In a small clearing dotted with purple cloves, a young man with long dark green hair and a peculiar arm was picking and snipping their stalks. Saffron had been meaning to cultivate this plant for a while now since its numbing properties would be handy for minor injuries. The task also gave him the opportunity to process some difficult events. On top of the temporary suspension of outside club activities and the rising CC propaganda, tensions reached their peak with Nell's latest prediction.
MANY EYES WILL REST UPON THE CLUB'S DOOR AND
A MONSTER OF GRAY WILL REVEAL IN THE GORE.
The effect was instant.
What started as a nagging anxiety grew into a storm of paranoia. Members began to stay home more often and when they did show up, they would leave after an hour or so; Monika even began to arrive to meetings in bird form and, when conversations would turn to the CC and growing inspections, stayed in it. Calpernia promised that the estate and land couldn't be searched without her family's permission, but even that fact didn't brush the dread away. To escape the club's heavy atmosphere, Saffron began to seek out comfort in his garden and the woods. During his time in the forest, Saffron also began collecting herbs to use for a spa day to ease everyone's nerves. As he began to ponder where to go next, his cursed goblin arm was tossing out the clove in his basket. It took a few minutes before he noticed.
"What!? Hey, stop it! It took me an hour to find these!" he cried out struggling to keep the cursed appendage from scattering more herbs and crushing them.
The young Foliage Prince was completely unaware of the presence lurking in the green. He stops struggling when the sound of harsh breathing travels to his ears. His eyes scan the clearing trying to find its source; Eventually coming to rest on a spindly birch tree. Peering deeper into the thick leaves he spies a pair of glimmering jade orbs surrounded by a sea of black.
"Hello? What are you doing up there? Who are you?"
No reply.
"Hey, can you hear me? Answer me." Saffron asks as he approaches the tree. He comes under the tree head turned up to look into the branches.
And feels the breath leave his body.
Saffron's brain struggles to comprehend and process the figure nestled in the bows.
Bare darkish red muscles glistening with unknown moisture.
Snow white bone claws stained with a dry dark substance.
Long hair flecked with dirt and woven around leaves and sticks.
It's too much. Too impossible. It shouldn't be possible. This... creature can't exist...The thing's eyes are staring straight ahead; Its gaze seems dull and unfocused like it was in a trance. Saffron begins to silently back away; His gaze doesn't leave the creatures, who continues to be as still as a statue. Suddenly, he feels the back of his foot hit something and the abrupt force causes him to loose his balance. He falls on his backside and winces when he feels his palms scrape against a tree's rough roots; Blood began to bubble to the surface as soon as the skin broke.
A few seconds. He took his eyes off it for only a few seconds when he fell. Because when he tried to get back up, something pushed him back to the ground.
Saffron stared into the eyes of the creature, who had him pinned to the ground with its razor like claws The eyes once soaked in dreamy inattention were now aflame with hunger. The monster closed it's hands around Saffron's injured hand and squeezed; More blood began to ooze from the scrape and the creature gazed hypnotically at it. The creature clenched tighter and tighter; Saffron felt the bones in his wrist start to creak and the pain brought the man back to his senses,
"STOP! GET OF ME! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS IF YOU DON'T, YOU FREAK!"
The creature broke his gaze from the blood and looked at him. Its harsh jade eyes seemed to flicker between hunger and something that seemed a bit more... human. Saffron felt it's grip loosen before a gray blur knocked the monster away.

Frederick doesn't remember much after leaving the Plaid castle. What he does only comes in brief flashes and clips. Just like what happened with the hound. He remembers seeing small animals running through the grass, the warm blood pouring into his mouth, and the electric fear that laced each memory.
It wasn't enough. Not by a long shot
But that couldn't be. He never fed from a human. Why was this happening?
These questions and their urgency brought him into a heightened state where he felt like the world was rushing past him as he tried to quell the hunger. The sound of someone yelling was like a fishing line being thrown into the blurred world that surrounded him and then came the sudden grasp around his arms. At first he tries to fight back against the vice but a familiar spicy sweet fragrance calms his thundering heart; The effect even slows down the spinning world and the blur is swiped away like a cloth wiping away a hot mist. He can now see the grass clearing around him and feels the cool shade of the clouds above him; The teen sighs in relief as he can thoughts come in at a linear speed again.
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GOING OFF LIKE THAT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?!"
Freddie hissed in pain and shoved Whitney away.
"OW! Stop fucking yelling in my ear!" he shouted, rubbing his ear.
"Oh, you can hear. I thought you were deaf by the way you completely ignored me! I told you to calm down and-"
Saffron interjected from the side "Wait, Th-Th-That thing can talk? What the hell is this? Who are you people?"
The two stared at Saffron, who was still sitting on the ground.
"Who the fuck is this?" Frederick asks.
"Hey, don't be rude." Whitney replied.
"Ugh, fine. But only because- wait, what am I saying?! He's seen us! We have to get rid of him!"
"What, no! We're not going to kill a random stranger, Frederick!
Saffron held out his hands." Hey! Hey! Hey, Chill out! I'm not the CC! I won't... Wait did you just say Frederick?"
The teen glared up at his friend. "Great, now he knows my name."
"As in Prince Frederick? The kid that got killed by a monster? You're him?"
The teen looks away as Whitney answers;
"What? No, no, no, no. That's crazy. My friend isn't royalty, he's just a regular normal guy who just happens to have the same name. You'd be surprised how often this happens. Frederick is just such a common name and he- uh just has that... face."
Both young men stare in disbelief as the man turns more red and stumbles through his explanation.
"Mmmhhmm. Freddie just has that face that looks like every other face. I mean just look at his run of the mill eyes and that... uh.- his... um..." The man's face turns a deep red as he realizes that Frederick is in his boo hag form.
Frederick groans as runs his hand through his hair. "Mother bitch, you suck at lying."

Meanwhile at the front of the CPC estate, Calpernia, who has a small spider in her hand, listens to their morning report on the status of the land.
"Oh, you found someone... two people... one isn't a person... but red humanoid creature with yellow hair. Oh dear, that's troubling... And a large man with... grey hair... steel colored eyes... and black stripes on his face."
Calpernia felt a cold pit form in her stomach. "Is it... No, it can't be... that's... impossible."
Calpernia places a hard stare at the forest before her.
"Show me where you saw them." she whispered to her spider and off they went.

It took 30 minutes, most of it was dedicated to keeping the two from fighting after Saffron comes to the conclusion that Frederick is the infamous skinless monster, to calm down the situation. When it was clear that they meant no harm, Saffron began to ask questions and the two drifters recounted the fantastical story. As Whitney explained why it was best to hide in the enchanted forest, Saffron wrinkled his nose as he watched the "dead" prince slip his skin back on in the corner of the clearing.
"So let me get this straight. This is the real Frederick but he looks like... this. If that's the case then I don't get why they want to kill him. I mean this is a hereditary trait so wouldn't they know-"
"They didn't know." said the teen from his corner by the bushes. "My mother never told the king. She didn't tell anyone and I don't blame her. The king really doesn't like monsters or things that are... different."
Saffron cocked his head. "Ok. So, Stripes here has been helping you out and you guys have been living out here for two months?"
Both young men nodded and Frederick adjusted the skin on his neck; The hide stretched like still warm taffy.
Saffron sighed and shook his head. "This is just... Its a lot. I mean I'm still not sure if I can trust you... You just admitted to me that your basically a vampire. Something that can only be described as a blood thirsty monster,"
Frederick winced at that.
"Look... If what your saying is true then I think I can help you guys out."
Whitney perks up at this. "Really?"
"I know some people who are going through something similar... I mean I've never seen anybody with a curse so... visceral, but I think they might be able to help."
Whitney narrowed his eyes. "How do we know that you aren't going to inform the CC about us?"
"I give you my word that I, Prince Saffron of the Foliage kingdom, will not tell the CC or any authorities about you guys,"
The young prince gave a smile that gave off the impression of years of practice in front of a mirror. "My word is my bond and if you're not sure about it then you're just going to have to trust me."
He then goes off into the thicket; The gloved hand flipped them off before he vanished from sight. The two were quiet for a moment before the teen glanced over to Whitney.
"Was that jerkoff lying?"
"He wasn't. His scent stayed pretty consistent when he promised."
"Wait, you can smell when people are lying? Shit, when were you going to teach me that? That could've been useful."
The grey man was silent as he stared at the teen with a look that could make flowers wilt and his fist were balled up tightly.
Crap... Bad time for small talk.
"Whitney, I-"
"I told you to let it go. There wasn't anything you could do and I told you before that he wasn't worth your time. But did you listen? No, you just-"
"Wait. Wait, Let it go?! Not worth my time?! Are you kidding me right now! This man tried to murder me, decided to build up an entire army to finish the job, and take down everyone else he hates. And I'm suppose to just let it go?! Do you even hear how fucked up that sounds!
"So going to kill him is some how less fucked up!?"
"I thought you said swearing was for low lives?!"
"Don't change the subject, Frederick!"
"Holy shit, it happened! It finally happened! Get a historian to jot this down. This the first time that you actually sound like human being and not some shitty self help book!"
"That's right. Turn this all on me so you can avoid the fact that you killed your dad in cold blood! I tried to give you good advice! I tried to keep you safe! Hell, I should have taken you away from this shithole weeks ago, especially if I knew it would turn you into a slash happy psychopath."
"I didn't-"
"But no. I didn't think you were that far gone. I thought I had time to get everything together. Time to find a place where we could be safe and maybe I could have gotten a job while you did normal teen stuff like go to school. Make friends. Have a life."
"Wha-Whitney, I-"
"But now... I don't know what to do. This isn't something you can just apologize for and everything's all sunshine and rainbows. No. You took someone's life,"
Frederick felt a cold chill when Whitney peered down at him with eyes that stared deep into his soul; The disappointment and hurt wrapped a taunt wire around his heart and cut deep.
"and you did it gladly! Probably with a smile on you face. You're becoming something I never want to see again. Now, you really are the monster everyone-"
"I COULDN'T DO IT! OK! YOU WERE RIGHT!"
There was a long moment of silence; Even the forest stopped its music.
"You... You didn't?"
The boy sniffed as he wiped his nose. "You were right... I couldn't do it. I thought I could. I was so ready. I thought it was the only way to get the nightmares to stop and feel like myself. But then I saw Lance and he was crying and...I've never seen Lance cry before and I just... I wasn't sure about it anymore,"
Frederick's voice cracked.
"Then I got hungry... So hungry... I almost bit him. But I didn't know why because I had drank before and I shouldn't have been hungry. But... I left and tried drinking as much as I could... but it wasn't working... I don't understand... I never drank human blood. I should be fine. But... I can feel it... In my body. I... This shouldn't be happening... right?
The man stared at him eyes wide with disbelief, rubbing his hair through with his hands
"That... That's impossible. You shouldn't be... Unless you...," He gave him a hard stare.
"You're sure you didn't feed from a human?"
"N-No."
The man started to pace and mumbled things even Frederick's heightened hearing couldn't pick up. Frederick watched him with concern; His nose tickled when he smelled Whitney's scent changing. The sweet and spicy scent became more bitter and took on a chemical overtone.
"Whitney? Are you... Ok?"
The man stopped pacing but didn't look at him, "I just... I need some time to think...It'll be good to have some space right now. For both of us."
The teen felt his chest twist painfully. Guilt sank its claws deep into his heart. He whispers out an okay before heading off into the thicket. Whitney waited until Frederick was far enough before he went to a tree and slumped against it.
"Oh God, this is bad. This is very bad. First the attempted murder and now this? I don't even know where to begin with this... Was there anything I could have done? Anything I could have said to prevent this... I thought I could handle this. I though I could predict his actions. I thought I knew what was going on his head... But I really don't know anything."
Whitney lets out a growl.
(Once again, I let my arrogance get the better of me. He's not the same as me or... Greyden. He has so many more facets then he's showing me. But why isn't he? Does he not trust me? Is that why he said that I talk like one of those self help books? Am I that impersonal? Is that why he feels like he can't talk to me about certain things?)
Footsteps crackle out from the brush but Whitney is too deep in thought to hear them.
(Oh, man, no wonder he's pissed. But what can I do? His powers are unlike anything I've ever seen so I hardly have any clue what to do when something new comes up. I mean... muscle tendrils... What even is that?! I didn't even know they could stretch that far... I screwed up the meditation session and probably exacerbated those issues, and he almost killed a man and I just slept through it. Uggggghhh, I suck at this. What was I thinking? Being a friend or a mentor... What a joke.)
Suddenly he hears a startled cry. He turns and his heart skips a beat at the sight. There on the far side of the clearing, on her knees with tears in her eyes, was the woman he had been searching for ages. Calpernia, trying her hardest to stop shaking, spoke up.
"Its... Its you. You're alive."
End of Ch. 14! Hello y'all! I'm still alive. I had a lot on my plate this semester and it was all worth it. I graduated with my associates! Hooray, first in the family! So I had my nose to the grind stone long and hard. Needless to say, it was a relief to get back into the writing flow. I also want to celebrate that this fic has so far gained over 900 hits on A03 and 543 view on Wattpad! All of you are absolute angels seriously, when I have moments where I wonder and doubt my writing and why I'm doing this, you guys send me comments asking if I'm continuing. Those mean a lot since this is one of my more popular fics and I wasn't expecting it to gain so much attention and traction. So thank you all so much for your support and comments. They really make my week! Since I'm on break, be ready for more stuff more frequently. Also to answer an anon's question, the "Story time with Frederick" chapter takes place before the one before it.
Happy Holidays!