Chapter Text
“No, oh no,” Newt whispered, pressing his back against a thick tree trunk, bag held tightly to his chest and his wand raised defensively. He held his breath as he tried to slow the frantic beating of his heart. He heard a howl in the distance, far enough away that Newt felt a sudden and fierce blast of hope that he might just escape with his life.
Cautiously he stepped forward, preparing to apparate as far from the howling as possible when a painful force rammed into his side, sending him crashing to the ground and flinging the bag and wand from his grasp. Newt cried out, attempting to crawl away when a painful grip latched onto his ankle and he was thrown onto his stomach. He rolled over and looked up into a wild, fierce gaze that made his heart jump into his throat. A mouth full of razor-sharp teeth snapped inches from his face, snarling and growling furiously.
“Please,” Newt whispered, slowly pulling his head back and exposing his throat in a blatant and somewhat desperate show of submission. “I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to encroach on your territory. I’ll leave.”
The creature snarled, pressing closer as saliva dripped on Newt’s cheek.
“Easy, please. I didn’t mean any harm.”
The creature threw back its head and howled before shuffling closer. Newt felt a hot snout press into the junction between his neck and shoulder and realised with a start that he was about to have his throat ripped out. He released a panicked whimper, crying out as two powerful claws locked onto his hips, piercing the flesh and keeping him thoroughly pinned.
“Stop,” he cried, terrified. He didn’t want to die, not like this. “Please, stop.”
There was an ear-piercing screech, loud enough to startle the beast. It staggered back, snarling at Newt even as it’s eyes locked above him. Newt turned around and felt a flush of relief when Frank rose up behind him, screeching and hissing in anger.
Newt watched the creature step back, unsure now it was faced with a fellow beast. They postured and snarled at one another, testing their strength and power. When the beast stepped closer Frank dropped to the ground, digging his claws into the earth on either side of Newt’s waist and raising his wings to their full and impressive width. The creature sprang back, uncertain and suddenly nervous. His eyes locked onto Newt one last time before it snarled, turned around and sprinted away.
Newt lay where he was, taking comfort in Frank’s closeness until the Thunderbird abruptly spun round and pressed its face close to Newt’s.
“I’m alright,” he said, despite the blood he could feel steadily flowing from the wounds in his sides. He looked down, nervous how far he he was from a portkey or floo network. He wasn’t the most powerful wizard and would do badly if he tried to apparate very far. The last thing he wanted was to be splinched after being mauled. He pressed his hand against the thunderbird’s great beak, stroking gently to try and calm him and his dear friend. “Truly, I’m all right,” he slowly pulled himself from under the great beast and crawled to his wand. “I need silver and dittany,” he mumbled. He looked up at the bird helplessly. “I have neither,” he whispered, feeling lost.
The bird screeched at him, loud and fierce before taking to the air. Newt reached for him, mortified when the beast disappeared into the distance. His head fell back to the ground with a dull thud and realised with a stab of panic that he probably was going to die after all.
*****************
Percival came to an abrupt halt and huffed in annoyance before a fleck of copper caught his eye. He stepped forward and realised with a start that last night had not been a figment of his imagination as he had hoped. An uncommonly pretty young man was lying unmoving on the forest floor with an alarming amount of blood around him.
Pervical growled irritably before hefting the young man over his shoulder and apparating to his hut. He dropped the man on his bed and went to his cupboard to collect an emergency attack pack. He rid the stranger of a ridiculous number of layers, displaying lovely pale skin that was littered with an impressive number of scars.
He’ll have a few more, Pervical thought a little guiltily as he rubbed the healing potion into the young man’s wounds, paying careful attention to the strangers ankle. They finally stopped bleeding and the deep frown on the young man’s voice smoothed away.
Pervical stared at the man for a long moment before physically shaking himself. He picked up the man's wand and placed it carefully in his safe before climbing onto the bed and laying down to sleep.
**************
Newt woke with a start, realising that he didn’t know where he was and, more importantly, the location of his creatures. He struggled to untangle himself from the sheets wrapped around his waist and legs, wincing from the pain he could feel just above his hipbones.
It all came back to him. The werewolf attack, the blood loss, Frank's disappearance. He released an unintentional sob which turned into a terrified cry when an arm wrapped around his chest and he was pulled onto his back. He turned his head and saw an outline of inky hair, light skin and a pair of dark eyes. He was lying in bed with an unfamiliar man, who from what he could see wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“Who are you?” Newt gasped, terrified. He tried to squirm out of the strangers tight grasp, causing the other man to growl and tighten his hold. “Let me go,” Newt hissed, disorientated, hurt and worried sick about his friends.
“You’re injured. You need to go back to sleep,” the other man answered, gruff and clearly unimpressed. “Stop squirming, otherwise I’ll have to bind you.”
“Bind me?” Newt gasped, feeling his heartbeat spike painfully. “What are you talking about? You can’t just -”
“Can’t I? And who's going to stop me, hmmm?”
Newt closed his mouth with an audible click. “Please, I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know who you are.”
“Or I could perform the Petrificus Totalus curse on you,” the other man continued, speaking over Newt as if hadn’t spoken. “I don’t think you would enjoy the experience though.”
“You’re a wizard?” Newt asked, unsure if he was relieved or not. He squinted, trying to see the other man better through the near total darkness. “What’s your name? Where are we?”
He gasped when a heavy body pressed into him, pinning him to the mattress and pushing painfully on his wounds. A large hand caught both of his wrists, holding them tightly together as a piece of rough twine trapped his wrists before anchoring them to the bedpost.
“Say one more word and I’ll gag you.”
Newt gripped his lower lip between his teeth and felt his entire body freeze.
“Please,” he eventually gasped, tensing as the other man growled and sat up. “My bag. Where is my bag?”
The stranger growled lowly in his throat before crawling out of the bed. He grabbed a nearby handkerchief and forced it in Newt’s mouth before turning them onto their side and wrapping both of his arms around Newt’s waist.
“Go to sleep you little fool,” the stranger growled into his hair.