#in a cage
A loose continuation from this drabble! Once again tagging @albino-whumpee!
CWs: Captivity, restraints, rough handling.
The cages frighten him more than the isolation.
He’s still not good on land. His frozen toes slip and stumble on the icy ground, and the short length of chain between his ankles doesn’t help his balance either. He remembers how he whimpered when they chained both legs—whimpered less from the cold iron on his skin and more from the expectation he will walk for them. The consequences of not moving as fast or as well as they want him to.
It’s been a mere sliver of day since they dragged him into the snowy light, and he’s already earned himself bruises.
At least the cages are elevated, away from the ground that’s turned his feet blue. They sit on a deck, a little like the one the humans dragged him onto. But this boat doesn’t skim and churn the water—instead, harnessed wolves pull it across the snow. He shrinks back from curious eyes and fangs that linger behind furry muzzles. One of them growls in warning as his stumbling almost sends him into them.
Someone wraps him in blankets, pinning arms he barely knows how to use. He struggles and receives another slap for it. This swaddling reminds him of his life as a seal, but perverted. Even on land, he could move better when he was a seal. Ropes are bound around the bundle, keeping him from shaking off the alien furs.
Then he’s dropped into one of the cages. Not carefully, and the sharp wire mesh gashes his cheek on the way down. He rolls at the impact with the ground, and feels the blood spread across his face. Hot wetness soothes features numb with cold.
A wordless murmuring. Another shape, similarly secured, pants and huffs their way over to him. A tongue scrapes at the wound, at first rough but then turning to little licks. Someone on his other side nestles into the gap between head and shoulder, a warm presence at his neck.
He ends up falling asleep among their little pile, as the musher shouts and drives the sled dogs on.
Friend? Is that a new -too short lived- friend? gahhh I’m so happy to see you writing this!
