Work Text:
Today was a good day. A most joyous day, even! Amarah had relieved Two Time of their religious duties for the day. It was a very holy day tomorrow, and they had to prepare the church for everyone to sit and pray in for the entire day. Two Time had begged to help at first, but now that they had the day off, they had only one thing on their mind. Or rather, one person. It started as just a kind relationship between them, but Two Time had grown increasingly close to Azure. He was kind, funny, interesting, and everything he did made Two Time’s heart flutter just a little bit. He had even given them a nickname! ‘My Nightshade’. The name made them feel so happy that they wanted to throw up whenever they thought about him. They wanted to spend their lives with him, both of them. And today, they could grow even closer with him
Azure upon learning of Two Time’s day off, had planned something for the both of them. A delightful picnic!
Two Time crept out of their room, and walked quietly down the halls of their shared residence with Amarah. The man had chosen Two Time as his protege, so they had been cohabitating for a while. Two Time wasn’t… The biggest fan of this, Amarah had always been strict even before living in a room right next to him, and being reprimanded and punished for every little thing got sad and frustrating really fast. But, it was for the spawn, Amarah told them. They had no right to be frustrated with the spawn, did they? They had no right to complain, to not do as their mentor said, didn’t they? Two Time felt their stomach turn. Luckily Amarah was gone for the day, still working in the church, so he wasn’t there to tell them that feeling sick is sinful again.
Azure was such a breath of fresh air for Two Time, it always felt like a weight was… No, weights on the shoulder are bad. It was more that it felt less heavy around him, the air softer than before. They could slip up, make mistakes, and Azure wouldn’t berate them. He wouldn’t hit them. He wouldn’t… He would never hurt them. And Two Time swore to never hurt them either.
They had left their house now, and they let out a sigh of relief, thankfully one not heard, as there was no one nearby.
Outside of the compound… Did they hear him right? They’d been out there before, sure, but it was… Creepy. Sounds they didn’t know the source of, howls in the distance, one time they swore they even saw a beast, faster than any robloxian with big yellow eyes running on all fours that-
“Helloooo? Two Time? You there buddy?” Azure said, waving his hand in front of Two Time’s face. They zoned out quite often, usually thinking about the spawn or what not.
“O-Oh! Yes, Sorry, I was just… thinking… Y-You said that these flowers are o-outside, yes?” Two Time stammered out, their nervousness unnoticed by Azure at first, the boy absorbed into his work.
“Yeah. They’re beautiful, and there’s a pretty big patch of them just a little bit outside the gates. I usually have some, but Amarah used the last of my supplies to get ready for tomorrow.” He said, bashful about having to make Two Time do work. No, he thought, there was no harm in just going out for a little bit, and they had asked how they could help!
“O-Okay… I’ll be back shortly, dearest Azure… May the spawn bless your day and guide you to your success!” They smiled as they spoke, then turned to leave, bowing as they reached the door.
“And you as well, my nightshade!” Azure chimed back with a grin on his face. Today would be perfect. As they got the flowers, he’d set up the perfect picnic, and then when they came back… He’d ask them to be his partner. How romantic.
--
The forest was creepy, straight up. Two Time hated it. With each step they took they could feel different things scratching against them, branches poking their side, little leafy vines rubbing against their legs. It felt like at any moment they could step on something and it’d bite them. Nerve wracking, to say the least. But all they had to do was follow Azure’s directions to the patch and back, and they’d be in the clear. All they had to do was-
*crack*
Two Time snapped their head around to look towards the source of the sound. Right behind them, not ten feet, was a tree branch on the ground, snapped in half. But there was nothing there. Nothing nearby, even. The forest grew quiet. Quieter than they had ever heard it. No bugs, no birds, nothing.
All they could feel was that there was… something behind them. They whipped their head around again, trying to find the source, but once again, nothing. Even still, the presence didn’t fade. If anything, it got stronger. It felt like when they had done something wrong, and were in their room while Amarah paced around in anger. It felt like that, but a hundred times worse. They quickly bolted off, still trying their best to follow Azure’s instructions, until they came upon it. The clearing.
The deep, rich purple flowers seemed to crawl up the hill, trails like veins growing up from the ground. The small hill was a bit taller than Two Time, so they had to climb if they wished to see what was at the top. However, atop the hill was something they didn’t want to see.
There were beautiful flowers, yes, but also a man, one Two Time didn’t know, with several grievous wounds littering his body.
“Holy shit, f-finally… Listen, kid, you gotta help, there’s a-”
The man’s words were cut off as a sword impaled itself through his chest, cleaving right through his back. The wet snap of muscle and sinew was sickening, nothing like Two Time had ever heard before. They’d felt their dagger on their own flesh before, but this level of violence was overwhelming. Two Time stumbled back, falling on their rear as they watched a chunk of the Man’s flesh disappear from his shoulder with a wet crunch, but no creature was nearby. At least, not yet.
With several brutal sounding snaps and the sound of bones grinding together, something faded in from behind the man. Some sort of beast. It was tall, much taller than Two Time, its skin was a deep black, almost seeming to be leathery in texture. Though oddest of all was its face. It had a pale white head, with deep green eyes, and a similar color for its teeth. It smiled at Two Time with those horrible teeth, green but stained with the red of the man’s flesh.
“Ahh… Fresh meat.” It said, and Two Time stumbled back. This thing could… talk? It looked over at Two Time, then back at the corpse, then shrugged. “Full… meat… Meat… Not scared? Why not run?” Oh… Was it talking to them?
“H-Huh? M-Me?” Two Time pointed to themself, still frozen in fear, to which the creature nodded.
“You not run like others… Pursuer… Confused… You smell like meat, but meat runs…” the creature dropped the corpse and walked closer, with each step, Two Time could feel their fate sealed tighter and tighter. Eventually, the beast and Two Time were face to face, it's terrible breath and horrid, bloodstained teeth right before them. “What are you?”
“W-Well it’s only proper to introduce yourself first… I-If asking…” Oh my spawn, what were they doing? They just saw this creature tear a man to pieces and eat them! And here they were talking about politeness? They were surely going to die now. But instead of attacking, the creature frowned.
“Right… Magic man taught… Name Pursuer. Learning speak. Speak hard. What are you, not meat? Predator like magic man and Pursuer?” The beast walked around, surveying Two Time, before spotting the glint of metal upon their waist. The beast smiled, its green teeth splaying wide. “I see… Predator like me. This area… Mine.” Pursuer growled, reaching for it's sword, to which Two Time threw up their hands and shook them, catching his attention.
“Woah woah woah n-no! I-I do not h-hunt here… I am… I am a predator, yes… B-But I only came here to hunt for f-flowers!” Their words seemed to land, as the beast stopped reaching for its sword, instead nodding along. “I-I just wanted to m-make something v-very nice for my friend!”
“Make nice for friend? Hmm…” Pursuer slunk around with surprising stealth and agility for a creature so large. “Magic man make place nice… he say pursuer friend… You too make nice for friend?” Pursuer smiled wider. “You just like me. Friend now. Here. Have.” Pursuer made his way over to the corpse, pulling out a chunk of meat from it's shoulder and handing it to Two Time, who took it, trying their hardest not to throw up. “From one to another. Enjoy~ Be watching you, predator… If try hunt here again… end up like meat~” Pursuer stood up, impossibly tall, and began to shift, bones cracking and sliding, until eventually, he became completely invisible. All Two Time could see was the indent of its feet in the grass, which made their way out of the clearing, deep back into the forest.
Two Time felt the dagger on their hip weigh heavier than they liked. Surely the beast didn’t know… about what Amarah had said… they weren’t going to hurt anyone… right?
They collected the flowers, trying to get the ones with the least blood on, and headed back to the compound. It didn’t matter what sounds they heard now. They knew what lurked in this forest. And waiting back home for them, was their prey.
All of their prey shall be pursued.