BRONTIDE – (n) the low rumbling of distance thunder

The sky cracked with light as lightning touched down somewhere in the distance. One hooded creature leapt from building to building, trying desperately to reach home. His heart was pounding almost as loud as the rain around him. His hood was clinging to face. He tried to smell his way home, but the storm washed away the scent of his family.

"This stupid lightning storm," he huffed, pausing on the edge of one rooftop to hopelessly wipe his wet red hair out of his face.

Wyatt leapt for another few miles in what appeared to be the correct direction. He wasn't sure if he was going straight or in a giant circle of sorts. Either way, it frayed his nerves horribly. As if the flashes weren't enough.

A sudden crack of thunder forced his muscles to tense in midair and he plummeted down five stories, landing crooked on an old pile of trash. He couldn't even scream, his voice stolen away by the vicious clap of sound in the air. It took him a moment to find himself, shakily rising to his feet. His ears were still ringing, the noise too loud for his overly-sensitive ears.

With a deep breath, he crouched and jumped back up to the roof, his sense of direction skewed by the fall. He was worried he wasn't going to survive the night, not in this weather. His heart ached for his fathers and his boyfriend. They must be distraught.

"I'm sorry, Arson," his voice said in less than a whisper against the storm's noise. His heart clenched in fear as another roll of thunder rocked his frame. He ducked into a building for the duration of the storm, his entire thin frame racked with chills. Deeper into the building he climbed, looking for the most secluded area he could find. He could smell the stench of Spitters, who did not take too kindly to Hunters for unknown reasons, and used the training his "mother" has given him to sneak in with as little detection as possible.

Into a room he went, locking the door behind him before shedding his soaked zebra-design-like hood. He wrung out the comfortable cotton fabric of nearly a gallon of water before curling into the warmest corner of the room to go to sleep. Oh how he wanted to curl beside his lover, lost together. At least with him, he would feel safer.

"Arson..."


"We have to go find him. He's been gone for hours," Landon reasoned, pacing madly back and forth on all fours. Claw marks tore in the aqua hoodie sleeves. Vance watched him with a worried expression.

"Wyatt is a smart boy. He's probably holed up in a locked room, waiting for the hurricane to let up," Vance stated, hiding the fear he felt himself behind his ebony hair. Their son was a smart boy, both of them could attest to that, but what would happen if he ever went missing for good?

"Vance, we have to go out and look for him. We have to, before he really hurts himself. Or before something else hurts him."

"I'll find him."

Landon turned in his spot as a second Smoker entered the room. The elder Smoker's cloud grew as sudden protectiveness overcame him.

"No. You will not go after my son. Not in thi-"

"That wasn't a request, sir," Arson replied, standing his ground. This was his mate. His responsibility. His lover and his life. "It was a statement."

Vance passed his lover to approach the boy who had stolen his son's fragile heart. The two smoke clouds swirled together. "One of you out in that storm is bad enough. We don't need to worry about you too."

"I don't care. I'm going to find him. And I will bring him back." His stoic demeanor was starting to slip. Wyatt's "father" was really making him anxious to leave.

Landon approached and rose to two legs, pulling back his hood. His red eyes were filled with worry and hope. A soft clawed hand landed on the young boy's shoulder.

"Please...bring my son home."

"Of course."

With that, Arson left, not willing to wait and see if Vance was going to give him the same permission. He opened the door to the hotel room and closed it behind him. Down four flights of stairs he trekked, the storm growing louder the lower he went. He stopped at the front doors of the building and sighed. He hated getting caught in the rain.

But he hated the thought of losing the love of his life even more.

So he took a deep breath to calm his nerves as a roll of thunder echoed in the distance.

"I'm coming, Wyatt."


All Chapters Containing these four Hunters and Smokers as main characters are for another friend of mine. I expect love from her as well. Arson, Wyatt, Landon, and Vance all belong to her. She simply allowed me to use them in my work.