Chapter Text
“Somewhere lost in the clouded annals of history lies a place that few have seen, a mysterious place called the unknown. Where long forgotten stories are revealed to those who travel through the wood.”
What would you do if your younger brother insisted you take him out into the gardens as a chaperone and somewhere along the way you end up in the woods? There are no woods behind your family’s decaying plots of generational gardens, yet here you are. Trudging along a trail of forest brush, leaves of past seasons crunching beneath your feet. And perhaps you would have no clue what to do. In that event, you would be no different than the heir Sirius Black.
His dark cloak, fastened with silver buttons and embroidered with decadent fauna, fluttered against his ankles in the chill autumn breeze. The air smelled of leaves, squirrels scampered up trees, rustling the forest floor whenever the brothers got too close. The sun peaked through the canopy’s red and gold cover warming their backs as it slowly began to sink behind the horizon giving way to the warping trees and howls of the night. But for now, its warmth was enough to almost distract Sirius from his ears that had gone pink in the chill. After moments of silence Sirius paused in his tracks and looked around, pivoting his head. Everything around them looked the same. They were lost.
“Okay, where are we?” Sirius asked, baffled that they still had not found their way home.
Regulus turned around to face his brother, his jeweled eye mask still on. He stared directly at Sirius, his icy grey eyes standing out despite the glittering diamonds he sported. His face was blank
“In the Woods.”
Sirius rolled his eyes as his face fell into his hands with a heavy sigh. Of course Regulus would be no help, afterall, he's the one that got them into this mess. Sirius gathered himself and meandered over to an old stump on the path’s edge. He ran his hands through his wavy black hair and stared out into the woods. The sun was quickly retreating into the dark, casting long winding shadows of trees slowly creeping with their mangled branches.
“This is hopeless-” Sirius was cut off by a far off melodic whistle, he bolted up and peered down the path. Down the way he saw a man dressed in all black with a tall tophat to match. He carried a hatchet swung over one shoulder and a lantern hanging at his side creating a cool light that made it look as if the ever darkening wood was bending around him. Sirius looked at Regulus inquisitively but Regulus gave no input or showed any emotion at all. Just a quiet cynical stare. Sirius knew he was thinking more than he let on, he always was. He watched the old man wearily form a distance. He placed the lantern gently on the forest floor and swung his axe with great force. The crack of the trunk echoed through the wood and a flock of ravens screeched and flapped away. The Woodsman chopped up the rest of his lumber and tied it to a bundle on his back, and before he knew it, the man was gone.
“We should have asked him for help.” Sirius said as they walked over to the place where The Woodsman had been. The fresh stump oozed a smooth black liquid, perhaps some kind of sap. Regulus shrugged.
“You can ask me for help.” Sirius and Regulus jumped at the voice. They turned around, and sitting behind them, at the path’s edge, was a large mousey brown wolf. He was thin and larger than a normal wolf ( or what Sirius would deem a normal wolf ) and had scars all over his body, little nicks on his limbs, and one large slash across his muzzle. The gold in his hazel eyes glinted in the dark.
“Reg, why is that wolf talking?”
“How am I supposed to know? I’m not exactly a wild wood aficionado.”
Sirius grabbed his brother's forearm and began backing the both of them up, not taking his eyes off those staring back at him. His heart was racing, if being lost and living off of pocketed party pastries wasn't bad enough, being mauled by a wild beast definitely took the cake.
“I’m sorry, didn't mean to alarm you. But I couldn't help but pick up that orange tart scent, gosh I haven't had one in so long.” The wolf took a step closer slowly approaching the quickly back-pacing boys. Sirius tightened his grip on his younger brother’s arm and took off like a shot into the night leaving the wolf in their dust.
He ran as fast as his legs would take him, practically dragging Regulus behind him. He wasn't going to let them die, certainly not in such a grisly manner too. He had to get them out of there. Sirius looked over his shoulder seeing those glinting eyes grow smaller and duller the further they got until they were finally out of sight and long gone into the night.
“Sirius!” Regulus called to his brother, his wrist was beginning to hurt from the tug of Sirius’s grasp. “Sirius!” He said more firmly. Nothing still, he was still running, enough power for the both of them. “Sirius stop!” Regulus freed his wrist from his brother’s iron clamp. He stood plated to the soil beneath his feet. Sirius slowed down and turned around to face Regulus, his hair windswept and disheveled, eyes wild.
“What?!” Sirius breathed heavily.
“There.” Regulus extended an arm, pointing to a clearing on their left where the forest path narrowed and then opened up again.
Sirius paused. “Oh. Yeah, that's great. Thanks.”
“Dont mention it.”
Beyond the path was a circular clearing in the trees. Sat in the middle was a small cabin with a watermill and a skinny little stream making its way out of the forest, onto the property, and then back into the forest. The cabin was built with a pale wood and appeared to be made by a skilled amateur. The mill on the side creaked as it struggled to continue its Sisyphus like rotation with the slow stream below it. The front door slowly opened and an arm holding a lantern emerged, soon followed by The Woodsman and his tall tophat. He stood in silence in front of the door, his face illuminated by the lantern, staring back at the brothers.
“Recon he’s seen us?” Sirius whispered to Regulus.
The Woodsman slowly reached his lantern out to the boys far off before the clearing. “The beast is afoot here.” A puff of cold air left his mouth with when he spoke. His voice was deep and emotionless, and had a grading element like chalk board in the silence of winter. His face unwavering and stern. It sent a chill down Sirius’ spine.
Silence.
“Well don't just stand there catching your death, come in.” He barked and turned around back into the cabin, taking the only light with him. Sirius and Regulus exchanged looks and headed into the clearing, arriving at the door. The darker the night got the longer the trees around them seemed to become, as if they were slinking around trying to weave their near bare branches together to block out the sky.
“Are you sure about this?” Regulus asked when they arrived at the cabin’s door.
“Well, it's not like we have a better choice. He was right, it's dark and cold. We need a place to sleep.” Sirius took a deep breath in before twisting the bronze door knob and letting himself and Regulus in.
The interior of the cabin was almost as bare bones as the outside. It was one room with a ladder leading to a loft above. There was a stone fireplace pumping hot smoke out the chimney, a sunken old red sofa, a stove cooking a stew of sorts, and a circular dinner table with room for three. Sirius closed the door cautiously behind himself and Regulus, wiping his boots on a beaten threadbare rug. By the fireplace, The Woodsman stoked the flames, small embers dissipating and disappearing with each poke of his hooked iron tong. The pair stood rigid by the door in silence as the man made his way up from his knees aching and groaning. He turned around to face Sirius and Regulus. His hair was grey under his hat, his eyes small and sunken into pale wrinkled skin on a larger frame.
“What brings you boys to the wood? This place ain’t safe for well done up fellows like yourselves.” The Woodsman gestured to Regulus’ glitz spangled eye mask and Sirius’ heavy well made cloak. The boys looked at themselves then back to the old man.
“We're lost.” Sirius spoke, embarrassed to admit it.
“Well that's for damn sure.” The Woodsman remarked, grabbing his lantern off the floor.
“Listen,” Sirius took a step further into the house brushing any reservations he had aside. “We don't really know where we are and,” He sighed, Sirius was never good at asking for help. “we could really use a place to stay for the night, or even some direction out of here.”
The Woodsman gave the two a weary look and clicked his tongue three times,
tsk tsk stk.
“You and your brother should be safe here while I work.” He stirred the pot on the stove and dished out two bowls of the stew, the aroma of unseasoned carrots, celery and potatoes wafted up. “I grind the trees into oil to keep this lantern lit.” He placed the bowls on the table and got right up close to Sirius by the door, peering eyelevel at him. “Everyone has a flame to burn, son.” His harsh voice chilled the room, graded by the years of solitude and nobody to use it with. The Woodsman reached for the door and grabbed his hatchet leaning by it before exiting the cabin and pausing by the door letting the cool whistling air in. Sirius tightened his cloak. “You can leave, but remember, The Beast haunts these woods in search of lost souls like yourself .” He looked Sirius and Regulus up and down. “Watch out.” and he was gone into the night, lantern and hatchet in hand.
Sirius looked at Regulus, a frenzy of fear and confusion and some overwhelming dread was festering in his gut. He ran and threw the door open and called “Thank you!” but The Woodsman was already long gone, how he traveled that fast, Sirius would never know. Sirius closed the door, happy to have some semblance of shelter. Regulus made his way over to the fire and was warming his fingers. Sirius glanced around the cabin before turning his attention back to his little brother. “Is there really a beast out here or is that guy just messing with us?” He looked out the window trying to see the lantern burning, but it was completely dark outside.
“Hes probably just some old diluted man who's been living on his own too long to know hide from hair.” Regulus said, sitting himself on the floor by the flames.
“Yeah…” Sirius groaned and let himself fall back onto the old couch with a fwump. He laid on his back staring up at the dry splintering roof planks above them. “You know,” Sirius reached his hands behind his head “I don't think we're ever gonna make it out of here.”
“Mhm”
“I mean we've just been walking aimlessly for hours. I mean lets be realistic, we're never getting home again. Not that that's a bad thing…”
“Mmm” Regulus poked the firewood with the iron rod.
“But also it's not like I want to be stranded out here, I didn't ask for all this. I actually don't ask for a lot in general. I'm quite a civil guy, no? So then why does nothing ever go my way?”
Regulus shrugged.
“I mean come on! The worst things always happen to the best people, and I'm not saying I'm ‘the best people’ but I'm surely not the worst. I’ve seen the worst.”
“Mmm”
“I feel like a boat drifting on the water aboard a winding black sea. Isolated from all with no hopes of ever returning. Not a cloudless clearing on this relentless expanse in sight.” He brought his wrist to his forehead
“Woe is you.”
“Exactly.” Sirius rolled over and buried his face in his arms. “I just cant keep-”
The door creaked and Sirius looked up, Regulus was by the door with the bowls of stew.
“What are you doing?” Sirius asked, peeking up over the couch.
“Well you're not going to eat this are you?”
Sirius shook his head no
“Right, I'm gonna go down to the creek to wash them. It's the least we can do for his hospitality.”
“Great, well I'm gonna stay here.”
“Whatever floats your boat.” Regulus remarked sarcastically as he disappeared out the door leaving Sirius on the sofa with the fire.
The light of the fireplace inside illuminated the side of the cabin though a little four pane window. Regulus kneeled down by the creek and poured out the soup, rinsing the bowls in the icy cold water freezing his freshly thawed fingers again. “Beast.” He muttered to himself “I’ll believe it when I see it, old man.” Some leaves rattled off in the wood and Regulus snapped his head up, freezing his motions on site. He squinted and slowly looked around. Nothing. The woods were silent. His heart was beating, and the sound was nearly deafening, it was all he could hear in the eerie darkness until a murmur… A murmur soft as a baby’s coo but as stern as a fast approaching freight train charging down the tracks. Silence again, his warm breath slowly puffing out into clouds in the brisk night air. He could hear the blood in his ears and smell the fresh creek, all was still. Too still.
Instantly out of the dark Regulus was tackled into the creek, slamming his head against the bank. The night was no longer silent. He let out a surprised yelp as a nine foot tall beast pinned him to the ground. Its breath was hot and its growls were loud enough to send vibrations through bone. It was huge and hairy and walked on four legs. Regulus’ shoulders tensed under its gigantic paws, claws scratching his shirt. The beast had him, bearing its teeth, hundreds of white, sharp razors breathing right into his face. Eyes of pastel blue, red and yellow locking with regulus’ own. He struggled to breathe under the weight. The beast opened its mouth, rumbly growls getting more intense by the second. This was it, Regulus thought, there's no getting out of this. Then as the beast was about to bite, a loud bang sounded right behind it and the beast leapt off Regulus
“Away from my brother beast!” Sirius, wielding the stew pot, pummeled the beast with The Woodsman behind him. Sirius grabbed his brother's hand and pulled him out of the stream, trembling in the cold beneath drenched clothes. “Come on!” Sirius cried as the three fled inside. The beast’s whimpers of pain were replaced with fearsome growls and barks.
They slammed the door shut and wedged a chair from the dining table under the knob. They stood panting inside, eyes locked on the door. A scratch sounded on the wood. The door began to bow under the stress. The beast could be heard ramming itself into the frail wooden door.
“You boys better brace yourselves” The Woodsman said, hatchet in hand. Just then the huge hairy monster came flying through the door. Splinters of wood shooting every which way. “Climb!” Sirius pushed Regulus up the ladder to the loft. “What the hell is that thing?!?” Sirius yelled when they reached the top.
“Hell if I know! Probably that damn beast, the man wasn't crazy after all!” The beast’s claws latched onto the edge of the loft, pulling at the old wood. Its shrieks and growls shook the little mill. It hoised itself up in front of the brothers, teeth dripping with foam. The boys quickly climbed out the loft window and up onto the roof, helping each other along the way, holding on for dear life. The beast crashed through the roof.
“Jesus will this thing never stop!?” Sirius kicked his feet at the beast. “Do something! Distract it!” he shouted, dodging bites. Regulus frantically searched for something, anything to get them out of this predicament. Ah ha! His hands reached for an old pastry in his pocket and waved it in the air.
“You hungry?” He yelled to the beast. “Fetch!” He chucked the pastry off the side of the roof down to the creek. The beast took a nosedive off in its wake and fell right onto the mill. It howled and yelped stuck in the gear. Crank, crank, crank… POP. The beast exploded, dark greasy liquid falling everywhere.
“Yuck.” Sirius panted, shaking the explosion matter off his shoe. He pushed his hair back, catching his breath.
“NO!!!”
The boys perked up at the sound of The Woodsman’s echoing howl.
“No, no, no, it can't be!”
Sirius and Regulus looked at each other and made their way down the shredded cabin to see The Woodsman knelt down by a twisted contorted pipe and spout.
“Woodsman, it's alright, the beast is gone.” Sirius said standing behind the weeping man.
“That wasn't the beast fool!” The Woodsman shot up shoving Sirius to the wall, his voice gravely and full of pain. “The Beast stalks like the night, he sings like the four winds. He's the death of hope. He steals the children!”
“Hey get off, would ya? We wouldn't even have had that- that whatever it was if Reg didn't pocket those pastries. Damn things followed the scent. You're always messing up!” Sirius shot his brother a glare he could feel the anger bubbling up inside him making his chest hot. Regulus’ cold expression faltered for just a moment and Sirius caught a brief glimpse into his feelings. That cut deep, he knew it would. But he was just so angry, and it was true. It was fine, what will be will be, he’ll surely forgive him later.
“Boy! You have it backwards! You are the eldest child!” The Woodsman poked a round finger firmly into Sirius' chest. “You are responsible for you and your brother's actions. You must go take your brother off and look for a town.” The Woodsman pointed to the path from which they came just hours prior. The sun was slowly creeping back up over the horizon in the east, pushing the twisting shadows back into the crevices they had stretched out of. The morning air was thick with fog slowly rolling through the wood, dew drops materializing on blades of grass.
Sirius turned, beaconing Regulus to follow along as he marched back to the trail of the woods.
“One last thing,” the Woodsman added, looking over his shoulder.“Beware of the unknown,” his voice was low and his hands shaky. “ Fear The Beast, and flee these woods if you can. It's your burden to bear.” A weary eye glanced from Sirius to Regulus before The Woodsman turned on his heels and disappeared behind his splintered home.
“Sirius-”
“Stop, I can't talk to you right now.” Sirius shot back
“But-”
“Let's just find a town and get out of these woods.” Sirius said, making his way back to the path with a sigh.
Regulus stood behind him. “Fine.” he said, deliberately bumping into Sirius’ shoulder while passing him, leading the way back to the path.
Sirius glared daggers into the back of Regulus' head and pushed his guilt deep down. The cool morning air filled his lungs, morning crickets chirped, enjoying the dew as the two brothers walked with the drifting fog curling up and around the dark bending trees. And far off in the forest, somewhere, a wolf’s howl echoed through the wood.