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moments like these shape our minds

Summary:

Robyn shows Katrina what her childhood home was like. Along the way, they each learn something new. Songfic inspired by "These Woods (Human Made)" by KLARA, set between episodes 6-7 of S5.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Katrina’s questions had once annoyed Robyn. How do you cope with the city? How did you stay hidden so long? Do humans smell weird to you?

Now, though, the hardest questions came from those in power. The law was everywhere – and if she could be open with anyone, surely it was her alpha.

Last night, in the flat, the blonde had asked her about her childhood home. She couldn’t take her to Eastern Europe…so tonight, they were in the next best place.

The woods outside Newcastle seemed to stretch on forever. A breeze blew past, and Katrina shivered, pulling her coat closer.

“I can’t believe you used to live in a place like this.”

The wolfblood nodded, amused by the astonishment in her voice. “We never saw it as strange,” she explained. “It was fun, actually.”

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

Katrina halted, her red lips forming an ‘o’. “Wait a second…you’ve got gossip, haven’t you?”

Robyn didn’t respond, walking briskly. She still wasn’t sure what gossip was.

“Go on, then!” Katrina encouraged, her voice rising more than Robyn should’ve been comfortable with. “Spill the beans!” Her hand touched her shoulder, and the brunette felt herself flush.

“There are no…beans to spill,” she answered, the figure of speech clumsy on her tongue. “We ran around, played hide and seek…we grew up, as you did.”

Katrina’s face softened in understanding. “Sounds perfect.”

“It was,” Robyn responded, a breath hitching in her throat.

Every step heightened her senses. Crunching leaves, moist air, distant birdsong – all she wanted to do was crouch down and -

“…Robyn?”

Her eyes snapped open. She hadn’t realised they’d been closed. “Robyn, are you alright?”

She turned to face Katrina. “Yeah,” she replied, trying to muster a smile. “I’m fine.”

Katrina stared, disbelieving. “No, you’re not.”

She took a step forward, radiating nerves.

“Robyn…talk to me. Please.”

Robyn’s eyes rose slowly. She thought of every stare she’d ever received.

“It’s…a wolfblood thing. You…you wouldn’t understand.”

Katrina’s lips turned up into a sympathetic smile. “Try me.”

 Robyn smiled back, genuinely, and then walked on, soon breaking into a gentle jog.

“Where are you going?” Katrina called after her.

“If you can catch me,” Robyn teased, “maybe you’ll find out.”

She waited just long enough to hear Katrina’s sigh of slight annoyance. “Robyn, I swear…”


 

 Robyn hadn’t spent much time in this woodland at all but felt as if she knew every inch.

If she was on her own, she would’ve surged ahead by now, but for Katrina’s sake, she slowed down. In any case, they’d now reached the clearing Robyn had been searching for.

Katrina’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Robyn said nothing, beckoning her forward.

Soon, the pair were stood inches from each other.

“What would you say is around you at this moment?” Robyn asked.

The blonde’s expression didn’t change as she shrugged. “Trees?” she guessed.

Robyn nodded – technically, she wasn’t wrong. “Anything else?

The wolfblood could see the cogs turning in her head. “Am I missing something? There’s nothing here but open space.”

“To a human, maybe. But to me…”

 She cast her eyes upwards. The stars seemed like old friends.

“To me, this is the busiest place in the world.”

The blonde’s lips parted; as she’d expected, words weren’t enough to make her understand.

Robyn looked over her shoulder instinctively. They were alone.

“Thousands of years ago, my wild ancestors perfected an ability that connected them with nature. It’s called Eolas.”

She studied Katrina’s face for a reaction but saw none.

“It’s dangerous to do in the city, though, so I haven’t used it for a while…”

The sound of a snapping twig interrupted her. Katrina had taken a single step backwards.

The blonde didn’t need prompting. “I shouldn’t have jumped into this like I did. I’m not a wolfblood, I don’t know how this works, and I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you, especially not right now…”

She pursed her lips. Robyn waited.

“What if I’m not enough?”

Without thinking, Robyn placed her hand on Katrina’s shoulder, as she had done with her. The blonde seemed surprised by the motion but didn’t flinch.

“You’re my alpha,” she said, keeping her voice strong. “That’s more than enough.”

Katrina’s grey eyes glimmered with unshed tears. For just a second, she looked close to crying, but it faded as she exhaled.

“Well, in that case, we should get on with it, shouldn’t we?”

It was only when Katrina smiled that Robyn shifted her focus.

“Eolas is…complex,” she said, that being the best word she could find.  “It’s not just about seeing what’s around you, or even feeling it – you and nature have to be one and the same.”

Katrina nodded. Robyn knew what the blonde was waiting for.

Taking a breath, she began to crouch, but stopped short.

“Follow my lead.”

The request took a moment to register with Katrina. “W-what?”

Robyn attempted a smirk. “You didn’t think I’d bring you here to just watch, did you?”

Katrina still seemed reluctant. “But- “

“I told you Katrina, it doesn’t matter that you’re human.”

The blonde seemed to grimace. “It’s not that.”

She looked down at her long, red nails. “I only got these done yesterday…”

Robyn’s mouth fell open; Katrina gave her an embarrassed grin.

The wolfblood’s façade soon broke, as silence gave way to laughter.

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

Katrina gave an exaggerated eyeroll. “Only because it’s you…”

The blonde stretched her manicured fingers towards the ground and nodded at Robyn.

At that, the brunette began to kneel. Katrina slowly and unsteadily followed suit.

“Focus on my eyes.”

The light was fading now, but at that, Robyn swore she could see her alpha blush.

It was almost… cute.

“Relax,” she instructed, years of Segolia training keeping her feelings well-hidden. “There’s no one else here.”

Katrina’s shoulders dropped as her gaze rose. Something about it seemed different, but Robyn didn’t pay attention as to what.

In sync, both girls touched the ground. The wetness of the autumn leaves made Robyn shiver.

 “Feel everything.” she murmured. “The breeze, the earth, the moisture in the air…all the life within. See it in your mind, your heart…your blood. Let it take you over.”

The wolfblood’s breathing slowed; she was getting closer.

With Katrina, it was harder to tell.

“There are no boundaries. You are nature, and nature is you.”

“I am nature, and nature is me. I am nature, and nature is me…”

It took Robyn a moment to realise the blonde was chanting; her voice was almost lyrical in its softness. It might’ve distracted her, had it not merged with the surroundings so well.

The orchestra enveloped her, slowly at first. Then, a jolt.

She looked up. The sky was all around her.

Robyn was awestruck, but soon remembered who else was there.

“Katrina?”

The wolfblood could still see her clearly despite Eolas. She was still kneeling, her brows furrowed. There was no response.

She tried again. “Katrina, if you can’t do it-“

An abrupt gasp interrupted her words. Robyn froze.

It’s too much for her, she thought. She can’t handle it—

Then, the blonde’s eyes opened.

 “…Robyn?”

The wolfblood’s words evaporated. For just a second, they had flashed yellow.

Katrina’s expression was unreadable, as, Robyn imagined, was hers.

“Are you…okay?”

Robyn’s question came out too feebly for her liking, but still got an answer.

“I’m better than okay,” Katrina replied, her voice rising. “I feel…amazing! I can hear everything — literally, everything! It’s like I’m a superhero or something— “

The blonde paused to catch her breath. Robyn relaxed; Katrina was evidently still herself.

“You know what’s weird, though?”

Robyn did know but held her tongue.

“I’ve spent my entire life not knowing about Eolas. I don’t know how.”

The blonde rose to her feet with confidence.  Robyn could smell the grass stains on her clothes, hear her breathing, calm and measured.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?”

Katrina nodded, though Robyn could sense she had more to say.

“Go ahead,” the wolfblood directed.

Katrina seemed to steel herself before complying.  

“You look even more beautiful with yellow eyes.”

Suddenly, it was like the air had vanished from her lungs. She’d forgotten about her partial transformation, but there was something else too.

“No one’s ever told me that before,” she admitted with a quivering voice.

Katrina said nothing in response, lightly taking her hand.

Robyn’s heart was racing as their fingers entwined. She could feel that Katrina’s was too.

She was confused. The world always became more vibrant when she used Eolas, but now was the exact opposite:  it’d completely disappeared.

No, it hasn’t disappeared, she realised. My world is my alpha.

Is this a human feeling? A Wolfblood power?

She didn’t know, didn’t care. All that mattered was Katrina.

Her hair shining in the moonlight, the way her head bent forward to meet hers, her touch, warm and soft and safe—

They kissed each other at the same instant. It was their first but felt so natural it could’ve been their thousandth.

Robyn melted into Katrina, her body on fire. Her hands untangled, wrapping around the blonde’s shoulders and pulling her into a haze of perfume, lipstick and euphoria.

When Katrina’s tongue brushed hers, she went against every instinct she had and let out a low moan. The other girl smiled against her but didn’t pull away.

This, Robyn thought, was what she’d always wanted. Here there were no secrets, no judgement, and no Segolia.

This moment was just for the two of them.

She wished it could stay that way.

 

Notes:

Hi everyone! I'M BAAA-AACK!

Some of you that've been following me on AO3 for a while will notice that this is my first post in quite a while. After the actions of some people in the WhatCulture team came to light, I took an extended hiatus from fanfiction, and social media in general, just to clear my head. You'll be happy to know that I'm now refreshed and ready to write for a whole different fandom! :D

Despite my fanfiction break, life has been busy for me over the past year – I finished my A-Levels, completed my first year of university, and now I’m in the midst of my summer holidays, waiting for second year to begin. I’ve also started a writing blog, The Scribbling Student, which I’ve also put a lot into!

There are many reasons I wanted to write this fanfic: I love Robrina as a couple, “These Woods” by KLARA made me think of nothing but them, and I haven’t written femslash in ages.

However, now that Wolfblood has officially been cancelled, this story is also a thank-you to all the cast and crew for giving us five seasons of this wonderful, ground-breaking show – and especially Simon Underwood, the writer who worked so hard to get Robrina featured in the first place.

As far as fanfiction goes, these past few months of no uni to take up my thoughts have led to a lot of ideas. I’m taking a hopefully shorter break now to work on my original pieces, but this summer will be nothing if not productive!

Thanks for reading, guys!

Wishing you a happy life,

Blaze xox