Chapter Text
The forest was quiet yet brimming with life, the subtle ambience of birds singing and the wind gently rustling the leaves. If he listens closely he can the sounds of rabbits and mice scurrying across the ground. The Village is still nearby, so he can hear a few people beginning their day. Only a few, due to the sun is barely peeking out above the horizon, in the process of waking up itself. Its rays haven’t yet filtered through the trees, but still luminate the morning mist, the sight lovely in how peaceful it is. Taking a step forward he feels the crunch of leaves and soft grass under his bare feet.
He’s still carrying his shoes in one hand, now that he isn’t walking on the rocky or dirt paths of Dreamus Village. Ankles already wet from the morning dew, he’d rather not waste time trying to clean his shoes later. He just doesn’t have the patience for it. Besides, the ground is softer, and honestly, he feels more connected to the woods this way. His soles have memorized the pathway of his destination by the bumps and grooves on the forest floor. He knows he’s close when he hears running water from the creek. His feet dip into cold morning water, and he can’t help the gasp that escapes him. It’s always colder than he expects it to be, despite the number of times he’s done this. He follows the flow of water, beginning to softly hum to himself.
“Little birdie, what are you doing out so early? Last I checked, you were a night owl.”
He startles badly, having to cover his mouth to stop the shriek ready to leave it. He turns around to face the sly voice, hands clenched into fists.
“Minho, you know I hate it when you do that!”
Minho gives a playful smile, stepping closer. His hair is messed and his clothes were covered in dirt, yet somehow he didn’t look dirty. He joins him in the creek, barefoot as he normally was.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Minho says, absolutely not sorry, clear by his carefree tone, “but you had your guard way too low given recent events. Felix, you’re a walking dog treat.”
“It’s a wolf, not a dog,” Felix corrects him, returning to follow the current.
The other follows him, skillfully stepping on rocks that rest above the water, his wet footprints stain the surfaces. “I know for a fact that wolves like dog treats.”
“Animals will eat anything you give them. It’s your part of your blessing.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Minho manages to get ahead of him, balancing on one foot as he traces shapes in the water with the other. “I can charm them because I understand them.’
“Fair, maybe your blessing really are your looks instead.” Felix teases. Minho scoffs, but Felix knows he’s flattered. “I can appreciate your face a lot better in the proper light. Maybe I should keep doing this in the mornings after the attacks stop.”
“If you keep flattering me, little birdie, I might just eat you.” He warns with a cocked brow. Felix can’t help but grin, cheeks growing a bit pink.
“You say that like it’s a punishment.”
Minho snorts, rolling his eyes. “It’s not. Shoving wet leaves down your throat is a punishment.”
“No, you can keep that between you and that mysterious Hyunjin you keep mentioning but refusing to introduce me too.”
“It’s not that’s I’m refusing, it’s that he’s hard to get in touch with.”
“Like you?”
Oh. he didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Felix…”
Felix nervously runs his fingers through his golden locks and feels his face heat up with shame. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that— it’s just you’re away so often. I rarely get to see you some nights. And now these wolf attacks started a week ago, I know I’ll only see you less. It’s lonely…”
It was hard, being blessed and keeping it a secret. Especially in such a small village, where he was already an outsider, despite his attempts to fit in. The villagers may like him, but they don’t see him as one of their own. They knew too little about him to accept him, and it doesn’t help Felix doesn’t know much more himself. No matter how hard he tries, the memories won’t come back to him. It’s been years already, and he’s beginning to accept they might never return.
“I… I could introduce you to someone?” the older offers after a pause. Felix’s face lights up.
“You will?!”
Minho’s cheeks redden a bit as he looks away, muttering under his breath. Felix takes a step forward and wraps his arms around one of Minho’s, resting his chin on his shoulder. He waits, bouncing on his toes while trying to be patient, for Minho to continue. Thankfully the older does.
“You know how protective I am of you, right?” Minho doesn’t look at him as he speaks. “We don’t understand everything about your blessing yet, but we know it’s rare. You don’t remember anything about your past, so introducing you to other people is—”
“—dangerous. I know…” They’ve had this conversation before, and it’s not like Minho is the only person Felix knows. He’s just one of the two people that Felix doesn’t have to hide things from. And one of them isn’t exactly a person and as available as Minho.
“But… I should have had you two meet earlier. I was being overly precautious. He’s a good friend of mine,” Minho’s ears were red, and Felix can’t fight the growing smile on his face. “I met him a while ago. You two would get along. He’s clingy and sentimental too.”
Felix pouts at the older’s teasing, but he can’t hide his excitement. He buries his face in Minho’s shoulder and giggles, earning a fond snort from the older. Pulling away, Minho ruffles his hair.
“Your hair is getting long, it’s gonna reach your shoulders at this rate.” The animal charmer curls a lock around his finger, but before Felix can ask if it looks bad, Minho changes the subject. “I’ll be back with your friend in a few days. Stay inside until things calm down.”
“... You don’t think it’s actually a wolf?” Felix asks quietly, watching Minho walk further down the creek. Out of anyone, Minho would be able to tell if the beast was really just a wolf as the Village head kept insisting. He was among animals at all times, he told Felix stories of running with wolves and sleeping among their warm bodies during cold nights.
“Wolves don’t… Behave like that. And they’re rarely alone. None of the local packs are behind these attacks on the village herd. It’s so— It’s strange. I don’t understand it. I can’t pick up on any about it that makes any sense. It…It might be linked to the moon last month. But I’ll get answers.” Minho lets out a heavy sigh and looks up to the gradually brightening sky. “You should get going birdie, you’ll miss your window of opportunity.”
Felix nods hesitantly, glancing up himself. “Promise you’ll be back soon?”
Minho’s smile is soft, reaching over and pinching Felix’s cheek. “Promise me you’ll stay inside at night,” he shoots back.
He turns, running off at a speed Felix would be surprised by if he hasn’t seen it so many times, and he listens as Minho lets out a howl. Felix can barely make him apart from the trees by the time the wolves join his side. He feels a swell of envy that he swallows down.
Felix continues down the creek, quickening his pace. He can’t let the sunrise beat him before he has a chance. His worn-down pants are soaking at their ripped bottoms, but he paid no mind until he reached the springs. Felix could hear the water as the mist in the air gets thicker. He passes by his favourite climbing tree, his fingers brushing the arrow carved into it. He was getting closer. These little landmarks helped guide him in the night until he memorized the path, but the light made everything a bit unfamiliar. When Felix passes the large moss-covered boulder he knows he’s a few steps away from his haven.
The spring water was so clear in the light, he could see small tadpoles swimming under the surface. Felix stripped himself bare, shivering at the cold and tossing his clothes aside. He walks further into the water and under the small waterfall, pushing his hair from his face. Maybe he should cut it, seeing how it might get in the way of this. But that’s something to contemplate later, right now he needs to get started.
Taking a steadying breath Felix walked to the shallow side of the spring, where the water reached halfway up his shins. Closing his eyes he began to hum, the music playing in his head drowns out any thoughts. He lifts his arms and lets the melody carry his movements. As he dances, he feels the water warm around his feet, splashing up as he spins. Normally, at this point fireflies would gather around, but Felix doesn’t know if they’d join him with daytime so near. He opens his eyes, the freckles on his skin don’t glow as brightly as they usually do in the darkness of night. The water around him begins to gently steam, but the heat doesn’t bother Felix, and thankfully, it doesn’t bother the tadpoles or other inhabitants in the water. He turns his sights to the sky, hoping to see the moon somewhere above him. He reaches up and for a moment he thinks he sees him, but he hears a rock fall from the top of the waterfall, starling him from his trance.
Normally it wasn’t something Felix paid mind to, but the size of the rock that fell made it suspicious. It made the hair on his neck stand up, and fear coil in his stomach.
The Beast?
Felix knows it’s stupid to jump to that conclusion, but he can’t control it. A mysterious monster had appeared near the Village, and it’s been hunting the livestock. At first, a sheep or two, easily dismissed as wolves, but soon cattle. One wolf can’t swiftly kill a cow like the marks left would indicate. They wouldn’t bother hiding the caress, either. Not with branches and leaves, they have no reason to— no mind to. Then a young girl ran into town screaming she had been attacked by a beast in the forest. It sent the village into a panic, and even Minho seems on edge. It all doesn’t help Felix’s racing mind at this moment. He stopped coming here at night specifically to try and keep away from whatever was lurking in the woods. And now he might come face to face with it.
Slowly he looks up to the top of the waterfall and sees yellow eyes meet his own. Felix bites his tongue to stop the shriek that nearly escaped, frozen in place as the eyes quickly duck behind the edge of the falls. He can’t help but hold his breath, heart pounding in his chest as he races through his options. But Felix hears something. A grunt of pain from the top of the falls, far too human to be an animal’s.
Someone’s hurt. Is suddenly all he can process. Someone is hurt in the woods, with a monster roaming in it.
Felix’s body moves without him thinking, climbing up the rocks, peering over the side.
A man lays in the shallow pool, wounds littering his body, chest heaving with laboured breath. He looks panicked and confused to see Felix, he tries to sit up, but his strength fails him. Felix sees the gashes in his leg, claws that cut through the fabric of his dirty pants. A fur skin was loosely worn around his shoulders, bar He was caked in dirt and sweat, hair wild and dark, Felix wasn’t sure what colour it was. But his eyes made his breath catch in his throat. They were like gold, glittering and shimmering in the sun’s first rays of light that broke through the trees. They looked pained and lost, but most of all desperate.
“You’re hurt.” Felix was barely conscious that he was stating the obvious as he crept closer to the wounded man. “I can help you, but you need to trust me.”
The man tried to speak but no words left his chapped lips, but he nodded slowly, eyes scanning Felix’s face as if looking for something. Probably trying to see if Felix’s concern and intentions on helping him were genuine. He reached down to the water, swirling his hand with a hum, not taking his eyes off the man. The water warmed and glimmered slightly after a moment, and Felix took a handful and lifts it to the gashes on his leg. He holds his breath, chest tight as he prays to the moon that it works like he hopes it will.
The man’s eyes haven’t left his face, but a second after the water touches his wound he looks down at his leg. His mouth drops open, shocked before his face is filled with hope and somehow even more desperation.
Whatever he went through must have been terrible.
“Y-You— “ The man's hoarse voice tries to say something, but exhaustion overcomes him as his eyes close and his body falls limp against the rocks. Felix pulled his hand away, startled.
Did I do that?
He looked at his hands, hoping he didn’t make things worse. Felix came closer and brought his fingers to the man’s pulse, and sighed in relief. Weak, but steady.
He can’t leave him here. Even with some of his wounds healed, he’s in no condition to survive on his own. And as Felix brought his hand to the man’s forehead, he realized how hot it was. The wounded man must be running a fever on top of his condition. It’s a miracle he lasted this long. That settles it: Felix has to bring him somewhere safe, at least until his fever broke. If he’s lucky, Minho will never find out, and everything will be fine. Felix nods to himself and raises out of the water.
And then it dawns on him that he was completely naked.