——
He walked over the birch forest, now dusty pink and misty. The trees had this toy-like quality to them. As if she was looking at a thousand crooked and twisted candy canes dreamt up by a whimsical confectioner. She almost wanted to pick them like flowers. He stopped by the edge of the forest. A ray of sun peeked out from streaky clouds. She placed her palm over him, as if it would shelter him at all.
“Watch out,” she said.
The jotun looked over his shoulder, the low sun hit his face. He flinched, clawing around his eye with a hiss. He muttered a string of curses so foul that they made a sailor seem pious. Idun grabbed at his arm.
“Are you alright?” She asked, stroking down his thumb, in the moment it felt like the right thing to do.
“Give it ten minutes and I will get my sighs back,” he said, rubbing his eyelids.
He placed Idun on the ground. It was morning, and he had kept his promise. He tucked his legs close to his chest, sitting with a pained look on his face. Sunlight landed on his thighs, rendering his shaggy, grey fur a fiery orange. His eye glistened, red and irritated.
“I can’t take you further,” he said, “but the village is only a few miles from here, just where you can glean a patch of spruce,”
Instead of running, she stayed behind. Longer than she should have? Most likely. But the jotun was out of his element, disarmed somehow. He picked at the ground, thumping his tail with slight impatience. Minutes passed, and he begun to blink and look around. He regained strength, she readied herself, making sure there were as few obstacles between her and freedom as possible. She located the easiest escape route. On her way there she glanced back at the jotun. Unsure of what came over her she darted up to him, embracing his hand in a hug.
“Thank you,” she said.
He ran a finger across her shoulders, slowly standing up after she let go. By the time she opened her eyes he stood to his full height, resembling a force of nature more than a person. He began walking towards the Deep Woods. It was as if she would have to yell from the top of the world to ever catch his attention again. As he slowly faded, she couldn’t help but feel a little silly about her gesture.
——

More illustrations for my story lets gooo. He really would rather be doing anything else, but feels morally obliged to not let her get killed by the elements. As one does.