Once upon a time, there was a Godly valley with mountains that could touch the sky and trees that cast long shadows. The people who live in the small mountain town are hardworking and happy, so long as they never stray into the forest where the wolves lurk in the darkness. Adults brave the trees in groups to hunt the vicious pack as they have for decades, the conflict is deep with no sign of victory for either side. But wolves are not the only threat, nor the village's only secret - and the link connecting them is a simple cloak of Red ...
Every night, from the highest peak of the uninhabited mountains, a single Wolf howls to the good folk of the valley – as a warning, as a message, and as a reminder of what they did:
"Beware, beware, the Path where the Witch once stood. Beware, beware, of the Wolf in the Wood."
"It's been getting colder at night," Zell said as he bound another bundle of barley together, Irvine behind him with a sickle, cutting neatly through the crop and passing it to Leon who placed them into a sack like an oiled clock. The blond's fingers moved fast but not accurately as he often knotted too tight or loose while he was thinking of something else, he looked up towards the afternoon sun, remembering how the weak sunlight burnt away the first morning mist of the season. Summer was barely over, and yet the mountains changed the weather rapidly. "Autumn is getting here fast."
Irvine adjusted his hat and pushed his hair out of his eyes "I know, I gave Selphie my spare blanket, and it looks like I'll have to make myself another one. I think she's keeping it." he tossed another bundle for Leon to catch.
He caught with a small glare at the wild flings his brother was using. But most irritatingly, he wasn't allowed to go hunting today, he was part of the community effort to harvest the fields of grains, whether he liked it or not.
Leon glanced at the barn where the first storages of food were being placed. "It's too early," he muttered again, no one had listened to him. The good Father had come around asking for the stores to be started now, claiming that it had to be full by mid-Autumn, or they'd never survive the winter. Everyone had listened to Father Hojo, but Leon had concerns. The barn was old, it wouldn't keep the vast amounts of food safe, it was better stored in people's homes where only one or two piles were at risk of rot and moved to the barn when the worst of winter came when it needed to be rationed. That's what they had done previously, it had always worked.
He looked at the sack he was filling dutifully, but not without reservations. "It won't last through the winter, more likely you'll put a bad lot in to rot everything."
"Still going on about that Leon?" Irvine raised an eyebrow, pushing his hat back to look up without straining his neck.
Shrugging, the youngest brother replied, "The barn needs repairs. It gets damp too in the Autumn fogs, you are both farmers, you should know this. You should have waited at least another fortnight before you started storing it in there at the earliest, probably another lunar cycle. I don't care what Father Hojo says about visions of endless grain should we move now, it's not right."
"I know it's weird, but if God says so then there must be a plan for it," Zell said, pulling more string out to tie a new bunch.
"God doesn't say anything," Leon countered bitterly, "Father Hojo is waving his name around to get people to obey him. He wanted the food moved so it's moved. People can't say otherwise because apparently the word came from God and no one wants to argue with him." he recalled how concerns and objections went dead silent in the face of the deity's name, the smug look of victory on Father Hojo's face … he wanted more than just the food moved, Leon was sure of it.
Irvine frowned, "What you saying, Leon?"
"I'm saying, maybe we should question him more. Or Hojo, at the very least. He's not a farmer, he's a priest, so why does he insist that the food is stored ahead of time? Why does he get to make that call?"
He saw their impatient expression and groaned when he realised he was not getting through to their sense of reason. He hoisted the sack onto his shoulders and trooped over to the wagon ready for loading to clear the air. It was only a small wagon, with a little horse who was waiting patiently.
Leon knew that his brothers were sighing aggravatingly behind him. Why was he the only source of reason here? Leon wondered as he patted the horse's neck calmly. She was picking at the odd springs of grass in the road with her teeth, Leon pulled her cart a little further along so she'd have more grass and was too absorbed smiling at her whinnies of pleasure he almost missed Genesis walking by him, eyes hard and lips pale as they were pressed together.
He brushed past with his typical cold shoulder and burning eyes.
Leon watched him leave, frowning. Surely the village leader knew that something was wrong? He was almost tempted to ask his opinion on it but thought better when he thought of where that conversation would go. Leon wasn't ready to deflect questions about the forest today.
He went back to his brothers, missing the intense look that Genesis gave him over his shoulder, one of thoughtfulness and scrutiny. Irvine saw it and looked serious, tapping Leon on the arm to keep his attention. "You need to keep your voice down about this," he put a hand on Leon's shoulder. "I know it isn't what we're used to, but that doesn't mean it's wrong."
His eyes followed the village leader as he left towards the church, Leon looked and saw him too. The eldest brother sighed, wiping down his hands on his thighs, "Let's hope he thought you were jesting. Might be helpful for you to say out of the woods for a while too, if he sees you helping then there's nothing he can hold against you."
Leon raised an eyebrow "I'm not staying out of the woods just because someone doesn't like it."
Irvine adjusted his hat with a groan "It's not just that he doesn't like it, just think of how it looks? You're constantly in the cursed forest, you prefer to go there over church and festivals, you're never on wolf hunts despite the fact you're easily the best hunter here," Leon pulled a face of disgust at the praise. "And now you're leaving your gun at home, shying from suitable company and compliments and yet you're coming back with better catches than ever!"
The big brother crossed his arms, hat lowering with his frown, "Unless you feel like explaining yourself you're doing nothing but drawing bad attention, so … please just keep your opinions about this early harvest to yourself. Father Hojo's gotten more aggressive recently, and I'd hate to see you caught up in his temper."
The younger brother shrugged "And yet you speak as if it's inevitable." He didn't say that he wasn't planning to stick around long enough for Hojo's anger to burst. If all went well, he might be walking out of this village forever with the winter snows.
Irvine innocently looked away as Leon levelled him with his accusation, "I'm hoping against hope that there's a way to turn this all around … why do you have such a hard time obeying their rules?"
"Because they're wrong," Leon scratched the side of his neck with a groan, too much time looking down had made it sore. "It doesn't make sense to me that I should follow something that's wrong about the world. There's no evil in the forest, and no demon wolves, the hunters say these things to excuse their lack of success and Hojo repeats them to give more attention to himself and his God."
Irvine shook his head wordlessly and turned away, hands tossing in a dismissive gesture, angry that Leon was being stubborn again. Leon smirked slightly, they were both set in their ways. But he hoped on some level that Irvine knew he was right.
Zell's weight suddenly jumped on him, arms around his shoulders and loud voice shrieking in his ear so that it rang. "Oh man, look at that!" he pulled at Leon's shirt "Who the heck sank their teeth into you?"
Leon blushed and pulled away, putting a hand over one of the most noticeable bruises that Cloud had left a few nights ago.
Irvine snapped out of his melancholy to tease too, blue eyes lighting up in a way that resembled Selphie's mischief too closely for Leon's comfort. His larger hands gripped Leon's shoulders, and Zell continued to poke and prod for more evidence, Irvine's eyes widened, "One here, too. Man, she's a biter."
Leon shoved them away "Leave me alone," he groaned, throwing a sack over his shoulder to put in the cart, "It's nothing."
"That's nothing?" Zell shrieked, knocking the bag out of Leon's grip to prevent his escape, he began to poke him all over, "Where's the something then?"
Leon buried his head in his hands "Ugh …"
Irvine smirked, "I didn't think Selphie was serious when she said you were seeing someone, but wow those are dark." He looped an arm around Leon's shoulders before the younger could think of making a run for it, "So who is she?"
Zell sniggered "Can't be Rinoa, she looks like she's ready to explode over there," he jerked a thumb over to where the girl was standing with a few other women, dropping off baskets and collecting carts, ready to move the food to the barn. Rinoa's eyes were fixed on Leon's neck, her face dark and angry, she saw them starting and turned away with her nose in the air, pulling off an aura of grace and superiority as if she was above it all. Leon just rolled his eyes.
"Not her," he agreed quickly.
"What's her name?" Irvine asked.
Shit, Leon thought, wondering if he should make something up, he was never very good at lying on the spot. He crossed his arms, "I'd rather not say."
Zell deflated slightly. "We're not going to steal her away from you or bully her," he tried to assure. He leaned against the cart, handing back the sack he'd taken as a peace offering, "Is she shy?"
Leon snorted, Irvine pulled at his shirt again to get a better view of the damage, his eyebrows shot up almost under his hat. He spluttered "Hardly!"
"Get off," Leon grumbled wishing he had his cloak on to shield his neck from them.
"Then what's the problem?" the blond pushed.
Leon blew a bang out of his eyes and tried not to look as trapped as he felt, "We'd like it to remain private, that's all." There, I hope that's enough.
Irvine looked thoughtful "So you're not saying anything? Not her name or what she looks like?"
Not she, Leon grumbled in his mind "No."
"Aww, come on, give us something at least. What's she like?" Zell grinned, "I want to know if she's good enough for my brother."
Touched by the sentiment, Leon's resolve wavered, and he gave up a few small pieces of information, "Well … blond, blue eyes, love the woods like I do …" he smiled to himself while thinking of Cloud, his stiff posture relaxing. "Really fast runner, and …" he frowned and rubbed his neck, "Sharp teeth." He blushed as his brothers chuckled good-naturedly.
Zell and Irvine exchanged a look, one grinning and the other looking pleased. "She sounds perfect for you; I can't guess which of the village girls is secretly a fan of the forest. It's not like we're short of blonds around here."
Leon turned his head away "They're not from this village."
Sounding surprised, but not shocked Irvine hummed "That explains a lot." He looked thoughtful "Well that explains why you spend so much time in the woods, travelling to her little village … are there any villages in that direction?" he scratched his head under his hat, but Leon didn't answer him.
"She must be brave to live somewhere where all the wolves are," Zell hopped up and sat on the cart, nudging Leon's side and jostling his arms out of their crossed position. "So is she pretty?"
Leon mumbled something and turned away, "I'm not talking about this anymore."
"But is she pretty?" Zell pressed, poking his ribs relentlessly until Leon elbowed him off of the cart. Laughing, Zell pointed, "He's blushing, oh my God! Guess she's pretty damn fine for a face like that, and not just her face~"
Leon threw a random tool at him, trying not to feel guilty at the yelp that soon followed, experiencing something unpleasant like nettles under the skin with his reflexive anger. "Just leave us alone," he growled, taking the horses reigns and leading her down towards the barn.
Heaven above! His brothers could be vexing.
"Now look what you've done," Irvine scolded as he left, "You've upset him."
"Not my fault, you were saying things too," Zell whined.
Idiots, Leon sighed, wishing he could be more honest with them. He knew that they meant no harm, but their teases about his love life were not something he was used to. Plus, he was not comfortable with their jests involving Cloud, feeling oddly protective of him despite his absence.
The horse pulled at her reigns, sensing his absentmindedness, aiming her nose down to a tempting tuft of grass at the side of the road and pulling Leon down with her.
Leon landed with a grunt, and he half glared at the animal indulging in her treat with a twinkle in her eyes. "I could do without the animals also bothering me," he muttered, patting her neck and urging her onwards once he was sure he wasn't going to spontaneously combust.
Whinnying happily, the horse behaved herself all the way up to the barn, where Leon tied her loosely so she could enjoy a grassy treat to pass the time. He moved to lift one of the sacks when a rough tug at the back of his shirt surprised him.
"Hey!" he protested, stepping out of their range.
He turned to see Rinoa standing unusually quiet and still, her hand unmoving and still raised from the yank on Leon's clothing. Her face was pale, eyes owlishly big and blinking looking exceptionally vulnerable and upset.
Uncertain, Leon relaxed his defensive arms and glanced around for a clue as to what had rattled her. Nothing seemed out of place.
"So it's true."
Turning back to her with a hum of confusion, he noted, with dread, that her eyes were looking increasingly wet.
She lowered her hand and brought it up to her lips instead, "You do have a lover …"
Leon realised that it was Cloud's bite marks that she was intent on verifying, he blushed, futilely trying to cover the marks with a hand despite the fact that the entire village must have seen them by now, and if not the whole community then all the gossips had seen them. Their tongues would be wagging before the hour, he grimly realised. He hoped Edea, at least, he could tell himself.
Not sure what to say, he stared at Rinoa dumbly until she next spoke.
Her face crumpled like folded leather at his silence. "Why her?" she looked down sadly, "I thought that we were going to …"
Leon awkwardly shifted his weight and crossed his arms "No."
Making a wounded noise, Rinoa shook her head "How can you change your tune so quickly? Quistis-"
"Quistis wanted to make life in the village easier for me, raising my status through marriage to an upholding daughter of some kind. She tried to push us together for my benefit, not because she was a matchmaker, she never asked me what I wanted," he interrupted, getting the uncomfortable feeling that she was about to burst into tears – good god, he didn't want to face that! The spoilt daughter of the most admired, hard worker in the village would cause a scene for sure.
Her brown eyes lowered "Is she want you wanted?" her fingers twisted around each other, increasingly frantic.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to feel annoyed that they were presuming his lover's gender, trying not to snap out a correction. "They weren't what I expected …" he admitted, honestly. "It just sort of happened." How could he, a mere villager raised in a conservative, religious community with a toxic, reflex fear of anything out of the ordinary, ever have predicted that he'd fall for a wolf-guardian? A male wolf at that. But, now that it had happened, he couldn't imagine it any other way.
"I can't see anyone else," he confessed.
Rinoa's breathing hitched, she covered it with a stroppy demand, hands folded over her chest like an imposing guard. "What does she have that I don't?"
I can think of a few things, Leon thought without blushing valiantly.
When his response took too long she began to babble, "Is it my clothes? I can wear my hair differently-"
Leon shut her up with a raised hand, "That hardly matters."
"Then what? Does she have money?" her eyes were very wet now, her voice growing to hide the wails with anger, an anger Leon didn't understand.
"No."
"A bigger house?"
"Heartily-"
"Rinoa!" she stamped her foot, "Why won't you ever call me by my name? You don't call Selphie, Quistis or Irvine by their surnames."
Getting irritated, Leon snapped "Of course I don't, I care for them, it's ridiculous to call them anything else."
The girl was shock still and silent. Relieved, Leon turned away and picked up a sack to deliver, all other workers had left a wide berth around them so they wouldn't be interrupted, no one was going to be helpful enough to intervene, Leon grumbled internally.
He had moved only a few paces before Rinoa gasped "How can you be so heartless?"
Leon looked back.
She was crying.
Shit. He thought.
"I've been patient with you, I've waited for- for a long time. Tried to be friendly, tried to talk with you, to be close to you and- and," Rinoa breathed deeply "and you won't even acknowledge how I feel? Do you get off being so cold to everyone? You don't care about us, about me, is that it?" she croaked the end, her hands biting into the blue apron like teeth into an apple.
Unprepared for her uncontrollably upset speech, Leon stupidly mumbled, "What?"
Rinoa whimpered, "I like you, alright?" she looked down, "I have for a while, you're so brave and handsome, and a good hunter with a good future … This isn't what I wanted, I'm not going to let some random girl steal you away, so I'm telling you." Her eyes went steely "I'm here to be your better option, I could give you so much more than her, so … please?" She breathed in deeply and held it, looking at him expectantly.
Rinoa had a point. If normalcy and stability were what he wanted, Rinoa easily outranked Cloud in her perks and abilities as a housewife. Large house, future inheritance, likely future children and her family name would wash away doubts and rumours about Leon's strange behaviours better than removing mud from boots. However, …
Leon shifted the sack down to the ground and awkwardly, he didn't want to give her the wrong impression, and he wasn't sure how to touch other people, put his hands on her shoulders, saying lowly and firmly: "I love them. I'm sorry, Heartily. It doesn't change anything."
Leon was unable to bring himself to live a life silently screaming on the inside.
Rinoa's face fell, and she covered it with her apron bunched in her fists. She yelled an insult through the fabric and turned to run away home, causing a scene since she nearly knocked down everyone she ran past. The villagers, people who knew her and Leon and each other, looked to Leon with expressions ranging from confused to accusatory to sympathetic.
Leon watched Rinoa leave, not feeling better since he hated being involved in dramas of any type. But she had her answer. That was that.
He picked up the sack he discarded, shaking off some of the dust that clung to the bottom, and went back to his reluctant job as impassively as he could.
He had no idea Rinoa had taken such a strong liking to him or was it intense possessiveness? She certainly hadn't been itching to tell him before he had gotten involved with Cloud and, unlike Cloud, she had no reason to hold back. She wasn't an outsider, a new existence or from a different sexual culture, and it wasn't in her nature to be quiet about her wants and needs, and opinions of others … so Leon was inclined to believe that her confession was more ploy than honesty. Perhaps to preserve her perfect, ideal future. Perhaps out of jealousy. Who knows.
Still, trust her to say what she said with the greatest amount of witnesses around.
Leon huffed, hoping that the day would end quickly. Even if Cloud didn't howl his signal tonight, he would go to the woods and stay there until he felt better. He got the feeling people wouldn't be able to keep their opinions to themselves once they started talking about this.
Genesis raised an eyebrow at the young Heartily girl who ran by, sobbing into her apron and crashing into everyone along her path, barely pausing in her scramble to get away from somewhere. What fuss was she raising now? He looked behind him and raised an eyebrow at the hardworking normalcy of the barn and fields.
Normal … save for the fact this harvest was over half a season early!
Not to mention this rush storage was completely irrational. He grunted as he shouldered open Father Hojo's door. Genesis had no problem working 'God's Will', but that mouthpiece who had delivered it had better be ready to make sense when he asked for it.
He entered the church through a small side door that linked directly to the Parish Priests quarters, an area that also doubled at the, relatively uselessly, village library for the storage of the community's written information. Scarce few in these remote villages could read, it was only sensible that the clergy educated man should hold the written words and aid with postal services.
Father Hojo sat at his desk, writing what looked like a long letter, quill scratching impatiently and he reached for ink almost twice a minute. Judging by the crumbled balls of paper dotted around the chair legs, this was not the first attempt.
Genesis entered without knocking or permission, too impatient for formalities, and looked over the Father's shoulder but as an illiterate commoner the lines and curves, crosses and dots meant very little to him. "I hope your … vision … is the best for our village, winters are long these years, that food is our lifeline."
Father Hojo put his quill down and nodded with a prestigious grin, "Oh ye of little faith, this plan will benefit our people two-fold and more if you'd only trust in a larger plan."
Genesis leaned up against the wall, the stone's chill leeching the warmth from his coat as he addressed the Father in his black and dusty robes, "A plan I'd gladly trust if I were informed." He kept his arms crossed, they were alone, he was the stronger of the two, and he had the greater authority of the people in this village. Hojo may sway some, but Genesis's family had safeguarded this community for generations, and individuals here had long memories when it came to heroism, he would be listened to.
Together they were the protectors of the peace, one for religious expertise, and the other for the common law. Genesis didn't want to fight the good Father, but neither was he ready to be strung along blindly by a word of God.
Hojo sighed and lifted a book from his desk, "I think I know the answer, but have you heard of Malleus Maleficarum?"
Genesis glared. Conceited old bat!
Smirking, the educated man leafed through the complicated Latin encoded pages, "In the common tongue, it is 'The Hammer of the Witches.' Father Kramer recently published his latest addition, detailing … horrendous crimes against God and a war we had no idea was being raged from Spain to the Baltic, to the Vatican. The Pope himself has signed his Papal Bull into this book, this Holy war is sanctioned and ongoing, curse this remote village for delaying this critical information all these years."
Genesis scoffed, "I've heard nothing so far relating to the rushed storage in our barn."
Hojo closed the book with a sharp snap, "It came to me while I was reading this book, this was the answer to all our failures, the demonic wolves are not alone. A Witch is assisting them, cursing our village, our people, and our luck- there is no other reason our God would let our good people suffer such a scourge!" he stood up, pacing agitatedly. "I couldn't sleep, tormented with my grievous failure to protect the village from evil," he bowed to Genesis "I pray you can forgive me, this Witch is cunning and my resources scarce."
Impatient, Genesis sighed "So long as this Witch is not causing trouble directly, I'm more concerned with your recent orders."
Father Hojo spluttered, "If you were not such a man of unwavering faith in my Church I would have declared you a heathen for those words! These men and women, Witches, are doing the work of the devil, and we need help to rat them out of our village." He put the book down and looked at his half-finished letter "That is why I am writing to the famous Witch Hunter for his assistance, though he rarely gives help to those he deems unworthy, however," he sent Genesis a little smirk. "I have been informed by a reliable source that his most read passage of the Bible is the tale of Joseph, specifically Joseph of Egypt's plan to store food in the face of future hardships."
Raising an eyebrow at the coincidence, Genesis summarised; "So you will appeal to him that we are worthy religious folk though a demonstration that we literally follow the Bibles teachings?" He stood away from the wall, not sure if he was angry or understanding, "This course of action and risk is to win the favour of this Witch Hunter?"
Father Hojo smiled, "Yes, however, with my new awareness of the power of these Devil's Whores I would rather have the valuable food out of the hands of anyone who may curse it. These heathens have been found guilty of sinking entire ships, I shudder to think of the damage that could be done to our humble home. Don't you agree?"
Before either retort or agreement could be formed on his lips, a single howl pierced the encroaching evening and closed the conversation like a slamming door.
Both men looked up at the noise, Genesis stood opened the small side door and glared outside, towards the green sea of leaves that shielded the pack of devilish wolves. Anger and frustration bubbled under his skin as memories of countless failures flashed before him, crystallised in the form of that taunting wail. The shadow just out of reach, the blast of his gun that raised his hopes only to dash them, the looks on the faces of the villagers as their understandings turned to scorn for his unsuccessful hunts!
Damn them! Damn them all!
From the corner of his eye he spotted movement, everyone had paused in fear of the taunt, the ghostly scream from the cursed trees. That cursed boy, the wolf-touched one, was looking up at the sky like the others, feet having carried him several steps closer to the howl, and he was smiling.
Genesis's eyes narrowed at him.
Father Hojo put a hand on his shoulder, "We need all the help we can get."
Genesis stood up straight. "To protect our people."
"Amen."
Story is also available on Ao3 for those who prefer it there.
Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches) is a real book, written by a real person about the horrors of Witchcraft. Detailing everything from how to find, interrogate and kill accused witches. Kramer was an extremist in his views and not one of the 'mainstream' opinions in the world of Witchcraft and witchhunting, however his book was widely read and likely it was influential. He was very scared of witches, to the point where he'd burn over one hundred people without guilt should only one of them be a witch. A dangerous attitude.
Additionally, he gave himself false authority by putting a copy of the Pope's Papal Bull (a religious version of a royal proclamation) at the start of his book which made readers of normally sceptical backgrounds take it far more seriously as it seemed to have the Pope's seal of approval.