Juniper

a/n: this is from a 30 Day Drabble prompt on tumblr. I'll update here and on Ao3 as often as possible!

the words are taken in order. Slight AU.

…...

beginning

The sky had turned an ashen grey and in the distance, a roll of thunder crashed over the mountain tops. He didn't hear everything that was said. No man could. And He was just a man. Their father, yes. Their creator, yes. But only a man nonetheless. And when they spoke, secret whispers in corridors and looks passed among their thrones, He didn't know. But someone was always listening, always watching.

And so he had followed her down here. Down upon the naked earth, no other being in sight. Only trees and dirt and sky. In their true forms, they stood as tall as the mountains, each step a tremble against the ground.

Arriane stood with her arms by her sides; yards of space kept them apart. They had never been particularly close. He was her brother, and though that went a very long way, she had thousands of them, and he was just one more. But he was Daniel's friend, had fought beside him on more than one occasion, and Arriane trusted Daniel. And so, she trusted Roland.

But she had not brought him down here. She had not asked him for this. She had simply come down for a moment. He was the one who had followed.

"You still have faith, don't you?" She asked slowly, wind whipping dark tendrils of hair back around her neck.

"Faith in who? Our father?"

"Who else?"

Roland's eyes widened in surprise. "How could I not? Do you not?"

Arriane turned her gaze to angle at the ground below. "I never said such a thing."

"No," he countered, growing heated. "But you certainly implied it."

"I did nothing of the sort!" Her nostrils flared in the silence before Arriane cast her eyes back to the sky as another roll of thunder echoed. She took a long breath and quieted herself. "You've heard the whispers, Roland."

"They are only whispers."

"There are spies among us. Spies! We are children of the Creator, His warrior's. And He does not trust us."

Roland's fists clenched and his throat bobbed. There was pounding in his ears much louder than any thunder threatening the sky. She wasn't right. She couldn't be. Yes, he'd heard the whispers. He'd heard them among the ones he trusted. He'd heard them among the others. But that meant nothing.

"How do you have blind faith in a man you have never even met?" Arriane continued slowly. "A man who gives us orders we must follow without question, who treats us as sions rather than sons; who we must serve without sight and trust without truth? He denies us all the pleasure He gives mankind. Why do we suffer when our only crime is doing His will?"

Roland took a step forward, bruising the ground and quaking the earth with his mass. "Stop it, Arriane." He demanded, loud and echoing. "You are beginning to sound like him."

"Lucifer did not doubt," Arriane whispered thickly, leaning back as Roland grabbed her wrist with heated force. "He only disobeyed."

"And you?"

Arriane looked at the ground again, breath coming in heavy, low pants. After a beat, her eyes shot up to lock onto his. "I doubt."

Roland's hand clenched tighter. "Don't." He said mechanically. "Always have faith."

She stared at him a moment longer, asking him everything and telling him nothing. And then a moment later, with a burst of pure white light, she was gone and Roland stood alone in an empty land. A dozen rain drops fell upon his shoulders and his wings instinctively moved to cover his torso. After a moment of thought, he removed his wings and expanded them sideways to open his body to the coming monsoon.

He had told her to have faith, but she had given him doubt. And like he was warned, once seeded, it began to grow. Not even the rain could wash him clean.

…...

I kind of like the idea of Arriane being the one to doubt God before Roland did, kind of planting the idea in his head, although he was the one who chose to fall first.

quick notes on the story:

I plan on making this in order and somewhat AU. I'm not going to involve Tess or Rosalie or any of that. And my use of Christian Mythology in this story will probably be different from the use of it in the books. This scene was inspired by that awesome Anna/Castiel scene in supernatural. Baby.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review and I'll post the next one soon!