Middle of the Week Motivation

Friend or Sacrifice?

All of the children were ushered inside as the night grew dark, the full moon shining down brightly onto the town square. It was the night of sacrifice. One male and one female must be given to the beast of the forest in order to keep it satisfied. Young adults of varying ages were being lined up, men on one side, women on the other. The leaders of the town walked down the lines before choosing one from each side. Most mothers ran over and hugged their children as they were Spared though two mothers in particular were being held back as their chosen children were drug away by the hunters of the town.

Mark, a raven haired young adult and Cynthia, a red hair teen were the unfortunate winners this year, though neither bothered to struggle to escape their unavoidable fate. They just sat in silence as they were tied to a tree, their fellow villagers refusing to make eye contact as they tightened the bonds and stood off to the side. When the moon was at it's highest setting in the sky the small group heard a rustling in the trees. Some of the villagers muttered prayers and Cynthia burst out in tears, but Mark stayed quiet and emotionless. The beast walked into sight, pausing for a second before approaching the two offerings.

One of the villagers spoke to the creature, Trico as it was called, the cat-like creature taking a seat as it debated between the two. It leaned closer to Mark, cutting the villagers off as it sniffed at Mark, the breath from his nose ruffling Mark's hair. It turned it's head over towards the girl, before slashing her rope with it's claw, setting her free. It didn't seemed bothered by her as he turned back to Mark, freeing him as well, only to scoop up the human in it's paw and take off into the sky.

Mark was gently set down outside a cave, with light flickering on the inside. The creature once again bent down, sniffing his hair once more. Mark finally broke his emotionless character as the creature opened it's mouth, the human taking a step back in fright, only to stop as the creature threw it's head to the side, taking as few steps back. It reared up into the air, a flash of bright blue light causing Mark to look away. Mark turned as soon as the burst of light had gone away, and much to his surprise another human lay on the grass where the beast once was.

The human had green colored hair, which was odd to Mark, though he didn't have much time to ponder that as the other person suddenly threw up before collapsing on the ground. "I refuse to eat another human being." The figure muttered out, his accent prevalent in his voice.

"Uhhh... Are you ok?" Mark asked, unsure of what to do. The other figure looked up at him as if he had just remembered that Mark was there.

"Right, right, I'll be fine." He other man reassured him weakly. "I'll just-" the man cut himself off as he tried to get up, only to fall back on the ground again. "Help please."

Mark quickly went over to the man, helping him to his feet, though the man just collapsed on him as he began to shiver violently. Mark frowned as the man's teeth chattered uncontrollably, scooping him up in his arms and carrying him into the cave.

"Bed please." The man chattered out as they came to a small room carved in the back of the cave. Mark surveyed his surroundings before his eyes caught what must be the bed. Mark set the green haired man down on the soft mattress, warily stepping back as the bones of a large creature loomed over head. They seemed to make up the frame of the bed. His attention was brought back to the freezing figure as the blue eyed man tried to speak once more. "Blankets." HE spluttered, half heartedly motioning to the pile of fabric that lay on the foot of the bed. Mark grabbed a fistful and drug it over to the green haired man, wrapping him up in the soft material. "Soup.." The man started to speak again, only to whimper and and lean back against the wall, screwing his eyes shut. It looked quite painful to be honest. "on fire." He was finally able to finish his sentence, but Mark was already on it, grabbing a bowl and bringing it over to where he was. The other man took it appreciatively, thanking him multiple times.

"Stop thanking me."Mark finally spoke again, gently scolding the other man. "You're freezing and I'm just trying to make sure you don't die."

"This is normal." The other man reassured him, a slight tremor passing through his body.

"Maybe, but it's still scary." Mark crawled up onto the bed next to him, wrapping an arm around the other man and doing his best to help warm him up. After a few minutes, the green haired man finally stopped shivering, though niether him or Mark moved from their current position. "Perhaps, now that you're better, you would care to explain. I don't even know your name."

The blue eyed man chuckled. "My name is Jack. You?"

"Mark. Nice to meet you."

"You too. Now I suppose I should explain. So, every full moon I transform into the creature. It's like a werewolf, but worse. That creature, called a Trico, eats people. At first, I didn't know what was happening when I transformed, but after doing some research, I figured out what was happening. I soon found out a way to control myself as the beast and turn back before any real damage is done. Ever since then, I swore never to eat another human ever again. The only thing is, whenever I turn back by force I get sick, I throw up and get really cold, but thankfully it only lasts for a couple of hours. And then I get really tired. Just a warning."

Mark nodded. "Good to know. And, you know, thanks for not eating me. I was sure I was gonna die tonight."

Jack once again chuckled uneasily, "You almost did." It went silent for a while before Jack spoke up again. "Thank you once again for helping me. Most people would've run away as soon as they saw I wasn't feeling good."

"I would never. I help take care of people back at the village, so I couldn't really just leave you." Mark smiled.

"Well, still. Thank you. At this point all I really want is a friend." They talked a little bit longer, Jack had finished his soup at this point and Mark had taken the bowl, using it to get some soup for himself. Jack yawned real big as Mark ate his food, his chocolate eyes flickering up from the bowl to look at Jack who was practically already asleep at this point. Mark quickly sett his bowl of soup off to the side, Careful not to spill it, and helped Jack lay down, covering him up with the blankets again.

Mark smiled as he moved down to the floor, soft snores escapingJack's mouth. Mark finished off his soup, and after debating on what to do, he crawled up onto the bed next to Jack, falling asleep shortly after. He woke up the next morning with Jack snuggled up to him, head buried in his chest. Mark's face flushed red slightly, though he didn't move from the position they were in.

Maybe Jack really did need a friend.

Mark had decided to stay with Jack, to keep the smaller male company instead of going back to his village and as months passed, he had started to fall for him. He'd always cuddle up with him after he came back from hunts on full moons and let everyone captured go, so they could return to their family safely. It wasn't his fault that his human form was super adorable and even after a while Mark caught himself thinking that Jack as Trico was really cute too. It was one night after Jack had gotten back from hunting that Mark had let his feelings accidentally slip.

"You should really stop doing that." Mark had commented, looking down at the smaller male who was sitting next to him all snuggled up in a pile of blankets.

"What?" Jack had asked innocently.

Mark's answer came back before he even had time to think about what he had said. "Things that make me want to kiss you."

Jack's face flushed red as he squeaked out his reply. "You-You wanna kiss me?"

It was now Mark's turn to flush red, as he silently nodded yes in response. "There's only one problem." Mark admitted, turning to face Jack with a sudden surge of confidence.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Jack asked.

"If I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

It was now Jack's turn to smile as he reached over and grabbed the collar of Mark's shirt, smashing their lips together. "That's no problem at all."

Turns out Jack had needed more than a friend.