Hoshi no Tama

Minghao sat on the grassy forest floor watching the werewolf pups wrestle one another in a nearby clearing. He had agreed to kid-sit so the older members of the pack could have a night off. They agreed with his idea with no hesitation. They trusted Minghao wholeheartedly to keep their children safe. The vampire had watched the older members when they were children after all. The pups loved Minghao and treated him like an uncle. Not to mention the promise he made over a hundred years ago to protect the pack. There was no reason to doubt him or worry for the young ones. If Minghao really wanted to hurt the pack, he would have done so ages ago.

His red eyes never left the children. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. He kept counting heads every so often to ensure none had run off somewhere. There was always at least one every generation who tried to dart off to do something stupid. Minghao hated when it happened. It meant he would have to drag the rest of the children with him to find the missing one. And with the current war between faeries and orcs, a pup running away would be bad. They could potentially get too close to the war zone of the forest if they were unlucky enough. Luckily, none had tried to run away yet.

Minghao smiled as a small girl triumphantly pinned down a larger male. She laughed as the boy frowned upon realizing he lost. He pouted a protest, "It's not fair! Amber noona is older than me! Of course she won!"

Amber simply stuck out her tongue before letting the boy up. She darted away to play with some of the other pups. The boy sulked over to Minghao and plopped down next to him angrily. The elder turned his focus on to the young child, "Upset Mingyu?"

Mingyu only nodded. He didn't want to talk right now. Minghao picked up on the mood and returned his attention back to the other children. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. None had run off while he wasn't looking.

Several minutes ticked past before Mingyu opened up, "It's not fair. Amber noona is four years older than me. Now they're gonna mock me for being beaten by a beta."

"Amber may be older, but you're bigger and have more physical strength Mingyu," Minghao spared the pup a glance, "She used her small size and speed to an advantage. As you grow older, you'll figure out how to be more tactful. Don't worry."

Mingyu whined, "I guess you're right. But the others will still make fun of me. I'm supposed to be the alpha and next leader. How can I do that if I get defeated by a beta or an omega?"

Minghao sighed, "You're still young and learning. Don't worry about it alright. You'll grow stronger." He could see Mingyu nodded out of the corner of his eye. Neither had anything else to say.

More time passed. Minghao kept his attention on the pups playing while glancing over Mingyu every so often. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.Again, none had tried to go off by themselves.

A scent came wafting to Minghao before the sound of leaves crunching under shoes did. It was a familiar scent. A mix of trees, smoke and tea. Based off how Mingyu sat up a little straighter, the vampire guessed he smelt it to.

"Hello Soonyoung hyung," Minghao said with a grin before the elder even emerged from the treeline.

"Hello Minghao," Soonyoung's voice was slightly muffled by the kitsune mask he wore, "Hi there Mingyu." He walked over to the duo.

"Soonie hyung!" Mingyu stood up and ran to the newcomer. The pup wrapped his arms around him. Soonyoung laughed and returned the hug. They both sat down once they let go of one another.

Minghao turned towards the masked man, "What brings you out here hyung?"

Soonyoung removed his mask, placing it beside him, before answering, "Heard you were watching the pups so I thought I'd come help."

"Ah, I see. Thank you," the vampire nodded with a smile.

Mingyu stared at the earrings and necklace adorning Soonyoung. The earrings were small, white glowing orbs that hung down a few centimeters on a thin chain. The necklace matched them. There was seven orbs glowing white strung along a thin chain wrapped around his neck. Curiosity took ahold the child, "Soonie hyung? Why do you always wear those accessories?"

A look of shock shot across Soonyoung's face briefly. He opened his mouth before closing it to consider how to word his sentence. Finally, he simply settled for asking, "Do you know what hoshi no tama is?"

The pup shook his head. Soonyoung hummed and began to explain, "I have a lot of power. Some might say that I have too much power. So I took some of power and split it into these nine orbs. I can still use my magic, but only on a minor scale. if I want to use something more powerful, I can eat one of my orbs to restore that power to myself. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah... But why would you limit yourself like that? Because someone else said you have too much power? And why would they even say that? Who is to say what is too much? Who has the right to make such judgement calls?" Mingyu barely took a breathe inbetween each question.

"I limit myself because it helps make others feel safe. I don't know why they feel like they can what is and isn't too much. I'm not going to argue with them about it," the kitsune explained patiently. Mingyu nodded his head before launching into another conversation.

Minghao turned away from the pair to watch the playing pups once more. He frowned deeply before counting. One. Two. Three. Four. He counted again. One. Two. Three. Four.

Two of the pups had run off while Minghao was tuned into Soonyoung and Mingyu's conversation. Panic ran throughout the vampire. Please don't let them get close to the war zone!

"Hyung! Two pups are gone. I'm going to go look for them. Please keep an eye on the remaining four," Minghao informed Soonyoung. The older male nodded. With a sigh, the vampire vanished in a blink of an eye using his enhanced speed.

Soonyoung chewed on his bottom lip worried for the missing pups. He knew Minghao would find them in no time. The vampire would never let anything happen to one of the pack members or all hell would be let lose. Yet the fox spirit couldn't help but worry. He didn't want any harm to befall the children.

As predicted, Minghao returned not even ten minutes later with the two runners in tow. He had a hand holding onto an am of each in order to prevent them from running off again. He was already lecturing them about how what they did was dangerous and how they could have been hurt.

Once he felt like they understood why he was upset, Minghao released them. He walked back over to where he was sitting before the whole ordeal. He sat down and began to watch the pups once more.