The Pink Haired Witch

Kiera's eyes were filled with tears falling like thin drizzles of rain. As the tears rolled down his cheeks, his long pink hair was all tangled up in leaves and dirt. Aside from that, he was kicked and thrown on the ground. Kiera reached for his pockets to grab his wand, but his body fell limp and weak. The fear rushed over, but he still couldn't do anything, he felt it was hopeless. During this very moment his entire life flashed before his eyes, almost sure that he was going to die. Although, this long pink haired male was wrong, for someone had come to his rescue. However, he wasn't sure, at this point he was unable to see his surroundings very well. Kiera's clothes were small, torn and frayed, even his hair was a mess due to the lack of ever getting a cut. He looked like a flat chested woman with long pink hair and sparkling purple eyes. This could not back up the fact that he also sounded like a beautiful woman. His skin was almost as pale as white paper, but he was almost fully covered in bruises and scratches.

The men standing over him snicker menacingly as they gesture slightly towards Kiera who was on the ground half alive. They had beaten him up horribly, thinking nothing of what this would come of. His rescuer was a man who had only been watching from a distance. Although, he did not understand why Kiera was beat up. Still, this man swooped in to bring space between Kiera and the other men who did not feel any guilt in beating up what looked like a woman. He positioned himself into a fighting stance and gave off an intimidating growl in his voice.

"Back off you bastards!" His voice was loud and clear, bringing us a force that would make the men almost weak in their legs. "Men like you three don't deserve to touch a precious woman such as this!"

He was convinced that Kiera was a woman, after all... the young man practically looked like one. Yet, he slashed away at the men in front of him, skillfully dodging all their attacks. Slicing away at the final one before the rest, he finished them off and watched as the others squealed, running away like the pansy they were. He observed quietly before sighing and sliding his sword back into his holder, looking down at this "precious and delicate" looking woman. *Geez, she looks beat up... Well, I might as well take care of her, I wonder where she lives...* He silently thought to himself for a moment before kneeling to check on Kiera. The man hovering over him noticed the multiple bruises and became shocked.

"Um... Ma'am, my name is Ren, do you mind telling me where you live? I would like to help in any way I can." He watched as Kiera closed his eyes tightly before thinking of correcting him in his gender.

Though, Kiera weakly lifted his hand and pointed South which had shown a small old cabin in the distance. "All the way over there... There... Should be a... Small log cabin..." His voice was barely clear, coughing up each word.

Only a few seconds after, the man looked down and noticed Kiera was bleeding. Soon, there was a blood puddle forming on the ground at his lower stomach, staining his clothes. Kiera then tried to stand up, but it was no use, he just fell back down. At this point he was only wearing himself out. Ren widened his eyes at the sight of the young "woman" oozing out a pool of blood. This quickly caused him to carefully scoop Kiera up before bringing him to the log cabin. Going South, he was able to get a better look of this cabin. This was clearly an old log cabin that looked like it was about to cave in on itself. Even so, Ren almost instantly kicked the door open and began to panic, still holding Kiera in his arms. He felt strained and stressed, searching for his bedroom. This strain was not of his arms three to the fact that he was very strong and muscular. Through all this stress and panicking, Ren tried looking for the bedroom. *Crap, crap where is her bedroom?* His mind was racing, trying to figure everything out as he wandered. He noticed an archway he made through. *I'm not exactly the best at mending wounds, but I can at least try to save this woman… We could end up being friends afterwards!* Pacing throughout this log cabin, he finally found the bedroom, hurriedly; he carefully placed Kiera onto the bed. Ren panted, proceeding to think of mending the wound first. So he stripped Kiera of his clothing, expecting what he thought him to be. This was no woman; this was a man, and it was very obvious by the rather decent sized pelvis area. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he looked. *What the?!* Ren immediately blushed in realization and quickly covers this indecent sight with a blanket. *Just focus Ren… Focus!...* His thoughts continue to bring himself together. *God, how could I have not guessed that this was a man?* Ren shook his head a bit as a nosebleed began to drip from his nose. His mind was still fogged from the sudden fact and looked once more at Kiera's face. *God… He's still so cute though…" Ren turned and looked around, scanning the room before moving.

Kiera's lungs were heavy as his breathing hitched every now and then. Once he had the strength, Kiera quickly closed his legs and shot up, groaning in pain. He held his stomach and reached for his wand that hung around his waist. In his eyes everything was a blur in the heat of pain Kiera pointed at a cabinet, making the doors barely open but before he could do anything more, he fell back onto the bed. Ren noticed only just after he fell back down. Just as he turned back, Kiera's body suddenly took the form of a female. Ren's eyes widened once more, in shock at the change. *Turned to female? What the hell? Is this person a shapeshifter of some sort, or just an extremely powerful mage?* Ren shook his head again, recollecting the objective. He finally began remembered he had a first aid pouch with him. Trying to ignore the fact that there were now breasts hanging in his face, Ren attempted to gently rub a healing herb over the wound. Kiera slightly groaned, barely opening his eyes. Ren looked at the state he was in and whispered "Sorry!" With a very worried thought that it was done wrong. He then wrapped around the bandage, carefully going over and under his waist. The bandages were very loose, but it still did the job quite decently. Ren let go of the sagging bandages and rested his focus. "Ta-da I did it… Sort of." He stated this with a nervous chuckle as he glanced over to the breasts again, blushing once more. Ren quickly placed the blanket over him to cover his body as Kiera was regaining consciousness. As Ren adjusted the blanket, he saw him open his eyes, slightly backing away. "You're awake- again I mean… I'm sorry I'm just confused." Ren scratched the back of his neck as he gave Kiera space. "So um… Tell me, are you some sort of weird wizard, or are you actually a woman mage who just so happened to be transformed into a man?" Ren's question spat out of pure curiosity. Kiera slowly sat up in the bed, still covering himself with the blanket. "Please, don't touch anything…" Kiera stared at Ren who was slowly shifting around herb containers on the bedside table. He stopped and stood up, trying to think of something to do. "Well, um maybe I should get you some pills to help with the pain, heheh…" Ren looked around, frantically searching for a pill of some sort. "So, do you have any pills, or are you just all natural?" He thought back to the boxes of herbs and stood in little shock. "Wait, don't tell me those weird looking herbs are for healing…" Kiera continued to stare at him as he spoke to himself for a moment. He looked around instead, even raising himself from the squeaking bed. "The pills should be in a reb bottle on the top of the shelf cabinet…" He staggered across the room, limping while he barely held the blanket over himself. Ren quickly walked over to assist him, pulling up the blanket comfortably. "Hey, you really shouldn't be getting up so fast!" He tried to reason with Kiera who already made his way to a small closet and opened the doors. On the inside, you could see the ripped and worn clothing. He reached out and grabbed a frayed and dirty shirt that seemed to be a tainted white color. Ren automatically looked away in respect as Kiera let the blanket fall, putting on the shirt. It was oversized and ended up covering most of his body. "I'll explain myself later, but clearly right now you're panicking… and that isn't good, so just calm down." Kiera's voice was soft and gentle in a sense that Ren was surprised. Though, he was slightly stern to get his point through. He tightened the bandages himself and tied them in order to keep it from sagging. While Kiera limped across to the bed again, he moved his hand in a little circle motion as the pill bottle from the cabinet levitated and landed on the bedside table. He sat back down, allowing his body to rest again as he took out a bag of water and a cup from nearby. Kiera did whatever he could to make sure he had drank down the pill and paused for a moment, looking at Ren standing from across the room. "I'm Kiera." He put everything down and adjusted himself on the bed. "…My gender is unknown, even to me. However, I prefer male." His body then changed back to the male version, making Ren's eyes widen in the second witness just as before. "It's just that I had to change forms quickly before the other got way too damaged." Kiera looked away in embarrassment. "…Sorry if I'm not making any sense…"

Ren simply pouted as he watched the young man stand up. Kiera strolled over to the cabinet, placing the bottle of pills back with magic. "So uh, you're a mage that just so happens to be able to transform into the opposite gender than your current one…" Ren tried to process this newfound information. "…Neat, I suppose? Uh, how do you do it anyways?" He asked out of curiosity again, observing more pills to be swallowed by Kiera. Ren wondered about the medicine, knowing he'd never seen anything like that before. It could have been a new one, maybe one that Kiera created himself. It seemed stronger than any other, it may as well have been a strange exotic medicine to the other by another country that Ren clearly had no information on. He fiddled with things and almost stared off into Lala Land. Coming back to reality, Ren began asking more questions. "Also, what are the pills?" He gestured to the ones Kiera just swallowed seconds ago. "Is it some sort of exotic medicine? I've never actually seen it before-" Ren finally noticed something unstable over Kiera's head. It was a shelf with bottles leaning over. Right when they were about to fall, Ren swiftly grabbed each and gently placed them to the side. Kiera watched in awe of these ninja-like reflexes. "Phew, thank god none of this fell on you." Ren also took the shelf down, along with the loose nails. "This place is really dangerous…" Ren realized how close he was to Kiera and awkwardly backed himself away. Kiera chuckled softly and looked up at Ren. "Sorry that I startled you earlier, Sir." Kiera spoke in a polite manner as he looked around for a bit. "I'm not sure how I could repay you for saving me, but I might as well answer your question. I'm a mage and have been working on lots of different medications. These works can cure certain illnesses but lately I've been running scarce on food and supplies…" Kiera then glanced around at the walls and the raggedy floors. "Plus, this old place is bound to collapse at any moment." He continued explaining how his mind and house was a mess. It was clear he was about to go homeless and dead from the building falling all over him. "You should probably go home before you try to treat my wounds again." Kiera slightly laughed, trying to joke about the situation. Ren simply smiled in return, happy to be of any help. He then, gently pat Kiera's shoulder, lightly letting out a laugh. "It's no problem, really~" Ren spoke in such a calm demeanor, just then recalling back to Kiera's issue. *Maybe if I help this guy out… I can befriend someone!* The smile continued as he spoke again. "Hmm~ Well maybe I can assist with some repairs, gathering herbs…" Kiera blankly stared as Ren went on and on about ways to help. "I'll just keep helping you, as long as you can be my friend, that's all I request. In all honesty, I don't have that many… I'm usually rather busy." Ren took his hand away from Kiera and shrugged. "Well, besides my butler, Sebastian, of course, other than that though I am usually friendless." Ren quickly realized what words came out of his mouth in the heat of the moment. "Gah- I- I mean uh- My companion of course, he and I typically like to go on adventures together, he's like a butler but just a good pal! He had a family so he can get quite busy!" Ren nervously laughed as a way to avoid this butler being the topic of conversation.

Kiera softly giggled at this and happily smiled. "I'll be fine, there's no need to do anything for me. Honestly though, I don't really have friends either…" He looked up at Ren again, noticing their eyes looking into each other. Kiera had a strange bubbly feeling he hadn't felt in so long, he was unaware of it possibly returning. It felt like butterflies in his stomach as his thoughts began to imagine things between them. His face turned extremely red, and he immediately looked away. "I- Um, uh… Well, honestly, I've never had any kind of relationship at all, come to think of it…"

Ren kindly smiled at Kiera as he delicately ruffled his messy pink hair. "Aw, come on now, you look like you're skin and bones anyways, I might as well help out around here… Maybe I could even train you!" He asked, slightly leaning into Kiera. Still not facing him, Ren looked at how skinny and fragile Kiera as. "Why are you so skinny anyways…?" As for the comment earlier on Sebastian, Ren thought back to how close they had always been. Ever since he first met him, it was clear they'd been quite the pair. Even so much to the point that he'd spot Sebastian spying on him getting changed every so often. Ren would see this as Sebastians concerns of someone bursting through the windows to kidnap him, but this was not too much for Ren. He was extremely strong, so he could easily take care of himself. On such a note, Ren glanced around and sighed, reassuring himself that no one was nearby. "Well, you look like you haven't eaten all day…" Ren went over to look inside the cabinets and only saw a case of noodles. Then the minifridge in the corner of the room, only seeing a couple of eggs in a small carton. "Hmm…"

Kiera tilted his head, watching Ren look for any food. He walked away and began putting a few things together in a satchel. "Well, the main issue is that I'm horrible at protecting myself so I get hurt often, hence the medicines… all I can really do is keep myself from getting sick…" Kiera sighed, finishing up with the satchel. "Another thing is that I hate hurting animals, so I just stay away from meat. With hunting, I usually kill animals that would attack, but then again… I can't even properly protect myself. Plants on the other hand, are- well, decent you know?" Kiera started to tie his long pink hair into a ponytail. Then two pointed elf ears could be seen, surprising Ren.

Ren scratched his chin and became even more curious, observing Kiera getting ready to head out again. *Man, I can get the thought out of my head… He's so cute… I wonder if he's of age…* He then checked his watch to see that it was 6:00 in the morning and he smiled. "How about I help you gather up some food for the next hour? I'll have to take off as soon as it hits 7:00, alright?" Ren felt strangely intrigued by him, sure he's seen elves roam around here and there, but he's never seen one so dang cute. "I'm practically a master at hunting, and well anything physical at this point. I've trained myself a lot on my journeys, so I'm not your average brawns." He thought back again to the moments he spent with Sebastian. "Of course, I was well, a weak a frail boy, that is until I met Sebastian!" Ren made a fighting pose and lightly punched the air to demonstrate. "He also taught me how to take a couple of punches."

Kiera let out a soft chuckle as he grabbed a bow and a few arrows. "It's alright, there's no need to waste your time on me any longer. I get it that I can't really protect myself, but I can definitely deal with the pain, using my medications." Kiera sighed and looked up at the calendar nearby. The only thing marked there was the last day of the month, about a week from then. That day was his 21st birthday. In Kiera's eyes, there was no trace of excitement, just a feeling of emptiness as he stared. He looked off and grabbed a pair of sheets, walking to the back door. Ren followed, still worried about him. Once outside, Kiera took the sheets and opened each, placing ferns inside to wrap. "By the way, I perfectly understand that you want to help, but I'm fine, really." He placed each wrapped fern inside his satchel. *I've been alone for this long, any more time and I'd still be alive…*

Ren looked around and noticed how dry most of the plants were surrounding them, even to the point of where they'd already been dead. "Are you sure…?" He looked around and back to Kiera who was standing back up, facing him. Ren looked at the painful smile Kiera put on in attempt to show that he was "fine." They both knew that he wasn't, but Ren went along with this and sighed. "Fine… I guess I'll leave you to it then. Just remember me, okay?" Ren placed his hand on Kiera's head, carefully patting it. "My name is Ren, so don't you forget it, Kiera, I'll be back later." He happily smiled and waved, walking away from him.

Kiera blushed, but tried to get a hold of himself, slapping his face. *No sudden feelings, no sudden feelings!* His heart felt like it was plotting against him as he walked off into the forest. With the distance enough, Kiera checked his surroundings, making sure that no one was nearby. "Ugh, finally." He squatted down to speak his thoughts, aloud. "I just met him, and I already have feelings- I shouldn't feel this submissive and needy… Oh who am I kidding, it's obvious that I am!" Kiera exclaimed as he punched the dirt. "Why me… Why would someone like him want to help a nobody like me?" He looked up at the sky through the trees, sighing as he stood. "Ren… his name is actually nice to say." Kiera smiled as he continued into the forest, collecting herbs and some plants for food.

Meanwhile, Ren was on his way to the grocery store. Within 30 minutes he managed to go back to Kiera's place. In one hand there was a bag of groceries, including a few snacks. While the other had a couple of dead rabbits he just killed just moments ago. Approaching the door, he placed the rabbits down and knocked. With a kind smiled across his face, Ren waited patiently to see Kiera.

He knew that he could risk sharing his identity with the rest of the village, but the least he could do was help the poor guy. Seeing how weak and malnourished he was, it was hard for Ren to give a blind eye. His mother before his stepmother would probably be smiling down upon him at this very moment. She would always say to have courage and be kind to others. Although, his new stepmother thinks the exact opposite. She managed to morph his father and two younger brothers into the same headspace. They'd become hateful and resentful, unlike himself. He knew that no matter what, he should do what's right, with kindness and pride leading him in his journeys.