I Scream Boy |-/ Joshler

Swedish Chocolate

"Tyler, Tyler, no..." Josh begged shakily, Tyler worming around in his arms. He was trying to escape his strong clutches, sobbing his heart out.

"Tyler, please stop. You're safe now, you're..."

When Tyler didn't stop struggling, it meant something was wrong. He kept passing his clawed hand over Tyler's head, trying to erase the memory he had just witnessed.

"You're not changing. Why can't I alter your memories?"

Tyler wasn't paying attention. He was scrambling from his arms as he sat there in shock. He left Josh behind as he ran inside, screaming for his siblings and mother to run out of the back door.

Josh could only sit there on the porch, still in his beast form. He had finally done it. He had reached the limit of his powers, he had created a memory so horrible that he couldn't change it.

Tyler would remember it forever.

The body of his father had been dragged into the woods by creatures, the blood trail following in its wake. The woodland creatures celebrated as they saw that they were free from the hunter.

There was no rejoicing for Josh. He had freed Tyler, but at what cost? He scared him so much that he ran away. His prince ran away from him.

The flower that had bloomed remained on the ground. Josh hadn't the heart to look back at it. His chest was a sunken black hole of emptiness now, and even a flower couldn't console him.

With the terrified screams of the Joseph family escaping in the background, the chirps of crickets filled Josh's ears. The sounds of the forest had never seen so unappealing to him.

"You did what you had to." A voice broke the silence. It was the flower, the one who had taken her place in society as a nurse at the hospital.

She stood behind Josh. Seeing the black painted back of her prince shake with oncoming sobs, she sighed.

"It was either let him be taken away from you by the hunter or free him."

"But now he's terrified of me. I'm just a fucking monster." Josh replied. He wiped away a tear, momentarily forgetting about his talons and slicing open his cheek. He winced.

"Not with him you're not. Once you marry him, you no longer will be. This form, it's temporary. With Tyler, you'll be-"

"BUT HE ISN'T COMING BACK!" Josh roared, standing up and facing her. He got right up against her, nostrils flaring. "I MURDERED HIS FATHER IN COLD BLOOD AND LOST ANY CHANCE TO GET HIM BACK!"

The flower remained calm. She drew in a breath and placed a hand on his chest. Immediately, small flowers bloomed from under her fingertips and spread across his body.

"This is the real you, my prince." She whispered.

His form morphed back into a human, but this time, he was adorned in a spiked crown of flowers and a suit of pressed plants. His skin was aglow with light, the pure perfection of it shimmering in the flower's eyes.

"This is the you that's going to marry Tyler and bring order back to the forest. Back to your life."

This time, as tears sprang from his eyes, he nodded. She was right. He wasn't that monster Tyler had seen. He was a pure forest prince, with nothing but good in his heart.

He had to make it up to Tyler, somehow. He just needed him back, he needed him to listen.

Without so much as a word to the flower, he ran off, chasing after the car that the Josephs had piled into.