Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, there were two beautiful sisters who were said to have been born on the same day, but at different times of that day to the goddess Hecate's mortal avatar. One was born at the breaking of the dawn and the other, at the setting of the twilight.

The eldest, a fair blonde beauty, was said to be kind, gentle, and quiet of heart, but with a strong sense of justice and an even stronger will. The youngest, a brilliant crimson-haired vixen, was said to be a fiery beauty with the playful, mischievous nature of a fox and a burning spirit to match the title.

Despite sharing a mother and a birthing day, these sisters could find little else in common. It soon came to pass that the two siblings would find themselves fighting against one another over many things; their lessons, their morals, their first love...

Hecate foresaw their bitter rivalries and sought to stop them before the sisters ultimately chose to hate one another before their ascension as new goddesses. Before her young daughters came into their powers, she took them from the mortal world in hopes that the contact with fragile humans would better their caution and began training them in the ways of her craft.

The daylight witch, proficient in the art of healing and memory, was often found lingering in the memories of mortals or healing those whose paths she crossed, whether it be physically or mentally. There was no denying that she was soft-hearted and pitied those ill of mind and body. It was not unheard of for sudden "miracles" to be whispered of in the areas of the lands she left behind.

The twilight witch took after her celestial mother in the dark arts of witchcraft and trickery, never ceasing to confuse and deceive those souls unfortunate enough to cross her path. She was known for her treachery and dark seduction of the foolish. Despite her reputation, she was only known to hex those who had wronged others or aroused her ire by their own wicked deeds.

Unfortunately, Hecate had not taken into account that by bringing her daughters into the mortal world, she would be exposing them to the potential influence of other creatures that were not limited by the rules of gods or humans. Humans could not manipulate gods so effortlessly, nor could they weave a string of lies and deceit so solidly.

One such creature, having a fondness for rare, beautiful things found itself fascinated by the fiery Twilight. Her raw talent for mischief and vengeance along with her playful nature had struck its interest, and so it settled down to watch her from the shadows, content to let her true nature unfold before it.

The young demi-god was unaware of this creature, however, because her attention was solely focused on something far more pressing in her mind. For in a small village full of beautiful flowers that filled the streets that was ruled by a benevolent family of nobles, there was a sickly child with hair as pale as the moonlight and eyes as bright as fresh spring leaves. Daylight, her heart bleeding for the child and the suffering family, stole into the manor one night and cured the child of his ailment.

Upon the child's rapid recovery, the village became a happy place, full of joy that their master's child would live and once again be able to play without affliction. And although Twilight too rejoiced at the child's recovery, a small seed of hatred curled in the farthest corner of her heart, for she had fallen in love with the beautiful child. To see his fragile smile and luminous jade eyes aimed at her sister pained her greatly. The creature so enraptured with her sensed that pain and anger...and fed it.

Hecate grew troubled at the animosity growing between her carefully molded daughters as they each grew into their different powers and the differences in their personalities became much more apparent. Sensing that her attempt at imbuing them with some sense of the fragile bonds and obligations between mortals and gods had failed, she took her daughters both back through the Veil.

But like all things destined by Fate, there was nothing she could do to stop the coming events.

One day, after a particularly bitter spat between the twins, Daylight came worriedly to her goddess mother with the news that Twilight had gone off to the mortal world in a fit of temper.

Hecate, having already foreseen these particular events, gave Daylight a bit of her own powers to follow her wilder sister through the Veil of the Gods in order to retrieve the irate girl. She was well aware that one day behind the Veil could very well be a decade or more of mortal years (for what god bothered to keep track of time in the Promised Land?) and she did not wish to discover what Zeus would do if he found out that she had let her child-still so ignorant of the ways of life- meddle in the lives of mortals without punishment.

The white witch noticed that the passage of time in the mortal world had progressed from the time that she and her sister last visited. She found herself returning to the village of the boy with the strong spirit that had called her to heal him, curious as to the changes time had wrought on him and the place he called home. She was both shocked and horrified at the sight that greeted her.

Time had indeed changed the land.

What had once been light and sunshine, rolling green hills and lush life, was now cold and darkness. Snow covered the land, covering the hills and flowering meadows, turning them into cold bumps upon the land as large icicles hung from strange, sparse trees and the only telltale sign of life was the mournful howls of wolves that echoed far in the distance.

But there was nothing worse than the stone and wood monstrosity of a manor that loomed before her, its foreboding qualities speaking volumes as to the undoubted conditions of those that would be inside. She could smell the sickness inside as the nauseating smell permeated the air. It was as if death itself had left a permanent pall over this lonely manor, warning away any foolish enough to come close. What had once been a radiant garden of flowers and cheerful, celebrating villagers was now a hollow, empty place.

An explosive creak drew her attention as the massive fortress doors were slowly forced open. A lone, cloaked figure emerged before scanning the area as if looking for something. The figure's very height and build suggested that it was a male, but what caught her attention was not the figure itself, but the faint hint of power that overshadowed him. Even the scent that came from the door behind him had the same pronounced stench.

Magic. So her sister was here, and it seemed that she had either already been to this land or was inside the very walls she hesitated to enter. Had her twin corrupted this place so thoroughly with her power that the air sang with the disease of her victims?

Uncertain if she was correct, the white witch followed the nervous man undetected as the simple Vanish spell cloaked her from his presence.

She did not want to believe that her mischievous sister could do such a horrible thing, but she had to know for sure.

The dark witch sighed happily as she drifted through the royal family's woods—soon to be her woods—content with the peaceful silence that hung throughout the kingdom. A small smirk graced her full lips and sent her violet eyes dancing in barely concealed joy.

Today was the day that all her plans would fulfill her goals.

Initially, she had been more concerned with slinking off to the mortal world to pout, but when she had met him, a new plan had come to mind. All it had taken was a jinx on an already slightly insane man, and a poisoned herbal mixture in an ailing woman's stew.

In this remote corner of the mortal realm, there was no nosy twin sister or emotionally stunted witch queen to bother her. And she would show them that she had gained a few new spells without the help of their precious rules and teachings. Powerful spells that no normal gods could use.

A crunching sound alerted her of a newcomer before a voice tentatively called her name.

Her heart swelled with love and a beatific smile spread across her face. The young witch turned with her arms outspread, beckoning the man approaching her from the shadows of the forest.

It was time to get what she wanted.

"You came...Riku."

The white witch silently approached the clearing the man had stumbled into with caution. It would be pointless of her to intrude upon a man and his lover whilst they were meeting in secret, but...a stroke of her mother's prophetic vision told her that she needed to witness the scene that was about to unfold.

The man under the cloak had his back to her, but it was the woman he was facing and whose name he had called that drew her attention. Surely that was her! No other had those wild auburn locks or those alluring violet eyes that seemed lit with the very fires of passion. But what was she doing here, meeting with this man here of all..?

A fiery blush stole over her form as she pursed her lips. Perhaps her twin had decided to stay because she had found herself a mortal lover?

Hearing her sister's tender words and seeing her open arms seemed to confirm that theory, but still, there was something...off. As if whatever she wanted from the man was not a good thing.

Before she could discover what is was, however, the man flicked off his cloak's hood with a quick, impatient gesture. Leaning closer, the concealed witch had to stifle her gasp of shocked awe before she was discovered.

What stood before her was...the little boy whose life she had saved so long ago.

The mortal man could have been a son of Adonis himself with his pale hair and strong, beautiful face. Silver hair fell in long waves over the hood, perfectly framing wild, piercing green eyes.

Unfortunately, the mortal's voice was heavy with some grief that just gnawed at the hidden witch's heart. What had her devious sister done now to make such a strong heart cloud over with such suffocating grief?

"Have you come to accept my offer?" Her twin asked sweetly before lifting a pale, elegant hand and gathering energy for a summoning spell. Wolves of all kind drifted in from the surrounding woods, their wild eyes glazed with the will-breaking summon spell. She made a vague gesture and they all stopped their advance to settle on their haunches, save one large male and female, who each took a side of the witch that had beckoned them from hunting. She caressed their furry pelts lovingly, her eyes never once leaving the silver-haired man staring at her with naked longing on his face.

The look made the white witch feel as though she were intruding, but...the man's soul was creating an awful keening sound as he stepped closer and closer to the woman that had his complete attention. The sound was awful, like wailing cries terrified of the darkness, and it rooted her to the spot. How could that beautiful child have become so...tormented?

He glanced down at the large male with apprehension and the glazed look in the animal's eyes made him freeze as if shocked at some unrevealed truth. He hesitantly lifted his eyes and gave the witch before him a long, pensive stare before shaking his head slowly and giving her a low, "No..."

The white witch looked between the two of them before watching her sister stiffen and clench her small hands into fists.

Knowing her sister and her legendary temper, this was most definitely not good.

The dark witch's inviting expression abruptly fell away into shock, and then angered dismay.

"What?" she barked out in outrage. "You dare turn me down? What of life? What of love? What of your freedom? You would throw that all away?"

The mortal named Riku shook his head before gesturing at the wolves at her side. "I would only trade one life of bondage for another."

"You ungrateful wretch!"

The white witch cried out in warning, but the sound was quickly drowned out by the pained screams of the mortal her sister had just lashed out at. This was wrong, so wrong; it frightened her to see her sister so...twisted.

The beautiful red-headed witch's face had twisted into raw fury before a hand whipped up to her side and darkness rose from beneath the mortal's feet to writhe over his body and constrict painfully tight over his arms and legs, forcing him to his knees. Everywhere the darkness touched, bloody furrows had dug into his flesh, letting the darkness seep inside and control his body.

"I w-won't...be...your dog, Kairi!" The mortal bit out between clenched teeth, straining against his bonds.

The witch known as Kairi raised her hand to slap the offensive mortal then lowered it as if she had thought of something. A trembling smile, both pained and seeking to cause pain appeared on her graceful features. "He told me this might happen," she said softly, her violet eyes gaining a slightly hysterical light before she turned her blazing gaze onto the wolves tensed at her sides. The male noticed her scrutiny and dutifully approached her.

She and the wolf both stared at the panting man as she gracefully resumed her gentle ministrations on the wolf's chin. "Tell me mortal, do you know of the soul mate concept? Wolves mate for life, as do some other animals. Once they are bound by soul, no other will do. Should one mate die, the other will soon follow."

Something in the witch observing screamed, 'She wouldn't.'

Her thought was confirmed by Kairi turning to the wolves and lifting her arms into the air before herself. Two wispy substances, one yellow and one blue flowed from both creatures' eyes before the wolves simply...dissolved. Kairi had a victorious, almost happy smile on her face as she directed the blue soul into the mortal Riku's line of vision. The blue mist disappeared into the stunned man's eyes before the green eyes dilated and he collapsed into a shuddering heap on the cold, arctic ground.

The foolish witch was free-bonding souls. It was forbidden. Her sister could go to the darkest pits of Tartarus for doing such a thing!

She had to stop this!

The white witch dashed out of her hiding place and aimed a well-formed Pearl at the hand holding the yellow soul that the dark witch was holding in front of her face.

Kairi stared in shock at her sister as the Vanish spell was hastily dissolved in favor of attacking.

"Namine?"

"You fool! Such practices are forbidden, even for immortals!" The white witch called Namine frowned in disapproval as the man writhed on the ground, the tendrils of darkness having already been retracted when the wolf soul had bonded with his own.

Kairi had held her arms up in front of herself to deflect the blow from the light spell, dropping the remaining female wolf's soul. It gathered into a tight glowing golden ball before shooting into the sky and disappearing without a trace.

"No! Look what you've made me do now! I needed that!" Kairi's enraged persona seemed to make the surrounding wolves get antsy and start pacing the edge of the forest that they had situated themselves in. She merely balled both of her fists and screamed in thwarted rage, the sound echoing out in the silent forest.

Light suddenly filled the clearing and then, where there were once wolves, almost fifty soul wisps drifted into the air to follow the example of their female leader, except these souls streamed away like small comets towards the direction of the village the man had come from.

Namine was horrified, but she chose instead to cast a Stop spell on her wayward sister before she could cause any more damage. Instead of becoming even more upset though, her sister merely gave a vindictive smile before saying petulantly, "If I can't have his love, then no one can. And certainly not you."

"What did you do to the others?" Namine demanded. "Where did their souls go?"

Kairi smiled in response, her eyes wild and terrified. "The day the two souls bond again he'll be free, but every soul under his protection will never be allowed to rest until he finds the other half!" She giggled hysterically and Namine was distracted enough by shock and horror for her sister to break through the binding spell and faze out of the clearing completely.

Namine had no idea how she was going to explain this to her mother.

Chapter Text

BEEP. BEEEEEEEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEEEP BEEP. BEEEEEEEP.

Sora groaned, tucking his legs under the covers even harder as the annoying alarm went off, its high-pitched beeping piercing through the thin walls of his second story condo. "Five more minutes…" he mumbled, desperately seeking the fuzzy edges of sleep, which were rapidly fading as the alarm clock continued its merciless onslaught.

Good morning, Kalm! It's a bit chilly today, so make sure you bundle up before venturing out today! It may be below zero, but we'll keep you, up, up, up, and warm with our wake-up love jams!

"Dammit," Sora muttered, lying in bed as sleep completely fled his mind. His eyes blinked sleepily as some lovesick diva sang about replacing some guy with another one. "If the guy's cheating on you, just admit it and kick his ass out," he grumbled before switching off the radio and tossing off the covers. "S'not like you need his money," he muttered grumpily as he stood and stretched his arms above his head, working out all the kinks from his cramped sleeping style. Sora usually slept curled up in fetal position, which sounded weird for a twenty-five year old zoologist living on his own, but he was only so tall and found it comfortable, to say in the least.

His brother, Roxas, a few inches taller and a year older at twenty-six, often joked about how Sora slept like the animals he studied: wolves. If he had a tail, he'd more than likely sleep with it curled around his nose as he burrowed under the covers.

Rubbing his eyes, the sleepy researcher stumbled his way out of his room and into the ridiculously plush bathroom. His one purely sinful weakness—and the selling point of the condo—was a huge, three-person bathtub to soak in for as long as he wanted. Sora was an avid water fiend, sometimes even going so far as to dance in the rain and snow to get his kicks. But for now, he bypassed the large structure and headed straight for the mirrored cabinet above the marble-ringed sink to check his reflection.

His wild, spiky, brunette hair was slightly matted down, but a simple shake artfully settled the wayward spikes back into their usual haphazard positions around his head. His earnest, sapphire blue eyes were dazed and slightly heavy-lidded, lending credibility to his half-awake state. He blinked at his reflection before running a hand from the top of his head to the bottom of his chin. Feeling the smoothness, he groaned.

Ever since he'd been a teenager and other guys his age had been getting facial hair, he'd started checking every morning to see if anything came up. Logically, he knew that if he hadn't gotten any by now then he wasn't getting any at all, but it still kind of rubbed him raw that he didn't get rugged facial hair to make him look more masculine and handsome instead of "cute." Roxas had had the same problem, except, no one would mistake him for "cute", because of his height and his face wasn't as delicate as Sora's, who'd inherited his delicate features from their mother.

Shaking his head, Sora reached for the soggy washrag hanging limply from the towel rack above the toilet. He'd installed it himself and hadn't really thought of what a bad idea that was until after it was up and towels began falling into the toilet. A quick pause and a light sniff revealed no unappealing odor, so he shrugged and vigorously scrubbed his face all over, making certain he got all traces of sleep off of his face. He didn't want to go into public with eye crud on his face or dried slobber flaking on his cheeks. Roxas probably wouldn't be able to focus on not getting seasick on the boat ride to Bone Village if he was distracted by Sora looking like the living dead.

"Mrrreoooow."

Sora started at the sound of a loud scraping noise followed by a low growling yowl. Glancing down, he noted that his cat, Simba (he was a sucker for the Lion King), had nudged his bowl into the bathroom and was hopefully looking up at him with needy golden eyes as he swished his snow white tail in lazy circles around his back. Somehow, the tiny creature managed to look properly indignant at having his hunger be so thoroughly ignored.

"Oh! I completely forgot. Sorry, pal," he apologized as he scooped up the hungry cat in one arm and the silly fish-shaped bowl in the other. "You know I don't function right in the morning without food," he chided, walking down the hall and into the kitchen. He set his roommate of four years on top of the table, where his furry friend proceeded to collapse onto the surface with something oddly close to a sigh. Sora couldn't help but laugh—Simba looked near death. "Apparently you don't function too well either," he joked.

"Mreow!" Simba yowled impatiently.

"Okay, okay! I'm getting your stupid food, fatty!"

After making sure Simba was content with food and plenty of water, Sora gathered his suitcases from upstairs and grabbed the spare key before making the return trip downstairs.

Today was the day he started his latest research project in some place far up north in a tiny little village that was in an area so uncharted that it was called, Snowy Village. The scientist was excited about the prospect of a new conquest and could barely contain his excitement now that he was thinking of what was ahead. Field work had always been his favorite part of the job-the rest was a boring necessity. Simba perched on the arm of his butterscotch colored couch, his tail occasionally curling as he watched Sora struggle to pay attention to his surroundings enough to get his things ready.

Finally, after an epic battle he hoped he never had to repeat, Sora opened the door—and jumped with a startled yell, incidentally dropping his three bulky suitcases and camping backpack.

His brother Roxas was standing there, his blue eyes alight with amusement as he watched Sora gradually calm himself down.

"Don't do that, Rox!" He griped, scowling at his smirking brother.

"But it's just so fun!" the older man teased. Rolling his eyes, he picked up two of the suitcases while Sora grabbed up the other along with his backpack and walked out to his car to place them in his trunk. Sora followed, his pack on his shoulders and the suitcase hefted into his arms while he kicked the door shut and carefully locked it behind himself. Despite the suitcase incident, everything was going good.

He jinxed himself.

Roxas turned from stuffing the bags in his trunk and noticed that one of Sora's hiking boots was untied, but before he could utter a warning, Sora stepped on the lace and tumbled forward, his face landing on the suitcase and jarring his head hard enough for him to see stars and the click of his teeth to be audible. Roxas hurried forward, but Sora was already sitting up and glaring at the offending lace with as much malice as he could muster.

"Damn it!" Sora exploded, cupping his rather sore jaw. "I thought I tied that!"

"Obviously you didn't," Roxas pointed out. His little brother often had incidents like this, and it was things like this that made him worry about Sora going to strange places on his own without someone to make sure that he was okay.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Sora?" Roxas asked worriedly. "I'm not too sure that you should be chasing down a dangerous wolf pack in a village that's not even on the map. And it'll take me a day or two to wait for the supplies to be ferried in on the cargo ship before I can join—"

"You worry too much, Roxy! Even Mom's thrilled that I'm going." Sora's reassuring words to his protective older brother didn't do much to lift the faint frown lines between his forehead, so he tried again.

"And I'm a lot stronger than I look if something goes wrong," he boasted, flexing an imaginary muscle on his arm. Roxas looked his brother over, his gaze assessing the younger man. True, he was a little overprotective at times, but people had often tried to take advantage of Sora's slight build only to be surprised at the strength in his wiry body.

Once, Roxas had been told by a frantic friend that Sora was getting jumped in the back parking lot of their high school, and he had rushed to his brother's aid only to find the brunette tossing the largest boy over his shoulder like a rag doll and into the other three trying to rush him. Sure, Roxas was no pushover himself-he'd had to take the same judo lessons after all-but he'd never taken on four kids at once or tossed somebody twice his size like that. In fact, the stupefied principal, not believing Sora to be the victim (he was the only one not bleeding) had threatened to expel the boy if he got into another fight, so Roxas had been forced to closely watch his brother throughout the rest of their high school years, intimidating potential opponents before they could make a try for Sora. The exception was Sora's senior year, when Roxas was gone to college, but no one had dared to touch Sora because of the two brothers' fierce reputations.

Roxas sighed. Sora was way stronger and faster than him, despite being smaller. And he'd even talked to their mother about his concerns, but she'd merely smiled and said, "It'll be good for Sora to do something that he feels is worthwhile." She gave him a bright smile. "And besides, baby, he's a grown man now and can take care of himself."

"…okay, Sora; I'll try not to worry," he finally caved, and the light creases in his brow faded from his face. "Just don't be impulsive and run off after these so-called mutant wolves without your safety gear. We don't want a repeat of last year, now do we?" Roxas added with a slight smile.

Sora blushed to roots of his hair in embarrassment.

About a year ago, they'd taken a trip to the National Park to see wolves and an eager Sora, first to spot the elusive creatures, had followed after them, leaving all of his hiking gear at the campsite while Roxas and the park ranger had struggled to set up camp, unaware that he had left. They actually hadn't noticed until Roxas had looked over and panicked at no visible sign of his brother. When an extensive search had been initiated, they had found Sora three hours later, curled up on his side and asleep with a perfect drawing of wolf beside him.

"Naminé still has that picture in her apartment," Roxas asked laughingly. "The doting teacher, ever-proud of her student."

"She was really happy about that," Sora admitted, his wry grin making his eyes sparkle. The woman in question had been in the brothers' lives since they were in college and her eccentricity was legendary amongst all their friends. She was always there when something was wrong, and almost always ended up fixing it, too.

"It won't happen again," Sora told him reassuringly, getting back to the matter at hand. "If I wander off, I'll come back as soon as I can, Rox. I promise," he declared earnestly. On impulse, he hugged his brother tight with an arm around his neck.

Roxas, surprised at the sudden display of affection, briefly returned the hug before punching his brother on the arm and locking his head under his arm for a brief noogie.

After that, Roxas felt ten times better.

Chapter Text

Roxas nervously toyed with the snow goggles on top of his shirt collar as he inspected his younger brother with narrow, worried eyes.

"Sora, are you sure—"

"Roxas! I'm sure. And I'll be completely fine. I'm just gonna stay on the edge of the forest, and if I go any farther, I'll mark the trees and the ground so that you'll know where I've gone. Now is that enough reassurance for you?"

Sora's exasperation had apparently grown in proportion to Roxas' anxiety over the impending expedition. In any case, Sora was getting impatient with the way his older brother was lingering around instead of returning to the shipping camp to get the equipment they needed. The sooner he left, the sooner he could collect the fuel barrels and snow equipment; that way, Sora could go farther into the woods without endangering himself or risking spending the night or the duration of a blizzard there. But with the way Roxas was hovering, the equipment wasn't likely to arrive anytime soon if he didn't actually leave.

Roxas gave his younger brother a wry smile. He knew he could be a little overprotective, but Sora's track record of solo expeditions wasn't exactly top-notch. He sighed, slipping his goggles back over his head. "Alright, Sora. I'm gonna trust you to keep yourself in one piece out here. Remember, I should be back in a few days with the truck and the equipment. Until then, stay out of the deep wood, please."

Sora rolled his eyes even as he smiled. "Yes, my liege, your wish is my command."

Roxas patted his brother on the shoulder, his smile more reserved, but just as sincere. "Well, even though I doubt the wolves here are actually cursed, I do think that there might be wolves here, and you more than anyone should know how dangerous they can be, Sor."

Identical sapphire blue eyes met in a brief moment of perfect understanding, before Roxas lightly reached out and touched the tiny white key pendant with a small yellow star attached to it that hung around Sora's neck. Sora did the same to the tiny black key with the vine-like markings around Roxas's neck.

For as long as they could remember, they'd had the keys with them. Their mother had told them a long time ago that a blond woman had come to her twice and given her the pendants; once before Roxas was born, and the other time after Sora was born. She had told their mother that they were good luck charms that would help her sons throughout their lives.

One was supposed to be for protection against evil and was called Oblivion; the other was supposed to be a guide to love and destiny and was called Oathkeeper. Somehow, their mother had just known that the woman could be trusted, and when her boys had been born at home, she had given each of them one of the necklaces. Roxas had gotten Oblivion, and Sora, Oathkeeper.

Roxas gave his sibling a wistful smile before letting go of Oathkeeper and idly reaching up to finger his own charm. Sora smiled back, before making shooing motions at his brother. "C'mon, Rox. Go on, get outta here before you turn this into some cheesy tearjerker! I'll be fine."

"But not patient," Roxas decided wryly.

"Well, that all depends on how fast you get back with those snowmobiles and the rest of the equipment," he conceded sheepishly. "So get going already!"

"Alright, little bro, but you better not get yourself lost. Or I'll hunt you down until I find you," Roxas warned in mock anger.

Both men grinned at each other before laughingly knocking fists and declaring in unison, "To the ends of the earth!"

Sora watched his brother tromp back through the snow in his winter gear, his gaze warming as he watched Roxas wave through the snow truck's windows. He returned the gesture until the truck was no longer in sight, then closed the door of the cabin with a light shiver. This wasn't his first trip to the North, not by far, but Snowy Village seemed to be the coldest area he'd ever been in. It didn't help that he was in a remote logger's cabin that someone had rented to him for the winter, provided he put his own firewood and water into the place.

"Well," he said aloud to himself as he closed the door and glanced around his humble abode, "Now that I'm by myself, what should I get to first?"

It was obvious from a first look that the cabin hadn't seen many visitors in a while, but a good dusting and a little puttering around on Sora's part was bound to remedy that soon enough, although cleaning up was never fun, and in Sora's case, usually caused more accidents. With a resigned sigh, Sora begin investigating the small cabin.

The bathroom was...modest with the standard necessities, but the sink was squished in between the toilet and tub, making it seem thin and ill-made. A long glance at the bathroom's tiny tub had him grimacing not only at its small size, but also at the brown and green mold caked around its corners and showerhead.

Gross.

The kitchen was a lot more heartening than the bathroom, despite its bare wooden counters. It was clean and uncluttered, which is exactly how Sora liked his space. Not only that, but there was a back door to the small cabin, which revealed a path straight towards the snow fields and the woods beyond.

A fierce yawn suddenly broke out of his mouth, making him groan in disappointment. It was only right that he'd be tired, but he'd kind of wanted to do some looking around that night. Shrugging, he closed the door and headed off to get settled and ready for bed.

Tomorrow was when the real work began.

The next morning found Sora sleepily stumbling his way through supply gathering in preparation for a small exploration on the outer edge of the woods.

Among the tall tales of pony-sized wolves and disappearing travelers, the villagers had warned him about getting caught in a snow storm, so he'd been careful to look for the normal signs of an oncoming blizzard. Just in case he got stuck though, he made sure to pack a thermal blanket, two thermoses of piping hot cocoa, and a bit of food, along with a flare and his sketchbook. Awkwardly garbed in full winter gear and snowshoes, Sora set out the back door and trudged his way through the snow, the bulky bundle of supplies a solid weight against his spine.

Despite the cold, Sora found the familiar excitement of a search surging through his limbs, keeping them all warm and limber. After a moment of traveling through the light trail behind the cabins, he suddenly found that the sky had significantly darkened. Not with the absence of sunlight, but with the sudden influx of tall, thick-needled pine trees that reached above, blocking out the sunlight. It was like going from daylight to twilight in the blink of an eye.

It was no wonder most of the villagers were wary of these woods.

Cautiously, Sora drew his hunting knife and began striking at the soft bark of the trees in a pattern, marking his path northward as he sought any signs of life in the dark arctic forest.

He had been traveling in silence for a full five minutes before he realized that his breathing had sped up and his heart was accelerating as if his body had suddenly surged to alertness.

He paused in his tracks, straining his eyes and ears for any sign or sound that some animal was prowling around, stalking him in the night-like environment. Only the amplified sound of his harsh breathing and the pounding of his heart reached him, and he gradually calmed, his eyes now leisurely scanning the woods for a sign of anything unusual.

There. Something within him said, and his head moved accordingly in the right direction, body tensed and alert in case he needed to retreat or defend himself.

A wolf was staring at him.

Green eyes gleamed from beneath the hollow shadows of the thick forest. Sora licked his lips in nervousness as he noted the creature's size—it was much larger than most normal wolves, easily the size of a Great Dane, although its body proportions actually made it bigger than that. It's pale, snow-colored coat made it blend in perfectly with its surroundings, and it made Sora a bit nervous that he couldn't see its complete body stance, since its bottom half was hidden by the tree trunk that it had stiffened behind a few yards away.

The stillness dragged on in what seemed to be an eternity before the wolf suddenly raised its head. A second later, Sora shivered as the clear sound of howling echoed over the taiga.

It was as if it had been anticipating the call.

The wary researcher kept his stance non-threatening as the wolf glanced from the direction of the haunting calls to him with those unnervingly intelligent eyes—he wasn't necessarily afraid, so much as bemused—then it loped off into the snow in a burst of graceful speed. The only sign of its presence that remained was the faintest impression of paw prints, and when Sora got on his knees and placed his hand beside the imprint, a shiver of fear and foreboding curled up his spine. The paws on that wolf…

They were as large as his own hand.

Unnerved, Sora had returned to his cabin after an hour of tracing his steps back to somewhat-civilization. He wearily dropped his undisturbed supply bag—for he'd been too shaken to eat or drink—on the floor before collapsing onto a horribly floral-designed couch, his eyes slipping closed as his body heated itself from the cold.

"You were supposed to follow, you know," a familiar voice piped up from beside him.

Sora blinked sluggishly as he met Namine's serene stare, her blue eyes dark and mysterious in the light of the moon. Had he gotten up at some point turned the lights off? If he had, he couldn't remember, but here was his art teacher, young and flawless as always as her bewitching eyes stared into him from inches away. Seeing she had his attention, she smiled gracefully and went back to the sketchpad in her lap, which—he noticed—had a rough drawing of himself in it. His own face was lifted to a pale moon, eyes intent as dozens of indistinguishable shapes watched from the shadows.

"What're you doing here, Namine?" he wondered, struggling to sit up. His chest laced in pain and he hissed as his hand came up to rub the sudden ache. His fingers met soft thread over the fabric of his shirt, he gave it a light tug and gasped at the fierce lash of pain that accompanied the motion.

"It's best to leave it there, Sora," the blonde woman said softly, her eyes sympathetic as she watched him try to catch his breath. "Soul bonds are not so easily broken once they recognize one another. Especially after so long..."

"What? What're you talking about?" he asked, staring at her. In answer, he saw her eyes drop to the sketchpad, which now sported a portrait of himself, eyes closed and aimlessly walking, with a red thread similar to the one he'd tugged on. But in the picture he could see that it lead to a dark, winding haunted house-like structure, where a shrouded figure watched his approach from the very top. "What is this?"

Sora abruptly stood from the couch, his heart hammering as he gaped at his friend. In return, the older woman gave him a sad, gentle smile before pointing at his chest. An instant later, searing fire nearly made him collapse on his knees as the crimson thread tugged at his chest, threatening to pull itself—and his heart—with it.

"Don't," Namine pleaded, something pained in her eyes as she watched him writhe on the ground. "Please Sora, for your own sake and that of the others, please don't fight it."

"Fight what?" he cried, sweat sliding down his strained face as he grit his teeth against the pain.

"Destiny."

Sora woke with his heart in his throat; faintly, almost indiscernible, his heart ached in time to the pulsing rhythm of panic.

Vaguely, he realized his hand was firmly clenched around Oathkeeper and slowly loosened his grip; the sudden loss of that warm weight in his hand abruptly made the shadows around him seem that much longer and darker. Silently, he cursed himself for being so jumpy.

"What a weird dream," he muttered, flinging his head back against the couch. In an unconscious act of remembrance, one of his hands lightly began tracing directly over his heart as he grabbed Oathkeeper once more with his free hand and raised it into the air above his face.

"Just a dream..."

Chapter Text

A lone white wolf bounded into a clearing, its form swift and sure-footed as it approached a group of wolves of various colorings. Once a few of the wolves caught sight of it, a howl of greeting rang out and was dutifully returned. Then the alert pack members descended on the silent wolf, some submissively touching noses with the large beast before loping off, and others affectionately rubbing muzzles and cheeks against the larger wolf. Through it all, patient, aqua eyes were bright and steady as it took in the sight of its pack in the white winter wonderland they'd claimed as home.

Finally, a large ebony-furred wolf bounded up and began playfully nipping at the white wolf's muzzle. In response, the wolf showed its teeth and grunted before turning its head from the other male. The black male, not one to be pushed away so easily, raised its paws onto its leader's back, its blue eyes bright and mouth curved into a sharp canine grin—complete with lolling tongue—that was the very definition of friendly.

Suddenly, the paws began reshaping themselves, like water flowing through the limbs and expanding the thick curved digits into long, thin bones. Fingers emerged from what was once paw and fur, and a lupine body unfolded from black fur into lightly tanned skin and muscular limbs.

Before the pack's eyes, a wolf became human, and the snarling grin became a laughing human one.

"Someone's grumpy," the male said in a rough, yet cheerful voice, as if he didn't get to talk often, but was happy when he did.

The rest of the wolves that had stayed behind were accustomed to such spectacles and watched with what could only be called exasperation in their eyes as the black-haired male rubbed vigorously at their leader's pelt.

Green eyes narrowed, and the white fur receded as if it had been an illusion. Pale skin surfaced, and silver hair topped a young, scowling face as two hands swatted off the other male's hands.

"Stop that you big oaf," the seemingly younger man commanded. "You always ruffle my fur beyond reason."

A pale cream colored wolf with white markings on its body shook itself and huffed; then, a young blond male was in its place, scowling half-heartedly at the black-haired male. "Zack, you should stop bothering poor Riku so much. He has enough responsibility without having to deal with you being childish as well."

Zack rolled his eyes as he stretched his tall form, grinning heartily at the blond man as he caught the disapproving look at his shameless nudity. "Always so serious, Cloud. Between the two of you, we have enough seriousness to drown in," he mocked playfully.

"We didn't gather here to play," Cloud said sharply. "We needed Riku to come because we need to prepare for the winter famine. We aren't real wolves so we can't just follow the caribou herds into the warmer breeding grounds. Not only are we stuck here, but we'd only give ourselves away by traveling too often. At least the villages here respect and fear us enough to leave us alone so they don't stumble into our territory."

"Earlier…there was a human…" Riku began slowly, eyes unfocused as he pictured awed sapphire blue eyes and spiky brown hair. The other two wolf-men gave their leader their undivided attention. "He wandered a little close to our border, but I think he got scared off when he saw me."

Zack was the first to relax, "Ah, well if that's the case, then he shouldn't get caught in one of Her spells."

Cloud, however, wasn't as quick to let things lie. "Are you sure you scared him? There have been others that we've had to lead out of the woods and they've told others about our existence before. There was that one hunter clan that sent many of their youth here to be killed by the enchantments. They may continue to do so even now."

"So long as they are the ones who die, then what does it matter?" Riku asked grimly. "We haven't seen anyone in years, but if they're too foolish to know that we're unnatural and continuously seek us out, then it is only fair that we defend ourselves. The witch bound us to this forest in order to keep me from fulfilling the curse's stipulations under my own power, and her enchantments keep all but the one she seeks from entering. Nowhere in her conditions was it determined that we should allow ourselves to be harmed."

"That's true," a silky voice murmured from behind the alpha male. "Although, I suppose one who dooms his own family wouldn't find such a problem in eliminating outsiders."

Lip curling into a sneer, Riku turned and met the jade eyes of another silver haired male that looked similar to him. At the other male's feet, two light gray-furred wolves stood quietly, both with the same eyes as the young man focused on Riku's face. "Kadaj," Riku acknowledged, fingers subtly tightening into fists. "An interesting theory you have, since you are family as well."

"I was merely lucky enough to not be in line for the throne. Bastards are frowned upon after all," he said airily. His odd eyes glanced over as Cloud growled low in his throat, blue eyes fierce as his posture grew threatening. "Oh, big brother Cloud doesn't like me saying that word, does he? He never really liked acknowledging us as brothers. Odd, considering your father denied him as an heir to the kingdom…"

Zack, well-used to such exchanges, laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to calm him and gave Kadaj a serious stare. "You're not helping matters by being bitter. If anything, you should be trying to help your brother instead of hindering him with your false accusations every time you meet."

"So you would defend a murderer and betray Sephiroth's memory as well?" The silver-haired man lifted his lip into a sneer and turned his back on Riku in a blatant display of disrespect.

The soft sound of paw pads on snow caught the all of the males' attention, and a red-brown wolf padded silently into the clearing, its slight form instantly easing some of the tension of the males present.

Zack's lips curved into a warm smile. "Aerith…"

A head tilt was his only acknowledgement before soft emerald eyes found Kadaj's own. Against his better judgment, he could feel his ire drain away as the female wolf stared at him, neither reprimanding nor condoning his actions. It was always the same with her. No judgment, no questions, just that soft look of silent understanding.

It was unnerving.

"I'm leaving," he said abruptly, and with a subtle flex, his human form reshaped into fur and muscle as his gracefully loped away in a spray of sludgy snow. The other two wolves that had been on his heels quickly followed.

"Thank you, Aerith," Riku said softly, his head tilted so that his shaggy silver bangs covered his eyes.

The she-wolf gave a faint nod, her muzzle giving the faintest impression of a smile as she looked at first Zack then Cloud before jerking her head in the opposite direction.

Taking their cues, the two males took one last hesitant look at their leader before shifting forms and loping off after the rapidly retreating female.

Riku was grateful for Aerith's interference. Had she not come upon them, he and his half-brother would likely have ended up in another fight. The words Kadaj had been spewing were like poison, eating through his heart and burning bitterly like acid. His fists relaxed from their tense grip and he sighed, head rising as he took a deep breath of cool fresh air.

He'd long come to terms with the fact that his people were in this situation because of him, but it never failed to hurt when what was supposed to be the last of his family accused him of murdering those he'd loved with all his heart. It had been his own despair at their deaths that had led to him foolishly seeking solace in the witch's arms.

In the end, it had been the downfall of him and his people.

Fur grew in a steady stream over his features, and Riku let the change come over him as swiftly as he'd left it earlier. Right now, what he needed was to focus on the present and try his best not to think about the past and future. Dwelling on 'what ifs' only led to madness.

With a low howl, the white wolf sped off into the night, keens senses attuned to the growing darkness around him.

It was time to lead his pack into another day.

"Come…on…" Roxas struggled briefly, trying his best to stuff the less sensitive supplies into the relatively small trunk. He was trying to make it back to the cabin so that Sora wouldn't be too bored waiting for him. He was certain his brother was likely already exploring the edges of the forest, but to get far enough to begin their real search, they'd need camping supplies and markers to keep from getting lost.

The tundra was well-known for being unforgiving.

"Here, let me give you a hand," an amused sounding voice said. An instant later, a heavy hand slammed the trunk easily, as if Roxas's struggles had been cake for him.

The blond scowled, resisting the urge to kick his vehicle. "Thanks, I guess," he said, and turned to meet his unexpected helper.

A redhead with fiercely spiked hair and striking green eyes stood smirking at him, and Roxas had to control the urge to stare. Tentatively, he smiled and stuffed his hands in his thick coat pockets. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem," the other male said easily. "By the way, what're you doing out in a place like this anyway?"

"Research." Roxas answered easily, his eyes questioning as he looked the stranger over.

The redhead grinned at the look. "A few friends and I are going on a bit of a group hunt. It's meant to be a sort…of initiation if you like. Very dangerous, but also very fun, I hear."

Roxas shook his head. It wasn't uncommon for him to meet hunters on his little research trips, but so long as they weren't hunting the species he was seeking, they'd see no reason to butt heads. All the same, he was somewhat disappointed that the redhead was a cheap enough thrill whore that he'd stoop to hunting animals to get his kicks.

A hand was thrust in his face, startling him from his thoughts. "I'm Axel."

Blue eyes blinked and a calloused hand reached out to shake oddly slim ones. "I'm Roxas."

"Roxas, huh? I like it. Maybe once we're both done with our business up here we can get to together and talk," Axel hinted, his friendly, yet mischievous smile firmly on his face.

Against his better judgment, Roxas found his own lips lifting to return the smile. "That's going to be kind of hard when I'm going out to Snowy, which is in the middle of nowhere."

Surprise flitted across the redhead's face before it settled into a more considering look. "You wouldn't be looking for the so-called ghost wolves, would you?"

Roxas felt his eyes narrow in suspicion as he reevaluated the other male. "Maybe. Is that what you're hunting?"

Challenge lit green eyes and Axel looked away for a moment before meeting those calculating blue ones. "Yeah, but not hunting in the sense that you mean."

That threw the blond for a loop and he titled his head in confusion. "What—?"

"I'm a spook hunter," Axel admitted somewhat sheepishly, and his smile softened as he took in Roxas's confusion. "My friends and I have been into that supernatural stuff since we were all practically raised on it together."

"Who would've thought," Roxas said with a surprised snort of laughter.

"Well, since we're both heading up that way, we might as well go together and when we get there we can get to know each other," Axel offered hopefully.

Roxas felt his lips twitch. Man this guy was both terrible and earnest with his blatant flirting. But he had to admit…it was kind of cute. "Alright. We can get more acquainted once I've checked on my brother in town," he conceded.

The victorious smile on his new friend's face made it seem like a wise decision.

Sora nervously waited on the edge of the woods, his knuckles white on his supply pack as he mentally debated whether or not to venture back into the forest. He'd been doing this for a full day now. He had spent hours hesitantly coming back to the edge of the forest after that weird dream, drawn here—yet afraid to venture further. He'd spent all of his time this morning getting settled into the cabin he'd been given, drawing and writing his current observations while silently arguing with himself on whether or not he should go off on his own.

Carefully, he began marking the tall pine and evergreen trees in an effort to keep from becoming lost. He remembered Roxas's words well enough, but he also knew that there was no way he could remain idle anymore.

Even though he knew that the night before last had been a dream—had in fact convinced himself it was nothing more—something within him was aching to go out and find that enormous wolf he'd seen. It was a powerful, almost compelling urge, and Sora had never been one to deny his instincts for this long.

That hand-sized paw that had been cast in cement was clearly no dream or myth.

The rumors were what had brought Sora here after all. It was possible the relative isolation of the area had in fact warped or mutated the wolves into a much bigger size, or maybe an overabundance of prey had led to their increased girth after generations of it, but the only way to find out was to move in closer and find the wolves first.

In the time it would take Roxas to get to the supply camp and back, Sora could have found a den or two and begun following the pack's movements, so it made no sense for him to be idle. Roxas and his worrywart attitude wasn't enough to scare Sora off the trail of a new phenomenon.

Besides, his brother should have made it to the supply station and be about ready to come back at this point.

The sound of snow crunching under his feet was an oddly comforting sound, he realized as he trudged through the quiet forest. There were no leaves to break his rhythm and the snowshoes on his feet shaped the snow so that it was smooth enough to walk in instead of fluffy and unmanageable.

Bushes ahead of him rattled ominously and Sora paused in surprise, his shoulders tense as he prepared for another sighting of the magnificent creature from before. He slowly reached for his camera, because he wasn't too keen on upsetting or scaring the animal off with any sudden movements.

A low snuffling sound rumbled from the bushes and Sora's eyes lit up in anticipation as he unconsciously crept forward. This time, he'd be sure to get a clearer look….

A wolverine burst from the thicket, its small form kicking up twigs and snow as it pattered around the bush snorting furiously. Its beady little eyes settled on Sora and it began growling and grunting, clearly showing displeasure at having a human intrude on its territory.

"You're not what I'm looking for," the brunette muttered in disappointment before lowering his camera.

At the sound of his voice the creature started, its tail rising defensively as it made a mock charge at him, a clear warning to back off. Not one to disturb or unnecessarily stress wildlife, Sora backtracked on his trail and went east instead of west, failing to notice the deepening chill and increasingly violent winds.

Maybe he'd find what he was looking for if he searched hard enough…

Chapter Text

It had been a few hours since he'd first ventured into the forest when Sora decided that he was utterly and completely lost.

The sky had been steadily darkening with his trek into the forest, but a mystified glance at his watch had revealed that it was nowhere near sunset, so it shouldn't be quite so dark yet. After a moment, he'd noticed the faintest drifting of snow through the breeze that had steadily grow harder as the wind began furiously howling.

Sora fumbled with his jacket's hood and carefully wrapped his scarf around his unprotected mouth. Being so exposed to the cold was potentially dangerous, and with the onset of a storm, it was progressively getting worse; there was no way he could possibly continue his search safely.

He turned and sought out his markings only to realize with a detached sort of puzzlement that the trees were suddenly...different. Thinking he'd been turned around, he eyed the bark of the surrounding trees, searching for the bright orange tape strips he was positive he'd used not even 2 minutes ago when he'd stopped to get his bearings.

Nothing. Not even a hint or trace.

Ok, maybe he could just retrace his footsteps. Surely there would be an indent of his boot marks in the direction he'd come from?

Sora turned and stared. Then turned again in a slow circuit, his eyes frantically searching the ground. A faint thrill of fear traveled up his spine as he realized that there no visible signs of his footprints except the ones he was currently making.

This. Was. Bad.

At a loss, the scientist bit his lip and glanced around, his eyes the only visible feature on his face as he desperately searched for a hint of his previous trail.

"Shit," he whispered. "Roxas is going to kill me."

He'd been going forward, right? So maybe all he had to do was turn the opposite direction and just keep going. No big deal, right? Eventually he'd have to come across his trail markers and just follow them back to the cabin before Roxas could make it back and freak out.

A sound plan, he decided. Nodding sagely to himself, Sora hefted his supply bag higher on his shoulders headed off in the opposite direction, eyes squinted against the raging storm.

Too bad he'd forgotten that he'd turned from his original direction…

A loud honk startled Roxas out of his driving stupor and he paused to look at his rear view mirror. The truck that had been following him since the supply station was approaching from the side, the unmarked road that lead to the village more than wide enough for both vehicles to idle side by side.

He rolled his window down, conscious of the same thing happening in the other mobile.

Mischievous green eyes met his and Roxas felt a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Yo blondie, you wanna tag along with us to camp for a little break before you leave? You look like you could use some shut eye."

Regretfully, Roxas shook his head. "Sorry, I gotta go try and get there as soon as possible so I can get this stuff to my brother. He's probably foaming at the mouth waiting for me to get there."

"Come have coffee with us then," Axel countered. "I'm sure he can wait long enough for that. It's almost nine at night anyway. "

He had a point. "Well, I guess…"

"Great! Just follow us and we'll show you to our place!"

Another day wouldn't hurt, right?

Cold, Sora thought. Cold cold cold COLD.

His fingers, toes, nose, his everything was beginning to hurt. Exactly how long had he been out here? He'd emptied his thermos of its warming liquid, but there was just something so extreme about this storm. It was as if the blizzard itself was taking every bit of energy he had and was slowly sucking him dry.

All of his limbs were quaking in an unpleasant manner, but they were rapidly beginning to numb. And he was so tired. His eyelids were drooping, and every step was starting to feel like he was toddling along with a sack of bricks strapped to his feet. Shivers wracked his spine and he realized with a distant sort of surprise that he might die out here.

Haltingly, the boy fumbled with the bundle on his back, determined to try and start a fire with his kit. The thick leather gloves were slick with ice and terribly distracting, as he fought to get a proper grip on the zipper. It didn't help that his hands were trembling and his motor control was suffering.

A light whimper escaped from his lips as he stiffly tried to push his junk out of the way in search of matches.

He had to warm up, had to get warm or die. No dying, Roxas would be so mad if he up and died of a little cold…

I can do this, he thought. Just gotta...stay...awake...

The bag slipped from nerveless fingers.

It was silent in this corner of the forest. The silver wolf glided between the trees, its form making hardly any sound against the lightly packed snow. There were signs of a blizzard kicking up soon, so he was heading towards one of the pack's hidden dens for shelter; he couldn't die from something so trivial as the weather, but that didn't mean he wanted to be subjected to the discomfort of freezing until someone found him.

He had been seeking solitude when he'd left the rest of his pack back at the village. The entire week had been spent hunting and stocking up on supplies for the winter since, unlike regular wolves, they could not leave this damnable forest to follow the herds. Having no prey would lead to starvation of his people, and so they prepared for the winter bit by bit. His muscles were sore from all of the chasing—and in one instance—a lucky hoof blow to the ribs.

The muted sounds of his own paw pads on the freshly fallen snow somehow seemed loud now that he had time to be alone and think.

How many years had it been? How long had his people been forced to suffer for his own foolish mistakes? The years had crawled by so slowly in the beginning, when they had all been at a loss as to what exactly the witch's curse had entailed. The few who had been brave enough to try and make their way through the forest's border had disappeared for days on end, only to reappear at the village's gates, half-dead and weary from seemingly endless wandering, but with no memory of having walked back to their home. And their loved ones who had been unaffected by the curse, slowly began to age and die while they themselves could only watch in silent grief.

At first, his people had begun to resent and loathe him. As their prince, he was supposed to be the one to guide them through hard times and see to their every need. Instead, he had led them all into even darker tidings. He'd even begun to hate himself and would have gone mad from guilt and isolation had it not been for his half-sibling and his dark haired friend.

Zack and Cloud were a blessing, he thought. Even though he had been disowned by their father, Cloud had never shown a hint of resentment towards Riku when the younger boy had been named successor in the wake of Sephiroth's disappearance. In fact, those two had been closer to him than his eldest brother ever could have been.

His senior by eight years, Sephiroth had seemed alien and untouchable to Riku—a grim, stoic shadow that had been groomed from birth by their mother Jenova to rule their little village once the current king passed on. With Riku having been born so sickly, his elder brother had never truly bonded with him, fearing his youngest brother's early death would weaken his heart. And yet, when the blonde fey woman had come to Riku and healed him, Sephiroth had still held tight control over his emotions, as their mother had often held high demands on his composure.

The distance between the two brothers had become even more strained once it had been revealed that Cloud was their half brother and took to Riku much better than Sephiroth ever had. But then a rich farmer's son from the south had visited with his best friend and annoying little cousin in tow and changed all that. Genesis, Angeal and Zack-

A faint sound sent all thoughts of the past tumbling from his mind and he abruptly froze, shoulders low and tense as he lowered his head in search of the source. Thick nostrils flared, carefully searching for any hint of danger or weakness—it wasn't uncommon for a starving bear or lynx to attack one of them out of desperation. They were essentially humans with the ability to become wolves. That meant they had the same weaknesses and strengths.

A soft shifting of snow had Riku tilting his shaggy head towards the east; to him, it had been loud and jarring in the stillness of the softly falling snow. His gaze intense, he cautiously crept forward, his tread that of a wary predator ready to engage in the flight or fight response.

A few more tentative steps and the wolf strained all of his senses, puzzled at the lack of movement around him. Surely he had heard right? Something was out here…

The ground began trembling and Riku's eyes widened in surprise as he swiveled his ears. A low groan assaulted his ears, and it was so startlingly close that he almost instantly realized it was right underneath him!

He gave a startled yip and danced away from the faintly breathing pile of snow he'd unwittingly stood on. Whatever animal had been buried under the snow was still alive and had somehow managed to get its scent covered by the thick blanket of snow around it. Its softly shuddering body was nearly invisible given its icy camouflage, and the white wolf was curious as he carefully nosed around in the snow around the oblivious form.

A low noise emerged from the figure and Riku blinked in puzzlement. He'd never heard any kind of animal make that sound before. Emboldened by his curiosity, he began lightly brushing away the snow with his nose and paws, eyes focused intently on the bundle buried in the snow.

A miasma of unfamiliar scents began to surface along with the features, and Riku paused in surprise at the undeniable scent of human as his brain processed it. What was a human doing out here so far away from civilization?

The musky, earthy scent flooding his nostrils identified the human as a male—one that was weak and dying from the cold, he realized as he listened to the raspy, stilted breathing. He rapidly began uncovering the rest of the body, his eyes grim and yet curious as first the outline of a sealskin coat was revealed. Soon, a slim young man with a slightly blue tinge was lying in the snow before him, his face slack even as his pale frame gave minute shivers that raised faint alarm bells in the back of Riku's mind.

He needed to get this man warm as soon as possible. He'd worry about finding out why he was here soon enough.

The trek to the den was—thankfully—uneventful. Riku had already had enough excitement for one day.

He grunted as he slowly crouched to carefully ease the young man leaning on his back to a propped up position against the wall. He'd originally thought to simply drag the male back by the strength of his jaws alone, but that small frame was deceptively heavy. He'd had to shift in order to gather the man and his belongings without losing anything. An amused snort had a cloudy puff of air rising as the green eyed male sat back on his heels to examine the other man.

He looked very young, to Riku's jaded eyes. The smooth face and dark hair peeking through the hood were a testament to that youth, but the muscles he'd felt beneath the heavy winter coat told him that this was no boy. He looked to be around Riku's physical age.

So what was he doing here of all places, Riku wondered, bright eyes narrowing on the silent figure before him. Had this man gotten himself lost for cheap thrills? A bet?

Or maybe he was an unknown threat.

After a few more moments of hard, silent scrutiny yielded no answers, he shrugged and turned to one of the hidden niches of the cave, his nimble fingers easily locating the torch and flint tucked away on the shelf. Despite his suspicions, he wouldn't let the man die of hypothermia before getting answers.

Carefully covered wood was pulled out and arranged into a neat circle and a quick strike soon had the warm glow of a fire filling the cave with alternating light and shadow. The silver haired man gave a little half-sigh, half-grunt at the flood of warmth into the small space-he had been walking around naked as a jay in the freezing temperatures after all. A quick glance revealed that the unconscious man's clothing was thoroughly soaked-that would have to come off, Riku knew. He sighed in resignation and reached out to gently grasp the young man by the shoulders as he began unbuckling the bulky winter wear.

A small chain, previously hidden inside the thick winter clothing slithered out. The faint glint of metal in the fire light effectively caught the young duke's attention, and he carefully dropped the coat to the side to dry before reaching forward to lightly pull the rest of the chain out from the thick sweater it was buried beneath.

A small, innocuous amulet gleamed brightly in the cavern, its tiny form seeming almost warm in Riku's large palm. A slim finger lightly traced the outline of the key shaped object, jade eyes fastened upon it in uneasy intrigue. Something about this seemed familiar...

Something pressed in on Riku's memory and he leaned back, hand still gently wrapped around the amulet as he once again scrutinized his guest. Now that he thought about it, where had he seen...yes, that had to be it.

It was the man he'd seen in the woods before the hunt.

Without the coat hiding his admittedly unique hair, it was easy to see that this was the same human he'd chanced upon in his wanderings once before.

So Cloud had been right. He hadn't really scared the human away that day. Oddly enough, the thought was almost...pleasing. The bold, curious stare that the man had given him had intrigued him.

A light cough followed by a bout of harsh shuddering came from the man before him and Riku frowned. His hand lightly felt the man's forehead and he nearly cursed. If he didn't do something soon, the man would develop a full on fever. He hesitated. There would be hell to pay if he brought someone back to the manor when most of their life these days was keeping strangers out of their woods.

Another violent shiver decided it; whether he liked it or not, he needed to get help for this man. But first, he needed to warm him up enough to ensure that he would survive the effects of that woman's spell. He gently nudged the prone man to lay on his side a bit closer to the fire.

After giving himself a satisfied nod, he leaned back on his heels. Fur sprouted in thick layers over his skin, instantly forming the thick silver-white winter pelt that protected him from the cold. The somewhat awkward crouch that Riku had adopted left the wolf sitting elegantly on his haunches inches away from the slumbering man's face. Carefully, he crawled around and curled his large body protectively around the back of his shivering burden, valiantly attempting not to leave too much skin exposed. Once settled, he huffed and placed his head behind the young man's and lowered his large head on top of his folded paws.

Whoever you are, I hope it was worth coming here, he mused before allowing himself to rest.

Chapter Text

Her search had finally led her here to this small town, where the tenants were quiet, hardworking mortals that were unaware that someone very important was about to be born.

The blonde witch watched silently as the people of Kalm went on about their business, unaware of her presence. Her eyes looked around and she was slightly ashamed that for all her prophetic powers, she was not quite sure just where to start looking. How was one to go about finding a child who may or may not have even been conceived? She could probably observe young couples that were dating or married and search for the spark of life that she was waiting to emerge. Maybe the man and woman staring at her from the patio of that café would be a good place to start.

Wait.

Those people were staring at her.

Startled, Namine blinked at them in shock, then double checked—yes, she was using the spell properly. And yet there was not one, but two people looking straight at her. Fully aware and unsurprised by her appearance.

The woman, whose blue hair was so pale it could almost be silver—so similar to that boy from so long ago—gave her a small smile and a wave. "You can come over here, you know, little goddess. We won't bite," she said, visibly amused by the young goddess's shock.

The brunet at her side grunted, his expression sour as he crossed his arms and grumbled a quiet, "Maybe you won't."

Namine hesitated. Obviously these people knew who and what she was, but she didn't have the pleasure of knowing what they were. The vibe she was getting from them was not human, nor that of another god. Curiosity getting the better of her, the blonde drifted closer until she was in the midst of the two beings. The female's smile became gentle, and the male met her eyes in challenge. The looks of their eyes spoke of age beyond their physical appearance and the close proximity made her chest feel as if she were suffocating from the harsh press of swirling, ancient magic.

The blue haired female elbowed the male roughly in his chest. He winced at the harsh gesture and broke his gaze with Namine—and suddenly she could breathe again.

"What was that for, Aqua?" the man grumbled, his voice deep and stern.

"Stop trying to intimidate her, Terra," she said, scowling fiercely. "She's never seen our kind before so don't be an ass!"

"Yeah, yeah," the thing known as Terra grumbled. "I was just seeing if she had any sort of remnants in her. She did face off against one of his cronies, if you recall," he said, voice and dark eyes equally grim.

Aqua tsked. "That's no reason to invade her privacy so. I could tell just by looking at her that she's untainted. Her sister, however…"

At this, Namine's eyes widened and her pale hand went to her throat in astonishment. "You…you know of my sister?" the mingled hope and bemusement in her voice made the brunet eye her sharply for a moment before glancing away again just as quickly.

Now those radiant eyes turned sympathetic. "Your sister is the one born in twilight…Kairi, I believe, right?" At the goddess's nod, Aqua pursed her lips. "Are you aware of what the Victura are?

Namine thought back to all the lessons her mouth had drilled into both herself and her sister when they had just begun exploring the mortal world. Unfortunately, she came up blank. "No….I'm sorry," she said, confused and uncertain as to what this had to do with her sister.

Terra muttered a curse. "Figures! Arrogant gods forgetting their roots and thinking they're too good to teach their young anything important anymore."

Aqua shot him a dirty look for interrupting her before she could speak. He raised his hands in surrender before exaggeratedly grabbing his tea cup and taking a delicate sip. Taking that as a concession, the blue haired woman cleared her throat. "Well, when the universe was young, it was very cold, dark, and dull. So there were four beings—the first to ever exist!—known today as the Victurawho used their powers to create life itself. They made the heavens and earth, created the sky and ocean, and breathed life into the land so that trees and animals sprang up to cover the—"

"Although someone forgot to take a deep enough breath and ended up leaving little odd patches of desert here and there—oof!"

"As I was saying," the blue haired woman said through a toothy, not-friendly smile as her partner winced at his abused stomach (although her cheeks were suspiciously pink), " They made the world; and though it was beautiful, they realized that it was missing something essential to keep it interesting. There's only so many times you can travel a world you created before things get a tad bit stale. So these four beings consented to creating a group of creatures that would be perfect. They would have the power to synchronize themselves to the world their creators had made, but they would also govern that world. "

She shot a quick, brilliant smile at the young goddess. "That would be you 'gods,' my dear. Although I'm still convinced that arrogant supremacy issue that your kind seems to have was Terra and Xehanort's faults."

Terra opened his mouth-then promptly shut it at the fierce glare he suddenly found himself speared with. Sulking, he sipped more of his tea, his eyes glued to the enraptured face of the goddess hanging onto Aqua's every word.

"The Victura-by mutual agreement-decided not to interfere in the lives of their creations, but after a time, they realized that their first sentient creations were terribly boring and not as great an idea as they had originally thought. The four had always had an odd sort of balance amongst themselves, but the creation of more sentient beings had thrown that balance off. It also became obvious that those beings had forgotten their creators and the task they had been given at birth. They even began creating their own beings! Some were just horrible looking, nasty creatures that even they couldn't control! As an…experiment, a new type of sentient being, those of a simpler, more animalistic nature but the ability to reason was created in order to even out that balance."

"Humans," Namine breathed, her face awed as she stared at the two beings before her in puzzled awe. "So you two are…?"

"Two of the four Victura, at your service," Terra said with a small mock bow. His firm mouth was quirked lightly in amusement as Namine lightly began to wring her hands.

"So what does this have to do with my sister?"

The playful expression on Aqua's face dropped. Terra growled lowly. "You remember I told you there were four of us once upon a time, right?"

Once upon a time? That didn't sound good.

"Well," she continued without waiting for affirmation, "the sudden influx of so many sentient beings had a slow but noticeable effect on us. We each have certain…emotional and elemental affinities, and we unintentionally gave humans and gods the ability to amplify our own power by their belief in those affinities. "

"So the more who believe in your power…"

"The more we gain," Aqua confirmed. She held up a finger. "However, we set rules together that we would not interfere in the mortal world...but one of us cheated."

The goddess blinked. "Ch…cheated?"

A scowl formed on the blue haired woman's graceful features. "Yes, Xehanort. He'd always been so condescending and critical of the things we made, even if he had an influence in them. He'd always blabber on about restarting and making a world where we could all rule a piece and gain our own power now that we had figured out how to do it. He had a point, what with the wars and killing breaking out, but we were…."

"…quite fond of the mess we made," Terra grumbled, irritably tugging on a lock of long brown hair. " I liked the mistakes we made because it meant that something new would always be happening."

The two Victura smiled at each other and Namine had the distinct impression that she was a third wheel here when Aqua tutted. "There was one of us who thought the same and to prove to us all that we should keep this world around, he split his powers amongst his followers and allowed a large portion of his spirit to be born into a mortal form to sort of…collect information on life in general to see what we could do to improve it."

Terra stared into Namine's face, his dark eyes flat and unblinking. "The one who concerns you however, that is Xehanort. He was our equal in strength, but so many negative emotions have grown over the years that he's got a slight edge on us. We've been working on cutting him off from that by spreading some of our power about and it's sort of working but we can't…" Large fists clenched. "We just can't confront him with the two of us anymore. Our power is stretched too thinly. But, we know that Ventus is around here somewhere and if we can get his help for a bit we can lock Xehanort away in another dimension until he cools down. Your sister…she's one of the ones Xehanort has been feeding off of. He's given her powers that none of you should ever possess and it's eventually going to drive her mad until she needs to be…put down."

Aqua shot Terra another glare before lightly grasping Namine's hands and giving them a firm pat. "Don't worry, I know this is all a lot to take in but we can save your sister and get Xehanort out of earthly affairs. We just need you to do one simple thing for us…"

The blonde goddess glanced from one Victura to the other, her eyes wide and curious. "…yes?"

Aqua gave her a wild grin. "Find the heart Ventus is hiding in and protect it for a bit. I've seen the face he'll wear as an adult in my visions, but that doesn't help me find him as a child, unfortunately."

Something nagged at her in the back of her mind and she cautiously stared at the two superior beings in curiosity. "Did you approach me because my sister is involved with this?"

At their nods, Namine sighed. Here she had thought she was already having a hard time trying to figure out how to undo her sister's spell. Now she was tasked by ancient beings that were above the gods themselves to find and protect one of their own along with the soul she had been searching for in the last two centuries.

Terra patted her shoulder comfortingly before lightly grasping one of the blonde's hands and placing a small object in it. "Don't worry, once you think you've found the guy, just give him these and we'll show up when we need to."

Namine accepted the amulets gracefully before smiling at the two Victura. "I'll try my best."

"We know," they said in unison.

Chapter Text

Roxas smiled in relief as he surveyed the small cabin he'd left his brother behind in. Despite his little unexpected pit stop, he was pleased to see that they'd made good time getting the supply truck back to the village. "Well, his snowmobile is still here, so he should be here, too," he muttered and hopped down from the cab of his truck before pocketing the keys and slamming the door.

Behind him, there was the distinct slam of another door and he glanced back to see Axel carefully stretching his lithe form. Shaking himself out of it, Roxas made his way to the cabin door and began pounding on it. After a few seconds of no response he tried the door—and blinked in surprise as it easily swung open.

He scowled. Sora knew better than to leave his doors open like that. He could have gotten mugged or some wild bear could have wandered in or something! It drove him crazy sometimes how irresponsible his little brother could be, even though he was nearing thirty.

"Sora!" he called, carelessly stamping the snow from his boots. A quick glance around the living room showed hastily thrown clothing spread out over the couch and a few dishes scattered on the coffee table.

Roxas wrinkled his nose at the mess. "Slob," he groused, but left the offending kitchenware there as he continued to call his brother's name.

"Nice place," Axel's voice said from behind him, and Roxas didn't even need to look to know that he was snickering over the messy state and Roxas's own annoyance at it.

"Sorry," the blond apologized as he walked into his brother's temporary bedroom to inspect his stuff. "Sora is a bit absentminded."

"No problem, want some help looking for him?"

No answer.

"Roxas?"

Axel leaned his head around the door frame curiously. His blond friend was standing with pinched lips as he examined a battered old suitcase, his sapphire blue eyes bright with worry.

"Shit," the scientist suddenly exclaimed. "I told Sora not to, but does he listen? No. I bet he went into the damn woods anyway," Axel heard him hiss as he scrambled out of the bedroom and squeezed past Axel as if he wasn't even there.

"Hey, whoa! What's the hurry?"

"My idiot brother is wandering in the woods by himself," the blond snapped in explanation as he barreled through the back door of the cottage after scooping up his gearpack from where he'd dropped it, Axel right on his heels like an obedient puppy.

"I'm sure he's fine," the redhead told him flippantly. "Besides, isn't he a grown man?"

Roxas knew that he was right and sort of agreed with him, but there was a nagging feeling of urgency and unease pushing at the edges of his mind.

"Even so, I need to go," he said firmly, pushing past the redhead.

HIs hand was caught and he whipped his head around to glare at Axel, whose normally playful visage was creased in concern. In the short time he had known him, Roxas had never seen the man this serious.

"I'll help," the redhead said quietly, his green eyes bright with sincerity.

…

Aqua eyes lazily opened as Riku fought off the tempting lure of sleep.

The white wolf lay in the now dark interior of the cave, his body tightly pressed to that of his charge. Even in his sleep, he had felt the slight tremors racking the body of the human he had been trying to keep warm. Now though, the absence of an active fire had only intensified the severity of the unconscious man's shivering. An unpleasant sensation squeezed Riku's heart for a moment, and he leaned back a bit to peer into the human's face.

A pale face furrowed with discomfort was the first sign that something was wrong. The slight bluish tinge to the man's lips was worrying. There was no way that Riku could afford to wait any longer to get the brunette some help. Luckily, the man's fever had broken, so there was no danger in that particular venue; however, the danger of the man freezing to death while Riku went to retrieve Aerith was all too real.

Another shudder racked the brunette's body and instinctively, Riku found himself nearly draping his furry body over that of the other male's. His large body tucked itself around the somewhat skinny brunette's and his large muzzle was tucked into the crook of an icy cool neck. A small noise, not unlike that of a wounded animal escaped his charge's lips and the white wolf's ears folded back in alarm. For some unknown reason, he really wanted to help this stranger get well, but he seemed to be doing more harm than good right now. He really needed Aerith's help right about now, but could he really leave this man all alone in order to retrieve her and risk the chance of him dying?

What could he do?

Riku leaned his large head down beside the unconscious man's chest. Furry white ears flicked about as he listened to the soft, near stilted sounds of his charge's breathing. The stranger had already been in a bad way when Riku had first discovered him in the snow, but now it seemed far worse.

Riku's heart clenched and he gave a low, anxious whine. Even if he didn't know this person he didn't want them to die this way. Something about the stranger's gaze when they had locked eyes earlier had intrigued the cursed male and some long forgotten instinct had flared to life. It had taken all his willpower to run away in the face of those eyes, as if something in them had been calling to him as surely as his own pack member's voices.

The wind gave another howl from the mouth of the cave and aqua eyes flicked to the entrance to see that the brief lull in the storm would soon be over. If he didn't get help for the dying male soon, there'd be no hope left for him at all. Still...Riku's eyes latched onto the stranger's face and he resolved himself to do whatever it took to make sure this man lived. It wasn't fair that people who wandered into these woods would be punished for something they had no involvement in.

A low huff from Riku's nostrils stirred the cinnamon brown spikes of the unconscious man's hair. A faint shiver made Riku lean closer and shut his eyes as he tried his best to share a bit of warmth with the stranger before he left to find help.

After a minute or so, he rose from atop the other male and readjusted the now mostly dry clothing back over his sleeping denmate. His stance was more than a bit reluctant as he began to head towards the cave entrance. A final glance back revealed the rebundled form of the stranger, who slumbered on, not knowing that his fate was resting in the hands of a selfish man turned beast.

Please stay alive, he begged silently, his heart heavy with the knowledge that he might already be too late.

Unbeknownst to him, the dark charm settled around the stranger's neck began to glow, its tiny form resting lightly over his slowly beating heart.

…