Chapter Text
Jiseok doesn’t venture into the woods much.
At least not anymore. Not since he ended up in this small town on the edge of the forest that he now calls home. His adventuring days are far behind him, cut tragically short by forces beyond his control (not that he thinks anyone can control getting their fucking arm bitten off by a Hydra). His work takes up much of his days, his friends the rest, so it’s not like he has much spare time to idly wander anyways. But even still, Jiseok is at his heart a creature of civilization. He loves people, loves the town, loves his craft. There’s nothing for him in the woods that he can’t find elsewhere instead.
It doesn’t stop his comparatively wilder counterparts from giving him grief about it. Jungsu frequently ventures out to collect ingredients for his alchemy, Hyeongjun makes his entire living hunting, and Jooyeon is a feral beast they’ve only barely tamed and managed to bring inside. All of them have a far deeper connection with nature than he does, and his hesitancy to enter the forest is a frequent source of teasing.
But there’s something about these woods in particular that calls to him in a way he can’t quite articulate. How is he supposed to tell his friends that he’s never once felt alone out there in a way that they’ll understand? That wherever he goes the phantom weight of unseen eyes press down upon him, stalking him, waiting to pounce.
He’d tried. Once. Mentioned it to Hyeongjun offhand, disguised as a joke.
“I just always feel like there's something watching me out there, you know?”
The Elven hunter had paused, laying down the arrow he’d been fletching to squint at him, far too perceptive for Jiseoks liking.
“There’s nothing out there for you to fear” He’d replied, matter of fact. Jiseok had been hoping that Hyeongjun would reassure him that the woods were normal and safe and empty . The lack of that specific confirmation did little to soothe him.
“Of course, I'm not afraid of anything. I’m way too smart for that” he’d joked again, faking his laughter. Hyeongjun hadn’t laughed along. He’d just fixed Jiseok with that same piercing look, the one that always felt like he was staring through Jiseok, straight into his soul.
“If you meet anything strange, just tell it you’re friends with me.”
He’d laughed that off too. Had agreed to do just that, mainly because Hyeongjun had been weirdly insistent, and written it off as just another Strange Elf Thing. Or maybe just a Hyeongjun Thing, he was never quite sure either way. But he’d been content to let it lie, safe in the knowledge that the town holds all he needs and his friends are there should he really need accompaniment through the forest.
So, normally Jiseok would never venture into the woods alone, and certainly not at night. But the thing he values most is his word and his work, which tonight has forced him to do exactly that.
Jiseok owns and operates the sole Magic shop in town. His artificing keeps him busy, both in creating his own inventions and making items to sell. Jungsu handles the potions side of things for him, but everything else contained within has passed through his workbench at least once, a fact he’s incredibly proud of. After his adventuring career was halted by the loss of his arm he’d been rudderless. The shop has breathed life back into him, given him something to work for and build from the ground up. It’s not where he thought he’d be, but well. Life’s funny like that.
Today, he’s received a request for a very particular enchantment. It’s incredibly fiddly, time consuming and needed as soon as possible. Normally he’d never take a rush request like this, but the customer is an adventurer from out of town who is willing to pay handsomely for his services. Adventurers are his favorite customers, because they’re often eager to go out of their way for a good deal, and will likely bring the rest of their party along the next time they roll through his town. Besides, he has a soft spot for them, for those brave enough to do what he couldn’t.
The snag in his plans is that this specific enchantment requires powder made from Lunelily petals. An incredibly beautiful flower that blooms only on the full moon and sprouts along leylines. Rare, expensive to find and impossible to cultivate unless you’ve been very lucky with the position of your dwellings. Jiseok is not so lucky, and he’s also clean out of his usual stock of it. He does, however, know where to find more. He’s scouted out a grove of them growing not too far from town, just a half hours walk up the hill. And tonight just so happens to be a full moon.
Any other night, were he forced to venture out into the dark of the trees, he’d drag one of his friends along with him. But the full moon means that Hyeongjun (his usual victim) is busy taking care of Jooyeon (victim number two). The werewolf is destructive in just his normal human form, so their little band takes turns babysitting the giant puppy every month to ensure he doesn’t destroy the whole town. This time it’s Hyeongjuns turn, and Jiseok doesn’t begrudge the hunter his job for the night at all, not after what Jooyeon did to his poor couch last month. Jungsu is likewise busy, though he hadn’t explained why when Jiseok had gone to beg and cajole at his door. He’d just ruffled Jiseoks hair, told him that he’d be occupied for the rest of the night and wished him a paltry good luck! , the bastard.
So, bereft of any better options, Jiseok heads out into the forest alone.
The night is clear and cool, the moon hanging low in the sky. Jiseok’s brought along a strong magical lantern, and has two backups in his pack, but even without them he’d be able to see his path forward in the bright moonlight. His sword is newly polished and swinging at his hip, his crossbow hanging from the other, and he’s pulled all of the old armor pieces that still fit him from the depths of his wardrobe. Slightly overkill, but hey. He’s got plenty of reason to be cautious. Anytime he forgets, he need only look down at the shiny, rune-inscribed metal prosthetic of his right arm for a reminder.
Luckily for his heart, he encounters nothing out of the ordinary on his journey up to the Lunelily grove. Birds chirp in the trees around him, animals scurry back and forth in the undergrowth, the forest breathes just as normal. Even the presence he usually feels in the trees, the eyes in the dark trained on his every move, seem absent. Jiseok almost enjoys the walk.
By the time he reaches the grove he’s relaxed some, enough to properly take in the sight of the opened flowers lighting up the forest like a blanket of stars. Their petals gleam luminescent in the moonlight, the air surrounding them so thick with magic he can taste it like lightning on his tongue.
Moving carefully so as to disturb as few of the flowers as possible, Jiseok fishes out the prepared vial and thick gloves from his pack. The flowers are magical conduits and are especially powerful when they bloom, so he has to be delicate as he plucks the brightest petals and deposits them in the enchanted glass. He takes only enough to fill the vial, leaving the rest of the grove untouched. The flowers will sprout there again regardless, even if he uproots the whole stem, but it feels like such a waste. An unnecessary desecration of something magical, something beautiful.
He’s loath to leave, but his job at the grove is done, and there’s plenty to do back at home. Besides, the longer he stays out here, the more likely it is for the heightened magic to react with the enchantments laden on his gear, or gods forbid his prosthetic. Safety wins out in the end, as it often does, so with a heavy heart Jiseok pulls out his compass and turns to leave.
Except his compass isn’t working.
The needle is spinning without stopping, a slow rotation around the entire ring. He shakes it, gives it the old artificer technique of smacking it once, but the damn thing continues to spin. Even worse, he’s gotten turned around picking his way through the grove, and has no idea of where he entered from. Panic begins to claw in his chest, but he takes a deep, sobering breath and thinks.
He’s walked on a steady incline this whole time, up one of the gentle rolling hills that surround the town. This grove is on a flatter part of the terrain, but if he starts walking and the path doesn’t begin to slope down he’ll know he’s going the wrong way. Odds are good that the compass will start working again once he’s in an area with more stable magic. And even if it doesn’t, and Jiseok becomes totally lost, his friends know that he was venturing into the woods tonight. Jungsu will come to drop off his stock in the morning and find him missing, and then it’ll only be a matter of time before his friends track him down, a day at the very most. He’s survived far worse situations than this.
So, taking another rallying breath, Jiseok picks a direction and starts walking. He checks the compass every now and then, and eventually the needle stops spinning on its own, resting limply without pull and rotating only when Jiseok tilts the case. Dead. A shame, but he has the tools to fix it at home, so he pockets it and continues his way through the forest. To his great relief, the path he’s picked does begin to slope downwards, and gradually he begins to see the flickering lights of the town in the far distance.
In that moment of relief is when he hears the cry.
It’s high pitched. Pained. Distinct enough to be close by, and not accompanied by any other sounds of violence. It still makes Jiseok yelp in fear, and he almost drops his damn lantern in shock. He halts in place, hand going to his crossbow as he scans the trees for any sign of attack. But the forest is still and quiet. Nothing jumps out, nothing growls at him in the dark. Sighing, half thinking he’s imagined it, he turns back to the lights of the town and takes another step.
Another cry. It cuts off at the end into a broken whine, message clear even without words. Please help me!
Jiseok swears to himself, heart jackrabbiting out of his chest. He very much wishes to flee to the safety of the town. But he’s stopped in his tracks by the awful thought that this could be someone he knows. What if someone has gotten injured out in the woods, and he’s leaving them to suffer? Even if it’s not someone he knows, it could very well be a traveler, or one of the many animals Hyeongjun takes care of and cherishes like friends. He’d never forgive himself if someone had come to harm, and he’d knowingly turned away from them. That’s what had driven him to adventuring in the first place, and then to artificing when that dream had died, so that he could help people.
Another cry. Jiseok’s already moving, slinking as quietly as he can through the brush towards the sound. It does him little good to charge forward blindly. He’ll be no help to anyone if he blunders straight into a monster, so he dims his lantern and takes careful steps up to the break in the trees where the noises are coming from.
What he finds in the clearing takes a second for him to process. Dark fur shot through with silver and stained crimson, wild eyes and teeth catching the light as it writhes and pants. The creature within claws with dirty paws at the bloodsoaked soil, white-tipped tail swishing madly behind it.
A fox, caught in a trap. Not one of Hyeongjuns careful snares made of branches and wire, delicate, as humane as can be. This trap is crude and brutal , two jaws of jagged iron clamped down upon the beast's hind leg. Even from this distance Jiseok can see the white of shattered bone glinting in the wound.
He gasps. A tiny sound, one normally lost in the rustle of leaves. But the silver-black beast snaps its head up, fangs bared and growling. He stumbles back a step, and the creature gnashes its jaws towards him, a warning to stay away. The movement jostles its leg in the trap and it collapses back with a heart-breakingly pained whine, another spurt of dark blood from the wound staining the soil beneath it.
Unthinkingly, purely on instinct, Jiseok holds out a shaking hand and addresses the beast.
“It’s okay, I’m a friend of Hyeongjuns! I can help”
He hadn’t expected anything, least of all for that to actually work. But to his surprise the creature stills in the dirt, panting, regarding him with wary suspicion. Jiseok swallows. He takes a cautious step into the clearing. The fox still doesn’t move, not even when Jiseok turns up the brightness of the lantern and steps even closer.
“Are you going to let me help?” He asks, feeling somewhat stuck. Hyeongjun or Jungsu are the ones with a knack for dealing with animals, not him. He likes them well enough, sure, but he’s never had to wrangle one that could take a chunk out of him as easily as this fox could (unless he’s counting Jooyeon). But the beast has seemingly calmed, golden eyes staring up at him in a way he can only describe as pleading, so Jiseok can no sooner turn away than he can stab himself in the chest. Besides, he’s invoked Hyeongjuns name. The hunter wouldn’t forgive him if he left one of his friends in a state like this.
“Please don’t bite me” He pleads, holding out a hand towards the fox like it’s a stray dog. The fox regards him with that same pained suspicion, and then delicately leans forward to lick his curled fingers. Jiseok jumps at the sensation, the wetness of the animal's tongue startling, to say nothing of being suddenly so close to those sharp teeth. But it’s as much of a go ahead as he’s likely to get, so he sets the lantern down on the ground and turns to look over the trap.
It’s as crude an implement as he’d seen at first glance. Two awful metal jaws, launched together by springs with a pressure plate as the trigger. He shudders to think of whoever could set something this cruel up, especially so close to town. He’ll have to mention it to Hyeongjun when he gets back. Luckily, the mechanism is simple enough that he can already think of several ways to get it open.
“Okay, this is good. I could just try and lever it open, I have some strong cord in my bag that I could attach to that tree to winch it… no, too risky. I don’t want it to snap back onto you if the cord breaks” He mutters, thinking aloud as he steps gently around the clearing, seeing the situation from all angles. The fox regards him, silent but for harsh pants of breath. “Or-hmm, the springs look fairly easy to get to. The angle isn’t ideal for trying to pull them out, but I could- ah, okay.” He pauses, circling back around to kneel in front of the fox, swinging his pack down off his back to rifle for supplies.
“What I’m going to do is melt the spring where it joins to the side of the trap here, as far away from you as possible. It might be a little hot, but I’ll do my best to shield you from it. That way, once the spring is removed we can lever this side down slowly and remove your leg as carefully as possible. I have some supplies here for the wound” Jiseok fishes out a healing potion, along with his small enchanted heat-wand and a first aid kit, showing all of the items to the fox as he does.
He feels a bit silly, talking to it like it’s a human and assuming it can perfectly understand him, but the creature watches him with keen eyes and seems to calm slightly at his words. Besides, if this beast associates with Hyeongjun, there’s a chance it could be more intelligent than a normal fox. Magic like that which the Elf works with can do strange things to animals sometimes, and Jiseok has certainly encountered weirder things than this.
Jiseok lays the healing potion and the first aid kit within easy reach, and sheds his bulky cloak next to them. He pulls out his gloves, sliding them on and giving the heat protection rune inlaid in the fabric a quick test with the wand. The material singes a bit, the rune flaring with magic, but he can barely feel the heat and it holds well. Good enough for this, though he’s mentally adding it to the growing list of items he’ll have to replace or repair. The fox had better appreciate his sacrifice of expensive gear for its sake.
He kneels down gingerly in the damp soil next to the fox, still half expecting it to lunge at him. All it does is twist its head around to watch his hands as they bring the wand up to the point where the spring meets the side of the trap. Slowly, carefully, he cups his free hand around the metal close to the fox to act as a makeshift heat shield, and ignites the wand. The fox whines in alarm, but stays blessedly still.
“It’s okay, I've got you.” Jiseok soothes, gritting his teeth against the anxiety pulsating in his chest “Look, it’s working”
And it is. The metal glows red hot beneath the tip of the wand, heat radiating up to warm his face and torso. Painfully slow, it begins to melt, the join between the two pieces of metal starting to liquify. For a breathless second Jiseok thinks that he’s miscalculated, that the wand won’t produce enough heat to do it. And then the metal breaks apart, hissing as it splatters in the mud. The spring releases the tension all at once, and Jiseok swears as he drops the wand to grab ahold of the trap's jaw, the metal scraping his left hand even through the thick gloves.
“Easy, easy” He mutters, putting his other hand on the foxes flank without thinking. The beast stills from where it’d started to writhe away, tense as the other unbroken spring, and for an awful second Jiseok thinks that this is the moment it finally strikes. But it stays put, even as Jiseok slowly pulls that side of the trap down, sliding the metal free from its leg with the awful, wet sound of iron against flesh and the scraping of bone.
He drops the trap and goes for the potion, unstoppering it with one hand as the other steadies the fox. He’s trying desperately to breathe through his mouth and not look too closely at the wound, illuminated and grisly in the torchlight.
“Here, drink. This’ll help” He proffers it towards the animal, who takes it delicately between its jaws with the clink of teeth against glass. The potion disappears down its gullet, and begins working its magic immediately. Despite his support, the fox collapses with a whine to the forest floor as its shin bone begins to knit back together, turning from a life threatening wound to simply a painful one. Jungsu’s potions are the real deal, but even one of them wasn’t enough to fully heal the damage, so Jiseok busies himself with the supplies from his medkit. The fox makes no move to get up or stop him, seemingly exhausted and content to let Jiseok continue to help.
Jiseok ties the bandage off with a careful knot, and sits back on his haunches. The fox is no longer whining or panting. It simply lies there, blood slowly blooming on the bandage, staring at him. The exhaustion hits Jiseok all at once, and he tears his bloody glove off to scrub at his eyes.
But his job isn’t done yet. The realization comes slowly, as he and the fox stare at each other and the moment stretches out like taffy. There’s no way he can just leave it here. The beast is clearly tapped out as well, and he doesn’t know if it can walk on that leg even with the healing. If he walks away right now there's a good chance whoever laid that trap will come back to finish it off, or another predator will take advantage of the easy meal. He would take it to Hyeongjun or Jungsu, but both are busy and unable to be disturbed. That leaves only one option available.
“Would you-can I bring you home? My friends are better at healing than I am, but they won’t be free till the morning. I can find something for you to eat in the meantime, and you’ll be safe to rest there..” He trails off, as it hits him that he’s talking to a wild goddam animal and asking its opinion like it’ll respond back. The fox eyes him up and down, and he’s about to stand up and wash his hands of this whole thing when it fucking nods at him.
“Oh” He says, speechless. Well, that answers the ‘is it intelligent?’ question. His brain clunks to a halt, and then revives like a piece of ancient machinery shaking the dust off. “Okay, uh. Great! Cool, cool. Um, let me-” He mumbles, scrambling to his feet and gathering all of his scattered items. The fox makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a laugh, and then flops its head down to the ground.
He’s always been good at compartmentalizing, setting aside all thoughts when given a problem to solve, so he sets to work with a carefully honed air of normality. Jiseok throws everything loose into his pack, hefting that onto his back, and then sets about fashioning a sling out of his cloak to carry the fox. He’s not the strongest, but given how bright and close the lights look the town shouldn’t be too far away. It’s a struggle to position the fox in a way that doesn’t jostle its injured leg, but the creature stays docile as he adjusts the sling around it, leaning into his chest as he sets off back towards town.
He’s panting heavily and set to collapse by the time he finally makes it to the door to his cottage. Attached to the back of his shop, the small dwelling is what he affectionately refers to as cozy and practical and what Jungsu describes as messy and cramped. The vast majority of the living space is taken up by his workshop and the combined kitchen and dining area, with his bedroom and bathroom making up the rear of the house. It’s not much, but it’s his , and he loves his space to bits.
He levers his front door open, and winds his way across the project-littered floor to carefully set the fox down on the least ruined part of his couch. The animal blinks up at him, relaxing into the couch cushions and to Jiseoks great relief is seemingly content to stay there.
“Let me put my stuff down, and then I’ll find you something to eat, alright?” He throws over his shoulder towards the fox, already in the process of unpacking his bag and taking off all his gear. The vial containing the Lunelily petals is set carefully on his workshop table next to the unfinished rune, his armor is stripped off and piled at the door to be taken care of in the morning, and soon enough Jiseok is divested of all but his house clothes. He really wants a bath, but makes do with thoroughly washing his hands and any exposed bits of skin of blood, and splashing some water over his face. He’s too wary to leave the fox alone for such an extended period of time, even with how well-behaved it seems.
His cupboards are bare, but he manages to scrounge up some dried jerky, which the fox gobbles down gratifyingly fast. He sets a bowl of water out as well, and an extra blanket for good measure, and then sits down heavily on his workshop stool. He’s exhausted and on edge, but there’s still work he has to do tonight if he has any hope of getting the enchantment finished on time. So, begrudgingly, Jiseok takes a small breather and then sets back to work.
“Don’t wander over here, okay?” He calls over to the fox, who’s now resting with its head on its paws, golden eyes watching him work. “These materials could hurt you, and me too if I mess this up. Don’t worry though! I’m a professional” He grins reassuringly.
Yeah, he’s losing it. Understandable, given the night he’s had, but still. Sighing at himself, he turns back to the delicate work of crushing the hard-won petals into a fine enough powder for processing.
Hours pass as Jiseok loses himself in his artificing, hands steady even as his eyes begin to droop closed. The fox becomes a comforting presence, the low sound of its breathing fading into the background noise of his home as he works. Eventually, he nods off, eyes flying back open as the rune chisel he’d been holding slips from his grip and clatters to the workbench. This isn’t the first time he’s fallen asleep in the middle of a project, so he has enough wherewithal to set anything volatile aside before laying his head down on folded arms and closing his eyes. He’ll just rest for a minute and then keep going.
Sunlight peeks out from behind closed blinds when Jiseok slowly blinks awake. There isn’t the usual crick in his neck he’d expect from falling asleep on the job. In fact, he’s horizontal, laid out on his mildly shredded couch under a blanket. Someone’s moved him in the night, and the disconcerting panic of that has him bolting upright, adrenaline chasing the fog of sleep away.
There’s a soft clack of cupboard doors closing from his kitchen, the sounds of someone moving around just out of view, and for a second Jiseok relaxes a touch. It’s probably just Jungsu. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time his friend has come over without warning and found him passed out mid project. He yawns, throwing the blanket off and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he gets up from the couch.
“Mmrgh, ‘Su?” He calls out, brain still connecting to his mouth. The noises stop all at once, then Jiseok hears footsteps round the corner and the panic slams back into him full force.
It’s Not Jungsu.