For as long as Keith could remember, his adoptive dad always told him to never, ever, under any circumstances, no matter how dire the situation, put his feet in the Forest of the Unknown. It would a weird thing to say when the whole village was surrounded by it if wasn't by the collective fear everyone had. Whenever they needed to leave their small village, Keith's dad always made sure to stay on the road, he dared not to touch any patch of grass out of it. When Keith asked why, the answer was usually the same. The others did the same, but even they thought Takashi Shirogane was a bit too paranoid.
Then there were the times he would just stare at the dark woods, as if he was expecting something—someone—to suddenly appear. He wasn't even subtle about it when they were home. In the middle of eating lunch, or reading something, or pretty much doing anything, Takashi would snap his head in the direction of a random window and stare. When working outside, he would freeze and keep his eyes glued on the trees. At most nights, Keith would find him on the balcony, quietly sitting on an old wooden armchair, the lazy glow of a lantern and maybe a few fireflies and frogs his only company.
Always with a sorrowful look and a sad frown.
When a child, Keith tried once to go there. Takashi was usually the sweetest man, never raising his voice once, but when he saw Keith only a few steps from entering the forest, he screamed. So loudly, Keith sometimes wondered if the whole village heard. He screamed, then cried, then screamed and cried, then cried screaming. It wasn't a good memory. Both were reduced to tears, Keith with fear, Takashi with anger fueled by fear. The only good thing that came out from it, in the boy's opinion, was the story about a beast.
The Beast.
The beast that lurked among the trees and turned people into oil trees to keep its lantern lit. The beast with hypnotic eyes and enthralling voice. The beast carrying its own soul in its hand. The beast that took Lotor—the annoying neglected son of the leader of the village—when he got lost. The beast that lead Katie—the depressed genius waiting for her father to return from a travel he would never—away at the only night the Holts forgot to close the windows so its song wouldn't be heard. The beast that wouldn't return Keith to Takashi if he crossed its path. The beast that feed on the sorrow and fears of lost ones.
The Beast.
Takashi hadn't to worry about Keith being caught by said beast for another nine years. Then the boy turned nineteen and desired nothing more than to see what was beyond the woods. They fought and it was ugly. For the second time in their entire lives, the village heard Takashi Shirogane's voice raise to the point of giving the neighbors terrified shivers. The fight ended with Keith running towards the forest and Takashi hot in his heels. It didn't took much for them to be lost. Daylight was getting scarcer every step they took.
"Keith, please, let's go back! I will tell everything I know about the Beast, so please let's go!"
"So you do admit you didn't tell me everything!"
"Keith, we can discuss it later!"
"No! I want to know what makes you so scared of these woods!" Keith kept on walking, not once looking back at his father, not once noticing how the man's steps slowed more and more, how his back curved, how his eyes watered.
The boy was so blinded by his anger he didn't see there was someone in front of him until it was too late. The leaves and the grass were enough to make the fall a little less painful. Keith was ready to get up and yell at whoever that person was when he looked up and saw completely white eyes. No pupils no irises. It was a man with dark skin and brown hair, big antlers—they looked more like tree branches than antlers—on top of his head. Tall and covered in a long dark blue cloak. He held no expression. In addition, if the man wasn't with his head slightly inclined, the black haired boy wouldn't know he was being stared.
"Lance…" Takashi's voice came weak, filled with guilty.
"I was called that once, yes." The man's voice was weird and sent chills down Keith's back. Three voices talking at the same time, two sounded a lot like Katie and Lotor, the third the boy was positive he had never heard before. "A long time ago."
"You're the Beast." Keith felt the stare of the man on him again and cursed himself for attracting his attention once more.
"I was called that too." His head turned a little bit to the side. "Have we met?"
"A long time ago," was Shiro's answer, "You used to call me Shiro."
The Beast focused on Shiro. Slowly a red circle appeared on the white void of his eyes. Then a bigger yellow circle. Then a lighter yellow even bigger circle. Then, finally, an even bigger light blue. A red circle inside a yellow circle inside a light yellow circle inside a light blue circle. And they were glowing. Every instinct in Keith's body screamed for him to run. His body couldn't respond.
"Shiro…" Only one voice, the one only Shiro seemed to recognize. "Yes, I remember." The glowing circles gazed at Keith. "Not you though."
"My son."
"Ah." The man—the Beast let out of its cloak a hand. Its skin looked like tree bark. It held a silver lantern, the shimming light illuminating a little more of its owner's face. "Ten footsteps to the right and you'll be back on the village." The tree voices were back. "Goodbye, Shiro."
With that, the man turned around and walked away.
Takashi and Keith decided to go back, back to the village, back to their home. They tried their best to avoid the questions of the villagers. Let them think it was luck, let them think it was a miracle. They didn't need to know, they wouldn't be able to understand.
That night Takashi sat down with his adopted son and told him the adventures of a boy called Shiro and his childhood friend, Lance, in the Unknown.