[Band Yarouze] The Wolf at Night 1/?

[duckiesandlemons]

Title:  The Wolf at Night, 1/?
Rating: T (overall story is E)
Fandom:  Band Yarouze!
Character(s):  Takara Kyo, Shinonome Yamato
Summary:  Yamato Shinonome arrives to town on a new moon, and with him he brings mystery and feelings Kyo can't seem to sort out.  Werewolf AU, inspired by their Halloween cards.
Warning(s):  slight violence/gore

 

Yamato Shinonome arrives in the village during a new moon with nothing but the clothes on his back and a worn burlap sack slung over his shoulder.

 

“Hey, can I stay?” he asks, his smile wide and his eyes bright in the torchlit dark of night.  

 

Kyo hesitates, but he lets Yamato in.

 

After all, he cannot deny someone seeking sanctuary.

 

00

 

Yamato melts easily into the town, settling in as if he hadn’t come in the night prior asking for admittance into the church.  He smiles and laughs with the townsfolk, he helps in the fields despite not being asked, and he carries out the more physically demanding tasks without even batting an eye.  Kyo finds himself watching.  

 

Yamato catches him from time to time, giving Kyo a broad grin or waving.  

 

Kyo waves back every time, tentative as they are.

 

As mysterious as his arrival had been, it seems that it took no time for the people to warm up to him.  Kyo almost wonders if Yamato were a demon, though what demon would do work and not ask for anything in return.  Regardless, Kyo finds himself relaxing alongside the townspeople.  The help is welcome, and Yamato only asks for a place to stay in return.

 

So Kyo leaves it at that and retreats back inside the church, content to pore over scripture and guide people through prayer.

 

The days pass by like this in relative peace, with Kyo counting the passing of days by the waxing of the moon.  Yamato is in and out of the church, always coming back with vegetables fresh from the fields or his share of that day’s hunt, and they’d eat together quietly.  Sometimes Yamato would talk, other times he’d be quiet, and on the rare occasion he’d ask for Kyo to read him a verse.

 

It is why the break in routine is startling.

 

When the moon is almost full, almost swollen in the sky, is when Yamato doesn’t come back to the church.  He had left in the morning, according to the townsfolk, and had performed his usual tasks.  Labored in the fields, helped with handy work, and then...gone.

 

Yamato has his reasons, Kyo thinks as he snuffs out the last candle in the sanctuary.  He will be back.

 

Against his better judgment, Kyo wraps himself up in a cloak, lights a lantern, and leaves the church to go look for Yamato.

 

01

 

Even with the light of the moon, the forest remains dark.  The leaves block the moon, cover it up with shielding hands, and Kyo has to rely on the dim light of the lantern to make it through.  Every snap of a branch, the rustle of branches, has him on edge, but his rosary is tucked close.  If a demon were to attack, he is not defenseless.

 

Still, Kyo is worried.  For Yamato to leave, to disappear without a word to the townspeople or to him, is drastically out of character.

 

Another snapping noise has Kyo tensing, quickly turning to look behind him.  There is nothing, yet he can’t find it in him to relax.  Perhaps he should have asked someone to come with him--no, he couldn’t.  If a demon were to appear...he’d not want to put them in that kind of danger.  That Yamato had escaped into the forest is bad enough.

 

Kyo continues to look, pressing deeper and deeper into the yawning darkness his lantern only a glimmer of starlight to guide him.

 

Crack.

 

Snap.

 

Hiss.

 

He almost misses it.  The lurching shadows, the flash of red--Kyo stumbles back, eyes staring in wide-eyed fear at the sickly hand which almost grabs him.  The demon snarls, twisted body turning in on itself and staring him down.  Its body judders, limbs snapping and popping.  It lunges, but Kyo is faster.

 

His rosary comes up just in time, the incantations slipping effortlessly past his lips, and the demon shrieks as it is engulfed in purifying light.  It stumbles back, body arching into an impossible bend.  The demon writhes and folds in on itself, screeching and chittering until it finally goes limp.  

 

Kyo, shaken, turns to head back to the town.  It is too dangerous to pursue Yamato any further, despite his worry.  Yamato made it to them in the dark of the new moon fine, Kyo needs to have more faith in him.

 

02

 

“Where’s Yamato?” one of the kids ask as people filter out of the church after morning assembly.  Her hands are clutching at Kyo’s robes, her eyes imploring.

 

“He’s gone to visit family,” the lie stings Kyo’s tongue.

 

“Oh...I hope he has fun!” the girl’s innocence makes the lie taste bitter.

 

“I’m sure he is,” Kyo waves goodbye to the girl and her family.  He’s still shaking from his encounter last night, and he stares at his hands.  Yamato had not returned that morning, and Kyo had left a place out for him just in case.

 

He hadn’t realized that meal time could be so...lonely.

 

It is amazing what a few days can do.

 

When night comes around again, the moon a rounded pearl adorning the sky, Kyo lights his lantern and leaves to look for Yamato again.  He hears the howl of a wolf in the distance, and prays that the forest beasts have not gotten to Yamato.

 

03

 

The forest is brighter than before, the full moon blessing Kyo with a little bit more light than before.  The demons most likely still creep in the dark, but Kyo can’t let that deter him.  His worry far outweighs anything else now.

 

Kyo takes a different path than before, straying from the trail used by hunters and to a lesser known one that he had used once or twice when seeking his own personal peace.  During the day, of course, but the trail is a well known one to him.

 

He keeps walking, keeps looking, until he ends up in the glade he uses to read.

 

It’s brightly lit, the moon bathing it in light, and Kyo is almost tempted to rest here if danger were not so close.  He forges on, looking around the clearing in hopes of finding some sort of clue or Yamato himself.  So lost, and so assured in his safety under the light of the moon, is he that when the demon attacks he doesn’t catch it in time.

 

The lantern falls from his hand, his back pressed to the ground and bony claws clasped tight at his throat.  Kyo wheezes, his hands grasping at a slimy wrist and his eyes staring into a violent array of red.  The demon’s maw opens, strings snapping and popping, teeth twisted and pointed.  Kyo smells rotting flesh, and he gags.

 

The demon lunges, intent to feast, and Kyo can only mentally berate himself for not paying more attention in his final moments.

 

…

 

Death does not come.

 

There’s a high pitched shriek that grates Kyo’s ears, followed by a snarl similar to a dog’s yet deeper.  When Kyo’s vision comes back to him, when he’s not so shaken, he forces himself to sit up.  

 

What he sees stuns him.

 

A large wolf, fur a rich shade of chestnut streaked with flecks of black, has the demon pinned.  Its powerful jaws are clamped tight around the demon’s neck, its massive paws pressing down on the demon’s malformed body to keep it from struggling.  Kyo can only watch as the wolf slowly chokes the life from the foul creature, he can only listen as the demon’s inhuman screeches slowly die down to sputtering cries.

 

With one forceful jerk of its head, the wolf rips the throat of the demon out, the remains spat out and left to dissolve.

 

Kyo can’t breathe.

 

He can’t think.

 

He doesn’t know what to do.

 

His entire body tenses as the wolf turns to look at him, bright blue eyes staring right through him.  Kyo feels weak, he wants to run, but he can’t.  The wolf’s stare has him pinned in place.  Slowly, it steps forward, one paw in front of the other, until its face to face with Kyo.

 

Perhaps this is what took Yamato.

 

Perhaps this is what killed him, and now Kyo is next.

 

He can’t apologize to the villagers--what is he going to tell the girl--he--

 

He--

 

Kyo’s thoughts are stilled when he feels a wet nose pressed to his cheek, followed by a playful lick.  The wolf’s eyes are bright, mirthful, and it noses at his ear.  Kyo is dumbfounded, words escaping him as the wolf proceeds to paw at his shoulder.  It keeps that up until Kyo leans back, just enough for it to squirm its way behind his back and curl up around him.

 

You’re safe, it seems to say.

 

Kyo can’t bring himself to protest.  Exhaustion is finally seeping in, the adrenaline from his near death experience finally fading.  Under the watchful eye of the full moon, his hands grasping tight at brown fur, Kyo falls asleep.

 

04

 

Kyo wakes up in his own bed, back at the church, and to Yamato’s voice in the church as he talks with the townsfolk.

 

“Oh, we’re so thankful you brought the Father back!  We don’t know what to do if something had befallen him.”

 

“You, too, Yamato!  We’re glad you came back as well!  Where did you go?”

 

“Father said he went to go see his family!”

 

“Is that so?  Are they doing okay?”

 

Kyo makes his way from his bed, still in yesterday;s clothes, to the door and out to the church.  People fall quiet, staring at him as he walks towards them.  Yamato turns around, eyes lighting up and his smile turning into a full on grin.

 

“Kyo!  I’m glad you’re awake!” he says.  “I found you passed out in the forest, what’s wrong?”

 

Kyo opens his mouth, unsure how to ask about the wolf.

 

Yamato’s grin turns into a small frown, “You were being guarded by one of the forest beasts--it almost bit my hand off!  I managed to convince it that I was friendly, though!”

 

One of the townsfolk nods, “Indeed, Father!  Yet, to earn the favor of one of the forest beasts--as is expected!”

 

“T-thank you,” it doesn’t settle right.  He can’t quite put it in words, the discomfort swirling around in his head.  For Yamato to know, and yet to so easily play along with the lie--perhaps he had gone to see family?  Maybe Kyo’s worry is unfounded?  Perhaps--

 

“Let me get food ready, Kyo!” Yamato chirps, walking past him.

Kyo catches the lingering traces of rotten flesh.