Chapter Text
“GET OUT YOU MONSTER OR WE WILL CALL THE POLICE!”
You and Fenrir were both “thrown out” of the vet clinic. And by “thrown out”, you simply walk out the door into the street.
You heave a big sigh and Fenrir finally stops grumbling once you’re both outside. You stare him down. Your dog? German Sheppard-Husky? Wolf?--he did resemble more of a wolf than a dog--had deep gray to grey and then white fur, huge paws, and gold eyes. He came up to almost to your waist on all fours, he didn’t bark, he howled and growled, baring sharp white teeth and heckles raising when mad. You had him for 7 years and he’s always been so independent and stubborn, even as a puppy. And of course the two of you always seem to attract trouble.
He huffs up at you, nudging his head against your hand.
You pet him and start walking back home. You knew he scared people.
This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened and definitely not the last.
You also knew you scared people.
At six foot six, you basically towered over everyone. You were all long limbs and large hands and feet, you were fit--not buff enough to show too much muscle and not thin enough to be considered a “walking stick”. You had short-cropped black hair, which spiked up and out, like grass, no matter how many times your tried to tame it, slightly-tanned skin---Well not all of that looked “scary”--no. The problem was your face.
You somehow always seemed like you were in a bad mood, brow pinched together and your eyes didn’t help either, your irises being such a dark gray-blue they were almost black--most people assumed they were anyway and you seemed to scowl all the time.
Most people assumed you were some gangster or you were going to mug them. You weren’t. It was just your face. Your voice didn’t help either. If you tried telling anyone anything they’d flinch. Your voice was deep and slightly scratchy, if you could narrate horror books you’d make a fortune.
Not to mention that you wore overly-baggy clothes, but that was you, loose and comfortable in a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and a hoodie that seemed to only hang around your stomach because it wasn’t long enough to cover your torso. You didn’t mind.
But everyone else seemed to. You think back to the vet-tech who called you “monster”.
“Monster”--That along with “Freak” “Giant” “Demon”--was a word used to describe you often, but none of them were the words on your skin.
Every person is born with a word or phrase, marked somewhere on their body. They were the first words said to you by your soulmate. They’d appear upon their soulmate’s birth, and in the exact same place on the body. They don’t always show up upon birth, maybe later in life, which might have caused a few incidents with age differences, but that certainly wasn’t too much of a problem.
Some had simple little phrases like “Hi my name is ____” or something strange like “Cookie”, and then there were the vulgar ones, like curse words.
All of them were unique even if some of them were the same word, there was a certain style, unique to each mark, what language it was in, how the letter’s looked, jagged, elegantly curved, thin, thick, hollow, or if there were added details, like stars or geometric patterns.
All in all soul-marks looked like elaborate tattoos.
You unconsciously run your hands over the sleeves of your hoodie. You had two soulmarks. You found that they were both a source of comfort and a source of distress to you. It was a rare thing to have more than one soulmark. They were comforting in that you actually had soulmarks since birth, which meant that there were soulmates out there for you. One of the marks made you happy on more than one occasion. They were distressing because you had two. Were you really so incomplete? And the obvious places they were in and the wording of one of them unsettled you.
Your marks were written up and down the inside of your forearms, extending all the way from your wrists to your elbow.
The letters on your left arm, crawled down your arm and were all in capital letters, thin, sharp, and slightly hollow. They read: NYEH HEH HEH!!! WOWIE FRIEND!!! This mark comforted you and gave you a sense of great importance because they had the word “friend”. You lost count on how many times these words saved you. They warmed your heart.
The letters of your right arm, crawled upword and the words were thicker, rounded, and also slightly hollow. They read: wanna have a bad time? These words always seemed to knock you back into reality. “Bad time” indeed. They gave you a sense of cold foreboding and you found yourself saying the words as threats multiple times. They cooled your head.
It took you some time looking through Fonts to find out your marks were written in Papyrus and Comic Sans fonts, but despite the fonts and the words, the letters looked like bones.
Speaking of bones...that was the reason you had to even visit the vet in the first place. Fenrir over the course of several months, brought home bones. It was discomforting to say the least.
He was independent and could take care of himself, but just where was he getting all of these bones? Another strange thing was that they all seemed to either be femurs or humerus bones--IDENTICAL femur and humerus bones. You inspected them thoroughly, there were similar in shape, size, length, even the sound they made if you hit two of them together or against the carpeted floor.
You were certain they weren’t normal bones either. They looked like perfectly smooth,white bones, no scratches no imperfections, even from Fenrir’s teeth and you knew how sharp his teeth were--it’s why you NEVER tried putting a collar on him or getting him on a leash again.
You almost panicked when Fenrir returned one day with a glowing blue bone in his jaws, which brings you to why you even tried to see the vet. If the bone was paint then he could get sick, but the staff took one look at you both and tolerated you for all of 3 minutes before you were kicked out.
Now you were just walking home.
You lived in the quiet outskirts of a city near the infamous Mt. Ebbot. It was a quiet neighborhood, not many families, usually older couples or young people on their own. The rumors surrounding the mountain gave cause for families with children to stay away.
Then you showed up. The neighborhood was even more quiet, a lot of rumors started up when you moved in. For example, you were some ex-convict who finally got out of prison after 10 years of being locked up or you were some shady gangster laying low for a while. You weren’t even sure where people even got this information, but you left it alone. You kept to yourself and so far none have been brave enough to try and prove those claims.
Well almost, you’d gotten some college kids try to talk to you, but they’d just flounder their mouths like fishes before running off while you just stood there, waiting for them to speak or some really shady looking guys would come up to you or follow you as you walked home at night. Fenrir was usually with you and he growled at anyone he didn’t like if they got too close, but you could take care of yourself.
A couple of guys trying to mug you learned that lesson really well.
Now just about a couple months back monsters were freed and a child who went missing some months back also came with them. It was all over the news and people really freaked out.
A lot of humans moved out of town then, you were among the many others still that stayed. Some just simply didn’t want to be around the monsters, others wanted to stand their ground, and some simply couldn’t leave.
You had no plans to move. You’d already made your place.
In the next weeks after monsters were freed, they were put into housing, mostly the vacant houses in the outskirts (like where you lived) and all of a sudden the neighborhood is busy with monster activity, especially the shopping district and the local schools.
You got more looks and stares and children openly asking questions as you walked in your neighborhood, occasionally you’d get squeaks or fearful looks if you made eye contact so you kept walking.
Humans...Monsters...who was the “monster” again?
Thankfully the street is quiet and you arrive at your house without incident. You quickly unlock the door and let Fenrir in. He sits by the door waiting for you.
You look around your little one-story house. It has 3 bedrooms, two of which were empty, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a garage. It was sparsely furnished and simply decorated. However, the glowing blue bone still lay amongst various other bones bedside a cushion Fenrir uses.
The rest of the ones he’s been bringing have been put into boxes which sit and gather dust in your spare rooms. It was ridiculous.
You sprawl onto the couch--it’s not big enough to fit you unless you curl your legs in but it’s comfy, but made significantly smaller when Fenrir decides he wants to cuddle you. He hops up and lays on your legs and stomach his head and front paws on your chest.
You laugh and weeze. “You’re too big for this Fen.” you croak as you pet his head, but he simply stares at you with his golden eyes and grumbles. His paw presses into the pendant on your chest and you pull it out from under your shirt to inspect it.
It’s a crystal of some sort, pointed but not sharp, it’s clear except for the wash of beautiful gold that seems to move for it’s center out towards its edges, as if someone took sunlight and ground it into powder and poured it into a crystal. It was beautiful and unique, which was why you kept it hidden and why it never left your neck, attached by a thin brown cord.
You looked down at a similar chord wrapped around Fenrir’s own paw, but his was much thicker and it seemed loosely wrapped around but you never moved it. He almost bit your hand off when you tried, much like with a collar you simply let him be.
You tuck the pendant under your shirt again, petting your friend as he closes his eyes in contentment.
You sigh and then your phone vibrates in your pocket you have to wiggle a bit and Fenrir jumps off you as you “oomph” and take out your phone and check the caller I.D.
It’s your boss. You shift so that’s you’re simply sitting down and lounging back against your couch.
Once you answer she’s already talking.
“- - - - -! This is going to be BIG!” She sounded excited.
You hummed. Your boss knew enough to know you were listening and waiting for her explanation.
“Ok so there’s this huge monster picnic-party coming up to celebrate their arrival on the surface--”
You listened to her prattle on and on, Fenrir moves to sit between your legs and places his head in your lap again, you run your fingers through his fur. Eventually she got to the point of what exactly you’ll be doing.
“So think you can do it?” she asks.
“Of course.” You say.