Pairing: Kim Namjoon x Reader
Dryad AU; Greek Mythology AU
Genre: Fluff; Horror
Words: 2070
Warnings: dead dove: do not eat; gore; minor character description; murder; violence
Masterlist | Fictober Masterpost
The Greeks once believed that every tree had a spirit. The dryads. They were beautiful nymphs, yet shy, avoiding many of the major gods and humans alike. Although, many were quite fond of dancing and could be a bit wild, some going so far as to wander to the revelries of Dionysus. Others remained steadfast in their forests, only befriending Artemis, as she often protected them from unwanted advances. One thing in common, the dryads were fragile, relying on their bonded tree for life. If their tree died, so did the dryad perish.
Thus, as human civilization expanded and the power of the gods—even Artemis—dwindled with man’s lessening belief, the dryads’ forests became exposed and unprotected. They were destroyed and paved over in favor of cities and suburbs.
Humans planted new trees, but they held no spirit. No soul. Just as the humans held no care for the gods or spirits themselves.
Soon enough, there were so few dryads it was a blessing if a forest even had one. They had to become reclusive, not just shy. Alluring and entrancing, not just beautiful. Vicious, not fragile.
In a kill-or-be-killed world, the remaining dryads chose to protect their trees. Even at the cost of spilling mortal blood.
“Authorities puzzled: unexplained phenomena or foul play?” “Activists call for project closure.” “Investigators remain baffled by strange disappearances; Development to move forward.”
The headlines surrounding the project were all the same, and the public was becoming increasingly worried. Thus, the real estate development company was forced to send out an environmental inspector to properly survey the land and wildlife.
Something was causing those people and machinery to go missing. It needed to be dealt with, quickly and quietly.
He’d always dreamed of helping save the environment. And yet, somehow, he’d gotten roped into a corporate world that couldn’t care less about it. His job had simply become a way to placate others that the capitalist greed was justified, that of course the land and animals weren’t necessary and there was no chemical factor that could harm precious human lives.
He felt so dead inside. But he would do his job regardless… He would march into that forest and, regardless of what he found, he would do as the company ordered him and report everything fine to continue on. Because it was his job, and he had no other option.
He hadn’t noticed the woman yet. Namjoon was too busy picking through the rubble and destruction of the survey equipment, puzzled by how quickly the brush and flowers had grown over it, to notice her.
She watched silently, sitting on a low tree branch with her legs swinging playfully. Her head was tilted in contemplation.
He also didn’t feel like the others had. This man, tall and golden with broad shoulders but a careful, gentle disposition was special.
He wouldn’t hurt the forest. She could tell.
As he went to pluck one of the wildflowers, she spoke up, “You shouldn’t do that.”
The man jolted, falling backwards onto his butt and whipping his head around to find the voice. She giggled at his unintentional silliness.
She hopped down gracefully from the tree branch and approached the man. “The flowers have feelings. If you pick it, you’re hurting it. You shouldn’t do that.” She reiterated.
Namjoon nodded wordlessly, stuck in a daze as he gazed upon the strange woman.
She was tall, not because of her stature, but the way she carried herself. Sure and confident. She didn’t seem to walk, but rather glided along the grass, while flowers parted for her bare feet. Her skin was just barely tinted green with dark, swirled patterns like vines creeping around her bare arms and legs. She tilted her head at his mute response, hair—dark and rich like the earth—falling to the side to reveal long pointed ears, and narrowed her golden eyes on him.
While Namjoon should’ve been terrified of the alienesque woman, he couldn’t find it in him to be anything other than intrigued. She was so striking and beautiful; her aura felt warm like the summer sun, and she seemed to glow with that same brightness too.
“I– I’m sorry…” He finally whispered, bowing his head slightly in apology at the seemingly goddess in front of him.
She hummed in acceptance. “Who are you?” It was less of a question and more of a demand; her tone was firm and steady.
“I’m Kim Namjoon…” He breathed out, coming to stand on his feet, although shakily. “My company has been trying to develop this land and everything keeps being destroyed… everyone keeps going missing.”
“Ah. The trespassers.”
She said nothing further, yet motioned for him to follow her. He doesn’t know why, but he did.
She led him through the underbrush of the forest, once again the plants seemed to part for her, until they arrived at a semi-clearing. The area was dark, the trees and surrounding bushes blotting out the sun and providing secret coverage.
“I gave them proper burials.” She explained simply, motioning to the sticks and bundles of flowers arranged as if the area was a graveyard.
Namjoon swallowed thickly, realizing it was a graveyard.
“It’s a sacred duty to bury the dead, and without a proper burial, their souls would not be able to rest. They would haunt the forest.”
“No!” Namjoon’s eyes widened, and he gasped, “I meant why did you kill them!” Fear struck his heart at the thought, and the feeling pushed against another strange unidentified sense.
Her head tilted again. She seemed to do that every time she considered something, tossing the idea around. “I didn’t… not directly.”
“What do you mean…” Namjoon hesitated to ask.
“The earth reclaimed them.” Her eyebrows rose, expecting him to question her again.
When he nodded for her to go on, she rolled her eyes playfully before the seriousness returned. She began to walk away, and Namjoon scrambled to follow. Soon enough they arrived at a massive ash tree, much larger than he’d ever seen them grow with blooms of beautiful white flowers.
“This is my tree,” the strange woman explained simply.
“Your tree? So do you own the land? It’d be illegal for us to–” Namjoon rambled as he made notes in his journal.
She giggled. “One does not own land. The land belongs to itself. But, I am a dryad, and this tree is my life force. If it is cut down or destroyed, so will I.”
“A… dryad…” Namjoon had heard mythology referencing the creatures but never believed any of it was real. Now that he was face to face with such a mystical being, he couldn’t not believe.
“Yes, my name is Y/N, and for thousands of years this has been my home.”
Namjoon spent several days going back to the forest and getting to know Y/N. His bosses had hounded him after the first excursion for information and clearance, but he told them his findings were inconclusive and he’d need more time.
In reality, he was trying to come up with a plan to derail the project. He had grown to like Y/N and didn’t want to see her die, especially after hearing about her past.
“The grove was beautiful,” Y/N sighed, combing her hands through Namjoon’s fluffy strands. “There were dozens of us here, and we just lived so freely. So peacefully. Dionysus would bring wine to those of us too shy to attend his parties, and Artemis provided us friendship and protection. You would’ve loved it, I think.”
“Do you miss your family?” Namjoon leaned his head back into her lap, catching the glimmer in her eye before she masked it again. “You must’ve been lonely…”
She shrugged. “It’s been so long that I can barely remember not being alone.”
And, although he’d prefer if he could save her and the land, he didn’t want anyone else to die either. But unfortunately, Namjoon’s boss’s boss—the head of the development project—had run out of patience and decided to take matters into his own hands. Despite Namjoon having put in for a temporary protective order of the forest.
He arrived with a small group: half a dozen demolition crew, the foreman, and a few big machinery trucks.
Amidst their discussion and commotion, driving the trucks in and marking off where to start clearing, Y/N had extricated herself from where Namjoon had been laid over her lap.
“Stay here.” She commanded. Namjoon’s brows furrowed, and he sleepily rose to his feet.
“There are trespassers. I will handle it. Stay here.” She was stern, and when Namjoon moved to follow her anyway, vines rapidly grew from the earth and restrained him.
As Y/N moved through the brush, staying hidden from view of the humans, the trees came to life.
Their branches began twisting, their snaps resembling the sound of bones cracking as they contorted into unnatural shapes. The gnarled twigs reached towards the trespassers like skeletal fingers, and the roots ripped through the earth like writhing snacks, poised to attack.
The air of the usually very beautiful, peaceful forest became thick, and the sweet smell of wildflowers became cloying. As the humans exclaimed their confusion, they gagged and choked on poisonous herbaceous fumes, making them weak.
Those that fell to their knees easily were bound by vines, ensnaring them rapidly in a web, and the earth seemed to open up and swallow them alive.
Those that tried to fight, tried to run found the wind whipping around them, blowing razor-sharp leaves across their skin and lacerating layer upon layer away. When they fell in a heap of bloody flesh, the earth too swallowed their cries and screams.
Only the big boss remained, having watched the nightmarish plants come to life and destroy his men. Even the trucks and machines had been wrapped in vines, roots piercing through the metal, and sinking into the dirt.
The grotesque branches surged at him and wrapped around his extremities. He was choking, begging for air, while being pulled ruthlessly in four directions. His torment ended as a final branch pierced into his stomach, snaking up and back out his open mouth.
Blood dripped to the ground from the corpse, left on display at the entrance to the forest. A warning. A deadly promise.
Namjoon never witnessed the horrific murders. He had remained tied up near her ash tree. That doesn’t mean he was blissfully unaware of what occurred. No, he heard the screams, the begs for mercy from an unseen demon. Prayers to a vengeful god.
And yet, Namjoon couldn’t find it in himself to be too disturbed.
Maybe he had been hypnotized by the strange, dryad woman, but every day that he spent with her, he felt she was more and more justified in her response.
It was just self-defense, after all.
Eventually Namjoon was able to push through the proper paperwork to protect the land. With the head of development out of the way, it was actually rather easy…
He quit shortly after, becoming a certified park ranger and specially requesting the forest. His new bosses thought him insane for wanting to patrol the area where so many had gone missing, but no one else wanted that shift so they gladly gave him free reign of it.
Y/N, as thanks for helping to protect her and her home, had the trees craft a home around her ash tree. Their home.
“What made me so special?” Namjoon smiled softly, hands caressing the sides of his little nymph.
She beamed up at him, “You didn’t look at the forest with greed in your soul. You looked at it like it was living and breathing.”
“Can I finally kiss you?” He asked, lips already a hair’s breadth away.
Barely a nod, and she felt his lips meet hers. It was gentle and careful, just as Y/N originally thought he would be. His palm slowly traced up her side to cradle her cheek; her own hands slid from their resting spot on his broad chest to tangle in his hair.
As they part, Y/N grinned sneakily, mischief in her eyes, while she plucked a baby leaf from his tresses. Her finger traced down his ears, already beginning to point, and moved to caress his own cheek.
“You are most definitely special.”
