*This story is under my folder titled “What lies in the wintry woods?”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*
THE TERROR
Yukio rubbed the side of his cheek where Thoreau kissed him. Thoreau had kissed him.
The human said that he loved Yukio, that he didn’t see Yukio as a monster.
And yet, Yukio clutched a tree branch, watching in disbelief as the faeries and humans fought. The humans had come by the order of Prince Thoreau that they had to kill the faeries, end their lives.
The humans saw the faeries as flesh-eating monsters. That wasn’t true, but Yukio was seeing for himself how the faeries had to resort to the rumors in order to defend themselves. The faeries ate animals sometimes to survive, but never humans. Not until that very day.
Had the words of Thoreau’s parents really affected him? Had he really taken them to heart?
Yukio saw a pile of twine angels burning earlier at the royal garden before he fled back home. He was going to see Thoreau when he saw that Thoreau was burning the angels.
The angels that Yukio worked so hard on just for Thoreau, just so that Thoreau could hold them close.
“Come now. Father is fighting. You don’t need to see this.” Mother said, grabbing Yukio by the wrist and bringing him down from the tree.
But he already had. The tears had already dripped from his cold face as his heart began to break.
Had Thoreau really hated him that much?
……………………………………………………
THE LOVE
Thoreau glanced at his window. There he was. The winter faerie, leaving a twine angel on his windowsill.
He visited every day. He watched Thoreau from the trees, as though he were afraid to come out.
Thoreau opened his window and beckoned for the faerie to come forward. He did, albeit tentatively.
Thoreau heard tales of humans and faeries falling in love, but most of them were condemned, as it was believed that faeries used their sharp teeth to eat humans.
“What’s your name? I’m Thoreau, but you must know that already. I’m quite known throughout here.”
He smiled at how the faerie’s face seemed to blush adorably. It was a darker shade of blue than his skin.
“It’s Yukio. I’m sorry that I was watching you, it’s just that I had grown quite fascinated with you and I couldn’t find any way to approach you and-“
“Do you love me?” Thoreau asked.
Yukio seemed a little taken aback by Thoreau’s question. His face blushed even deeper, his eyes seemed to have a slightly anxious and embarrassed note.
Thoreau had seen Yukio quite a few times before, but only chose to acknowledge them in his room, when no one else was around. He had kept every single twine angel, and wondered it would feel like to kiss his cold lips.
He blurted the question that had been haunting him for days, that had been screaming at him in the corners of his mind.
“I’d hardly call what I feel love. I really do like to watch you, but I don’t know you. How can I love you?” Yukio asked, his voice holding a note of worry.
That was true, yes. But that didn’t have to mean the end.
“We can get to know each other as time goes on. This isn’t the last time we’ll speak.” Thoreau said, planting a kiss on Yukio’s cheek.
He knew why he did it. It felt right, it felt real.
They faltered a little, looking at each other until all of time had stopped.
Then, Yukio brought him into a sweet, snowflake-tasted kiss on the lips.
……………………………………………………
THE QUESTIONS
“Maybe the faeries aren’t so bad.” Thoreau said.
His parents turned around to look at him, accusing stares scrawled on their faces. Thoreau sank further into his chair.
He had visited Yukio for some time. They spoke of their families, they spoke of their lives. Yukio didn’t eat humans, but only animals to survive.
His parents got it all wrong.
“What makes you say that?” Mother asked, her even voice slightly spiked with a knife-edged cadence.
“I-I’ve been seeing one of them. He’s the kindest creature to have ever lived, and he wouldn’t hurt a soul. He-“
“You’ve been seeing a faerie?”
“Y-yes.”
“You’ve been lying to us?”
“I have, but-“
“Never mind that you lied to us. If a faerie has to eat animals to survive, is he really worth loving?” Father asked, interrupting Thoreau and mother.
“We eat animals at our feasts all the time! How is it any different?” Thoreau asked.
He had overheard his parents talking about the “demonic faeries”from upstairs, and got in a chair to listen more closely. They always talked like he wouldn’t listen, like he didn’t have a brain.
They did it ever since he was little.
“The difference is that we have the decency to cook them. The faeries eat them while they’re still alive! If the faeries do that, who’s to guarantee they won’t turn on us?” Father asked.
Mother nodded in agreement, but Thoreau only clenched his fists in fury.
“They won’t. He wouldn’t.” Thoreau gritted through clenched teeth.
“How do you know? People change.” Father said.
He was wrong He was wrong He was wrong He was wrong He was wrong He was wrong
But still, the lingering words screeched in Thoreau’s mind, breaking his certainty.
Did he really know Yukio at all?
……………………………………………………
THE AFTERMATH
Nothing was the same after that war. Both of them were grown up, their past dreams torn apart.
Yukio ruled his Kingdom alone, but still thought of Thoreau deeply. Years had passed, but his heart would still break as though he were a teenager again, as though his internal wounds were made fresh again.
Thoreau ruled with Bimasha, whom he had grown to love dearly, but not as much as he loved Yukio. He had kept a few of the twine angels, only a few, so that he wouldn’t forget Yukio entirely.
For sometimes he thought of Yukio as a monster, or times he condemned himself for what he did. It was better to think of Yukio as a monster than to think that what he did was wrong, than to let that battle plague his mind.
He loved their daughter Inclementia with the remaining bits of love that was in his heart, which was why Thoreau never wanted her to meet the faeries.
She did not deserve the same story he was cursed to live.
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125,025 Literary Works • 672,762 Reviews
Hello hello! Stopping by for a quick review! As usual, I'll leave my thoughts as I read.
Not until today?? Um, terrifying! So, hold on - if the humans are fighting the faeries because they think they're flesh-eating monsters, why are the faeries manifesting that by... eating flesh? The part where it says "resort to rumors" makes me think that the faeries are turning to this regretfully, like it's not their first choice. But why are they doing it at all?? If they need to defend themselves, can't they do so without dinnertime?
Wow, this is intriguing! This section begins with him in wonder that Thoreau had kissed him and loved him, and ends with this, the complete opposite. There's a lot of complexity here!
I wouldn't say that dialogue tag is necessary here since he names himself! Also - I'm mentioning this here because I'm seeing it a few times in your writing - make sure these dialogue blocks end in commas rather than periods when the quote shifts to a dialogue tag.
Aha, so this is the conversation with Thoreau's parents that Yukio had alluded to earlier.
Thoreau didn't even bring up this part of the argument yet. It surprises me that his parents apparently know that faeries only eat animals and yet that's still enough reason to shun them.
Ooof, yeah that's dark.
The seeds of doubt planted here are really effective!
Wow, well done here! Thoreau, in an attempt to cope with his guilt, has cast the blame on his old love. Much easier to carry that weight than his own.
Fantastic story! I like the format of it a lot, as well as the simplicity. We got all the story beats a novel would have, complete with a flashback "prologue," but without all the extra wordcount fluff. It's impressive that you're able to pack so much character depth into such a short piece.
Keep up the great work!
Wolfi
Thank you very much! And I think that them eating the humans may have to do with wanting them to keep quiet, to not fight them at all. It%u2019s not the nicest thing to do but%u2026yeah.
I%u2019m glad you enjoyed this! I have other stories linked to this, so if you want to read them, I can send them to you!
Hi there, vampricone! Nite here to review since I see this one is also in the Green Room.
Overall, I enjoyed getting to see a little more of Thoreau and Yukio's love story since they showed up in the last work I reviewed. I think having both of their perspectives makes me understand and empathize with their feelings more. I think the non-linear format, although it was a little confusing at first read, works because we see the moment of doom and then flash back into when they were happy. I can feel Yukio's sense of betrayal upon seeing Thoreau burning his gifts and Thoreau being torn between his love for Yukio and his loyalty to his parents and how he hopes for better for his daughter.
One thing I think could be improved is the descriptions. I know I personally have a tendency to write like my characters are just chilling in a white void and then I'm like "wait a minute, they're in a room with stuff and I should maybe describe some of that stuff." Not that every detail needs to be described, but it's good to have some imagery and sensory description. I also think their feelings and attractions could be described more deeply-I want to see Yukio as Thoreau sees him and vice versa.
There's also a couple pivotal moments I'd like to see
-who started the battle/how did it start? I think it was the humans, but I'm not totally sure. Did Thoreau really order the human fighters or was it his parents?
-I'd also really like a peek inside Thoreau's mind as he burns the twine angels. That feels like a pivotal moment that deserves to be described from both sides.
A couple lines I liked.
Overall, this was a lovely and bittersweet story. Keep writing!
I am very glad you enjoyed this! Thoreau did end up leading a whole army to attack, but I guess I could describe that better. Yes, I do agree that I could write out a story with Thoreau%u2019s thoughts on burning the twine angel and as for room descriptions%u2026that%u2019s a bit harder for me to do, but I%u2019ll try!
Again, glad you enjoyed this!