One-Shots of My O.C.'s Lives

Kindness of Strangers

Seto had used to live in an old shack before he decided to move. He was tired of sneezing from the dust that covered a lot of the objects lying around. The spiders were getting harder and harder to avoid, so he realized he was ready. He was ready to live with a human. He didn't have anything to take with him except for his cloak and knife, so his leave was effective immediately.

He took a deep breath before stepping outside, finding that the grass was his height. He sighed to himself before pushing through the tall stalks. After about an hour of walking, he finally spotted the other buildings he had seen before, off in the horizon. Eager, he kept striding, checking his surroundings every so often to make sure nothing was around.

He had eventually arrived at the edge of the suburbs by the time the sun had fully risen and hung up high in the sky, and Seto had paused to take a break when he heard something rustling in the bushes. His heart picked up as he slowly turned around to find himself facing a stray cat that was crouching, ready to pounce.

 Gasping, he darted to his feet and ran away, hearing the cat give chase behind him. Panicking, he ran along a road and kept running. He looked back to see how far behind the feline was when he ran into something hard, and he fell back on his haunches with a huff of surprise, winded.

"Ooh a borrower!" He heard a remark of surprise as the cat turned tail and ran away, and his blood froze. No. No no, no no no no no no no no.... Humans were bad enough, but predators-let alone a  young predator? This was going to be a nightmare!

He grunted in protest when he was plucked up off the ground in a tight non-reassuring grip that kept him from catching his breath.

"Aww you're so cute!" He cringed under the child's wide curious eyes, his heart hammering in his chest as the kid continued. "I'm gonna take you home, and then we can play together! Mommy always told me borrowers are tasty too!" Adrenaline rushed through Seto's veins, and he started shaking. This was bad, very, very bad. He had to get out of here.

He focused for a moment before he suddenly disappeared from the young predator's grip, and he teleported at his feet, swaying for a moment from the sudden lack of energy.

"Where'd you go?" As the kid looked around in confusion, the sorcerer ducked into an alley and huddled behind a small heap of boxes, looking fearfully out from behind a leaned over shard of glass. He was breathing in fast gasps, and his little body was quivering as he hugged his cloak. So much for moving somewhere and finding a place to live.

"So are you playing hide and seek or something?" His eyes widened, and he tensed, too scared stiff and tired to turn around. "Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you." He sighed a little in relief, letting his shoulders slack as he crouched back down to hide from the young predator that was looking for him.

"Well... That comes as a relief." He quietly admitted. "B-But no, I'm not exactly playing, I-I-I'm uh, hiding from a uh... A pred- I mean uh, someone..."

"Huh. So you little guys are always running away from us?"

"Uh, y-yeah we-" Seto had turned around finally since he was beginning to relax, only to freeze in terror. Crouched in front of him was not only a really tall human, but he wasn't even a human. His canines were too sharp, and his red-maroon eyes even glowed a little.

He was a predator.

Seto started trembling violently, shrinking back as the predator blinked a few times in confusion before realizing what was wrong, and held his hands up in a placate gesture.

"I'm not gonna hurt ya, remember?" He said softly. The mage shuddered, pressing against the glass before losing his balance and falling over with a yelp, cutting his arm on the sharp edge and drawing a thin line of blood. As he sat up with a soft grunt of effort, he saw the predator's nostrils twitch as his eyes gained a slight gleam of hunger, and he swallowed nervously.