Chapter Text
ena knows very few things that she is positive she is 100% correct about. one of these things is that being a princess is incredibly boring. or at least, in her case it is. she didn't know jackshit about what other princesses went through, but that didn’t matter.
her stupid life was basically just the same thing daily. her father barely let her leave the castle on her own accord– it was literally just being in jail and it sucked! she found ways to pass the time, but, what she’d really kill for is some god damn freedom. she was 18! she wasn’t like some little baby who needed protection from all the knights in the kingdom.
…but, she digressed. she’d be able to do things on her own accord sooner or later. hopefully.
at least she had lots of time on her hands to paint. another thing her father didn't really approve of, but, too bad.
you see, a couple years back, by managing to make a deal with the royal painter, she was able to snag some painting supplies. that… deal has been going on for a while now, and forever grateful she is to be able to have these supplies.
but painting nature is so much different than being with nature. and on one specific day she seriously couldn’t stand being inside anymore! hence, she enacted what she called, the great escape.
…and, to her surprise, as she found herself successfully outside of the kingdoms walls, it worked.
obviously, she really couldn’t be here for too long. she’d have to get back before anyone noticed her absence– but, she did have quite a bit of time on her hands.
ena was silent as she stared into the woods. it was really beautiful. it wasn’t like she hadn’t been here before, she had, but god it had been years. she had to have been a little kid.
it was eerily silent this time, though. none of her and her brothers bickering, and none of her fathers ordering them to ‘be quiet and allow him to focus’ as he sat on a stool, making careful brush strokes on an empty canvas.
“...hm.” ena hummed softly, taking a few steps forward into the forest. it was shady and brisk, causing her to flinch a bit from the cold. but it felt a lot better than the stuffy air of the castle.
and then, there was distant rustling. not distant enough to be far away. it sounded awfully close by. it was realistically, probably, hopefully, a bunny or some sort of prey animal, and she hoped to god it wasn’t a bear or a wolf.
she blinked, fear immediately fueling her. maybe, and just maybe she should never have left, maybe it was a wolf that was going to eat her, maybe she understood what her father was thinking for once–
she panicked, until a pair of eyes peeking out from behind a bush met her own.
they were 100% not an animal's eyes. and she really didn’t know if that made her feel better or if it made her feel a thousand times worse.
“...hello?” ena mumbled quietly, fidgeting with her hands in an attempt to stop them from shaking. she had to look strong, and scary. had to intimidate this person.
ena took a step closer as well as a closer look. ena’s company seemingly had a hood over their head, and these– bright, pink eyes that almost pierced her soul. she swallowed down her fear, because what if this person was lost and scared?
“i-” she paused, letting out a low breath. why was she doing this?? “i’m not going to hurt you, i… promise. are you alright? do you.. like, do you need help?” ena asked, sounding as soft as she possibly could.
whoever this person was, they hesitated. before, slowly, they stood up from their kneeling position, the sunlight hitting them through the leaves.
and, oh god, this person was really tall.
they placed their hands on the bottom of their cloak’s hood, before pulling it off, maybe because she didn’t run away in fear, or… something, it’s not like she really had the flight response in fight or flight anyway– regardless, ena didn’t know why they took it off. but they had horns, and such beautifully long pink hair. but–
“...what are you?”
was all ena really could choke out to the being in front of her. she took a step back from it, or– more fittingly her. ena’s hands shook, her heart pounding. the other girl just looked confused. maybe scared? shit, ena shouldn’t have phrased her question like that.
the other human– no, being, refused to talk. she straightened her back out, looking down to ena.
“sorry, sorry… that sounded mean. you can understand me, can’t you?” ena backtracked hesitantly. she swallowed down her fear. maybe this girl just… needed kindness. she probably didn't get it much from people, nobody with 2 horns on their head would have people be nice to them, really. (well, it wasn't 2 horns, 1 and a half horns is more like it, considering one of them was broken down to a stub. how did that happen?) regardless, she took a slow step closer, only to be met with a slight retreat from the ladder.
ena blinked, reaching a hand out instinctively to try to pull her back, but she had already gone too far back, leaving her grasping at air. she let out a sigh of slight defeat. this girl seemed just as spooked as ena. had she been hurt by other humans?
well, this wasn't a human. sure, she looked just like one; mostly. an exception being her horns, plus, ena couldn't really explain it, but just looking at her didn't give the same feel of looking at another human. it was more so reminiscent of looking at some sort of predatory animal. but this girl didn't look too predatory or dangerous–
“...yes. i can understand you.”
to ena’s disbelief– she actually replied to her question. she blinked, snapped out of her thoughts. the being exhaled quietly, fidgeting with her hands,
“that's.. great. that’s really good to know, um,” ena paused. she had so, so, so many questions for her– ‘what are you, why are you here, what's your name, are you dangerous?’, but the most viable option was: “if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?
they hesitated, not seeming keen on replying to ena, but it's not like she blamed them for doing so. ena would be just as scared of people as she was if she was… whatever thing this girl was. who knows what happened to her in the past.
“im mizuki.” the girl–mizuki–expressed softly. they excluded the last name, did they have a last name?
that was a question for another time, whatever.
ena smiled as warmly as she could to her. she nodded. “mizuki. It’s good to meet you.” she couldn't have mizuki be spooked off. she didn't know what she was, but she seemed like she was harmless. maybe a little unnerving to look at, since she definitely was slightly uncanny, but still.
…maybe that was just hopeful thinking.
mizuki fumbled a little with her cloak, seemingly fidgeting with whatever she could get her hands on, or just fidgeting with her hands; she definitely seemed on edge. ena had to be welcoming.
“thank you for the introduction. i’m shinonome ena. i'm the princess of this kingdom. i'm not here to harm you.” she reintroduced herself, placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest- building up her confidence. (look, on the off chance that mizuki was dangerous, she wanted to look slightly intimidating.)
mizuki blinked, raising an eyebrow. ena took note of how a fang poked out from her lips. cute. “i didn't think that you were gonna harm me,” she paused, her body visually loosening up. she didn't seem as scared anymore, great! “im not afraid of you, its just… i didnt expect to see anybody out here. this forest is usually just– empty. nobody comes behind the walls of the kingdom, i was just taken off guard.” mizuki explained steadily, rubbing the back of her neck as she gave a small sheepish smile.
cute.
ena hummed, nodding in response to her. she took a few steps closer to mizuki, who this time didn’t back away, looking at her closer. “i see, i get what you mean… i was just a little bored. wanted a change of scenery.” no. she was so bored that it had to be studied, actually.
mizuki made a small sound of acknowledgement. and then it was silent. the tension felt extremely thick.
“so do you still wanna know what i am?”
“yes.”
mizuki hesitated. she opened her mouth a couple times but nothing fell out. she was probably struggling to find her words. “...it’s not something i know for certain. but i’m not completely a human, definitely not. but that's easy to tell. i guess. i’ve been hunted down by your kingdom multiple times when i’m sighted, hence me being isolated in the forest. i don’t mean harm to people. but the townsfolk think i do. i dont.”
ena ached slightly at her words. that’s so shitty– saying the least. mizuki seemed kind, but she guessed she didn't fully blame the villagers. she was scared of mizuki at first sight as well, but she had the courage to interact with her, atleast. didn’t hunt her with pitchforks.
“...oh. i.. oh. hm. i’m sorry.”
mizuki just shrugged. she was used to it by now, as unfortunate as that might be. “don’t worry about it.”
ena blinked in disbelief. “..d-..don’t worry about it??” she echoed, incredulous. “that’s such a evil thing to do to somethi– someone! if they do that again to you, then i’ll–” ena cut herself off. what would she do…?
at her pause, mizuki giggled. she grinned smugly, leaning down to look at ena. she cocked their head to the side, humming. “i can defend myself~ don’t sweat it, enanan!”
she was teasing her now. enanan. “enanan?!” ena squeaked. “wh-who are you to make stupid nicknames like that for me and tease me when i was being nice!!” she exclaimed, her face reddening. she crossed her arms and scoffed, creating distance between the two.
that only seemed to make the situation funnier to mizuki.
“wow, you’re super reactive. intriguinggg,” mizuki drawled, smiling deviously. she leaned forward, peering at ena smugly.
…damn. she was really starting to wish she never interacted with mizuki in the first place! it’s not like she knew she would be this annoying when she opened up… but, it’s a good thing she opened up. mizuki definitely seemed to have a sense of humor, even if it was at ena’s expense. “shut up.” she snapped, but her tone didn't have true malice behind it.
“alright, alright- if you insist, then i’ll stop talking, all for you..” they purred. mizuki was slightly surprised herself, how fast she was opening up and breaking down her walls for this girl. ena said she was a princess, right? eugh, maybe mizuki should tone down her teasing, who knows? what if she irritates her far too much, and she calls knights onto her?
ena didn’t seem like that though. she was clearly empathetic–when mizuki told her about her experiences with being hunted down, she… clearly didn’t like that happening to them, so unless ena was just faking her emotions, personality and attitude then mizuki would surely be fine!
being so lost in her thoughts and nonspeaking, it didn’t occur to mizuki she had actually shut up.
“i–” ena paused. she huffed, her face having a soft dust of red on it. “i didnt mean for you to actually shut up, you know.”
mizuki blinked, a toothy grin popping onto her face. “aha, yeahhh, i know you didnt! i was just, thinkin, is all. believe me, i wouldn’t listen to somebody's order like that, ‘specially not a princess.”
“whatever. shut up.”
“...s’that all you ever say?”
“no! just shut up!” ena barked, standing on her toes in an attempt to try to intimidate mizuki. to make the other girl feel her power, her wrath! she could call hundreds of her kingdoms men right onto her, and then–
mizuki smiled. “cute. you’re cute.”
…oh.
ena blinked, processing. she stood flat on her feet again, her blush even more prominent now. mizuki- she didn't even sound condescending saying that! was she being genuine?? argh, so much had happened in the past couple of minutes!!
but, mizuki was cute too, though.
…
“shut up.”