The woods were to be avoided and looked past at all costs.
The woods lingered along the outer edge of the town and there were so many trees it looked like a shadowy zone. For even the sun avoided the area. As a child, Alina had been taught along with everyone else to stay away and for the most part everyone followed the direct rule. The only exception being once a month when a group of raiders were sent to brave the woods and find the supplies they desperately needed. Usually, everyone always returned, sometimes shaken and bloody but still in relatively one piece. This time, however, someone did not.
Standing with the crowd in eerie silence, Alina's breathing picked up at the sight of the horses. They were finally back! The group burst from the woods and their loved ones enveloped them in the safety beyond the borders. Alina waited for Mal to arrive last like always but as time ticked on, fear started to creep over her.
"Where's Mal?" she asked some of the returning guys but they all just shook their heads and quickly darted away from her. No. It couldn't be.
"The demon of the woods got him." A voice cut through the happy tears and sent the hair raising on the back of her neck.
"That's a silly legend," Alina replied, her stomach churning and without waiting for another word, she darted to the cottage she shared with Mal, throwing open the trunks to grab for what she needed. If they weren't going to LOOK for him then she would. The legends and stories were just to share young kids and nothing more.
When night officially fell, she crept from the cottage and towards the edge of the woods. "I will find you," she whispered to herself before she stepped inside and used just enough light from her fingertips to be able to see. While she did not believe in the demon of the woods, she still knew other creatures roamed within the trees.
Ignoring all her basic instincts, she continued along the path and then off it. She needed to find Mal and doubted he would be in the areas everyone else stomped along. Please, she internally begged, don't take him away from her too.
beauty & the beast / fairy tale au!
The woods lingered along the outer edge of the town and there were so many trees it looked like a shadowy zone. For even the sun avoided the area. As a child, Alina had been taught along with everyone else to stay away and for the most part everyone followed the direct rule. The only exception being once a month when a group of raiders were sent to brave the woods and find the supplies they desperately needed. Usually, everyone always returned, sometimes shaken and bloody but still in relatively one piece. This time, however, someone did not.
Standing with the crowd in eerie silence, Alina's breathing picked up at the sight of the horses. They were finally back! The group burst from the woods and their loved ones enveloped them in the safety beyond the borders. Alina waited for Mal to arrive last like always but as time ticked on, fear started to creep over her.
"Where's Mal?" she asked some of the returning guys but they all just shook their heads and quickly darted away from her. No. It couldn't be.
"The demon of the woods got him." A voice cut through the happy tears and sent the hair raising on the back of her neck.
"That's a silly legend," Alina replied, her stomach churning and without waiting for another word, she darted to the cottage she shared with Mal, throwing open the trunks to grab for what she needed. If they weren't going to LOOK for him then she would. The legends and stories were just to share young kids and nothing more.
When night officially fell, she crept from the cottage and towards the edge of the woods. "I will find you," she whispered to herself before she stepped inside and used just enough light from her fingertips to be able to see. While she did not believe in the demon of the woods, she still knew other creatures roamed within the trees.
Ignoring all her basic instincts, she continued along the path and then off it. She needed to find Mal and doubted he would be in the areas everyone else stomped along. Please, she internally begged, don't take him away from her too.