[=|Together|=|TaeJin|=]
[=|Mythical|=]

°•●•°

Seokjin looks up. His ears twitch into every direction. He heard rustling.

Who was it?

What was it?

He nervously prepares his body to flee. His eyes are wide. Unlike most deer centaurs, he doesn't like to engage in a fight.

"Ya! Seokjin!"

The deer screams at the sudden voice and the younger centaur that suddenly jumps up from the bushes.

Both arms in the air and four hooves clatter on the ground as he almost falls over in laughter.

Seokjin sighs out in anger and stomps his hoof to the ground, pulling the centaur by his ear.

"Do you have any idea how you're abusing my instinct?!"

"Yeah!" He laughs. "But it's so funny to see you scared!"

Seokjin huffs and crosses his arms, his ears tilting down.

"Jungkook, please. Enough." He sighs. "What if a wolf snuck up on me? Or a fox? What would I have done if I expected it to be another trick?"

"Come on!" Jungkook smiles. "You have these big buddies!"

Seokjin frowns as the younger taps on his antlers.

"You know they're useless to me." Seokjin snarls. He turns on his hooves. "We're prey."

Jungkook's smile falls into a sad frown at his words. Sure, he knows they are. To any animal with canines they're food.

But life is something beautiful! And they have protection. Why won't Seokjin use his antlers?

Seokjin hops away, Jungkook follows nervously.

Their group isn't all too big. A few females and males in their group. Seokjin is the oldest, but he's weak.

He never uses his antlers and would rather run and risk being eaten than engage in a fight and survive.

What is wrong with him?

"Jin...?"

"Did Jungkook scare you again?"

"What happened?"

Many of his kind are worried for him. They think that he's weak. That he can't handle anything.

He was searching for food, but not even that can be done without worrying.

He sighs. "I came to bring Jungkook. Keep an eye on him. I'm going to look for good plants." He says, glaring at the younger.

As one of the females nods, Seokjin turns on his hooves and sprints back into the forest. He can do something.

°•●•°

"Would you look at that."

"What?"

"Your canines are all bloody! You can't go and see the alpha like that!"

"You forgot that I'm not a wolf like you."

"Oh... Right, you cheetahs don't have alphas."

"Give me a break." A third voice mumbles. "All you've been doing is blab the ears off my head. I've been dying to go back to sleep."

Two deep growls respond to him.

"Listen here, Yoongi." The wolf growls. "You may be older than us both but I can still tear you to shreds!"

"Says the alpha's boy."

The wolf gasps and bares his sharp canines. "Take. That. Back."

"Shut up." The cheetah snarls. He crosses his arms and growls. "Look at you two. A mere wolf and a snake. We're playing cat and dog but the mouse is winning."

"But Tae--!"

"You are an alpha's boy, Hoseok!" The cheetah growls out. "And you are just too lazy to even get any food, Yoongi!"

"We're all lazy sometimes." The snake hybrid shrugs.

The cheetah sighs and huffs. "I'm hungry."

"We just came back from hunting!"

"And Jimin is still at home!"

Taehyung sighs deeply. "Do I care what Jimin has to say about this?! The only reason why we are still together is because we're lone souls. I want to live."

"But...--"

"You heard him, Hoseok." Yoongi chuckles, his serpent tongue slithering between his lips as he inches closer.

The wolf hybrid growls out to him as Yoongi opens his mouth to bare his long, thick, venom dripping fangs.

"Let go of your alpha."

Hoseok lets out a loud growl and lunges for Yoongi's throat. The snake hisses in anger.

Taehyung huffs angrily and turns to the edge of the forest.

What is it like in there? Would there be any food?

The thought has him licking his lips.

He frowns, however. He looks down at his claws, huffing. He has no body of the cheetah. He doesn't run on all fours or has an extra pair of paws.

He's simply taller, stronger, fur and spikes all over his body like horns with evil eyes and a big body.

Hoseok is similar to his kind. He's just a bit shorter, more curved. He can run on all fours, and when he does, you won't stand a chance.

His fur is thick and tangled all over his body, with sharp howls and claws on all hands and feet.

Hoseok's snout is longer than Taehyung's and their fur pattern differs.

Overall, they aren't the same.

Yoongi doesn't look like them at all. His upper body is completely human except for a few random snake scales up his back and arms, mostly around the shoulder area.

His lower body is long and slender. A snake's body. It's a sickening black with grey, rising up his body till his waistline. His yellow eyes are decorated with black slit pupils, and he has sharp claws and venomous fangs.

He has a brother at home, Jimin, who looks similar. The only difference is that Jimin is pale, with snakes for his hair instead of his lower body.

Both of them are extreme cunning though. They've killed many by simply manipulation. Their form is attractive, yet scary. Scary enough to know that their death is slow and painful.

"What are you thinking, Taehyung?" Yoongi asks. "You keep staring to there. As if there is something. You know those woods have been hunted empty."

Taehyung huffs a growl and shakes his head. "I didn't know. But something tells me that it isn't empty at all."

"What makes you think that?" Hoseok asks.

"When prey knows we think something is empty, they go back." Taehyung growls. "I'm almost certain that there is a nice piece of flesh waiting for me."

"I can see." Yoongi grins. "You're drooling."

Taehyung wipes his snout with the back of his paw, his eyes never leaving the forest.

"I'm going." He mutters. "There must be something there."

"I'll come too." Hoseok grins. "Alpha must be proud of me when I bring back some good fresh meat."

Yoongi rolls his eyes. "I'm coming too. I bet Jimin is also up for some exploring."

Taehyung releases a growl. Second time hunting with his friends for something bigger than pride. But hunger.

°•●•°

Seokjin sighs deeply. Why does Jungkook have to scare him around every time? Just because he runs away often does not mean that he isn't strong.

Jungkook abuses his instincts.

The leaves rustle again.

With an annoyed sigh, Seokjin calls out.

"Jungkook. Go away. I'm busy and not in mood for your little games."

But unlike the other times, there is no reply. No one jumps out. No one giggles. No one moves...

"Jungkook...?" Seokjin's voice trembles.

No reply...

Seokjin gulps, his hooves tremble and he prepares to run. His ears twitch at every sound.

The bushes rustle again. But the movement is slow and cunning.

Seokjin feels uneasy. He's flicking his ears all around to hear whatever or whoever may be sneaking up on him--.

"Hyung!"

"God dammid Jungkook!" Seokjin screams. But its none of fear.

Jungkook shivers at the angry tone of the older, taking a step back.

"Do you think it's funny to sneak up on me like that?! I was terrified!"

"But I--"

"Those sounds make me panic! Can you not stop for once to trigger my herbivore instincts?! I'm tired of it!"

"H-hyung...--"

"NO! I don't wanna hear it! I want you to go back and stay in the den and just leave me alone!"

Seokjin's outburst has made Jungkook shiver and tremble, but not just that.

"H-hyung... B-behind you..." The youngest squeaks in fear.

Seokjin's ear twitches and he slowly looks back.

His eyes widen to the size of plates with fear and he scrambles back at the tall, growling, spiked carnivore that towers over him.

"No, no." The beast growls amused, baring its sharp teeth. "Go on. It's very amusing to hear you scream."

Seokjin's ears tilt back and his eyes water with fear. He steps back a bit, as does Jungkook with him, when he squeaks and stiffens up.

Something slithers around him. Its smooth and rough skinned.

He hesitantly looks back and lets out a loud scream before rearing on his hooves and kicking the snake off him and sprints away, leaving a trail of dust.

The snake huffs. "Coward."

"What do we do with this little guy?" The approaching wolf growls. "He looks tasty. Has a lot of meat on those bones."

Seokjin lets out a whine and a pained squeak when the wolf, travels its claws over his back.

He looks around. He's surrounded by three carnivores...

He bites his lip and raises his hooves, kicking the wolf behind him with as much force as he can. The moment that he hears the wolf wince he turns on his hooves and sprints away.

He doesn't go home. He doesn't want to endanger the group.

The snake hisses out at him and looks at Taehyung, who releases a building growl.

"Follow the boy. I'll take this one."

The wolf nods and looks at the snake, who hisses and immediately leaps onto the wolf's back, who starts running into the direction of Jungkook at full speed on all fours.

And the cheetah?

He's never tried to run on four paws, especially when he doesn't exactly have paws. But seeing how the wolf does it has him thinking he can do it too.

With that he claws at the dirt and leaps forward, giving himself a fast start as he tries to feel the instinct.

He's going to get that deer.

°•●•°

Whimpering, Seokjin stops. His hooves are shaking. He's been running for a while and he hopes the cheetah has left him alone.

And just as he thinks that, he hears a growl.

He turns his head, his ears tilted back in fear when he sees the spotted carnivore licking his sharp canines.

"Come on then." He growls. "Fight me."

But Seokjin stands there, frozen.

The cheetah growls again. "Fight me!"

Seokjin whimpers and shakes his head.

"Seriously?" The cheetah huffs. "A deer who won't use his antlers? Do you have any pride?"

Seokjin looks up at the towering cheetah. He slowly shakes his head.

The cheetah huffs and crouches down. "Pathetic. You're better off a bunny. You're fleeing when you should be fighting! Why aren't you fighting!"

Seokjin looks up at him almost in tears. "Because I broke my antlers when I was little."

"That is why you don't fight?"

Seokjin shakes his head. "These aren't... These aren't mine. I cut them from my friend when he was asleep and... and I... I didn't want him to find out... I killed him..."

His words are quiet and in tears as the cheetah tilts his head.

"What did you do with these then?"

"When I became older I found a way to permanently keep these horns. I'm scared to break them again if I use them..." Seokjin whimpers.

The cheetah sighs deeply. "I broke my nails and teeth. Their grew back. Don't your antlers?"

Seokjin shakes his head slowly. "I waited years for just a bit of show... But they never showed up."

The cheetah looks at him. "But you killed the owner of those antlers... You have some carnivore instinct. Why did you run from me when you could have used those legs? They look like they could break my jaw."

"Because... every time I see someone hurt... it reminds me of him."

"Just because you took his antlers?"

Seokjin nods.

The cheetah sighs. "Listen deer. You're supposed to protect yourself. I'm a carnivore and I can't lower myself to eat you. Get up and follow me. If I catch you staying behind I won't come back for you."

Seokjin looks up at him when he gets up and starts to walk away.

"W-where are we going then?! Who are you?!"

The cheetah turns to him. "My name is Taehyung, and we're going home."

"W-where is home?!"

"The mountains. There." Taehyung points through the trees to deep dark mountains, having Seokjin's ears drop in fear.

"B-but... c-carnivores!"

"You're going to protect yourself." Taehyung snaps. "I'm going to help you, so be thankful."

And Seokjin doesn't know whether to be thankful or afraid...

°•●•°

The mountains are terrifying to Seokjin. Carnivores have growled at him and tried to eat him already.

Taehyung had to save him multiple times because he couldn't get himself to defend himself.

The higher up they went, the more dangerous things seemed to become. Luckily for Seokjin he was able to climb up easily due to having four hooves.

"H-hey!" Seokjin squeaks. "How much more?"

"Almost." Taehyung growls. "So here's what's gonna happen."

Seokjin looks up, nodding and listening closely.

"You're going to fight me. I'm going to attack you and you're going to use your antlers to protect yourself and stab me."

"WHAT?!!"

"You're pathetic. One hit won't hurt me."

"B-but what if they break?"

"They won't." Taehyung says. "Because I know you're scared, but that is bone. It's strong and won't break easily. Did your antlers break because of a fight?"

"N-no..."

"So you wouldn't know if they're going to break."

Seokjin stays quiet and stops in front of the cheetah, who looks down at him.

"Hit me."

Dumbfounded, Seokjin looks Taehyung up and down. The cheetah is huge and strong. And he's supposed to hit him?

He nervously presses his fist against Taehyung's chest, surprised by how hard it actually through the fur.

Taehyung growls and shakes his head. His hand grabs onto one of his antlers and tugs harshly at it. Seokjin's head jerks with it, yelling in pain.

"It won't break. Use them. Hit me with these."

Seokjin gulps nervously and grabs Taehyung's hand, taking it off his antler, shaking his head.

"You can't help me." He mumbles. "I'm...scared."

Taehyung sighs deeply. "I know. It's obvious."

"How can I spill blood onto the antlers of what used to be my friend?"

"You killed him." Taehyung says effortlessly. "You already spilled blood."

Seokjin looks down. It's not like he wanted to. He was young and naive. He killed his friend for his little pride.

Taehyung grabs Seokjin's hair tightly, pulling it towards him. Seokjin yells in pain, but he gasps when he gasps when he feels warm liquid drip over his face.

From his antlers...

Taehyung stabbed himself with Seokjin's antlers...

He pulls his antlers out, shaking at how warm the blood feels on his face.

Taehyung scoffs, looking down at the wounds. "Sharp. It actually hurt."

"W-why did you do that?!!" Seokjin screams.

Taehyun smirks at him. "Your antlers are still on. You're fine to attack. Use those weapons."

"B-but--!"

"Come with me. We need to sharpen them. Also it's dinner time."

"D-do you have plants?" Seokjin asks, hopping with him as Taehyung turns around.

For a moment he forget that he has blood all over his face, until a carnivore runs towards him with big eyes. It's a fox. A small one, similar to how Yoongi is built.

"Are you a carnivore too?"

"W-what?!"

"He isn't, Felix." Taehyung grumbles. "Namjoon better have gotten something good with that horn of his."

Seokjin gulps as the fox hops off without a care. He didn't even try to eat him.

"Who is Namjoon?" He asks curiously.

Taehyung chuckles at his question. "You'll see."

°•●•°

It takes minutes before they reach another area of the mountains, where Seokjin noticed a pure white tail.

"Namjoon. Did you get anything good?" Taehyung grumbles, peeking around the trees to look.

He licks his canines before swinging a body over his shoulder. Blood drips over his back as he looks at Seokjin, who flinches at it.

Taehyung rolls his eyes and grins. "Don't look so stupid. It's just meat."

"T-that was an antelope!"

"It's our food."

"IT WAS INNOCENT!!"

"Don't act like you haven't hurt anyone." Taehyung growls at him, grabbing his bloodied antler and points them at his still bleeding wound. "You're just as bad as us."

Seokjin shakes his head violently, twisting his antler from Taehyung's grip.

"I am nothing like you!" He yells. "I'm no carnivore!"

Taehyung scoffs. "Would you rather starve? You can try to eat from the trees but these make you sick. Trust me. I tried."

His nonchalant shrug gives Seokjin the hint how little he would care. Taehyung is helping him because he wanted to, but if he wanted to leave he had nothing against it.

Whilst Seokjin gets easily attached to someone's scent, Taehyung shrugs it off.

Seokjin looks down. "I... I've never eaten... meat before." He whimpers.

"Of course you haven't. Namjoon was a herbivore too. He was just tired of everyone seeing him as a sparkly wishing well. He came here out of free will and changed himself entirely."

"How...?"

"You know..." Taehyung shrugs. "Inside and out. He used to be sparkly and stuff and now he's... less sparkly? He still has glitter all over him though. It gets everywhere like sand." He whines.

"Don't whine, Taehyung." A deep voice grumbles.

Seokjin turns around and yelps at the blood on the man's face.

"Unicorn!" He screams, pointing at the white glowing horn.

With a sigh, the being nods. He's a little taller than Seokjin, with a same body structure. His eyes are pure fire, a sun amber with white hair and a white tail with pearl body and a layered horn in white to light blue.

But the horn is blood soaked, red blood dripping all over his face. Just like Seokjin with his antlers.

"Yes. I am a unicorn. Don't call me that." The man grumbles and turns to Taehyung. "Bring the meat over to the field. We can maybe burn some flowers with it too."

Taehyung nods and he tugs at Seokjin's tail. "Come on Bambi."

"H-hey! Don't touch my tail!" Seokjin whines, hopping after him, but not before looking at the unicorn.

Why would a herbivore be here? A unicorn of all things! Why would he kill something...?

All of those things roaming through Seokjin's mind has him confused. Can herbivores really be with carnivores?

He looks up at Taehyung, who doesn't pay him any mind and keeps walking effortlessly with the heavy weight of a body and a stomach wound.

And Seokjin feels his heart raise a little.

"Look." Taehyung growls. "Over there are the hyenas."

Seokjin peeks, seeing sharp fanged creatures mindlessly skipping on four paws.

"They're the crazy family. You should be able to protect yourself. Use your antlers."

"I-I can't..." Seokjin whimpers. "I'm too scared..."

Taehyung sighs and grabs his hands. Something other than his antlers. And his paws feel soft...

"You reacted last time. That's fine because I did it to myself. I can't help you here. They're the gossips of the carnivores. If they see you weak with me, I'll be killed for letting a herbivore into their territory. You have to show them who is boss."

Seokjin looks up at him with big eyes, but Taehyung only gives him a soft smile.

"I know it's hard. I know you don't want this. But this is the only way to learn. I believe in you, okay? Don't do it because I told you. Do it for your own protection."

Seokjin nods slowly and he takes a few deep breaths. If Taehyung believes in him... He can do this.

Taehyung nudging him to go forward, and with hesitance, Seokjin does. The moment the hyenas notice him they start growling and drooling. They're horrific with messy wild fur and curved spines with long black nails on which they stand.

They shriek and lunge towards Seokjin, whose ears drop and he whimpers.

But he remembers Taehyung's words. He's not going to back down now.

As the hyenas reach for him, he scrapes his hoof and glances at each corner. He doesn't escape this time. He won't run away.

The first hyena jumps up, mouth open wide with yellow teeth.

Seokjin shuts his eyes tightly and prepares for the impact, tilting his head for the animal to land.

He gasps when blood drips all over him. It's warm and soft on his skin. He shakes the body off his antlers and looks back at Taehyung who smiles at him.

He grins to himself and rushes forward. Every hyena he meets is one he kicks with his hooves or stabs with his antlers.

To say he felt proud was an understatement. He was full of adrenaline from every kill, blood soaking down his body.

And when the hyenas retreated, Seokjin almost felt like he was born anew. His body was shaking with adrenaline.

"I knew you could do it." Taehyung purrs. "I was right."

Seokjin looks up at him with a big smile, and with a long chant of thank you's, he presses his body against Taehyung's fur.

A hug... Taehyung realizes. But why the deer does it is a mystery to him. But he has to admit that feeling of Seokjin touching him is comfortable.

Unlike his tall and threatening exterior, Seokjin looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly.

And yet, he was terrified of him at first sight. Now he's hugging him.

Could a herbivore really be with a carnivore? Probably not.

Seokjin eats no meat and Taehyung doesn't eat plants.

They mix flowers or plants within meat for Namjoon because he'd die if he didn't eat plants, so he disguises it into meat.

That still won't be enough for Seokjin.

"What are we eating today?"

Taehyung flinches at Seokjin's question.

"Flowers? Grass? Leaves?"

"We're carnivores." Taehyung mutters. "We eat meat."

Seokjin's ears drop. He forgot that one little detail. The use of his sharp teeth.

"But... the unicorn?"

"He eats meat with plants on them. He can't taste the flowers because of the taste. Meat is a strong thing." Taehyung explains. "If you want, you can try it out."

Seokjin looks up and nods. "I wanna."

He can't fight the smile on his face. Seokjin is a determined and naive deer and he doesn't hesitate to show it.

"I'm taking it up for dinner now, I can ask Joon if he can share with you." He says. "He'll be happy to have another mix. He always complains about no one understanding the torture of eating plants."

Seokjin giggles a little and nods. He happily climbs further up with the cheetah, who he realizes is much more of dangerous softie than a dangerous beast.

°•●•°

Seokjin watches Taehyung drop the body with a sigh and he stretches his back. He notices the cheetah's ears twitch and his head turns.

Voices. Namjoon's, the snake's, and the wolf's.

Seokjin turns his head, smiling when he notices Namjoon stare at him. The unicorn gives him a hesitant smile back.

"Is he still here?"

"He wants to eat with us." Taehyung says. "Kinda like you."

Namjoon's ears tilt before they perk and he looks back at Seokjin, who still smiles.

The unicorn sighs and kneels down besides Seokjin.

"Why?" He asks. "Why do you want to be here?"

In his voice is an animalistic growl, one that doesn't sound like it belongs there. He must've picked it up from around here.

Seokjin shrugs. "At home no one told me how to be safe. I always fled. He changed it. He made me feel safe."

Namjoon looks at where Seokjin points. He scoffs lightly. "Seriously? Taehyung? Teaching you how to feel safe? He'd rather kill you."

Seokjin looks at him with cold eyes, his smile suddenly gone. He points at the drying wound in Taehyung's chest and at his antlers.

"He did that to himself. He took me up the mountain just so I could defend myself. He made me believe. I'm not a good deer." He snarls. "I've done things my family would never forgive me for."

"Like?" The wolf grumbles. "We've done a lot of bad things."

Seokjin's ear twitches and points at his antlers. "These aren't mine."

His words have the three confused and Taehyung chuckle.

"I've taken them from my best friend. My antlers broke when I was little and my pride was hurt. I killed my best friend for his antlers. For my pride. I've killed with his antlers."

Namjoon's jaw drops slightly before his lips curl into a smile. "I get the whole I'm-Not-Innocent thing now."

"Yeah. Kinda messed up." Yoongi slithers, calling out to his approaching brother.

"But we're all." Hoseok shrugs. "Apparantly I'm alpha obsessed."

"You are."

"I know, so shut up you sparkly piece of meat." Hoseok growls.

Namjoon rolls his eyes.

Seokjin turns to look at Taehyung. The cheetah has thrown the body over a branch above a fire and comes sitting besides them.

"Honestly though..." He starts. "This guy was terrified of me when we first met. A few hours ago he was crying at me. Now he's smiling... You look a lot happier..."

"Seokjin."

Taehyung smiles. "Seokjin..."

The name fit the body they say. And to Taehyung that's definitely a fit.

It taken almost an hour of playing some random games before the body is all cooked.

Yoongi and Jimin rip the skin off before they rip the skeleton apart with the meat still on it and divide it equally.

Namjoon gives a complaining whine over the flowers before he hands some to Seokjin too.

Taehyung watches with big eyes as Seokjin takes a hesitant bite from the flesh with a petal, whining as he has trouble to rip it off the bone.

Taehyung smiles at him when he finally manages to tear it off.

He watches Seokjin's face morph into one of confusion, disgust, neutral, before his eyes become wider and he sets his teeth into another part.

"I take it it's good?" Yoongi asks amused.

Seokjin only replies with a nod.

It gives Taehyung hope. Perhaps, Seokjin can have a good life here with the carnivores. Maybe even with him...

[=|THE END|=]

Questions of the Chapter:

Why did Seokjin choose his pride over his friend?

Why didn't Taehyung kill Seokjin?

What happened to Jungkook?

Who is Hoseok's alpha obsession about?

What is Namjoon's story?