Chapter 2: Angels
It started out as a pleasant, sunny day like any other for Castiel little did he know that would soon change.
Castiel had woken up at the brink of dawn this morning with a strong ray of early morning sunlight as he had every day since he and Gabriel had moved into this area years before. Castiel pushed himself up and out of his nest. It was firmly planted against the farthest wall to ensure a good view of the entrance.
It was made of sturdy vines and salvaged clothing from old human houses. The rest of the nest was built similarly. It was one of Castiels shameful interests.
Humans.
They made such beautiful works of art, and clothing. The floor was made out of a foundation of tree branches and covered with human carpets, it was a beautiful fluffy, leafy green. The walls were covered in paintings of important human events and flowers. All around the room he had sculptures of animals places purposely to give them the best view. All of the art pieces were place in the perfect view of the bed so Castiel could sit comfortably and enjoy their beauty.
After he was done with his daily inspection to insure all of his belongings were in perfect condition, he stretched out his long ebony wings and preened them. After he was sure all of his feathers were straight and glossy he looked around for his armor and the other gold ornaments all mature angels kept on their wings. The armor was decorated with shiny emeralds that signify the color of his mates eyes which he selected when he was a fledgling. All children a few days old were presented with a assortment of different colored jewels and the one they picked would be the color of their mates eyes and were to also decorate their armor when they matured. They were considered precious and to be treasured and buried with them when they died.
He spotted the accessories hanging from a branch by the entrance of his cottage. He tucked his wings close and attached the ornaments with some clasps and latches to insure that they would not fall off if he were to go flying or hunting. Letting out a sigh he grabbed a piece of stray cloth laying around and dipped it into a water basin he had in one of the corners of his room, making sure it was soaked he wrung it out until it was barely damp and gently wiped down the vases and carvings he had scattered around his home. Once he was done cleaning he let out another sigh and looked at the wall behind his bed, it was covered by a heavy dark red blanket, it had old Enochian text and pictures. He still remembered vividly how he had acquired it. Gabriel had given it to him when the conflict with the humans began and when they had lost everything.
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The angels have lived in solitude in the jungles and rainforests at peace with the creatures in it and mother nature. Then on a day like any other a group of missionaries stumbled upon one of the many villages that were lowly perched in the trees. Upon noticing the disturbance and the smell of the strange odors the humans carried the oldest of the Warrior caste and the Angels themselves, Michael, went and intercepted them and warned them from coming any closer. They had made quite the ruckus and drew many families from their nests to investigate. Being a mere fledgling at the time, Gabriel had latched onto him and had adamantly refused to let Castiel get a closer look at the strange new creatures.
The coming of the humans had created a conflict amongst the village and the older angels. Half of the village wanted to open up trade and to greet the humans with open arms but the other half said that they should kill or move further away from the humans. One of Cas's earliest and most troubling memories was of watching his four older brothers arguing with and among each other about what they should do about the humans, and the worst part was when their mother had come in and had started begging them to give them a chance and his oldest brother response was to give a cold glare.
Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael did not take that well and the true infighting began, they then started making the angels who supported the humans move out of the village and live among humans. Then Michael overstepped his bounds and had demanded that Castiel stay with them and that Gabriel and Mother could leave. It was the only time he could ever remember their mother hitting any of them. After that his mother and Gabriel had packed up their belongings and left the nest with him in hand. He remembers the journey to be very long and tedious, but it was all worth it when they got to the location for their new home.
It was located in what the humans had called a "park". Our mother had let Gabriel pick their new nest location and the tree they were going to perch in. Despite their home being so close to the humans they were rarely bothered and it also gave Cas the perfect opportunity to observe the humans on a daily bases, it was one of the happiest times in his life,but then a few months later it all broke apart.
Castiel had woken up alone and cold as well as to the sounds of blood chilling screams and vicious war cries that still haunt his dreams to this out of his now cold nest and to the entrance of their hovel. When he peered outside he was greeted by the thick smell of smoke and burning flesh. The angels were massacring all of the humans that were in the area. He could see small bursts of lights followed but the sharp crackle of an unknown weapon in the distance in the direction of the humans city, letting out a despairing wail he started screaming for his mother and brother. Castiel is still not certain how long it actually took but it seemed to take an eternity before Gabriel had showed up and grabbed him. He remembers Gabriel shushing him when he asked where mother was and kept whisperings that everything was going to be okay and to not worry, he was then wrapped up tightly in their mothers shawl and picked up, he asked where they were going but his only response was a sad clicking noise.
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Letting out a deep sigh Cas set down the wash cloth when he heard a rustling sound by the entrance along with the sounds of angry mumblings. His older brother Gabriel waltzed in not waiting for a response from Cas and immediately started wandering around and looking at the vases.
Castiel was going to offer him a greeting when Gabriel suddenly yelled " You need to work on making your nest more hidden! I saw Uriel snooping around a few miles away!"
Castiel calmly replied, " I don't believe we are in any danger of being found, our perception filter makes sure of that and Uriel never was the best tracker."
That only seemed to frustrate Gabriel more as he started tapping on the surface of some the carvings on the wall. He then let out a frustrate huff and changed the subject, " You know 'lil bro with all this human junk that you collect your gonna have a hard time finding a mate."
Castiel made a little humming noise to that and went back to cleaning the vases stating, " I would not wish to be with someone who will not appreciate or accept my interests as strange as they might be."
Gabriel let out a snort, " Yeah good luck with that Bro, in the meantime do you wanna go find some breakfast or are you to busy polishing your pots?"
Cas set down the rag and nodded, " I have told you these are not "pots" they are to hold water and wildlife, and yes let us go find some food."
With that the two males headed out the door and out onto a deck that was made from vines and branches that partially wrapped around the front of his home, ensuring that it was sturdy Gabriel held his breath and took a hesitant step on it, when he was reassured that it could hold his weight he quickly walked to the edge of it and spread his six golden wings and dived off of the platform doing the same thing Castiel leaped off letting the wind caught his wings and carrying him after his sibling. He shifted his wings so that he was gliding along the air currents and the hunt began.
Gabriel was high above him just gliding around when he took a sharp dive then pulled up so he was next to Cas. Gabe then pointed down into the under brush, observing it closely he noticed the erratic movements of a large hare. Moving in close then gently swooped down until they were hovering above the hare. Setting his feet gently to the ground Castiel slowly crept closer to the unsuspecting animal.
In the blink of an eye Castiel had snapped the hares neck, but as he was about to latched the small corpse to his belt he smelled the vile stench of undead. Turning towards Gabriel ,whose face was scrunched up in disgusted, and asked quietly, " Should we investigate?"
Gabriel replied in a miserable tone " Yeah, probably."
They quickly launched themselves into the trees to help their wings catch the air, and when they were high enough they kicked away from the trunk and started flying towards where the stench was coming from. They flew for a few minutes before they caught a glimpse of erratic movement, flying lower the stench of undead was nearly overpowering but under that Castiel could vaguely smell something familiar... human! Flying even lower still they could see a bleeding human male being cornered by two vampires.
Grabbing Gabriel's shoulder Cas quickly and quietly said, " Wait! There is a human down there I would be grateful if you were to spare him," sighing Gabriel quickly agreed and then dived down. Castiel flew down as well but did not intervene in his brothers fight instead he kept a careful eye on the hurt human.
Cas noticed the fight was done rather quickly and then suddenly and without warning the human ran in the opposite direction from where the rest of his kind was. Going lower to the ground to help Cas follow the boys scent, he chased after him. He knew that he was being far too loud but he didn't want to lose track of the first human hes seen since he was a child. Suddenly he could no longer hear the man thrashing through the woods. Slowing down himself he calmed his breath and listened intently, he blocked out the sound of his brothers footsteps and his voice instead listening for the gasping breath he knew the human would be taking from the distance he had ran.
He opened his eyes and started to investigate the ground as well, just as he was about to give up he found a few spots of rusty red on the ground. He dipped his finger in one of the droplets and smelled it, definitely the humans, glancing around he found a trail of it leading off to the left, if he had not stopped when he did he would have rush right by it. Silently follow the trail and gesture for his brother to do the same, the trail lead right to a old hollowed out tree trunk. Investigating the entrance he found it covered in blood and began to grow worried.
Crouching low he peered into the dark cavern, it took Castiel a few seconds to spot the human, he was curled up in the very back of the trunk. Thankfully the human had enough sense to try and stop the bleeding from his shoulder wound. Although the shredded cloth he had used was hardly a bandage and was barely stemming the blood flow. Letting out a relieved sigh he looked up at Gabriel and calmly asked if they could camp out their for a while, at least until he could get the human to come out.
The human was sleeping very fitfully and was making small pained noises. Noticing Castiels distress Gabriel offered to go and get some human medical supplies from Cas' house for when the human woke up, Cas eagerly agreed that would be a very wise decision. Waiting on high alert Castiel made a small fire out of the miscellaneous leaves and twigs scattered around the area. Carefully making sure the the fire was contained by a circle of dirt and stone he looked at the sky noticing dusk was nearing and began to wonder if sending Gabriel back had been a wise decision.
Hearing the telltale flapping of his siblings many wings, Cas sighed with relief and stood up to help Gabriel with the arm load of items he had.
Huffing Gabriel said, " I figured we would be here all night so I grabbed some blankets and some of your human food and eating utensils."
" Thank you I had not thought to ask you to bring them ," Castiel gave his brother a small smile and elected for having dinner as it was completely dark now. Castiel skinned and gutted the large hare he had killed earlier that evening and planted the bones underneath a small oak tree to help it grow better. The rest of the night went by uneventfully, the human had not even stirred once. Castiel and Gabriel had laid side-by-side gazing at the stars telling stories of when they were younger, Cas fell into a light sleep while listening to Gabes surprisingly gentle voice.
Getting up with a small yawn he relived Gabriel from guarding and took over, not noticing any disturbances he decided to check up on the injured male. Walking over to the entrance and crouching down he was surprised when his blue eyes met emerald green ones, his instincts instantly screaming.
Mate.
