#57:The Boy & The Butterfly
Continuity: Sometime during chapter 4
This was briefly referenced in drabble #34—Lay wandered off and Baekhyun brought him home. It's also (obviously) before Lay asked everyone to call him Yixing, so he's called Lay in this chapter.

Lay didn’t mean to wander off as often as he did—he never intended to go too far away from the Sanctuary, it always just seemed to happen. One minute he’d be walking out the front door, and then the next he was skipping through an unfamiliar part of the woods, happily lost.

Lay was a child still, no matter what Kris liked to say (“You’re growing up, Lay! You’re already eleven, and you need to set an example for the other kids, and that includes keeping track of where you are!”), but he showed a lot of maturity in the way that he always kept calm. Baekhyun liked to call it airheaded-ness, but Lay just had a very naturally calm, collected personality. It took a lot to get him riled up, especially now that he was comfortable with who he was and where he was. In any case, whenever Lay got lost, he never worried too much about how he’d find his way home. He knew that no matter what, he’d make it home safely. He’d been lost enough times to know that he’d always be okay.

But this time, it was entirely not his fault that he’d gotten lost. It had been Kris’ idea to play hide and seek, so really he must have expected for Lay to get distracted—as he was prone to—and wander off. Besides, he’d been hiding for a really long time and he was starting to get bored. Then a butterfly fluttered by, and Lay thought that it would be much more fun to play tag with a butterfly than hide under a bush and wait for somebody to find him. So, Lay took off after the butterfly.

Kai liked to say that insects didn’t have feelings, they didn’t have the brain capacity and whatnot. Lay disagreed—he’d always had a way with animals, and he thought that all of them had feelings. He liked to think that the butterfly would have been surprised to suddenly realize that a small boy was chasing after it, and so when Lay was sure he was out of earshot of the others, he called out to it.

“Hey, butterfly! Hello, how are you? My name is Lay! Can I play with you?”

The butterfly flew in an erratic circle, fluttering close to Lay and then darting away. Lay stopped running and held perfectly still, holding his palm out. The butterfly fluttered around him for a few moments and then landed on his hand. Slowly, Lay pulled his hand closer so he could have a good look at his new friend.  The butterfly was fairly small, it’s wings were about as long as his little finger, but it was very pretty—yellow with blue spots. It crawled over Lay’s hand, smelling him. But Lay was not a flower, and he knew the butterfly wouldn’t stay with him for long.

So, Lay smiled and whispered, “Let’s play,” and then he blew the butterfly off his finger and set about chasing it.

He chased the butterfly for a long time, maybe about an hour, and by the end of it he’d gotten himself good and lost. But he didn’t mind so much, the butterfly kept fluttering back and landing on his head, and then Lay would try to catch it in his hands, purposely missing so that the insect would take off once more and lead him somewhere interesting. But eventually the butterfly flew up so high that Lay lost sight of it in the sunlight, and he sighed when he realized that he was all alone.

Never one to dwell on something like being alone, Lay looked around and smiled when he found himself in a beautiful little clearing. He examined the ground for signs of passing creatures, and found a set of hoof prints. He recognized them to be that of a deer, and a young one at that, but he only saw one set of tracks. Wherever the deer was, it’s mother was not with it. Lay knew that it was not uncommon for young deer to be left alone when their mothers went grazing, but he was worried. This place didn’t look like it was frequented by hunters, but it was possible that the deer’s mother had been killed. Back when he lived in the South, their Sanctuary had often adopted orphaned animals and raised them until they were old enough to be on their own, and deer had been among them. Lay decided that he would go find the little deer and make sure that it was alright, and if it wasn’t then he’d bring it home with him and raise it.

Nodding to himself, Lay got down on his hands and knees and started to follow the tracks. He’d learned how to track an animal when he was only three years old, this was easy for him. He was so focused on the tracks that he nearly ran into several trees, and at one point he put his hand down and it sank to his wrist in mud.

“Ew!” Lay cried, pulling his hand up and shaking it. At that moment, he heard the short bleat of a fawn. When Lay looked up, his heart stopped.

“Oh, no!” He cried, spotting the baby—it was sunk to its knees in the mud.

“You silly little critter!” Lay cried, getting to his feet and wading through the mud, headless of the fact that it was getting all over his shoes and covering the hem of his robes. “You wandered all this way into the mud? You should have paid more attention!” He scolded, finally coming close enough where he could touch the animal. The fawn looked to be about two weeks old, and it was leaning away from Lay, bleating loudly.

“Oh, hush,” Lay muttered, wrapping his arms around it and getting a good grip before he lifted it up out of the mud. There was a disgusting squelch as it’s legs came free. “Yuck,” Lay groaned as the fawn bleated again. “That better have been a thank you!” Lay cried crossly, starting to make his way out of the mud. “Look at how dirty I got getting you out of there! Hey, quit squirming around, baby!”

He was glad when he made it back to solid ground and was able to put the fawn down. It shook itself off, but the mud still clung to its legs. Lay huffed, looking down at his robes. They were supposed to be a light grey, but now they were all black along the bottom.

“Well, no sense in both of us being dirty, I guess,” Lay shrugged. He turned back to the fawn, which was now eying him curiously. “Can I clean your legs?”

The fawn didn’t move, so Lay sat down and started to wipe it’s feet off with his sleeves. The baby never tried to run, but it did continue to bleat loudly every few seconds.

“Are you yelling for your mama, with your loud voice?” Lay asked, looking up at the deer’s face. It blinked at him and bleated again.

“I suppose that’s a yes.”

When Lay was done he was even filthier than before, and he suspected that he’d gotten mud on his face and in his hair, but the baby was clean. The fawn shook itself off again, and began to walk away, turning around after a few steps to bleat at Lay.

“Do you want me to follow you?” He asked, taking a few steps closer. The fawn continued along, and Lay followed. They went along carefully, picking their way through the undergrowth, and soon Lay heard trickling water.

“Are you serious?” He cried as a small brook came into view. “You let me use my robes to clean you up, and all this time there was good clean water not that far away?”

The fawn ignored him and ambled into the stream, bending to take a drink.

“Well, I suppose you should be thirsty,” Lay sniffed, “But that’s no reason to ignore me when I talk to you.” The fawn finished its drink and then turned back to Lay, stepping closer until it was sniffing his face. Then it lowered its head and nibbled at his necklace.

“Hey, shoo!” Lay cried, quickly tucking his necklace into his shirt. “That’s my token, you silly baby!”

The fawn looked up then, focused on the other side of the stream, and bleated loudly. Lay followed it’s gaze and saw an adult deer standing in the brush.

“Oh, is that your mama?” Lay asked, waving at the deer. It took a few steps closer, and the fawn let out another loud cry—this one echoed by the adult. The fawn went splashing through the water and ran up to its mother, cuddling up against her side. The mother seemed to nod at Lay before she turned around and walked off, and the fawn looked over its shoulder briefly before it followed along.

“You’re welcome!” Lay called, waving to them. He smiled after them for a few seconds, taking a moment to wish for the mother and baby to live happily, and for the baby to grow up safe and healthy. Then when he was done, Lay knelt by the stream and washed his hands and face. He tried to wash his shoes too, but that didn’t really work out so well. Having gotten himself all wet, Lay stretched out on his back to let the sun dry him off. He tried to guess from the angle of the sun what time it was, and he figured it was probably around 1:30. He’d been in the woods for almost three hours.

“They must have noticed I’m missing by now,” Lay mumbled to himself. “I wonder if they’re looking for me.” He hoped not, because then Kris would probably be the one to find him, and then he’d get a scolding for wandering off and getting dirty.

Lay was staring at the sky for a while, watching the clouds drift by and imagining what they looked like. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard a tree branch snap. Thinking that the deer had either come back or he’d been found he sat up quickly and looked around, only to almost fall back over in shock. There was a unicorn about five feet in front of him.

But that wasn’t possible, because unicorns were gone. They hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years, the last sighting was around the time of the third generation of Guardians! Lay couldn’t believe it, he had to be dreaming.

“I’m dreaming,” He breathed, taking in the sight of the creature before him. Well, he’d never truly believed that the unicorns were gone. His symbol was a unicorn, because their horns were said to have great healing powers, and his token was a piece of metal that had been twisted into a unicorn-head pendant. Lay reached for the token now, drawing it out from under his collar. The unicorn took a step forward and Lay held his breath, squeezing his pendant so tightly that it bit into his palm.

“Ouch,” he cried, pulling his hand away. It began to bleed a little, and Lay gasped as he realized that he couldn’t be dreaming. He swallowed hard, locking eyes with the unicorn. It was small, maybe about the size of the adult deer, and Lay didn’t know if it was fully grown or not. It was so white that it seemed to glow in the sunlight. The unicorn took another step forward, sniffing at Lay’s injured hand. Lay held his breath and slowly extended his hand, wondering if the creature would try to bite him. But instead the unicorn lowered its head and touched its horn to Lay’s hand, healing it instantly.

Lay giggled breathlessly, reaching out to touch the horn. The unicorn lifted its head again, but didn’t startle when Lay it’s nose.

“You’re real,” he laughed, still a little disbelieving. “All this time, unicorns were real! Everyone told me it was impossible, they couldn’t stay hidden for this long!” The unicorn’s hair was so soft, he thought, petting it’s neck. It felt like bunny fur. “Oh wow, this is incredible! I can’t wait to tell everyone—”

He cut off as the unicorn turned its head, giving him a sharp look with one eye. Lay froze, his hand suspended in midair.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “I guess…I guess I can’t tell anyone about this, can I?”

The unicorn’s gaze seemed to soften, and it nudged his hand. Lay smiled, but couldn’t deny that he was a little bit sad.

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy,” he said quietly. “More the Matrons and Teachers, not my brothers. Well, they think I’m a little childish. A bit of an airhead.” He sighed heavily. “You know, even if I told them the truth, they probably wouldn’t believe me. Nobody would.”

The unicorn fixed him with a half pitying, half sarcastic gaze.

“Can you understand me?” Lay asked. “Push me over for yes!”

The unicorn did no such thing, but Lay thought maybe it was just being a brat.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter what they think,” he decided. “I know it’s real, I know I’m not dreaming.” He smiled widely, suddenly feeling very giddy. “This is the best day ever! Oh man, I can’t believe it! I met a real unicorn! You know, I’m a unicorn too,” he said proudly, “I can heal just like you!”

The unicorn whinnied, just like a horse, and tossed it’s head.

“Yeah, you are way prettier than me,” Lay agreed.

After a while, the unicorn pulled away from lay’s continued petting and looked up. Lay looked up at the sky and realized that the sun would be setting soon.

“Oh,” he said sadly. “I guess I should leave now. Everyone will be worried about me.”

He felt like he wanted to cry, thinking that this might be the last time he’d ever see this beautiful creature.

“You stay strong,” he told the unicorn firmly. “Don’t disappear from this world—it would be a much sadder place if we lost something so beautiful.”

The unicorn whinnied again, softer this time, and Lay gave it one final pat before he turned around to make his way back. He had barely lifted his foot off the ground to take his first step when he was suddenly pushed over, and fell face first on the ground.

‘Can you understand me? Push me over for yes!’

Lay looked up, his eyes wide in shock, but the unicorn was already gone. Even so, he let out an elated whoop that could have been heard for a mile.

Eventually Lay made his way to a familiar berry patch, and he paused for a few moments to eat—his first meal in a few hours. He’d only been there for a minute when he heard someone crashing through the undergrowth, and a loud swear in a voice that he recognized.

“Baekhyun!” Lay called excitedly, looking around. Baekhyun burst through the undergrowth, scowling and brushing leaves from his hair.

“There you are!” He yelled, marching over. “We’ve been looking all over for you—what on earth happened to you?” He squawked, taking in the mud that still clung to Lay’s robes, how rumpled his hair and clothing was, the berry juice stains on his hands. “Where in the name of the Tree have you been?!”

Lay shoved the last berries in his mouth and skipped over to Baekhyun. “I found a unicorn,” he whispered, and then he giggled at the cross look on Baekhyun’s face.

“Let’s go home,” Baekhyun sighed. “You smell awful and Kris is worried sick about you.”

And when they got back to the sanctuary, Kris greeted him with a bear hug, yelling about how worried he was but close to tears, and Lay almost cried too because he never meant to worry anyone, and then Kris felt bad for making him cry and didn’t even punish him for wandering off.

In twenty four hours, Lay would be leaving home for the third time. He would be leaving to go to the Tree of Life, to be a fully-fledged Guardian, charged with protecting the world and the Tree. And then in a few more years, he would be leaving home for good.

The mood at the Northern Sanctuary was subdued, each newly matured Guardian lost in his own thoughts or else packing up everything dear to him—not that they had many belongings. For Lay, the most precious thing to him could never be taken along on any sort of trip.

“Gege,” He whispered to Kris, “I’m going for a walk, okay?”

“In the woods?” Kris asked, his brow furrowed in worry. They didn’t go in the woods after the incident on the mountain. They knew now what was lurking out there.

“I’ll be careful, I know where I’m going,” Lay promised.

Kris sighed but waved him off. “Be back before dark.”

Lay had made the trip twice now—the first time had been an accident, and the second time he nearly did get lost, but this time he knew where he was going. Still, it had been a while, the last time he’d gone had been right before they went to see the Tree for the first time, and Lay hadn’t told anyone where he was going.

He hurried up the mountain, paying no heed to the branches that snagged on his robes. The forest had never really had any trails, but due to the absence of young boys traipsing through the undergrowth, it had gotten even more overgrown.

It took Lay a better part of the morning to get to the top of the mountain. He splashed across the stream and sat down in a patch of sunlight, quietly waiting. About twenty minutes before he heard the rustling of a medium-sized creature making her way through the forest.

Lay grinned when the unicorn poked her head through the bushes. “Hi there, pretty girl,” he cooed, holding out his hand. He’s figured out on the second visit that his unicorn was a female, having read up extensively on unicorns and knowing what to look for. He’d decided to name her Grace, because she always seemed so poised and refined, almost like a queen.

Lay patted Grace’s neck, and she whinnied softly.

“I’m going away for a long time,” Lay told her quietly. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, or if I’ll ever see you again.” He took a deep breath, willing himself not to cry. “So this is goodbye, okay Grace? You take care of yourself, and stay strong.”

Grace pulled back from his hand and looked over her shoulder, whinnying again. Lay followed her gaze, and he heard something rustle in the bushes. After a moment, a small golden head popped out.

Lay gasped. “Grace!” He breathed, “You had a baby!”

Baby unicorns were bright gold for the first ten years of their lives, and they didn’t have horns until about age fifteen. Lay could guess that Grace’s baby was about three years old, due to its brilliant color.

Grace whinnied again, beckoning the baby forward. It trotted over, tossing it’s head nervously, and Lay knelt down, holding out his hand.

“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered. “I won’t hurt you.”

The baby was more skittish than Grace was, it pawed the ground and pranced in a circle for a moment before finally coming over. Once Lay began to pet it though, it became very friendly, nudging Lay’s shoulder and nibbling on the ends of his hair.

“You’re so sweet!” he cried, it’s soft mane. He felt like crying—among all the bad things that had happened, up here in the mountains there was still one good thing that remained uncorrupted, that thrived even. If Grace could have a baby, then there must have been a male unicorn somewhere. Maybe there were dozens of unicorns, high up in the mountains where nobody would look for them.

Lay looked up at Grace. “Is it a girl?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Grace tossed her head in response as if to say ‘Of course you silly boy, why are you asking?’

He looked back at the baby and patted her head. “I’m going to call her Hope, alright?”

Grace head-butted Lay and shoved him over, and he laughed until his stomach hurt. “You like it that much?”

Lay wished he could stay forever, but he knew he had to get home before his brothers worried, and so after another minute he stood up. “You should go now,” he told Grace. “Take care of your baby, and I wish nothing but a long, healthy life for both of you.”

Grace nodded and turned away, walking back into the woods, and Hope scampered after her. Lay waved to them long after they were gone, a smile lighting his face. Seeing Grace and her new baby, he couldn’t help but feel that things would work out well for his home after all.

Maybe it’s a little bittersweet, but who doesn’t love baby unicorns, am I right? (the whole 'baby unicorns are golden' thing was inspired by Harry Potter).

FIRST DRABBLE OF 2014 AND IT’S NOT ANGST! WOO HOO!