#this started as 'what if maxiel snow white au' and then devolved into this

[lost-in-fandoms]

cw: mentions of blood and animal death (of the hunting variety)

Daniel raises his knife, muscles tense as he listens to the rustling between the trees growing louder.

He's not far from home, he was just checking on his traps, but he's not going back until he knows what's moving in the woods.

He takes half a step back towards a tree, to cover his back, eyes flicking towards the sky as some spooked birds take flight. He can hear someone screaming further away.

Then suddenly the sound of frantic running becomes clearer, sticks breaking and undergrowth snapping, and a second later someone is tumbling into the small clearing, tripping over the bag Daniel had left a few steps away and tumbling to the ground.

Daniel doesn't know what he was expecting, but for sure not this.

It's a boy.

It's hard to figure out his age, both because of how dirty he is and because of how he's still scrambling to get back up, struggling to find his legs, but he must be younger than Daniel for sure.

Daniel lowers his knife and takes a step forward, wanting to give him a hand, but the boy lets out a small growl, stopping his apparently fruitless attempts of standing back up and crouching instead, one leg awkwardly bent, clearly hurt.

"Hey, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Daniel says, using the same tone of voice he uses for his horse and scared animals. He doesn't want to put away his knife, doesn't know if this guy will be dangerous after all, but he tries to at least appear less threatening, making himself smaller.

It seems to work, because the boy shifts again, now kneeling instead of crouching, hazy blue eyes gazing up pleadingly. He looks like a supplicant at church, and Daniel isn't surprised when he starts begging.

"Please," he says, voice scratchy and weirdly accented, exhaustion clear in every syllable, "they will...please."

Daniel doesn't know what is going on, but he can still hear screaming somewhere in the woods, can see the boy flinching with it, and he understands enough.

"They're looking for you?" he asks, eyes going from the boy to the woods and back again.

The boy nods, mouthing please once again, no sound to accompany the way he shivers.

Daniel doesn't know if he'll come to regret this decision, but he's not going to leave someone scared and exhausted in the woods, not when he can help. And if the guy decides to attack him, Daniel is pretty sure he'll be able to fend him off. He looks skin and bones.

"My house is straight down that way, the door is open. Go in and close it behind you."

For a second the boy doesn't move, looking at him like he doesn't understand, and Daniel just has the time to start wondering if maybe he really doesn't, maybe doesn't speak this language, before he's clumsily pushing to his feet and running away.

The sounds of the pursuers are growing closer, so Daniel doesn't waste any time, dragging his boot across leaves and mud to hide any traces of the boy falling there and then running away.

He grabs his bag again, then moves away from the clearing, towards the people he can hear approaching.

He's glad he didn't hesitate more, because he's just a few steps away when a group of men bursts through the trees, carrying swords, bows and a lit torch.

They all stop when they see Daniel, but they don't raise their arms. Daniel recognises one of them from a nearby village he sometimes goes to when he needs to buy something.

"You're scaring my food, gentlemen," he says, hoping he sounds as normal as possible. He doubts any of them knows how he normally sounds anyway.

"We're looking for someone," one of the men rushes on, fully ignoring what Daniel said. Rude.

"About this height, looks a bit like a feral animal," adds another, the one with the torch. Danie doesn't like the free fire in his part of the forest and the boy did not look like a feral animal, just like a scared kid, so he doesn't feel particularly moved into helping.

"The only feral animals I've seen are the ones in my bag," Daniel replies, plucking a dead rabbit out of his bag by the ears.

The men look at each other, clearly not believing him, but also eager to just keep going, with or without his help.

"He's dangerous," the one with the sword finally says, "cursed."

Daniel doesn't know if as a warning or if to encourage him to rat the boy out. Daniel refuses to react.

"Well, good luck with your search, then! Thank you for keeping the people safe, and all that."

The man with the torch glares at him, clearly not amused by Daniel's levity, but Daniel just smiles. He doesn't move from his spot as the men grumbles among themselves about which direction to take, but waves when they start running again, slightly more east than Daniel's house.

He waits until he can't hear them anymore, then heads home.

--

When he is in front of his door he pauses. He doesn't want to get inside with his knife out, and the kid looked more scared than dangerous, but he can still hear the man's voice when he had said cursed, like he truly believed it. And it's not a guarantee, people will believe in anyway, he would know, but usually underneath those stories there are slivers of truth.

He still puts the knife away.

When he gets inside everything looks unchanged, enough for him to wonder if the boy just ran off.

"Hey, it's just me," he calls out, just in case. If the boy isn't there nobody will hear him embarrass himself anyway.

For a second nothing changes, but then a shadow near the fireplace moves, and the boy uncurls from his hiding place next to the firewood.

Now that they're no longer among the trees, he looks even worse. There's mud and leaves in his hair and on his clothes, a dark smudge next to his nose. There are several red scratches on his face, and his clothes don't seem to be in a much better condition. He's still holding his leg weirdly.

"Are they gone?" he asks, voice even raspier than earlier. Daniel can see how dry and cracked his lips are, and resolves to get him some water as soon as he's sure he's not going to get killed.

"Seemed to be going towards the river," he nods, pointing east. Then, cutting to the chase, "they said something about you."

He watches the boy flinch, back going rigid, hands splaying on the floor as if he's readying himself to push to his feet and run.

"Are you going to kill me?" Daniel doesn't care about curses, not at the moment at least, but he does care about his life. Mostly.

The boy looks surprised by the question, but shakes his head.

"Have you killed someone?" Daniel asks again, just to make sure.

There is something there, a shift in the guy's expression, but he still shakes his head. Good enough.

Daniel walk towards the table, dropping his bag and his knife, before going to wash his hands. He can feel the boy's eyes on him the whole time, so he's not surprised to find him staring at him when he turns back towards him.

"Is your leg hurt?"

The boy hesitates, probably considering if it is worth to give Daniel a point of weakness just to get some help, but then he nods. He rolls up his pants to show deep puncture wounds, still bleeding.

Daniel hisses, not knowing how the boy was able to not only stand, but run on that. That looks nasty. It looks like a...

"Wolf trap?"

The boy flinches again, and Daniel can see his hands shake. Must be a yes.

"Okay, I'm gonna help you with that, and then we're going to eat, and then you can decide if you want to stay in my amazing company, or if you want to leave. That good for you?"

There is another long pause. The boy seems to have some difficulty processing all those words, even if Daniel doesn't know if there is a language barrier or if it's just the blood loss, but finally he nods, dragging himself slightly further away from his hiding corner.

He extends a hand, looking almost shy, but Daniel has no problem filling the distance separating them and helping him up, watching as his face contorts in pain but no sound escapes his lips.

"I'm Daniel," he says as he helps him towards one of the chairs.

The boy waits until he's taken a couple full breaths after seating before answering.

"Max."

"Well, Max, I'm gonna fix you up, and then I'm gonna change our plans and offer you a bath instead," Daniel says, looking up from where he is grabbing some supplies to grin at Max. "You stink."

For a moment, it looks like Max won't react, the joke falling flat, but then the corner of his lip turns up, his eyes growing slightly less glassy.

"You too," he replies.

It's not much of a joke, but Daniel rewards him with a laugh anyway. Max's small, pleased smile, feels more like a blessing than a curse.