Hope you enjoy reading this little fanfic! It may be continued when I have some more time.

Bane of the Forest

Our tale begins in a forest just outside of a small village. This was supposedly no regular forest, the village people believed it to be home to a gorgon who had preyed upon anyone who entered its domain. Numerous fathers and husbands were said to have entered in the past, never to return, or found as stone statues. Despite there being no incidents for the past couple of years, the children of the village were constantly taught not to enter the dangerous place.

Alfred Jones however, decided not to heed that warning today as he pulled his younger twin brother, Matthew, through the dense woodland. The two had wheat blonde hair, however their eyes and frames differed a little. Whereas Alfred's eyes were as blue as the sky above, Matthew's had a slight purple hue to them. Alfred was also broader than his frailer twin, which would probably become more apparent as they aged.

"Alfred" Matthew whined "We shouldn't be here."

Always one for adventure, Alfred decided that he wanted to see this gorgon for himself. Without looking it in the eyes of course.

"Stop being a baby! If we come across the monster I'll protect you. As long as we don't look into its eyes, we'll be fine."

Matthew pouted in discontent and jumped when one of the nearby bushes started shaking "Eeek!" He quickly and shakily hid behind his brother, clutching him tightly and closing his eyes in case it was the gorgon. Alfred took a defensive stance, ready to protect his brother. But even he swallowed nervously as the bush shook more violently and closed his eyes in reflex as something jumped out.

After a moment of nothing happening to them, the two opened their eyes slowly. A white rabbit had hopped out on the ground in front of them, it's ears and nose twitching in curiosity of the frightened twins before hopping off. The two sighed in relief and Alfred detached his smaller brother from himself, standing straighter to throw off any indication that he had been scared as well.

"It was just a rabbit Matthew. See, nothing to be afraid of. You scared of rabbits now too?" Alfred smirked teasingly.

"Y-You were scared too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too! I could feel you shaking!"

Alfred looked away, crossing his arms. "W-Well I'm still braver than you! Anyway, come on. Let's continue before it gets dark. I hear there's a cave nearby where it's supposed to live." Alfred explained excitedly before taking his brother's hand again and pulling him along.

"Alfred, I really think we should go back…"

Alfred stopped, getting fed up of his twin's whining and let go of his hand. "Okay, you can go back on your own then." Alfred continued to march deeper into the forest. Matthew looked around nervously before deciding to catch up to his brother, walking beside him once more.

The two eventually came to a cave and looked into its pitch-black darkness. Matthew shook his brother once more. "Okay, we've seen its home, let's go now"

It was now Matthew who attempted to pull his brother but Alfred didn't budge, staring daringly into the cave before calling out "Hello?"

The greeting echoed through the cave and Matthew recoiled in horror, hushing his own voice. "Alfred! What are you doing?!"

A loud, low rumble echoed back through the cave after a moment, almost sounding like a growl. The twins screamed and quickly began to run back the way they'd came. Their yells echoed through the forest as they ran. Alfred was unlucky enough to trip on a root and yelped before the air was knocked out of him. Matthew continued to run, not looking back.

By the time Alfred had managed to get back to his feet, his brother was gone. He looked around nervously, not recognizing anything and cautiously began to walk in a random direction, calling out for his twin "Matthew?"

Crows flew from the towering trees above him and he gasped at their cawing. Alfred looked up at the sky and trembled. It was becoming sunset; the forest would be nearly impossible to manoeuvre in the dark without firelight. He then noticed some smoke rising above the trees, his eyes sparkled in hope. The smoke must have meant that someone human was nearby! He began making his way towards where the smoke was coming from with renewed vigour.

Alfred slowly stopped as he came to clearing with a small spring, also in the middle of the clearing stood a small wooden house. The smoke was coming from its chimney. Candlelight illuminated the windows and Alfred was surprised to see someone living this deep in the supposedly gorgon-homed forest. He slowly began to make his way towards the wooden house.

As he approached he could hear someone humming a tune. It didn't sound like an adult, but a child? Alfred stopped a little way from the door, deciding to listen a little longer to the humming, finding the sound slightly comforting. Deciding he wanted to first take a glimpse at his possible saviour before greeting him, he began to sneak over to the window. Unfortunately, Alfred was so distracted by the voice that he didn't look where he was going and knocked into a pile of cut wood, making the logs tumble down to the ground loudly.

The humming immediately stopped and there was a gasp. All the candles in the house began to be blown out one by one and there was silence. Alfred frowned a little at the strange reaction. Had he scared the person? He supposed he should apologize and went back to the door, knocking and calling through it.

"Um hello? I-I'm sorry if I scared you. I got lost in the forest and was hoping you could help me find my way back?" Alfred was only greeted with more silence. "Hello? …I know someone lives here, I heard your humming. You have a very nice voice."

"G-Go away!" A frightened voice called.

Alfred smiled, that was definitely a child's voice and it settled him "So you are in there. Please come out. I won't hurt you, I promise!"

"Y-You're lying! You want to kill me, or you'll bring back people to kill me!"

Alfred tilted his head "Why would anyone want to kill you?"

There was no reply to that question.

"I promise I won't do anything! Please let me in, it's getting cold." Alfred called. It wasn't a lie and he did begin to rub his arms to generate warmth.

There was a sound of light, cautious footsteps that approached the door. There was a click, before the sound of someone scuttling away could be heard.

Alfred decided to try and open the door, guessing the person had unlocked it. He pushed on the door handle slowly and the door swung open with a creak. He peeked into the house, luckily there was still enough light from outside to illuminate the main room. "Hello?"

"W-Who are you?" Alfred heard a voice from below and looked down, to see another child hiding under the table, avoiding his eyes and clutching a knife with shaky hands. He had lighter blonde hair to Alfred.

Alfred approached slowly and kneeled down to the other child "My name is Alfred, what's yours?"

"…Arthur"

"Arthur? That's a nice name." Alfred smiled.

Arthur relaxed a bit at that comment. Alfred looked around again "Do you live here with your parents?"

"I live alone… My mother died a few years ago…"

Alfred's mood dampened "Oh, I'm sorry… You must be lonely…"

Arthur pulled his knees closer to himself with the hand that wasn't clutching the knife "I'm used to it…"

Alfred frowned and stood up again, suddenly overcome with energy "That's no good!"

Arthur jumped at the shout from Alfred.

"You shouldn't be used to it! No one should be alone."

"But I'm a monster…"

Alfred looked at the boy in confusion, kneeling down again "You're not a monster, what makes you say that?". Alfred began trying to catch the other's eyes, but Arthur was quickly turning his head away or closing his eyes. Alfred became annoyed by this and grabbed the boy's cheeks to stop his head from moving. Arthur kept his eyes firmly shut.

"I can't look at you in the eyes! Do you want to be turned to stone!"

Alfred's eyes widened "Stone?"

Arthur gasped and covered his mouth.

Alfred stared at the other blonde in surprise "You're the gorgon?"

Arthur trembled "P-Please don't hurt me…"

Alfred was frozen in shock. How could this be the gorgon? It wasn't a scary monster like the villagers described, there was no snakes for hair, no scaly skin, and no cave it lived in… It was almost human, apart from its eyes Alfred was guessing. Alfred shook himself out of his stupor when he saw the small gorgon begin to cry.

"H-Hey, don't cry. I won't hurt you! No one will hurt you"

Arthur was taken aback by the statement. Alfred smiled, confident in saying his next decision.

"You're my friend now, I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise, I'll keep your secret."

Arthur smiled a little. His mother had always told him never to trust humans, but maybe this one was different. Arthur never had a friend before, he couldn't help but wonder what Alfred looked like.