Sora couldn't remember being this terrified in his life.
He was only a little angel-kin. His wings were only cherub sized. He should have been in his mother's aerie, not down on the ground helping to hunt demon-kin in their nooks and crags! Well, technically he wasn't helping and he really shouldn't have been there. His older brother, Roxas, was beginning to get very annoyed with him.
"Why did mother have to get sick on today of all days?" Roxas muttered resentfully. "And why couldn't we leave you at home with the servants?" Sora didn't bother to point out that they hadn't been at home, they'd been at the forward camp because his mother wanted to participate in the fray. And he was much too young to be separated from her for a long period. Angel-kin drank in their mother's energy long past when the actual nursing was done and his father had decided since Sora was here, he should watch the battle. But Roxas didn't want to hear any of that. He wanted to jump into the battle too… Sora had overheard that they needed to teach the demon-kin a lesson and it was long overdue. Why the demons needed a lesson he was rather vague on. Were they forgetful?
Sora's thoughts were yanked out of his musings as Roxas made a sound he'd never heard before. It was a half-shriek that terrified him and made him cringe away.
"There he is! I'll get him today!" Sora tried to grab him but it was too late. Roxas was gone, flying into the air after a laughing, redheaded demon-kin. Sora could see flashing black wings and brilliant green eyes before the two clashed in midair. Whimpering in panic, the little angel-kin looked around. His brother had been creating a shield for them both and now it was gone. There was a small tunnel nearby. Sora hesitated as he looked at it. Did he dare go into it? It was undoubtedly a demon-kin tunnel, carved into the cliff. But then a blast of power hit the rock nearby, spraying little pieces of debris. That decided him and Sora squirmed into the tunnel. It was a tight fit at first and he was afraid he would get stuck but it suddenly widened.
"…!" Sora looked around wide-eyed at the demon-kin room he'd slipped into. It was a cellar and extremely dark. He could hardly see and only his hands touching the bottles told him it was a wine cellar. Suddenly a hand gripped his shoulder and Sora stifled a yelp as he saw glowing aquamarine eyes.
"What are you doing out there? Get in here!" Baffled and frightened, the little angel-kin obeyed as the other pulled him into a tiny hideaway under an odd little ramp leading into the wine cellar. Sora found himself pressed tightly against the other and belatedly realized it was a boy, not much older than him. "You couldn't make it to the escape hatches either?"
"Uh, no." Sora prevaricated. This had to be a demon-kin. He was hiding with a demon-kin in a cellar? But at least the other boy hadn't realized what he really was. Although Sora did know how to fight, sort of, and the other child was no bigger than him.
"The tunnels collapsed… I'm Riku, who are you?" The boy was trying to peer at him now and Sora was grateful for the utter darkness of the wine cellar. All he could make out would be Sora's glowing blue eyes and while blue wasn't a common color for demon-kin, it wasn't unknown either.
"I'm Sora." Sora said tentatively. He was afraid but Riku smelled… nice. Sort of musky and sort of spicy. Riku sniffed at him curiously and Sora had to struggle not to lean into it. That was odd. No one had caused that kind of reaction in him before.
"You smell different. Like - like fresh cut grass." Riku murmured and Sora blushed. "It's nice. Weird, but nice." They cuddled together in their tight little hiding place and Sora noticed that Riku's hair was long and silky fine. Riku chuckled. "Your hair is tickling me!"
"Oh, sorry." Sora whispered, embarrassed, but Riku smiled.
"It's fine. I don't remember you, so you probably don't know me either. I just arrived a week ago with my mom and brother. I'm from Night's Nest. Where are you from?" Riku asked and Sora fell into a momentary panic.
"Shadow's Fall." He said the name of the only demon city he could remember. Riku was impressed.
"That far? I didn't think the call to teach the angel-kin a lesson had gone out that far." Sora blinked at the bizarre echo of his father's words. Was that how the demon-kin looked at it? But what was the lesson? Could he ask? Well, why not?
"Riku? What's the lesson?" Sora asked and Riku was a little surprised for a moment.
"Oh. You're almost a baby aren't you?" Sora bristled at that. He could walk and talk! And Riku wasn't that much older. "The angels are asking for too much tribute. I mean, it hurts that we have to make tribute at all, they don't deserve it. But they raised it this year and it's too much. Lazy angel-kin, flying around all day in the clouds." Riku sounded scornful and Sora wanted to protest. He knew the angel-kin did all kinds of important things. But he couldn't say that to Riku.
"Not too lazy to fight." Was all he could think of to say. Riku sighed.
"No, never that. I hope my family is okay. But if they're not, they die with honour." Sora blinked. He'd always been told the demon-kin had no honour and were treacherous as snakes. "I hope your family is okay too."
"Thank you." Sora felt a twist of guilt at that. He was tricking Riku. But what else could he do? He didn't want to be hurt or hurt the other boy. Who would come for them though? His people or Riku's? And what if no one came at all, what would they do? Finally someone did come. Riku hissed at the soft golden light but Sora felt his heart leap. That was angel light!
"Shit. I'll distract them. You try to get out the hole." The outside world would be just as dangerous but at least there Sora would have a chance. Or so Riku thought. Before Sora could stop him Riku darted out and snarled at the angel-kin. To his horror an angel swore and knocked the little demon-kin down, making him cry out.
"No!" Sora darted forward and in front of Riku as a very familiar angel raised a sword. There was a loud curse as his father aborted his swing. "Don't hurt him papa, please!"
"Sora, get away from that thing!" His father ordered but Sora shook his head, turning around so he could cling to Riku who was staring at him with wide eyes. Now that there was light Sora could see the demon-kin had long silvery white hair and he was too young to fly. His wings were little black bat wings and his horns were just little nubs on his forehead.
"You're an angel?" Riku whispered and suddenly squirmed. "Let go-" Sora shook his head and clung tighter. He couldn't let Riku be hurt!
"We won't hurt the demon-kin Sora. Just let him go. We can leave him here." Sora's father, Ven, said soothingly. Sora looked up and happened to see Roxas' face. He wasn't as good at lying as their father.
"No! You're going to hurt him!" Roxas winced and looked down as Ven sighed in frustration. "You… wait, didn't you say something about detonating the cliff if we won? He's too young to fly!" Even if Riku didn't die in the explosion he certainly would when the cliff collapsed. The little demon-kin seemed to accept that stoically although Sora was sure he just didn't want to show his fear to angels. "We can't leave him here!"
"Ventus, we don't have time for this." Another powerful angel, Terra, spoke from behind him. Ven growled something unpleasant and moved swift as the wind, gripping the two children by the back of their shirts.
"We'll sort this out later. For now…" Ventus carried them both out like a pair of kittens. Riku squirmed until Sora gripped his hand. Then the demon-kin stopped and just looked at him. Sora couldn't read anything in his expression. "This is all your fault Roxas. Your mother is going to hear about this." Sora's fiery brother was cowed, both by Ven's displeasure and the wounds he'd taken fighting the red demon-kin. He was looking distinctly battered.
Finally they exited the caverns and Sora heard Riku's sharp intake of breath as he looked at the scattered corpses. Sora felt just as bad… the angel-kin might have won, but they'd done so at a very high price. There were bodies scattered over the shattered stone. Sora couldn't really recognize anyone but Riku started to squirm again until Ventus admonished him harshly. Sora glanced over and winced as he saw the look on Riku's face, like he was struggling not to cry. Had the demon-kin seen someone he recognized? As they left Terra gave a signal and the explosions went off. Sora cringed a little as rock showered down and the angels began flying high into the air. Riku was shivering soon and Sora vaguely recalled that demons didn't do well in cold temperatures. That was why they stayed so close to the land.
They landed on a floating rock and Sora saw with alarm that Riku's lips were beginning to turn blue. The little demon-kin refused to complain though and Ventus didn't seem to care. Sora had to wiggle around and tug on his father's shirt to make Ven pay attention.
"Riku's cold!" Sora told his father, who snorted.
"Who cares?" But Ven relented a little as Sora gave him a tragic look. "Oh, fine. Roxas! Fetch the demon brat a cloak." Roxas looked like he wanted to protest but when along meekly. His father had already torn a strip off him for leaving Sora alone to pursue the redhead. Soon Riku was wrapped in a fine white cloak and his shivers were dying down. Sora was worried though. To him this was warmish. How would Riku survive in the upper reaches? Yet they couldn't just leave him here. Could they?
"Riku…" Sora reached out for him and Riku pulled away, refusing to look at him. "Riku!" Sora put all his hurt in his voice and Riku stopped, lifting his head a bit. Sora could see the soft silver hair drifting around his childish face. His eyes were so hard for someone so young.
"Angel-kin. Why'd you make them bring me here? What's going to happen to me?" Riku said, his tone low and bitter. Sora bit his lip.
"I don't know. But I'm not going to let them hurt you." He said stoutly. Riku just looked at him for a moment then shook his head.
"You can't stop them." Was all he said. Sora started to bristle when he saw his father coming towards them.
"Sora, come. We're leaving." Ventus said abruptly and normally Sora would have obeyed without question. His father could have a temper. But right now there was something far too important at stake for that.
"What about Riku?" Sora demanded, gripping the other boy's hand. He felt Riku hesitate but the other boy didn't pull away. His father scowled at them both then sighed.
"We're leaving him here. His people will find him." Riku snorted faintly and looked away. Sora blinked and shook his head.
"At the forward camp? Papa, this is higher than they fly!" That was in fact why they had put the forward camp on this floating island. The demons were well aware of what the angels were up to but without fortifying magic, they simply couldn't go this high into the air. And demons were bad with magic, except for very specialized and personal skills. Only a demon with fire or ice magic could scout the upper reaches and even if he found angels, what then? The rest of his people couldn't join him to help. "You're leaving him to die." Sora had always thought of his father as the best man in the world. A large part of his innocence slipped away as he realized Ventus would condemn a child to a cold, protracted death. Even if he was a demon-kin.
"Sora, if we take him to the upper reaches he'll die anyway. And we are not taking him to the ground. This raid was a success but the demons are reforming." Ventus realized he was arguing with a child. "Forget it Sora, we're leaving and that's final." Ventus gripped his son, lifting him up and was surprised as Riku came too. "Let go of him Sora!"
"No! It's wrong! Stop it papa! Stop it!" Sora was screaming and the altercation was beginning to attract the attention of the other angels as Ventus tried to pry them apart. It was much harder than it should have been. Sora's hysterical strength was very great.
"Ventus, what is going on?" His mother, Aqua, walked carefully towards them. Ventus paused but Sora didn't loosen his grip, clinging to Riku tightly. The other boy was whimpering softly with pain and Sora winced as he realized he was very bruised. Ventus let go of them and conferred with his mother for a moment.
"Sorry." Sora whispered, letting go of Riku's hands and rubbing one of his bruises. The little boy smiled briefly.
"You're too nice for an angel-kin." Riku said. Sora bridled a little and was about to tell the other that he knew nothing about angel-kin when his mother walked up. Sora clung to Riku again as his mother knelt beside them.
"We can take him with us for now, Sora baby. What's your name?" She asked and Riku hesitated, so Sora answered for him.
"He's Riku! You mean it mama? But how will he live in the upper reaches?" It would do no good if Riku froze to death there. Aqua smiled and began casting a spell. Riku twitched as it settled over him like a protective shroud.
"He should be fine for now, until we can think of something more permanent. Come on Sora, we do have to leave." Most of the other angels were gone already. Reassured, Sora let his mother scoop him up and watched as Terra took Riku. The older angel mostly seemed amused by the entire thing and carried Riku as easily as if he were nothing more than a little piece of fluff.
And they left the land far behind as they flew to the lands of the angels.
"Hhhcheee!" Riku's sneeze was impressive. Sora giggled and Ventus looked a little pained as the little demon-kin blotted his nose on his sleeve.
It had taken a lot of flying but they'd finally arrived at the Frozen Lily. The seat of the angels, it was a great flying island. The natural magical currents of the world sometimes broke off part of the land and lifted it into the air, making floating islands. Some were impermanent and would eventually wander back down to the land, but others seemed to drift ceaselessly in the upper air. The Frozen Lily was one of the second and a great angel city of white stone had been built there.
"What do you think?" Sora asked his new friend eagerly and Riku struggled to find something good to say. In truth, he didn't like the place. It was more aerial than he was used to and full of magic. The beautiful towers were gravity defying and enough to make any demon nervous. And the city was full of frozen flowers and crystalline trees that would make any demon shudder to look at them. Except maybe one with an ice gift and Riku was too young to be showing a gift of any sort.
"It's pretty." Riku said diplomatically and Sora looked pleased. "…Horrible." He muttered under his breath as soon as he was sure the angel-kin wouldn't hear. "Where's the stone from?" He raised his voice again. It was possible the stone had come from some kind of deposit from the upper reaches but Riku doubted it.
"It's from Journey's End." Aqua supplied the answer and Riku nodded, unsurprised. That was another demon city although it was nowhere near where he'd lived. The demons only had about a dozen cities in all, so he knew the names of every one. Riku blinked as Terra and Aqua carried them both to the centre spire of the city. If angel architecture was even remotely like demon, that position would mean they were a prominent family indeed. "Annunciata!" Aqua called as soon as they landed and a plump angel housekeeper appeared. She was startled and somewhat taken aback by the sight of Riku. "Can you take care of the boys? This little one is going to be staying until we decide what to do with him." Riku looked down at that. Would the angels take him to the edge and throw him off?
"Of course, my lady." The angel recovered quickly and bobbed a curtsy to her mistress before taking control of the two little boys. "Right this way children. And please, call me Ann." Sora was feeling full and refreshed from the contact with his mother and went willingly. Riku followed, wary and suspicious and bundled in his cloak. Even with Aqua's spell he could feel the cold, although it was much better indoors.
Sora was pleased to show Riku his home and took the other boys' hand, dragging him around with an enthusiasm that soon had Ann struggling to keep up. But a few sharp words from her slowed Sora down and Riku couldn't help but smile. His new friend was a bundle of cheerful energy.
Friend? Riku suddenly wondered. Was that what Sora was to him? But if the little chipmunk were a demon he wouldn't have hesitated for a second, Sora was just so nice. Did it really matter that he was an angel? And did he have any choice in the matter anyway?
"What are you thinking about?" Sora innocently asked and Riku smiled before he responded.
"You." Sora blushed before glomping Riku and Riku laughed, patting him on the head. Sora couldn't be more than a year younger than him but he acted much, much younger. And Riku was getting an odd feeling from him, like maybe the little angel-kin was a bit starved for love. But why wouldn't the angels treasure the sunny little boy? It didn't make a lot of sense.
Ann decided they both needed some feeding up and soon Riku and Sora both had cookies and milk. Riku eyed the skim of ice on it dubiously, then tentatively broke it with one finger before drinking the milk. It was crisp, achingly cold and very fresh. No doubt it had come from the demons as tribute originally, and with their magic the angels could keep the milk fresh. They certainly weren't raising cows up here.
"Don't leave me?" Sora suddenly said, his voice quiet and fragile. Riku winced, looking down into his milk.
"I'll try not to." Sora just nodded and took his hand for a moment.
No matter what, they were still children. The adults had all the power in their lives.
Riku looked at the slave chain around his neck with disfavour and Sora looked almost ready to cry. But Ventus and Aqua were firm.
"If he's going to stay with us it will have to be as a house slave. I'm sorry Sora, but that's how it is." Aqua said firmly. House slaves were very rare. Angel-kin did keep demon slaves, but mostly to mine the floating quarries they opened from time to time. A few of the angels who lived in the lower reaches kept demons as house slaves, but it was quite unusual. They would probably be the only household in all of the Frozen Lily with a demon slave.
"We tried to scry for any living family we could deliver him to." Ventus added and Sora winced, moving closer to Riku. "We couldn't find any." Riku accepted that stoically. He'd seen his brother's body in the corpses. Finding out his mother had died as well came as no great shock. And he knew exactly what had happened to the rest of his relatives. Riku looked down, carefully concealing his anger from Sora's parents. It hadn't been their fault although the angels had indirectly been responsible.
"It's fine." Riku said, touching the gold chain with one finger. It wasn't uncomfortable. The links were even quite pretty and the little golden bells that tinkled with his movements were quite lovely. The only problem was what they signified. "I don't mind Sora." That was a flat out lie. But he preferred being a slave to being thrown off the edge of the Frozen Lily. He wouldn't be the least surprised if it came to that. Sora sniffed and hugged him.
"Okay Riku." Sora didn't like it at all. Riku seemed so strong and young and proud, nothing like his mental image of a slave. But if this was the only way he could stay… "You'll never be a slave to me." Sora whispered and Riku smiled although he didn't really trust it. Would Sora still remember his promise when they were both fledging? Somehow, Riku doubted it. But there was really nothing else to do.
"Stay with me Sora. I have some correspondence to work on." Aqua said to her young son and Riku was surprised to see he looked disappointed. Why would spending time with his mother make Sora sad?
He quickly figured out why. Aqua was far too busy writing letters and catching audio messages with magic to really spend any time with Sora. Sora was close enough to take in her energy but was amusing himself playing cat's cradle and other little games with Riku.
"What did you do before I was here?" Riku finally asked. Sora played a card and shrugged.
"Read the books." Riku looked at the books dubiously. Some of them looked interesting but some of them… "A lot of them are really boring. And those that aren't talk about things I don't understand." Sora sounded wistful. He'd tried to read his parents favourite books and hadn't been able to see the charm. He was probably just too young. Riku idly flipped open a book then shook his head at the unfamiliar script. He wasn't sure he could read the angel writings at all. "Want to play King's Cribbage?"
"Sure." Sora had to explain the rules to Riku and soon they were laughing. Aqua glanced up from her work with a smile. Angels rarely had children, especially compared to the demons, so Sora had very few playmates.
Perhaps this would all work out for the best.