(Originally written on December 16, 2023.)

The weather took a turn for the worst over the course of mere seconds. One moment it’d been unpleasantly brisk, and the next had him squinting as snow blew fiercely into his face. Was this some kind of defense system? He’d hardly even gotten close to the manor! It was still a ways off… not that he could see it anymore, with this blizzard permeating the air.

He’d underestimated the stakes when he sought this place out. The cold bit into him, the air chilling his lungs and his throat. This weather was an attack… with an intent to kill. It’d have its way if he didn’t turn back!

So that’s exactly what he did. Trying his best to accurately go in the exact direction he came from, towards their campsite, he set off. Pushing through the snow-choked air was wearing on him extremely quickly… or was this part of the spell too?

Suddenly he felt a new power thrown into the mix. A glowing blue something just out of reach. One of those fairies he’d spotted earlier? He’d just been ignoring them… but from this one, he felt a new sense of hope. It’d taken pity on him… it was helping him!

He felt tingling and softness under his coat. The fairy couldn’t heat him up, but it could change him into something that could survive the cold. He didn’t mind a little fur if it kept him alive!

Or… or a lot of fur? It was getting quite thick. Pure white fluff pushed out into view around his neck. It crept up the sides of his head, his ears elongating upwards as it reached them. They threatened to push his hood off his head, and would be much more comfortable with it out of the way, but he couldn’t afford to lose that extra layer between his head and the cold! He couldn’t afford to lose anything! Not his tightening gloves, or his—

He stumbled and nearly fell as his feet pushed against his boots and began tearing them open. His newly padded toes made contact with the frozen earth and went numb. He jolted, and tried to pick up the pace, while making sure to shove his growing tail down into a pant leg. Keeping his exposure to the air at a minimum was key…!

Underneath his coat, his shirt was tearing from the sheer volume of fur contained within. His fingers grew pudgy inside his gloves. His face creaked forward into a canine snout, extending past the cover of his hood and meeting the cold. He had to be quick. The insulation would only get him so far. The fairy could only do so much.

Just as the cold was beginning to reach a new level in his body, his senses were blasted with stimuli. Sunlight, and light wind, and… unpleasant briskness! Thank the gods! He stood there before a very concerned partner at their campsite, the blizzard receding behind him, his body transformed into some kind of arctic fox or wolf or whatever, he’d find out later, stuffed into hilariously insufficient winter wear for what he’d just survived…!

He collapsed, shivering, pawing at his constricting but somehow lifesaving garments, the sheer joy of relief bringing tears to his eyes. The little blue fairy danced in the air above, watching as his partner dragged him closer to the campfire, some of the seams of his clothing finally bursting open to reveal more of that gorgeous white fur.

They’d make it to that manor yet!