Chapter Text
Tadashi darted along the path home, bouncing lightly on his feet, his backpack rhythmically tapping his back. He really couldn’t be late tonight, as his parents were already suspicious of how often he was late. Somehow he’d been able to explain away his bruises and scrapes each time. Seriously, no elementary school students should be allowed to be that violent. Ugh, the sun was already going down. The path he was on left his school’s neighborhood and wound through the woods, to the area where he lived. The path was a safe zone, but it was also very long, and even running wouldn’t get him home on time. His gaze travelled to the trees around him. If he cut through the woods, he could get home before his parents worried.
Slowly approaching the fence meant to discourage trespassing, he thought of every adult in his life telling him to stay far away from the woods, and never to cross the fence because the wolves that lived there would eat him. They’d spoken at length about the big human forms marred by dog ears and coarse tails. Images of long, sharp fangs filled his mind, and cruel claws to match. Then he thought of the concerned face of his mother asking where he had been, and the snarling face of one of his bullies, telling him it’d get worse if he told anyone. He then found that his decision was already made.
To keep avoiding having to make a decision, he’d gladly face the wolves. He rested his palms on the top of the fence, feeling the worn, smooth surface that had been shaped by the elements for years. He pressed down hard, lifting himself and hooking a leg over the fence. He scrambled down ungracefully, wincing at the stinging from the bruises and scrapes littering his body and walked towards the looming shadows, his small shoes touching the layer of pine needles gingerly. He kept going, although fear did creep silently into the back of his mind and take a seat, watching his exploits, ready to alert him anytime.
The trees were large, eerie things. He felt like he was being watched. Pushing these feelings down, he squared his thin shoulders and gripped the straps of his backpack as he walked straight through the forest. He was in one of the thinnest parts of it, so his trip should be relatively short. A shadow flew past, rustling the leaves of a tree. Tadashi jumped, squeaking and darting forward several yards before realizing that the shadow had been a bat. He slowed again, glancing around at the darkness and shivering. He was now near the edge of the forest, and had seen no wolves. When a twig snapped behind him, Tadashi was forced to ask himself why he couldn’t have simply kept his big mouth shut.
“Why hello there.” Tadashi turned slowly, closing his eyes and wishing he could do the same with his ears, to block that grating, high voice. When he opened his eyes, he found himself a few feet from three wolf cubs. They looked close to his age, but were all bigger than him. Shocker. Dog ears poked through their dark hair, and he saw a tail curling around one of their legs. The one Tadashi assumed had spoken stepped forward, grinning and showing his long, sharp fangs.
“How cool would it be if we brought back our first human before we were even taught to hunt, huh guys?” Tadashi swallowed, but didn’t dare open his mouth. Then he twisted and bolted, but was promptly tackled, the lead cub’s hand gripping him hard enough to bruise. In a strange moment of clarity, Tadashi remembered that they didn’t grow sharp, strong claws until they were older. Then he shrieked, recalling their incredible hearing and hoping to give the leader pause.
“God, shut up!” His face was pressed into the pine needles and he flailed, struggling against the heavy body on top of him. Did this guy really have to sit right where he’d been kicked a few times?
Suddenly the air was filled with high, clear laughter. He thought for a moment the cubs were the source, but it was only one voice.
“What are you doing here??” The voice came from behind him, so Tadashi assumed that one of the other cubs had finally spoken.
“I could ask you three the same, but I don’t particularly care.” It was the new voice, that high, clear one. Now that Tadashi heard him speak, he also noted a nasal quality to it. Then he was laughing again, the same mocking edge to it that he’d heard the first time, and he decided that this individual wasn’t friends with his attackers.
“Seriously, you have fangs, more strength than many adult humans, and yet here you are, sitting on your prey. That’s just sad.”
“Hey! Shut up, we caught a human!”
“Yep, which means he must be almost as stupid as you. Or suicidal, I guess? Are you suicidal, human?” Tadashi tried to reply, but his voice was muffled by the pine needles that his face was still being pressed into. This set the voice off into laughter again.
“Ha! I almost feel sorry for him; being crushed under your incompetent ‘hunting’ method.”
Quiet, padding feet approached him. The new voice was now quieter, and far more threatening, even if he knew that the danger wasn’t directed at him.
“Maybe I should show you lot how it’s done.” Tadashi felt the weight of the cub lifting slightly, his body tense.
“Why would you fight us?” There was a mildly hysterical note in the cub’s voice. “There’s three of us and only one of you.” The other voice was snickering dangerously again.
“Three of you. Yep, and one of you can only sit on things to fight them, and the other two look a bit frozen.” The weight of the cub disappeared completely, and Tadashi heard him scrambling back towards his comrades. Tadashi didn’t move, too frightened of the voices bouncing off each other in battles above his head.
“Whatever. God you’re so lame!” The three cubs bolted, throwing their last juvenile whine over their shoulders. Then there was silence. Tadashi considered laying still and waiting for the last person to leave. After a beat of silence, he knew with dreadful certainty that the person with the snarky attitude wasn’t going anywhere, so he slowly pushed himself up. Staring at the ground, he arranged his short limbs into a sitting position and brushed himself off. He messed with his hair in order to avoid looking up, but was forced to by the long, pointed silence.
When he finally raised his head, Tadashi beheld a tall figure, taller than all the other cubs had been, yet he still appeared young. His hair was short and light, the curls nearly disguising the similarly colored ears that poked through them. His skin was fair, and his eyes were bright, focused and staring directly at him with slitted gold interest. He wore a purple hoodie and jeans, and he crouched down to look at Tadashi. The movement seemed somehow condescending. He studied Tadashi for a moment, then got up and began to walk away into the woods.
“W-wait!” Tadashi’s voice seemed unnaturally loud after the silence of the last minute. The blond wolf glanced over his shoulder and fixed him with those golden eyes again.
“What?” His voice had turned flat.
“Um, thanks. For saving me.” Tadashi was unsure whether that counted as ‘saving him’ or not, but better safe than sorry. Mind, what with the way the cub was looking at him, the sharp, cruelly amused expression crossing his face, Tadashi might have been safer keeping his mouth shut.
“Saving you? What part of what I said made you think I cared about your well-being?” Tadashi’s eyes, which had flicked down to the boy’s tail rather than look him in the eye, dropped to the ground. His smug drawl unnerved Tadashi, a shiver running down his spine at the sight of the cub’s fangs.
“Well, you scared them off, and you were going to leave without killing me.” Tadashi really wished he didn’t make everything sound like a question.
“That constitutes caring in your book? That is so sad.” The boy was still looking at Tadashi over his shoulder, not turning around.
“You may be right, but my gratitude stands. I’m getting home unscathed thanks to you.” That got the boy’s attention. His eyes narrowed and he finally turned all the way around.
“Well we can’t have that, can we?” Was the only warning Tadashi got before the boy pounced.
Tadashi hit the pine needle carpet for the second time in five minutes, throwing up his arms as the cub slammed into him. He squeaked as the fangs that had flashed in the boy’s smug smirk sunk into his arm. The intense stabbing pain caused Tadashi to forget all about the minor scrapes the bullies had left him with. The blond squeezed for a moment, then released him and nosed past Tadashi’s arms until they were nose to nose. Golden eyes met brown ones glimmering with tears of pain, and bloody teeth growled at him.
“ Go home .” He hissed. He then rolled off Tadashi and darted off into the woods. Tadashi leapt to his feet and ran from the woods, jumping the fence smoothly and sprinting all the way home.