Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. Two eyes stared back at you. A snarl of fangs growled at you from the animal as black as night staring back at you.
A wolf.
IT WAS A WOLF!! The wild animal stood there growling at you for a few more seconds before just turning and running off. You watched as it disappeared into the darkness and heard it thundering through the brush until the sounds faded away to silence again. You ended up staring for what must've been a good five minutes before eventually you left the bush and stomped your way back into the safety and comfort of your house. You'd go back to town tomorrow and see about getting a trap once and for all. You weren't about to let that animal get away with eating on your livestock!
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The day was absolutely lovely. The trees swayed lightly with the wind as the flowers bloomed and the warm summer sun shone down on the earth below.
Yoi started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them. You were expecting a lot of things. A man learning at you again. Someone wanting to flirt. Maybe even another customer waiting for you to move. But it wasn't any of those things.
A simple man was staring downwards at you.
Amongst the few small shelves of books and one or two other people walking around browsing was another man around your age. His long black hair cascaded down his shoulders and his black eyes stared directly down at you but...He didn't look smug or awestruck or blushing or anything else you usually saw when someone stared at you. He just looked surprised. Like if a miracle had happened right in front of him. You both just stared at one another in silence before you awkwardly looked around you and then back to him before clearing your throat. He reacted instantly. He jumped eyes shooting up to your raised browed face.
"Can I help you, Sir?"
He blinked again before shaking his head and holding up his hands. "N-No. I-Im so sorry. I-I didn't mean to stare. I-I was just l-looking at the book you were h-holding." He then pointed at the book you currently held.
You looked at the book you had curiously plucked off the shelf to look at. A romance novel. Seemed interesting. "Oh.." Oh. Was that what he was looking at? Well it was relieving at least. "Did you want to look at it too?"
"N-No! Not that. I-I was just surprised that you were holding it..Is all." His dark eyes trailed off as a hand rubbed his neck. "I-I don't see a lot of people b-buy books by that specific author."
"Oh. Really? I wouldn't think that would be too weird. I mean this is the sequel to the first book and I wanted to know what happened to the Prince." The man ended up gawking at you in surprise again. "....What?"
"Y-You bought the first book!?," he asked rather loudly making a few people look over at you. You leaned back as he suddenly leaned forward. "As in..You actually bought it? And actually READ it!? A-And liked it enough to get the next book?!"
...You blinked as he stared at you in a mixture of disbelief and surprise and awe. "Um...Yes? Why?"
"B-Because I wrote it! I-I didn't think anyone would really be interested in purchasing anything from M-My personal works," he confessed a bit embarrassed to admit it again averting his eyes as you blinked at him.
"Wait. You wrote all these books?"
"Well...N-Not all of them. Only a few b-but I help run the store s-s-so the owner let's me put up a few copies of my own works for anyone who m-might want them." He shrugged. "It's not much, but I guess i-its better than nothing "
"No way!'' You lit up with a smile. "That's so amazing ! I had no idea there was an author here! I really like this small series with the Prince and the soldier girl pretending to be a man."
"You don't think it's a bit over exaggerating?"
You shook your head which surprised him. "Not at all. I really like how they became friends before you decided to add any romance. It makes the couple feel better connected to each other."
"REALLY!?"
You nodded again smiling wider. "It's a lot more satisfying than a forced fairytale romance. I didn't catch your name by the way?"
"Oh..Um." he cleared his throat. "I-its Kyogai." He nodded at your hand. "You can see it on the book cover."
Your eyes looked at the book again seeing the name Kyogai sprawled on the bottom. "Ah. So it is." You smiled back to him. "Well I'll definitely be buying this then. I can't wait to see what happened after her secret identity was uncovered, then I can get a trap."
"Trap?"
You nodded. "I have a small chicken stealing wolf problem but it's nothing I can't handle." You gave a small bow to Kyogai with a bright smile on your face. "Thank you for writing such wonderful stories for entertaining myself with. I'll be sure to come back for more."
His face lit up a red as he only managed to stutter out, "O-Of course."
You chuckled at his reaction only making him turn a deeper shade of red before taking your leaves, purchasing the book before making your way out of the shop and back towards the blacksmiths. For once a pleasant experience that made you smile. Now to take care of that wolf problem.