Howling winds

The air was crisp, cold and harsh when breathed in. One gasp could freeze your core. After all it was winter, even ice could stick to your hands due to the extreme cold. Not even the soft snow was gentle enough to touch with a bare hand without risking frostbite.

Erwin, Hanji and Miche were suiting up in coats and putting on extra layers to help keep themselves warm for as long as possible. Scarves and gloves were needed unless you preferred having blue hands or a numbed neck.

Just as Erwin was starting to feel sure he was doing to do good this day in training he heard the wind holler outside. “They’re really making us go out in these conditions..” he mumbled, glancing to the two others besides him who seemed to notice the wind as well.

Not sure of how this really worked again he turned to Hanji as they were putting on their gloves “Hanji, what are we supposed to do again? Freeze slowly?-“ Upon hearing a small humored snort from Miche he assumed he was far off.

”we’re just supposed to make it through the snowy conditions to a base at the end of the mountain” Called out Hanji in a rather excited voice. ‘They’re..they’re actually excited for this?’ Erwin was already intimidated by today’s training just from the sounds of the strong winds.

As they were called outside Erwin gave a nod to Hanji “Thank you for explaining,” walking outside he braced himself. “I have a feeling I’m going to stop feeling my face extremely soon..” was the last thing he muttered before feeling the wicked wind on his pale face.

Gritting his teeth he pulled up his scarf over his mouth and nose. It wasn’t what he was exactly expecting but it wasn’t too bad, yet. Everyone’s expressions were the same. They all were trying to think warm thoughts to get them through this exercise.

As they started towards their destination the cold air was fighting against them. “This is insane!!” Hanji called out in almost pure excitement of their task. The shiver in their voice though hinted that the cold was effecting them like anyone else. They just were excited over it? ‘I better not try to understand Hanji, it’ll give me a headache’

Dragging his feet through the snow he kept his eyes locked forward. It had been close to an hour already and so far he learned two things. One, Hanji likes eating snow. And two, he now hates the cold.

Ears and noses were bitten with red as the temperatures continued to drop. It was hard to tell if they were just getting closer or not. Erwin like many others were trying their best to stay with their group. But the wind blowing against him wasn’t helping.

Stopping briefly he turned to Miche then Hanji. But the only person he saw was Miche. “..Hanji?” They were nowhere to be seen, not even the heavy snow could cover them from plain sight. They had wandered off for god know’s what. Walking in the opposite direction of where their destination was Miche and Erwin searched for their friend who was now lost.

It took a while to finally spot them, but there was Hanji, they were kneeling in the snow looking for something. “Hanji, what the hell are you doing?” The blonde called out before approaching them. Though they were strange at times he couldn’t think of a reason Hanji would willingly go off in weathers like this.

”My gloves, they went flying away after the wind decided to take them” Was the response they gave before looking up. “I wanted to try and quickly find them before catching up to the group”

Miche and Erwin exchanged a glance between each other that was a mix of pure confusion and relief. “Take mine and let’s get going before we’re lost here” Miche mumbled before taking off the gloves the protected his hands from the cold.

Hanji at first opened their mouth to disagree. But instead took the gloves and started walking with them. “Wow you have big hands!” Was all they said after a few minutes of silence. A chuckle came from Erwin as he shook his head “first thing you say after complete silence is that..”

The trio from time to time would say something or make a small talk but overall they remained in complete silence. They were together, which made the chilling cold a bit more tolerable. Soon enough they saw a group ahead. “See! We aren’t that far behind!! Let’s go!”

With that Hanji took off running. Miche slowly inhaled, before sighing and running after their crazed friend on the loose. “I can’t feel my legs but, alright let’s run to catch up” mumbled Erwin before following the two.

Once beside that group Hanji started asking questions of how their walking had been so far. The group swapped info with them and how many hours they figured they all had been out in. Just as they all were starting to complain over the lack of feeling their legs Miche said something.

”Smoke ahead” At first the two groups were quiet. Trying to understand what he meant. Erwin looked up and then saw what he meant. “Smoke from a fire? Does that mean we’re close?” Receiving a small nod from the quiet blonde he turned to Hanji and the others.

They worked together and eventually they had made it. From the looks of it they were all the first ones back. Collapsing on the ground Hanji sighed in relief. “Finally..”

With the help of Erwin and Miche they dragged Hanji inside to help them warm up. Taking off their gloves Erwin handed the ones Hanji borrowed to Miche again “here, these belong to you”

Miche nodded and took them even if it was a little too late for them. His hands were a light blue but he didn’t seem to mind too much. At the very least, they made it back all together.