Beast ~ Seongjoong

one: amethyst eyes

Tears fogged Hongjoong's vision as he stumbled through the woods, hopelessly lost, cold and afraid.

It was a moonless night and heavy rainfall saturated the forest floor, turning it into a slippery, muddy terrain to traverse in the darkness. The cold night air was heavy with the scent of pine and wet earth.

Hongjoong slipped in the mud and tripped numerous times as he ran through the seemingly endless forest. His hands, arms and legs were decorated in cuts from falling over and crashing into trees but he didn't stop. The fear bleeding through his veins wouldn't allow him to. And it was currently the only thing keeping him alive.

A bright bolt of lightning connected with the earth, and almost instantly a crack of thunder followed, rumbling overhead and briefly illuminated Hongjoong's surroundings. Tall pines towered all around him, but up ahead through the dense pine, Hongjoong swore he saw a clearing.

Fleeing to a wide open space wasn't the best idea given his current situation, but Hongjoong was already fighting a battle he knew he was losing in the treacherous forest. He could feel his energy quickly depleting: his calves burned, his skin stung with every cut and graze and his lungs were starved of oxygen.

But he had to keep running, away from the beast that pursued him.

It had been Hongjoong's own ill-fated decision that led him to his current predicament. He had been foolish not to heed the villagers' warnings to cross over into the Forbidden lands, where the Forest of the Dead lay. But ever the confident young explorer that he was, Hongjoong was sure of himself and his ability. He thought he could handle anything that he might come across in the forest.

But he had been wrong. So very, very wrong.

The villagers had told him tales of terrifying red-eyed beasts. How they hunted and feasted upon humans not only for food, but also for pleasure. They were rumored to look unnervingly similar to humans but they were far from mortal. Unageing, incredibly fast, ten times more powerful, and with an unbridled desire to kill and maim, they came from the fiery depths of Hell itself.

After having seen one with his own eyes, a long-limbed beast with sharp pointed teeth and a wicken grin to match, having felt the truly terrifying aura of death that so powerfully radiated from one of those fear inducing beasts, Hongjoong had realized all the stories the villagers had told him were true.

Even as he continued to stumble almost blindly through the forest in the relentless downpour, he could still see those narrow, blood red eyes, glowing like burning embers in the darkness, burned into his vision. Eyes which held the overwhelming desire to kill.

As soon as he had seen those eyes, he knew he was going to die.

But Hongjoong was afraid to die. He didn't want to leave this world, with still so much of his life left. And the fear that had gripped him so tightly when the beast spoke to him ─ told him in sickening detail how he would slowly torture him before eventually eating him alive ─ had been enough to make him flee for his life.

Hongjoong wasn't even sure whether or not this was all part of the beast's game. Was he just letting Hongjoong think he had a chance of escape? Simply playing with his food like a lion toying with a mouse?

Regardless of that, Hongjoong had to take what little chance he had. His life depended on it.

Finally breaking free from the forest, Hongjoong rain out into the clearing. Tall grass, slick with rain tickled the backs of his bare thighs and he had the sensation of wading through a river as the long blades of grass stuck to his wet legs, wrapping around him as if they wanted him to be caught by the beast.