Cold Blooded

The Forest

"Okay," Mr. Childe sighed as he looked at the forest around them. "First priority is getting this blood of you. Then, I have a place we can hide out at for a few days while we form a plan to get out of here."

"Yes, sir!" Saya said with a smile. "I have some matches in this coat somewhere. We can melt some snow and use it to clean up Chongyun."

"That- me!" Chongyun rasped, his throat instantly rebelling against the words. A small excitement and happiness blossomed from deep within him. His name. That was his name. His real name, not some joke made up in Three's twisted mind. It was his name, and no one would ever take it from him ever again.

"Um, yes," Saya said, scratching the back of her neck. She turned away and muttered to herself. "What did they do to you in there?"

"Saya, can you start that fire for us?" Mr. Childe asked. He slowly lowered Chongyun against a leafless tree. The snow was cold and the bark was rough, but Chongyun was still so full of excitement that he didn't feel it.

They began to slowly melt snow into small portions of water. Chongyun caught the water in his hands and used it to wipe away the blood. It was slow going, but he managed to clean his hands and arms of the gore.

"Um, guys..." Saya looked up from a small pile of burnt sticks. "I'm out of matches..."

Chongyun looked down at himself. The blood still covered his chest and he could feel it on his face.

"Okay, then..." Mr. Childe looked around at the dead forest around them. "So, um... Oh, I know. Follow me."

The man began to crouch down to pick up Chongyun again, but the bloodied boy raised a hand and managed a few words. "I- ca... walk."

"You can walk..." Mr. Childe repeated. "Okay, whatever you say buddy. However, you should probably stop talking. Anyone could see how much it is hurting you."

Chongyun nodded. He grabbed at the tree behind him and pulled himself to his feet. Mr. Childe began to walk , but them spun around and looked at Saya and Chongyun. "Do either of you have any rope?"

"I've got a bit, but what do you need it for?" Saya asked, pulling out a thin rope about the length of her arm from a pocket in her coat. She handed it to Mr. Childe.

"I'm just going to tie up Chongyun's hair." Mr. Childe said, grabbing the rope. "Get it out of his face a bit."

He slipped the length of rope into his mouth and began to gather up Chongyun's hair with his hands. He ran his fingers through Chongyun's hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. He wrapped the rope around it and tied it.

"There we go," Mr. Childe started to walk off again. "Follow me."

Saya smiled at Chongyun and started to follow Mr. Childe. Her bats flapped happily beside her. Chongyun ran a hand through his hair. No one had been as gentle to him as Mr. Childe had been in years. It felt... nice.

They walked for a while until they came out of the forest to a large empty clearing. Mr. Childe walked to the center of it and began to stomp on the ground. Saya looked at Chongyun with confusion. Chongyun just shrugged.

Mr. Childe smiled and a sword appeared in his hand a moment later. He stabbed the blade into the ground and created a large circle. He kicked down in the center of the circle to reveal water beneath.

"Chongyun," he pointed down into the water. "Hop in."

"What?!" Saya jumped forward and put a hand in front of Chongyun. "He can't go in there! He'll get hypothermia and die or something."

"He has a cryo vision," Mr. Childe said, pointing at the glowing stone on Chongyun's belt. "He's more resistant and it's not like I'm just leaving him in there. I just need him to stay in long enough for me to get all the blood off. Okay now, Chongyun, ready?"

Chongyun nodded and walked over to the hole. He took one look at Saya's worried face and Mr. Childe's grin, then jumped into the freezing water below.

The water was freezing. It bit at Chongyun's bare chest and his mind was filled with nothing more than the searing cold. Hands reached down to grab him and fear and confusion started to mix in his mind. He tried to fight them off, but his body was frozen stiff.

The hands hovered around him, running through his hair, and over his face. After what felt like eternity, Chongyun was pulled out of the water and back up through the surface. He began to shiver as the cold wind blew against him. Something warm was wrapped around his shoulders.

Chongyun coughed and looked around him slowly. Saya was nearby, looking over Chongyun with a mix of concern and relief on her face. Mr. Childe stood tall as the wind blew his hair about. Even without his coat, he looked right at home among the frozen landscape.

"There we go buddy," Mr. Childe pulled his coat tighter around Chongyun's chest. "Clean as a whistle, kinda."

"C-cold," Chongyun whispered as he shivered.

"Please stop hurting yourself to talk," Mr. Childe looked from Saya to Chongyun and then over his shoulder. "Okay then, let's head to my house."

~author's note~

Sorry for posting late again, I was slightly busy stressing out over final and being traumatized by Omori. Anyways, enjoy.

Couldn't find the original author of the art, sorry