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There were a lot of things Kian was used to. There were also a lot of things he had come to expect.
Being followed and hunted for sport happened to be one of them. Monsters, people, wildlife—it was something to be expected living life on the road as a wayward vagabond.
One of the things he hadn’t quite accounted for, however, was for said hunter to be some kind of wingless fae creature.
He even less expected to be woken up by that same hunter in the middle of the night with the tiniest sword (if one could even call it that) he’d ever seen being swung around haphazardly and terrified in his direction.
In his sleep-addled mind, Kian hadn’t entirely realized what exactly he had been dealing with until he’d attempted to reach out and grab the creature to stop them—from hurting him or hurting themself, he wasn’t entirely sure—before feeling one of his fingers being sliced into.
In response to that, as he stuck the tip of his offended finger into his mouth to suckle the blood off, he changed tactics. He’d gone for the weapon instead, managed to get a hold of it before pulling it free from their grasp incredibly easily. It was as if the tiny creature’s hands had sprang open off the hilt the minute Kian had gotten a hold of it’s sharp tip.
With the weapon disregarded and the attempted assassin immobilized, he allowed himself a couple moments to let his very tired brain catch up to these past few minutes.
And here he was now, still relatively half asleep with some kind of strange creature cupped between his palms.
“Pl-please don’t!” The tiny terrified voice came out slightly muffled from between his fingers.
He kept his hands carefully cupped overtop of whatever this thing was—it was fragile in comparison to his own hands, so he understood enough to not brute force it or use more strength than necessary. It was obvious it was terrified of him, and everything that it had just tried to do had flown out the window as soon as the power dynamic had shifted.
The minute Kian had woken enough to react coherently, the creature had seemingly realized just how deep the shit it was in truly was.
The tiny creature continued to squirm helplessly, trapped between the bowls of Kian’s palms and the ground he’d managed to pin them to.
“I-I’m sorry! I really, really am! I don-don’t want any trouble! Just please…” They gasped, their voice rising in pitch the more they spoke.
His ears pricked a little, trying to catch everything they were saying as they broke off into hushed and panicked mutterings.
The tiny creature’s voice softened so much he practically had to strain to hear what it said.
“…please don’t eat me.”
Which sent such a visceral reaction through him, Kian couldn’t help but wake fully.
Any last remnants of sleepy incoherence disappeared within a blink of that statement.
“What?” He responded, spacing out his fingers enough to where he could actually see the thing cautiously pressed under a deceivingly gentle palm. He still kept the tiny wingless fae (was it a fae? He wasn’t entirely sure they were, but he also wasn’t entirely convinced they weren’t) pinned just in case this was a ruse, but the way he could feel their chest heaving was almost real enough to have him fooled.
Almost.
“I—I,” they wheezed, tiny hands with even tinier fingers covering the back of their minuscule neck as if waiting for him to finish them off. In whichever way they now expected him to. They refused to look up to him and Kian supposed that was fair.
He understood enough about himself that he could be imposing with normal people, never mind seeing himself from that perspective.
Though he couldn’t help the way his nose wrinkled in disgust as he registered what this fae was begging him not to do. As if they actually had to beg him not to do that. “Sweet hells, the fuck would I do something like that for?”
The thing squeaked at the tone and Kian realized a bit belatedly that his normal octave was a bit firmer then it should be with such a fragile and frightened prisoner.
“I don’t know!” They shot back, curling even further into themself as they turned their face even further into the dirt to keep from looking at him. “B-but I know that giants like you do that sort of thing whether or– or not there is a rea-reason, so!”
“First things first, I’m not a giant, I’m a half-elf,” Kian mused, eventually deeming this thing nonthreatening—realistically it was because this thing was far more terrified of him rather than he was of it—and pulling his hand back to himself. Though he remained comfortably crouched over top of it. More unintentionally looming, but if it worked to keep it from lashing out, then it worked. “Second of all, I have no interest in eating you.”
“E-even though I’m magical?” They whimpered, hands curling in on their neck a little more, still showing obvious distrust. “It was always said that—”
“I’ve had my fair share of magic,” he cut them off quickly with a shrug, resting a knee on the ground while his wrist rested comfortably over the bend of his other knee. “I’d like to avoid dabbling in any more if I can help it.”
He watched quietly intrigued as the tiny creature finally began to unfold itself. Slowly but surely, Kian was looking down at an actual person who had an expressive face and not just the curled up husk of someone who was terrified out of their wits.
Well, they were still terrified out of their wits, but at least they weren’t in such a tight ball anymore. He could actually see them now.
Kian scratched at the back of his neck, untangling a few strands of his hair. He must have been tossing and turning. “This does beg the question though; what on earth were you trying to accomplish sneaking around me like that?”
“I— I was trying to, uh,” their voice broke off into a small whisper as they side-eyed their weapon of choice laying a few paces away from them.
It was still coated in a thin line of blood and the tip of Kian’s middle finger still stung from where it had made contact with him, but it wasn’t a grievous wound. He rubbed it against his thumb as an unthinking motion.
Really, Kian could put two and two together remarkably quickly. He was dealing with a bounty hunter.
A bounty hunter no bigger than his ring finger, but a bounty hunter nonetheless.
“Trying to kill me?” He quirked a brow, prompting a wince from the wingless fae creature. It was more of a statement rather than a question, but he kept it framed as one.
“I’m not very good,” they admitted quickly, closing their hands into fists, “I didn’t really want to hurt you, you know! It’s just… my people got so worried seeing something like you in the area and thought it would be best to—”
“Off the threat,” Kian finished for them without heat. He idly pulled his hair out of his face and up into a half-ponytail, tied half-heartedly with a blue ribbon. “I understand.”
They hedged. “You do?”
“Sure I do,” he relented, “I’m a knight. Or, well, was, I suppose. If something dangerous threatened my homeland, I would have done the same thing. Though I don’t think your sword is sharp enough to do any lasting damage to me.”
As he said that, he idly reached out to where their sword was laying and carefully pinched it between two fingers. Before lifting it up to inspect it quietly.
“If I were you, I’d use something sharper,” he said, twisting and turning it as best as he could in what little light the moon gave. “And thicker. A sword to you is a pinprick to me.”
The creature swallowed nervously, but they nodded their head as if they were actually silently listening to him.
“A lovely blade nonetheless though,” Kian mused to the assumed fae and almost to himself. “My mother would have loved to have seen something as fine as this. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is incredible.” He then extended the sword on the edges of his fingertips close enough to the fae that they could reach out and grab it if they felt brave enough. “My advice, however, is to always aim for the vitals. In your case, eyes. Finger’s not a bad starting spot though, I’ll give you that. Stopped me from grabbing you right out, didn’t it?”
“I—I guess,” they mused, hesitantly reaching forward before quickly snatching the blade away as if expecting Kian to change his mind and capture them again. “But even then you still overpowered me like it was child’s play.”
“It is child’s play.” The words were a bit unfeeling and cold, but not inherently unkind. “Challenging something like me wasn’t exactly your smartest move. Especially by yourself.”
They fiddled with the sword in their hands. “How did you know I was alone?”
Kian quirked a brow to challenge that. “If you weren’t, someone would have already come to your gallant rescue. I’ve seen this charade before. Not with an attempt on my life, so I’ll admit that’s a first.”
Their shoulders slumped and he knew he had guessed right.
Even if there was another one of whatever this thing was, he was sure he would be able to handle it just fine.
“Look,” he tried to reason, gruff still but trying to be a bit more understanding, “it was a decent first attempt. Just count yourself lucky I’m not as bloodthirsty as I look.”
There were lots of other people out there that would have ended this little creature, inherently magical or not it wouldn’t matter. An attempt on one’s life was often seen as unforgivable, never mind how small the offender.
And besides, Kian had a soft spot for magical creatures.
He’d spent enough time with that magic glade surrounded by magical creatures, the last thing he wanted to do was actually be a threat to something that had saved him.
For better or for worse.
Ignoring his own bitterness about his current situation, innocent little creatures like this deserved another chance. It wasn’t this thing’s fault he was stuck in this shithole again with a seemingly eternal life.
So Kian had a heart and it wasn’t made of stone. Sue him.
“So,” the creature murmured, soft enough Kian had to prick his ears to actually hear them, “you’re really not going to eat me?”
“Fuck no.” He said it firmly, automatically. Confident and resolute. Also half disgusted. Okay, fully disgusted. “Rest assured I don’t want you anywhere near my face. Goddess knows where you’ve been.”
They did relax a touch at that understanding. “That’s a relief,” they said, rubbing a hand up and down their arm nervously. “I thought I was a goner. The village elder always told us that giants– uh, half-elves like you ate our kind to garner knowledge.”
Kian’s nose wrinkled again. “You don’t know a lot about the outside world, do you?”
“N-no,” they admitted with a shake of their head. “This was supposed to be my first mission to prove myself worthy.”
“Worthy of?”
“My village, we have a group of elites! They’re the ones that watch the borders of our village,” they said enthusiastically. It appeared to him that this was an important job or title on the line. He knew how that felt. Doing anything for praise, chasing after the social high. “I wanted to be a part of it so badly that I may have bluffed a little bit when it came to my skill level.”
“That’s incredibly stupid,” Kian said it outright and obviously and unremorsefully. He had very little patience for people that were willing to throw their lives and caution to the wind. He watched as they winced as though they’d been struck. “That could have gotten you killed if I was anyone else. Shit, I very well could have done it by accident.”
The fae wrapped their arms around themself, looking even more ashamed of what they’d done.
It lead him to believe this little thing was a lot more youthful than they let on.
“And, just as a side note,” he continued, deciding to soften the conversation at that realization. He ended up lifting a hand to hide a yawn behind it. He had the decency to at least cover up. Especially with the knowledge of what this thing thought he was going to do to it. “Just because I’m a half-elf doesn’t mean everyone is.”
The creature gave a nod, though they still looked troubled. Eventually they seemed to win enough of their inner battles to ask. “Why— why don’t you want to eat me?”
Kian rolled his eyes, finding himself slightly annoyed that they were back on this issue even though he had plainly explained why. “Because I think it’s fucking disgusting.”
They seemed a bit more appeased by the brashness in his tone. They fiddled with their hands a moment longer before speaking. “I know you said you’ve had enough of magic, but you don’t look like a magic wielder.”
“I’m not,” Kian admitted outright. He wasn’t about to lie about that. He and magic had a very strained relationship. He then reached into the inner part of his tunic and pulled out the glowing amulet that hung from his neck by a golden chain. “This thing is far more magic than I’d ever want to be. And far more trouble than what it’s worth.”
The wingless fae’s eyes lit up upon seeing the amulet itself. “What a remarkable piece of magical fashioning!”
They almost seemed excited by the prospect of it. If only they knew the half of it.
“That explains why you have such an intense magical signature!” They chirped, clapping their hands together. They were fascinated. “That aura you have is partly the reason why my people were so worried about you. Often when strangers have such a high resonance with mana and the forests themselves, it’s because they’ve inherited or ingested magic in, um, resourceful ways.” They cleared their throat uncomfortably, before moving past that last part quickly. “But you. Your signature is much, much stronger than someone that’s ingested pure mana.”
Kian rubbed a hand down his face, showing how weary he was. “Look, as fascinating as this has been, I’ve had a long day of travelling and I’m really very tired. Mind sparing me the theatrics so I can sleep again?”
The creature blanched at his nonchalant reaction and they stammered for a moment. “You– you want to go back to sleep even after I just..” they pressed their fingertips together. “That seems oddly dangerous especially after what I tried to do to you while you were sleeping.”
“You failed the first time,” Kian stretched out his back and got a few cracks from up his spine. Sleeping on the ground would do that to you. “I don’t think you’re dumb enough to try again.” But his eyes then sharpened in the darkness and his expression flattened, cold as he examined the creature in a seemingly new light. Perhaps he had calculated wrong and they were dangerous. He spoke lowly, his voice resonating in his chest in a quiet threat. “Are you?”
They reacted instantly and threw their hands up to show they were still unarmed, even though their weapon laid next to them. “N-no sir!” They squeaked immediately, trying to rectify and go back on what they’d said.
“That’s what I thought.”
Confident enough now, Kian finally pushed himself up into a full stand and brushed off the dirt and dust from his pants.
The fae watched him with a new sense of terror building in them, seeing him at his full height right in front of them. They went deadly still, as if waiting for him to break their unspoken truce. When Kian only rolled his eyes and sighed, they relaxed a touch. They let out a steep breath and relaxed more fully once he turned on his heel and retreated back over to his bedroll near the dying embers of the fire.
He knelt back down onto the soft covers of the bag and slid back into it, Kian pulled his own sword a little closer to him so it was more in reach than before.
He still had a knife under his pillow, but at least having a bigger weapon would give him a better semblance of comfort and protection.
“If you want answers, you can stick around I suppose,” Kian told them over his shoulder as he shuffled to get more comfortable under the blankets. “If not, goodnight and goodbye.”