He was very glad he'd been able to make things up to Elias. He still had nightmares sometimes, nightmares of Elias having left him to die, nightmares of Elias never waking up after Wander had bitten him, nightmares of his toxins having been replaced with venom. Every time he'd wake up in a cold sweat, and every time he'd sit their, wide awake, next to his friend. He'd feel for Elias' pulse, make sure his friend was still alive, and then he'd try and get back to sleep. It was still hard sometimes, but it was getting easier. Life was getting easier.

For one, they weren't living according to the wills and whims of the Agency anymore. They weren't told when to eat, when to work, when to prepare themselves for the extractor or an experiment. They were free out here, and if ever they wanted they could leave this place far behind and go wherever they wished. He wasn't trapped in that concrete cube of a terrarium anymore. They were free.

It was still scary, sometimes. Winter was colder than he remembered, all harsh winds and white snow. Once he'd had some time to adjust, however, none of it seemed too bad. The snow camouflaged his skin in the wilds whilst the short days gave him plenty of shadow to manipulate, making hunting far easier than in the autumn. That being said, autumn had been by far his favourite time of year. Just seeing the amount of colour and life all around him had been exhilarating; the evergreens in his old cell couldn't compare to the beautiful array of golds and reds and ambers as the trees began to shed their leaves. In a similar vein, though they could never be a part of it, it had been really fun to hide in the shadows and watch the people in the towns and villages below come together in celebration at this time of year.

He and Elias already had plans to go 'trick-or-treating' next time this 'Halloween' festival rolled around. People would just assume they had really cool costumes, which would be really funny and probably quite gratifying as well. And they would get loads of free candy out of it, which would be a nice change from the lean meat and scraps they normally had to live off of.

Elias had been able to show himself around those towns far more than Wander could, masking his wings using his powers and doing his best to keep himself under control. According to the rumours his friend had heard, the urban legends about Wander from back before he'd been taken in had never really gone away, and there were already renewed stories and sightings cropping up since he'd come back. It seemed that most people weren't even really scared of him, and some even regarded him as some sort of friendly, though admittedly creepy and distant, forest spirit; someone who watched over travellers and stopped anything truly dark from harming them in his domain.

It was a hell of a stretch, but it was nice to know that some people didn't just think of him as a monster. Some people thought of him as almost being their friend, even though they'd never met. It was... it was nice. Warming. It was the sort of thing he didn't realise he'd been wishing for, but now that he had it he was so very pleased that things had worked out the way they did.

Elias hadn't heard of any urban legends centred around himself yet, but Wander was confident that there would be some that took root here, one day. He was a native to this place, and Elias wasn't, so it made sense that people had more of an inclination to telling stories about him than about Elias. Still, there would be stories told of his friend and, hopefully, about the two of them together, around campfires and over internet forums. It was only a matter of time.

Even sweeter would have been for cryptids like them to be accepted by all, but he wasn't naïve enough to believe that was anywhere close to becoming a reality. For now he'd settle with the people who lived around his little stretch of the Cairngorms thinking of him fondly as a local legend. That seemed good enough to him.

Besides, he would have been lying if he said he didn't take an egocentric sort of pride in the stories and tales his living had inspired. An eight-armed, eight-eyed benevolent forest spirit who was more likely to cause mischief and protect hikers from danger than to try and harm them. If that was what people thought of him then he surely must have been doing something right!

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It was still hard sometimes. He wasn't the best hunter in the woods, and there was still the looming spectre of the Agency who would surely be trying to find them, but Wander felt confident that if he revealed himself to one of the towns below then they'd take him in. He might have to ham up his status as a part of local folklore to get people to take him in, but it was as good a plan as any at the moment when it came to getting away from the Agency.

Yes, things weren't perfect. Both of them knew it, and neither of them were in denial about that fact. They had a lot to learn. He was still trying his best to provide meat for them both, and though he wasn't always successful he was getting better. Elias was a pretty good cook as well, for with his connection to the world he was more than capable of finding good herbs and edible plants for both of them to enjoy. His friend still had little control over their abilities, but incidents and accidents were slowly decreasing over time.

Their home as well, one little more than a hollow cave, was actually somewhat cosy. A series of will-o-the-wisps captured by Elias and encased in a fine mesh of spider silk gave them some soft light on dark nights, and though they may not have had much in the way of luxury they were still together. They were happy.

Yes, the two of them had a lot to learn. But they were learning.

And, perhaps the most important thing of all, they were learning together.

Bonus Scene:

"Wander , come on! We don't wanna miss out on all the good houses!"

Wander only grumbled in response, discontented at his current situation. This had been Elias' idea since he'd been going to the town quite a bit recently, and he'd been telling people that he'd be "Going out with a friend for trick-or-treating". This, of course, meant that Wander really didn't have a choice in doing this. He didn't want to let down Elias anyway, so here they were, about to go out trick and treating whilst hoping that people believed he was just in a good costume.

"Easy for you to say. You've been going to this town in a human guise for more than a year now, and I've stayed up the hills and in the woods. I'm not exactly known to the people down there like you are."

"But you are! Not like me, no, since they think I'm just someone's kid, but you're all that gets talked about when it comes to legends!"

"Yeah, missing people's reports and horror stories are really flattering."

"No, Wander," Elias said in a gentle and concerned tone, "only people from far away make up those stories, and the people here hate them because they paint you, their own little forest spirit, in a false light. They love you, Wander. You're an integral part of their local mythos. They'll love you, Wander. Lets me use tonight to show that to you. Please?"

Wander looked away a little, embarrassed.

"You keep saying they like me down there. I know I should trust you, but there's a bit of me that's... scared. What if they see me and actually think I'm a horrible monster, or something really weird?"

"Wander," Elias replied in an exasperated and yet soft tone, "It's Halloween. Everyone's going to assume that you're in a costume. That's what Halloween is. Now come on, lets get going. Make sure to take your bag with you!"

Wander absentmindedly played with the strings of the pumpkin-styled bag. Well, I guess there's only one way to get this over with.

With only a little bit of grumbling he allowed his friend to pull him through the streets of the town until they reached the door of someone who, according to Elias, was 'really nice'. Elias walked up and knocked twice, then shuffled awkwardly on his feet for a moment. The door slowly crept open, and Wander was greeted by someone who looked like the shopkeeper Elias had talked about before.

"Well hello there Elias!" An elderly man said by way of greeting as he answered the door. "My, what a lovely costume you have! What might you be?"

"I'm an angel, sir!"

The man laughed a little, ruffling the angel's hair. Elias giggled a little, and the man smiled further.

"You sure are, kid. And this is your friend?"

"Yeah, this is Wander!"

The adult chuckled a little.

"Well I've gotta say, that's a very convincing costume young man. Here, take two each."

"Thank you sir!" Elias said, and Wander couldn't help but beam at the man. He thought Wander looked cool! Maybe, he thought to himself, with people like that here, things aren't that bad down in this town after all.