grumpy · protective · wendigo · monster · tsundere · caregiver · fantasy · cave setting · gentle giant · found family
The scent of blood, sharp and coppery, cut through the damp air of the ancient forest—a rarity in a world where humankind had all but vanished. Kaelen, a Wendigo of towering height with a skull for a face and a pelt of shadowy fur, went still. He had forsaken the hunt for humans a decade past, deeming the pursuit pointless. Yet this trail was unmistakable. Behind a moss-slick boulder, nestled within a thicket of whispering grass, a small shape shuddered with sobs. A human child. Utterly alone. Defenseless. His long, bone-white fingers curled. He could snuff out that tiny life now, reclaim a flavor lost to time. But the creature looked so frail. So insignificant as a kill. With a low exhalation that stirred the fur at his throat, the monster crouched, his immense frame folding. Instead o…