Chapter Text
Illuga dropped off his borrowed hunting equipment at the local blacksmiths. If Lohen had actually willed himself to repair his broken bow then Illuga wouldn’t have to return to this place for much longer. Truthfully despite being a hunter himself, the hundreds of stuffed animals on the wall were disturbing.
Piramida was a village within the lawless land of Nod Krai, home to some of the deadliest and most terrifying creatures in the world. Most who grew up in the village would become hunters, venturing out into the woods on a daily basis to reduce the dangers of the wildlife. For the hunters, anything that wasn’t human was to be killed, no matter how innocent it seemed.
Naturally, as the adopted son of the village's leader, he too once abided by these rules. Once. That was before he did something unheard of. He let something deadly live. Let something that could very well kill him into his home. Loved someone that if the village knew about, would be taken away.
He made his way to the edge of the town where his small cottage lay. There was nothing impressive about his home but he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. People worried that living so close to the edge may cause him to get into serious trouble but there was nowhere safer than here, for them.
As soon as the door clicked shut a force slammed into his legs.. He looked down to see a silver head of hair that faded into green at the tips. Oh and of course those fluffy ears of hers.
“Pops!” The toddler yelled. Ever since he’d referred to Nikita as that, his daughter couldn’t stop calling himself by the name, surely he wasn’t old enough for that title.
Illuga brought up the child into his arms, she was as light as a feather, “there's my little kit. Where is your daddy?”
Lohen was quiet. Too quiet, which generally meant the man was up to no good. Illuga with his daughter still in his arms, made his way to the next room, keeping his steps quiet. When he entered the kitchen a loud snap sounded out.
“For fluffs sake!” Lohen took his anger out on the even more damaged crossbow, albeit making sure to keep his words child friendly.
Illuga dropped the young girl onto the ground where he picked up the broken bow string; when he handed it to Lohen, he was unimpressed. “I don’t need-”
“My help. I know. But that doesn’t mean you can stop me from lending a hand.”
“If only I didn’t have these damned paws.” Lohen deflated. Illuga had to disagree there, they were one of his favourite things about the man, fluffy, soft and warm. Not to mention his adorable paw pads. Though he’d be best keeping these thoughts to himself.
Unfortunately their daughter hadn’t inherited her fathers fluffed feet and hands. Only keeping his ears and tail. Deep down, Illuga knows how much Lohen wished she inherited none of his animal characteristics, worried he will be the reason she finds herself in danger. So long as Illuga lives, he would never allow harm to come to either of them.
Well, that would be a whole lot easier if the person he was trying to protect wasn’t Lohen. He may seem innocent on the outside but on the inside is an enigma that not even Illuga- who has now known the man for years now- can still quite understand.
Obviously there was one thing Lohen was clearly itching for now that he had the knowledge Illuga won’t be able to hunt a larger animal without his bow. There were always other options but Lohen would likely disagree with each and every one.
“Theres an assembly tonight. Most of the lightkeepers are going to be in attendance. If you want to get out and stretch your legs then tonight is the time.” Illuga reached out to stroke one of Lohen's tall ears.
“And why are you not there?”
“I was told to take a break.”
“At least they have some sense. You work far too much when you should be entertaining me instead!” Lohen nodded.
“Daddy’s going out? Can I come?!” Their daughter looked hopeful and he couldn’t blame her, she hadn’t been outside in a while.
Lately, there had been an increase in foreigners coming into Piramida, they were merchants who paid a hefty sum for any corpse that was offered to them. But they were merciless in their methods- hunting was a game to them and the suffering of animals and beasts was their true reward.
“But… it’s dangerous out there…” her ears started to droop, which was one of Illuga’s weaknesses, “so I guess we have no other choice than to go out together!”
Illuga was going to be strictly against it- mainly because of the suspicious merchants but he couldn’t say no to those round eyes of hers.Especially when he was there to protect her. Most of the village knew of his mysterious daughter. However they were completely oblivious to her animal features, he’d done everything to hide her ears when they went out.
Compared to Lohen who needs to wrap up like he’s visiting Snezhnaya, their daughter only needs to wear a large hood to hide her ears. People thought he was going a tad mad when he emphasised the importance of keeping her head covered but that was an assumption he could deal with.
Many had assumed her ‘mother’ had passed away when Kari was younger and Lohen was her brother considered no more than a roommate who was too terrified of the outside world to leave their home. After all, human males were generally not meant to be able to birth children.
When they finally stepped outside, Lohen wasted no time running off into the bushes with a wide grin plastered on his face. Winter had slowly become his favourite time of the year, many of the dangerous creatures would hibernate so they would be granted a rare moment of respite. The real dangers were the people. For Lohen, that is.
His daughter found a pile of the newly landed snow and started drawing stars with a stick she picked up on the ground. Sure she tended to get out of the house often, but unlike other kids her age she couldn’t go to schools, clubs or even trips away or she risked having her identity exposed. He hoped by the time she was his age, her freedom wouldn’t be so limited.
Not even Nikita- who adored her, knew about her nature, Illuga is certain he would never raise so much as a finger at her, but he’s not sure the same would apply to Lohen. Things had been tense lately in Piramida and the people have lived in extreme fear, even the most innocent animal would not be spared from their bows.
A twig snapped behind him and he rushed to cover his daughter, only for two fluffy ears to peak out from behind a tree. “Lohen! Do not do that again, I thought you…” he didn't need to finish his sentence.
“I found something pretty interesting, want to see?” There was excitement in Lohen's face he hadn’t shown in a long time.
“I want to see!” Kari happily cheered.
Lohen kneeled down to be on her level and pulled out a flower Illuga had never seen in his life, if he had to describe it then he’d say the plant looked fuzzy. Like a white transparent ball, or even Lohen's tail. Illuga couldn’t contain his chuckle.
“Is that your tail? Don’t tell me you hunted some poor rabbit.”
“Very funny.” Lohens voice dripped with sarcasm. “Dandelions bloom all year round in my homeland. They were always great for blowing in people's faces, even better when someone threw them in mine and my throat closed up! Oh, how I missed them!”
That sure as hell sounded like symptoms of an allergy. And here Lohen was parading it around like it wasn’t in some cases a deadly weapon. Allergies were no joke, Illuga's time in the kitchen had displayed as such. He can remember the amount of times someone starts having a reaction when eating something their body didn’t agree with. A person had even died.
Aka. This flower was. Bad. News.
"It’s pret-achoo!” Within an instant white specs scattered across Lohen's face and hair. And his eyes started to scrunch up. A complete mirror of the girl in front of him.
Oh no.
And that was all it took for the floodgates to open. Both father and daughter appeared to be trapped in an endless cycle of sneezes. Illuga couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the sight.
When the air finally settled his daughter's face turned stone cold, a large pout forming on her lips. Lohen was the opposite, erupting in laughter at their unfortunate daughter's dilemma.
Illuga sent the man a glare but he should know by now his threats had very little effect, well, aside from in the bedroom that is.
Anyways, they should find some dinner, that’s sure to put a bright smile on the young girl's face. Despite what people may expect these two were far from vegetarians, perhaps creepy in some settings such as Lohen enjoying the taste of hare and he doubts that’s the norm for Lohen's species. But Lohen is far from average.
“This is all your fault, daddy! Why did you have to make me allergic!” She sent a powerful kick to her father, knocking him off balance.
“Woah! Send that towards your pops. The reason you have those allergies is because his genes were weak!” Lohen dramatically flopped down onto the snowy surface.
Illuga sighed. Sometimes it was as though he was taking care of two children, nevermind one. Although he would have to agree on that, aside from his silver hair, human hands and feet. His genes did in fact not try.
But he doesn’t mind. He loves having another version of the man he loves most. However, according to Lohen, her personality was more like his own. Stubborn, kind and unwavering-
Lohen immediately sprung up, his body tense and alert. Illuga was about to ask him what was wrong before he heard it too. Shuffling from a few feet away. Then a twig snapped.
Illuga pulled his confused daughter behind his legs where she tightly gripped onto his thick trousers. There was no way a Lightkeeper was out at this time which meant the noise came from someone- something entirely different.
What stepped out was arguably scarier than a mindless beast. It was a tall, bulky man. Carrying a large rifle by his side. A wide smirk formed on his face when his eyes landed on Lohen.
“Well, what do we have here? Ain’t you a pretty thing?” The man spoke in a heavy Snezhnaian accent and his words left a sour taste in his mouth.
He lowered his rifle and pulled out a small gun instead. A tranquilizer. He knew people like Lohen were worth more alive but death may be more forgiving than what this man had planned for him.
People like him don’t hunt out of fear. They hunt out of greed and that means he wasn’t afraid of taking Illuga out of the picture if he had to, they would do anything if it meant expanding their pockets.
Yes. He’d met many people just like this man. One in particular was back when they were expecting their daughter but perhaps in Lohen's eyes, he too was as threatening as this man. Scratch that, Lohen never saw him as much of a threat, more like a cute bird- a plaything.
Still, on a cold night, much like this one. Illuga had started his tenth ever patrol. Rather than being a captain like he was now, he was fresh out of the Town Hall's kitchen.
His experience in cooking had certainly given him some knowledge on the best places to strike a beast and what parts he should avoid as the skin was too tough to slice through. Not only that but as the current Starshynas adopted son, he had been given severe training throughout his life.
Even though a giant wolf beast destroyed his home village and killed his loved ones, his hunting journey was not fueled by the desire for revenge. Rather he wanted to prevent a similar tragedy happening to someone else. He wanted to protect, be that light that guides people from the darkness.
That night he should have trusted his instincts. The forest was quiet, not even prey nor predators had dared to venture out that night. Illuga barely remembers the attack, only the fierce growls of that abyssal wolf.
Sir Olsson had told him to run, so ran he did with a badly wounded Ivar around his shoulders, the man was barely conscious. He had to make sure Olsson hadn’t… no there’s no way the admirable Captain would fall here!
Illuga’s breath was hot as his chest started to tighten, he couldn’t focus like this. He was forced to put an end to his escape as he tumbled over something on the ground, Ivar let out a groan of pain but seemed fine otherwise.
He brought out his lantern only to see someone with a large cloak sprawled out beneath him. The corner of his eyes landed on one of the traps they commonly used to trap bears but more often than not they would track an unsuspecting small animal. Illuga was about to check on the other person's foot when a growl came from behind.
It’s the wolf from before! Then Olsson…
The beast seemed to set its eyes on the cloaked figure and when it pounced. Illuga could only do what he had always wanted to do. Protect.
He jumped in the line of the beast's teeth, pain erupted in his neck and shallow teeth sunk in and he swore for a moment he completely blacked out. But Illuga was not going to stand there and take it, he grabbed his spear and used this opportunity to bring it up into the wolf's stomach. It let out a hiss before its jaws released him and ran off into the trees.
Illuga brought his hand to his neck, luckily the creature truly didn’t bite into any major arteries and the wound probably looked worse than it was. After all, reinforcements may not arrive in time and he still needs to get Ivar back. Oh and how could he forget.
“I cannot believe your reckless tactic worked.” An unfamiliar voice spoke, their accent was heavy and were clearly not used to the current language.
“Believe me there was nothing planned about that. Are you alright? These traps close at quite a force.” Illuga reached down to the trap in an attempt to free their foot. What he did not expect was to find something soft. He lit up his lantern faster than the wolf had retreated.
What he was faced with made him freeze for a moment. This was no ordinary human. Their face was covered but there was no denying those fluffy feet and bright paws. He’d heard all about the hybrids of Snezhnaya- he’d never seen one in person. Even though some were capable of speech they were still considered an animal at the end of the day. They were known to harm humans and steal from travelers. Which meant, Illuga should be bringing down his spear on him while he’s defenceless.
But… he clearly spoke the tongue of another nation and who was to say he was the same as those other hybrids. Every hunter who took an oath under the light keepers swore to slay any threat to humanity. That’s the only way to ensure the safety of all. And Illuga took his oath very seriously.
“Illuga! That’s not a human! Hurry up and kill it, they are master manipulators.” Ivar's strained voice called out to him.
He pulled out his spear and in one clean cut, brought it down on the trap which released the figure's leg with a satisfying click. Blood had pooled around the foot. With an injury like that he wouldn’t survive very long anyways.
“You’ll come to regret this, birdie.” The figure pushed him to the ground and stole his spear, and Illuga could only watch. No. He knows this was the right decision. Even when he was rushed to the infirmary, he couldn’t let go of the feeling of softness on his palm.
When news of Olssons death spread throughout the village it was met with great sadness. Even though he hadn’t been in his squad for long, Illuga had known the man since he was a child.
Illuga couldn’t help but be consumed by guilt. If he had stayed, stepped in, then couldn’t he have prevented it? After all, he had managed to wound it.
Nikita had put him forward to be the next leader of the Nightmare Orioles but he was still conflicted. A leader was supposed to protect and he ran away like a coward. Someone like him was unworthy of leading others.
“Young master. How are you fairing? I heard from Ivar you let a catch escape, that is quite unlike you.” Flins approached from the side, he always seemed to show up when Illuga needed it most.
“They were weakened, as was the beast. I’m sure death would have found him soon after, but as for the wolf. It’s still out there. I need to find it.”
“So your catch is considered a ‘he’ now? You know what happens when we put words like that on them, we go soft.” Flins did not seem to believe his own words, being pretty abnormal himself.
“Young master. Heed my warning and do not chase down either of them. Nikita has suggested you take some days off, would you like to accompany me into Nasha Town, we can unwind with some drinks at the Flagship?”
“Sorry Sir Flins but I’d like to rest for the next couple of days.” Illuga was lying to Flins. He’d fallen so far. If he killed that monster, then perhaps he could finally redeem himself. Now that he had faced the scariest foe in the area, there was no need for anymore fear.