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crazyloststar · 5 years

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I’ll Keep You Safe

Happy Holidays!!

I participated in the @owarinosecretsanta and I got @angrysnakes! I went with mythical creature au with mikayoi [i can’t say no to a chance to write mikayoi]. I put most of it under a cut, in case mobile does something wonky to the formatting.

Hope you enjoy, and I hope you have a great day!

The woods were always dangerous. But if there was one set period of time where no one should be there, it was during winter.

There were monsters in the woods. Ones the village hadn’t even seen in hundreds of years, because anyone who had seen them, had never returned.

But there Yoichi stood, buried up to his shins in snow, and crouched behind a large tree. Listening.

He didn’t believe the stories about monsters in the woods. He believed in feeding his family.

And currently Yoichi was focused on the largest reindeer he was sure he had ever seen, and all he had in his sights so far was the backside of one. They would be able to eat for weeks if he could bring it home.

He took a slow breath to steady his heart. He couldn’t afford to be shaky. Not now.

He slowly twisted to look around the tree once more - the reindeer was still there, it’s upper half of its body obscured by more trees. But it was clearly distracted by something, perhaps moss growing on the tree it was behind?

Yoichi appreciated the distraction, whatever it was. A reindeer this size was most likely male, and thus would be more aggressive if he caught on to Yoichi’s presence. He had to be slow, quiet, and careful.

A wind howled through the trees, and Yoichi froze as the reindeer shifted, looking as though it might move on. He steadied his bow as he moved around the tree, still staying low to the ground as he took aim.

He released one more breath, and then Yoichi let the arrow fly. He held his position as it soared through the air.

Another gust of wind came ripping through, this one stronger than the first. Yoichi’s eyes widened as the arrow got caught in its path. He said a silent prayer that the arrow would just lose its aim and fall into the snow.

Yoichi wasn’t so lucky.

The arrow landed right in the trunk of the tree the reindeer was next to. He saw the way the body of the animal tensed as it made contact with a loud sound that seemed to echo in the quiet woods.

Yoichi spun back around so he was hidden from view. Reindeer were aggressive but also adverse to danger - hopefully this one would look around, not see anyone, and choose to just move along. Yoichi removed any hope of catching this one from his head. There should be others, if he waited.

He heard the distant sound of bushes rustling, and snow crunching. Yoichi stayed still, not wanting to move too soon and give himself away.

Snow started to fall. He lifted his head up and against the tree to watch --

And instead he looked right into a pair of red eyes. He blinked as everything pieced together in his brain - red eyes, wild blond hair framing a pale face.

Huge antlers springing out from the blond hair.

Yoichi stopped breathing.

The...person…stepped around the tree, not taking his eyes off Yoichi. And it took every ounce of willpower for him to not let out a loud scream.

The person was not a person. Not entirely. Their upper body was human - covered in a fur vest and fur lined leather bracers up both arms. But after his stomach, the body was that of a reindeer.

A million things ran through his head - there were monsters in the woods, this creature murdered other villagers, he was next. He was a fool.

He let out a small sigh and braced against the tree as the creature moved to stand directly in front of him and stared him down. He still held his bow in hand, but knew there was no way he could pull an arrow and fire it off before those antlers would be driving through him.

“You should leave.” The creature spoke with a low voice.

Yoichi blinked, because he understood the words from the creature. And that it spoke at all and was not instantly spearing him to the tree.

“Um,” Yoichi cleared his throat, “I need-” he struggled to figure out how to tell this creature that he needed to kill something or he would be going back home without any food.

“I have to feed my family.” Yoichi tried to sound strong as he clung tighter to his bow. He stared back at the creature, trying not to be scared of the dark red eyes that narrowed at him.

“There’s only us here, now. The reindeer have all moved on. But there’s smaller game, if you want I can take you there.”

Yoichi blinked again. “You...would help me?”

The creature looked away, as if watching for something. “If it means getting you back to your village sooner, yes. It’s not safe out here.��

Yoichi couldn’t help staring, but he took the chance that he wasn’t about to be maimed and stood slowly. “I’m Yoichi.” He held out one gloved hand in between them.

The creature looked at the hand, but didn’t offer his own up. Instead he turned around slowly. “I’m Mikaela. We need to get moving.”

Yoichi tried not to be flustered. This….person? Had their own customs. But. “Wait.”

Mikaela looked over his shoulder at him.

“First, I need to know you don’t intend to drag me off into a cave and eat me.”

Mikaela visibly puffed up, as if the very notion offended him. “I don’t eat humans.”

Yoichi took a few steps, so that he was just at Mikaela’s side. “That’s reassuring.”

Mikaela snorted. “You’re very trusting.”

“Wait! Does that mean you will eat me?” Yoichi stepped away, but Mikaela reached back and grabbed him by the wrist to pull him up towards him.

“Stop being foolish. Something will eat you if you don’t get out of here soon. It’s Winter Solstice, don’t you have any sense of self preservation?”

Yoichi pulled his arm away and they started walking. The snow hadn’t picked up much aside from a few flurries yet, which he was grateful for.

“So what is out there?” Yoichi pressed after some silence passed between them.

“The witch.” Mikaela said so matter of factly. “He is the one who has been stealing your humans. My kind, we are the protectors. But you humans are foolish and wander into places that aren’t safe.”

Yoichi worked through Mikaela’s words carefully. “I’ve never heard anything about a witch. Just a monster.”

“It’s easy to make things up when no one survives to tell the truth.” Mikaela huffed and stopped moving. “We need to move faster. You’re too slow.”

Yoichi narrowed his eyes. “I’m going as fast as I can in the snow!”

He motioned with his chin. “I can carry you.”

Yoichi’s eyes widened. But Mikaela had already turned away, arms crossed and clearly waiting.“Well, if there is a witch out there I guess I have no choice,” he muttered.

Yoichi tucked his bow across his back and mindfully placed his hands on Mikaela’s back and in the middle of his….reindeer. Side. He wasn’t sure how to refer to it yet, but he managed to hoist himself up without hopefully causing any offense. Once seated, he held onto the back of Mikaela’s vest.

“Wrap your arms around me, I won’t be holding back and you’ll fall easily.” Mikaela’s feet stomped the ground a bit, as though he were impatient. Yoichi wrapped his arms around Mikaela’s waist and nestled his cheek against his back.

Before he could shout he was ready, Mikaela took off. Yoichi yelped but held on tight as Mikaela charged through the snow. The wind picked up and snow started to come down harder, making Yoichi cling tighter from the cold and the dampness soaking into his clothes. He kept his eyes shut and trusted they would end up somewhere safe.

Soon, Mikaela slowed, and Yoichi trusted himself enough to sit up a little to look around. The snow had become a full storm, gusts of wind blowing even more snow around them. They moved into a large cave that appeared in front of them.

“Where are we?” Yoichi asked as he hopped off and dusted the snow off his clothes. It appeared to be a large cave, with a small fire pit towards the back.

“Just a shelter we use sometimes. It’s safe here, the witch doesn’t come out this far.” Mikaela set about to starting a fire, while Yoichi stared outside. It was completely white - no sign of trees anywhere, even though he knew they were close.

“After the storm,” Mikaela continued, “I’ll take you somewhere to get food for your family. Then help you get home safely.”

Yoichi turned and slowly removed his bow and quiver, setting them down carefully. “Why are you helping me?”

Mikaela paused as he stoked the small flames lapping at the wood, then resumed. “My kind, centaurs, we’re the protectors of the woods.”

Centaurs. Yoichi had heard the word tossed around in stories, but it was in passing. They were legends, silly stories of hunters about beautiful women they would swear they would catch glimpses of, before seeing them run away and discovering they weren’t human. Most people believed the stories to be just the hallucinations of drunk men lost in the forest.

Yoichi stepped forward and sat next to the fire as Mikaela did the same with a huff. “I always thought centaurs were...uh… part horse?” He motioned to the antlers. Now having the chance to really look at Mikaela, he was struck with how regal he looked, his human body upright, strong shoulders, and the antlers that seemed to be almost as long as his upper body.

“There are horses. There are many of us. But here, in this part of the world, we are this.” He spoke so matter of factly as he watched the fire.

Yoichi shivered and scooted closer to the fire. The wind would whip into the cave every so often, but Mikaela’s body was protecting the fire.

“Do you protect humans usually?” Yoichi questioned, focused back on the fire.

“We try, but sometimes they go into places we don’t.” He sighed, “the witch’s territory is a dark place, but your kind can’t sense it like we can. You happened to be on the edge, which is why you….saw me.”

“I,” Yoichi looked up to meet intense red eyes, “I’m sorry I tried to shoot you. I had no idea.”

“Thank you for not attacking me, when you saw me for who I am.”

Yoichi stuttered. “I wouldn’t ever want to harm someone like you, you’re amazing! Especially if you’ve been here protecting us all this time.”

The words fell out of his mouth before he could catch them, and Mikaela was certainly also caught off guard. His face returned to a more stoic expression quickly though.

“You should rest.”

“What about you?” Yoichi tried to get as close as he could without getting into the fire, but the chill in the air hadn’t been fought off yet by the heat of the fire.

“I don’t need that much rest.” Mikaela studied him, and Yoichi fidgeted under his gaze. He wondered how many humans he had interacted with himself.

“You’re cold?”

Yoichi hesitated, and then nodded. “I’ll warm up eventually I’m sure, just need to lay down next to the fire.”

Mikaela shifted a little, then cleared his throat. “You can...come lean against me.”

Yoichi sat up a little straighter. Mikaela looked away.

“My fur, it’s warm. And I’m blocking the wind. You’ll be better off here.”

Yoichi stared, and then slowly nodded before his body seemed to move without his permission towards the centaur. Centaur. At Mikaela’s side, he carefully leaned his back against the soft fur. It instantly did feel warmer, and he couldn’t help a small sigh and smile.

“Thank you,” he resisted the urge to run his fingers through the soft coat and instead crossed his arms to prevent himself for doing something that could be offensive.

Mikaela just hummed in response. “I’ll wake you soon.”

Yoichi turned a little so his face was against Mikaela’s body, and he soon felt himself drifting off to sleep, feeling safe and warm.

#ons #ons secret santa #mikayoi #HAPPY HOLIDAYS #mythical au #my writing

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