Hwasun One shots

WOLVES

Despite growing up as a minor noble in an estate full of servants, art, and expensive food, Hwasa had early in life come to realize that nobility wasn't for her. Her mother had pressured her to marry for power and influence, but the older Hwasa became, the more she saw how little she cared for that kind of life. Her best friend had been the blacksmith's young apprentice, a girl her age with a smile that was as brilliant as it was infectious. Unsurprisingly, her mother hadn't approved, noting that a woman of Hwasa's stature shouldn't mix with someone as lowly as a blacksmith.

Then one day, the girl was gone. No one knew for certain what had happened, but rumors of a wolf stalking the town filled the taverns. The night before, Hwasa could have sworn she saw a wolf outside her window, its eyes hollow and sad yet eerily familiar, but afterwards she never knew if she had seen it or merely dreamed of it.

After that, it didn't take long before Hwasa couldn't stand her mother's suffocating influence any longer. She left early one night, riding until both she and her horse were close to collapsing. She made it out of the kingdom and into the next, finally stopping in an isolated village, far away from castles and nobility. An abandoned cottage in the outskirts of town, previously inhabited by the village's midwife, proved to be just what Hwasa needed. While she certainly wasn't a midwife, her mother had taught her potion craft ever since Hwasa was young and soon all manner of people throughout the village turned to Hwasa when they became sick or injured .

The years went quietly by in the little village until one summer day, almost a decade after she Hwasa had arrived, when someone suddenly jostled the mundane peace they had.

"Hwasa!"

A young boy - one of the farmers' sons - came running over the field when Hwasa was working in her garden, tending to some new plants. He was panting heavily and his voice was shrill. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good news.

"What's going on?" Hwasa asked, standing up and brushing some of the dirt off of her dress. "Is someone hurt?"

The boy came to a halt at the edge of the garden and shook his head, trying to catch his breath. "It's- it's some kind of monster."

Hwasa held back a smile. Although it didn't happen every day, there had been more than one occurrence of "monsters" showing up in the village and all of them had been raccoons or the occasional bear. "Where did you see this monster?"

"It's at the edge of the forest on the other side of town. Everyone's there! I only saw a little of it, but it was huge!" The boy held out his hands as far as he could. "It's even bigger than a horse!"

"I see."

The boy, catching on to Hwasa's skepticism, pouted. "You don't believe me, do you? I swear, it's a real monster this time. A wolf! It's even got arrows sticking out of it."

That finally caught Hwasa's attention. "Arrows? Did someone shoot it?"

"I don't think so. No one from the village, at least."

Hwasa nodded. She couldn't help but wonder how far behind whoever shot those arrows were.

"Are you coming?" the boy asked, eager to get going. "They told me to come get you. Said you would want to see it for yourself."

"Of course, let me just get some supplies first."

She hurried inside and collected whatever she thought might be useful - mostly against pain and injuries - and then left with the boy. Over the field, through the village, they finally ended up in a large clearing, far away from the closest house. It looked like most of the village was there, of all genders and ages, all equally curious and worried about the purported monster.