mean.'

She got up reluctantly, ignoring my hand. I led her through a door at the back, down a short hallway and opened another door to a closet. I gestured at the wooden contraption inside with a lid on it. 'You lift the lid, then you can relieve yourself in the hole.'

Her eyes grew wide. 'Do it on that!?'

I nodded. 'Saves me from going outside each time. It all ends in a deep hole, turning into fertilizer for the plants. I only have to make it quick before my butt freezes off.' I chuckled.

She looked at me as if I was crazy.

'Or,' I gestured back. 'you can go outside if you really want to.'

Her ears twitched back and forth with the howl of the wind, then pushed me out. 'Go away!'

I snickered as I left. 'The bucket of water is for cleaning up.'

I looked back from preparing a new roast as she came back.

'Don't look at me.' she growled.

I grinned and closed the oven door. 'Nature calls to everyone.' I said, washed my hands and went to the back.

'Where are you going?'

'My turn?'

She flattened her ears. 'Do you have to?'

'I'd rather not wet my pants in here, if you don't mind. I already had to keep it in while waiting for you.'

'Don't go doing weird things.'

'I'm not really into sticking my nose in certain things.' I grinned and went to find my own moment of relief. When I returned I saw her peeking at me while she sat on her knees at the fireplace, and I couldn't resist teasing her. 'Ahh, the smell of spring flowers..' I said, smiling.

She growled. 'I knew I couldn't trust you!'

I laughed. 'I'm just kidding! I was too busy to smell anything.'

She still bared a fang at me before sitting back at the fire and I snickered. I took off my pants to wash myself quickly at the alcove where I kept a large bucket of water for that. It might be warm inside, but the water was too cool to be comfortable. I used the piece of cloth next to the bucket to dry myself when I noticed her staring at me. She saw my stare and looked back quickly at the fire. I felt a little embarrassed but figured this was the first time she had seen a naked human. I put on my pants after I shaved and went into the room to grab my tunic and socks.

'Breakfast will be ready in a little while.' I said, putting away the blankets.

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the fire.

I sat next to her, warming myself at the fire. 'Will there be someone looking for you?'

Her head seemed to sink deeper on her shoulders. 'Not really..'

I was surprised. The Kanis were social as far as I knew, not solitary. 'No family?'

'None of your business.' she snapped.

'Sorry, you're right.' I said, standing up to get our meal. 'The roast will be ready now.'

I handed her a dish and we ate in silence. She kept watching the fire after I had washed the dishes and returned. I put a mug of water next to her in case she'd like some and took my drawing tools and paper. I had kept myself busy during the last storm with drawing a couple of woodpeckers from memory. I was almost finished.

'What's that?' she asked, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

'I draw when I have nothing else to do.' I said, showing her the drawing. 'Some, I sell when I go to town.'

She looked at it for a while. 'Looks very good.'

I smiled softly. 'Thank you.' I said, looking at it again. Then an idea hit me. 'Would you mind if I draw you?'

Her ears twitched. 'Me?'

'Yes. I might never get another chance to draw a Kanis. And it'll be something to remember you by when you leave.' I said, putting the drawing aside and taking a fresh sheet of paper. 'Although I hope to see you again after this is over.'

'Why?'

'Like I said, to have a memory-'

'No, why would you hope to see me again?'

'Ah..' I said, pondering about the reason. 'I'd like it if we could become friends. I know you hate humans, but maybe there's a chance I can make you think differently about me.'

She huffed. 'No chance, but go ahead. The storm will be over before you can finish it.'

'Thanks.' I said and I sat next to the fire in front of her. 'So, would you sit up for me? Please?'

She looked blankly at me, then huffed again. 'Fine. Only because I don't have anything to do here and you look like a lost child.'

I chuckled and she sat with her legs tucked to her right and her hands in her lap. She looked dignified and strong, like a woman of noble birth.