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Thus far, Kageyama’s hunt had proven quite fruitless. It was getting dark and he was exhausted from traveling through the large forest.
He wasn’t lost. Not that he’d admit. He’d simply taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Of course, with the sun now completely hidden behind the mountains, he was finding it more and more difficult to tell which direction he should go next.
Tired, sore, and a little grimy, Kageyama decided to rest beside a river. He removed his hooded cloak and set his quiver and bow atop it. The cool water from the river felt great on his overheated skin. He cupped more in his hands and washed his face, rinsing away the dirt.
Even though it was night, the air was still humid and balmy and, with the water feeling as good as it did, he figured he could take a quick dip.
Kageyama removed the rest of his clothing and set it beside his cloak. Then he stepped into the slowly flowing river. He didn’t regret it immediately. In fact, he released a soft sigh as the cool water enveloped him. He dunked his head under and then stood back up, shaking the excess droplets from his hair and then scrubbing his face.
It was then that he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a hooded figure poking around his things.
“Hey!” he shouted, startling them.
They snapped their head up so quickly, their hood fell back, revealing an unusual head of bright orange hair. But that wasn’t the only strange thing about the boy. He also had pointed ears.
But Kageyama didn’t care what the other boy was, he was more concerned with the way he was pawing at his personal belongings.
“Get away from there,” he growled, making his way through the waist deep water and back toward the riverbank.
The odd, orange-haired boy gasped and quickly grabbed for Kageyama’s belt and quiver full of arrows before taking off into the thick of the forest.
“Damn it!” Kageyama cursed and pulled himself out of the water. He stepped into his pants and tugged his tunic over his head as he grabbed his cloak and bow and ran after the pointy-eared thief.
He increased his speed when he spotted an orange head of hair bobbing between trees.
“Give those back!”
“N-No!” the thief shouted over his shoulder and kept running.
Kageyama groaned in annoyance, but didn’t slow down. He had no coins to replace those items and no pelts to trade. If he lost sight of the little crook, he was out of luck. He gave another burst of speed.
Finally, he was close enough and, just as his fingers brushed the fabric of the boy’s hood, he smacked his face against a tree.
He stumbled backwards, dazed. His last thought before the darkness engulfed him was, ‘Where the hell did that tree come from?’
When Kageyama came to, he heard two people talking.
“Do you th-think he’s d-dead?” a shaky feminine voice asked.
“No.” He felt something poke him in the ribs. “He’s breathing.”
He groaned as he fought to open his eyes.
“H-He’s waking up!” the first girl said.
He felt another poke, this time on his cheek.
“Stop poking me,” he growled and turned onto his side. He blinked open his eyes and immediately glared at the two staring down at him.
One girl looked to be about his age, with chin-length blonde hair and light brown eyes. The other was younger, but she was the spitting image of the boy who’d stolen his things. Both had pointy ears like him, as well.
“Give me back my-” he began, trying to sit up. Then the room spun and he fell back onto the cot.
“Try not to move!” the blonde girl said, holding her hands out. “You hit your head pretty hard.”
“Hit his face, you mean, Yachi-san,” the other snorted.
Kageyama tried to glare at her, but his head hurt.
“Onii-chan said he ran into him, right?” the orange-haired girl asked her friend.
“I ran into a tree,” Kageyama ground out, sitting up carefully this time. “I was chasing your…brother, I guess.” He looked at the younger girl. “And then he must have moved and I hit a tree.”
“Nope!” She beamed. “That was him.”
“Natsu, don’t tell him that!” someone shouted from behind him.
Kageyama turned and spotted the boy who’d stolen his things.
“Thief!” He tried getting up, but his legs were tangled in the blanket they’d put over him.
“I’m sorry!” He bowed low. “I just saw you abandon your things when you stepped into the river.” His cheeks were flushed and Kageyama was confused for a moment before he remembered he’d been naked.
“You were spying?” He drew his brows down, a frown on his lips.
“Onii-chan’s in love with humans!” Natsu cheered.
“Natsu-chan!” Yachi scolded, her cheeks pink, too. “Hinata-kun loves human things, n-not-” She glanced over at Kageyama and then looked away.
“Okay, I get it.” Kageyama sighed and rubbed his face, wincing at the ache in his nose. “But I need those back, so if you’ll kindly hand them over-” He froze. “Wait. Human?”
“Yeah.” Natsu stood up and ran over to her brother. “You are a human, right?”
“I am.” Kageyama regarded them, taking in their pointed ears and pearlescent skin. “What are you?”
“We’re wood nymphs!” she announced proudly.
“Wood nym…” Kageyama trailed off, blinking up at a blushing Hinata. Natsu pushed her brother forward. He stumbled and then caught himself, rubbing his upper arm.
“I’m, uh." His eyes were downcast. “Sorry I transformed and hurt you.”
Kageyama caught sight of Natsu grabbing Yachi and pulling her out of the room. Then his focus was back on Hinata.
“And I’m sorry for stealing your things.” He looked up then and Kageyama’s breath caught.
Hinata’s hair was odd and his eyes were so large, but captivating. Nymphs were supposed to be beautiful creatures and, now that he'd gotten a good look at him, Hinata certainly was.
“Anyway, you were hunting right?” he asked, breaking Kageyama from his thoughts.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Well, to repay you, um, I can help you catch some animals, okay?”
Kageyama raised his brows, but agreed.
“Good.” Hinata smiled and Kageyama’s heart skipped a beat. “So, what do you do once you’ve caught them? Pet them or…” Hinata blinked innocently. “You won’t hurt them, will you?”
Kageyama groaned. So much for getting pelts to trade…