gaiaborn.

multi muse blog affiliated with boundkrp

[inordinaries]

with @ametrynos.

haoran doesn't particularly care about his fate. that's why he's taking the lead, striding in to the dark woods like this isn't about to be the most terrifying night of his life.

there's a chill in the air. it feels ominous to him, and as he walks into the forest, he wonders if this thing—the redretch—could kill him. he hadn't asked many questions in the weeks and days leading up to the blood moon because sometimes bravery comes from not knowing. with each step, the bell in his hand rings quietly. he also wonders if the redretch might hear the bell and find them before they find it. whether or not that's a bad thing is reliant on whether or not it could kill them, so he's back to square one. he knows better than to share these what-ifs with mikhail.

he doesn't have much of a game plan developed. he's not sure what he could even do, what with his best talent being having a squirrel form and his only weapon being a dull pocket knife. his redretch knowledge is very limited, but he doesn't think it'd be very susceptible to squirrels or pocket knives. he's hoping that mikhail has a plan, but that's another thing he doesn't really want to talk about. ultimately, he's prepared to be the best bell-ringer he can be. he hopes it'll be enough.

"hey," he says, to get mikhail's attention like it's not just the two of them. like there's anything to focus on other than here, now. "i don't know if it's insensitive to ask this, but..."

he walks on, not quite as fast now. one step at a time. he's not scared, but he also doesn't want to start the night too ambitious and end up in a bad spot. it might be best to take it slow and wait for someone to yell out that they've seen the redretch. he doesn't really want to be the first.

"if we find this thing and you catch it or whatever, have you thought about if it has a really stupid power? what if it's something that cancels out what you've already got, and it's worse? can that happen?" do witches think about these things? he thinks he would.

[ametrynos]

Immediately after the red moon ritual is finished, Mikhail hears whispers of a snarling beast and its deep, rumbling growls that chills the blood in his veins. He knew in an instant that the ritual had been a success. In a spark of small unexpected courage that he doesn’t know he had in him—perhaps the festive atmosphere all around the bonfire rubs off on him—the young witch tries to listen to its voice. 

Between its rasping gasps and garbled snarls, a horrid idea makes the hair at the back of Mikhail’s neck stand on their ends. For reasons unexplainable to him, Mikhail's brain traitorously entertains a thought that the creature is trying to speak, repeating the same thing over and over again like it’s calling for something. Or someone. 

Mikhail let out a tiny pained groan that totally doesn’t sound like a terrified whimper. What a nightmarish thing to think about when it seems unlikely the creature has the necessary jaw structure or voice box to speak in human tongues. 

Feeling like he could throw up any moment the more he dwells on the creature they are supposed to hunt tonight, Mikhail tries to distract himself by staring at the forest ground while doing breathing exercises. He‘s been stumbling along Haoran, half-frantically trying to go at the same pace as the older boy and not jumping in fright at any slightest noise. The young witch believes he’s doing a good job by only flinching seven times out of eight occasions. 

Mentally, he’s trying his best to ignore the faint sounds of redretch that magically graces his ears once in a while, running the worst case simulations should they’re lucky (or cursed) enough to actually stumble upon the walking nightmare given form. He flinches once again when Haoran calls his name but immediately relaxes at the sound of the older boy’s familiar voice. 

“Umm… Although I hope that we won’t actually face that… thing. I guess I haven’t really considered that possibility before. If that happens I guess the school will kick me out since I’m not magic anymore?” Oh, god, he sure hopes that won’t happen because that would suck big time. 

“But do you think we’ll actually see it? You know… that,” Mikhail asks with anxiety apparent in his voice, not wanting to say the name of the creature they’re hunting out loud out of worry it will actually summon it into existence. "I-I'll still do my best to protect us both though!!"