One second, that was all that was needed.

Things can change and things can end.

All in one second.

The creature bore witness to this as twigs snapped and were flung, as a bullet was shot and as splinters were shattered. In that one second the creature saw death and escaped.

The hunter aimed, anticipation making his trigger finger twitchy and then! Then, when his aim was perfect, when there was no doubt of a miss he fired.

But a second was all that was needed and in that second before he fired a twig broke thanks to a misjudged stepping of a squirrel and the creatures attention was snapped in his direction. Was warned. Though it was already to late for the hunter to take back and the shot was fired, no longer perfect, no longer an instant kill.

It was said that to kill the creature of the woods- the unnamed god- you must have one bullet, use one single bullet and hit it just right.

This was false but the creature never deemed it wise to show this. So when the bullet missed its mark but still hit, the creature still fled like nothing happened.

The creature was in fact not a god- almost but not there. The creature wasn't a normal creature either, its body too long, too feline to fit the long muzzle that was unmistakably canine. Its neck was longer than the average feline or canine and it took almost a dragon appeal- but it wasn't quite there. The creature had a stub of a tail- that of a rabbit's with white antlers escaping between pointed ears, heading skyward.

The creature was bathed in white, fur the color of new snow and eyes a pale, pale blue. Though that wasn't all, black swirling designs twisted around its body, its legs, and crowning the creature's head.

But its appearance is what made the people adore it all the more. That's what made the people wish to kill it.

This was why the creature was that of legend, this was why the village people wouldn't dare fire a second shot lest they anger the gods that unmistakably placed the creature there. In the legend it was said that the creature could only be killed by a single bullet slicing through it's heart, no other damage could be done otherwise the creature wouldn't die. But this was false, the creature was the same as any other animal, not any more special than anything else. Though the village people didn't know this.

The creature fled, legs striding to go faster and faster until they couldn't go any faster. Blood splattered on the earth, staining grass and leaves and plants. Tainting everything the crimson liquid touched.

The creature wasn't all creature either- it was human when the sun fell beneath the surface and moonlight danced upon the earth. It was this that it hoped would save itself.

But sometimes a second is all it would take for death to snatch the creature and drown it.

The creature stopped its fleeing when it finally deemed enough distance between it and the hunter. Though it still walked, paying close attention to the environment, deciding where to stop so it could aid its body into healing itself.

The answer revealed itself when the creature came upon the small pond that rested near the heart of the woods. The creature perked its ears, eyes slowly crawling around the surroundings, body tense before it gave in.

It slumped over, resting on its uninjured side as it twisted its neck to have a better look of the bleeding wound that stained the pure fur. The wound was nothing pretty, slightly torn and bleeding heavily but with any luck the creature would stop this.

Though as it tended to its wound its mind started to get hazy and light-headed, vision dancing in before it and the wound still bleeding profusely, before the creatures consciousness was ripped away from it and death standing in its place.

Though luck was on the creatures side; a human boy, not quite a child but not yet a man, stumbled across its great form. Though the boy had no real knowledge of the art of healing, only a slight idea, he had a soft heart, one that cried in despair at the fallen creature and a naïve mind that never once worried of the consequences that could happen because of his actions.

The creature awoke slowly, consciousness filtering through the fog of sleep at a snails pace. At first it didn't notice anything until its pale eyes looked down upon itself to find a human chest wrapped in almost white skin with black swirling designs inked all over, white hair tickling the back of its neck.

It didn't move, didn't make a sound at what it found, already used to seeing itself as human. Or as human as it could be, as the creature still had pointed ears, antlers that twirled and raised to meet the heavens, and the small white tail of a rabbit. Then the fact that the creature was genderless setting it even farther away from the human species.

There was, however, something that caught it unaware; cloth wrapped tightly around its torso, constricting its breathing. Pale fingers touched the fabric softly, slowly reaching over to the part stained red. The creature didn't remember this, didn't even know exactly what it was but it was there somehow.

Then the creature noticed where it was, instantly going tense and waiting, waiting for something that didn't come. The creature wasn't by the pond, it was sure it was close to it but the cavern it found itself in was surely not where it was before it passed out.

It stood, stumbling a bit and making a soft noise that echoed in the dark cave... And then it saw it, the reason it was there. A human boy, barely visible in the dark, but still there, biting his lip and staring at the ground as he played with his fingers nervously.

Then the boy looked up, curiosity brimming in his eyes. The creature took a small step backward, face taking the look of something feral. Its every movement shouting distrust, even if its eyes read blank and stared continuously at the boy.

Then the boy spoke, a stuttered question about the creatures health and his eyes darted back to the ground before the boy started to fidget under the relentless gaze of the creature. The creature answered calmly, relaxing a small bit as it realized no harm was to be done. Still the creature was wary. The boy was a human and humans always meant danger in its mind.

The two danced around this way for a while; small timid questions coming from the boy and terse answer from the creature as they both slowly calmed down, the boy getting braver and the creature more relaxed.

Then the boy looked up, a question spoken before he thought better of it, his eyes running back to the ground. The question floated in the air- the creature slightly confused, what was its name the boy had asked.

The creature answered anyway; whether it understood why the question was asked or not didn't matter after all.

"Creature." The boy blinked before shaking his head terribly- "No! Not what we call you- your name"

The creature frowned before responding with the same answer as before, though after pausing for a second it tagged on, "All call me this, any living creature that can make a sound call me 'Creature'."

The boy chewed on his lip, obviously not pleased but he let the topic slide- asking another question which the creature answered just the same as any other question.

The question and answer game went on in an endless circle, each answer just awakening another question in the boy's mind and the creature finding slight enjoyment in answering all the child's questionings.

When the moon reached its peak, shining through a small hole that neither creature nor boy noticed, the boy gave a hurried good-bye, stopping before he left to command the creature to come by there tomorrow night, that he'd wait all night if he have to and vanishing before the creature could get a word in protest.

The creature, despite its want- almost need- to be as far away from the human, or humans in general, showed up at the foot of the cave It was near dusk so the creature was still in animal form, hiding in the shadows.

The human boy was already there, crouched and folding into himself. The boy almost looked... depressed to the creature. A soft growl escaped its throat making the human jump and twirl around before a smile spread across his face.

He gave a small laugh before reaching over to the animal, hand outstretched. The creature flinched away and the boy quickly pulled back his hand, smile strained before he started to talk, exclaiming how he thought the creature wouldn't show up and then asking on the creature's health before quickly berating himself for asking questions to something that couldn't answer.

The creature just gave a soft noise in respond, slightly turning to show its injured side, no longer injured, a scar where the wound once was. The boy stared, wide-eyed and making a slight gasp before slowly reaching out.

His expression clouded over and he stopped reaching for the creature, hand spread out still, still reaching for that pure colored fur. The creature stared at it before slowly inching its face to the hand, giving it a few sniffs before glancing back at the boy. The creatures damp nose touched the hand and then it shifted.

A slight blur of colors, that was what the creature was, a blur that grew and thinned out, body slowly coming from the hybrid beast to a more human form. Its nose was still touching the boy's hand who stared in awe before giving a wide grin.

The creature leaned back, its back arching slightly as it stayed perched on the tips of its feet. The creature then went to respond to the previous question, hand going to touch the wound and the boy nodded, commenting on the fast healing.

The creature gave the boy a slight confused look before realization dawned on it, a question spilling out of its mouth before it could think better. The boy gave a look of surprise before he laughed, answering with a, "No silly, we can't heal from something like that over night. Makes you seem more like a god than before."

The creature gave a frown before mumbling that it was in fact not a god. The boy just gave a smile, a little "I know" escaping into the air.

Then a repeat of the night before happened, except this time the boy was closer, and the creature watched in amazement as so many expressions crossed his young face.

Then the boy stopped, face falling into a solemn expression before he asked the name of the creature. The creature stared, mind buzzing on the fact it was fairly certain this was already answered and slowly the creature spoke,

"My name... is... Creature." Pausing ever so often to give a wary glance at the boy who simply deepened his frown.

The boy then waved his hand, as if to rid himself of the conversation before he started to talk again, smile returning, though slightly more strained then it was before.

The creature found itself sharing small details of the forest it lived in, mentioning a few places where it would watch the wildlife around it.

Every word the creature said would make the boy even more infatuated with the world the creature was sharing, made him even more curious to it and made him wish to see it the same way as the creature before him, so he kept asking questions.

Once again, as the moon reached its peak, the boy bid good-bye, saying he'd come by the following day. And come he did.

This time when the boy reached out to the creature the creature didn't flinch, letting the small hand touch the fur and the boy gave a wide grin, a laugh bubbling out of him. The creature did wish the boy wasn't touching him though, his skin crawling with the urge to run away but he fought it, staying still and simply watching the boy with wise eyes.

Again the boy rambled and asked questions, wanting to know more about the creature's world. And again the creature found itself telling more and more about its world. Though when conversation slowed to a stop the boy would look at the creature before questioning it on its name and the creature would reply as it did the previous nights. Once again the boy wouldn't be happy with the answer but he'd let it go and start a new conversation.

This would repeat itself over and over in an endless cycle. The beginning questioning turning into ones about the creature itself, its past taking the center of it all. At first the creature would answer these questions shakily but slowly grew to answer them just like before, sometimes even throwing in its own questions on the boy's own past or where he was from. Though there was one thing that remained the same- the boy still asked for the creature's name and the creature would still answer with "Creature."

Sometimes, the boy and creature would meet earlier then usual. Then the creature would poke and prod at the boy to get him to move in a certain direction in order to show the boy something. The boy would stumble, sometimes laughing telling the creature to stop it, that it tickled.

The creature would simply cock his head at the statement before pushing the boy with its nose again. Though after a bit the boy would get what the creature was getting at and follow it.

At first the creature would simply show the boy a few of the sights it talked about first. Later, after taking the boy to the same sights, and the wonder faded off the boy the creature started to bring the child to more secret places.

Though when dusk started to fall, the two would return to their meeting place, the boy brimming with excitement and almost- almost forgetting to ask the creature for its name. Though even the creature's answer wouldn't rain down on the boy's happiness and he'd jump right to another subject.

On the 65th night- the boy had been counting- the boy asked for the last time what the creature's name was, figuring if it answered the same that there was no name for the creature. And when he asked the creature simply looked at him, tired of the question, and it answered the same answer as always.

The boy stopped mentioning it then, starting to ask the creatures preferences, asking what the creature liked to do, asking things he probably asked already but the creature seemed to have enjoyment answering the questions so he didn't bother to figure what he had and had not asked.

The boy took in all this information, soaking it up as his mind searched for a word... a single word to describe it. So that single word would be the name to the creature, but he had to make sure it was just right, that it was perfect. But he couldn't find it, no matter how much the creature shared with him, that one word eluded him.

Eventually, the boy had asked all that could be asked about the creature, so he started talking more and more about the village, mentioning his father, a young girl he had a crush on, and even his brothers sometimes. The creature listened, almost eager to learn of the world outside the forest.

When the boy mentioned the festivals, the creature took on a look that a small child would whenever they heard of the festivals. So the boy went farther in detail, explaining things and mentioning the plays, the costumes, the fireworks, the traditions. He explained everything, every little detail, and the creature would simply ask more questions, trying to know everything about them, fascination glittering in its very soul.

Finally, when there was no more to learn about festivals- or no more knowledge to be snatched up from the boy that is- the creature started to ask about holidays the boy had mentioned or it over heard. The boy would glance up before talking about them, some of them making the boy as exited as the creature as he explained the customs, what was there and sometimes even going into the story of how the holiday came to be- more often than not dealing with a deity or two.

Eventually, the conversations turned to how they once were, the creature commenting ever so often, asking a question here or there as the boy babbled, and once the boy started running out of things about the village to talk about, he talked about himself and his life.

The creature found no fault in this, enjoying hearing more about the boy, learning more about his crush and every day events that happened.

And once the boy ran out of things to talk about, he just talked about random things that came to mind, the creature aiding more and more in the conversation.

It was the day of the first snow fall, the boy watching the glistening snow in the noon sun. That's when it hit him and the boy hurried out unable to believe how the name escaped him before.

As the boy left the hut, he snatched up his boots and as bare feet made contact to frozen snow, he turned around to bid good-bye to his mother who promptly reminded him that he must come home early for the ceremony.

The boy just grinned and darted out, clumsily attempting to put on the boots as he ran- and somewhat succeeding.

It was still earlier then they usually met, so the boy didn't expect the creature to be at their meeting place, but anticipation made him head that way, to make sure just in case. With suspicions confirmed, the boy headed to a new area- one of the first places the creature showed him, before heading off to another place when the creature remained missing.

It was when he was heading towards another of the creatures favorite sleeping spots that he heard it- a soft bang, almost too far away. But the boy heard it, and fear was starting to crawl into his mind- what if?

The boy, like all the village people, knew that when snow came more and more people would hunt the creature for the prize that was said to be promised by the gods if the creature died in the pure snow, and for the challenge as the creature was mainly white and knew how to hide.

The boy started off in the direction of the gun shot- walking faster and faster by every second and losing care of being silent. It ended though- as soon as he saw movement, he instantly froze, watching as the black shadow moved more, a hoot escaping the air. His heart froze, breathe halting at the noise. He knew what that meant- a successful hit. Now all the boy could hope for that it was not who he thought it was.

He moved, careful steps to ensure silence, to ensure staying hidden from the hunter. He moved until he could see where the hunter went, where the kill was and then- then his whole body felt like it was dumped in an icy river, freezing up as he watched with wide eyes.

The creature lay, body crumpled in the snow- almost hidden if not for the black swirling design that covered its fur. But the creature never moved, never stirred as the hunter came closer and closer, a grin widening on his face as he gave another cheer.

The boys eyes closed, trying to black out the sight, trying to wish it to vanish. Trying to convince himself it was not real. But as his eyes peaked open again, it was impossible for the boy to lie to himself. The hunter had grabbed an antler in a harsh grip, pulling at the creature's head as he pulled out a jagged knife.

The boy knew what followed next, trying to force his eyes closed- he didn't want to see it, but they wouldn't obey, they kept staring, staring as the hunter crudely beheaded the creature, crimson staining the pure white snow.

The man gave another cheer, raising the head as he called upon the gods, gloating of his kill. The boy just watched, biting harshly at his lip and waiting for the ice to break in his mind, for his entire emoticons to pour over him like they were doomed to do. But it didn't happen, not until the hunter was long gone and the boy finally picked up the courage to go to the creature's side.

His legs collapsed under his weight as the ice broke in his mind, no longer numb to the feelings. He gave a harsh sob, hand reaching for the fur, touching it and as soon as he closed his eyes he could imagine the creature alive, looking at him curiously. And once his eyes came open it was shattered, once again the creature was dead and somewhere in his mind he was reliving it, reliving the hunter beheading the creature.

The boy's face twisted to something ugly, tears falling, his entire body trembling and his fists clenched. Another sob escaped, a hiccup following, and then the angry accusing, angry yelling, the betrayed question of why it left him- what did he do- and the sobbed demand for the creature to come back. The demand of a child wishing for its friend to come back to them.

Then, when words failed him, sobs and hiccups disturbing them to much to make any sense, the boy made a decision, mind starting to numb but still hurting. With shaky fingers the boy wrote in the letters of his people, a name. A name that could be oh so easily erased with a gust of wind,a few letters almost indistinguishable, but it was still a name.

As night fell, the boy uncurled himself, eyes puffy and red, snot rolling down his face and lip bleeding from a too harsh bite. But he didn't care, pulling himself to a standing position he stumbled away, sniffing as he went and an arm angrily rubbing at his face.

The ceremony seemed swift, blank, and the boy unable to recall any of it. He stood, did his part but never smiled, never laughed, and never took part of the celebration. As soon as it finished he vanished, walking back to the creature.

He saw it, the moonlight sufficient enough to see the form and even tell a few things, but as soon as his eyes laid on the form, his knees felt weak and his brain no longer numb. In fact, it seemed to hurt more than it did before.

But he forced himself, stumbling and almost falling a few times, to go around, to go back to where he was before. He finally fell once he saw his writing, seeing the word that was no longer a word.

The boy was still not crying though, unable to shed anymore tears, but he still gave sobs, dry heart-wrenching sobs that filled the air. As his body hit the icy snow, he curled up, burrowing his head in his knees and arms and simply voicing his pain to the world, yelling at the universe for an event that was destined to happen.

Five years passed, the boy- now a man- with his own boy. A child with white hair and bright blue eyes. He named the newly born the name he wished to give the creature, their appearance so similar it pulled at something he buried a long, long time ago.

As the boy grew older, the man almost regretted giving the child the name, a few times finding himself drawn into old memories and treating his child like he did the creature though he quickly snapped out of it.

When the boy reached thirteen years of age, close to the age he was when he first met the creature, he brought him to the place where he would often meet the creature. A place he avoided after the creature's death, but he felt it right to do so.

Standing near the mouth of the cave, the man looked at the boy whom reminded himself so much of the creature... and so much of himself when he was that age. Kneeling down so he could look the child in the eye, he began a story.

The story was of a nameless creature, one of legend, and a boy. How the boy found the creature and their fast friendship, a story were both were happy with what the gods given them. The man gave a small smile, somehow twisted but the child couldn't name how, before telling the child that the boy, after days, weeks of searching, found a name for the creature. A name the creature never was given but the very name the child had.

The boy looked at his father curiously, a question in his eyes- one the man didn't want to answer, "Why?"

Such a simple question, but it made the boy be able to tell how his father's smile was twisted, it was grim and sad and all that was negative, and his father answered in a broken voice, "Because the creature was dead before the boy ever got to say it, Tuṣāra."