Chapter Text
Cadmus was, as he was most other nights, bored. There was very little to do when you lived alone on a mountain. In his youth, he had dreamed of inviting many friends over to live with him, to tend to a farm and weave and read and draw, but that dream was slowly crushed under the apathetic necessity that was keeping himself alive. There was little time to hike to the nearest town for frivolous things, not when he would be thrown out if someone caught sight of him. Not when there were sheep and cattle to be herded to greener meadows, crops to water and weed, and tools to mend. Even now, he was busy- if he couldn’t sleep, then he must work. Idle hands made for hungry bellies, after all.
Stretching, Cadmus sighed. It seemed tonight would be a sleepless night after all. He groaned as he lifted himself to his feet, but staggered over to the cave entrance and poked his head outside. The moonlight glimmered off the lake, and Cadmus flicked an ears as he heard a fox shriek and interrupt the many crickets that made up the night-time symphony. He tossed his head, shaking out his mane of fur, before heading down to the water.
There were barely any clouds in the sky to obscure the many stars he could see. Though it had gotten more difficult to see the stars as he grew, Cadmus could still distinguish many of the seasonal constellations that decorated the night sky. He wondered if it was the quality of his eyes diminishing, or if the populations of nearby towns that grew to cities had started shining their own lights into the sky. Either way, there was little chance he would ever find out.
Reaching the lake shore, Cadmus settled down with another sigh. His tail wrapped around his body as he drew his knees up to his chest. A breeze tickled across his back, whispering through his mane and rustling the cattails. The trees around him creaked as the wind blew through them. Closing his eyes, Cadmus tilted his head up, leaning back on his hands. God, what he wouldn’t give for some company. His sheep and cows were poor conversationalists, and any time some hiker came up to his lake, Cadmus sequestered himself in his cave lest the hiker run crying back to civilization blubbering about an unholy beast hidden in the mountains stealing the herds from farmers and eating children. It had been a long time since he had fled from his last home, but it still brought painful memories bubbling to the surface.
Another fox- or perhaps a raccoon- shrieked in the woods. Blinking open his eyes, Cadmus looked towards the deer path that led towards the denser woods. Foxes or raccoons shrieking in the night wasn’t uncommon- neither was them being startled by a bear roaming around late at night. Still, something in his gut told him that the shriek he had heard was not a typical animal call. He stood up slowly, trying to avoid letting gravel and sand crunch under his feet. His tail settled low over the ground, spikes flaring. Was there time to grab a weapon, he asked himself. The call hadn’t been overtly loud. Cadmus’s ears flared, trying to catch any steps from an animal or otherwise. He crept back towards his cave, grabbing the axe he had stolen from an older man a few years ago. Palming it, he inched back out. Stalking towards the deer path, Cadmus kept his head on a swivel, waiting for a threat to make itself known.
A bang sounded through the woods. Quickly followed by the sound of a very pissed off animal, and a scream of rage from something that was angrier.
Cadmus hissed in surprise, rattling his tail spikes as he launched himself down the mountain to figure out just what was going on. Running down the path, axe held tightly in hand, he jumped over a felled tree and nearly tripped in his haste as another bang sounded. This time, he was looking in the right direction and saw the flash of light that confirmed a gun was present. Slowing down, Cadmus crouched lower to the ground, slowly peeking from behind trees and through bushes. He wasn’t made for stealth, unfortunately, but he had learned just enough to not give away his position to a preoccupied enemy. It was close, though, as another gunshot sounded. Pressing his ears to the side of his head, Cadmus crept ever closer.
A dark shape flew over him, a flash of white fur on the thing’s stomach. Whatever it was that had just started fleeing, it was big. Cadmus rolled out of the way as the other creature started crashing through the trees after it. Staring wide-eyed, he watched as a man clutching a pistol ran through the brush. The other was very tall, and fairly broad, but most interestingly, he was red . A thin tail whipped through the brush as the other kept running, and it nearly whipped across Cadmus’s face before he ducked.
“You son of a bitch! Get back here with that pistol, you demonic little pissbaby!” The other’s raspy shout rang through the forest, and Cadmus startled again, rattling his spines in surprise before forcing them flat. Thankfully, the red man missed the rattle, too occupied with- hold on, did the creature that ran first have the red man’s gun? Oh dear.
Cadmus clambered to his feet, still clutching the axe. He didn’t want to make himself known, but any animal with the ability to grab, and probably fire a gun, wasn’t one he wanted heading anywhere near his cave and livestock. He took much greater care in placing his feet, but ran after the black-and-white flash and the red man as fast as he could. Cadmus darted around trees and clambered onto a boulder, trying to cut the black shape off before it reached the lake.
He kept running, barely managing to catch up to the creature. Cadmus could just make out a thin tail and a dog-like face, but despite the creature’s limping run from holding the gun, it was still startlingly fast and good at moving in a wooded environment. Panting, he leapt off the higher ground and tackled the creature. Cadmus dug in his claws, trying to wrestle the creature so that it wouldn’t bite him or escape. God, he hoped this thing didn’t have rabies. The creature shrieked in his ear, and Cadmus roared back in anger, accidentally squeezing his claws tighter. The creature- was it a monkey?- choked, the shriek cutting off into a gurgle. It scrabbled at the ground, waving around the gun it had stolen from the red man and trying to fire it.
“Now I’ve gotcha- what the fuck?” Oh, it seemed like the red man had rejoined the party. Great. Cadmus hissed, locking an arm around the monkey’s neck, but cried out has long claws raked across his arm. What type of fucking monkey was this?
A red hand reached down and pried the gun out of the monkey’s paw. The monkey cried out again, but whimpered. Cadmus looked up to see the red man pointing the gun at the monkey’s forehead. The gun clicked, and the red man tilted his head. Cadmus narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything. However, he couldn’t control the way his tail lashed, brushing the leaf litter and dirt from side to side. The monkey squirmed, claws digging into Cadmus’s arm even further, but Cadmus didn’t let up his grip.
“I’d move my head if I were you, kid.” Cadmus tilted his head in confusion before rearing back in fear as the red man fired the gun. Blood and gore spattered across his face, and he scrunched up his nose in disgust. Tossing his head, he did his best to shake off the brain matter. It didn’t work very well. Untangling himself from the corpse, Cadmus tossed his head again, shaking his mane out. He clenched his hands before relaxing them and turning to face the red man.
The other was definitely not human. Cadmus was surprised that they shared a similar build- tall and broad. He hadn’t actually seen anyone as tall as him- the odd bear only came up to his neck. The other’s eyes practically glowed gold in the night, and on his forehead were what looked like the stumps of horns. Cadmus rose to his feet, flicking an ear and tilting his head.
“Who’re you?” The other asked.
Cadmus stayed silent. He didn’t particularly want to answer- he’d rather go back home and get ready for the dawn that was steadily brewing. And this question was oh-so dangerous. Imagine if the other stole his name. Still… as long as he worded it fine the other shouldn’t be able to steal anything from him.
“You can call me Cadmus.” His voice was a little hoarse- he didn’t talk to many people, after all. “Who are you to come a-hunting in my mountain?”
The other squinted his eyes, and tucked his gun into his belt loop. He stuck his left hand out for a handshake. “Hellboy, with the BPRD.”
How odd. Cadmus thought people were supposed to shake with their right hand. Was this “Hellboy” a leftie? His eyes flicked to Hellboy’s right arm, widening when he saw the large mass of rock that vaguely resembled a hand. Oh. That was probably why he shook with his left.
Cautiously, Cadmus shook Hellboy’s hand. “And who are the BPRD?”
Hellboy chuckled dryly. “We’re basically paranormal detectives- we try to keep humans from being hurt by or hurting cryptids ‘n shit.” Leaning against a tree, he scratched his stomach and yawned. “Don’t usually come all the way up to rural New Hampshire- specially not for a dipshit Devil Monkey that’s eaten one too many dogs.”
Cadmus tried not to let confusion flit across his face. New Hampshire- was that the name of the mountain range he lived in? He could connect the dots and figure out that a Devil Monkey was whatever Hellboy had just made into a corpse, but Cadmus lived as a hermit, with all the lack of knowledge of the outside world that that implied. “Right. Do you uh… do you want early breakfast?” The inelegant subject change was crude, but he didn’t particularly know how to respond. Feed Hellboy, get him out of his mountain, and go back to living his boring day-to-day life.
Hellboy’s eyes glimmered with interest. “Breakfast sounds good right about now. Whaddya got?