Shades of Red
by Owl
Premise Tags: Heartwarming,
Change of Perspective,
Doting Lovers, Dark Fluff,
Fantasy, Fairytale, Symbolic.
Content Warnings: some gore.
Chacha raised a hand to catch a falling leaf. It was dry and a bit brittle, nicely cracking between his fingers and making him giggle. He crumbled it, then let the pieces fly off into the wind.
Next to him, sitting on the gras and letting his legs dangle over the edge of the rather steep ravine, someone else watched him.
It was a quiet, sunny day with a comfortable breeze blowing. Not yet the cold winter air, but a refreshing autumn wind. It was the perfect weather for sitting out under the sun.
“Zangzang”, Chacha chirped in a sweet, melodious voice. “Look! Look, they’re flying!”
Chacha laughed louder. It was quite adorable - the pale skin had little dimbles that appeared whenever he smiled, and his bright blue eyes were shining with joy. Chacha was slender and small, his clothes a bit too big for him, not to mention Zangzang’s coat on his shoulders.
He was like a little angel, innocently giggling at leaves dancing in the wind.
Zangzang smiled as well, seeing Chacha so cheerful about such a small thing.
The leaves that fell from the trees were floating off into the distance, carried by the breeze. They’d fall into the valley below, where the rows of trees had taken on a reddish colour.
“So happy, every year”, Zangzang chuckled. He didn’t feel cold despite the temperatures, his bare arms lined with muscle.
Auburn eyes gazing out into the valley, Zangzang couldn’t help but stretch peacefully. He liked it when it got colder, in truth. Summer wasn’t for him.
“Oh, I forgot! Thank you for your hard work”, Chacha congratulated him, plopping down at his side. His soft gray hair tickled Zangzang’s dark skin when the young man placed his head on the other’s shoulder in an intimate way. He wrapped an arm around the taller man’s, hugging it to his chest.
“Thanks”, Zangzang mumbled. He had just completed his shift, so now he was on break. A bit awkward, he peeked down at Chacha, whose cheek was squished against his shoulder.
Chacha was a sweetheart. They had met… Oh, it seemed like forever ago by now! Chacha had always been a cheerful guy, so lively, unlike him. But even he had thawed when the sweet smile was directed at him.
Zangzang had fallen for Chacha almost immediately. He didn’t dare approach him, but in the end, that wasn’t necessary.
Because… Chacha came to him by himself.
He was always worried that Chacha might come to dislike his rougher nature. He wasn’t good at being charming and neither was he outstanding in any way. Beautiful little Chacha would deserve someone much better.
But if he was willing to stay with Zangzang, who was Zangzang to reject him?
“You’re sure you’re not cold?”, Chacha asked, pointing a slender finger at the coat on his shoulders. Zangzang was only wearing a shirt.
“I’m not cold”, Zangzang ensured him. “I’m… I’m used to this weather! I’m fine!”
Chacha broke out into laughter. He stroked his fingers through Zangzang’s long, reddish-brown hair, combing it. “But I’m fine, too.”
“No. What if you get sick? I don’t want you getting sick”, Zangzang insisted.
“Boo! I’m not that weak!”
Chacha puffed out his chest, but it was hardly convincing. He was far too cute to look strong in any way.
Helpless, Zangzang leaned down and touched his nose against the other’s. Their breaths intertwined. “Do it for me? So I won’t be worried?”
“I will”, Chacha gave in, pouting a bit. “But still, I’m strong!”
“Alright, alright.”
With affection overflowing in his voice, Zangzang leaned in further, brushing their lips against each other. Chacha hummed softly, parting his own.
There was nothing harsh about the kiss at all. Zangzang always treated Chacha like a precious treasure, as if he might break if pushed a bit too hard. But Chacha enjoyed it - the feeling of their tongues intertwining, Zangzang’s breath on his face, the softness of his lips.
The way Zangzang displayed all his love for him in every single action.
Zangzang only pulled away when Chacha began gasping for breath. He licked a spot of saliva off the other’s lip, causing him to giggle.
“You taste like iron”, Chacha laughed.
“Ah!”
Zangzang twitched back, embarrassed. “I forgot! Let me clean up first!”
“Nooo! Stay!” Chacha whined, holding onto Zangzang’s arms.
Red blood had already begun to dry on Zangzang’s clothes. A smudge was still on his cheek where he hadn’t wiped it away well, and clots were forming in his hair. The grass beneath him was stained red, a strong stench of iron spreading.
“Clean up later”, Chacha begged. “It’s okay! You worked so hard just now, please stay with me for a moment? It’s been so many days since you had time for me!”
Behind the two of them, something fell off a tree’s branch, landing on the ground with a wet sound. They didn’t even give it a glance.
The whole forest, which had been a lush green not so long ago, had turned red and yellow and brown, the blood still fresh in some places. Where it had been longer, the leaves had grown brittle and hard.
The tiny humanoid bodies - millions, easily - hung over the branches, wings torn and arms limply dangling. Their eyes were wide with shock - although one had to question why, considering they should know this was coming, as it did every year?
Did they think they could stay forever? Truly not, right?
The fairies had their time, and they had their end. They’d let the world bloom, but it could not bloom forever. That was not how the cycle went, but they were stubborn and wouldn’t stop on their own - someone had to stop them forcefully.
Zangzang felt proud of his work, if he was honest. It wasn’t easy finding every single of the little critters, as they tended to run from him.
It was hard keeping track, sometimes, but it worked ever since he started hanging them up after killing them. If he had gotten all, then there wouldn’t be a green leaf left. All of them were enough to dye all leaves red. Easy, right?
It was a bit of a mess, for sure, but Zangzang had gotten used to the sight of the forests being decorated by little corpses. Misshapen Christmas trees, in a way.
“But”, Zangzang mumbled, a bit embarrassed, “I can’t leave it like this for you. That’s part of the preparation.”
“I’m not saying you should leave them, I’m only saying they can stay for a day or two longer. I’m not in a hurry to do my work”, Chacha asserted, nuzzling closer to his beloved. “Besides, I love your work! There’s nothing more beautiful than turning something tainted completely white!”
The youth smiled.
Maybe there was something odd about his smile, maybe there wasn’t. Zangzang simply thought it was the loveliest thing on this planet. Untainted Chacha, pure as freshly fallen snow.
Chacha stretched out an arm, waving it in a large motion to point at the whole valley. Excitement was making his voice hitch up like a kid’s.
“Aaaaaall of that will be white! It will be so pretty, don’t you think?”
It was because Chacha loved cleanliness so much that Zangzang often felt uncertain about his work. Slaughtering the fairies every year was hardly a beautiful sight, no matter how used he himself was to it. What if Chacha got scared one day? If he came to dislike those colours…?
As if sensing Zangzang’s nervousness, Chacha gave him a soothing peck on the cheek.
“Don’t worry”, he sang, affectionately picking up another leaf. It got crushed in his fingers like a fairy’s wing. “Your work makes me happy. There’s no fun in cleaning something that’s not dirty, right?”
In fact, he looked forward to it every year. He knew that the fairies, for example, thought their work was hard, but he completed his task with great relish.
Zangzang gave a low, sheepish hum that made Chacha giggle again. He moved to sit in the other’s lap, staring out at the blood-red valley below. Immediately, Zangzang held him tight so that he wouldn’t fall.
Arms wrapped warmly around his waist, Chacha nuzzled his head against Zangzang’s.
Zangzang was so embarrassed about his task. He didn’t even enjoy it. Sometimes, Zangzang felt almost naive, the way he believed the coldest and harshest of winters to be so weak?
Truly, that guy did not know that it was winter who took the most lives, did he? How innocent, how adorable! His beloved Zangzang who blushed so brightly the first time they had met! How could he ever let him go, how could he believe his beloved was tainted?
How could he not love him, and desire his love in return?
Aaah… Between the two of them, who really was dirty and who was clean?
A big thanks to Rat!
Author's Account:
Owl (SH).
Beautiful. I'm glad I didn't read this until Halloween, because it's a perfect way to celebrate my otherwise uncelebrated favourite holiday.
I, too, love the delicious trope of slowly panning out to reveal a horror scene. Few things in life hit that spot in quite the same way, right?
Many rounds of applause for the mods, too, who made the excellent decision to place this story later in the anthology than Silverty's "Waiting for Hunter". We've had cosy where the seasons are mysterious but benevolent spirits, and now we have a macabre where they're murderous maniacs... It's like a dark reprise in a musical, just in time for the spooky day.
*flurry of chef's kisses*
I love the way you handled the imagery of the slaughtered fairies in the tree. The "something fell off a tree’s branch, landing on the ground with a wet sound" and the casual, dismissive description of their eyes being open painted such vivid images and set up the horrific normalisation of the gore perfectly.
And now the thought of crisp autumn leaves being dried blood is going to stay with me this season. XD
The beautiful, soft warmth of their love is heartwarming too. I can really feel Zangzang's gentleness and sincerity.
The trope of the innocent angel being the most twisted and sadistic is always a great treat, too. And this line:
Chacha was a sweetheart. They had met… Oh, it seemed like forever ago by now!
...was so perfectly sinister and great foreshadowing for them being non-human beings.
Ah, I'm running out of energy to write, but not out of admiration... Thank you for the filling meal~!
Ah, this was indeed cute
And yeah, it's really great when something that looks all happy-peaceful-nice suddenly takes a dark turn when more of the picture is seen
Short, sweet and a little morbid
But I love how their appearances and personalities are total opposites. The gap moe is adorable.
I was expecting more, since I was getting into the story and then it was done... poof, gone, finished. Can I have more, sir? I liked the unique twist on how the seasons change and what needs to be done to change it, even if it is
bloodthirsty. But hey, in certain myths, fairies are actually troublemakers so pest control... oh snap writing inspiration.
If you do write anymore horror like this, I'll probably camp at your page. Thanks for sharing this
Yo owly! Classic gory yum yum from you~
Already read it beforehand but re-reading it was quite fun too.
First of all,I must say that I Love the dance between the horror of the couple aswell as their utter flooof. I especially like how there was a buildup until the ‘art’ was shown to the viewer, fooling us into believing that these two were more innocent then they actually are. The two tones mends perfectly too, *french kiss*. The scenery is gory and delicious, with the corpses lining the trees— dear chacha clearly had to work very hard for this.
Chacha is cute, but I must say zangzang steals the show for me with his adorable shyness hehe.
I also enjoy the tie in of the seasons to their jobs, with autumn causing the mess while creating ‘art’ while winter clears it up afterwards!
Many thanks for le work
This story is adorable although it has a gore element to it. The way you write it sounds like a beautiful fairy tale if you zoomed in on them but when you zoom out, it becomes Grimm's fairy tale. I do spot some spelling mistakes in the beginning and it hindered my flow when reading. But overall, I loved how you wrote their story. It's simple yet there is this hint of elegance in it.
The fact that both of them are living in their own world, makes it all the more fantasy dream-like. Showing that you can pretty much filter out your surrounding regardless how gruesome it is.
I suppose Zhangzhang represents Autumn while Chacha represent winter. I'm not sure if they are human or not but surely, the law of humankind doesnt apply to them. Poor fairies that died but its their fault for being naughty. I guess spring will birth new fairies and the cycle will repeat every. single. year.
Ahhh to see Rattie's art is amazing. It's how I pictured the story. The beginning was a close-up shot that shows two lovers but then zooming out to show the dark truth of their small world they've created for themselves.
Thank you for writing this. It was a nice read
The tiny humanoid bodies - millions, easily - hung over the branches, wings torn and arms limply dangling. Their eyes were wide with shock
That shocked me too! Killing fairies! But the kiss was indeed hottt
Mama owl is here! \(O.O)/ Thank you for keep writing <3 Beautiful piece as usual
Opinion of plot:
It starts off with this lovely setting of a couple on a date by the river during the height of Autumn. We learn of how they greatly admire and care for one another and how Zangzang doesn't feel he deserves Chacha. The story then goes on to reveal that they are work colleagues and that the initial dreamy setting they were in was actually a morbid battlefield filled with corpses. You show that both characters are not soft or cuddly as they both are completely fine with killing things - with Chacha even saying the sight of all the blood everywhere is beautiful.
I liked how you employed a twist to make the story not feel like a generic date, but I felt we could have had a bit more in terms of lore. I mean, excuse me but how does the whole fairy thing work? I mean, if Zangzang has to kill every single one in order for Autumn to fully come and bring in Winter, then how do the fairies keep coming back every year? Is there another being that creates them during Spring, or are they born from the blossoms of Spring or something else? Who did the work for Spring - by the way? How long have Zangzang and Chacha been doing their jobs? When they call them jobs, do you mean they get paid to do it? If so, what are they paid? If not, then isn't it more of duties and responsibilities than jobs? Are they humans or some other being? Are they immortal? When their seasons end, do they also get killed? Can they be killed? I recall Zangzang mentioning he didn't want Chacha getting ill from being too cold, does that mean they are susceptible to illnesses, then?
So many questions!
Ahem.
All in all, I liked the plot and it only made me feel more curious about the kind of lore and world the story was set in.
>w<
*huggles as an apology for bombarding you with so many questions at the end*
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Opinion of pace and technique:
I think the pace of the story was enjoyable as it didn't feel rushed, and it allowed the reader to experience a relaxed mood that slowly turned into one of horror and being disturbed by what was actually transpiring and had happened. I liked your use of vivid imagery to convey the moods and emotions of both the characters and the settings - starting from one of warmth and love and fuzziness before moving on to cold, malicious and sadistic. In a way, this was a good way of presenting the Autumnal theme as it went from the warmth of Summer to the cold of Winter through the season and story you told.
All in all, I liked how the prose flowed from one sentence to another - with smooth dialogue that only served to elevate the piece through setting the mood and giving personality to both characters. Overall, I think you did an amazing job for the length of your story.
(^-^)
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Opinion of style and execution:
I mean, I thought the style was pleasant and helped propagate the intended twist by exemplifying a sweet and fluffy atmosphere and setting before completely making it become a kind of nightmarish landscape to those uninvolved. I thought your choice of mostly having the story told through a character's perspective, as opposed to an omniscient one, enjoyable as we really got to see what each character thought of the other throughout their interactions between each other.
All in all, I think the style you chose worked really well for the plot you wrote, and that it was executed nicely.
(^-^)
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