Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters (sadly). I also do not own the song "Nature Boy" by David Bowie.
Winter: Part I
There was a boy,
A very strange, enchanted boy.
They say he wandered very far,
Very far, over land and sea.
The flames of the fire danced before Blaine's eyes, the flickering light reflected by every tiny crystal like particle of snow on the ground. The clearing Blaine and the rest of the party had settled in was surrounded by numerous trees, which towered high above them and grew closely together. The warm glow of the fire did not reach but a few feet into the darkness beyond their temporary camp and Blaine could not stop his mind from wandering to thoughts of what may be hiding in the dense forest around him.
In Parterra, legends were a predominant part of life. Every child was educated in Parterran legends and some, if they were lucky and once they were of the about twenty years, were given the opportunity to embark on a quest. Blaine had received his letter three weeks ago now. He remembered the excitement that bubbled up in his stomach and made his chest tight with anticipation when he had seen the King's crest embellished in the deep purple wax seal on the parchment. He remembered how Mother had squealed happily and called Father in from where he was working in the fields. They had opened the letter together. Blaine had been ordered to join the party who were in search for The Wanderer.
The excitement Blaine had felt when he had recognised the King's seal was nothing- nothing- compared the thrill that had passed through him when he read those two words.
The Wanderer.
The Wanderer had always been the legend which had enthralled him as a child, the idea of a magical creature who had been condemned to forever walk the Earth, in search for something that would end his sentence, brought to life his imagination in a way that no other legend could. There were so many questions that had filled Blaine's mind as soon as he realised that he was to be searching for this creature. What had he done to suffer such a fate? What was he looking for?
Quests were usually for knowledge purposes, to discover how much of the legends was fact or fiction; to aid the illustrators of the Legend Codex by offering a true to life description of the creatures in the legends. However, this was quest was different. The King, who Blaine had always admired for his strength and bravery, wished for Blaine's party to capture the creature and bring him too him. The Wanderer was rumoured to be a creature of wondrous power and enchanting beauty, something which had also enthralled Blaine ever since he had first heard the legend.
A piece of wood in the fire popped loudly and startled Blaine. It was then that he saw it. There was a flash of white ahead of him in the forest, appearing and disappearing so quickly that he was not even sure he had seen it at all. Blaine looked around at his the few remained men but was quickly assured that they had not seen anything out of the ordinary as they were still deeply involved in a conversation about Noah's latest sexual conquest. Blaine rolled his eyes and leaned forward slightly in his seat and continued to watch the space where he had seen... whatever it was.
It wasn't until the last of the other men had risen from his spot by the warmth of the fire and retired to his tent that Blaine saw movement in the forest again. He couldn't be sure- the movement was just close enough to the light provided by the fire to be seen, yet too far into the thickening shadows to be completely visible- but this seemed to be more than just an animal. Blaine shut his eyes and listened carefully to the sounds around him. The fire crackled, some of his companions were snoring and, somewhere close by, an owl was hooting. Nothing out of the ordinary but upon opening his eyes, Blaine saw movement again, this time a little to the left of their camp. Using the flame of the dying fire, Blaine lit a lantern and got to his feet. His heart thudded in his chest as he approached the trees, the lantern held out before him, its waning flame illuminating only what was immediately before him.
The forest was just as dark as he had feared and as he made his way to wear he had seen the movement earlier, Blaine began to wish that he had thrown on an extra fur- now that he had left the comforting glow of the fire, he was shivering in his snowy surroundings. There was a soft thud to his left and Blaine whirled around holding the lantern out, trying to spread the light as far as possible. Everything was still. The wind was no longer blowing and burning his face, no birds were flying overhead. All around was silent, except for the noise of his own breathing and the steady, but abnormally fast, beat of his heart in his ears.
Taking a shuddering breath, Blaine began to walk forward. He was now travelling deeper into the forest. The trees were thicker, taller, more densely packed and very little snow covered the ground- the canopy above him had stopped it from ever reaching the forest floor. It also ensured that no moon or star light reached into the forest, the only light now was from the waning flame that Blaine carried with him.
Maybe this is not such a good idea, Blaine thought, pulling his furs closer to him with his free hand. What on Earth was I thinking, walking through unfamiliar land alone at night? Nobody knows I'm gone... I could just disappear. Blaine turned on his heel sharply and started to walk back in the direction that he thought he had come. After a good ten minutes of walking, Blaine started to panic. None of the trees around him looked familiar- except, he was sure he had passed that one with the particularly large knot in its trunk twice in the past few minutes. He couldn't see the light of the fire, the peaks of the company's tents.
The realisation washed over him like a bone-shakingly cold wave. He was lost. And what was more: he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Blaine held the lantern out and slowly turned where he stood. His heart hammered in his chest, his mind was shuffling ever possible scenario that he could think of. There was no one immediately near him. He exhaled shakily and took a few more cautious steps forward... and there it was. Camp. He actually laughed out loud. The sound pierced the night and sounded foreign to his ears. Fear had warped the pitch and tone of his voice. Still, he had been so afraid and there was camp. The fire was nearly just glowing embers but at least it provided a little more light. The moon and stars were also now visible. Blaine smiled to himself as the relief wrapped around him like a warm blanket. Overhead, a shooting star flew across the inky black sky. Blaine turned to follow it. He watched until it disappeared and he lowered his eyes.
Two wide silvery orbs bore into his. Blaine yelped and jumped back, his lantern falling to the ground. Its light died as it hit the floor, though the sound of it hitting the floor was muffled by the covering of snow. As Blaine stumbled backwards, his legs hit a log and he fell into the snow. Blaine opened his mouth again- to say what, he wasn't sure- but the creature before him brought a finger to its lips and shook its head slightly, panic bright in its large eyes. Blaine brought a quivering hand to his mouth.
Blaine knew had a choice. If he spoke now and called for the boys, there was a chance the quest could end there and then. They didn't know much of its powers but they were all highly trained and fit young men and they outnumbered the creature before him ten to one. They would be heroes back home- Blaine would get his medal from the King.
Or, he could stay quiet. Blaine looked to the creature. His pale skin reflected the moonlight causing him to glow in an ethereal way and his chestnut hair shone and fell perfectly around his head in a halo of perfect waves. Everything about the creature screamed of the supernatural, but those wide eyes in his angelic face, they bore into Blaine's with very human emotion- the creature was pleading with him, but under the fear was the spark of something more. The creature stood tall, it didn't shake with fear, and its expression was hard. There was a ferocity about it. Blaine bit his lip before carefully nodding to the creature.
Its pink lips parted and its eyelids fluttered shut as it exhaled. Its long eyelashes cast thin shadows onto its high cheekbones. The smallest smile graced its lips for a split second before its face became grave and serious again. It opened its eyes and held its head up high. It made to turn and walk away before it stopped again and walked towards Blaine. Blaine's breath caught in his throat. The creature held out a hand to him. Blaine observed it for a second, the long slender fingers moved slightly in gesture for him to take it. Blaine put his hand into the creatures. Its skin was soft as a feather but its grip on him was strong and Blaine did not miss the way its muscles moved as it pulled him to his feet. Once Blaine was standing the creature gave him one last look, its expression unreadable, before turning and running back into the forest.
A/N: OMG first multi-chaptered Klaine fic! So this is just something that I started a few days ago. It just popped into my head so I wrote it down! At the moment, it's looking like it's going to be maybe eight chapters (?). Well, I'm thinking two chapters for each season at the moment and none of them too long- they'll most likely all be this length. I hope this wasn't too boring. It's only the first chapter and I wanted to give you some background and stuff and obviously there is a huge lack of Klaine interaction right now but please have faith in the story, I think it's going to be quite sweet!
I'll try to update as soon as I can. I just had a massive hit of motivation and inspiration to finish what you just read and so the next upload may even be later today. Okay, I'll shut up now. Leave me your thoughts, please?
:)
