Seven years ago, Kurt Hummel wouldve been enchanted at the idea of Sebastian Smythe lounging nonchalantly in his living room.

Seven years ago, Kurt Hummel wouldve entitled Sebastian Smythe as his best friend.

Seven years ago, Kurt Hummel was a fool.

Kurt found a bond with the pale blonde boy, an accident that led him to find the radiating similarities with Sebastian and they had bonded over lunch in a summer of their high school. Kurt was never one to speak much but with the blonde, he found himself in a blur of topics that seemed never-ending.

He was observing his mothers necklace; the one made of bone shaped quirkily like a raven when Sebastian approached him; Kurt would never forget those wide curious green eyes and that smile that lit up the pale boys face as he pointed out how the bone necklace was beautiful, blabbering something about how yetis bones were good for jewellery.

Kurt had found out that Sebastian was hunter in training. He heard stories of how the blonde would trek the forests with his father, hunting down the trolls that plagued the village; Kurt was envious – he wanted to venture the forests as well but Burt would never let him, not since the incident with his mother.

He enjoyed the tales of Sebastians hunts, how they seemed so fascinating and how the thin frail boy even managed to fight off werewolves or how he protected his family from demons at a young age of five. He believed Sebastian, faithfully following the blonde everywhere he went, in hopes to be like him.

The faith in Sebastian was cut short when they both went for their first hunt.

It was winter break and Sebastian had requested Kurt to stay over for a sleepover; they had finished their dinner and Kurt dutifully headed for bed when he was stopped by the blonde.

"Kurt," The green eyes sparkled eccentrically, a smirk curved onto his pale thin face, "Want to head out for a hunt?"

Kurt paused for a moment, glancing around the long hallways of the Smythes third storey house, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"With your parents?" He sniffed out.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, the smirk still on his lips, "No, you silly thing: just the two of us! How fun will that be?"

Kurts jaw dropped. Of course Sebastian would advocate such an idea, it was just Kurts conscious that held him back from even replying. Burt had reminded Kurt a myriad of times never to venture into the woods, especially not in the winter: whatever that was out there wasnt safe for him. It was too dangerous even if Kurt held a little knowledge of how the hunters work.

He missed the forest. He missed the creatures and he wanted so desperately to return.

"Cmn Kurt!" The older boy grinned, "Just a short walk, thats all! Ill protect you."

With Sebastian smirking at him expectantly, Kurt felt a glimmer of guilt as he nodded shyly.

It was arctic in nothing but Sebastians bunny slippers and pyjamas with nothing much but a thick coat jacket draped over Kurt. The blonde, on the other hand, had dressed himself in leather, holding onto his silver guns and platoon boots that looked like it could smash anyones head open if you kicked hard enough.

He had managed to persuade Kurt that he had nothing to worry about or the fact that there werent any other clothes that could fit Kurt and how it was just a short walk, he didnt need to change. The brunette had believed his friend wholeheartedly even as he stood at the entrance pathway into the woods, freezing and biting his lips in nervousness.

"Father told me that bone pups are causing a nuisance in the village," Sebastian declared, loading up his silver guns, "Theyve been chewing on peoples clothes and shoes; they are a menace."

Kurt watched on inquisitively, hugging the woolly jacket over his body.

"Are you going to kill them?" He enquired, frowning a little. Bone pups were not considered dangerous creatures and it was a crime to shoot anything under the "Class five" section unless it was truly unprecedented.

Sebastian scoffed lightly.

"Those things? I believe its not those small stupid things but the work of something else!" He grinned wildly, glancing at Kurt, "Its a mystery, Kurt. Im pretty sure bone pups are so insignificant and ineffective, they barely leave the woods. Its something else, perhaps something weve never even seen before!"

It was those green eyes glinted with intensity (and insanity) that made Kurt grin in infectious excitement. The way Sebastian was so zealous about the creatures made the brunette forgo any other doubts he had about the late night adventure. It was an escapade between two best friends! Kurt couldnt help but beam at the idea as they started their walk into the woods.

Winter was never a good time for hunting. The snow provided better contrast and tracks were visible for easier tracking but better visibility helped both the hunter and the hunted. Night hunting was far more knotty than Kurt could imagine, without much but a torchlight, it was daunting to hike through the unfamiliar unstable terrain.

Even with the bare trees, canopy branches high above their heads had blocked out most of the sky. Back on the ground, holes, stumps, fallen logs lurked beneath a deceptively docile layer of fallen snow. It had been too long since Kurt entered the forests and he was new to the sudden change of environment.

The sigh of the wind through the treetops made Kurt shudder in the bitter cold. How long had they been walking? Sebastian had remained silent throughout their journey deeper into the woods and Kurt did not want to disrupt the silence; thought the crackle of twigs under their feet would have caused any creature or animal of a three kilometre radius to run away.

The slender boy in front of him halted.

"Kurt!" he whispered excitedly, "Look!"

Kurt squinted his eyes to try to figure out what Sebastian was pointing at. All that stood in front of them was nothingness, the still of the winter forest and vast amounts of bare trees. He stepped forward slightly only to hear Sebastian hiss loudly.

Kurt stumbled back in shock.

"What?" he grunted, feeling hot under Sebastians angry glare.

At once, the glare disappeared immediately and was replaced with a smirk.

"Look at the ground," He whispered urgently, pointing at Kurts feet.

The shorter boy glanced fervently at the snow covered ground only to get a rude shock. Against the white snow, bright red blood spilled meant a wounded quarry; with a trail that lead them further downhill into the forest.

Sebastian was all teeth and all grins as he wiggled his eyebrows at Kurt.

The brown haired boy however, frowned darkly.

"How do you even know if this blood leads us to what we are looking for, Bas?" He grimaced as he noted one of the bunny shoes covered in blood.

The blood could mean prey or predator – it seemed like an ordinary spilled red instead of an elfs silver stream of wounds or a mermaids green smelly liquid. It looked more like a human that got attacked and was trying to run off.

Kurt glanced back up to see Sebastian rolling his eyes at him.

"Trust me Kurt. This is the trail. Im the hunter, remember?"

Kurt stifled a reply. Sebastian had more experience in the woods compared to him; he was right. Sebastian was the hunter, not him.

"Dont worry Kurtsie!" the blonde patted Kurts shoulder gently; "I promise I will protect you."

He remembered how Sebastian was praised by his father on how he had a good aim, the multitude of past hunts that the older boy had told him about; to the intricate details of how Sebastian knew certain things about various creatures that Kurt did not. Judging by the countless times that the older boy had gone hunting, he trusted Sebastian Smythe with his life.

Sebastian had stood by him even when others did not and Kurt had put faith into his best friend; instead of listening to his gut instincts to turn back and leave, the brown haired boy nodded at the other.

They started to move deeper into the forest.

The trail of blood lead them further downhill and ended at what seemed like a frosted over marshland. Sebastian had attempted to find out where else the blood trail couldve lead them whilst Kurt pondered over the sudden disappearance of blood. It was fresh no doubt when they stumbled upon it. It was curious as to why the blood was abruptly cut off and stopped without a clue of what or who had been wounded.

He looked back up at Sebastian who seemed to be staring intently at the ground.

"I found a footprint." He spoke, without even looking up. "Ive never seen something like this before."

Kurt blinked. From his knowledge, Sebastian was fantastic at tracking. He could tell a wolfs pawprint from a foxs; or how old a yeti is judging solely by its footprints. To not recognise one seemed a little strange. Swiftly, Kurt went over to him, only to see him staring over at a footprint that seemed oddly human.

"Isnt this a persons footprint?" Kurt pointed out.

"Even if it is, why is it bare? What kind of idiot would walk out into the winter forest without boots?" Sebastian shot back angrily, "Its not human, Kurt. Dont doubt me."

Kurt frowned, feeling slightly snuffed and insulted but Sebastian had a point.

"Im wearing your bunny slippers." He pointed out sullenly.

Sebastian seemed to snap out of his reverie and rolled his eyes at Kurt.

"You know what I mean, silly." The blonde stood up slowly, observing the area. "Its weird that the blood just stopped here you know. I dont see a dead body or smell a carcass anywhere."

Kurt nodded slowly, before he could speak again, an uncanny smell wafted around them, causing Sebastians face to go pale. The two boys froze in place, eyeballing the area for any sudden movements, before Sebastians set his hand swiftly on his gun.

The smell of putrid rotting flesh shifted towards them, Kurts eyes watering at the pungent smell. Even with the strong scent of decay, there was nothing that could be seen by either of them. The forest remained dark and quiet, ostensibly empty.

"Whats that horrid smell?" Sebastian offered, after a long pregnant pause, the stench still drifting around them.

Kurt racked his brains. Nothing came up. He couldnt put a finger onto what was causing that smell – a dead body? What was the cause of death? Winter meant mermaids were out of the question; and the flying creatures wouldnt be so downhill from all the snow: what on earth was it?

The stench grew stronger, a rustling sound now coming from nearby. Kurt froze, staring at Sebastian who had his guns out, hands trembling in panic. Green eyes met ice blue as they moved back slowly, eyeing the direction of the crackling noises of branches getting stepped on.

The branches snapped quickly, as if the creature was extremely fast or had many legs, Kurt noted quietly, mentally bracing himself; stumbling back slightly. He took a glance at Sebastian and was puzzled to see the look of alarm on his friends face, the blondes mouth quivering in fear, green eyes now clouded in panic.

"Bas?"

Heart in his throat, Kurt recognised the look upon his friends face – fear. Sebastian was mortified, uncertain and just as confused as Kurt was.

All of a sudden, the fear vanished.

Sebastians smirk took its place and he shot Kurt a wide grin. "Haha gotcha!" He snorted, "Murgs! Nothing to be afraid about, completely harmless!"

Kurt glanced quickly from Sebastians face to the ground that he was pointing at. Sure enough, there were many palm sized white scorpions crawling from the undergrowth. Known as Murgs, even though they were bigger than normal sized scorpions, they were harmless critters that only scourged the undergrowth for leftover carcasses. Their white bodies camouflaged well within the winter floors; no wonder neither boy could figure out what the creature was.

The brunette heaved a sigh of relief, before he could suggest heading back, Sebastian had begun to trample on the Murgs, causing them to panic and flee in different directions.

"Look at me, Kurt! These Murgs dont stand a chance against me! Im like a giant compared to these tiny useless things!"

Kurt grimaced. He wasnt fond of hurting the creatures without reason as he watched on, Sebastian laughing and trampling on the unfortunate white scorpion lookalikes. He folded his arms dourly, shaking his head at the older boy.

"Its not funny, Bas." He muttered.

Sebastian froze.

Kurt blinked. It wasnt like Sebastian to actually stop doing whatever he was when told to.

A chill crawled up his spine as he hastily noted a shadow overcastting over him. Swiftly, Kurt spun around only to face six bright gleaming eyes and a scorpions stinger twice the size of his head. Panicking, he faltered, falling onto the ground, feeling the baby Murgs crawl around him.

The sharp gleam of the stinger was high in the air, ready to come down at any moment as Kurt shifted back, bumping onto Sebastians leg, eyes never leaving the giant Murg that stared down at them with rage.

Before either boy could move or do anything, the large white Murg screeched deafeningly, its stinger lunging down towards them.

Kurt reacted fleetly, pushing Sebastian back but causing the older boy to fall down onto the winter ground. Small Murgs fled from behind their backs, rushing towards the giant Murg; their mother, Kurt noted, just like the bone pups. Shes only protecting them and weve stumbled accidentally onto their nest.

They dodged another stinger as it came crashing down on them. Kurt falling to the left, Sebastian to the right, causing a distraction as the giant Murg decided to aim on the blonde boy.

At that size, the venomous stinger could most likely paralyze and poison any human at the touch; leaving the victim unable to move and eaten up by the rest of the nest. Working fast, eyes scanning the area for the any exits, Kurt found escape route to the left of the giant mother Murg, a small spacing big enough for them: if they could just rush for it, maybe they could leave the nest and the Murgs wont give chase.

"Bas! This way!" Kurt called out, standing up and getting ready to make a mad dash across.

Sebastian stumbled over, dodging another lunge of the stinger.

"We have to kill it!" He hissed urgently.

"We can run for it!" Kurt shot back angrily.

The green eyes glinted with menace, causing Kurt to hesitate; not noticing the stinger coming down onto his right. Bright hot pain flashed in Kurts head as he fell onto the ground, feeling the sharp edge of the stinger cut down his right shoulder, tearing flesh.

He let out a deranged hiss of pain.

"Shoot it, Bas, shoot it!" He roared, the Murg now focused onto the wounded one, its stinger raised for the final strike as Kurt struggled to stand up with the pain beating down on his arm.

Sebastian seemed frozen to the spot, his gun aimed at the Murg now, but not firing.

"SHOOT IT!" Kurt snarled, tears in his eyes.

The blonde hesitated.

"HOW?" He whispered back urgently.

Fury and adrenaline fuelled Kurt, as he gathered the last remaining strength he had to evade the Murgs stinger, barely escaping by an inch to lurch next to Sebastian. With his uninjured arm, he snatched the silver gun, aimed for the Murgs eye and fired.

Blue flames engulfed the bullet that exited Sebastians gun and it aggressed directly into the Murgs middle eye, causing the entire creature to be covered in a bright blue flame, the screeches of anger now transformed into pain.

"Wha-?" Sebastian was staring at the creature, jaw dropping in shock.

"RUN!" Kurt pushed the blonde forward, running towards the left escape route as the giant Murg struggled under the bright blue flames.

They ran, past the Murg and didnt stop till they reached the outer layers of the forest, where the trees had started to thin out and the pathway towards the village could be seen. They didnt stop till they reached the outskirts of the town, panting heavily and catching their breath.

Kurt could feel his arm getting heavier as he dropped onto the ground, dizzy and out of breath. His vision was starting to blur at the edges.

Sebastian dropped beside Kurt, grabbing his friend up and shaking the boy.

"How?" He gasped, "What did you do to my gun?"

Kurt frowned darkly, was that all he could think about at the moment?

"My arm," He gritted angrily, narrowing his blue eyes at Sebastian, "If you havent noticed," He empathized every word with bite, "My arm has been ripped apart."

The blonde seemed to snap out of his trance, worriedly, he wrapped his arms around Kurt and helped the younger boy stand up.

"Well go back and see what we can do." He suggested quietly.

"Are you crazy?" Kurt pushed away from the slender boy, baring his teeth, "I might be poisoned!"

Sebastians face turned pale as he shifted his eyes towards Kurts arm.

"It didnt cut too deep," He observed, holding an arm out for Kurt to hold, "We cant let our parents know, theyll kill us. I have healing salve at home, itll help."

Kurt fought back a remark. Frowning, he held onto Sebastians arm and they trudged back, not saying a word to each other. They kept silent all the way back; Kurt fighting the urge to ask his friend what happened back there; the suddenly silence and fear of the hunter, it was almost as if Sebastian had no clue what to do.

They reached back to the Smythes household with the brunette on the verge of fainting.

Sebastian had bolted off to hastily search for the healing salve and locked Kurt up in the room, telling him to keep mum. Anger bubbled in his chest and he forced it to go away; perhaps Sebastian was in shock; no one had expected the giant Murg to appear. They were only kids afterall, everything seemed all too dangerous and new-fangled. Kurt cringed in pain and grabbed his left arm, trying to will the pain to go away as well.

Miraculously, the pain in his arm had begun to slowly throb away, a faint blue glow emerging from his right hand surrounding the wound. The same blue firey glow that Kurt did not recognise coming from Sebastians gun.

Elf magick? He frowned. His mother never had any blue healing flames.

At that moment, Sebastian burst into the room, looking frenzied.

"I cant find –" He was cut short by the faint glow that edged around Kurts arm.

"What the heck is that?" The blonde narrowed his green eyes.

"Elf magick." Kurt answered hurriedly, looking uncertain. "My moms an elf, remember? Maybe she passed down some traits over to me."

Sebastian looked far from impressed. His thin features morphed into disgust, green eyes glinting dangerously. He grabbed Kurts arm forcefully, ogling at the newly healed skin, a long scar now visible on his left arm.

"Thats weird." Sebastian muttered, "This never happened before."

Kurt shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Maybe its puberty?" He offered a quick excuse, hoping Sebastian wouldnt stray too much into the topic of his mother.

The blondes frown deepened, eyebrows furrowed but before he could continue stabbing Kurt with more questions, the brunette found his voice of reason as he glared fiercely at his best friend.

"What happened back there?" Kurt snatched his arm back, rubbing it lightly, feeling the scar like a long bulge across his arm. "Why didnt you shoot it?"

It was Sebastians turn to look uncomfortable. The older boy looked away, running a hand down his hair; the habit he had whenever he felt threatened or nervous. It seemed like an eternity before he finally glanced back at Kurt, those green pools suddenly filled with sadness.

"I couldnt." He worried his lips. "I couldnt shoot it because its an innocent creature."

Kurt narrowed his eyes.

"You trampled on its babies." He stated coldly.

Sebastians face twisted into rage.

"You dont understand," He growled bitterly, "You never did." He paused for a moment, eyeing Kurt furiously.

"Of all people, I thought you wouldve."

It felt like a slap to Kurt.

Even as he felt anger towards his best friends clumsy mistake, guilt washed over the younger boy, Sebastian had understood Kurts emotions and problems, why couldnt he do the same? Kurt shifted over to Sebastian, taking the other boys hand in his, glancing sadly into the green pools of disappointment.

"Im sorry, Bas." He whispered.

There was a pause.

"Im sorry, Kurtsie." Came the sad reply.

Kurt managed a small shy smile as they shared a hug, feeling Sebastians tears fall onto his cheeks, "You know, it was kinda cool."

Sebastian scoffed, breaking from the hug.

"It was cool till you suggested running away!" He teased.

They both shared a laugh and held each other to sleep through the night. Something Kurt enjoyed; a presence of a friend – faith and guidance from someone he loved. As much as he found Sebastians shadow soothing, a dark unease crept up to him; even as unsettled as he was by the sudden changes of his best friend, Kurt shrugged it off as teenage rebellion.

He never suspected a thing.