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Chapter 5
Lost and Found
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Lenny paused and wiped the snow from his goggles for the third time in as many minutes. Lenny could barely feel the cold he had long taken to heart the need to keep from freezing. The elkhound was unsure how many layers he was on. his normal underwear, a set of base thermals and heavy thermals atop that. Then he had on a heavy shirt and pants. a wind breaker suit and finally a very heavy hooded parka. The goggles kept his glasses from freezing up but they did not keep the snow out of his vision. 


Lenny's exact location was a little bit hard to pin down. He was walking along a ravine somewhere in eastern Russia, chasing the one that got away from his mother. In his bag was a very old map purchased by Alma Elkhound in her own adventuring days. The map dated back several centuries to the rule of Tsar Sasha the first. Tsar Sasha's rule was most notable for how quick it came to an end passing to his son and for the fact that Tsar Sasha had vanished without a trace. The story goes that in the dead of winter the Tsar had set out on a diplomatic mission to a ruler in Romania his goal to buy fifteen thousand head of winter resistant livestock and as much feed for them as he could transport. Rather than risk a convoy of easily stripped away treasures he took with him the Great Green tear. A giant emerald carefully and brilliantly cut like a teardrop according to legend from tip to base. It measured around a foot and was four inches wide and four inches thick. Now there are dozens of theories about what happened to Tsar Sasha after he set out. Anti-tsarist forces, forces that hated him in particular, forces looking to prevent any Romanian cooperation. Alma had told him that her preferred theory was that Tsar Sasha was a sheltered noble who didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, that Tsar Sasha got lost in the snowy mountains and died. Alma had been pulled away before she could explore the map Lenny now held.


Lenny looked around, he was seeking a local landmark called the ice bird. Or at least he was pretty sure that was what it was called he kind of regretted not studying language more seriously. Lenny blinked as he looked around realizing the trees were no longer visible. Reaching up he swiped the snow from his goggles again but the white didn't clear up any. holding his hand directly in front of his face finally revealed the problem, his vision was not obscured by snow he was snow blind. 


Lenny stepped to his left, carefully going slowly he knew the ravine was on his right. while the drop was only about fifteen feet that was still plenty of time to die horribly in several ways. After a moments thought he dropped to all fours feeling about through the powder. It was cold and damp but it decreased the odds of him slamming into something and passing out in the snow. His fingers and toes burned and the cold was seeping through his clothes as he moved carefully hoping to find someplace to shelter properly. Then he felt it, a log carefully stripped of bark and another stacked atop it. 


Lenny had found the edge of a wall rising from the ground he hugged the log wall feeling about as he walked eventually let him discover a door knob which turned and let him into a house filled with warmth. shivering Lenny closed the door and called out. 


"Hello? Is anyone home? I'm sorry I let myself in, I'm blinded and freezing."


"Chto eto? U menya gost'.[a] Welcome to my house, weary traveler." came the reply from well Lenny wasn't sure not anywhere close. "oh my you are in poor shape. Come and sit by fire." Lenny turned his head slightly as the voice had moved to his right side before he felt large paws brushing melting snow from his body. "ach dis is no good, you need to be getting out of wet snow clothes." Lenny was barely able to process that statement before his layers were peeled back till he had nothing but his thermals on. "Much better, inner clothes are good and dry. The elkhound wanted to get a word of thanks in before he was lifted and carried over the big ladies shoulder and laid down on a soft rug in front of a fire. "A little man sits tight while I fetch a blanket for snuggling." 


Lenny felt the warmth of a roaring fire, smelled the reassuring scent of smoke and heard the steady pop of logs as they burned. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he was asleep. His rest didn't last long, big paws gripped his shoulders and he was shaken lightly back to the waking world.


"Little man is not good to be sleeping yet. you are still too cold." The lady said her concern was clear even if her accent was a bit thick.


"I'm good thank you ... miss?" Lenny still couldn't see fully but he could at least make out impressions of things.


"Olga Svensdottir." the lady said, relaxing her grip on Lenny. 


"Lenny Elkhound, Very pleased to meet you. and very grateful for your help." Lenny said, holding out his hand which was seized by Olga's giant paw and shaken vigorously.


"Lenny... You are bold man venturing into mountains. even in spring is dangerous." Olga declared. "Not many men are brave enough to come dis way... none at all really."


"not even the other villagers?"


"bah there are no other villagers. They leave village house by house until just me and Mama are left. when Mama passed. I am the only one left."


Lenny frowned, squinching his eyes shut before opening them the details of the room starting to flood back. "I'm Sorry Olga that's .... you must be very lonely up here."


"It is very lonely. I am not remembering last time I spoke to another person. Especially not English." Olga declared as Lenny looked around the room. 


Olga's house was seemingly built around the fireplace or rather the Hearth. The round indent in the floor had four stone pillars which supported a stone dome that had a steel chimney poking into and no doubt through the roof. The slant of the roof was visible even from inside and the height of it suggested to the elkhound that the house was an A-Frame design.


"Well you speak it pretty well. Lenny commented, still trying to blink away the blindness.


"Thank you, Mother was convinced we would need to speak English because of..." Olga paused. "Lenny, You are being from America, yes?"


"uh yes why?" Lenny said turning to Olga and actually seeing her for the first time. Olga was a polar bear or at least a bear with white fur. Her eyes were a red-brown that the flicker of the firelight brought life as if they were one and the same. Under her ushanka  she had shoulder length locks of coppery hair that contrasted beautifully with her natural fur. She was a big gal especially in the middle though that could just be the bulk of her heavy coat. "Woah now that's a lovely sight for sore eyes."


Olga turned her head away but failed to hide the smile. "definitely American, too big at the flirting."


Lenny grinned because making a lady flush was always a thrill. "Oh I'm not even flirting yet. You'll have to wait a bit for me to get warmed up." 


Olga turned and presented Lenny with a thick cloth blanket. "This should be warming you up quite nicely then da?"


"Da... But I think I'd get warmer faster if you were under it with me." Lenny said as he unfolded the blanket across himself and then held it up inviting the polar bear in. 


"Oh you are a great and terrible flirt." Olga commented as she slipped off her jacket revealing that she was not wearing a stitch otherwise before sliding under the blanket. "You are looking much more nervous now.. Why is that?"


"oh i just-" Lenny faltered. "Why'd you get naked?"


"Oh I out grew old clothes and Mama was smaller than me. The only thing that fits is boots and jacket." Olga declared as she pulled Lenny closer to her, the Elkhound finding his head all but forced between the bear woman's breasts "perhaps you are wearing too much no?"


"No. I mean yes. I may be wearing too much." Lenny said before shifting around and removing the top of his thermals. No sooner had they come away than Olga's hand was placed on his chest the elkhound froze as her fingers traced along his chest and belly.


"When you first came in I was thinking you were a scrawny little thing but now I am thinking you are compact. well muscled for a slim man." Olga said, grinning at him. "wondering if the rest of you is so surprising?"


Lenny grinned up at her as he hooked his fingers into his lower thermals and underwear pulling them down in one go. "I Encourage you to feel for yourself." he teased hoping that he met whatever standard the polar bear had. Olga's paw drifted sensually down from his stomach to his hips and finally her fingers trace the outline of cock. Lenny watched with delight as the bear's eyes widened and she looked down not at Lenny but at the space her hand occupied under the blanket. 


"E-Excuse me..." Olga said before lifting the blanket and confirming by sight what she had felt. "The little man is carrying a very big package."


Lenny couldn't help but beam with pride as Olga continued to fondle his cock and balls, the former stiffening at her caress. "You're a lovely lady and I love making ladies like you... happy." Lenny said as he rested a hand on her thigh. "Would you like me to?"


"Pozhaluysta, ne zastavlyay menya umolyat'.[b]" Olga said and then realized she had said it in Russian. "I want you to make love to me." 


Lenny gently nudged Olga on to her back; he had no chance of forcing her to move if she didn't want to. So when her legs parted at his touch he knew he had her permission. With a shrug the blanket went from resting atop them to resting over legs alone. Lenny took a minute to admire the sight of Olga's sex her lips were pitch black through and through glistening slightly with her excitement. Lenny stroked the head of his cock against that onyx opening reveling in the heat of her body against his as he teased her and slicked his member with her delight. The elkhound watched Olga's face, her expression slipping from nervous to eagerly awaiting in the way she bit her lip and the way her eyes cast down. Lenny wished he could kiss her and fuck her at the same time but the difference in height meant it was one or the other. Lenny leaned forward and pulled Olga's lips towards his own. The elkhound was glad he gotten some experience in kissing as he had to lead Olga through the act. Lenny severed the kiss and adjusted his position once more before he slowly pushed his cock into the depths of the polar bear who gripped her knees as she kept her legs spread for him. Lenny wasn't certain but he strongly suspected that Olga was a virgin and so he kept things gentle pushing more and more of his length into her. Lenny grabbed hold of Olga's plush hips and began to push a little with a little more force to their mutual delight. The Polar Bear woman was so delightfully soft and sensitive no matter where he rubbed or held she moaned out. Olga it seemed was easily pleased cumming mere seconds into their love making. Lenny however was hardly getting started. The elkhound was truly getting fired up as he ramped up the pace, shaking the bear woman with the force of each thrust into her eager sex. The very vocal response Lenny got from the polar bear was enough to push him over the edge. Too late did it occur to him that a lady living on her own in the mountains without clothes was almost certainly not on birth control of any sort. The damage was already done as Lenny pulled his cock free of Olga's cunny, his seed oozing out with him.


"Lenny~" Olga cooed before pulling him up her body to give him a big sloppy kiss, Lenny was very inclined to let her go on until he needed to take a breath.  "was very good but very tiring."


"It was definitely my pleasure, and something tells me you're a top shelf snuggler." Lenny said, pulling the blanket back over their bodies as he tucked in beside her.


"Da mama always said so." Olga said as she pulled Lenny a little closer so his head was resting on her breast. Lenny didn't take long to drift asleep as he heard the steady beat of the polar bear's heart.


*the next day*


Lenny awoke feeling slightly cold; it seemed Olga had gotten out from under the blanket at some point. The elkhound got dressed before walking around the house. He found two empty bedrooms one smaller and one larger, the former stripped of anything of use. Then he found a kitchen where Olga was frying up strips of bacon. 


"Lenny! you are awake just in time, come we have food and discuss the future of the village." Olga said, pulling the pan from the range and bringing over a whole rasher of bacon. 


"The village... I thought you said everyone left?" Lenny said, taking a strip of bacon and popping it in his mouth.


"Da they left a long time ago but you are coming and we can be making the new village." Olga said casually taking a strip for herself and devouring it while giving Lenny a big smile. "You and I are having many children Da?"


"Olga..." Lenny had never once dreamed of being in this position. "I- I can't do that." Lenny felt something an ache in his heart as he watched Olga's smile fade. "I came out here... hunting for treasure. I can't stay more than a couple days." Olga frowned at him and Lenny felt like a total heel; he had seduced Olga just because he could, knowing he was going to leave. Of course she agreed to sleep with him; she had been alone up here for years. "Olga, I want you to leave this place behind. You need people, not just this ghost of a village you need people who care about you. I can't be that person for you. Even if I could stay there's no way we could keep a family safe out here."


Olga favored Lenny with a cold stare for a time. "You should be leaving soon then." the polar bear said and Lenny rose from the seat he had taken and went to collect his things.


*Noon*


Lenny stared at the ancient map then looked along the ravine to his right and to the mountain slope to his left. "Alright then... where the fuck is the Ice bird?" Lenny demanded of the frigid air. Behind him was a rocky ridge overlooking the ghost village he had left behind and before him was a bubbling hot spring fed by a flow from somewhere further up the mountain. 


Lenny heard the crunching of snow and turned surprised to see Olga walking up the mountain.


"Was very mad and nearly forget to tell you, Steer clear of Ice Bird's Bath." Olga said, pointing past the Elkhound. 


"Ice bird's Bath? then do you know where the ice bird is?" Lenny asked.


"Ice Bird is gone. How do you know about it?" the polar bear replied.


"It's on this map but I can't find it." Lenny said, holding out the old map.


"Hot springs near the top of mountain water flow down year round in winter chunks of ice flow down on warm water pile up on big rock." she pointed to the ridge just above the pool. "Ice forms wings on big rock making it look like a bird formed from ice." The polar bear explained. "The big rock broke off when I was still a little girl. so the ice bird is gone forever."


"Okay so then this hot spring is ice bird's bath because..." Lenny rubbed his chin as he thought. 


"Is not a hot spring, it is a drain." Olga said, taking an apple from inside her coat and dropping the fruit into the water which whisked it away swiftly. "Long ago, in the time of tsars, man worked day and night to dig a tunnel in the mountain from the hot springs to the village." Olga supplied. "His tireless work created a pool that filled with hot water and flowed down the mountain side and under the village."


Lenny grinned from ear to ear. "Olga You beautiful sublime brilliant woman you've cracked it!" 


Olga grinned. "cracked what?"


"Thanks to you, I know where I need to look. I need to get access to that old hot water reservoir!" Lenny said starting down the mountain. "Please come with me, I want you to be there."


*An hour or so later*


"Tsar Sasha the first..." Lenny said looking at the bones of the old wolf long  stripped of flesh and clothing but his signet ring was still on his finger and so were his many other bits of jewelry. "... lost in the high mountains freezing to death he caught sight of what looked like a hot spring and thinking to save his life he hopped in. Only for the hot water to funnel him down the mountainside either drowning him, breaking his neck or  just bashing his brains in. and he was spat out here where his weight carried him free of the current.


"Old bones is a Missing Tsar?!" Olga said, utterly shocked. "I am shocked beyond belief."


"oh that's nothing." Lenny shucked his jacket and shirt before plunging his upper body into the pool of hot water. After a moment's shirt he stood up steaming wet holding a jewel nearly as big as a man's torso. "It is my Pleasure to present you with the "Great Green Tear" Congrats." Lenny said as he presented the jewel to Olga. "you are now a billionaire."


"Have you lost your mind little man?" Olga Said, taking the gem from him nonetheless. "why would you go to such trouble to find this and then give it to me?"


"Oh I was only looking for him." Lenny said, gesturing to the skeletonized tsar. "I never had any plans for what I would do if I found the jewel. but i figure you should have it so you can find someplace new to live and someone worth starting a family with instead of a jerk like me."


Olga looked from the gem to Lenny. "you are good man and i had already decided to forgive you by the time we met on the mountain. I put my dreams on you and was hurt when you did not share them. But you have gone above and beyond to help me. I will never forget you Lenny Elkhound." Olga said, leaning down and kissing him. "now you should get dressed before it gets too cold."


Lenny grinned as his teeth started to chatter.
[a]What is that? I have a visitor.
[b]Please don't make me beg.