The day had been like any other for Shirou. This wolf demon had been playing around with his twin brother, Atsuya, in a small clearing of a forest. Rolling around with him, occasionally putting up a playful and mocking fight, taking a nap in the sun, and even biting on a spare bone or two, which was then fought over.
"Hey, I was the one who found this one, so that makes it mine!" His brother shouted as he tried to yank the bone away from him.
"You said I could have it!" Shirou stated as he tightened his grip on it. He wasn't going to let it go so easily and he could tell his brother wasn't really angry with him, he just wanted to have some fun.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm taking it back then!"
Atsuya let go of the bone, causing his brother to stumble and fall flat on his back. With the sudden force, he had let go of the bone, causing the pink haired demon to quickly snatch it from him before he could even think about getting up.
"No fair, you should have said you were going to do something like that," Shirou said as he sat up, rubbing his back as he did.
"But then you would have seen it coming. And I told you I was going to get it back. Don't worry, you can have it once I'm done with it."
Of course, his brother was tempting Shirou, holding it out towards him and shaking it before him. The silver haired wolf now seemed to be focusing on the bone. He began to look as if he were going to pounce, his fluffy wolf ears pointing forward and his light gray tail looked nearly motionless. And as soon as Shirou saw his brother smirk, he leapt towards him, trying to get the bone back from him.
This ended up in the two clawing at each other, not to harshly as they were fooling around, but just enough to get the other to try and drop it when caught. While the two seemed like they were truly having fun, Shirou suddenly came to a halt, which caused Atsuya to take the bone in pride.
"Its mine now! Haha!"
Shirou was silent, rather than fighting back again, he sniffed at the air. Something was on its way towards them, or nearby. No, it was the former. But he couldn't identify what it was he was excellent at sniffing other beings out, more so than his brother.
"I…think we should go," Shirou said quietly as he stood up and dusted the dirt off of him.
"What? Why? You scared of something?" Atsuya questioned as he walked up to his brother, poking him harshly in the chest with the bone. "You know whatever comes to bother us, I can get rid of it. Its no big deal. Let whatever you smell come this way so I can kick its ass!"
Atsuya really had no fear or caution thrown into him, not like his brother. He wouldn't mind staying if he could identify the scent, but this being unknown to him…it frightened him. It was too unsettling.
"Please, Atsuya…I know you're strong, but maybe we should go to the river? The fish there are really good."
Shirou wanted to reason with him, but seeing the look in Atsuya's eye, he knew it would be impossible. Now he had his heart set on this creature.
"We'll go later. But first…" Atsuya smirked as he tossed the bone in between his hands, seeming to juggle it before chucking it in between a few trees that were surrounding them. He waited to hear a response, his ears twitching at the slightest of sound. But as nothing came, he just gave a shrug.
"Did I scare them off?"
"I guess so…" Shirou paused to take in the scent of the area. "I don't smell it anymore…"
"Told you there was nothing to be afraid of. Now we lost our bone. Unless if you want to be the one to go and get it?"
Shirou sighed upon that comment. One way or another he would be 'persuaded' to go and fetch it anyway. Instead of verbally answering, the silver wolf just began to run in the general direction of the bone. He'd be able to sniff it out in no time, although he really wished his brother hadn't tossed it out so far. As he went deeper into the forest, that odd scent began to rise once more. This time, it wasn't coming from out here, but it was nearing the small open field, nearing his brother.
Even though he was so close to retrieving the bone, his instincts told him to run back, go back to Atsuya.
"So you did stick around, huh?"
He could hear his brother's voice already, whatever he had had smelled was already there.
"What? Not going to talk? Fine! No last words from you!"
Shirou was expecting to hear the howl of victory within a few seconds, his brother was strong, there was nothing he couldn't beat. But that victory cry never came. Instead, cries of pain were heard, and it sounded like it came from his brother rather than the enemy.
"Atsuya!" Shirou cried out his brother's name as he sped up. Although as he returned to where he had originally been, he nearly began to wish he hadn't.
Before him were four bears, bear demons more like it, one noticeably larger than the others. He had to be the leader as he was gripping a wounded and bloody Atsuya by the neck in his claws. This one had turned his head as he heard the other wolf approach. The bear smirked as he eyed Shirou and something about the way he was looking at the wolf had sent chills down Shirou's spine.
"You know what to do. Get him," The bear ordered before seeming to speak to the wolf. "He needs to be with his twin brother, isn't that right, little wolfie?" The large bear shook Atsuya in his grip, though the wolf demon was trying to claw at him. He wasn't going to give up being in his grasp, not without a fight.
"Shirou…run…" He warned his brother in a weak voice.
Even though Shirou could pick up on his voice from this distance, the wolf seemed to terrified to move. The sight of four bears had frightened him enough and with three approaching him that had caused his tail to bend in, hiding between his legs, his ears flattened as he was unintentionally making himself look smaller and much more weak. He would be an easy target for the bears to take. They'd have two wolves within their furry paws for whatever reason they had come to get them. Shirou couldn't find a reason in this frightened state.
"RUN!" Atsuya shouted before the bear holding him forced him to the ground to shut him up.
Hearing his voice like that seemed to snap Shirou out of his fearful daze. Within a second, he had turned and ran. He could easily outrun three bears, right? But they had to be strong, stronger than either of the wolves if they overpowered Atsuya. No bear, demon or not, had ever defeated his brother before. He began to fear for the worse that would happen to either one of them, causing his speed to increase.
While trying to escape, he couldn't tell how far the bears were from him. He really couldn't tell where anything was with escape and fear on his mind. As long as was away, as long as he could get help, things would be alright.
Eventually, Shirou came to a sudden halt as he found his feet beginning to touch some cold and wet- water. Was he at the river already? A different part of it, but he was. He turned his head back, panting as he was taking this moment to catch his breath and listened for any sign of trampling feet. He was still and silent, the only part of him that moved were his ears, and then his nose as he took in the smells of the area.
There was nothing. Birds chirping and the smell of water were the only things around him now. Nothing bear like around. Still, this wolf wasn't going to take any chances to wait and be ambushed. Shirou took in a few more breaths, calming himself before dashing off, following the river downstream. He knew there was a bridge around the lower area, he could use that to cross and keep the distance between him and the bears.
I'm sorry, Atsuya…you know I can't fight them, I'm sorry…I'll find a way to save you. I promise!
Up in a small heaven, a group of angels flocked together. As usual, they were curiously looking down upon the land assigned for their heavenly and divine protection. One angel, a newcomer to this area, one who was blonde and absolutely gorgeous, had been sitting out and away from the group.
Aphrodi sighed as he watched the group dote on some humans, give a comment or two about demons, and prayed for those that were about to pass on in their life, no matter what species they may be. They were just like every other group of angels he'd seen in his life. Although he could easily play that role to, give sweet little comments on those kinder, more religious humans and hoping for the best for others. As for the demons…he was taught not to praise them so much.
"Hey, Aphrodi!" One of the angels had called out his name, stepping away from the group to approach him. "What's the matter? Don't you want to see your new location?"
"No, thank you. I think I'll go and see it when the others are not around and I have more space to myself," Aphrodi said politely. "I thank you for trying to include me though, Matsuno."
"You can just call me, Max. Its what everyone else does," Max replied. "You sure you don't want to come on over? I know you haven't been in this heaven for long, but you should at least get closer to the rest of us."
"I know. I intend to, just not at the moment. You haven't had to move around before, have you? Its stressful and I just need time to adjust."
"Well, you know where we'll be, so you can come to any one of us later." With that, Max gave a wave to the blonde before leaving him on his own to go join his friends once more.
The blonde angel waved back, having a smile on his face before letting it fade as he turned away from the group. From what he could gather, they were all nice, experienced, friendly angels. Just what was expected of them to be. And now he was here amongst them, to be just like them.
Aphrodi was truly experienced in being an angel, he had been for hundreds of years, but with this change in heavens, he felt out of place. He disliked being around new angels, ones that he assumed would stand by their beliefs and old practices. They would be utterly boring to be around with. No one would relish in doing anything fun, things he had come to enjoy back at his original heaven.
While being stuck in this one, he would play his assigned role. Be a good angel, help out whoever needed some angelic intervention. Though he could already list off a good number of common things humans prayed for, they were all the same, no matter who they were.
The angel was rather glad no one had been curious about his past. Perhaps they didn't want to be involved? To know how he was? Well, that was a perk for him, he didn't want to go on telling his life story to them and he wouldn't.
Eventually he grew bored remaining in this spot and decided to take a walk amongst the clouds. While this may be a different heaven, the scenery was so familiar, relaxing even to him. Seeing nothing but fluffy white clouds, being able to part them at any time to see a wondrous view of the land below, it was enjoyable and Aphrodi loved the sight from above. There was something grand about being so high above other beings that he found fascinating.
As the angel walked on, he began to hum to himself, occasionally opening up a patch of clouds and looking down to see a new sight every time. Although it seemed this area was largely covered by greenery, there were many, many trees below him. Guess this place was filled with more nature than the last.
"Enjoying the sight?" A voice asked, causing Aphrodi to stop in his tracks as he looked up to the source. A sigh escaped him as he could tell who it was already.
"Yes, Apollon, I am. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" He asked sweetly as he turned to his old friend. "Let me guess, here to check up on me? Did he send you?"
"Sort of. You know how it is back home," Apollon said as he stepped towards the blonde. "And yes, your father did order me to see if you were alright. He secretly misses you. We all know it."
Aphrodi mentally sighed, not wanting to lose his composure over speaking about his father. It was all his fault for removing him from his original home.
"Great. Well, you can tell him I'm doing absolutely wonderful. I'm becoming a true angel like he wishes," Aphrodi replied with a calm voice, though a mocking tone hidden underneath it. He meant no harm to his friend, but he was sure that he would understand it was more towards the annoyance of his father. "Anyway, if that's all you were assigned to do, I'm sorry, but I need to go back to my angel duties. I'm sure thats what he would want."
"You know I did come here to see you to. You're my friend, Aphrodi and I know this place is killing you on the inside," Apollon said as he crossed his arms. "Anyway, some of us will be coming to check up on you every now and then. And, thats not what your father wants; its what we want."
Aphrodi paused for a moment, looking to Apollon and studying his face. He tried to pick out some lie in his words, but couldn't. He was a truthful and bright angel, that had always been his thing. The blonde eased up, giving the other a gentle smile.
"I do hope to see the others soon…Tell them I miss them. But you know, I was serious about having work to do."
As much as he would prefer to do something else, he couldn't here. Right now he had to go and be an angel, go and find someone who was praying and hear their offer.
"I know you enjoy it though, at least when you get the fun ones." Apollon stepped forward, patting Aphrodi on the back, it was his way of letting others know he was going to take his leave. "And I do hope you get an interesting one."
Apollon gave his friend a warm smile before taking a few steps forward, away from his friend, he could now let his wings burst out from his back. They were so large, soft, powerful, enough to carry him across the different heavens. Aphrodi watched the other angel begin to take off and fly back to their- his home. He waited until Apollon was completely out of sight before beginning his way back to the group that had been watching over people earlier. By now it should be his time to watch over the people below them, find someone to help, on his own without the eyes of other angel's on him. He really did hope that he would find an interesting one this time.
A/N: So, its been a long while since I've actually written anything that isn't a oneshot and I'm hoping this is something I will continue and finish. I don't know if characters will seem OOC since this is an AU but I'll do my best anyway.
Also the changing POV is a consistent thing because I just found it works out well and its fun switching between the two main characters. I think thats all I have to really say right now and if anything else comes to mine I'll slap it on the next chapter.