Chapter Text
The great fairytale of Sleeping Beauty became a legend, a valiant story of how true love conquered over evil. Its story ran across the land, stretching far and wide.
Yes, Yuu had heard their ancestors' story over, and over, and over again until it got to the point where they could recite every line without even sparing a glance at the parchment that held this information. Was Yuu annoyed? Yes. All they were ever regarded as the descendant of the great Sleeping Beauty.
So that is why they had run off from the kingdom. They were sick and tired of the constant remarks of how beautiful Yuu look compared to the legendary beauty. They were sick and tired of their father marrying some woman they have never met. They were tired of it all.
As they ran across the forest, what seemed to be day slowly became nightfall. Yuu, out of breath, collapsed under a large tree. They pulled the hood of their cloak off and looked at their surroundings that the moonlight touched.
It seemed to be completely devoid of life. Only signs of life were the sounds of hooting and animal footsteps. On their right of where they sat, was a moonflower. “What a pretty thing…” They picked the flower and stuffed it into their cloak.
They sighed. “This is stupid…I shouldn’t have gone out here…” Yuu thought. They shook their head. No. They’ll be fine. The kingdom will be fine. After all, they have Silver, their older brother. He’ll carry on the lineage just fine…right?
Yuu’s thought was quickly interrupted by the sounds of growling. They snapped their head up and looked around feverently. Their eyes met with angry eyes. “Wolves…”
They stood up slowly, the wolves ducking, ready to pounce on the target. “Think Yuu!” Their eyes darted around until something clicked.
Yuu began to turn their heel, the growling of the pack becoming louder. They turned towards the right of the forest and began running. The wolves growled again, much louder, and followed.
They began to dart in the woods. The sky is becoming darker, the trees are becoming closer. They turned a corner once again, the wolves seemingly catching up. “Just keep going!”
It seemed that the dark branches covering the sky had faded away. What replaced it was the night sky with the moon, accompanied by the many stars. Yuu was starting to slow down, the wolves coming closer.
“Shit.” They were reaching the end of the forest, all that remained was a cliff. Yuu stopped for a moment, and began running full speed towards the dead end.
The pack still followed, dead set on capturing them. As soon as they thought they got them, Yuu jumped.
The wolves stopped abruptly and growled once more. Their target had landed on another cliff. It was lower. Yuu gave a smug smile to the wolves as they bared their teeth. “See ya!” They yelled as they began running again to a new forest.
They ran as they giggled. This time, the forest seemed much more…calmer. It wasn't as creepy as the other forest. Yuu looked up into the sky. The branches were parted enough to still see the sky. They smiled. They were at peace. No more duties, no more comparing, they could be themselves.
As they walked across the path, there seemed to be a small building up ahead. Yuu squinted their eyes and smiled wider, it was a small cottage. Perfect for a hideout.
They ran to it excitedly, “I won’t have to sleep under the trees tonight!”
Small fireflies of green could be seen as Yuu drew closer to the little cottage. They slowed down their pace into an eventual halt. Yuu stuck their hand out and a green firefly landed in the middle of their palm. They titled their head. “Aren’t you a pretty little firefly?”
The bug eventually began to rise and flew towards the cottage. “Hey, come back!” Yuu outstretched their hand, reaching for it.
Somehow, the little bug managed to get inside the cottage. Frustrated, Yuu grabbed the handle and turned the knob.
Inside, it was completely empty. It looked like it hadn’t been inhabited for a very long time. However, inside the small cottage was a…boy? He seemed to be sitting at a table and gazed at the outside, not acknowledging the new company.
“U-Uh…hello?” Yuu croaked from the doorway. The boy seemed to snap out of his gaze and focused it at Yuu. They could see him clearer now. His eyes seemed to glow a bright green and he had…horns? Were those horns?
“Who are you? How did you find this place?” His voice was a little low, but he sounded like he was at least 13 to 14. He began to rise from his seat and walk towards Yuu. ”Crap!”
“I’m Yuu,” as he drew closer, Yuu’s breath began to hitch. They held up their arms and closed their eyes, “I swear I only found this place from running away from wolves! Don’t hurt me plea-“
“Why would I do that?” the boy asked. Yuu cracked an eye open.
“…Huh?” The boy had a confused look on his face. “Why would I hurt you?” he tilted his head. Yuu put down their arms.
“Well, one would naturally assume because of…” they made a gesture to the boy’s horns, “…the horns?”
He gave a small frown. “Oh…I see…” Yuu’s face began to turn a different shade and started to shake their hands. “D-Don’t worry though!They look pretty cool!” He lit up again. “Really?” They nodded profusely. The horned boy gave a closed eye smile. “That’s wonderful to hear…”
“Do you…do you have a name?” Yuu asked hesitantly. “He looks…friendly?”
He opened his eyes. They still glowed bright green. “If I tell you my name, you would fear me,” he looked towards the ground then back at Yuu, “so call me whatever you wish.”
“This is too much power…” Yuu thought. “Hm…maybe Ryan? Robert? Dave? Or…”
“…May I call you Hornton?” the boy laughed.
Yuu scoffed and retorted. “Well it’s all I could come up with!”
As his laughter died down, Horton(?) gave a wide smile. “How amusing. Yes, you may call me Hornton if you so desire.” Yuu smiled back. “As you said before, your name is Yuu, correct?”
“Yes!” They replied eagerly. “Tell me, is there a reason you’re here?”
They began to stare at the floor. “Well…” They looked up at the tall boy. “I was…no, I’m running away from something.” Horton's eyes dimmed slightly. They studied Yuu’s features, they indeed looked quite beautiful, yet, there seemed to be remains of tears.
“I see, and why are you running from it?” They shook their head. “I’m tired of it, being compared…being just…!” They threw their hands in the air. “Me!”
Horton tilted his head as Yuu began to ramble their pent up frustrations. “I mean, why am I always the one who gets to be compared?! Sure, I have features like the legendary beauty, but so does Silver! So why must they always compare me to her?! We are nothing alike, all I am apparently is a watered down copy of her who's expected to follow in her legacy and all the things she did, in which, I don’t want to! I want to be able to marry who I choose, not marry some stranger I met or-“ Yuu slapped their hand over their mouth. “Oh shit.” They looked at Hornton’s face and…he seemed to be…understanding?
“My apologies, I began to ramble, that was out of line and again I’m-“
“I’m tired of being feared.”
“What?” They looked at Hornton with confusion.
“That’s why I’m here…” The glowing green eyes dimmed. “I’m tired of people fearing me.” The look he gave seemed like he wanted to say more. Yuu gestured that he go on, Hornton sighing with relief as response. “It gets lonely, all you ever get to know in your life is your attendants. I suppose I wandered aimlessly and ended up here.”
“I see…” they mumbled. “Then…then I apologize for being afraid of you earlier!”
Hornton looked surprised and confused. “You…someone…apologizing?” He mumbled quietly.
Yuu noded carefully, a thought appeared in their head. “Maybe there’s a way to make you not so scary?”
“And what might that be?”
“Hm…maybe wear,” they gestured to his dark clothing, “something colorful?”
“My apologies, I’m afraid this is all my wardrobe has to offer…”
Yuu hummed. “Oh! I know!” They pulled out a moon flower. “Lean down for me, will you?” He obliged and Yuu placed the flower on his left ear. “Take this as a sign of our friendship!” They smiled wide.
Hornton stood to his original height and touched one of the petals. This was the first gift he ever got from someone else other than family, not to mention, but a human.
“I…thank you…this means a lot.” Hornton blushed.
Yuu smiled. “Anytime!”
A green firefly landed onto Yuu's head. Hornton chuckled, “It seems to like you.”
Yuu, with a smile on their face still, held their finger out to the small creature. It slowly crawled off their head onto Yuu’s finger. They brought it close to their face and whispered. “Why hello…” The firefly seemed to grow a bit lighter as Hornton looked down in admiration. Yuu rubbed their eyes and yawned. “I suppose I feel a bit tired…”
Hornton hummed. “Maybe there might be a bed upstairs…?”
“Good idea!” The firefly flew off Yuu’s finger and went up the rundown stairs, Yuu following behind. Hornton smiled for a moment before following as well.
As they walked through the hall, one of the only lights being the lone firefly, it stopped in front of a room. Yuu hesitantly opened the door to reveal a large bed. They immediately ran towards it and belly flopped onto it. Hornton entered the room to find a sleeping Yuu. He sat on the bed gently and tilted his head. Hornton took out the flower from his ear.
“What an interesting human you are…”