[Seasonal] Old Barn Shelter

The previously overgrown vegetable fields have become a white landscape with fresh snowfall. The styraco herd has found shelter from the cold in the abandoned sheds and empty barns, alongside a variety of other creatures. The sheer number of animals filled the old barn, but it had just enough space for individuals to group in their own corners.

Gwenn nudged the heavy barn gate for her to enter the building without inviting the snow in as well. She brought in a new bundle of dried grasses that had died off with the dipping temperatures. Anyone who wanted had ventured out to bring all sorts of materials, such as branches, sticks, fabrics and even feathers and fur, to add onto a large patch of nesting for everyone to rest on. When she added the grasses neatly to the growing pile of bedding, a sneeze escaped her before she could hold it back, launching the stalks all over the place.

“Take it easy, Gwenn,” a voice gently reminded her. Chiska joined her side with a reassuring smile and shuffled stray grass blades back onto the pile. ”You’ve been sneezing all day. Why don’t you stay inside, and we’ll handle the material gathering, hm?”

“What? No, I am fine,” Gwenn insisted, but her voice came out slightly pinched. She sniffed sharply, followed by a single cough, and her voice returned to its usual tune. “I am fine. A little snow won’t stop me from helping out.”

Chiska just gave her a thoughtful look. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was stopped by a strong, cold wind that pushed into the building and made her feathers stand on ends.

“Just a bit longer and this snow will turn into a storm, I tell you,” Riker barged into the barn, visibly irritated. The way he shoved the gate wide open made the old rusted hinges creak a horrible noise and left it gaping for the cold gales to follow him. He kicked the door shut with his hind legs before the complaints grew too loud or someone else closed it for him. Besides the old, patchy carpet resting on his face, he had brought a layer of snow with him on his back. Shaking the snow off his body, he joined the girls and dropped the rug onto the ground before kicking it onto the pile.

Seeing the man-made textile and its faded reds and purples caught Chiska's attention in an instant and made her forget what she meant to say earlier. Curiosity took hold of her, and she turned away from Gwenn as she tried to gauge how the material likely felt without touching it. “Where did you get that?”

“Huh?” Riker was a little taken aback when the vibrant green styraco skipped to his side, prompting him to take a few half steps backwards. Despite not only being caught by the increasing winds outside, but also having his sleeping space blocked off by Chiska examining the rug up close, he humoured her question with an honest answer. “The smaller building on the hill. That den has so many holes, the wind has been whistling past my horns and giving me a headache. I just took the first thing I could grab and left.”

He leaned his head down to scratch at his face with his front foot, then angled his head up towards the hay loft and the beams under the roof. Raptors and comparably lighter animals perched under the rafters. “The raptors said something about getting the best stuff from there. Should be warm and comfy, but all that thing gave me is an itch. Should’ve known better than to listen to carnivores.”

Before Riker could complain more or Chiska could banter about human relics, Gwenn snorted in an attempt to clear her nose, followed by an involuntary sneeze. Riker’s eyes snapped sharply towards her, a flash of exasperation on his face.

“Don’t tell me you actually got sick from a bit of snow. You walked out when it was still mild and only circled this area,” he said, nodding his head her way. Before he could even try to say something more demeaning, a pointed side glance his way from Chiska stopped him from finishing that thought altogether.

Gwenn’s gaze jumped between the two other styracos before wandering to the ground. Then she flashed an embarrassed smile when she did meet his eyes. “Oh, uh. I… Sorry. The cold doesn’t bother me, not at all. Uhm… I fell into a pond earlier,” Gwenn chuckled a little off-beat. “Took me a bit to get out of there. I nearly froze my toes off, it was so cold.”

“You fell into a frozen puddle? What are you, a hatchling?” Riker threw in a comment that wasn’t short of disbelief and a little mockery.

Chiska, with her patience running out from his attitude, pushed him in the side. “Hey, don’t be rude!”
When she looked back at Gwenn, it wasn’t just worry that reflected in her eyes.

“It’s okay! I am doing well, and I still got all the dry grass and hay I could find around the building,” Gwenn defended herself before Chiska could and squared her shoulders to stand a little taller. She stepped forward, her head still held high. “Besides, who said I was done doing that? Don’t you like your bed all soft and cozy? We definitely need more to make it extra warm.”

The other green herbivore quickly walked in front of her, blocking her path, and guided her right back around. “No, no. You go rest. The barn’s fully stocked, and if we stay together, we’ll keep warm enough,” Chiska reassured her again, nudging her onto the bedding with little resistance.

“Eh. With your scatter-brain, you might as well get lost out there once the snowfall gets so thick, you can’t see your own horn in front of your face. Maybe it’s better if you stay inside, so no one has to go on a rescue run for you,” Riker encouraged her to stay in his own way. He yawned.

“Do you really think it’s going to be so bad?” Gwenn asked a little disbelieving, and tried to look out of the window holes beneath the roof to see a glimpse of the snowfall, but it was too high up. They came back barely a minute apart; there’s no way it’s gotten that much worse. With the sun slowly setting this early, she couldn’t tell the weather outside, other than that the wind was picking up as the old wood creaked subtly. It was hard to tell with the noise of conversation and the mass of animals packed each in their own corners.

Riker inclines his head to the side, then exhales with the quadrupedal version of a shrug. “How would I know? I just know, I ain’t gonna go out there again for today.” With that said, he pushed some of the gathered twigs and dried foliage on top of the carpet, burying it beneath the litter, and plopped his hefty body right on top of that. To Chiska's barely contained disappointment.

Gwenn wasn’t happy about it, but when Chiska laid down between them, she didn’t try to argue or find an excuse to wander out again. Now that she was on the pile of foliage and scraps, she eventually settled down too and placed her head onto her front feet. If she was completely honest with herself, she felt drained.

It wasn’t for a few more hours before the various animals inside the barn quieted down. The human structure held the winds and layers of snow that amassed on its roof despite its old wood and nails. Once the doors stayed closed for the evening as every member found their way back inside, the heat only escaped through the air holes beneath the roof.

The light outside dimmed, and so did the interior of the ancient building, with electricity long rendered inoperable. With everyone huddled together and sunset giving way to starlight, the chatter quieted down, and the first rested for the night. Gwenn was the first to drift into sleep, which was rather unusual for her, her boundless energy lacking. Her nose whistled faintly with each breath she drew in, before she subconsciously resorted to breathing through her mouth.

Chiska had her eyes on her. Of course she did.
She didn’t like to have anyone in the herd suffer from sickness. She’s no doctor or herbalist, but she mulled over how she could help her out. Considering Gwenn spent most of her time outside after her incident rather than warming up inside, made her think she must still be chilled. If she spoke true then there’s no wonder she’s been coughing and sneezing. The best she can do is to prevent it from getting worse.

The light brown speckled styraco got up from where she was lying and stretched her legs. She didn’t need to do more than turn a little to peck Riker in the side, who didn’t move an inch until she right out shoved him. Confused, he just shuffled back without standing up, enough not to bump into the other herd members, but enough to give the space she was asking for.

Until it dawned on him that she wasn’t asking for space. “Hey, what are you-?!”

Chiska shushed him immediately and ignored the indignant look on his face as she stole the rug from right under him. He wasn’t respecting the fine textile anyway, so she decided to give it a better use. In fact, the moment she turned back around, Riker just rolled back onto his side with a grunt, daring her to bother him again. The loss of the carpet was nothing but a mere inconvenience, not even worth the annoyance over.

Happy enough that he didn’t look for confrontation, she carried the rug in her beak and slowly placed it over Gwenn’s shoulder with a few careful adjustments. A larger rug or blanket would’ve likely done a better job, but the weight and fuzzy edges added just enough comfort for her to remain sleeping. Even Chiska knew the effort was likely futile if she already caught something, but she would still rather have the carpet serve to keep Gwenn warm than to remain under Rikers behind.

Shuffling some of the twigs back onto her sleeping spot where she stood, she settled back down. Riker, now with his back to her, to her right and Gwenn to her left. The barn was quiet now, beside a few creatures shifting in their sleep or subtle whispered conversations. The wind outside kept itself at a manageable pace, and the snowfall remained mild, the storm Riker predicted absent from view. It mattered none either way, as the warmth remained inside the structure and the cold was banished outside.

[1809 words according to Google Docs]