14 years later
Kageyama Tobio knew he was different from his fellow villagers. He'd known for a while. In his 18th year, he was one of many hunters in the steadily growing village he'd been born into. So what made him so different?
It was the forest.
For as long as he could remember, Kageyama had found himself inexplicably drawn to the trees of the forests his people hunted in. The very smell of the rich soil and healthy vegetation pulled to him in a way no one understood, not even he himself. But none pulled to him quite as strongly as the great trees of the Forest of Beasts, a place forbidden to all but the Ukai family.
If one were to measure his life in the hours he'd spent gazing into the distance at the Forest of Beasts, they'd certainly account for a vast majority of the 18 years he'd been alive.
"Oi, Kageyama, let's go."
The dark haired man tore his eyes from the forest and looked for who'd spoken. It was Iwaizumi, one of the best hunters in town. Kageyama sighed and stood from the porch steps of his home where he'd been sitting.
"Right…"
The two males made their way through town, to the city hall. Today, the next successor to the Ukai champion would be named. For as long as his people had been settled here, the Ukai's had been legend. It is said that an Ukai long ago had sealed a pact with the were-creatures of the Forest of Beasts and now it was only one champion chosen from his kin who could safely enter the forest. Every generation or so, the current Ukai champion would chose another male of his family to take his place. The two would venture into the forest together and emerge some days later. In his hands, the new champion would bear a sign of the wolves' favour, and peace would remain.
'If only I'd been born an Ukai,' Kageyama thought to himself as the ceremony begun. The ceremony itself was superficial, but he supposed it gave the villagers something to be a part of, considering the most important parts happened in the forest itself.
A sharp jab in his side pulled his attentions back to the present and he realized he'd zoned out when he noticed everyone lining up to head outside. Kageyama fell in step with the Iwaizumi as the village people escorted the Ukai men to the edge of the village closest to the forest.
Longing filled Kageyama once more as he watched the backs of Ukai senior and his grandson, Keishin, disappear into the forest.
"Come on, Kageyama. The feast will start soon." It was Sugawara who spoke, a village healer.
"Right," Kageyama nodded and let Suga lead the way to the large courtyard in the center of town, where the feast would be held.
His mind wandered again, back to the life and the warmth of the forest everyone else feared so much. Their fear, he supposed, wasn't unfounded. After all, none but the Ukai men had ever seen a were-creature and lived to tell the tale.
Well, until him, that is.
XXXXXXX
It was sunny and warm that day. The clouds that had plagued their little village were but a distant memory now and everyone was outside, soaking in the sun. His mother was scrubbing their clothes in a wash bin while he played with some wooden toys his father had carved.
At three years old, almost four, he'd mastered the art of walking and was puttering around when something caught his eye.
Perhaps his mother had been too busy with the stubborn blood stain on his fathers' hunting shirt, but whatever the reason, she didn't notice him wandering away. Curious as he was, the young Kageyama followed the movements of a small mouse as it dashed through the grass, into the small forest the village folk hunted in.
Carefully stepping over roots and ducking below branches, the toddler followed the mouse, only to lose sight of it when it disappeared under a thick bush. With a pout, Kageyama turned to head back to his mother and was shocked to find he couldn't see her. In fact, he couldn't see his village at all, only trees expanding in every direction.
Maybe he should've been scared, but he wasn't. Maybe he should've cried and called for his mother, but he didn't. Instead, he started to explore, looking around at the giant trees in awe. His adventures were eventually brought to a halt when a stray root tripped him and he scraped his knee.
Perhaps it was his crying that brought her to him, or perhaps she'd simply come across him by chance. Whatever the case may be, he'd never forget the warm brown eyes he'd spotted peeking at him from inside a bush. He'd never forget the way she crawled out to him, sniffing around cautiously before looking down at his bloodied knee.
The toddler watched in awe as the fox disappeared, a woman taking its place. The memory of a four year old is only so dependable, so her face was lost to him, but the bright orange hair -like a sunrise on her head- was burned into his mind forever.
She must have carried him, because the next thing he remembers after that is warmth, and then seeing a glimpse of his village through the trees. He could hear his mother and father's frantic voices calling for him. The woman set him down gently before putting a finger to her lips, and then she was gone.
XXXXXXX
After that, Kageyama's desperate parents had run to the Ukai family for help. Ukai had told them their son was lucky to have made it out, and when the infant started to talk about a woman with the sun on her head, Ukai declared it must have been a werefox.
"You're very lucky, young one. You must have encountered a young vixen with cubs of her own. She spared you, but you would not have been so lucky if you'd instead crossed the father. You must be very wary of werefolk, Tobio. They are friends of the Ukai family, but their distrust and dislike of humans makes them a threat to you."
Kageyama nodded and promised to stay away from the forest from then on, but it was a promise he would never keep.
XXXXXXX
"—if there's werefolk in our forest we need to kill them! Drive them away! We can't just let them have our forest! They can go to the Forest of Beasts!"
Kageyama woke to the sound of arguing, slowly sitting up in his bed.
"I vote we find a new forest. Who knows how many of them are in there?"
"If there were that many, they'd have killed our hunters by now. Besides, the forest isn't that big. There's not enough room to hold that many of them."
"He's right. I vote we go in and hunt them down."
"But…."
Kageyama opened his door and looked into the living room where everyone was gathered. It was his mom who'd spoken.
"She saved my son…"
Everyone went quiet, regarding the young mother.
"I know that they're dangerous, but you heard what Ukai said. She saved him. She likely has one of her own..."
"Which is all the more reason to kill them; she may only have one or two now, but those things breed like crazy. If we leave them be, they'll take over!"
He doesn't remember when he started crying, but his mother was the first one at his side, scooping him up.
"Hush my dear. It'll be ok." She rubbed his back and shot a glare over his shoulder.
"There'll be no more talk of this in my home. Leave."
XXXXXXX
The next night, the men put together a hunting group. 6 went in, but only 2 came out. The survivors reported only one werefox that they'd managed to kill, but the fight had lost them four of their own. Ukai found out about the battle and tore into the hunters.
"You're fools- every last one of you! The werefolk are not a threat you can handle by waving your weapons at them! They are not just dumb beasts- they have the instincts and strengths of an animal with the intelligence of a human! Did you really think you could win?!"
There were arguments and finger pointing, until finally the village leader spoke up.
"That's enough. In light of what's happened, I forbid anyone from hunting the werefolk. We'll be lucky if we can continue to hunt game in that forest without them seeking revenge on us for your foolish actions."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As the feast began to die down, Kageyama looked around the table he was sitting at. Sugawara and Iwaizumi were there, along with Asahi, a hunter who specialized in tracking, Yamaguchi, another tracker, and Takeda, Keishin's lover.
"It'll be ok, Takeda. The treaty has held strong all these years, so you don't need to worry about Keishin. He'll be fine." Suga said, patting Takeda's shoulder. The older man was visibly worried about his lover who was deep in the Forest of Beasts.
"I-I know, but what if-"
"Don't start with the 'what ifs', Sensei. He'll be fine." Suga said firmly.
Asahi nodded along.
"Besides, old man Ukai is with him too, so it's not like he's alone."
"Yeah…. I guess you're right…"
"Of course we are!" Suga grinned and slapped his back, making Takeda yelp a bit but laugh.
Kageyama observed them all with a neutral expression. Takeda was the teacher at their little two-room school, so it's not that he didn't care about him, but he just knew without a doubt that both Ukai men would return safely. He didn't see why Takeda would waste energy worrying about it.
The festivities dwindled down, everyone making their way to their respective homes.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Kageyama said as he stood. Everyone bid him goodnight and he headed home.
"Say, did Kageyama seem a little… off, today?" Suga asked once the dark haired male disappeared.
"He's always been a little 'off'," Yamaguchi said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, but I mean more than usual."
"You've got a point," Iwaizumi said. "He's been off in his own world a lot today; staring at the bloody forest." The dark haired hunter shook his head.
"I'll never understand his insistence about going in… it's just creepy in there if you ask me." Asahi shivered and rubbed his arms.
"Yeah, no doubt," Yamaguchi shivered with him.
Sugawara looked at them.
"I don't know if I'd say it's all that creepy, but I also don't understand his obsession with it. The forest itself is pretty; it's what's inside it that concerns me. Werefolk aren't known for their love of mankind."
"You can say that again," Iwaizumi said, remembering his father, whom he'd lost at the claws of a werefox when he was still a boy.
Sugawara grabbed his cup and downed the last of the whiskey in it, before standing. He giggled a bit when he swayed, having had a bit too much. Asahi stood and steadied his friend.
"Easy there, champ. You had like three cups of that stuff. Come on, I'll walk you home."
Sugawara chuckled and leaned into his friend, who just shook his head fondly as they said their goodbyes and left.
Yamaguchi excused himself as well and Iwaizumi watched them all walk away, his thoughts straying to their odd ball friend.
'It must be the choosing of champions that's got him so distant. Knowing they can go in the forest but he can't…' Iwaizumi sighed and stood, taking himself home as well.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Keep up; the den isn't far from here. They'll be expecting us."
Keishin nodded and picked up the pace. He'd never been in the forest before, but the stories his grandfather had told him over the years really didn't do it justice. The trees were massive and the foliage rich as they walked along a narrow path that would be easy to miss if you didn't know to look for it.
The trees started to thin out gradually until they opened up in a large clearing. Ahead of them to the left was a sunken area with a fire pit at the centre. Beyond that was a patch of grass that had been worn down to barely anything as though it'd been trampled repeatedly. It reminded him of the training ring in the village. The left portion was just open field, and at the far end dead ahead was a large outcropping of rocks with cave openings.
Keishin's observations didn't take long and he looked at his grandfather.
"Where is everybody…?"
Ukai grinned and nodded towards the rocks as a large grey wolf stepped out onto the landing in front of the largest opening.
"Daichi, it's good to see you." Ukai greeted. The great wolf bowed politely before making his way down to them. Keishin watched the wolf get nearer to them, feeling a little apprehensive.
"This is my grandson, and the next champion, Keishin." Ukai gestured to Keishin, who bowed deeply. Tension filled the air as Daichi studied the new human closely, even leaning forward to sniff him.
After what felt like an eternity, Daichi took a step back and Keishin straightened up when he felt a strange ripple in the air. His eyes went wide in awe as the wolf before him started to morph before there was a brown haired human in its place.
"Nice to meet you, Keishin." Daichi put his hand out. The blonde nodded and took it.
"Yeah, you too," he answered, still in shock. Sure, he'd heard the stories, but seeing it in person was just… it was indescribable. The awe was sort of pushed aside however when he realized the man was totally nude.
'Well duh, he was just a frickin' wolf, genius.' Keishin nearly rolled his eyes at himself.
"Alright everyone; you can come out." The pack leader called. The words had barely left his mouth when people –werefolk, he reminded himself- came pouring out of the cave. He was relieved to see they weren't all nude, instead wearing animal skins to protect their modesty, though he guessed it was more for his benefit then their own.
One of the first to approach him was a bouncy orange haired kid.
"Hi! I'm Hinata! You're Keishin right? You're gonna replace the old man?"
"Uh- yeah," The human nodded and inched back when the were-creature bounced even closer. Someone slid their hands under the orangette's armpits and lifted him up, setting him aside.
"Sorry about him, he's a little excitable." A brunette said, smiling at him. "My name's Ennoshita, I'm a wolf." The man extended his hand.
Ukai shook his hand and returned his name.
"Are you not all wolves?" He asked curiously.
"We were at one point, but now it's a mixed pack. Hinata, who you just met, is a red fox. The tall blonde one, Tsukishima, is a Culpeo, the girls, Yachi and Kiyoko, are raccoons, the short one is Nishinoya and he's a wolverine and the rest of us are wolves. Tanaka is an Arabian wolf though, while Kinoshita, Narita, Daichi and I are grey wolves." Ennoshita pointed out each member as their names were mentioned.
Keishin nodded and took in all the information.
"Hey hey hey- so like, what's it like being surrounded in werefolk?" Noya appeared at his side. "Are you scared? I mean, what if we hurt you?"
"Yeah- what if we decide you're on the menu tonight?" A bald man joined him –Tanaka if he remembered right- and bared his teeth. It was probably meant to be scary, but really he looked more ridiculous than anything.
"Yeah- we haven't had human in a while." Noya smirked.
"Neither of you have ever eaten human. Stop embarrassing us."
Keishin laughed when the two turned in unison to hassle Tsukishima, who'd spoken. A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked over to see his grandfather grinning at him.
"So, think you can handle these hooligans?" He asked. Keishin looked back to where Noya, Tanaka, Tsukishima and Hinata were wrestling one another, Tsuki growling and yelling while the others laughed.
"Yeah, I think I'll be just fine."
"Good! Now let's go get our spots in the den picked out."
Keishin nodded and followed his grandpa as he led the way up to the caves. They went into one of the smaller caves and Ukai Sr. pointed out a pile of extra hides and furs.
"We'll use those to make our beds. This is the storage area technically, but we're not allowed to sleep in the main cave with everyone else."
"Understandable, I guess."
The men both got to work setting up their sleeping areas. The trek into the woods and to the den had taken them a few hours, so the sun was low in the sky.
"Alright, let's go eat supper with the pack. After that, it's bedtime."
Keishin nodded in understanding. Ukai Sr. had given him the rundown of what would happen as they'd made their way here, so he was prepared.
Ukai Sr. grinned and settled a hand on Keishin's shoulder.
"I'm proud of you, Keishin."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three days later, the village folk gathered around, watching the edge of the forest as they awaited the return of the Ukai men. It was nearly noon when someone called out.
"There they are!"
Ukai, senior and junior, emerged from the tree line, both in one piece. Around his neck, Keishin wore a necklace made from the jawbone of some great beast. It was the symbol of the wolves' favour.
Applause erupted as everyone welcomed them back. Keishin got a lot of handshakes and pats on the back as the village folk congratulated him on being accepted by the wolves.
Kageyama watched the procession as everyone made their way to the center of town. Another feast would be held in celebration, but he wasn't interested in going. It's not as if anyone would notice if he just stayed home.
"Hey, Kageyama, where're you going?!"
Or so he'd hoped.
Kageyama looked over to see Suga jogging towards him.
"Come on, you don't wanna miss the festivities, do you?!"
The black haired hunter gave him a look that clearly said yes, he did want to 'miss the festivities'.
"Oh don't be like that, grumpy face. Come on!" Suga grabbed his arms and started to drag him along. The reluctant hunter sighed but didn't try to fight it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was almost a month after the Ukais' journey into the forest that it happened.
The moon was high in the sky and Kageyama was wide awake. He wasn't sure what, but he was sure something had pulled him from the comfort of sleep. It was the third night in row now that this had happened. Frustrated, the black haired man pulled himself up out of his modest bed and grabbed his house coat.
Kageyama pulled the article on and made his way through the house, navigating in the dark to the front door. He slipped his feet into a pair of shoes before going outside, closing the door quietly beside himself. With a long-suffering sigh, the hunter lowered himself onto the steps of his porch and cast his gaze towards the Forest of Beasts, outlined ominously by the light of the moon.
Tomorrow would be the full moon, and something in his gut told him it wasn't going to be an ordinary day. He could feel it -as surely as he'd feel hunger- that something was coming. Something big.
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A/N: OOOOOOOOHHHH! What is it? What's coming?!
Wait and find out~~
Please review!