The Little Prince and The Dragon

1. A Not So Scary Wolf

It crawled, cracked, climbed and spiralled, and Jimin wondered if fire could really do all of that. He suppose it could, it was alive after all. Alive... Jimin wondered if he would be after a few minutes as the fire grew, breathing like a beast over him, eating his flesh off of him. He cried out for help, but his wolf form didn’t allow for any words to come out and the fire ate his howl, only letting a whimper escape.

Jimin watched them disappear, their figures mere silhouettes in the darkness of a forest asleep. His parents. They’d set him alight, their very own son, but to them their son was long gone and a demon wore his skin now. A demon that every month when the moon was at its fullest and brightest shed their beautiful son’s skin and returned to its true form – a violent beast.

The fire licked his flesh, tasting him before it slashed like a whip hell bent on maiming him. Help... Ma, please. His pleas came out in whimpers, each one growing softer as the life in him faded.

He heard whining then, louder than his own with no pain lacing it. It sounded more irritated than anything. His body was trembling from the pain but this annoyed whines cut through it and suddenly his ear was being bitten playfully, tugging him out of the nightmare.

Jimin’s eyes shot open, his breathing laboured and the fire that blanketed him a moment ago all gone. All but the roaring of the flames that still lingered with him even as Jungkook, a small brown pup, licked his face trying to wake him from his nightmare. Jungkook’s eyes that were too big for his face peered at him, annoyed but concerned nevertheless.

Jimin shook the rest of the nightmare off, reminding himself that it’s all done now. That night was long gone and besides he had been rescued and taken in by this pack. He had a family now. One that didn’t see him as a beast no matter what form he took.

Jungkook tackled Jimin, barking at him impatiently to get up already; it was a sunny day and sunny days to Jungkook meant endless hours of playing games.

The two of them came out of the den, Jimin still stretching and Jungkook rushing him along. A flash of grey catches the two pups’ attention, both of them instantly assuming the posture of an omega in the presence of their alpha, heads and ears down, submissive and obedient. The pack leader, Namjoon circled the two pups and then playfully nudged them, urging them to go play; he already knew Jungkook was probably jumping out of his skin with impatience.

Namjoon watched them run off; noting that amid the scent of sweat and excitement was fear. He knew who that scent belonged to – Jimin, although not the youngest but the newest member to his pack and quite possibly the saddest.

                                ***

Jungkook insisted on playing hunter-and-hunted, and currently Jimin was the hunter. He stood by a tree, eyes closed, ears on full alert, already trying to locate Jungkook even though he was supposed to concentrate on counting the birds’ chirps. When Jimin heard the tenth chirp he opened his eyes and darted in the direction he thought Jungkook was.

He listened and scented the air for the pup, making sure to be as quiet the wind on a hot day, moving smoothly throw the woods. A smell – not Jungkook’s – cut through the air which made Jimin backtrack. Curious and slightly afraid he sought out the source of that smell and as he moved in closer he heard sniffling. Human. His hackles rose at the intruder but he didn’t retreat.

The boy sat on the ground, both of his hands rubbing his right ankle, only ever releasing it to wipe his tears or nose. Jimin stayed hidden, silently watching the black-haired boy, wondering what this human was doing so deep in the woods.

Taehyung wiped his nose again with his sleeve, beginning to get frustrated with his stupid ankle that kept on aching. “Stop crying,” he told himself. “It won’t help with anything.” He looked around, for what? He didn’t know but maybe he’d at least be distracted from the pain until it went away.

He counted the birds and named them; his eyes laid on another bird, a crested lark, that had just landed in the tree behind him, ruffling its feathers making it look like the lark was shaking, so Taehyung named the bird, Shakes. He giggled to himself finding it silly and as he looked away something caught his gaze. There, just below the tree Shakes had landed on was a bush and deep within a pair of grey eyes hovered, gazing at him.

Turning around completely, Taehyung crawled a little closer to the bush which only earned him a growl. He should’ve backed off but, he didn’t know how he could tell, the growl seemed young. “Come out, I promise I won’t hurt you.”

The animal growled again but Taehyung just giggled, “Am I supposed to be scared? Come on, you can do better than that.”

The animal, which Taehyung had worked out to be some kind of wild dog or wolf, barked now, sounding a little angry. Taehyung laughed, his aching ankle completely forgotten, “You sound so cute, come out, I want to touch you.”

Jimin growled at the boy. Cute? This boy found him cute even when he growled? The boy must be stupid, Namjoon, Hoseok and Jin told him his growls and barks were scary, it was only Jungkook and Yoongi that laughed at him when he was being fierce. He wondered if this boy was made out of the same stuff Jungkook and Yoongi were made of, which was something that irritated Jimin.

Puffing out his chest and raising his ears Jimin strutted out from his hiding place, baring his teeth at the boy. The boy’s eyes widened and Jimin wanted to laugh, there how’s that for cute? Jimin decided to go further and did what Namjoon does that always sets him and Jungkook on edge; he circled the boy, adding a growl just in case.

The boy cocked his head to one side, “Are you trying to be scary? Maybe wait until you’re all grown up, ‘kay?”

As if the wolf understood him, Taehyung watched its eyes go round and then glare at him, probably feeling insulted. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Maybe I can teach you how to be scary, how ‘bout that?” Taehyung got on all fours, bared his teeth and roared. He sounded more like a dinosaur, he noted but hopefully the grey-eyed wolf got the idea.

With the look of utter determination, the wolf took a deep breath and with all its might it let out a growl. Once it was done, it looked at Taehyung expectantly. “Not bad. It still needs a lot of work but when I’m done training you, you’ll be the scariest wolf ever!”

The brownish-grey wolf barked lightly as if excited as well. Taehyung smiled and said, “But not today, I have to get back to help my eomma make supper...the only thing is, is that I’m lost. I don’t know how to get home.”

Jimin was a little disappointed but since the boy had helped him, he decided to help him get home. It was easy work with Jimin’s wolf senses, he just had to trace the boys scent and use it to lead them back to the boy’s home.

By the time the sky wore the prettiest shades of orange, pink and faded blue, Jimin had led the boy to his house that bordered the woods.

Taehyung was in complete awe of this clever wolf and wanted to give it the biggest hug but held back thinking that the wolf wouldn’t like it very much. “Thank you, Wolfie.” He reached out his hand slowly so that he wouldn’t frighten the wolf and when the wolf relaxed, Taehyung petted its head. “I’ll come find you tomorrow, ‘kay?” he whispered.

And sure enough, Taehyung went into the woods whenever his could to find his new friend and teach him how to be scary.

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to a short story about these two loveable boys, Jimin and Taehyung. BTS as a whole has one of the best friendships ever which is what kind of inspired this short story and of course me reading a book (or two) about werewolves. I really hope you enjoy it :) please let me know if you like it