Well... I didn't mean to take this long to update... whoops-

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    The two slept all dawn and all through the day. Seven was nocturnal, it was by nature he slept that long; but for Mono, he felt like he couldn't be fully rested at all.

He'd wake up, then go straight back to sleep, like his body kept going, 'no, nap time'. Dusk began to settle in, when he was woken up by a small shake.

"Mono, wake up, we gotta go," a voice said. Mono gave a small whine, already feeling his body want to shut down again for more rest. The shake grew a little more rougher, helping the prince's mind to defog.

"C'mon, we gotta go before One and Two kick us out," Seven joked, his hands grabbing at the other's sleeve. With a small tug, Mono let out a small yelp as he felt himself being pulled off what he guessed was a couch.

Arms wrapped around his chest as he was hoisted up, back pressed against a small, not so solid surface. "Raise and shine, sleepy head!"

The vision of nothingness didn't help his unsteady heartbeat, his breathing quicken slightly as he was given what he guessed was a small hug from behind.

The prince smiled under his bag, before the other let go of the hug, sliding his hand down and grabbing the other's hand, lacing his fingers with him. Seven's hand was always warm, kinda sweaty, but he tried to ignore that part.

The sound of heavy footsteps made him tilt his head up, recognizing the heavy steps to be one of the two kind people who let them stay at their cabin. "Are you sure this isn't something else we could do? We have a bit of spare food from last night, we could give you some for the road."

Mono heard the more baritone voice to be One's, holding a small gruff to his lower pitched voice, almost holding a nervous older brother tone to it. Mono could almost picture the kind of person to have that tone, possibly a large man of stature, wide shoulders and curly hair.

Admittedly, he first found it odd, humans living outside the safety of the kingdom's walls; but by the sounds, One and his siblings lived fine in the dangerous forest. Perhaps they didn't like living in such crowded environments like the towns. Maybe he could suggest somewhere nice for them to live at it if the need ever come, he knew of a smaller village with a quiet community filled with polite people.

"Thank you, but, no thank you. Besides, you did enough my letting us stay for the night. We have to get going. We already missed most of the day, not that I'm really complaining or anything, you guys were great company to talk to," Seven's more youthful and cheerful, loving tone sounded beside him.

He could feel the other give his hand one more gentle squeeze, the same soft smile as before growing on his face. He liked this.

Before Mono never really remembered being hugged, guessing that after his mother, the queen, passed his father didn't really spend much quality time with him. Not that that surprised him really, he was told on many occasions he had his mother's face, gently rounded cheeks and small nose, even her rounded dark eyes.

He only guessed looking at him hurt his father more than losing his wife itself. It didn't help he was also fairly young when she passed, only having pictures and fuzzy memories to remember her by.

Seven snapped him out of it, gently tugging and leading him out of the small cottage they had stayed at. "Bye! Thanks again for letting us stay!" Seven called back, Mono raising a hand, turned and hopes her was facing the right way, and waved goodbye to the kind people.

"Bye, be careful out there!" One said back, before Two's softer, melodious voice joined him.

"Watch out for raccoons and frogs!" She warned, Five's high pitch, babyish cheers sounding with them.

"Come back soon! I'm gonna have some pretty flowers for your fur, Seven, and, Mono, since you told me you were a prince, I'm gonna make you a flower crown next time!" Mono was confused by the first part of the statement, but brushed it off as Seven possibly having a fur coat or something of that nature.

Seven pulled him forward, noticeably quickening his pace. "Thanks, Five, you guys take care!" Mono called back, Seven not slowing down.

Had he missed something? Why was Seven suddenly in such a hurry to leave?

Oh well, at least he could still hold his hand.

***

  Seven looked at the large area in front of them from a cliff. His four pointed ears were up, fresh blood on his sharp claws from his frog massacre not that long ago from where they tried to hurt Mono.

Okay, maybe he didn't hurt him, but he tried to and he stopped him before anything could happen, then a huge part of hive came and tried to attack. But a wave of Wasp Frogs was nothing for him, the thought of hunting another unsuspecting prey make him lick his bloody muzzle.

Well, he definitely needed a bath now, he was sure Mono would smell the blood on him before he even saw-

Wait, no, take that back-

The wolf shook his head, the cliff side showed to be all clear. There was a small pond nearby too he could freshen up at too.

"Seven? Are the frogs gone?" Mono's soft voice caught him off guard, the wolf letting out a small yelp of surprise, raising his paw to attack. Mono stared blankly ahead, unaware of the same claws that nearly scratched his eyes out.

Before more damage could be done to the other's health, Seven recoiled his paw, cradling it to his chest as his eyes widen with fear. He almost did it again, almost made their (secretly already bad) relationship worse.

"Mono! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Seven snapped. He took a deep breath, focusing on turning back to his human form, shrinking in size and losing his beastly build.

"Sorry, I'll be more careful next time..." Mono whispered under his breath, Seven barely catching his words, even with the aid of his acute hearing. The wolf frowned, reaching forward, wanting to take his friend's hand, before seeing the red blood on his own hand, recoiling quickly.

"N-no, it's okay, alright? Yeah, all the frogs are gone, don't worry, I got it handled," he answered back, hoping his voice didn't betray him and show his sudden uneasiness as he looked at the other.

Mono reached out, wanting to take his hand, but once again, Seven recoiled, stepping back. He couldn't get blood on the other, he'd get scared and probably run for it or back up and fall off the cliff from shock.

The prince tilted his head in a confused manner, unsure on where his friend had gone, hands reaching out as he slowly stepped closer to him. He had to come up with something, quick-

"W-wait, Mono, don't touch me!" He said, making the other stop, frozen in place as he wasn't sure what was happening.

"What's wrong?" He asked slowly. Seven blinked, think, think-

"I... got a small wound on me, nothing to worry about, I can get it patched up. I just don't want you to touch it in fear of making it start hurting," he said, going off of a whim of an idea he thought of for a few seconds. At least it sounded a bit sensible. 

The prince took a step back, suddenly rubbing his wrist in a worried, anxious fashion. "O-oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and-"

Before he could say anything else, Seven quickly wiped his hands off on his dark blueish gray jeans, smearing most of the blood off of him, and took his hand. The blind boy jumped in surprise, but slowly laced their fingers together. The wolf noticed the sudden ease the boy had, his shoulders relaxing and his breathing becoming less shallow than what they had been before. Despite the bag on his friend's head, he knew he was feeling better now, probably having a smile on his face.

"It's fine. C'mon, we should get going." Seven smiled as Mono gently nodded his head, before following behind him as the wolf lead them carefully down the cliffside, the two stepping in a more stranger place.

Down the cliff, the forest around them lost it's mold and webs, and instead, they were met with strange glowing crystals and lights, the trees dead, branches curling at the end, matching the dead reeds under their feet. The whole forest was quiet, the eerie sounds of distant tree limbs braking making Seven growl, his tail standing at attention. Seven's eyes looked to the side of the road, seeing a stone statue of a fox, staring straight forward, an arrow pointed down the way towards the dead forest.

He never remember this being part of the path...

"Seven?" Mono asked, gently tugging on his arm, making the wolf look over. The prince stared straight ahead with a blind blank gaze, his hand tightening in his grasp. "I think I heard something..."

"Was it growling?" Seven asked, a lie already planning in his head, ignoring the nausea that settling his stomach as he found himself possibly lying once more to his friend.

"No, like... whispers," he muttered quietly. Whispers? Seven looked to the entranceway to the twisted, crippling woods, ears straining to hear. He could barely hear it, the whispering of hushed voices, some of the lights glowing brighter as the whispering gently meet his ears. He didn't like this, he was sure something possibly laid in the darkness.

His grip on the other tightened. "It'll be okay, I can protect us. Just stay close, okay? I don't want you to get hurt," he told him. The blind prince nodded his head, before following after his friend. The wolf lead them into the forest, thrown into a wave of unease as the sudden quietness that swept the area when his foot took the first step in.

Please don't let this be too dangerous...

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Published - Mar. 18th, 2021

I can't do hearts so have tiny stars instead.

Sorry for such a long wait, but De finally got to this again! I have been really busy working on my TRITR series, but I decided to take just a moment to relax and update this. I tried to reach 2,000 words, but it's just shy of it, but I hope this is okay. I'm planning on a cute fluff scene soon, so maybe expect that next chapter or the one after.

Hope you enjoyed!

Take care!