Request: Glaciershipping
Requested by: TheANIMEArtist02
Warnings: boyxboy
Pairings: Glacier (ColexZane)
AU: Mythical forest
A/N: I know you asked for a Hanakai AU, but the only information I could find was a manga, and one of my rules was no crossovers. I am happy to write Glacier, but if you still want a Hanakai AU, you either need to provide me with more information (fandom wikis, official sites, similar stories) or find someone else to write it for you.
Enchanted Encounter
Zane hated America. He despised it. It was nothing like England. It wasn't even close to what his father had described! All the kids were mean to him and made fun of his accent, so he hated school. People tended to stare at his pale skin and light hair, which made him hate going out. Even the name of the region, New England, frustrated him. How dare this place pretend to be England when it couldn't even come close?!
"I'm going out!" Zane called to his father, Dr. Julien, and his little brother Echo.
"Don't go into the woods!" Dr. Julien answered absentmindedly from where he was working.
"Can I come!?" Echo asked, leaping up from where he was playing on the floor.
"No," Zane growled, and Echo slumped. Zane laid a hand on his little brother's shoulder, feeling guilty. "I promise you can come later, but I want to be alone right now."
"Oh," Echo pushed Zane's hand off him and looked away. "Go on your walk or whatever."
Zane opened his mouth to talk to his brother, but shut it immediately afterward, guilt exploding through him like a bomb. Echo wasn't a healthy kid. He was the reason they had moved to America in the first place.
Zane and Echo's mother died from Scarlet fever shortly after Echo was born, and Echo had it as a baby. Though he survived, he, unfortunately, never fully recovered. Dr. Julien had hoped that the New England air and American Medicine would help Echo recover, but the boy's future was still cloudy. Not to mention, Zane was unhappy in America. He tried to hide it, to be strong for his brother, but it was sometimes too much.
With a miserable sigh, Zane left his lighthouse home and headed down Birch Hill, towards the forest at the edge of the town. Falcon Harbor, New England, was a small town that was cloudy most of the year. It sat wedged between the gray ocean and the green mountains, silently judging it's immigrant residents.
Zane pulled his jacket closer around his thin body and turned off the gravel road to the lighthouse, towards the woods. His father had warned him not to go there, but where else was he to go? Town? People would just make fun of him for looking so weird.
No. The forest was better. Trees never judged you. Foxes and squirrels didn't make fun of your accent.
Fall leaves crunched under Zane's feet as he took a tentative, rebellious step into the woods. Nothing happened, so he continued further.
As he walked, however, the eerie sensation of being watched came over him. Zane glanced around anxiously, but no one was there. He took a deep breath, smelling the cool, leaf-scented November air, and continued on.
There it was again. That feeling of being watched. Frightened, Zane broke into a panicked run. Coming into the woods had been a bad, bad, bad idea.
A raven swooped down from a tree, scaring Zane even more. Jumping over a boulder, his foot caught on a root and Zane slipped down the rocky side of a gully.
Rubbing his aching head, Zane pulled himself off the forest floor and looked around anxiously. As he was expecting a dark, dingy gully, full of skeletons and blood, he was pleasantly surprised by the warm green hollow, filled with sunlight and bright green light.
Across the clearing, a chestnut stallion stood by the bank of a small pool, staring at Zane with an almost concerned expression on his face.
Zane relaxed. No doubt the horse had escaped from one of the surrounding farms, and he could probably ride it if he wanted to.
Pulling himself off the ground, Zane approached the horse. The fact that it didn't bolt confirmed his suspicion. The horse was tame.
The stallion whinnied a hello, and Zane smiled at him.
"Hello as well, friend," He answered, approaching the stallion, water sloshing around his ankles as he waded into the marsh towards the horse.
The stallion stepped towards Zane and stretched out his neck, almost as if he wanted Zane to pet him. Zane wasn't going to deny this beautiful creature that simple pleasure; as that would simply be cruel.
He reached a hand towards the stallion's shoulder-
"DON'T TOUCH THE HORSE!" A voice shouted, and a stone flew out and smacked Zane's hand away from the stallion's glistening coat. Zane looked up, surprised out of his trance.
At the edge of the hollow stood a centaur holding a slingshot. He had olive-toned skin, dark hair, and a powerfully built body. His broad neck was covered in several necklaces and amulets. The only thing was… his bottom half was a moose, causing him to stand at about nine feet tall. His head was adorned with massive ivory-white horns, another symbol of his moose heritage. He was holding a slingshot.
Shocked, Zane looked back to the stallion for comfort but was horrified by what he saw. Rather than seeing the majestic steed's chestnut coat, charcoal mane, and gentle brown eyes, he was met by the sight of a hideous monster. Tall and lanky, the horse had rotting, night-black skin and bristling fur. It's once soft mane was now stringy and salty as if it had been made by seaweed. Bright orange embers replaced the horse's gentle chocolate orbs.
Terrified, Zane stepped away from the creature, but before the horse could strike, Zane saw the centaur fly down the hill on split hooves to shield Zane from the sharp, vicious fangs of the monster.
"What is it?" Zane asked, scared and fascinated at the same time.
"Kai," The centaur snapped, folding his arms angrily. "I thought we agreed not to kill humans!"
To Zane's surprise, the horse collapsed into a gelatinous mass before re-forming into the shape of a boy not much older than Zane.
"Come on, Cole, he was just asking for it!" the boy called Kai snapped, stomping a foot in a very horse-like manner. To Zane's surprise, the horse-boy had a very slight Scottish lilt to his voice, as if he had lived in Scotland a long time ago.
The centaur called Cole snorted. "We made an agreement. If some human goes missing in the woods, then people will come looking for them and then we'll all die!"
Kai snorted like a horse. "That doesn't excuse the fact that he came to my domain. I have every right to eat him!"
Cole rolled his eyes. "Just because he fell into your hollow doesn't mean you get to eat him. Actually try hunting your prey for once rather than sitting around waiting for it to fall in love with you!"
"He's not in love with me!" Kai's eyes snapped with rage as he screamed at Cole. "No one is in love with me! If anyone was in love with me, I'd have EATEN them by now!"
Cole rubbed his forehead. "Kai, you're being unreasonable."
Kai was trembling with rage but didn't answer Cole. Instead, he pointed over the centaur's broad shoulder to Zane and bared his still-sharp teeth.
"You come here again, and I. Will. EAT. YOU!" He snarled, before leaping into the pond and disappearing beneath the green-blue surface of the water.
Cole sighed and turned to face Zane, muttering about the 'Stupid Kelpie' under his breath. "You okay there?"
Zane nodded, a little dazed. "Yes, of course. Thank you for rescuing me."
The centaur shrugged. "Yeah, sure." He smiled at Zane gently. "I'm Cole."
"Nice to meet you, Cole," Zane nodded. "I am Zane."
"Cool," Cole answered with a chuckle. "Sorry about Kai. he's kind of aggressive." He turned and began walking up the side of the hollow, Zane beside him, calm now that the danger had passed.
"What was he?" Zane asked Cole, and the centaur sighed.
"He's a Kelpie," Cole sighed. "Scottish Water horse. They lure humans onto their backs and drown them. Not really a creature you'd want to mess with."
Horror spiked through Zane. "Do they… eat… humans?"
Cole shrugged. "Not always. Mostly they eat deer and cattle. Kai is just… unnaturally mean."
"He looked sad," Zane commented. "Maybe he was angry about something that happened that has nothing to do with us."
Cole looked thoughtful. "Huh. I never thought about it that way, but I guess you're right," They had come to the edge of the hollow. "You're pretty observant."
Zane felt a blush creeping up his cheeks and turned his head, looking away from Cole. "Thank you."
Cole stared up at the cliffs surrounding the hollow, then down at Zane. "Need a lift?"
Zane looked up at the steep cliffs then over at Cole. "You aren't going to drown me, are you?"
"What?" Cole asked. "Of course not, but I don't think that your short human legs will be useful for trying to climb the cliff."
"Oh," Zane nodded. "Of course."
Cole kneeled down gently, folding his legs beneath him. Sitting on the forest floor, the centaur was closer to Zane's height. Stepping closer to the fae, Zane carefully climbed onto Cole's back, straddling him like a massive horse. Cole carefully stood up, being gentle as not to knock the small human riding him to the ground.
"Hold onto my shoulders," He advised, beginning his ascent of the hill.
Zane placed his hands on Cole's muscular shoulders and leaned into the centaur's broad back.
"What were you doing in the woods anyway?" Cole asked, puffing a little from the exertion of climbing the hill.
"Exploring," Zane confessed. "I desired to be alone."
Cole chucked. "Well, that didn't work."
Zane found himself laughing alongside Cole. "I suppose it didn't."
Cole broke out into a gentle canter, Zane gripping his shoulders a little tighter. The centaur flew through the woods, passing scrubby berry bushes and rocky outcroppings. He continued up out of the deciduous forest and into a copse of pine trees.
Cole paused at the edge of a cliff, and for a terrifying second, Zane thought Cole was going to throw him over. Then Cole sat down at the edge of the cliff, folding his legs underneath him. Zane climbed off his back and sat down next to the centaur.
Before them lay the entire town of Falcon Harbor, spread out beneath the gray sky. Zane's sharp eyes quickly found the general store, post office, and then… the school. He looked away, embarrassing memories of kids making fun of him climbing to the front of his brain.
"Everything alright?" Cole asked, and Zane started. He had forgotten the centaur was there.
"Yes, just thinking," Zane answered, gazing back at the town. "Kids down there… are not the kindest. Some of them… make fun of me."
"I get it," Cole answered, and Zane looked up, startled. "The other Fae, the ones in this wood, I mean, they're not always nice."
"The Fae like Kai?" Zane asked.
"Sorta," Cole answered. "But Kai's outright brutal and hates everyone. Some of the other Fae are really mean in other ways."
"I know," Zane sighed and found himself leaning against the centaur's soft coat. He inhaled, smelling the scents of forest and pinecones that perfumed Cole. He sighed again, filling his lungs with the crisp forest air and blowing it out in a big breath. "They think I'm strange because I don't have… a… mother."
"I get it," Cole answered, leaning over to rub Zane's shoulders and pulling the human into a soft hug. "I really do."
"Do you?" Zane asked, turning to look up at the centaur's gentle brown eyes.
Cole looked away for a moment, then rubbed Zane's shoulders. "Yeah. My mom- she died a few months ago. From the foaming-at-the-mouth sickness. That's why my dad and I moved here. Too many painful memories."
Zane felt empathy seep into his chest, and he gently began to stroke the centaur's fur. Cole's flank quivered softly, and Zane pressed his cheek into the fluffy coat. "My mother died when I was little- four or five- from Scarlet fever, and my little brother is sick, so we came to America, but I hate it here and, and," Zane embarrassingly found himself breaking off into heaving sobs.
Cole scooped up the small human and cradled him close. "Shhh, hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay, Zane."
Zane wiped his tears away with the heel of his hand. "I'm sorry."
Cole pushed the human's hands away and began to wipe Zane's tears himself, gently soothing the sad boy. "Don't be sorry. That's what friends are for."
A pang of longing shot through Zane, and he looked away from Cole, the word 'friend' still ringing in his ears. He shook it off and looked back up at Cole.
"Speaking of which," Zane started. "Are there any other creatures in the forest I should be wary of?"
Cole set him back down gently, then began to count off on his fingers with a thoughtful expression. "Well there's Kai, obviously, and there's Lloyd, he's a Chinese dragon, but won't eat you or anything. Then there's a white wolf named Akita, who you should probably avoid, a colony of Indian Naga, who you should definitely avoid, a unicorn named Harumi, and at one point there was a gargoyle named Clouse who lived here, but I'll have to double-check if he's still here or if he went back to France."
"Why should I avoid the unicorn?" Zane asked Cole curiously.
"She's a trickster," Cole explained. "And a heartbreaker. Not worth it, trust me."
Zane nodded. "Are those all the Fae that live here?"
Cole sighed, slumping. "Unfortunately, no. We have tree nymphs, stream naiads, two gryphons, a European dragon, a couple of harpies, and a particularly annoying saytar named Jay. All of them are harmless, however. It's really the Kelpie and the Naga you should watch out for."
Zane nodded in understanding, curling back into Cole, then glancing out over the town. The edges of the sky had begun to fade to a soft salmon color, and Zane started.
"You okay?" Cole asked, looking down at the small human cuddled into him.
"The time!" Zane exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. "I… I have to get home!"
"Can I give you a lift?" Cole asked, shifting his legs out from around him. "You live down at the old lighthouse, right?"
"Yes," Zane answered. "Thank you." Once again, he climbed onto the centaur's broad back, and Cole took off at a hearty gallop down the hills, flying past shrubs and bushes, and leaping over boulders.
Zane held fast to Cole's shoulders, but watched the forest around him, curiously looking for any of the Fae Cole had previously mentioned. He was not disappointed.
A pale-skinned girl melted away from a birch tree and ran to talk to a black-haired girl made from water. A saytar with a slingshot ran alongside them for a while, chasing a cottontail rabbit. A unicorn leaped a fallen log, escaping the sharp talons of a russet-black gryphon.
Zane smiled as Cole slowed to a stop at the edge of the woods and knelt down so he could climb off.
"Thank you for the afternoon," Zane thanked the centaur, and Cole smiled at him, lifting a driftwood necklace from his neck and placing it around Zane's.
"If you need me again," Cole said softly. "Whisper to me using the amulet. I'll hear you, I promise."
"Oh," Zane sighed, staring at the small chunk of driftwood in his hand, stroking its silky surface with one hand. "Thank you."
Cole leaned down and suddenly hugged Zane, grabbing him close and cradling him, as he was precious. "You're welcome, Zane."
Zane smiled warmly and relaxed against the centaur, before Cole pulled away and disappeared into the woods, leaving the quiet boy alone at the edge of the forest.
Stroking the amulet with one hand, Zane grinned towards the woods, before he turned to the lighthouse, armed for the battle of life with the love of another.
A/N: I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but can we all take a moment to appreciate how cute glacier is?
Requests are still closed. ;)
*EDIT: It has come to my attention that I have misidentified New England as a state, when, in fact, it is a region. I have corrected this, and I apologize if you were offended.