Chapter Text
“Why don’t we ever leave the forest?”
The ever inquisitive cat asked this question at least thirteen times a day, regardless of the direction the conversation had been going or if there had even been a conversation going at all. Though the answer changed slightly each time he asked, the true meaning behind each made-up answer was clear -- they can’t leave the forest because they can’t leave the forest. They weren’t welcome in the nearby village for reasons Yoongi did not like to speak of, and he wasn’t very big on traveling. Furthermore, he liked the forest and his cottage and his garden, and only an apocalyptic event could ever convince him to move (and even that might require some persistent nudging).
It wasn’t as if the cat disliked the forest. It was beautiful and full of lovely things. Flowers that glittered and rattled like bells when you shook them gently. Trees that grew the largest, sweetest, reddest apples and bushes that grew the plumpest, ripest, juiciest blueberries. All the herbs a witch could ever dream of growing for various spells and brews. One particularly special plant was able to be brewed into a delicious tea that would give you sweet dreams if you drank it just before bed.
Yoongi was a witch.
He didn’t curse people or wear a funny hat like what the village folk claimed made someone a witch. He made potions that worked on occasion and could predict the future (though not very accurately), but for the most part Yoongi was just an ordinary person that for one reason or another nobody really seemed to like. He lived in a tiny cottage in the middle of an enchanted forest with his familiar: a small sometimes cat, sometimes child named Taehyung.
Nobody knows where Taehyung really came from, though it was widely agreed upon by the people of the village outside the forest that he was a changeling brought by the fairies to curse them all. This was decided on the day that he, still a wee bab, transformed into a black kitten. Terrified by the ‘witchcraft’ the infant performed, they exiled him to the forest where Yoongi found him -- back in human form -- wailing louder than a banshee (and in Yoongi’s personal experience, banshees were already quite loud).
Taehyung was a familiar in name only. Yoongi learned over the years that the child was truly abysmal in the art of magic. He was too easily distracted by shiny objects to scavenge and harvest herbs and mushrooms, and Yoongi didn’t trust him anywhere near fire or sharp objects to help brew his potions and teas.
Taehyung had the largest, shiniest gold-colored eyes, catlike even when in his more human form. He still maintained cat ears and sometimes a tail in his human form as well, and on occasion his fangs were visible when he smiled. But besides that Yoongi deemed him still very human. No magical abilities or evil to speak of (though he could be a demonic creature on his worst days, as most children were).
Taehyung’s best use was scaring off birds and other animals from eating the plants and herbs in Yoongi’s garden. He loved playing ‘guard’, and would hiss and growl and pounce at anything and everything that crossed his path. Even butterflies, though sometimes in his grand chase a squirrel or rabbit would get to the garden while his back was turned and steal away some of the cabbages or tomatoes.
“YOONGI!! A GHOST ATE ALL THE BABY TOMATOES! OUR GARDEN IS HAUNTED!!”
“Our garden is not haunted… were you chasing a butterfly again?”
“He was trying to steal the basil!”
“Butterflies don’t even eat basil. You were distracted and a rabbit or something must have got in.”
“A rabbit got in?! AHHHHHH! MISTER RABBIT, I WILL CATCH YOU!!”
They rarely got visitors. If they did, it was usually a person who had wandered into the forest and had gotten lost and simply wanted directions out (which Yoongi gladly gave, if only to have some peace and quiet. One loud person was plenty for the witch.) The villagers avoided the forest at all cost, seeing the whole place as cursed and bad. Sometimes visitors were adventurers. Brave, foolish people who promised to vanquish whatever evil lurked within and ‘save’ the villagers. All they found was Yoongi (and Taehyung, who hissed and growled but wasn’t particularly intimidating.)
Sometimes, though, it was a person hoping for a spell.
Yoongi usually turned these people down. He had no need for money, and his magic wasn’t a business. Not to mention he was pretty distrustful of people in general. But on the very rare occasion, he would find it in his heart the strong desire to help the weary soul.
It was a cold, windy autumn afternoon. Taehyung had retired back inside, exhausted after a busy day of pouncing on every leaf within twelve feet of the cottage, and was now insisting upon watching Yoongi add notes to his ever expanding grimoire. The activity wasn’t even remotely entertaining for the child, but he was being quiet for once so he allowed it.
Yoongi revelled in the peace for a few moments more, when suddenly there came a knocking on the front door.
“Yoongi! Someone’s at the door!” Taehyung announced, eyes wide as he practically lunged at him in surprise, switching into cat-form mid-leap.
“Shh,” he gently nudged the cat out of the way, standing up and eyeing the door with mild annoyance. He didn’t think there was anything worse in this godforsaken world than uninvited guests. He begrudgingly made his way to the door, Taehyung following close behind. When he opened the door, he was greeted by an unexpected sight.
It was a teenage boy. Small, very thin and pale. His eyes were dark with fatigue, and he wore nothing but a thin tunic and a tattered grey cloak. Yoongi didn’t even hesitate to invite the boy in, worrying mostly that he would get sick from standing out in the cold for much longer.
“I-- I’m sorry for intruding!” the boy finally spoke, now huddled in front of the fireplace and wrapped snug in one of Taehyung’s favorite blankets. Yoongi had made him a warm mug of peppermint tea, which he was sipping from slowly. “I just… I didn’t know where else to go. They said that there was a witch in this forest. And well… are you a witch, sir?”
“Perhaps,” Yoongi replied. “Why are you looking for a witch?”
“It’s probably stupid…” he said, frowning into his mug. Watching the liquid ripple as he breathed over it softly.
“I doubt that,” Yoongi said, crouching down beside him and offering a gentle smile. “You’re safe here, hm? I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. I can’t promise a spell, but I’ll offer whatever help I can.”
“I don’t-- I don’t really remember who I am. Everything’s all fuzzy. Has been fuzzy. I just-- I was hoping you could give me a spell? Or something? To help me remember.”
Amnesia? This was unexpected.
“You want a spell to regain your memories?”
“Yes!” the boy stood up excitedly. “You… can you really do it?”
Yoongi was not fond of lies of any kind. He strongly valued honesty, even when it might hurt. He’d never cast a spell to regain memories before. Hell, he wasn’t even such a spell was possible. The best thing would be to reject him gently, apologetically. He really didn’t know if he could help him, and trying only to fail in the end seemed far too cruel.
Except the hopeful expression on the boy’s face was just too genuine. Too bright. Yoongi sighed, realizing that he was just too soft for children these days.
“I can’t promise anything,” he said, finally. “But I can try.”
Guilty. He felt guilty already, worrying that he wouldn’t actually be able to help the boy at all. That this would all be for nothing. But certainly there was something he could do for him? It seemed at the very least that he had nowhere else to go. Even if all he could offer was shelter, that could surely be enough for now.
“Thank you! Thank you so much, uh…”
“Yoongi.”
“Yoongi! Thank you so very much Yoongi!” he bowed multiple times, before sitting back down on the floor and pulling the blanket tighter around his small frame. He pouted suddenly. "I'm sorry, I… don't have a name to give you."
"That's okay, I'll do my best to help you remember." At least he hoped he could.
---
Later that evening, while the nameless boy was fast asleep tucked into Taehyung’s bed, the cat and his witch sat at the kitchen table to have a conversation.
“Is he going to live here forever?” Taehyung asked.
“Not forever, just for a little while. So I can help him,” Yoongi replied.
“For how long then?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Taehyung frowned. “Why does he have to sleep in my bed though?”
“You don’t even sleep in your bed,” Yoongi tried to rationalize. It was true. Most nights he opted to curl up at the foot of Yoongi’s bed (which he didn’t mind so long as he didn’t end up on his face when he woke up in the morning).
“But still…”
“I know this is new and different, but can you try to be kind to him? Like I did for you when you were small? I promise it will only be for a little while.”
Taehyung thought about it for a moment. “Okay, I can try.”
“Thank you,” Yoongi said, petting his hair softly. “Now it’s time for bed, go on.”
Yoongi didn’t go to bed himself until much later. He had already begun his research, searching through his regretfully meager personal library for anything to do with regaining lost memories. Surely he had something, right? It didn’t feel right to turn the boy away. His foresight wasn’t the strongest, but he felt compelled to help this boy. Like it was something he had to do, similar to the way he felt the day he stumbled upon a strange, shapeshifting baby six years ago.
Surely he could help him then, right?
He certainly hoped so.
He turned another page of the book, then another, before exhaustedly retreating to his bed for the night, nudging Taehyung’s sleeping form to the side as he did. The mysterious, nameless boy continued to sleep soundly, the only sounds in the house being soft breathing and the persistent chirping of cicadas.