Warnings: Slightly-graphic violence

Pairings mentioned/brought up: Rome x Germania

-1.3-

The only way to describe it was like the tumbling of water down a rocky crag, into a shallow lake. There was so much energy flowing about, Romulus felt as if he would explode from the intensity. And then, it became stronger. Before he knew it, the king was no longer in his own body; hell, he wasn't even human. He was too close to the ground for that to be so. Romulus was running, or at least from he could tell, grass and twigs zooming by beneath him. He looked ahead to see a light brown blur dashing between large, looming trees that reminded him distinctly of the intricate pillars that lined the palace halls. He began to speed up, ignoring the strain on his lungs in favor of catching his prey. In one mighty leap over a log, his momentum carried him across the last stretch, tackling the doe he'd been chasing. His wild claws sunk deeply into the animal's fur and skin, causing red to well up as he tore through its neck in an animalistic fashion, ripping out its throat. This would make an adequate meal for himself and the others.

The next scene took place in a small clearing. Romulus sat near the tree line, licking the doe's blood from his claws. A ways away were a group of other animals that he was certain were spirits as well. He wasn't quite sure how he knew this, but somehow he did, and was very persistent on it. He looked over to the others, watching quietly as they ate away at the prey he and his fellow hunters had caught. In appreciation for bringing back food, the hunters of the group always got first pick of the catch. Always modest, he had clawed off a decent chunk of the doe's leg, then retreated to the nook he currently sat in, the roots of a particularly large oak making a nice seat. It was comfortable for sleeping, but the tree jabbed unpleasantly in just enough places to keep his rest light, in case anything bad were to happen.

From then on, Romulus found he had difficulty keeping track of what happened and in what order. He couldn't figure who he was either- Romulus or the wolf? Was there even a difference anymore? They felt like the same person. He was almost certain they were the same person. Had there ever been a time when he wasn't like this? Wasn't perfectly in tune with another? That must have been awfully lonely. He couldn't imagine wanting to go back to that after this experience. Although it was kind of terrifying, having someone bare all of their memories to him, he found it wasn't nearly as horrible as he would have thought beforehand. In the back of his mind, there was a warm, comforting buzz that emanated all throughout his skull, easing him through it all. However, this wasn't nearly as strong as the feeling of losing himself to all of these moments, all of these carefully documented and filed events. As he fell deeper into his head, he felt a strange tugging at his conscious, like something sifting through his life story as well. Ordinarily, this would make him uneasy, just allowing someone to see his entire record of conscious thought, but, strangely enough, he didn't actually mind. He was perfectly fine with this. He knew that while his mind was being invaded, he was invading someone else's as well, somehow making this an alright turnout of events.

He fluttered in-between thoughts and visions, feeling a sense of pride well up inside him at an especially successful hunt, internally grimacing that one time he was outsmarted by a small rabbit. In spring, he carefully stalked drowsy prey, still recuperating from hibernation; in summer, his little brothers would insist they swim and play in the nearby lake; in autumn, he would pick apples with his siblings for the youngest; in winter, they would cuddle together for warmth beneath his tree. These were some of the few times he really let himself loose, when he was with his siblings. He was the oldest of three brothers, the youngest an arctic wolf, the middle and him gray. The arctic wolf was very sweet, always offering to help others, his main weakness besides a lack of physical strength being his absolute obsession with apples. The middle was much more bold than his brothers, openly causing trouble and mischief in his wake.

In all honesty, the three's parents died when they were very young, back when the youngest was just a pup. The main problem with this, besides the oldest having to take care of his brothers, was that the middle and oldest didn't actually know which was older between the two of them. If they'd ever known in the first place, they'd forgotten who was born when in the time of their lives between their parents' hazy-at-best deaths and when they joined their community. Based on the youngest's naïvity and immature nature, they assumed he was the youngest, but they really didn't know which of the other two was older. The reason he was thought of as the eldest wasn't because they knew he was older, but because he was simply stronger, smarter, and more level-headed than the middle. He could fulfill the duties of being big brother of watching over and sustaining the other two much better than the middle. And so, the brothers decided the 'youngest' would be the youngest, the 'middle' would be the middle, and the 'oldest' would be the oldest. However, for reasons unknown to him, the middle was very determined to one day defeat the oldest in a sparring match and declare himself big brother. Besides the middle sneaking up on him almost daily, almost getting parts of his body bitten off, the brothers lived in relative peace over the years he spent here, the younger two always finding new ways to spice up his day-to-day routine with their shenanigans.

Then, something weird happened. He was conversing with the 'leader' of his small community of spirits about investigating some suspicious occurrences farther north, when it seemed the other realized where -or when- he was, purposefully blurring out the rest of the scene. For a while, he still experienced the memories, but everything was much hazier than before, only feelings really registering with him. The rest was merely fogged-over, but enough so that he could barely tell what was going on. All he could piece together was that he was somewhere much colder than the location of the other scenes, had a short, yet blood-boiling interaction with someone, was attacked by what felt like a million wolves, then got himself out of there as fast as he could. Then, the cloud was lifted.

He had been running for a very long time, his entire body protesting weakly, but knew he had to continue on. If he didn't, those unholy creations of shadow-magic would catch him. It was broad daylight out, but he had learned from unfortunate experience that the rumor of black magic not working during the day was simply that: a terrible, misleading rumor that had almost cost him his eye. As the autumn leaves made soft crunching sounds beneath his paws, he found he could no longer do this. He just couldn't. He couldn't continue, not in this health. Falling down the hill to the bottom, he couldn't help but think about how the rest of the group would perceive this. He'd been gone a long time, more than a few rotations of the moon. Surely they would think him dead by now? However, this was banished to the back of his ever-fading consciousness as a loud sound interrupted his thoughts. Above him was a large creature he had never seen before, a gray beast with short fur on all of its body except it's rear and the back of its neck, curtains of stormy-gray cascading downward. Dismissively, he closed his eyes, knowing this was the end. He was going to be killed by some foreign beast in some foreign land, far away from his community, in an incredibly poor, rotten, probably infected state. He looked like road-kill, and soon, that's all he would be: yet another corpse laying on the side of the old, dirt road, waiting for vultures to pick his bones clean of skin, clean of meat, clean of flesh, clean of everything that made him what he was.

"Salve? Are you with me?" His eyes lazily blinked open to see- wha- himself. His brow was creased with worry, chocolate brown curls bouncing with every movement. His amber eyes were widened just slightly, his lips downturned in an innocently concerned pout, a bit of stubble grazing his chin. Man, Romulus knew he was handsome, but in this moment, he looked downright angelic. That, and the sun, high in the afternoon sky, creating a halo-like ring around his head helped too. His eyes closed once more, and Romulus could feel himself being forcefully grounded to his body, the presence that had clearly been there leaving.

When he came back, Romulus grabbed onto the shining floor for stability, panting like someone who'd almost drowned.

"Herr Vargas," the world still spinning, Romulus opened his eyes once again to see the wolf before him, holding out a hand.

He gave a shaky smile and tried to stand on his own, dismissing his help, only to fall flat on his face immediately afterwards. Or, at least, he would have if the wolf had not swiftly grabbed him by the arm, stabilizing his position before setting him down on a chair.

"You should not try to stand so soon."

"Wha- what was that?" Romulus slurred. He felt like he had a hangover.

"I suppose you humans would call that a 'bonding exercise.'" The other reached behind the king, placing a soft, beautifully decorated pillow in between his back and the chair. "I have now, in summary, magically bound us together. In return for the impeccable hospitality you have shown me, I will protect you for the rest of your life. Either that, or for as long as you will have me."

Sure enough, he felt a smaller, muted but still definitely there, version of the comforting buzz that had subconsciously held his hand throughout. Exhausted, Romulus fell asleep in that chair to the warm, steady feel of his wolf's spirit. The next day, he didn't wake up until well past noon.

Golden rays of sunlight shone pleasantly onto Romulus's face as he blinked open equally dazzling eyes. Last night, he slept wonderfully; he felt like a whole new person! Yawning with an endearing smile, the king sat up in bed and lazily looked about his room. Crimson curtains, marble floors, metallic yellow walls, no wolf on the bed- Wait, no wolf on the bed?! With a start, Romulus remembered the events of last night and looked around the room more frantically now.

"Are you alright?"

He breathed a sigh of relief as his wolf exited the bathroom, still wearing his clothes for lack of his own.

"Humans are such strange creatures. Through your memories, I was able to learn more about your society and customs, but I do not believe I will ever grow used to them. Why on Earth would you release waste into a hole in the ground? Better yet, why would you try to cover up the stench? In the wilderness, you excrete on things as a sign of your dominance over the area. Humans make absolutely no sense."

Romulus soon found himself grinning, holding back full-on laughter from bubbling out of his mouth at his wolf's monologue. He could tell already; having the other around was going to be very, very fun.

Then, it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know his personal bodyguard's name. Romulus felt very inadequate. He had seen almost all of the other's life flash before his eyes, but not once did anyone use his name. It was all 'hey, you,' 'you there,' and 'you, with the gray fur.' That was it.

"Hey, if you know my name, then how come I don't know yours?"

The wolf gave him a long look, the gears in his head turning. What for, Romulus didn't know. "I do not have one. It was never necessary. Although, I suppose it sort of makes sense for humans to have them. You live in much larger groups than spirits like myself, correct?"

He frowned, "But, if you're going to stay here, you should have a name too. I can't just go around calling you 'wolf' all the time, can I?"

The other shrugged, "I do not mind. As long as you do not call me anything that is meant to be an insult, I have no issue with you picking a name."

Romulus thought for approximately ten seconds before shouting: "Aldrich!"

"What?" He raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Aldrich! It's a name I heard from somewhere up north, and I feel it suits you!" The king grinned broadly at his accomplishment. "From now on, since you didn't have one, your new name is Aldrich!"

"In that case," 'Aldrich' stood straighter, looming over Romulus, the air growing cold and serious, "I, Aldrich, a wolf spirit, solemnly swear to protect you with my life."

And that was when he realized that he was in for quite a bumpy ride.

A/N:

Hey there! I'm back with 1.3! =3 In this sub-part, we get to take a look into the mysterious wolf's life, then give him the name 'Aldrich!' I also took the liberty to introduce some characters that will pop up muuuuuuuuch later, Aldrich's brothers! Plus, Aldrich is now officially Romulus's spirit animal, a gray wolf! Yay! =D

Countdown until the part 1 finale: 3/5

Where I am in part 2: Nowhere near finished writing it, let alone all the editing I'll have to do! DX

Plans for the future: Sub-part 1.5 should be up in two days, then after that will be the first hiatus so I can finish the entirety of part 2, then after part 2 I plan on writing an intermission that will be almost 100% Rome x Germania smut. X3

Starting next sub-part there's going to be a pairing that isn't Rome x Germania thrown in for once!

The youngest brother is Scandinavia.

The middle brother is Gaul.

Responses to review(s):

Seele Esser Deutsch: Yeah... I can just tell 1.5's going to be really hard on you... Allow me to apologize in advance. XP