At first glance, it wasn't so bad. Yes, Viktor was locked out of the giant mansion in frigid weather, but he wasn't one to give up so easily. He was also a little dramatic. It wasn't quite the dead of winter. That had long passed while he had been in the arena. If anything, it was the transitionary period between seasons, if this planet had anything like that. This was practically nothing compared to those frigid nights before they had been given flimsy heating pads. Of course, he had been in a building with walls... and had some alien straw lying around... and his clothes had been in better shape.

Viktor decided he needed to get back to the matter at hand. The fact that he was locked out of the mansion. It was pretty pressing, he thought.

There were other doors he could try to get in. Plus, walking around the mansion gave him a pretty good idea of the layout inside. When he got back inside, though, he was gonna cuddle up with his blanket in his very soft and warm bed first.

That is, if he got back inside.

Every door he tried had been locked. Even the front doors. The hope and confidence that he would be able to get back inside had quickly waned with each locked door. That bastard must have run around and locked every door. It probably thought that he was some filthy animal. Viktor cursed, feeling frustration fill his chest.

"Stupid fucking aliens. Can't have anything fucking nice in this goddamn place," he spat to himself, feeling burning in the back of his eyes. He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes, taking deep breaths. He stood there for a moment.

Enough moping. Viktor decided that he'd try to make the best of the situation. He was outside for the first time in forever. Better make use of it, right?

So, he explored. Walking around kept him pretty warm, and it wasn't so cold when he wandered. His feet were sore from walking around in pebbles and dirt after being so used to carpeted flooring. He had thought about whether or not to take his socks off to preserve them but the second his bare foot touched the ground, he let out a choked scream.

God, it was cold!

He quickly put his sock back on.

The grounds were beautiful. There was a small pond farther along the paths. A fountain was in the center of it, gushing out water. Small fern-like plants circled the pond. Some were sprawling out on the path, searching for new places to live. Flowers, a bit like lilies with their opened petals, punctuated the pathway around the pond. They smelled sweet. It was idyllic. Viktor thought he could stay here forever. Eventually, though, staring at the water became a bit boring, so he moved on.

He walked towards the trees, the sweet scent of fruit filling his nose. He stared up in awe at the towering plants. Trees didn't seem to be so common on this planet, but admittedly he hasn't had the most experience outdoors to be a reliable judge on that. Maybe they didn't have a lot of water on this planet.

The trees were like the ones back on Earth, from thick bark to full leaves. The only difference was that it wasn't any species Viktor recognized, its leaves were bright purple. and its bark was a dull, rusty red. It was jarring, but Viktor quickly got used to it, especially when his attention fell on the fruit that the trees sported.

Round and purple, these fruits were unlike anything he'd ever seen before. If he had to guess, the closest comparison he could make was that they looked like a cross between an apple and a durian. They were small and spiky. If Viktor didn't notice the overwhelming sweet scent of them, he would've thought they were just hard seeds.

There were some rotten ones on the ground, covered partially by shade and foliage. He poked at one, looking at the white insides. They were built like apples on the inside, fleshy fruit surrounding a few seeds in the middle. Viktor wondered what they were called.

"Hm," he hummed, straightening back up and looking at the tall trees. All the branches were too high for him to reach from the ground. He hadn't had anything else to eat since breakfast, and he hadn't even finished that, so he was determined to get some. His stomach growled in anticipation.

Climbing a tree in socks was no easy feat, especially if you were already half-frozen from walking around. Viktor learned this the hard way.

After many near falls and some scraped hands, he finally got to a thick enough branch for him to sit on. It was higher up than he'd like, not that he was afraid of heights or anything. Regardless, he tried not to look down. The branch itself was comfortable, thick enough for Viktor to recline against the trunk and not worry about falling off unless he decided to roll over. Plus, it was in a prime position for him to reach all the fruit he'd like. He cracked one open, carefully minding the spikes.

It tasted like sweet sugar water. Better than nothing.

It was infinitely better than eating hard pellets, no matter how wonderful they tasted. He sighed wistfully, taking another bite.

It wasn't even that cold up there. The leaves must block out some of the chill. He settled in for the long wait. Vok'Rul would hopefully come looking for him when he got back, and then Viktor could sleep away the chill under his blanket and in his soft bed. It was a goal to look forward to. Viktor shut his eyes.

***

The chill is what woke him up. Groggier than he ever had been before, Viktor cracked his eyes open to look at the sun sinking below the ground. The yellow sky was turning a murky black. He shivered, shifting slightly on the branch. He heard crackling from his clothes. He wondered if they had frozen to the wood.

He licked his cracked lips, mouth feeling dry. He wished he knew how to make a fire. He'd be living it up right now. Fire, fruit. Everything a man needs to live. He tried to grab another fruit, weakly grasping the prickly body and pulling away slowly when it nicked him. He sluggishly pulled away, feeling a faint buzz of alarm in the back of his mind at the lethargy in his limbs. He quickly lost that thought, more determined to get the fruit than worry about whatever his arms were feeling like. They felt like big old bricks attached to his body.

He wondered if he would become a house if his legs felt like that, too. Viktor would like to be a Victorian-style house, with giant turrets. It certainly wouldn't have a giant spiral staircase all the way up to the top. Maybe there'd be a giant slide that went all the way down to the first floor. That would be so fun. Viktor wondered if he'd ever see a slide again. It made him a little sad.

What was he doing again?

He was... doing something.

Oh yeah, he thought, gazing up at the purple leaves. He wanted the fruit. He sat up slowly, feeling icy pins shooting down his limbs. "Ouch," he slurred dully, wondering why his lips weren't moving as well as they should be. He reached up to grab the fruit. The world was a bit tilted, which he thought was a little strange. Maybe it was because it was an alien planet, though.

Viktor watched impassively as the tree's leaves tilted even more. Suddenly, in a blur of purple and red, he was looking up at the sky. He had fallen to the ground. There was a dull, throbbing pain in his left arm.

Danger! his instincts screamed at him suddenly. Viktor rolled over onto his stomach, pushing himself to his knees. His vision swam with pain as he put pressure on his left arm. He was shaking, teeth chattering and body trembling.

He heard steps coming toward him soon after he finished blinking away the pain. The lethargy that had filled his limbs slowly seeped away as adrenaline pumped through his system. "Go 'way," he growled, swiping at the alien who approached him with his good arm. Having nothing supporting him aside from his nearly frozen legs, he fell face-first into the dirt. He groaned.

He heard a shout. He tried pushing himself back up, unwilling to succumb to his pain in this state. In front of strange aliens, no less. More footsteps were stomping towards him. He turned his head to face them, cheek pressed into the cold dirt. He bared his teeth as best he could, spitting insults and curses weakly. He felt fear clog his throat as they approached.

Were they here to take him back to the arena? Maybe someone new had taken it over? Or the ringmaster had managed to avoid alien jail and was intent on making him pay.

There was a loud shout, one that made Viktor cringe. It sounded like it was right next to his ear. He watched as the aliens in front of him parted, heart beating in his throat rapidly. A very shiny alien stepped forward, not hesitating in scooping Viktor up from the ground and holding him to its chest.

They were very warm. Maybe a little too warm. Viktor felt like he was burning. A whimper left his throat as he tried to move away, but the arms around him tightened, painfully digging metallic bits into his soft skin.

They were moving, but Viktor's mind was foggy once again, his adrenaline completely leaving him. He couldn't focus enough to see where they were going. Every move jostled his arm, which must surely be broken. He bit onto his tongue to hold back the screams that threatened to come out. The pain was intense.

They were inside. The other aliens had disappeared. Viktor couldn't tell when they had all vanished. It was just him and the alien holding him.

Vok'Rul, his mind supplied, slowly defrosting. He shivered violently, the warmth of the indoors slowly making him realize just how frigid he was.

Vok'Rul spoke to him quickly, voice pitched higher than he had ever heard it. Viktor wondered why. Was he getting sick? Could these aliens get sick? Humans got sick. He felt pretty sick, right now. Another set of shivers shook him, and he whimpered as his vision swam with the sharp pain emanating from his arm. He heard Vok'Rul coo at him, just as Lilac used to.

Another alien approached them, carrying Viktor's blanket in his arms. Vok'Rul placed him briefly in the other alien's arms, who seemed just as pleased as Viktor was about this. Before he could kick up any sort of fuss from being moved and away from the warmth Vok'Rul offered, he was transferred back into his arms, neatly wrapped in the blanket. It was pleasantly warm, even if Viktor still shivered and felt like his fingers and toes were going to fall off.

He heard Vok'Rul shout orders at some more aliens before they were moving again. Viktor winced as cool air met his face. He blinked wearily, noticing that they were outside again. It was only for a moment. They were quickly enveloped by warmth once more as Vok'Rul stepped into the limo Viktor had seen him get into earlier in the day. Another steely yell from Vok'Rul and the car was moving steadily.

Viktor suffered the ride through a haze, shivering and nearly delirious with pain. He was slowly regaining feeling in his toes, which he thought was a good thing. Maybe he didn't have frostbite. That would kinda suck.

They arrived at their destination with a flurry of movement. As soon as the vehicle stopped, Vok'Rul was out of it, nearly running into the building they were parked outside. Viktor groaned as the movement jostled his arm, which prompted Vok'Rul to make odd shushing noises and speak to him lowly. The teen cracked an eye open as blinding light cast over his face. He slowly realized that he recognized this place. It was the vet's clinic.

Vok'Rul must have called in a favor because the vet that was present was not in the clothing Viktor had come to associate doctors with. Instead, it was more like Vok'Rul's nightwear, though much cheaper. The vet did a hurried bow, which caused Vok'Rul to snap angrily, tightening his grip on Viktor painfully.

"Ow," he gasped, arching away from the grip to no avail. Vok'Rul's grip immediately loosened, and he spoke guiltily to the vet and Viktor.

He watched suspiciously from Vok'Rul's arms as the vet brought out another blanket. Vok'Rul seemed pretty happy about it because he immediately placed Viktor on top of the blanket once the vet laid it out on the table. The blanket was heated. Viktor eagerly soaked up its warmth. The large alien tucked the ends of the blanket around his feet, leaving his upper half exposed. Viktor shivered, wrapping his good arm around himself and rubbing his upper arm as well as he could.

At least he seemed to be getting proper medical care here. He sighed, trying to ignore the ebb and flow of pain in his arm and watching as Vok'Rul hovered over him. He spoke to the vet with urgency and worry clear in his voice. His warm hand was on top of Viktor's head. Viktor didn't have enough energy to shrug the hand away, so he suffered through it. Besides, he had quite a few bigger issues to worry about.

Like the fact that he was about to fall asleep. His eyelids felt as if they had bricks hanging from them. If he were honest, Vok'Rul's hand on his head was the only thing keeping him upright. He felt something grab his wrist lightly, and he swung it from the grip, sucking in a sharp breath as pain ran up his arm.

He heard Vok'Rul speaking to him, but Viktor didn't care. He did not want aliens touching him, right now. He slapped his hand away from his head. He kicked the blanket away from him as best he could, legs still feeling numb. He heard the vet say something sharply and felt large hands grab his shoulders firmly. He could barely move.

"What the hell, man," Viktor protested, looking up at Vok'Rul with a scowl. He felt a sharp prick on the leg that he had managed to free and quickly looked back. The vet was withdrawing a needle. "What-"

Vok'Rul cut him off with a "Kohgrash" and a few other words. The alien removed his hands from his shoulders, instead opting to pet him on the head instead. Viktor felt heavy. He slumped backward, feeling Vok'Rul settle him on the blanket. Viktor could barely put the pieces together to realize that the vet had sedated him before he was out like a light.