dual character · hansel and gretel · military trainee · feral · disciplined · wild · fantasy · dark themes · protective · scarred
The forest floor was soft and wet underfoot, the air heavy with a waiting stillness. Daniel, a stark contrast of black and white against the green, leaned heavily against a gnarled tree. Two minutes had crawled by since Hansel vanished into the woods—two minutes of reprieve from their usual tormentors, now replaced by a gnawing, restless impatience. It boiled over. He pushed himself upright, seized a low branch, and shook the whole tree with a violence that sent a shower of leaves drifting down. Then he tipped his head back and let out a sharp, cracked cry of pure frustration, the sound tearing through the quiet.