Aerin had successfully done everything until now.

Everything was great until the scent lured him inside the woods and now he was lost. The scent disappeared and he was terrified, he didn’t know where he was.

He looked around with labored breath, everything was blurred with darkened edges, and his vision was obscured by the stress and lack of oxygen. He’d been walking completely disoriented, walking in no precise direction and purpose, until the scent came back and pulled him insistently, he almost groaned with irritation but followed anyway.

He could see small flecks of sparks in the air, forming a trail and leading him to the source of the scent. The bright blue dots tickled his skin as he passed them, green trees leaned towards him, trying to get closer to him as did the plants at his feet.

He walked dazed to wherever he was being pulled, his hesitant steps started to move confidently and faster, and in no time, he was running as fast as he could. The trees he passed turned into a blurred mess flashing through his eyes.

He got closer to it and a foreign feeling settled in his chest, his heart thumped loudly in his ears and he could feel the ground at his feet beating with it. Sudden excitement took over and he couldn’t help but smile at the pleasant feeling.

The feeling that had accumulated in his chest was about to explode, but instead, pain exploded on his forehead, spreading down his spine and traveling through his body. The newfound pain was so intense the whimper that escaped past his lips was inevitable.

The impact of whatever had crashed into him, or he’d crashed into, sent him flying to his side and roll down a hill covered with leaves and grass, which thankfully comforted the fall as they bent towards him, protecting him from any possible damage and leading his moving body to a soft meadow.

He laid there, unmoving, his chest heaving up and down rapidly, sweat covering his forehead and his heart thumping loudly and vastly inside his chest. His legs were trembling intensely from the sudden rush of adrenaline. 

The pain that lingered on his forehead led him to whimper and groan in pain continually, he didn’t even bother to repress them as he’d forgotten the possible danger from whatever he’d hit.

He laid there for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath and waiting for the pain to mitigate. He raised his head still stuck in some deep part of his mind. 

When someone emerged from the deep shadows his eyes widened, they weren’t like him or anyone he’d ever seen in the palace, the man that started taking big steps towards him was tall, very tall. And the scent he’d been smelling came from him. Aerin had seen people like the prince or workers that were bigger than many, but nowhere near the size of this man. 

He stared at the man’s robust shoulders and the muscles of his arms.

Why can’t I look like that?

He stared so intensely that he had completely forgotten how to move his limbs, his mouth had gone limp and he was brought back to reality by drool oozing from his mouth slowly. 

His eyes widened and he quickly wiped it with the back of his hand, his face flushed red and he stared at the approaching man with big eyes.

You’re so embarrassing!

He did the first thing that came to his mind. Run. He moved his legs as fast as he could, dodging dry trees on the way clumsily. 

He could feel the man at his heels, screaming and begging him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen.

“Please”, he pleaded and something deep inside Aerin’s mind stopped him.

You’re hurting him. A voice deep inside Aerin’s mind whispered. 

Go to him. It told him.

He stopped to look at the person behind him. Aerin stared at the man’s eyes and felt his heart beat loudly, something pressed against his chest that forced him to speak.

“Hi-“, He smiled, but it was soon replaced with a terrified expression as he was pushed to the abysm he hadn’t noticed before. Water splashed on his face and he soon found himself surrounded by water suddenly, he heard a painful high-pitched ringing inside his ear, and pressure surrounded his head like a tight rope wrapped around his head that pulled tightly.

He was suddenly so cold that he couldn’t feel anything else but the chilly feeling that wrapped itself around his limbs and sent shivers throughout his body. His eyes flickered and closed as his consciousness slipped away without him being able to resist.

***

He’d felt cold. Now, he was warm. Very warm, and it smelt so good. 

His fingers twitched and he took a deep breath, but it didn’t reach his lungs as his chest filled with pain. His eyes flew open and he stared panicky at the sky, now filled with oranges and reds as the sun took over the moon’s place.

He groaned painfully, it must’ve caught someone’s attention since hands were soon placed over his body, pulling him up and holding him comfortingly as they rubbed his back.

“Shh... It’s okay”, someone whispered close to his ear as he choked on something.

After struggling to breathe and resisting the shallow burning in his chest, water soon rose and splattered on the floor in front of him. After a series of drowned coughs, he was able to breathe normally, his chest heaving notably as his hand rose to take the hand that had settled on his shoulder.

He was moved to someone’s lap, his sight was still unfocused, blurring the person’s face as he gazed up at them, his back was touching their chest, he craned his neck to look at them while his head rested at the level of the other person’s heart.

He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the heartbeat against his head as it thumped loudly and pleasingly, it lulled him and comforted him, he exhaled slowly, forgetting about everything. 

“Are you okay now? a deep voice asked, vibrating down his spine. He opened his eyes groggily.

“Huh?”, he looked up with sleepy eyes, his vision now clear as he stared at warm brown eyes with amber specks. He lost himself in them, traveling through them and distracting him again.

“Are okay now?”, they repeated, “I’m sorry for what I did, I was… distracted”.

Something inside Aerin clicked, he quickly rose to his feet staring at the stranger in front of him. 

Fluffy ears rested on the man's head while surrounded by messy dark brown hair, he had a large nose that made his brown eyes stand out. Aerin’s fingers flickered, longing to touch the very fluffy-looking hair and roll his finger around the small curls. 

He shook his head violently. Stop it! Wake up, Aerin!

Aerin pushed himself to remember what he was talking about. Oh! Right, he pushed me!

He glared at the fluffy-haired man.

“Why did you do that? I could’ve died!”

“I was j-just” the stranger mumbled incoherently.

Aerin looked sternly at the man that had turned into a wordy mess with just a simple question. The man sighed looking down at his feet, he raised his head slowly and stared at Aerin’s eyes.

“I was just distracted, I’m really, really sorry! Please don’t hate me!”, he looked pleadingly at Aerin with big wide eyes, scared to earn Aerin’s disapproval.

Aerin was lost at his words, not really knowing what to say, but his face brightened suddenly while looking at him. The man gulped slowly at the sudden change in Aerin’s face.

“Oh, it’s okay now! But you owe me one!” Aerin said with a scary glint in his eyes,” Where are you from?”

“Uhhh… Evior?”

“Where’s that?”, Aerin asked.

“Umm, East?”, Aerin grinned while the man flinched.

“Is it far?”

“Um yeah a bit”, the man replied while nodding his head slowly with uncertainty.

There was a moment of silence. Both of them didn’t say anything but stared at each other. The man breathed in deeply as if trying to smell something.

“Can you take me with you?” Aerin asked hopefully, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“Will you take me with you? Please?”

“Uhh… I mean I don’t know what to say… I have to ask my group first”, Aerin tilted his head.

“Okay! Go ask them!”, Aerin said surprising him.

“Okay…”, the man took slow steps and Aerin followed him with an excited face.

The man tried to look back at him to see if he was still following, every time he’d do that Aerin would look at him skeptically and the man would rapidly turn his face to look forward.

Aerin looked around while he followed him, he looked down at his feet, the grassy surface leaned towards him, searching for contact and grazing his feet, the ground slowly turned dry and pointed, the dry yellow grass poking at his feet hurtfully.

The man walking in front of him must’ve noticed because he suddenly crouched on the ground and looked at him expectantly. Aerin knew what he wanted him to do, he’d done the same thing for Ethuil when he was tired, but he was no child and he didn’t want to be treated like one.

“I’m not a child”, he stated.

“I know”.

“Then?”

“You’re in pain”.

“Well I’m still not letting you carry me, go on, lead the way”, Aerin said while crossing his arms.

The man sighed and rose, he stared at Aerin, unmoving.

Aerin looked at him questionably until the man started walking towards him. Intimidated by the tall figure approaching him he tried to run away, but he had just taken a few steps when strong arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him off the ground.

“Hey! Stop it!” Aerin screamed.

But the man ignored him and started walking, while he held him the same way Aerin had seen princesses being carried in his picture books.

“AHHHHH!! Help me! I’m being kidnapped!”, he screamed and looked up to stare at the man looking down at him amused, “put me down now! I want to walk. If you don’t you’ll be in big trouble”, he said.

“I’m just helping you, I promise when we get to a softer surface I’ll put you down”, the man said softly.

Aerin didn’t answer, he just crossed his arms while he glared at him, still not convinced. He let himself be carried while he looked at the dead trees they passed, he gulped, suddenly feeling overwhelmed when something pressed painfully at his chest.

He turned his head to not look anymore, hiding within the big arms that surrounded him, the arms tightened suddenly, sending comfort and warmth. He laid his head on the man’s chest, his unnoticed shivering stopped and he laid there with flushed cheeks while he breathed the sweet scent that surrounded him. He sighed contently.