The Green Bites Back

The Green Bites Back

Flora_Winters

I do not own Chrono Cross and I’m not making any money here either.

Summary: A young hunter’s soulmate gets possessed by a powerful force that has the Green World bowing to his venomous will. Will he be able to save his crazed lover and his world? Will he be forced to sacrifice one in order to save the other? Which will he choose if it comes down to such a terrible choice? Language, MM, OC, Violence, WIP

Chapter One

The endless forest all around was green and the vast sky above was brightest blue with dark rain clouds moving off into the distance. Kul poked his head up from under a blooming bush, shaking his golden mane. The warm rain had gotten him before he could duck under some floral protection. The red flowers were very pretty. He might pick a few for Fand before heading back to the village. Right now, he had to find that bird. Fand needed the feathers in order to make the headdress he was going to wear for the Star Festival.

He snuck through the undergrowth on silent feet, looking this way and that. The Yaksha was a sneaky bird. It loved to run away right at the moment you think you’ve captured it. It was such an elusive little birdie. But, the feathers were bright, colorful, and the most beautiful of any other plumage. He wanted one with lots of violets and greens. Heck, he might even settle for pinks and blues. He just needed to catch one of the damn things. Why did they have to be so freaking fast? It wasn’t like he was going to hurt it or anything. He was just going to pluck a few tail feathers. That’s all. They would grow back. It wasn’t like they would miss them for too very long.

His bronze flesh shimmered under the beaming light from above, showing off the golden highlights of his skin around his broad shoulders as he moved through the shadows of the large trees. They were the kinds of trees that were so tall they could poke the very stars in the sky. The people of Xanas Village lived in the tallest of them amidst great waterfalls.

“When I find you,” he hissed under his breath, pushing aside some flowering vines. “I’m going to make you wish you didn’t run away from me.”

His topaz-blue eyes widened with glee as he spotted the little bird with the beautiful plumage. It was all green and violet. Just the right coloring he was looking for. Fand was going to be so very pleased with him. He might even get some cuddle time tonight if he managed to catch the pretty bird.

He lifted his little blowgun to his mouth, taking aim at the Yaksha. He took a deep breath and blew. The needle-like dart flew from the little hole, sticking the colorful bird right in the neck. It let out a piteous chirp and fell from its perch, momentarily stunned. He needed to work fast and get those feathers. The stunning venom wouldn’t last for long and he didn’t want to get pecked with that sharp beak. That would hurt. He was going to get those feathers and then run for it.

Twenty seconds later, he was running for his young life with three feathers in hand. He just had ten more seconds to put as much distance between him and the angry bird as he could. The moment it regained its mobility, it was going to be flapping mad. The scary thing about a Yaksha is that it takes the bird five whole days and then some to forget about an insult. That was why it was best to wait ten days just to be safe, because once it sees your face it will go right for your eyes, and that would be bad. Having eyes were very important.

Fand had best appreciate his hard work. It had taken him four hours just to track and finally catch the bird. He was now tired and running for the sake of his eyes.

He reached out, pushed aside a veil of hanging moss, and fell flat on his face with a deep grunt. The wind had been knocked from him. He could hear laughter, causing him to slowly lift up his head, gasping for breath. His eyes were practically rolling around in his face. He was seeing pretty little white lights.

“I was hoping to catch a Canda,” a woman’s voice said from above, making him wince. “Not some muscle-headed hunter who smells like he hasn’t bathed in a week.”

Kul turned his head, seeing that he had tripped over a green vine that had been laid out to trip the racing Canda. He looked up, seeing the dark headed woman sitting on a limb. She looked slightly annoyed and yet very amused. It was his older sister, Lani.

“Are you hurt?” She asked, looking down at him with dark eyes.

He groaned, shaking his head. “Do I look hurt?”

“No,” she grinned, sitting back against the trunk she was resting on. “But you did look rather silly.”

He rolled his eyes, picking up his feathers. The last thing he wanted to do was lose them. He would be featherless at the festival and that would not be good. All the other guys would have one to two feathers. He would have three this year.

“Wow,” Lani said, whistling a little tune of victory. “I see you got your feathers and three of them at that. Fand will be most pleased with you.”

Kul smiled up at her. “I hope so.”

She snickered. “My little brother is growing up.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Why are you trying to trip a Canda for?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “No reason.”

He just looked at her with a warning glare. “Lani…”

Was she blushing? Oh, no! He had never seen his sister blush before.

“Are you trying to do what I think you’re trying to do?” He asked her, half hoping.

She nodded her head. “I’m trying to get pregnant, yes.”

He nearly squealed with delight, but that would have been most unmanly. His father would have shaken his head. He could hear the crazy old man now.

“Oh, father is so sad. Yes, he is so very sad. Why do you make your papa so sad, Kul? Is it not enough that you’re a Hunda?”

It wasn’t his fault that he had fallen in love with Fand. The two of them just belonged together. The Great Tree had said so. The flowering vine of FATE had linked the two of them together on that day all those years ago. His father just couldn’t bring himself to believe that another of his sons was a Hunda. Well, at least the other four were not, and they all had children. So, it was all good. He just liked to tease the old warrior. It was so much fun getting him all riled up. Plus, he was the youngest of all his children, so he got away with a lot of things. But, he never took it for granted either. He appreciated what all he could get away with and never pushed or fought too far. All what he did to get on his father’s nerves was done in good fun.

“Oh, I think I hear one,” she said, quickly shooing him away. “Get out of here. You know they don’t like males. And take a bath, will you? Fand must hate holding his breath whenever you’re around.”

Kul pursed his lips. Why was she so mean to him? He did not stink. He had taken a bath just this morning. Of course he was going to be sweaty, but that was because he had been running around all morning trying to find that Yaksha.

“All right,” he whispered, running off as quietly as he could. “You have fun with your spell, woman.”

A small pebble struck him in the back. It made him hiss just a little, but it made him laugh even more. She did not like being called woman. It was a degrading name, for some odd reason that he just couldn’t figure out why that was.

He looked at his shiny feathers in his large hand and smiled. Fand was going to be so happy. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his pretty face or receiving the hug he was going to get for doing such a great job. He loved it when Fand showered him with affections. It made him feel loved and appreciated. Fand was very good at making him feel more than just loved. He made him feel like a grown person that was capable of caring and providing for him. He proved that every day with his courageous endeavors for the pretty boy.

“Wow, Kul!” A little boy yelled, jumping up and down. “Three feathers! You got three feathers, Kul!”

“Yes!” He smiled, racing by him. “I’m so happy you’ve learned to count so high, Trent!”

The little boy squealed. “Me, too!”

He couldn’t wait to find Fand and fork over his glorious spoils.

~*~

Fand stood in the golden sunlight, letting the warm beams warm his porcelain face. The light made his glossy locks shimmer with deep garnet-red highlights. He opened his pale green eyes and smiled. The Star Festival was getting closer and closer. He couldn’t wait. It was going to be so much fun. He was really looking forward to the dance he would share with Kul amidst the twinkling faerie-souls.

“The ancestors are the stars,” he said, smiling up at the blue sky beyond the blooming canopy. “And the forest is my mother.”

It was an old prayer that all the people of Xanas Village recited sometime during the day. The people believed that when a soul passes on, they fly on the wings of faerie-fire to become a twinkling star in the night sky, looking down, protecting the forest and all her people.

He turned to the Great Tree. It looked like a great King in the distance. It was in the very center of the village, surrounded by water on all sides. The first Ancestor used a powerful magic in order to make the village grow around the “God” Tree. It was the village’s patron deity. Some of the village people have come to call the Great Tree, Father and Mother God.

He raised his slender arms to God and a warm breeze blew through his shiny hair. Leaves floated through the air, dancing around his lithe frame. It made him giggle as he felt the gentle power enter his body. It was all golden and green in color. He sent the power down through his legs and out the bottoms of his feet like little roots. Flowers burst into vibrant bloom all around him.

“I see that your powers are growing, Amaranth.” A voice said from behind him, making him spin around. It was his teacher, Voan.

She was the one who was teaching him the ancient magic of the God Tree. Amaranth was the name she had given him. It was the name of a rare and very beautiful flower that was hardly ever seen blooming any more. The name meant “The Never-Fading.”

“Is it?” He asked, looking down at the blossoms at his white feet. “Do you truly think so?”

The elder nodded her head. Her hair was like the clouds that came in the sky. It was grey with streaks of white. Her face was lined, but still youthful. She tended to laugh a lot.

“You’re growing up to be a very beautiful young man,” she told him, walking up to kneel down at the blooms at his feet. “And your powers will really help this village when I am born away on faerie-wings.”

He shook his head. “Don’t speak like you’ll be leaving me tomorrow. There’s a thousand more years left in you.”

She laughed out loud at him. “You’re such a silly boy.”

“And here I thought I was a beautiful young man,” he said.

“I changed my mind,” she said, rising to her feet. “You really shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. People might begin to think you’re vain.”

That caused him to laugh right along with her. She was so mean to him. It kept him grounded. With the way Kul was, he was lucky he wasn’t pampered into being a lazy Tree-Kat. That guy wanted to do everything for him.

KUL! He spun away from Voan. Just where the heck was he? Had he gotten those Yaksha feathers? Oh, he had better have gotten them. He would break a stick across his backside if he hadn’t.

“What in the forest has caused you to get such a sour look all of a sudden?” Voan asked him. “Does it have to do with your Chosen?”

He nodded his head, grumbling under his breath. “He had best have those feathers.”

Voan snorted.

“Or else,” he sneered, folding his arms across his chest. “He can attend the festival naked for all I care.”

“Oh?” Voan asked, tapping her index finger against her bottom lip. “Back in the old days before Kul’s father become chief, it was mandatory for both Chosen to dance naked before the God Tree.”

Fand’s jaw dropped. “What?”

She nodded her head. “Kul’s father is a bit more conservative.”

Fand snorted under his breath. “It is because his son is a Hunda.”

Voan looked at him. “That has nothing to do with it. Being a Hunda is not bad. Plus, you’re the first male to obtain this power in a really long time.”

“Ever since that night,” he said, still feeling the power of the God Tree upon him, linking him by a glowing vine to Kul. “People have been looking, treating me differently.”

“That is to be expected,” she told him. “You possess a great power. They respect that. You have the gift of Blooming. Your spirit is one with the Forest Mother.”

“It’s not that,” he sighed, stepping out of the little patch of flowers. “My friends look at me as if I’m no longer one of them.”

“It can be lonely,” she told him. “But, the forest is always here.”

He looked at the God Tree. “Kul treats me like I’m no longer one of the boys, too.”

“Is it because you smell better?” She asked him.

His proud shoulders dropped. She always knew how to make him laugh even when he didn’t want to. He hated her for having that special talent.

He sniffed his pale skin. It smelled of flowers. He always smelled of sweet growing things. It was part of his gift.

“FAND!” A loud voice shouted, making him look. It was Kul. He was running across the long bridge towards the two of them, waving his hand around. “I GOT THE FEATHERS! THREE OF THEM, TOO!”

Three? Wow! That was amazing. Kul was amazing. He was always doing things bigger, going the extra mile to please. It was almost like he had to try harder than everybody else. Was it because they were both Hunda?

“It is about time!” He shouted back in a huff. “I was about to give you up for dead!”

“He really was,” Voan said, strolling off.

“How dare you speak to your brave beloved so?” Kul said, stopping just a few inches from him. He looked all hot and sweaty. There was a thin sheen of sweat on his smooth brow and golden-hard chest. He held the three feathers up. They were beautiful. “I nearly lost my eyes getting these for you.”

Fand looked at the feathers. They were the most beautiful plumage he had ever seen. The handsome youth had really outdone himself this time. He took the feathers from him with a smile, gently caressing a rosy-golden cheek.

“Go and wash yourself,” he told him, wrinkling his nose. “You smell.”

Kul dropped his head. “What? No hug?”

Fand grinned. “Imagine what I’ll do if you smell good.”

Kul got that look in his blue eyes. Oh, he hated that look.

“Kul?” He hissed, taking a step back. “Don’t you dare!”

It was too late. His golden-skinned Chosen wrapped his muscular arms around him, picking him up off his feet, and began swinging him around.

“I got three feathers,” Kul whispered in his ear, swinging him around faster, suddenly holding him in his arms. “I got three feathers just for you, Fand.”

Fand was too proud of him to be upset. He could always just take a bath with him. It was always fun.

“I know,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around his corded neck, kissing him on the tip of his aquiline nose. “And it makes me very proud of you.”

Kul looked so very happy.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Fand asked him.

Kul shook his head.

“Good,” Fand told him, pinching him by both his ears, making the warrior almost drop him. “Now you may carry me to the bath.”

Kul frowned.

“Come on,” Fand said, bouncing in his arms. “Hurry up, or I’ll twist them.”

Kul playfully whimpered. “Yes, Master.”

Fand chuckled, hugging him again. He couldn’t believe it. Well, actually he could. Kul was the best. Three feathers! Kul had gotten three feathers. The Yaksha usually only had one to two tail-fathers, but he had found one with three. That was just amazing.

“You make me happy,” Fand told him, kissing his cheek. “But, don’t go into the forest for about a week okay. I love you, but I love you more with eyes.”

“Oh,” Kul said, acting like he was going to drop him, making him tighten his hold on him. “I see how it is.”

Fand laughed. He couldn’t wait for the festival. It was going to be so much fun. That dance was only just a few more deafening heartbeats away from him. Oh, he couldn’t wai! Nothing could go wrong.

To Be Continued…

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*Cackles manically*

Flora