Chapter Text
The first thing he noticed about them was the color of their hair. It wasn't all that different from most anyone's in the town. Pale brown, but when the light caught it just so? It looked like fresh wheat in the summer sun. He doesn't recognize them, doesn't see their face before they're gone again. He shrugs it off as a one time thing, a traveler passing through, before going on his way. He misses the eyes that watch him.
The next time he sees them, it's the funny bright colored cape drawn around their body like a blanket in the early winter morning. It's fairly cold, but not enough to warrant such a heavy cloak. This time, they turn in his direction and he sees a snow-bright smile and ruddy cheeks as they laugh at some unheard joke. He's struck by how... pretty they look. He gives his head a shake and frowns, then continues on his path. He chances a glance back as he gets to the edge of the market and he catches their gaze. Interesting.
It continues like this for several months, him spotting them in the early morning market every other day as he makes his round and them seeming to notice him shortly after his arrival. They don't talk, which is fine. He is fine with admiring from afar. Until it isn't.
They approach him first.
He's instantly on alert, pleased but distrustful of this strange human that sidles up alongside him and bestows him with a shy smile. They smell like herbs and baked breads, like they've been living in or near the baker's house. Maybe an apprentice?
"I see you here so often," they beam up at him, all teeth and pink cheeks. "I felt I should get to know you, like a good neighbor. I'm [][][][][][]. May I get your name?"
He's silent, unsure, before he cracks a tiny, stiff smile and offers one rough hand. "Mikael. It is nice to be meeting you."
They exchange small pleasantries before he's moving away. He misses the gaze that follows him away once again.
It's nearly a full moon when they seem to lose their patience and ask him out. It's... strange, to be the one approached. His parents' cautions against strangers ring in his head, but he dismisses them easily. It's not like he's telling them what he is, just spending a few candles of time in their company and sharing a meal.
It's... well, it's a disaster. They go to the tavern, and the farmers are carousing and drinking, occasionally brawling when someone says the wrong thing while drunk. They can't hear each other over the clamor and just eat. He escorts them to their home (sure enough, they live over the bakery) and bids them a good night. There are tentative plans for another meal together, though perhaps at an earlier hour.
It's nearly spring before they try again, snow melting and making the ground a muddy disaster that's hard to navigate. It goes much better on this dinner, fewer people in the tavern and they're able to get to know each other better as they eat.
They discuss current goings on, an upcoming festival in the closest large town, the upcoming spring planting. It's nice to just chat with them, though the tavern keeper does treat the two of them to strange looks the longer they sit and talk. His own grasp of the Common language becomes better the longer they chat.
When he escorts them home, they pause in their door and fidget. Glancing up at Mikael and then to their hands before they take a risk and bounce up to peck him on the cheek. They fluster and stammer out a goodbye before they rush indoors. Mikael himself is speechless, touching his cheek before a smile wrinkles his cheeks and he turns for home.
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It's been 3 years since he last saw his parents, 10 years since his parents explained to him why he was different from normal humans, 23 since his birth. He's never felt this way before, and he's pretty sure it is love. He saw it in his father's eyes when he looked at his mother. He saw it in the way his mother cared for his father and cuddled him in his shifted form. He's so sure that this is what love is, the bubbling fluttering in his gut whenever he sees them can't be anything else.
He's long since dismissed the faint warnings his parents bestowed on him before he left their side. It's been nearly a year since he met them, and he feels he's ready to ask them to become his.
When he goes into town that day, a small piece of jewelry carefully tucked in his bag, he doesn't see them at the market. He catches them as they are leaving their home, relishing the joyful surprise on their face as they greet each other. Yes, this is the one, he feels. The way they tear up and accept his proposal when he gives them the bracelet is proof enough.
He can hear the wolf whistle of the baker and her husband, some laughter from a few other townsfolk as they walk through the market arm in arm with the bracelet boldly displayed.
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When summer is in full swing, he decides that it is time to tell them about his secret, taking them deep into the woods for a picnic and talking with them at length before transforming. HE should have noticed the signs when the brief smell of envy caught his attention. They displayed no fear, only polite amazement and awe. It was almost underwhelming but he had never felt so relieved to be accepted. When he changes back, they kiss and return to his home to spend the night together.
It's another few months, early fall now, before they ask if he is lonely as the only one of his kind. He admits that it is somewhat lonely, but he hopes that they might accept his bite before they marry. They display the briefest of hesitations, before they blush and look away. There's a moment of silence before they shyly say they'd love to be like him, to spend their days together as one. He is ecstatic.
A couple weeks before the next full moon, they stay at his home and he bites them. They stay together through the transformation and he coaches them through it. They fight and play in turns, Mikael ignoring the dangerously aggressive behavior that he assumes to be normal for the freshly turned. They're together, and that is all that matters.
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It's a week before their union day, the sun finally set, when he realizes they have still not returned home. They had been staying out longer and longer each day, always so happy when they returned, that he paid no mind to the late arrivals. Now, it was nearly moonrise, on the night of the full moon. They should have been home by now.
By virtue of being a born werebear, he goes out to seek them, though he is tense and restrained as he goes. He's nearly to town when he hears the roaring, and the screaming. He sees the fires before he gets in sight of the town. He sheds his human shape as he runs, fear lancing through him as he enters the town.
It's so much worse.
They rampage, tearing open doors, striking townsfolk that try to fend them off with debilitating blows and biting indiscriminately. There are men, women, and children lying in broken heaps. He can see some breathing still, struggling despite clearly grievous wounds. He lets out a challenging roar, the timbre shaking the few panes of glass that remain intact and gaining the rampaging were's attention.
There's a moment of recognition when they realize it's him, before they answer his challenge and they clash. For several horror filled minutes, he grapples and exchanges fierce tearing bites with the newly turned were. The ground beneath their feet quickly sullies into mud, neither truly harming the other before Mikael gains the upper hand. They may be freshly turned, frenzying, but he has years of experience. He traps them in a pin, teeth locked in their scruff, before he begins shaking the head in strong, sharp jerks.
Snap
They go limp, breath slowing before it stops. He waits and listens, blood roaring in his own ears before he feels their heart stop beating. Jaws opening, he lets out a long and mournful cry before he moves away to dispatch the dying townsfolk. He can't risk an outbreak. His parents would be so disappointed, and they'd have to put him down. As it is, he grabs the body of his former intended and drags them away, out of town. He goes to the river and travels for several miles before he stops to rest.
He's not sure what hurts more, his heart or his body. He stares at the dead werebear, stroking the pale brown coat numbly before taking up his knife and skinning them. He buries the rest, piling stones on their grave before he returns home to gather his belongings, bundling a few of the more important items into a sturdy sack before slinging the short brown fur cape around his shoulders and striding away.
He makes no effort to return to the town, moving further south and away. He sends a note to his parents by raven, admitting to his misdeeds and his sorrow over his mistake. He will atone for the rest of his days and never turn another.
He only enters towns when needs are greatest, doing odd jobs here and there to get a little gold before continuing on his way. It's 5 years before he meets Chip, who takes one look at the scraggly youth and takes him under his wing. They become like brothers over the years, Mikael finally trusting the man with his secret after they take a job to rescue a family of weres from the persecution of a nearby town.
It's not like it was with his intended. Chips shows no interest in gaining the ability to transform, happy to rag on the foolish bear for being indisposed once a month. No, this is much better, and he finally begins to forgive himself (if only a little) for his previous transgressions.