Chapter Text
In the far away land of Lunethra, there lied five regions, in the center was Madimane, known for the light forestry, clear water, and flower fields that were blessed upon the region. The kingdom itself was relatively small but still pretty and clean looking compared to other kingdoms around.
There were mostly smaller villages where the forest folk lived, different villages were inhabited by different species, one village in particular, Mayguard, a small one and not highly populated or known of, there was a boy, Jisung who is a Miphid, wings wide and shimmy in the sun, feathers a majestic navy blue as he preened them gently, sitting on the forest floor gently swiping over the soft feathers of his left wing, his tail, gently swaying as he did so. His tail itself was slightly longer than the usual tail of a forest Miphid but nonetheless it was still short enough to be functional, though the upkeep was quite the lengthy process. The small tufted of feathers at the tip being the hardest part to keep clean when it was constantly dragging across the first and leaves.
Jisung looks up as he hears the soft crunch of leaves, seeing his younger sister, Vivlen. She was just barely five years old, her tiny horns slowly growing in leaving her with small stubs sprouting from her head. Jisung himself was cursed with small horns, slightly curled back, small but still annoying. "Momma said that supper was ready, and to wash your filthy hands... And she said to not be a dirty mondrel!" Vilven giggles as she scampers away happily, her small wings spreading out as she disappears through the trees, not even giving him the chance to answer. He stands up, lifting his arms high above his head to stretch out the stiff muscles from sitting for so long. Letting out a loud groan, full of satisfaction, Jisung began to make the walk back to his village.
As he trekked through the woods, he saw many creatures of wildlife, even spotting a sleeping Cowel, a hybrid gone wrong and right in their own ways. Humans had found a way to mix a domestic house cat and an owl, creating the Cowel. Used for mostly pest control inside kingdom walls for mice and rats, though they weren't the friendliest creatures ever, they seemed to work for their purpose.
Though after a while the Cowels began to wander outside of the kingdoms and make it into the wilderness where they reproduced and the feral population grew. He takes his eyes off of the slumbering creature and continues walking back to the village, knowing his mother would probably lecture him about being late to supper.
After maybe five or so minutes he makes it through the clearing of trees and sees the lively little village he called home. There wasn't a high population of Miphids in his village but it was enough. It was one of those places that was secluded from society and that they were safe from humans wandering close to them, no Miphid dared to leave the security the village offered but Jisung yearned for an adventure. Being stuck in the village for so long made him bored and just burned for more. As he opens the front door of the small cabin he spots his mother and sister on the floor on the grass weaved mat that they ate, and sat on.
Closing the door behind him, being careful not to shut his tail in it again he takes a careful step towards where his family was. " Hey momma, I'm sorry I was late, a Cowel was in a tree and I got distracted." He lets out a soft chuckle as he scratches the back of his neck. " It's okay Sungie, just come sit down and eat before your soup gets cold." She gives him a gentle smile and taps the edge of the wooden bowl with her finger. Wasting no time he makes his way to the mat and sits down, crossing his leg and tucking his tail around his legs, making sure it's not a tripping hazard. Immediately picking up one of the small wooden carved spoons off from the mat, scooping broth from the soup into it and taking a bite.
Flavor bursting in his mouth as soon as it hits his taste buds, the meat, presumably rabbit, tender and chewy. His mother was an amazing cook despite the village not having access to most herbs and spices humans have through the trade market. Slowly eating, savoring the flavor as he usually did, caught up in his own little world before his mothers voice pieces through the air. " Is it good?" she questions.
" Momma, you know your cooking is always good, I wouldn't change it for the world." he smiles. And it was true, he adored his family, his father gone since he was young. He had left when his mother was pregnant with Vilven, though he is not surprised till this day from what he remembered of his father. The conversation continues for a little while longer before they finish their food, Jisung stands up with his bowl in hand, as he walks the the little pan they have sitting next to the front door for dishes which was Vilvens chore to do each afternoon after supper.
He takes a deep breath as he feels his eyelids start to feel heavy, knowing he needed sleep soon, seeing as it was getting night time outside by the time they all finished their soup. Taking a moment to close his eyes and take a small breather from humanity, opening them after a short period of time to go out of the cabin, needing to finish up his chores for the day when hell just have to do the exact same thing tomorrow.
That was the routine, wake up, eat the porridge that his mother made each morning, sometimes adding fruits she collected that morning. And then go do chores for most of the day until supper, go to sleep and repeat. Some might say that's sad and sometimes he would say he'd agree but also that's just his life. As he walks around the cabin to empty the bucket of grain to the chickens he hears a familiar voice getting closer and closer. Hooves stomping into the dirt " , Fenni! Have you heard what's been happening outside of Madimane?" He turned and his assumption was correct, it was Jeongin. His best friend from since they were young, Jeongin was a Fawn r and some might ask how a Miphid and Fawn became friends when their species don't even interact.
Well if Jisung was being honest with himself he didn't know either. It really all happened by accident. He had wandered off a little too far and came across a field where Jeongins herd was for a bit. They were both young, Jisung being around Vilven's age and Jeongin not much younger than him. The young foal was jumping around in the grass and saw him standing there on the edge of the woods. Since then they'd been best friends even if Jeongin's herd constantly moved to different areas to stay clear from humans.
" No, what happened? Did an elf finally get caught sneaking into the castle?" he laughs, Elves were sneaky little fuckers, always sneaking into the kingdom to steal but never getting caught. " About damn time, with all of the shit they've put all of us forest folk, they had it fucking coming." A loud snort comes from Jeongin, and as he tries to catch his breath through the cackles from Jisung comment he somehow manages to get out words. " No but your not even wrong, I wish an elf would get caught." Jeongin stops talking for a moment to catch his breath and stop laughing.
" But really, you'll never guess what happened outside of Madimane. There were two travelers who were found dead next to the north scout tower." Jeongin lets out a deep saddened sigh as he continues. " A man and his child, a little girl, I've heard. Sadly their deaths weren't peaceful by any means. I've heard that the man had his guts hanging out of his stomach, the girl with a hair pin straight through the temple." he stops, lowering his gaze to the ground, Jisung could tell he felt empathy for the two that got murdered.
Jisung pauses, " Do they know who, or what did that?" he asks, curiosity clawing at his brain. Jeongin shakes his head, taking a deep breath and his ears pin back. Jisung chuckles seeing his friend's own ears give his feelings away. One thing about fawns is that they have deer ears instead of more human-like ears, sat on the top sides of their head, much like deer they move all from different things.
It could be a reaction from sound or feeling but they tended to give him away with his own thoughts, which to Jisung was funny. " Shut up, no but they obviously think it was forest folk. Obviously. You know how they think of us." He didn't sound pleased by Jisung's chuckle but he gave a small knowing nod.
After Jeongin made his leave back to his herd which Jisung learned was just across the river not more than a mile from Mayguard. By the time he got done for the day with chores and thanks to his obnoxious friend it was way past dark by the time he decided to call it a night
He gets inside of his cabin, immediately seeing his mother and sister had already went to sleep, he watches them sleep for a couple minutes to assure they were really asleep. Once that was confirmed he tiptoed to his designated 'bed' that really was just sheep wool in a burlap sack that his mother had sewn many years back.
Jisung took a long, deep sigh and untied his covering around his waist, taking it off and laying it next to his bed. As he lays down and gets under the covering, he gets situated, wrapping his wings around his body like a cocoon and slowly drifts off into a peaceful slumber.
****
He wakes up to the blinding sun shining directly into his eyes, he tries to cover his face with his arms but he knew he might as well have just gotten up. "Jisung, get up and get ready, I need you to get some mushrooms for me." He hears his mothers gentle voice.
Jisung lets out a tired grumble of nonsense before sitting up, the sun blinding his eyes temporarily. " What kind of mushroom?" He asks, wanting to make sure he doesn't get the wrong kind that could possibly make everyone sick. He had made that mistake one too many times when he was younger.
" Just find those small purple ones that grow on dead trees." She answers, being vague but he could make due with what information he was given. Jisung grabs his cloth garment and ties it around his hips, getting ready to head out for the mushrooms.
It was a warm morning outside, the sun radiating heat down on him. The morning dew still on the blades of grass he walked on, getting his feet wet. It wasn't that he minded it though, just reminded him of the beauty of nature. He lets his wings stretch out as wide as possible, feeling the slight breeze against his feathers.
It felt nice to let his wings stretch out sometimes, not getting to use them often unless having to travel a very long distance which was rare. He slowly walks into the trees, a small basket in hand. Jisung looked around him slowly to try and find these purple mushrooms his mother was talking about needing.
After a while he ended up finding a good amount of them, believing he had enough with half of the basket full. Opening the door once back home he's greeted by Vilven running towards him, a smile spreading across her face when she spots him in the doorway. " Your back! You were gone for so long." She whines, not liking when her brother was gone for an extended period of time.
" I'm sorry, those mushrooms are harder to find than I anticipated." Jisung chuckles and gives his mother a playful glare, his mother rolls her eyes and walks over to grab the bask of mushrooms. " So what did you need those for anyway?" Jisung asks and crouches down to pat Vilven's head.
" I'm planning to make a dish that your nanna used to make for me. You'll love it, I promise." She reassures, making him feel a little better, though he never suspected her of doing anything bad with them, he was just curious.
****
Later in the day Jisung decided to go on a walk, the chirping of birds, sounds of wildlife as Jisung walks through the deep forest to get to where Jeongin's herd currently resided. " God did I miss this." Jisng takes a deep breath of the air, the fragrance of the dirt hitting his nose. He continues his walk, spotting a small fox with her pups along the way, stopping to watch them pass, so as not to scare them. Being raised in nature his mother always taught him to respect nature more than himself.
His mind began to wander as he ventured deeper into the woods. The first thing that popped into Jisung's mind was what Jeongin told him the night before. Who had done that to those poor people, he wouldn't be surprised if it was humans but also wouldn't be surprised if it was an elf either.
Maybe if he could learn more about it then maybe he could help, it was a long shot but his curiosity got the better of him, he stopped in his tracks, looking around to see if there were many trees up above him. When he confirmed there wasnt many trees and he could clearly see the sky from where he stood, he spread his wings and flapped them. He got in the air, above the trees to start going back to his village, to write letters to his mother and sister so they'd not worry while he was gone.
****
He sits on the floor with a piece of paper and a quill, a little bottle of ink next to him, " I'm sorry mama." he whispers to himself, dipping the tip of the quill in ink and starting the note.
' Dear mama and Vilven, I really don't know what way to start off this letter, knowing when you read this I won't be here any longer. Not for good, hopefully but just for a little while. I'm going to find out what has happened to those people outside of the kingdom walls. I promise to be safe and return with minimal damage. Tell Vilven that I love her please, I love you mama.
From your desert Jisung.'
Jisung sighs, staring down at the letter, the ink this wet. He didn't know how long he'd be gone for but he wanted this mystery solved, for his sake and for the sake of everyone else. He was just a nobody, he should be letting the guards of the kingdoms be doing this, not a fucking Miphid like himeself. Jisung stands up, walking quietly over to a wooden chest in the corner of the room where all of their clothes were. He had a couple of clothes that he needed to bring just in case, he never knew what may lay ahead.
He grabs his clothing items and neatly puts them in a large cross body bag, he could fit multiple things inside the bag, getting a few fruits and some other supplies to bring along with him. While he got prepared to leave he felt a wave of emotion wash over him, tears prickling his eyes, threatening to spill over. He quickly snaps out of it, knowing that his crying could wake them up which was the last thing he needed.
Once jisung had everything and was changed into a more suitable outfit for nighttime, which just consisted of pants, a cape with a hood and boots to protect him from thorns or whatever else might be out there. At some point while getting his things ready he had not been careful enough and slammed his thick tail into the wall, making a loud bang. He thought he almost woken up his mother or sister but learned they stayed in a deep slumber.