The Piper smiled when you took his hand. His lips pursed as if he were still playing the flute and you felt a temptation you hadn't expected.

"Where's the struggle?" he asked. "Normally, they put up more of a fight."

"I'm weak," you said. "Isn't that the whole point?"

The Piper shrugged and began walking. Despite not moving a muscle, a force pulled you towards him, as if he were a fisherman and you were a fish on the hook.

"We've got a long walk ahead of us," the Piper said, his gait bouncy. It made him look like he was bouncing on clouds. "Do try to keep up." He smirked again before picking up his pace.

xXx

You reached the woods after an hour. An hour full of silence. You looked around at the familiar birch and maple trees. The smell of the freshly fallen leaves and starlight cutting through the branches brought back the memories of stargazing with Taehyung.

He'd hold his hand standing from the third or fourth branch up and help you up. You'd always marveled at his strength as he effortlessly pulled you up, the muscles in his forearms pulled taut.

The two of you would climb to the highest point that the branches would still hold both of you. You'd lean against the strong trunk and sometimes when you felt butterflies in your stomach his strong arms would wrap around you too.

xXx

"Tell me, Piper. Where exactly are you going?" you asked, becoming more bold with each step.

"Hey, now, if I told you it'd ruin the fun," he said. "Why don't you answer something for me?"

He paused and fiddled with the flute in his pocket. At first, you thought he was just casting some sort of spell to get you to tell the truth, but you didn't feel the warmth of magic wash over you.

"Why is it a pretty young girl like you is the weakest?" he asked. At this point, you wanted to slap the smirk off his face. Yet, you couldn't help but feel an odd attraction to the gesture.

"Like me?"

"You have promise. You're stronger than you think." He paused and looked up towards the sky, which was slowly beginning to hatch beams of sunlight. "I felt it back there in the woods. You have strength."

Something stirred deep in your stomach. You weren't sure if it was because you believed he was lying, or because you believed you believed he was telling the truth.

"I don't need you to tell me I'm strong," I said. "I've already made my choice."

His eyes looked sad for a moment, reminding you of the puppy you'd raised as a child. He turned to look back down the path.

"We'll make camp soon," he said. "You look tired."

xXx

It felt odd to be camping in broad daylight. The cave itself was dark, but even the Piper's magic couldn't keep streams of sunlight from illuminating the rock cave floor beneath you.

The Piper sat against the opposite wall peeling an apple with a small dagger you hadn't noticed before. As you looked closer, you noticed the dagger's gold handle. The same as the flute.

"You know, some people in the village think you're ugly?" you said.

"Am I?" he asked, looking up and sliding a piece of the apple off the edge of the dagger.

"No."

This time he didn't smirk. The dagger pausing for a moment halfway through the apple, right at the core.

"But, you don't always look like this, do you?" You pointed down at the dagger. "Your flute changes for what you need."

"Pretty and smart," he said, standing up and tossing you the other half of the apple. "You're right. I don't always look like this. I can take many forms, but I can't control when I change, like I can with the flute. I change into whatever form is needed at the time."

"So, you'll change before we get wherever we're going?"

"I sure hope not. You seem to like this form." The smirk returned as he leaned down to tend to the fire in the center of the cave.

"Who are the forms?" you asked. "They aren't random, are they?"

The Piper looked up from the fire. His eyes looked like those of a puppy again.

"That's enough questions. Get some sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."

The ground shook as he walked out into the daylight.

xXx

You awoke to darkness. You didn't ask any more questions--or talk--for half the night. You'd been with the Piper a full day now. The village had certainly gone on without you, probably happy to rid itself of your mopey, pathetic existence.

You were unfamiliar with the territory now. The forest, while it looked similar to the forest of your memories, it was different. It had a different smell--fresh evergreen.

"I don't know where we are now," you said, tired of the silence. "Can't run away now." A smirk of your own broke across your face.

"You were never planning to," he said. "Don't think I can't see inside your head."

You flushed at that. He was probably lying, or at least dancing around the truth. It seemed something he tried to avoid--the truth.

"So, how much longer do we have to travel?" you asked. "I'd like to know when I'm going to die."

The Piper froze.

"You--you aren't going to--"

His stutter was confirmation enough.

"I may be weak Piper, but I deserve the truth."

You turned and walked away, but felt the magical tether pull. The Piper hadn't moved, he simply stood in the center of the path watching you. You saw the cracks forming by his feet as he moved them nervously.

"You're right," he said. "You deserve the truth."

The ground finally cracked completely, a large crevasse breaking down the middle of the path. You managed to move onto one side as the crack spread to where you had been standing.

"I'm weak, too. I couldn't save her and I can't save you."

His hand reached up, trying to caress your cheek from ten feet away. The Piper collapsed and by the time you reached him, his blond hair had transformed into a shock of dark hair that felt over his forehead. His thin, sculptured face filled out slightly and his skin paler. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar, a distant memory.

A/N: And, there we are! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you're thinking so far. Who do you think the Piper is now? What's up with the different forms? Any other theories?

Also, I know these chapters are kind of short, but I never planned for this to be full novel length. At the end, it will probably end up around 8,000-10,000 words total. Hopefully, this means I'll be able to update more often and finish this thing!

Follow the sound of the flute~

-FarFromSuga