Chapter Text
The silence of the forest was broken only by the birds, a soft breeze, and the panicked gasps of two young somatics. What had begun as a routine hunting excursion had ended up with the two of them chased by a pack of less-than-happy wolves, farther into the woods than either of them had intended to go. Hisui had even ended up with a pretty bad gash on his leg during the initial ambush. It wasn't anything he couldn't patch up, but it was definitely going to leave a mark. The healing artes were doing the trick, and luckily Hisui was carrying some spare first aid supplies to wipe up the blood and clean off his clothes. Shing had, of course, started fretting over him almost right away, and it took a few loud grumblings and a threat or two to get him to calm down. Eventually Hisui was all patched up and Shing had finally caught his breath. Hisui's pants would need mending once they got back to camp since Kohaku was the one with the sewing kit, but all things considered, a leg injury was the least of his worries. The least by far.
The last thing Hisui wanted was to be stuck alone with Shing in the woods, especially now of all times. Not just because he could barely stand the guy, but because he didn't want to risk Shing finding out about his secret: that Hisui was a werebeast. Granted, Hisui had far more control over his power than most other werebeasts, but the full moon made it almost impossible to prevent a transformation. At least it wasn't full yet, though being precariously close was still a cause for concern. The last thing he needed was for Shing to see him transform into a giant feline monster when Kohaku wasn't nearby to explain things. Or help him out with the usual difficulties that came with this ability. At least coming out of the woods with torn up clothes either way would make sense, given the ambush and all.
Shing let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. "Whew… I thought we were gonna be wolf chow back there!"
Hisui folded his arms, scowling. Sure, they were safe now, but it wasn't going to stay that way forever. There were still plenty of other monsters wandering around in the woods. At least Shing's usual optimism kept things from feeling too grim; Hisui wouldn't admit it but he'd grown to appreciate that aspect of him. "Yeah, well, don't get too comfortable. It's only a matter of time before something else tries to make a meal out of us."
Shing nodded. "Right. Then let's go find dinner and get back to the trail!" He turned around, pausing a moment, before sheepishly rubbing his head as his bravado awkwardly faded. "Um… Which way is the trail?"
"Ugh, you dumbass. It's right over…" Hisui went to point, only to find himself at just as much of a loss. He didn't recognize this part of the forest at all. There was no sign of a trail, no hunter markings that he normally recognized, and there were far more bushes and low-hanging branches than he was used to seeing. He could barely even recognize any distant landmarks like he normally could. As the pieces clicked together, it dawned on him.
Oh great. They were lost.
"Damn it… We must've run farther off the trail than I thought."
"So…we're lost?"
Hisui hated admitting when Shing was right, but there was no point in avoiding it now. And quite frankly, the chase had worn him out too much to really put up an argument. Now was time to take charge and make sure things didn't get worse. "Yeah, looks like it. And with how big this forest is, finding our way back ain't gonna be easy."
"What about everyone else?" Shing asked, a worried look etched on his face. "We were supposed to be hunting for food for them. Do you think they'll be okay?"
Hisui shook his head. Geez. It was just like this kid to put others far before himself. He really should be worried more about himself at times like this! "They'll be fine. They've got emergency rations just in case stuff like this happens. More importantly, we need to find our way back before we starve." And before the moon gets too full. But he couldn't let Shing find out about that.
Shing nodded. "Right. But… which way do we go? All these trees and bushes look the same to me!"
Hisui's gaze shifted in both alarm and irritation and he reached out to grab Shing's arm before he could even finish turning around. Oh, no he wasn't. "Hey, don't even think about runnin' off! You wanna be wolf chow for real?!"
That got Shing's attention. Good. The forest behind Seaville was tiny compared to this; if he left it up to Shing, he'd just get them running around in circles. They couldn't risk getting deeper into the woods while they were still riled up. "No, of course not! But we can't just stay here!"
"It's getting late," Hisui pointed out. "If we try to find our way back now, we're just gonna end up wandering around in the dark. We'll get our bearings tomorrow morning."
Shing could barely argue with that, thank everything. By the time they'd gathered enough wood and stones to start a campfire (something that Shing was surprisingly good at), the sun had long set, and it was too dark to even think about venturing out too far. The woods were cold at night, but Hisui figured the fire would be plenty to keep them warm. That said, he was quick to place himself on the opposite side of the campfire from Shing, ignoring any and all proposals to doing otherwise. Both of them were too tired to argue much, and they'd done this song and dance before. Getting rest was more important than any bickering they could be doing.
Hisui waited until Shing had finally closed his eyes and settled down before he gazed up at the night sky. The stars were coming out, and he could feel the moon's pull. He was used to restraining the power that stirred deep in his spiria, so it was more akin to an annoying fly than anything else. Still, they needed to get out of here quickly so Shing would have something to distract himself with while Hisui slipped away. For now, though, he was just going to have to play this by ear. Just his luck…
With that, Hisui rolled over and forced his eyes shut, hoping to get some sleep that night.
As it turned out, Hisui could NOT sleep that night.
No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't manage to drift off. Not because he couldn't get comfortable; after all, the group had slept on the ground countless times during their travels. Not because of the stirring beast, either; he'd dealt with this since he was little and he knew how to quiet it. No, the reason he couldn't sleep was because of all the noise Shing was making.
Finally giving up on getting rest until he did something about this, Hisui sat up and glared at his sleeping hunting partner. The kid was shivering up a storm, sure enough. Of course, that make sense. Hisui groaned and pulled off his jacket, making his way over and laying it on top of Shing. Maybe he was just cold. Hisui could handle cooler climates just fine, but Shing had lived near the sea in a much warmer part of the world. It only makes sense that he'd have a harder time tolerating it.
But it quickly became clear that he wasn't just shivering. Hisui could hear Shing muttering under his breath. It was hard to make out what he was saying, exactly, but he sounded upset. Hisui was normally long asleep by the time this sort of thing happened, but he'd heard from Kohaku that it was a regular occurrence when they'd started their journey long ago. Nightmares about Incarose, and later about Creed. For all his courage and upbeat attitude that somehow made it so easy to believe him when he was leading the charge, Shing was far from invincible. Hisui had already seen him fall apart before, but he'd had no idea that he had it quite this rough all the time.
It was hard not to feel bad for him, really. Hisui still remembered how upset Shing had been after the whole mess with Creed. He'd almost been a completely different person. For as much as Hisui gave him a hard time, he didn't want Shing to be actually hurt. He'd never go that far. For every one time he'd punched him for getting on his nerves, he'd watched his back in a fight for three. If Ines were here, surely she'd be calling him out on it again. As much as they bickered and argued, Hisui did actually have some respect for Shing, if for no other reason than the fact that he was more responsible and honest than he gave him credit for half the time.
A stray thought occurred to him. Kohaku had dealt with nightmares like this before, too, when she was very little. And even when she didn't, sometimes she'd come to his room on full moon nights and curl up next to him, burying herself in his fur before drifting off to sleep. Sure, once she'd gotten older she no longer needed that feeling of safety, but he remembered how peacefully his sister would rest on those nights. Perhaps he could…
Wait. No. What was he thinking?! Shing wasn't his sister, and even if it did help, he'd never hear the end of it if everyone found out! Besides, he always woke up just fine anyway! Why should he need Hisui's help with a few crummy nightmares?
And yet, as much as Hisui wanted to get back to sleep, the thought kept nagging him. It didn't sit right to leave Shing suffering like that. His conscience just wouldn't let this slide. Besides, that old trick worked for Kohaku, so it might help Shing, too…
There really was no way he'd be able to sleep until he fixed this, was there?
Ugh, FINE…
Heaving a sigh, Hisui stepped forward and relaxed his control. Fur rippled across his skin, his ears changed shape, his pupils narrowed into slits. In moments, where once stood a human somatic now stood an enormous feline beast with thick black fur and piercing violet eyes. Had Shing been awake, he would have seen the moonlight shining down on his transformed friend and forming a terrifying silhouette staring down at him from all fours. It was a blessing that he was still asleep.
Hisui's steps were almost completely silent as he approached Shing, carefully sniffing him. He'd avoided transforming near him - and everyone else in their ragtag group aside from Kohaku and Lithia - so he'd never had a chance to do anything like this. As expected, he could sense some of Shing's cuts and scrapes from earlier, but more overwhelming was an odd scent that was reminiscent of the seaside. It was…nice, actually. Something about it calmed his spiria and-
No. No, no, no, he was not going to think about that. Hisui shook the thought from his head, just in time to hear Shing mumbling again. Right… Hisui wasn't here to stare. He just wanted to get some sleep, as much as he didn't like doing something like this. Getting rest was the important thing here.
Carefully, Hisui maneuvered around Shing and gently lowered himself to the ground, ensuring that Shing was right next to him, and curled his tail around him for good measure. Sure, they had a fire going, but anything to help keep him extra warm could only help, right? Right. With that, Hisui placed his head down right next to Shing's and gently began purring. Sure enough, Shing's nightmare-induced shivering gradually calmed, and his muttering faded. A few incoherent mumbles later, and he was silent.
Hisui had to suppress a smile. This worked like a charm whenever Kohaku had trouble sleeping, so of course it would work on Shing as well. Maybe now, Hisui could finally get some sleep. His gaze turned to the fire. He didn't want to admit it, but he was comfortable like this, too. Sure, it was one thing to be protective of his sister. After all, Kohaku was the only family he had left besides his aunt. She was one of the most important people in the world to him. Shing was just some kid that he could barely get along with, especially at first. Even when later they discovered that nothing was actually his fault after all, they still clashed from time to time. But he wasn't a bad guy, really. Sure, he was an idiot, and way too gullible, and his sense of self preservation was questionable at best, but he had always meant well and had insisted on fixing his mistake with Kohaku, even after they found out that it wasn't his mistake after all. It was hard not to respect him for that.
Before those thoughts could progress further, Hisui shook them from his head. No. He couldn't dwell on that. He needed to get some sleep so they could get back home and not think about this stupid stuff anymore. Kohaku and the others were probably worried sick about them. And he was going to need the energy for whatever stupid crap Shing would pull tomorrow while they looked for the way back.
And yet Hisui couldn't help but keep purring anyway, as his eyes drifted closed and he finally fell asleep.
Shing found himself reluctantly stirring from his dreamless sleep, still just as exhausted as he had been before he'd finally settled down. It was still nighttime, but the fire had faded to just a few crackling embers. Not that it mattered that it was too dark to see anything; he was exhausted enough to fall right back asleep again. Whatever nightmare had roused him, he couldn't remember. He couldn't really remember when he'd gone and curled up with a big blanket, either.
Except…this wasn't really a blanket. Sure, someone had pulled one over him, but there was something else next to him. Something big, and warm, and…soft? His mind was a bit too clouded to try and figure out what it was, and his body was too tired to try and pull away to get a better look. Whatever it was, it was comfortable, and he felt just fine curled up right next to it. Not only that, but he could hear a gentle rumbling noise coming from it that he'd never heard before. Something about the noise seemed to soothe the remnants of fear in his spiria that had been left from the fleeting nightmares. What it was, he wasn't entirely sure, but it didn't feel threatening.
But there was something else he could hear. A rhythmic, slow beat, right near him. He couldn't help but wonder if he was hearing his own heartbeat, for some reason. Weird. Normally that kind of sound wouldn't be coming from next to him. Then where was that other heartbeat coming from? He was too tired to make sense of it. All that mattered was that he felt safe. He'd have to ask Hisui about this in the morning. Maybe this was just some weird thing that happened to people who got lost in the woods. That, or he was dreaming right now...? Yeah, that had to be it. This was probably just some weird dream. A weird, relaxing, and very vivid dream.
Absently and slowly, Shing shifted his position closer to the mysterious soft thing next to him, and let the rumbling sound lull him back to sleep like a lullaby.