𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐔𝐑

by CherriBerri01

Summary:

Gorou has always been warned about the mountains. The elders say monsters live there. Old blood. Old instincts. Old teeth. An oni who survived when the rest of his kind vanished long ago.

As an omega of the forest pack, Gorou listens—he must. But one quiet morning at the lake, he’s spotted by that very monster, and nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he finds: An alpha who’s enormous, terrifying...and looking at him like he’s the first warmth in centuries.

Itto, the last oni, falls in love at first scent.

Gorou, cautious and brave, wants nothing to do with alphas—especially not one who could crush a tree with his bare hands. But Itto won’t touch him without permission. He courts him gently. Clumsily. Devotedly. And when danger grows between their worlds, Gorou must decide whether to obey his pack...or follow the oni whose heartbeat feels like home.

Notes:

Hello everyone! I've had this idea for a while in my head and decided to bring it to fruition. There are a lot of characters that I ship in Genshin, but Itto/Gorou is one in my top list. Plus, I figured the storyline/concept I had in mind would fit these two perfectly. This is a fantasy AU where Gorou is an unmated omega (yes, he's still a Shiba-Inu hybrid, dw) and he lives with his pack in the woods. Whereas Itto is an alpha Oni but the last of his species.

I plan for this fanfic to have about 10 chapters max, if possible. I don't plan for it to be a super long fanfic. But with that being said, I hope you guys enjoy the story 😊

Chapter 1: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

The forest was still drenched in blue morning shadow when Gorou slipped out of the colony’s borders, moving with the light-footed ease of someone who had walked these paths since before he could speak. The cool dawn air clung to his skin, stirred through his hair, and whispered between the leaves as if urging him forward—faster, quieter, before anyone noticed he was gone. He shouldn’t have been out here alone. Everyone said so. His status as an unmated omega came with enough rules to choke a lesser soul, and the elders liked to remind him of those rules every time he so much as looked toward the edges of their territory. Omegas do not wander alone. Omegas do not go where alphas might roam.

Gorou ignored every single one of those rules this morning.

He deserved one morning—just one—where no one hovered, no one scolded, and no one regarded his scent with that hovering mix of worry and overprotection. He knew the forest better than anyone in the colony. Its creeks, its animal paths, its hidden dens, its groves, its seasonal rhythms. He could have walked these woods blindfolded and still found his way. He was capable, he was careful, and he was tired of being treated like a living piece of fragile pottery.

So he slipped away at dawn, tail flicking with excitement despite the weight of the forbidden, and made his way toward the waterfall lake he’d found moons ago—one of the few places he could bathe without someone shouting his name across the trees. Sunlight had barely begun to seep through the canopy by the time he reached the moss-draped rocks surrounding the water. The falls cascaded down from a high outcrop, mist rising in a soft veil that caught the morning light. Birds murmured in the distance, but the clearing itself felt sacred, quiet, untouched. No warriors. No meddling betas. No elders. No parents. Just the water, the forest, and the sweet, precious solitude he cherished like a secret treasure.

Gorou stripped down without hesitation, letting his loincloth and simple tunic fall onto a flat rock. The morning air nipped at his skin, but the water—surprisingly warm this time of day—welcomed him with a soothing embrace. He waded deeper until the falls’ spray kissed his shoulders, and then submerged fully, pushing the cool liquid through his hair and over his face. His tail trailed through the water behind him, fluffy even when wet, and he reached back to scrub at it carefully. His tail was sensitive, prone to picking up dirt, twigs, loose leaves. Keeping it clean was both a chore and a comfort.

He sighed, long and soft, letting his muscles loosen as the forest hummed around him. This was peace. This was his.

This was—

His ears twitched.

Something shifted in the air—something heavy, old, and powerful. Not a sound at first. Not a movement. A presence. A shift in the wind. A faint pressure, like the forest itself had inhaled sharply and was now holding its breath. Gorou’s instincts prickled, tension creeping up his spine. His tail stilled in the water.

And then he smelled it.

A scent he had never encountered before—deep, warm, rich, with a faint sharpness that struck like a spark against flint. It was an alpha’s scent, unmistakably so, but not one belonging to any alpha from his colony. This was ancient. It was strong enough to crease the air. It clung to the trees, to the rocks, to the wind, spiraling down the back of Gorou’s throat with an overwhelming intensity that made his heart stutter.

His turquoise eyes darted across the treeline, ears tilting forward. "Who’s there?!" he called, voice sharp, though he hated the slight tremor he couldn’t quite hide. The sound bounced off the water and dissolved into the hush of the falls.

No answer.

Only the forest, too quiet now.

He swallowed hard and turned slowly, scanning every shadow between the trunks. His heart drummed in his chest, instincts tightening in warning. He wasn’t supposed to be out here. Not alone. Not near the mountains. Not anywhere near the old boundary where oni territory began, the boundary he had never crossed and never wanted to. But he wasn’t near the mountain, he told himself. Not nearly that far. This was still safe forest. So why did the scent feel like nothing he’d ever known?

After a tense moment, he forced a breath, his ears lowering. Maybe it was a wandering alpha he didn’t recognize. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe he’d spooked himself—rare for him, but possible. "Get a grip, Gorou," he muttered under his breath as he dipped his hands back into the water. "Finish washing and go back before someone notices you’re gone."

He grabbed the base of his tail to resume cleaning when—

Snap.

A twig broke sharply somewhere behind him.

The sound was small. But to Gorou, it was thunder.

He froze, water dripping slowly from his fingertips. The scent in the air swelled stronger—thicker, hotter, like warm stone and fire and something primal that coiled around his senses. His pulse spiked.

Panic lanced through him.

He bolted out of the water, droplets cascading off his skin in frantic arcs. His tail, heavy with water, slapped against the backs of his legs as he stumbled toward the rock where his clothes lay. Fingers trembling, he yanked the loincloth up around his hips and fumbled with the simple knot. His tunic followed, though he barely managed to pull it over his head without tearing the seams. Every hair on his body stood on end. His ears strained for any sound—footsteps, breath, anything.

Nothing.

Nothing—and yet every nerve screamed that he was being watched.

Watched intently.

Hungrily.

His breath hitched. His hands curled reflexively at his sides. He scanned the treeline again and again, but saw nothing. No figure. No movement. No glint of eyes.

But he felt it.

Something was there.

Something vast and quiet and powerful. Watching him with an intensity that dug all the way into his bones. Every instinct in Gorou’s body screamed at him to run, to flee, to escape before that presence stepped out from behind the trees and revealed itself. He didn’t need more warning.

Barefoot and half-dressed, he sprinted from the clearing, leaves whipping past him as he plunged back into the forest’s safety. His breath came fast, heart pounding, tail streaming behind him still dripping as he pushed himself faster, faster, until the lake and the waterfall vanished behind him.

Only when he reached familiar undergrowth and scent markers did he finally slow down, chest heaving. He turned once to look back, but the forest lay still and unbroken.

Nothing followed.

He tried—tried—to convince himself it had been nothing. Just an alpha traveler. Just forest noises. Just nerves. Yet the memory of that scent...that weight in the air...that prickling along his skin...

No, something had been there. Something watching him. Something that didn’t belong to the forest he knew.

 

---

 

Back in the clearing, hidden between the thick trunks of ancient cedars, Itto lowered carefully from the branch he had perched on, massive frame landing with barely a sound despite his size. At full height he towered, broad-shouldered, muscular, skin marked in vivid crimson patterns that glowed faintly where the morning light touched them. His curved red horns glistened with dew. His canines peeked past parted lips as he let out a slow, awestruck exhale.

He had never seen an omega like that.

Soft orange-brown hair, turquoise eyes bright as gemstones, a fluffy tail that moved with every emotion, and a scent—oh, Archons, that scent—that curled deep into his lungs and settled somewhere primal inside him. Honey-sweet. Warm. Innocent. Untouched. A scent that hit him so hard he nearly stepped into the clearing the moment he smelled it.

He had watched from the shadows instead, breath held, heart pounding in ways he didn’t know an oni’s heart could.

He had seen fear in the omega’s eyes. He hated that. He had seen panic in the way he fled. He hated that even more.

But Itto had also seen spirit. The way the omega had called out—brave despite trembling. The way he moved—quick, agile, strong in his own right. The way the morning light had caught on his wet skin—

Itto’s face flushed.

He dragged a hand down his horns, groaning quietly to himself. "Great job, Itto. You find the most beautiful omega you’ve ever laid eyes on...and you scare the poor pup half to death."

He looked toward the path Gorou had fled down.

He didn’t know his name yet.

He didn’t know where he lived.

He didn’t know why fate had dragged their scents into the same morning breeze.

But he knew the instant he saw him—knew with the certainty of an oni’s instinct—that this omega was important. Special. His chest still pulsed with it, fiercely, protectively.

"It’s him," he murmured, awe softening his usually booming voice. "It has to be him."

The last oni of the mountains straightened his massive frame, shoulders squared, crimson markings flaring brighter with emotion. His heart felt too big, too full. Something ancient inside him, something lonely and half-dormant for years, surged awake at the memory of those turquoise eyes.

He would find the omega again.

He would learn his name.

He would approach slowly this time. Properly. Gently.

And he would court him—not with demands or force or fear, but with devotion, patience, and everything an oni’s heart could offer.

A grin tugged at his mouth, fanged and bright. "I’m gonna make you mine, little pup," he whispered into the empty clearing. "Just watch."

And with that vow warming his veins, Itto stepped back into the shadows of the forest, already imagining the next time he’d see the omega whose scent had changed everything.

Notes:

kudos and comments are always appreciated ✨

Chapter 2: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ

Gorou’s lungs still burned by the time he reached the colony’s outer ring of protective stones, his heart thudding beneath his ribs like a frantic drum. The moment he crossed the scented boundary markers, the tension in his chest loosened just slightly—but not completely. The familiar scents of home wrapped around him, warm and grounding: pine smoke, cooking herbs, the earthy musk of the communal dens, and lingering traces of the pack members moving about in early morning routines. The world smelled safe here. And yet his pulse refused to settle.

His father stood at the center of the camp as though waiting for him, arms crossed, posture sharp as a drawn blade. Chief Riku was a tall, broad-shouldered alpha with matching orange-brown hair threaded with early grays, a symbolic band of woven bark and bone across his chest marking his position. His ears twitched once—an unhappy, restrained movement—as Gorou slowed to a halt before him.

Behind the chief stood Gorou’s mother, Mira, softer in presence but equally alert. Her cerulean eyes warmed the moment she saw him, but there was something worried in her scent. She lifted a hand to her mouth as though to call out but held the gesture back, waiting for Riku to speak first.

He always spoke first. 

"Where have you been?" Riku’s voice was not loud, but it carried weight. Authority. Disappointment. A father’s fear disguised as irritation.

Gorou swallowed, head dipping slightly in submission born more from habit than guilt. "Just...out," he said, though the vagueness sounded weak even to his own ears.

"Out," Riku repeated, unimpressed. "You know the rules. Omegas do not wander beyond the inner routes alone. Especially unmated ones."

"I know," Gorou muttered.

"You know," his father echoed again, ears flattening in frustration. "And yet here you are—barefoot, half soaked, wearing a tunic inside-out—coming back at dawn like a reckless pup who thinks he’s invincible."

"I’m not a pup," Gorou snapped before he could stop himself.

Riku’s gaze sharpened, but Mira stepped gently between them, her voice calm. "Riku, let him breathe. He came home safely."

"By luck," the chief retorted. "We’ve told him a hundred times: the forest is safe only up to a point. There are paths we do not walk. Areas we do not approach."

Gorou’s stomach twisted. He could almost feel the scent of earlier—the crushing, ancient alpha aura—lingering around his skin despite the time that had passed. No one else here would recognize it. No one else had ever been that close. But Gorou could still feel it wrapped faintly around his senses like smoke.

Riku continued, "And we certainly do not go anywhere near the mountain’s direction."

Gorou stiffened. He hadn’t gone anywhere near the mountain. Not truly. The lake was still within their known hunting grounds. "I-I didn’t go near the mountain," he insisted, meeting his father’s eyes. "I stayed in the inner forest."

"Then why," Riku said slowly, "do you smell...unsettled?"

Gorou’s breath hitched. He hadn’t realized it would be so obvious.

Mira stepped closer, hand brushing his cheek with motherly gentleness. "Sweetheart, did something frighten you?" Her voice was soft, coaxing, not demanding but concerned.

Gorou hesitated. He couldn’t tell them. If he admitted what he’d sensed—what he’d nearly seen—his father would lock him inside the dens for the next moon cycle and double the patrols. Mira would panic. The village would strengthen their borders. The stories painted oni's as unpredictable, monstrous, too strong and too wild for normal social structures. They were beings meant to remain at the mountain’s cold summit, away from the civilized colonies below.

Gorou wasn't even sure if what he sensed was an oni, but if he had sensed an oni...

He shook his head quickly. "No. Just...startled by a fox. That’s all." It was a lie, but a small one.

Riku snorted. "A fox. Convenient."

Mira frowned at her mate. "Leave him be. He’s fine. He came home. The forest didn’t eat him."

"Yet," the chief muttered under his breath.

But the tension finally broke when Mira wrapped Gorou in a warm, maternal embrace. Gorou melted into it, his tail curling instinctively around her side. She kissed his forehead, smoothing back his hair. "Next time, take someone with you," she whispered. "And please, don’t make me worry before breakfast."

Riku grunted something unintelligible and stormed off to begin the day’s orders.

Gorou watched him go, shoulders sagging with relief and lingering guilt. The lecture was nothing new—just louder this time. But it wasn’t the reprimand that stayed with him as he walked toward his den. It was the scent from the lake. That impossible alpha scent. That heavy, ancient aura.

And the way it had seemed to wrap around him—as though memorizing him. As though claiming him.

 

---

 

High above the forest, concealed by thick canopies and silent stone cliffs, Itto crouched in the branches of a tree that grew at the very edge of the colony’s territory. His massive hands curled around the trunk with surprising gentleness, claws barely grazing the bark. He had followed the omega’s scent easily—far too easily. Gorou’s scent trail had been distinct, sweet, warm, and intoxicating, a scent unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Even when the trail vanished into the cluster of dens and huts, Itto’s instincts told him precisely where the pup had gone.

The colony below was active now. Warriors strode between structures. Betas carried supplies. Alphas sniffed the air periodically, checking for danger. Itto held perfectly still, knowing that even one shift of his weight could alert them.

He wasn’t stupid. They would panic if they saw him. No one wanted an oni near their homes—not after the legends, not after the horror stories, not after generations of fear passed from parent to child like heirlooms.

So he stayed hidden.

He sat down on a smooth boulder that jutted from the mountainside, crossing his massive arms over his chest as he stared into the distance toward the colony. He couldn’t see the omega from this angle—just scattered roofs and smoke rising from cookfires—but he could feel him in there. His scent lingered faintly on the wind.

Itto exhaled slowly, watching the breath curl in the cool air. "What do I do now...?" he murmured. He’d never been good at complicated plans. He was good at lifting boulders and punching trees and yelling about how great he was. Subtlety was not usually in an oni’s nature—let alone his.

But for this omega?

He would be patient.

He would sit here all day if he had to. And the next day. And the next. Until he figured out how to approach without frightening him again. He twirled a small pebble between his fingers—a nervous habit—and let his legs dangle over the edge of the boulder.

He wasn’t leaving. Not yet.

 

---

 

The day passed slowly for Gorou, who could not shake the eerie sensation of being observed—even within the colony. Every time he caught a whiff of the wind, his ears perked, searching for that strange, warm scent. But all he found was pine, earth, and the familiar scents of his people.

Still, sometimes—just faintly—he thought he saw something. A shadow too large to be a deer. A flicker of red between trees. A pair of glowing eyes that vanished when he blinked. Each time, his heart leapt into his throat, and each time he quickly looked away, unsure if he wanted to see more.

By afternoon, Mira attempted to set him up with a neighboring alpha—a polite but painfully boring man with no humor, no softness, and absolutely no interest in Gorou’s independence.

Gorou excused himself quickly.

By evening, he lay in his den wrapped in furs, staring at the ceiling while the colony quieted around him.

By nightfall, he still had not fallen asleep.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw the lake again. Heard the twig snap. Felt that heavy scent roll across his skin. His instincts, though still unsettled, gnawed at him with their own brand of curiosity. What was he? What sort of alpha gave off a scent like that? Why hadn’t he shown himself? And why—why, why, why—did Gorou’s heartbeat quicken in a way he didn’t want to admit?

Frustrated and restless, he finally pushed off the covers and sat up. His ears twitched sharply. Outside, the guards paced. Their scents drifted lazily through the night wind. The moon was full, bright, casting silver light across the forest.

He shouldn’t do this again. He really shouldn’t.

But the thought of waiting until morning—of pretending he wasn’t thinking about that scent—felt impossible.

So he got up. And he left. Again.

Sneaking out was easier at night. The guards’ attention wavered, lulled by routine. Gorou moved silently, slipping between shadows, his bare feet barely stirring the underbrush. Within minutes he was beyond the colony’s boundary, inhaling the cool night air as relief washed over him. He took a familiar route through the trees, past the ferns, along the stream, and toward the waterfall clearing.

The forest looked different at night—darker, yes, but not frightening. The moonlight turned the leaves to shimmering silver. Fireflies drifted lazily between branches. And the sound of the waterfall echoed softly across the glade, like a pulse in the darkness. He stepped into the clearing and stopped near the water’s edge. He wasn’t sure what he expected. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.

He wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing warmth back into his skin as he glanced up at the sky. The moon hung heavy and bright. Stars dusted the sky like crushed crystal. His tail curled loosely around his leg as he let himself breathe. 

The scent wasn’t there. Not yet.

But something told him he hadn’t imagined it. Something told him he hadn’t been wrong. Something told him he would not leave this place without that alpha showing himself.

He stood there, listening to the water, trying not to think about how reckless this was—when a branch cracked in the darkness. His breath caught and his ears snapped forward. His tail perked up, tense and alert. He spun around toward the sound. "You can come out, you know?!" he shouted, voice echoing across the water. "I know you’re there!"

The forest held its breath.

For a few seconds, nothing moved.

Then the shadows shifted.

And a massive figure stepped slowly into the moonlight.

Gorou’s heart stopped.

There, emerging from between the trees, was the owner of that scent—tall as a nightmare, broad as a fortress, with curved red horns that gleamed like polished stone and crimson markings glowing faintly on his skin like embers beneath ash. His silver hair fell messily over his shoulders and down his back, and his eyes—golden, bright, almost luminous—watched Gorou with a mixture of awe and worry.

He looked like no alpha Gorou had ever seen. He looked like the stories. He looked like an oni. Itto took another cautious step forward, his voice soft, almost hesitant. "Hey...I, uh...didn’t mean to scare ya earlier. Y'know, when you were...bathing..."

Gorou’s lips parted, breath stolen away entirely as he stared at him—at the height, at the horns, at the sheer presence of him.

He had never seen anything so terrifying.

He had never seen anything so mesmerizing.

Notes:

kudos and comments are always appreciated ✨