These were the verses that once echoed hauntingly throughout these now decrepit forests during the nightfall, an enchanting tune filled with vacant and unfulfilled promises, sugar-coated words sung so tantalizingly by a being that nobody dared to speak of. They did not know of the true name of this entity, but with quivering lips they simply called it by the only thing befitting such an unspeakable monster...
"The Beast".
Yet two of the last wayward souls, a pilgrim and a charming little boy with his slippery, croaking companion, who just as many unwary children before them embarked into the seemingly endless unknown brought with them a shimmer of hope, of life, and were guided through their journey by a single bluebird. It was not long before they stumbled across the mournful woodsman, who was entrapped in the silver threads of The Beast.
The Beast, clever and ceaselessly working behind the scenes, kept a watchful eye on the lost boys for many days and many nights. His pull on the woodsman's strings weakened, and it was not long before the true source of the Edelwood was realized... And for the first time, the woodsman refused to accept The Beast's bargains.
Grow, tiny seed,
You are gone to the trees,
"Give me my lantern." The deep, deceivingly soothing voice of The Beast bellowed from the void of the forest, hollowed milky eyes piercing through the glooming darkness.
"Your lantern...?" The pilgrim questioned, before the bluebird interjected.
"No way, we need this thing!"
Rise,
'Till your leaves fill the sky,
Contemplating for merely a moment, the pilgrim agreed,"Yeah, i'm keeping this! I have to get Greg home."
"Your brother is too weak to go home." The Beast stated firmly, raising his hands to emphasize his words,"He will soon become a part of my forest."
Clutching the lantern's handle tightly, the pilgrim kept his gaze firm on The Beast, outwardly he was determined, but on the inside he could feel the anxiety creeping in, slow like a snake stalks its prey,"I won't let that happen!"
Until your sights,
Fill the air in the night,
The Beast leaned down slightly, his glowing pearly orbs unblinkingly striking deep into the pilgrim's weary soul,"Well then, perhaps we better make a deal."
As the woodsman wailed weakly, limp on the unforgiving soil and barely conscious, the conversation continued,"Deal?" The pilgrim uttered, uncertain.
"I can put his spirit in the lantern. As long as the flame stays lit, he will live on inside." With a hand as black as the starless sky, The Beast extends it towards our pilgrim,"Take on the task of lantern bearer... Or watch your brother perish."
Lift your mighty limbs,
And give praise,
The pilgrim's gaze lowers to the lantern in his hand, a look of defeat crosses his expression as he allows a low sigh to cross his lips. He was willing to sacrifice anything for his dearest brother.
"Okay."
The bluebird tried to gain the pilgrim's attention, however her words were but muffled sounds, empty and devoid of meaning in that very moment. That was, until... The pilgrim came to a sudden realization. Snatching the lantern back before The Beast could hook his claws into him... His stare hardened.
To the fire...
"Wait. That's dumb." The pilgrim argued, taking a few steps away from the shadowy figure that towered menacingly above him.
Although unseen, a sickening sneer appeared on The Beast's expression,
"What?"
"That's dumb! I'm not just gonna wander around in the woods for the rest of my life." The pilgrim continued, keeping his gaze stern.
The Beast loomed closer, his usual deep, hauntingly calm voice turning into something more deadly... Menacing and filled with a promise of the most deadliest of torments. "I'm trying to help you."
Connecting the details, it took only a moment for the pilgrim to put the pieces together, and for The Beast's guise to bleed into a puddle across the cold earth beneath them,"You're not trying to help me. You just have some weird obsession with keeping this lantern lit. It's almost like... Your soul is in this lantern."
Dramatically, the air shifts, becoming deathly cold and suffocating as The Beast let's out an ear-splitting growl that shakes the trees around them with an earth shattering force. His body violently contorts in a mixture of foul, disgustingly unfathomable horrors and the pilgrim is subjected to the whims of his darkness as the light that illuminates from the lantern dissipates abruptly.
A look of terror crosses the poor pilgrim's face, as The Beast's form grows higher and higher, his now distorted voice scathing against his ears like hot coals,"Are you ready to see true darkness?"
Shaking with horror, and voice wavering, the pilgrim does not back down,"A-Are you...?" He cleared his voice, before standing his ground more firmly. He narrows his eyes, pulling the glass open on the lantern,"Are you?" With a deep inhale, he readies to blow out the lantern's intense flame.
Suddenly, The Beast retracts,"Don't...! Don't!" The desperation was clear, and it was abundantly obvious our pilgrim uncovered the harsh truth. The Beast was a liar, a deceiver, and the woodsman was merely a tool to prolong his inevitable end. With a scoff, the pilgrim handed the woodsman the lantern to deal with The Beast on his own. For the pilgrim cared for one thing and one thing only right now: His brother.
Breaking his brother free from the branches of the Edelwood, it was now merely the woodsman and The Beast.
The Beast attempted to ensnare the woodsman into his strings once more, but they were all but cut off, irreparable. No longer would the woodsman be his puppet and him the puppeteer, and in a fit of anguish and seething rage, the woodsman blew out the flame forevermore so that The Beast could never come to harm anyone ever again. He destroyed the lantern and threw it down a river, where it sunk to its depths and was swept away by the currents to never be seen. To never return.
All the wayward souls were finally free, the horrors of The Beast lost within time and soon to be long forgotten.
... Or at least, that was how it should have been.
Warnings: Gore, violence, cannibalism, possessive behavior, probably yandere I think, not very fluffy nice stuff because my brain craves dark themes apparently!
It had been weeks.
Weeks of running. Weeks of hiding. Weeks of surviving in this goddamned place. This was never supposed to happen! This was supposed to be a vacation away from the stresses of your modern life, but now it was nothing but a living nightmare that never ends. How you eluded the bloodthirsty beast was a miracle to you, but the longer this went on, the more your sanity seemed to slip away into the crevices of this living hell, into the very soil of this cursed forest.
You were travelling with a couple of acquaintances you had met awhile back, enthused to test out your well-honed skills in the wild with them, as you have done countless times before. You loved a challenge, and were a survivalist of sorts, taught at a young age how to start a fire, catch and grow your own food, what plants are safe and which ones would make you throw up your insides, shit yourself and die in an unmarked grave. You became a very skilled hunter and loved being out in nature, and one thing your father always taught you was to never waste the animal. Each part had its own use, and that was something you always stuck with even to this day.
You never experienced what it was like to be prey, and now you had a whole new respect for the animals you hunted. It was bloody terrifying.
It started with members of your group being plucked off one by one, nobody seeing the creature itself, it was as if they had just disappeared. Vanished without a trace. It was only when you discovered the bloodied remains of one of your missing travelling companions, that things had really gone to shit. Voices mimicked the cries of their loved ones, and although you were not foolish enough to pursue them, others in your group were not so wise. And those who had half a brain were taken out in other ways, one of them eventually going utterly mad and killing off the rest of the members themselves, and much to your horror- tearing into their flesh like a rabid animal. It was as if they had became possessed by an unknown force, there were no warning signs. Their behavior changed just like a switch, and one of the machetes that was brought along made quick work of the rest of you. The mere thought of it made you want to wretch at the memory, but there was nothing you could do... So you had ran off before you'd became the next victim of that blade.
In just a week, you were alone, forced to try and escape this place by yourself.
As terrible of a mess this was, you were truly glad to have the set of skills you learned throughout the years. You were determined not to make yourself an easy target, but this thing had a way with messing with your head. Sometimes you swear you'd seen it... Antlers towering overhead, a looming black figure that almost blended into the trees, and a deer skull propped onto its shoulders. Cold silver eyes peering back at you, watching you, stalking you. You'd never seen anything like it before, but you recalled what someone had told you, just before they too were torn apart like the rest.
They mentioned a creature called the wendigo, a monster of insatiable hunger that couldn't resist the taste of human flesh. Apparently, it had once been human itself, but you find that hard to believe. Their description of the thing however, remarkably fit what you had seen. You were not one to listen to tales and legends, but when you were living in a literal horror story... It'd be rather foolish to deny what you've seen with your very own eyes.
The scent of decay wafted through the air, hitting your nostrils with its stench. Currently, you were trying to keep yourself sheltered from the pouring rain, which froze your skin to the very core. You shuddered, squeezing your arms closer to your body while you kept your fire ablaze. It was fortunate you started it before the weather had turned, or it would be utterly impossible to keep yourself warm. However, you were now becoming hyper aware of every noise you heard due to a certain issue with this small comfort: You knew the smoke would give away your location, and the light did not keep you exactly hidden from the beast that lurked these woods. There was no way you could rest this night, as you had to be ever wary of your surroundings. Luckily for you, you naturally had shifted your waking hours to the night, as that was the wendigo's primary hunting time.
That didn't necessarily mean it did not follow you during the day. In fact that was when you would sight it the most, though it seemed to prefer actively attacking you during dusk until dawn.
Taking a deep breath, you pull your bow closer to you, giving yourself reassurance. For all you knew, this creature might not be affected by anything you could fight it with... But that didn't mean the small bit of protection didn't keep your nerves at ease. "It'll be okay, Y/N... You survived this long, you can survive even longer. No buck headed bastard is going to get the better of you." You muttered to yourself quietly, glaring into the darkness. The surroundings around you were pitch black, making it impossible to see out.
But then you heard something that made your spine nearly crawl out of your body. A chilling voice you'd never heard before.
"This 'buck-headed bastard' can smell your sweet blood, little prey..." The darkness rumbled, and suddenly, a heavy gust of wind blew your entire fire out.
'It's already here!?' You thought in panic, eyes as wide as saucers as you glanced around, desperate to see your surroundings. The moon's light was blanketed by the clouds, plunging the world beneath it into obscurity.
"You have alluded me thus far, but our little game is coming to an end... Did you really think you could escape forever?"
Scrambling to your feet, and gripping your bow as tightly as possible, pulse quickening as you held your breath. You desperately tried to listen, to hear its movements, anything to indicate where it was, but the downpour drowned it out.
"And yet even now, you still wish to fight... How adorable."
You let out a strangled gasp, as one massive, clawed hand gripped onto your neck and the other grabs your wrist in a nearly bone-crushing grip. You were almost choking, but the beast released the pressure on your neck... Only slightly, though you were at the very least capable of breathing. Obviously, your first instinct was to fight back, and you twisted and pulled in its grasp violently. "Fucking... Let me go!" You shouted desperately, using your free hand to try and pry it off of you. It didn't seem to do anything, really. In fact the only result was a searing pain in your wrist as its claws dug deeply into your soft skin with ease.
The wendigo pulled you harshly back against it, a horrifying growl emanating from its chest as a response to your ceaseless struggling. It was nothing you ever heard before, no animal could be capable of creating such a horrific noise. Whatever this thing was, it was unnatural.
"I would so enjoy the taste of your flesh... However..." It whispered harshly, its cold breath brushing against your ear. It had a metallic scent to it, one that you knew was due to freshly spilled blood. "You've impressed me, prey. So I will allow you one chance. One chance to escape. Fail, and you will become mine."
Promptly dropping you to your feet, you nearly fell to your knees as you landed back on the solid surface. You managed to regain your balance, and twirled around to see the silhouette of the wendigo behind you. It hovered over you, at least eight feet tall and its silver eyes had a ghastly glow, piercing into your very soul. It leaned terrifyingly close, and you could see its gaping maw which was filled with hundreds of jagged, sharp teeth. How easy it would be for it to tear you asunder, to leave you nothing but a heap of blood and bone.
"Run."
And run you did.
You did not need to be told twice, and despite how hard it was to maneuver through the dark forests without a source of light, you weren't one to waste the opportunity. You didn't care if this was the creature's stupid little game, it was a chance to escape. A chance to get home. A chance to get out of here and finally, live a normal life again. The constant paranoia, the fear, it would all be a distant memory. This was what you wanted, more than anything.
Besides, you weren't exactly one for getting eaten alive.
Dashing through the trees as fast as your feet could carry you, you splashed through muddied puddles and tripped over a log or two. You couldn't really be at fault for that, but to your surprise after what felt like an hour of running... You came across a trail. A trail! You recognized it, as you had walked along this trail more than once in your life. Dozens of times in fact, but, you also knew it was stretched across miles of terrain. It went through the entire forest, after all.
'Could I really make it?' You thought, doubting yourself. You'd imagine the wendigo was much swifter than you, being experienced in hunting your kind... 'No, no more doubts, if I do nothing i'll just end up like the rest...'
Taking a deep breath, you shove yourself forward despite your aching legs, which cry for much needed rest. 'Endure the pain, just endure the pain... Think about the comforts of sitting on a couch again. Or sleeping on a goddamn bed for that matter.' You remind yourself, continuing onward.
You were walking for hours, and to your shock... You saw absolutely nothing. No wendigo breathing down your neck, no branches being broken behind you as an attempt to put you on edge, no voices trying to tempt you into investigating a secluded area... Only the splattering of rain against the murky soil could be heard, as well as the shuffling of your footsteps against rocks and the squishing of mud. Your initial pain had faded away, or perhaps you had gotten used to it at this point, and all there was was a dull, lightly throbbing and burning ache. You'd definitely be feeling this tomorrow, that is if you survive. As much as you'd like to be happy about not seeing that dreaded creature, this only put you on more edge.
This was too easy.
You saw how swiftly it had torn apart your fellow survivalists, how it made quick work of them with little effort... By all means, you should be dead by now. Something was wrong, and you could feel a chill creep deeply in your bones. Perhaps you had been out here too long, with no socialization and the stresses of sleep deprivation gnawing at your ever-deteriorating psyche. This all felt wrong... Wrong! Was it all a part of your imagination? Was everyone actually safe, and you had unknowingly wandered off on your own? But then the stinging of your wrist made you remember the cruel claws that sunk into it, like the blade of a knife carving into your flesh.
It was only after a few more grueling moments that you noticed... Hadn't you walked passed this spot before? No... No! You couldn't believe this. After all this time, all this walking, you were back at square one. Back at the same spot of the trail where you had started. Was this all a trick too? Had you gone truly mad!? Frustrated, you let out an anguished and desperate cry. You collapse onto your knees which sink into the slick earth, digging your nails into your scalp as you lose all your bearings, all your fight, all your will... You could feel the warmth of tears beginning to cascade down your cheeks, as a broken sob escaped your lips.
Finally, you came to the ultimate realization: You were never getting out of here. You were never, ever going to leave this place. And this had made your entire being shatter.
As if it had sensed that you finally have given up your run... You feel something breath down your back as something behind you blocked out the rain. You didn't care anymore, however, and accepted the fact that you were going to die at the hands of this monster. 'This is the end... But I don't give a fuck anymore. Death is better than keeping this up for the rest of my life.' You thought grimly, closing your eyes as tightly as possible. You didn't want to see your killer, and merely hoped that it would give you a quick death.
... But much to your confusion, it never came.
Once again, you feel yourself being lifted off of your feet, a familiar large hand wrapping around your waist and heaving you up with ease. But unlike before, this was much less aggressive, much less violent. It was deceptively gentle, terrifyingly so even. 'Just what is this thing up to?' you suspiciously thought. Was it going to toy with you first? Get your hopes up once again just so it could see your resolve shatter before it's eyes? You kept your own closed, you couldn't bear to face it, to let fear give way.
"Just... Just end me already..." You plea, weaker than you wanted to. You didn't like sounding so pathetic and vulnerable, but what else could you do? You were clearly at a disadvantage here.
You get no answer right away, instead feeling a clawed thumb swipe the fresh tears from your eyes. A strangely caring gesture, you thought. You didn't like it, didn't trust it. But when you feel something hard and solid press against your head, you finally mustered the courage to open your dampened, tear-swelled eyes. A yelp got caught in your throat as pure shock and fear struck through you, and you stared directly into those sharp, silver orbs. Its forehead was pressed firmly against yours, its stare intense and filled with a mixture of something primal and fierce. You heart nearly stopped when its low, powerful voice spoke through the eerie silence.
"I have caught you, my lovely prey. And now I'll never let you go."
