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cheerycherrycandy-resurrected · 6 days ago

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Hunter's Moon (Medieval AU pt. 2)

Chapter 3

Aether, Rain and Dew enjoy the party. Swiss and Mountain finally talk.

'Bout time this pair of idiots talked...

Thanks for sticking with this (and letting me use a thin plot to throw backstory at you)! 🖤

Rating: T Content: more nasty family clans (but aeth's this time) Words: 4827

@ashthewaterghoul @bloodfin @cosmicseafoam @everybodyshusband @jazz-bazz @karmicbias @kentuckyfriedsatan @midnight-moth @nefariousghoul @papaslittlesunshine @zombiequeen777 @0-miles-away <333

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Read below, or on AO3!

Across the festival, Aether was watching on with mild concern. He was used to his pack's antics and their oftentimes odd behaviour, but whatever was going on between Swiss and Mountain seemed strange even by their standards. They seemed to be putting an incredible amount of effort into ignoring each other, Mountain avoiding even attending the party until the last possible moment, which was especially noticeable given how attached they had been for a while now. The culmination of that attachment had been clear for all to see last night, which made their distant behaviour today even more strange.

The contrast between the Mountain of last night compared to the Mountain that Aether had first met many years ago made him chuckle in bemusement. They couldn't be more different, really. The Mountain of several years ago had been a similarly lone wolf to himself; roaming the wilderness with only himself and the trees for company. Aether had thought for a long time that they were kindred spirits, both content to live without a mate. Mountain had even seemed happier to exist alone than Aether was – the earth ghoul hadn't even sought a pack bond at first, whereas Aether missed and longed for the company and closeness of one. Recently though, Mountain seemed to have found another path that brought him joy and Aether couldn't be happier for his oldest friend.

Never would Aether have imagined the quiet earth ghoul finding his match in the oftentimes brash and loud multi ghoul, but he couldn't deny that in spite of that they seemed like a perfect match: two contrasting peas sharing a single pod. It was this mix of contrast and complement that brought Aether concern right now however – they were clearly feuding over something, and he could only hope they were able to sort things out between them. He had no doubt that Swiss would try to – ever the problem solver, he tended to address his issues head on. Of greater concern however was Mountain.

The earth ghoul had been so wary of him when they first met; almost closer to a wild animal than a ghoul from his time in the wilderness. During the first few weeks of their tentative alliance, gaining Mountain’s trust had felt like trying to coax a wild deer to eat from his hand. Actually, that was something Aether had done once, just to see if he could, and after a bit of quintessence it had been simple. He couldn't exactly quintosis Mountain into liking him though – that would hardly be the right footing to start building trust on. He had been skittish for so many months that Aether had been half-convinced that one morning he would wake to find Mountain had completely disappeared. He never had however, always staying true to his promise to keep watch over their camp.

Aether didn't know what had happened between Mountain and Swiss, but he hoped that the earth ghoul felt a similar loyalty to Swiss and his pack still and wasn't going to try to flee this problem either. It seemed not, thankfully, as he saw Mountain plunging through the throngs of people in the direction Swiss had gone, shortly after their first performance.

Aether was shaken from his thoughts by the nervous chattering of a few humans emerging from the long, lantern-lit path that led down to the road. More people than they could have ever expected had braved the mysterious Abbey at the top of the hill, all curious and intrigued by its strange inhabitants and their enigmatic figurehead.

As one of the ghouls with the most experience around humans and the most reassuring presence amongst them, Copia had specifically asked him to be there to greet those who were brave enough to attend. If we want to recruit a few, we must be gracious to the many, he had said. So far, Aether considered he was doing a good job. Humans had no way of telling if they were in the presence of quintessence, so he had made sure all those he greeted got a good dose when passing him. With a winning smile and a handshake buzzing with the telltale purple sparks that only he and his kind could see, the newest arrivals began to mingle with the crowd of ghouls and their fellow villagers.

Aether looked up to see Copia watching him, shooting him a smile and a double thumbs up. For the leader of such an old and magical church, the man could be so unserious, Aether thought. It really was a funny turn of events that he was here on greeting duty, and such a contrast from the life he had been raised in far away in the rocky eastern lands. Like Mountain, he had also been raised in a clan he had later broken ties with. Unlike Mountain's though, his did not preach honour through self-sufficiency and respect for nature. His tribe were war mongers, believing it was their hell-born right to destroy all they came across and repopulate the Earth with their own. Aether had never liked their values, even having been grown up surrounded by them.

As he had reached the age where he was expected to participate in their atrocities, he had started to wonder how any ghoul could go along with this so calmly. Surely, he couldn't be the only one to think that their behaviour was barbaric? He held closely to the idea that maybe everyone around him was simply faking their enthusiasm for the grotesque violence, that this was all some sort of performance designed to instil fear in their enemies. He would lie awake at night praying that all his peers were in on the ruse too and he had just missed the explanation. Alternatively, maybe they were all as horrified by everything as he was and were also only going along with it for their safety.

Unfortunately though, time and time again he had been proven wrong as more and more ghouls he had considered friends committed atrocities for the tribe. Seeing the violence taking place in front of him made him feel sick to his core. Although he had so far managed to escape any such ritual brutalism by his own hands, the tribe's secondary goal soon began to be forced upon him: finding a mate and siring as many kits as he could. The tribe's goal of dominating the Earth seemed unstoppable and Aether could see no escape as, one by one, all the ghouls he thought had shown him a hopeful spark of individuality soon also fell to the cruelty of the clan.

Similar to Mountain, his clan also had a rite of passage all ghouls needed to complete, else they would be exiled from the tribe and given the same treatment as the rest of their enemies. It was a simple test of his strength and will, or so the elders who came to see him had said. All he needed to do was bring back the horns of an enemy ghoul he had slain in battle. Aether could see no way out that would not sacrifice all his principles or his life so, similarly to Mountain, he had agreed to his pack’s demands and left. He would figure out what to do later.

After a rocky start, Aether had eventually found his feet in the wild lands around him. He moved west, finding the lush green fields and woods provided better sustenance and protection than his clan’s natural habitat ever could. Along his way he had met many travellers, ghoul and human alike, who he would try and persuade to turn back to save them from the fate that surely awaited them. Most had listened, but the faces of those who had not still haunted him.

Adapting in order to survive had been difficult, but Aether enjoyed learning new things. His clan's pillaging and raiding had brought back all kinds of information and knowledge from the civilisations they sought to destroy, most of which they had derided as scholarly nonsense but from which Aether had gained a basic understanding of the natural world he now found himself in. He had enough knowledge about animals and plants to know which could feed or heal him versus which would do him harm. Besides, Aether was a fast learner and the enjoyment he found in applying the things he had read about made him optimistic for his new future alone.

He missed having a clan around him though: their friendship and camaraderie, however surface level it had been, had kept the loneliness at bay. He had never desired a mate or kits, neither for himself nor to please his clan, but he realised now that the company of other ghouls was something he dearly missed.

He had heard Mountain in the woods before he saw him, sensing his energy approaching his small camp. There was something innocent about it that kept him at ease – although clearly a ghoul he felt only curiosity in their heart, not a trace of violence. They must not be a quintessence ghoul: something his kind learned early on was how to protect their minds and intentions from each other. Aether had been shocked to see the towering figure of the earth ghoul emerge tentatively from the trees. Replete with monstrous, antler-like horns which only added to the deer-like mannerisms Aether would later liken his to, he would cut a terrifying figure to those who couldn't sense the peacefulness deep within.

The ghoul had stared at Aether in shock, as though he couldn’t quite remember how he had ended up face to face with another ghoul. He looked like he was debating if he should flee or ready himself to pounce in retaliation to an attack from Aether that would never come. Greeting him as he had the other ghouls and humans he had met during his travels, Aether had offered him a seat at his fire and some food. An act of pacifism and hospitality so contrasting to the way he had been raised it still felt almost rebellious, even now.

Now however it was second nature to greet all as though they were future friends. This had served him well in fighting the initial scepticism of the humans he and Mountain had met, especially when they were trying to find their feet in the village they would eventually call home. He hadn’t had the smoothest start amongst the villagers there, not able to let his actions speak for him as Mountain had when masquerading as a strong but silent farmhand looking for work. His charming smiles and friendly words had certainly eased his way however, soothing the subconscious alarm bells all humans were hardwired to feel in his presence until his miraculous healing potions and talismans laced with quintessence could bolster his reputation.

His impeccable social graces served him well again now as a pair of young women, so alike they had to be sisters or even twins, emerged. They were clearly nervous, so with a shimmer of quintessence Aether dialled up his million-watt smile. He greeted them as if their presence was personally appreciated by him and all the church, before they disappeared into the crowd laughing; Aether’s mission complete. He had to wonder if any of his old clan would recognise him anymore with how fundamentally different he was now.

Elsewhere in the mass of ghouls and humans were Rain and Dew, both thoroughly enjoying their evening. Mist had done her best to fill them in on their packmates’ drama but neither ghoul was too worried; surely it was just a misunderstanding, and they would patch things up in no time. Dew especially couldn't see any way in which the two clearly smitten ghouls wouldn't sort out their differences. After all, hadn't he and Rain managed to? Mist had rolled her eyes and wandered off, muttering about the Dewdrop she knew being far more pessimistic than that.

Somehow, despite still being as attached at the hip as ever, Rain and Dew were now managing to have entirely separate conversations. Their tails behind them were twined together, uncaring of any humans around, as Dew slowly rubbed the spade of his over Rain’s in a comforting motion. Rain was, as happened fairly often, being fawned over by a collection of older water ghouls and ghoulettes acting somewhat like doting grandparents. Their comments that the colour was coming back to his gills nicely, and wasn’t Dew a lucky ghoul to have him had made both of the pair blush.

While Rain embraced the attention, preening subtly, Dew had awkwardly cast his gaze to the ground. An out presented itself in the form of Ifrit, one of the few fire ghouls he got on well with, sneaking past them towards the drinks table while looking furtively over his shoulder. Dew smirked as he reached out a hand to grasp him on the shoulder, watching him leap into the air like a cat doused with water.

Ifrit was a young ghoul, Dew assumed similar in age to himself, and one of the newest at the Abbey. Despite that, he already seemed to have gained himself quite a reputation; he was a prankster, frequently getting into trouble, and also a notorious, silver-tongued flirt. Dew cackled as he watched the other fire ghoul scrape himself off the metaphorical ceiling and calm down when he realised it was only Dew.

“Whose tail did you tread on this time?” Dew asked, grinning at the thought. Ifrit's eyes shot side to side warily, only making Dew's smile grow wider. It had to be someone important, or scary. This was going to be good; he thought.

“M-mountain!” Ifrit hissed, as though the earth ghoul was listening in.

“What?!” Dew burst out laughing at the thought of his pack's gentle giant scaring Ifrit quite this much. Sure, he could hold a grudge with the best of them, Dew ought to know that best of all, but he had never seen the earth ghoul do anything that could warrant this kind of reaction. Still, Ifrit kept glancing over his shoulder, clearly terrified.

“What did you do to him? Mount wouldn't hurt a fly!”

This did nothing to mollify Ifrit who shook his head furiously.

“He's so pissed at me Dew! You should've seen him, I thought he was gonna kill me!”

Dew continued laughing, the thought of Mountain scaring the normally over-confident fire ghoul was beyond hilarious to him.

“Why would he want to hurt you? What, did you scorch one of his saplings or something?”

“Worse! I made a move on his mate!” Ifrit winced at the memory. “Only I didn't know it was his mate until he got all possessive and terrifying!”

Dew positively howled, bent double.

“It’s not funny,” Ifrit whined, “have you seen his face all day? He looks like he’s been plotting my destruction!”

Still gasping for breath amid paroxysms of laughter, Dew patted Ifrit reassuringly on the arm.

“Firstly Iff, why in Hell did you go after Swiss of all ghouls? He's been lovesick over Mount since before we even got here!”

“I didn't know that! I've just seen him around, and thought he was cute, y'know?”

Dew rolled his eyes, still snickering; Ifrit was just as susceptible to Swiss' innate charms as everyone else, it seemed.

“You don't need to worry about Mountain though. He’s not mad at you, he and Swiss are just having a bit of a misunderstanding right now that they need to work through.”

With that said, Dew reached up on his tiptoes to look for Mountain's head above the crowd. Even without his massive antlers on full display, his auburn hair should still be visible well above the tops of the heads of the rest of those gathered. There was no sign of him in the large clearing however, which Dew hoped meant he was off talking with Swiss.

“It doesn't look like he's around now anyway,” Dew shrugged, "so forget about him and go have fun! Go schmooze with some humans, they'll give you the time of day, I'm sure!”

With an exaggerated wink, Dew waved a relieved-looking Ifrit off towards the drinks table where he immediately found a small cluster of guests to entertain with his charming looks and winning smiles.

Rain, whose own company had also wandered off, had been listening in amusement and now leaned his chin on Dew's shoulder, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“Poor ghoul,” he giggled in Dew's ear, “you're never going to let him forget that are you.”

“Nope!” Dew grinned, popping the ‘p’ sound with satisfaction and spinning around in Rain's arms to face him. “I bet Mount will be so embarrassed about scaring him too, I can't wait to annoy him about it once he's sorted out his mess with Swiss!”

“You're such a menace.” Rain smiled and shook his head fondly at this new side of his favourite ghoul that was slowly emerging as he grew more comfortable and confident.

“You love it though.” Dew smirked, but Rain knew by now that such a throwaway comment was still silently begging for his reassurance.

“I do. I love it. I love you.”

Dew pressed closer to him, staring up and clearly waiting for the kiss that always followed those words. Rain was struck for what felt like the thousandth time how beautiful his eyes looked, even more so tonight as they reflected the myriad complimentary autumn colours around them. Who was he to deny Dew anything he wanted?

“Love you too.” Dew murmured, words half-garbled by the meeting of their lips.

~~~~~~~

With a final squeeze of his hand from Sunny for good luck, Swiss made a beeline for where he could see Mountain’s head bobbing through the crowd. He had left the stage in a hurry, not wanting to have their conversation in front of a watching audience, and needing a moment to compose himself and get his breath back. Copia had held Mountain back only briefly, but it was long enough that the crowd had closed between them. Swiss dove headfirst through the throngs of guests and ghouls back towards where he had been, single minded in his focus.

Mountain was doing the same, chasing after Swiss before he could disappear completely with little care for the disgruntled faces he pushed past. As such, neither ghoul immediately registered that the other was in front of them until they collided with each other, hard. Winded, Swiss lost his footing and was only saved by a pair of large hands catching hold of his shoulders and keeping him upright. Green eyes stared down at him, full of a thousand conflicting emotions, but mostly radiating concern. Still slightly stunned by the impact, they began talking over each other.

“Ah! Sorry, I wasn't looking.”

“Are you alright?”

“Mountain? I was looking for you!”

“We need to talk, I'm so sorry.”

Their words could barely be heard over the sound of the crowds around them Swiss realised with a nervous chuckle, watching Mountain's lips move but hearing next to no sound come out. He pointed at the earth ghoul, then off to the side of the clearing, motioning that they should go somewhere quieter. Mountain nodded, looking so relieved to be given an out from the overwhelming crush and noise surrounding them that he wasn't even considering the awkwardness they had felt earlier. It broke the tension between them, the pair smiling shyly at each other as Swiss turned to lead their way out of the clearing, Mountain sticking to him like glue.

Breaking out of the crowd, Swiss kept walking. He could feel Mountain's presence following behind him, so he kept going until the noise of the festival was just a low hum in the distance. Finally recognising his surroundings, he realised he had led them to the small garden they had explored in their earliest days here. It felt as magical as it had then; a safe haven with only the plants around to eavesdrop. Swiss led Mountain over to one of the benches nestled deep amongst the shrubs.

The pair sat in silence for a short while, both knowing there were things that needed to be said, but neither wanting to interrupt the other. Swiss could tell that there were words trying to escape Mountain, could see his bitten lip and the way he kept trying to take a breath to speak, before the words got stuck in his throat as Swiss opened his own mouth, before also pausing.

“You go first,” Swiss eventually spoke softly, “I'll listen, I promise.”

Mountain's mind went blank as he found himself suddenly put on the spot but tried to remember that it was just Swiss in front of him; the ghoul he loved most in the world. That thought finally inspired him to fight to get his words out and overcome everything that had been holding him back as it raced around his mind all day.

“I... I'm not too sure where to start,” even looking down at his feet, Mountain could feel Swiss’ warm gaze on him, full of gentle encouragement, “I've got a lot to apologise for today I think.”

True to his word, Swiss continued to listen quietly to Mountain's low, soft voice, overflowing with remorse and nerves.

“I'll start at the beginning, I guess. I need to explain so you know all of this is my fault, not yours.”

He took a deep breath and dared to raise his eyes to meet Swiss'. As green met gold, he felt a rush of love that gave him all the confidence he needed to continue.

“I'm sorry about last night. For kissing you without knowing if that was something you wanted too. I know it isn't an excuse, but with all the free drinks I don't think either of us was thinking clearly and I'm sorry I didn't wait to ask you properly first.”

Swiss’ mind raced at the notable omission: Mountain hadn't said he regretted the kiss, only that he regretted not asking first. He dug his claws into this little shred of hope and smiled encouragingly at Mountain so he would continue talking. It worked; now that Mountain had started he found the words came easier, all the thoughts that had been whirling around his head all day coming pouring out.

“Then this morning. I’m sorry for leaving you and for running away. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me or not, but I figured you'd want me out of your space when you woke up. I wanted to come and find you, I promise I wanted to apologise properly, but then I saw the ghoulettes with you and you looked so sad.”

Swiss winced; he was sure the venom radiating off of Mist in particular hadn't emboldened Mountain either.

“I thought you would have been angry at me, but seeing you upset made me think maybe I should have stayed this morning after all. So I'm sorry that I left, unless you wanted me to? I've been so confused all day, not knowing exactly where I messed up, only that I did, and that's why I've been avoiding you which I'm also sorry for!”

Mountain's final words burst out so fast he was almost breathless, and Swiss was barely certain he had caught them all. If he had been confused about Mountain's actions, it seemed the earth ghoul had been equally conflicted, if not more so. He had thought so much about doing the right thing, he had only managed to escalate their problems further. He started thinking about what on Earth he could possibly say, when Mountain continued speaking again, determined to leave nothing unsaid that could cause them any more confusion.

“I should have come to find you earlier, I'm truly sorry for that. Giving you space didn't mean ignoring you the whole day even if that seemed easier. I understand if you do want space after this, but you should know that I don't want it. It felt horrible being apart all day! I want my favourite ghoul back, however you'll let me. Whatever it takes.”

Seeing Mountain's shoulders finally slump as he released all the tension he had been holding on to, it was clear he was done. Swiss didn't think he'd ever heard him speak so passionately or for so long at once before.

“I don't want space either,” he replied quietly, smiling almost shyly as he spoke, “I missed you today. I want to put this whole big misunderstanding behind us – try and forget the last twenty-four hours.”

He paused.

“Well, maybe not completely forget them...”

Mountain looked at him quizzically, head tilted and brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what Swiss meant by that exactly.

Swiss's smile widened; maybe Mountain really was just that dense about these things. The time for subtlety had long since passed he realised, and hints would no longer suffice. He shuffled closer, his eyes never leaving Mountain's, determined to get an answer to the last big unanswered question in his mind.

“Did you want last night?”

Mountain took a while to answer, looking like he was choosing his words extremely carefully.

“Only if you did too.”

He looked so hopeful, Swiss thought. Like his whole world was floating, suspended around his head while he waited to see if it would fall to the ground and shatter into a million pieces or not. Swiss wasn't going to be the one to let it fall though.

“I don't regret anything about last night,” he smiled as reassuringly as he could, “aside from all the confusion that damned free beer caused! What say we start off where we should have done last night?”

Mountain still looked nervous. Swiss understood and he lamented his poor choice of words: Mountain's emotions had been thrown around like a young tree in a storm all day, and he could see how his words could be easily misconstrued. Now was not the time to leave him guessing about anything, especially not for the sake of some imagined allure or air of mystery. Even if Swiss himself found direct words difficult sometimes, he had to try.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” He wriggled back on the bench until he was up on his knees, ignoring their protests. His whole body now facing the earth ghoul, he could meet his finally eyes properly while remaining far enough away that he could keep him in focus.

“I like you, Mountain. A lot. I would like to court you as a mate. Would you want that too?”

Mountain’s eyes blazed brightly back with love, both at Swiss’ words and at his understanding of the earth ghoul, making sure the words he wanted to hear so badly were said in a way he couldn’t possibly misunderstand. They had had enough of guesswork. While some of their packmates may have managed to telepathically traverse the gap between sworn enemies and future mates, that didn’t mean they had to. Mountain nodded shyly.

“I’d like that. I want to court you too. I want to be yours, and you to be mine.”

They continued staring at each other for a second, letting their words properly sink in, until finally a euphoric giggle escaped Swiss’ lips. At last, they could say for sure that they were on the same page. Swiss threw himself back onto the bench to sit properly beside Mountain again, sitting as close to the earth ghoul as he could while still maintaining a respectful modicum of space between them. Swiss gently bumped shoulders with Mountain, a simple gesture between the closest of friends. That was first and foremost what they would always be; all romance aside.

“I hated today,” Swiss said quietly, “let’s never do that again.”

Mountain nudged him back reassuringly.

“Me too. I promise.”

As they continued to sit in a blissfully comfortable quiet, the noise from the party lowly drifted over to them, a low rumble of conversation punctuated by shrill peals of laughter. Swiss leapt to his feet in a panic.

“SHIT, we forgot about the festival Mount! It must be nearly time to perform again!”

Mountain looked up at him in horror, having also completely lost track of the time. Even though Copia would likely be delighted that they had made up, letting him down on his big night would be unforgivable, and not the way to repay him for his patience. Swiss grabbed his hand, as he had done so many times recently when leading him somewhere, to pull him to his feet and back towards the party.

Suddenly Swiss hesitated and his grip went slack, as though he was unsure if such a gesture was okay still. Mountain squeezed his hand reassuringly and let the multi ghoul continue to tug him forward, the pair giggling hysterically as they tore through the gardens towards the festivities.

#what you've done you cannot undo #hunters moon #medieval au #historical au #cw alcohol #angst with a happy ending #misunderstandings #backstory #swissalps #swiss ghoul #mountain ghoul #swiss x mountain #ghost fanfiction #the band ghost #nameless ghouls #ghost #ghost bc #em writes

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