AN: Sorry it's been so long since the last update! Between writer's block for two of my three stories and a lack of time thanks to the heaps and heaps of homework bestowed on me by my ever-so-lovely teachers, I haven't been able to work on this fanfic as much as I'd have liked to. Thanks for sticking with it nonetheless!
I'd love some feedback in a review, especially regarding my characters. Have I been doing a good job writing the characters from the play? Are my OCs interesting too? Have I been spending enough time writing from each point of view? Are the point of views different enough that you aren't getting bored? I'd really appreciate answers to some of these questions, or any comments, really.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked, or any of its characters.
Now I'll let you read, review (hopefully), and most importantly: enjoy!
Chapter Three: The Two Angels
The wolf-monster stepped out of the portal into a strange world. There was something green and strangely soft beneath his feet, and the ground stretched out as far as he could see in every possible direction, seeming to rise and fall along the horizon like waves stuck in place. The sky beyond the waves was patched with thick clouds, but the monster thought he could glimpse a hint of blue here and there. As he looked up, following the marching army of clouds with his eyes, a large drop of water fell onto his muzzle. He licked it away, fascinated. It must be raining, he realized, looking around as more droplets of water pattered to the ground. I've always wanted to feel the rain falling down on me.
He lowered his muzzle to look more closely at the ground between the soft green blades, and was shocked to see that the drops of water had vanished. The wolf-monster looked around wildly, but none of the other raindrops remained on the ground either. There were dark spots that felt wet to the touch, but the drops themselves were gone, as if the ground had swallowed them. The castle's floor never got thirsty, the wolf-monster thought, remembering the frozen puddle he had slipped on the day before. Why is the ground outside any different?
Before he could investigate the matter any further, Lynx emerged from the portal beside him, lashing her tail haughtily. The cat gave the wolf-monster an impatient shove away from the raindrops he had been inspecting. Hurry up, she carved into the earth, which seemed to give easily under her claws. You shouldn't be wasting time gawking over the rain when you have better things to do!
The wolf gritted his teeth. He had only seen the rain from inside the castle! Why shouldn't he be curious about why it acted differently outside? The earth itself seemed very different from the stone he had always walked on; it drank the rain and tore as easily as flesh under the cat's sharp claws. To the wolf-monster, who had never taken a step outside in his life, the ground around him seemed to be alive in some peculiar way. He wanted to sniff at it, wondering if it gave off the same kind of scent as a living being, but the cat narrowed her eyes at him and he moved on, heading in the direction away from the portal. The tear in the world behind them remained open, the darkness in it seeming garish in comparison to the world of bright colors they had discovered beyond it.
"Where are we going?" the wolf-monster asked, tilting his head to one side to translate his words to the cat, who couldn't understand them.
In reply, the cat jerked her head forwards, indicating a large building that sat atop one of the tallest waves of earth. It was a magnificent sight, but all the doors were closed, and the windows were blocked, making it seem unwelcoming. There was no light coming from inside it, apart from a few candles, which looked like fiery tears in the darkness of the building. The wolf-monster didn't know why, but there was a strange feeling coming from inside the building—was it sadness, perhaps? He had never felt anything like it before.
The cat stopped and gave the wolf-monster a nudge in the direction of the building. You must do this on your own, she wrote in the ground with a series of skillful slashes of her claws. Go to the governor's mansion—that building at the top of the hill. That's where you'll find the angel you have to kill.
Mansion? the wolf-monster wondered, trying out the word in his mind. A "mansion" must be another type of building besides a castle. And hill… she must be talking about the waves of earth I was wondering about before. These terms are so different from the ones I'm used to!
He nodded to show that he'd understood, and turned to the mansion. Rain pattered down faster, the sky rumbling ominously, as the wolf-monster bounded through the trees towards the building. He glanced back once, but by then the cat had vanished. He wondered if she would be waiting to bring him back to Kiamo Ko or if she had returned home without him. Focus, he reminded himself with a shake of his feathery pelt. Just find the angel and kill it.
As he headed for the mansion, his feathers slick with rain, the storm passed by quickly overhead. Soon the clouds were light again, and the wolf-monster was spared from the downpour. Despite the wetness, the air was warm, and his thick pelt dried as much as it would in this weather in a short period of time. Droplets of water clung to the green blades—which must have been the substance the crow had once called grass—and made the wolf-monster's paws muddy as he trudged through it. He paused briefly once or twice to wash his paws with a few swipes of his tongue, but they only got dirtier as he continued up the hill, so he gave up.
By the time he reached the edge of the trees, the most of the clouds had dispersed, leaving a patchwork quilt of watery blue alongside the pale gray in the sky. Fascinated by the changing weather, and glad that Lynx was no longer there to prevent him from stopping to appreciate it, the wolf-monster sat down in the grass to gaze up at the sky. As he watched, the pale clouds swirled overhead, revealing a strip of blue parading towards him on the horizon.
It's all blue over there, the monster realized, his ears swiveling forward in interest. There wasn't a single cloud in the air beyond the mansion, just a wide expanse of blue that stretched out as far as he could see in that direction. The wolf-monster had never seen such a clear sky in his entire life. He was seized by a sudden desire to stand beneath the stretch of blue, with no clouds, gray or white, hanging over his head. He wanted to know what it was like to look up and see nothing but a blank slate of blue, with no depths like the ocean, and no height like the mountains. Just a plain blue, as blue as blue could be.
The wolf-monster glanced over his shoulder, but the cat was nowhere to be found in this odd world. If he really wanted to, couldn't he explore, and go back to his mission later? For the first time in his life, there was no one stopping him. The wolf-monster shifted on his haunches indecisively. The witch had trusted him with this mission… and he wanted her to trust him again. But he had never left the castle before, and there were so many new things to see in this strange place. Did he really want to ignore everything else besides this mission, when he might never get another chance to see the world?
The wolf-monster closed his eyes, feeling overwhelmed. Do what you have to, he told himself firmly. Fulfill the mission the witch asked you to, and then see what else is out there. It won't disappear while you're busy; the world will still be there waiting for you when you're done.
When he opened his yellow eyes, the wolf-monster saw something heading in his direction, climbing the other side of the wave of earth… the hill, the wolf-monster reminded himself. Instinctively, he flattened himself to the ground as he watched the creature climb up towards him. He blinked in surprise as he realized that the creature was a human, one with green skin. Could it be…? he wondered, and gave a start as he recognized the fiery brown eyes and sharp scowl. That's the angel from my dream! She was much younger, and didn't yet have the star-light wings sprouting from her back, but it was undoubtedly the same person. No two humans could have such similar facial features, at least not without being related. But who else had green skin? It had to be her.
The wolf-monster ducked backwards into the cover of the trees, snarling in disgust as his feathers brushed against wet leaves. He watched as the human girl reached the top of the hill. She looked quite tired, but there was a stubborn light in her dark eyes. The wolf-monster was strangely drawn to her, even though she wasn't an angel yet; she was just an ordinary child.
The girl soon continued on her way between the trees. Torn between the mission the witch had entrusted to him and the urge to follow the mysterious green girl, the wolf-monster licked his chops uncertainly. Eventually he made up his mind; the mission could wait, but he might never see the girl again if he didn't follow her now. With little hesitation, the wolf-monster snuck after her on light paws, being careful not to reveal his presence. He only wanted to watch for now; he had never met someone new before, having known the witch, crow and cat for his entire life, and found himself strangely nervous at the prospect of introducing himself, especially to someone he had only met in a dream.
He followed the girl, feeling like a slightly creepy shadow. It was unnerving to feel like he was doing something wrong; he wasn't accustomed to the feeling of guilt, mostly because he usually tried his hardest to stay on the witch's good side. Her wrath was something that all the animals feared, even the cat, and the witch often didn't even have a good side when she was angered by something. When she was having a particularly bad day, it was safest to simply hide in the deepest corners of the castle and not come out again until her rage had passed.
Distracted by his memories, the wolf-monster almost failed to realize that the green girl had stopped walking. He himself went very still, his ears swiveling forward as he crouched in the thick, overlapping shadows the trees cast using the faint light that reached them through the cloudy sky. The girl didn't look around, but she wore on her small face the expression of someone who was listening for something. The wolf-monster held his breath for a long moment, silently hoping she would think she imagined whatever had alerted her of his presence.
No such luck—the green girl's eyes swept the shadows on the opposite side of the clearing. "I know you're there!" she called out, her voice sharp and almost challenging. "Come out from hiding!" The wolf-monster blinked in surprise. He would have expected her voice to quaver at the thought of monsters lurking in the shadows, but this girl seemed confident. The wolf-monster could sense a kind of stubborn refusal to be afraid radiating from her.
A wave of respect washed over him. The girl was a mere child, and yet she didn't let any fear show, even though she couldn't possibly be as fearless as she seemed to be. This girl was far braver than any years of living and learning could have made her. And so, almost without realizing what he was doing, the wolf-monster reached his decision, and stepped forward into the light.
Elphaba had known there was something in the shadows following her, but she was not prepared to see the strange creature that emerged from the trees. It looked like a wolf, but its shiny black pelt was made of long, ragged feathers, not fur. The wolf-like creature had bright yellow eyes, but its sharply-angled face was darkened by wariness. Elphaba couldn't sense any hostility coming from it, but it was bristling slightly at her as if it didn't like being stared at. However, she didn't avert her eyes, instead raising her chin to gaze back at it evenly. She remembered reading that some animals would only attack if they smelled fear.
"Why were you following me?" she asked, being careful to balance her tone of voice somewhere between respectful and strict. She hoped she was doing it correctly; she had never before encountered a wild animal. Now that she thought about it, she wondered if it was an Animal or an animal. It seemed to understand her words, so she guessed it was probably an Animal, although what kind it was, she couldn't say. "What are you doing here?"
"I was sent here on a mission," he replied rather vaguely with a twitch of one ear, still seeming slightly spooked to be out in the open with her.
"Are you an angel?" Elphaba asked tentatively, hardly daring to hope that her words might be true. If Melena had sent this creature to her, then that would have to mean that she didn't blame Elphaba for her death. Elphaba wanted more than anything to believe that was true. Her heart felt lighter already, even as she held her breath, waiting for the creature's reply.
He hesitated for only a moment, flicking his feathery tail. "Yes." His voice was quiet and rather gruff; Elphaba had to strain to hear his words. He seemed almost nervous, fidgeting under her curious gaze, although Elphaba couldn't see why he would be afraid. He was her guardian, after all.
Elphaba hesitated, remembering her mother's stories. My sweet, Melena had said, if you think you see an angel, remember that all angels have wings. That is how you tell the difference between a real angel and something that only pretends to be one. Despite his feathery pelt, this creature had no wings. But he had claimed to be an angel. Was he lying, or had her mother been wrong?
"Why don't you have wings?" she asked, feeling torn in half. She wanted to believe that the strange creature who had appeared before her was an angel; that her mother had forgiven her for her death. But on the other hand, she didn't want to ignore the words she knew her mother had said to her. It was hard to do the right thing when her heart wanted the wrong thing to be true.
The creature flinched almost imperceptibly, but Elphaba caught his slight movement, narrowing her dark eyes suspiciously. "I've never had wings," he said at last, "just like you've never had normal-colored skin. Since you're different, it's fitting that I am too. How can I guide you if I don't understand you?"
Elphaba relaxed, relief washing over her; the creature's words made sense, and he had no reason she knew of to lie to her about being an angel. She didn't have to be suspicious of his motives anymore, without her mother's warning not to trust a wingless angel haunting the back of her mind.
"What's your name?" she asked him, taking a step closer.
"I don't have one," he replied, shaking out his feathery pelt. "Where I come from, I've never needed one before." But Elphaba knew she needed something to call him, or at least something else to think of him as, besides "feathered wolf" or "strange creature". She'd have to give him a name.
The angels in her mother's stories always seemed to be named after constellations. Elphaba struggled to remember some that she had seen in books from the governor's mansion's library that Melena hadn't already used. "I'll call you Draco," she decided at last. "That's the name of the dragon constellation."
The creature tilted his head to one side, twitching his feathery ears. "I like it," he commented, the hint of warmth in his voice contrasting with the wariness Elphaba had sensed radiating from him before. His feathery tail slowly began to wag. "What's your name?"
"I'm Elphaba," she replied, beginning to smile a little. Her face muscles felt a little strained; with a start, she realized that she hadn't smiled even once since her mother's death. Frex had completely ignored her, spending all of his time taking care of Nessarose, so she had buried herself in the library, but books were only books. You needed friends to make you smile.
As if responding to her uplifting emotions, sunlight began to stream out from between the clouds, bathing the world in warmth. The newly-named Draco jumped as it touched his feathery black pelt. "What is that?" he asked, squinting up at the sun, which was nestled in a blanket of fluffy white clouds.
Elphaba giggled at his reaction, amused by his bewilderment. "That's the sun," she explained. "Haven't you ever seen it before?"
"I've heard of it once or twice," the wolf-like creature responded, sounding mystified as he tilted his head to one side. "But I've never seen it." Draco walked in a few slow circles in the grass, gazing up at the sun in confusion as if he didn't know what to think of it. "It's very bright," he observed, tail wagging. "But it's really warm, too!" With that, he rolled over onto his back, letting the warmth of the sunlight tickle the thick feathers on his belly.
Elphaba laughed again, holding out one hand to feel the sun's warm golden rays against her skin. "Someone seems really excited," she said, watching as the wolf-like creature tilted back his head against the ground, looking at the grass upside down, and reaching out one black paw to bat at a few blades that were longer than the others. She closed her eyes, feeling a prickle of sadness as she remembered the last time the sun had shone down on her like this; the day of her mother's death. She sent Draco to you, she reminded herself. She doesn't blame you for what happened. But even so, tears formed in the corners of her eyes and trickled slowly down her face, even as she squeezed her eyes more tightly shut, trying to prevent them from falling.
Elphaba heard the soft patter of footsteps as Draco scrambled to his paws. "What's wrong?" She opened her eyes, and saw the angel looking up at her with concern in his yellow gaze. She wiped away her tears.
"I was just remembering something sad," she sniffled, hating the way her voice quavered when she was trying to stay strong. But the anger died out of her, replaced with a feeling of overwhelming defeat, and she sighed. "Forget it. I've got more important things to do than cry."
Draco's tail began to wag again. "That's the spirit!" As Elphaba continued to walk in the same direction she had been heading before she had discovered the feathered creature following her, he tagged along behind her. "What important thing are you doing now, anyway?"
"I'm looking for another angel," she replied, glancing back at his curious face briefly before returning her gaze to the hills in front of her. "One for my little sister. I saw the shooting star that brought it here disappear over these hills last night, so it must have landed around here somewhere."
The sound of Draco's footsteps faltered for a moment, but when Elphaba glanced back at him curiously, he waved his tail happily without saying anything. They continued over the hills in companionable silence. Even though they had just met, she was glad to have someone with her after almost a year of being alone. She had waited so long for the shooting star, and it had taken months and months for her prayer to be answered; so long, she had been afraid that Melena wasn't listening to her. But now she's sent me Draco and Nessarose's angel, she thought, feeling hopeful again. Things will get better now.
It wasn't much longer before they reached the place they were looking for; the ground fell away into a fairly large crater, edged with jagged rock. Whatever had hit it must have struck the ground with a huge impact; the only thing great enough would have to have been the fallen star. Elphaba walked carefully over to the edge, peering into it. Draco grabbed the back of her shirt in his jaws, pulling her back and placing her on more even ground.
"Be careful," he warned, swishing his midnight-black tail. "The ground will be unsteady here, especially at the very edge. Unless you're sure it can hold your weight, don't take a step forward."
Elphaba was a little indignant about being snatched up in his mouth like a naughty wolf pup, but Draco's words made a lot of sense. She nodded, and began to shuffle forwards more carefully along the edge. She tested one of the rocks sticking out of the side of the crater with one foot, and when it didn't shift at all, she stepped down onto it. Draco's feathery pelt brushed against her as he began to pick his way down as well.
The wall of the crater was not easy to climb down, and there were several moments when the rock shifted suddenly, forcing Elphaba or Draco to leap aside suddenly. Once, the soil beneath a boulder Draco had tested had crumbled away, sending the wolf-like creature skidding down the wall a few yards. After that, he and Elphaba had been particularly cautious, testing a place to stand more than once if they weren't completely certain it was safe.
After what seemed like painstaking years, they reached the bottom of the crater. Curled up in the center of the hole was a ball of gray fur. As Elphaba and Draco approached, it stirred, stretching feathered white wings. It opened its eyes, which were a luminous green, and looked at them with a narrow face that was almost eerily similar to Draco's.
Next to Elphaba, Draco stiffened suddenly, letting out a growl. She glanced at the wolf-like creature, and saw that the feathers on the back of his neck were sticking up; she remembered reading that when a dog or a similar animal bristled like that, it meant that they felt threatened or angry. But this wolf was just a pup; it wasn't any threat to Draco whatsoever!
With a warning glance at Draco, who fell into a rather mutinous silence, Elphaba reached out and picked up the winged wolf pup. His fur was the typical mottled silvery gray color that most wolves were, but his chest and underbelly were covered in soft white fluff. His wings were pure white, each feather perfectly shaped and brand new. "He's just a baby!" Elphaba exclaimed quietly in surprise. In wolf years, he was probably around the same age as Nessarose. She glanced at Draco, wondering if that meant he was around her own age too. With his bright yellow eyes and sleek black feathers, it was impossible to tell.
Standing stiff-legged with barely concealed anger, Draco whipped around abruptly, stalking off ahead of Elphaba back towards the wall of the crater. She followed more slowly, wondering why he had been angered by their finding of the tiny wolf cub. Studying the angel's beautiful silver coat and warm eyes, she didn't see anything offensive in him. Then her eyes fell to his wings, long-feathered and white and perfect, before darting to Draco's ragged pelt and wingless shoulders. Was her angel jealous of the new one?
Don't be ridiculous, she thought, but didn't speak her words aloud for fear of offending Draco. Having wings doesn't make him any better than you!
Draco eyed the top of the crater, his yellow gaze fixed on the rocks jutting out over the mouth of the hole. The feathers on the back of his neck stood up. "I don't like the look of the top of the crater. The rocks at the edge might be loose, and there are fallen trees balanced very carefully as well. It would be teasing fate to linger here any longer than we have to."
Holding the silver wolf pup in her arms, Elphaba nodded in agreement as she began to climb the side of the crater. Although Draco's gaze passed over the burden she carried balefully, he didn't say anything regarding the small angel as he started climbing as well. He reached the nearest ledge first and watched her with a disinterested expression as she struggled to make any progress without use of her hands. Eventually, he sighed and picked his way back down to her, taking the smaller wolf's scruff in his jaws and relieving Elphaba of having to carry him. She watched in slight concern, but Draco's grip was firm without being rough, and the tiny wolf cub stayed quiet, ears twitching.
They made their way back up the crater's wall in silence, apart from a few warning grunts from Draco if Elphaba stepped onto an unsteady ledge. When they reached the top, Elphaba took the wolf cub back from her angel. "Thanks for carrying him for me," she said, which Draco acknowledged with a nod.
"Where are we going now?" Draco asked the green girl as they moved a safe distance from the edge of the crater and sat down to rest. Although the sun was bright and cheerful, it was also hot, and the two of them had to take a break in the shade of a group of trees. Elphaba herself had dark hair, but Draco was covered in thick black feathers from his nose to tail-tip, and must be feeling the heat even more than she was. "We're going to my house—the big one on the top of the hill," she told the feathered wolf sympathetically, pointing to the governor's mansion. "When we get there, I'll give you some water; don't worry."
"I hope we get there soon," he replied, closing his eyes as he flopped down on his side in the grass. "The heat from the sunlight is really getting to me. It was never this hot where I came from." Draco was quiet for a long moment, and Elphaba wondered if he missed his old home, and where that home was. Had it taken him all this time since Melena's death to reach Munchkinland? But then again, Nessarose's angel had arrived at the same time as he had, and from a shooting star instead. Everything about these two angels seemed complicated… Elphaba wished her mother had told her more about them. All she remembered was the story of Scorpius and Virgo, and that supposedly all angels had wings, although that part had turned out not to be true.
"Where did you come from?" Elphaba asked, suddenly curious about the wolf-like creature. Although she had immediately taken Draco to be a friend, she realized that she knew virtually nothing about him.
Draco opened one eye to regard her with amusement in his yellow gaze. "If I told you where I'm from, you wouldn't believe me," he replied, his jaws parting in a yawn. There was a hint of a challenge in his voice.
"Try me," Elphaba shot back indignantly. She didn't mean to overreact, but she hated being doubted. Adults that her mother had introduced to her had always acted like she was much less mature than she actually was, skeptical of her capability to understand whatever it was that they were talking about. She didn't want the same treatment from her angel, who was supposed to understand her, who was supposed to be as close to her as her second half.
Draco blinked at her, seeming slightly surprised by her reaction. He rolled back onto his belly, resting his chin on his paws. "I came from the future," he told her bluntly. "From a place far away from here that was much, much colder."
Elphaba wasn't quite sure what she had been expecting him to say, but she hadn't been prepared for the answer Draco had given her. Her deep brown eyes went round with surprise. "Really?" she gasped incredulously.
The black-feathered wolf closed both eyes again, a rather smug expression on his face. "I told you that you wouldn't believe me."
"That's not fair!" Elphaba protested, stomping one foot against the ground, but Draco didn't even open his eyes to look at her. "You didn't tell me it would be something like that! I was expecting you to say something like another realm… I knew those existed, but I didn't know anyone could travel through time."
"It's an angel thing," Draco replied confidentially, seeming rather amused for some reason. He got to his paws without seeming to be in much of a hurry, stretched luxuriously, and shook out his dark, ragged pelt, his jaws parting in a yawn. "Are we going to the mansion now or what?"
"Yes," Elphaba responded, getting to her feet as well, although she was a little reluctant to leave the shade when they had only just escaped the heat. "And I do believe you now about your coming from the future. I didn't ever doubt you were telling the truth, really; I was just a little surprised by your answer, that's all. I know you wouldn't lie to me… right?"
Draco hesitated for such a short amount of time that Elphaba assumed she had imagined it. "Of course not."
Draco followed Elphaba as stealthily as he could along the red-carpeted flooring of her house, trying not to feel alarmed by all the bright colors assaulting his eyes. Elphaba carried the silver angel in her arms, leading the way with a kind of confidence that could only have come from living in the mansion for years. As she turned corners without giving the mysterious doorways that stood alongside them a second glance, Draco padded along behind her warily, wondering how he would ever find his way back when he came to kill the small angel. I should have killed him when I had the chance, he thought, furious at himself, but it had gone against all of his instincts to attack the angel right in front of Elphaba. Even if there was nothing she could have done to stop him, it felt wrong to deliberately make a move against her goals. The prickle of guilt that touched his pelt at the thought of betraying his new ally was foreign to the wolf-monster.
But why did he feel that way at all? He and Elphaba had known each other for only an hour or two at the most, but he seemed to be already growing fond of the green girl, a feeling he had never developed in his relationship with any of the animals he had known at Kiamo Ko. He had looked up to the crow and witch, and had hated the cat with a burning passion, but he had never felt any kind of affection towards them. And on top of that newfound feeling of friendship, the wolf-monster couldn't help but think that the second chance Elphaba's spirit had spoken of in his dream at Kiamo Ko would be valuable some day.
"Wait here," Elphaba said suddenly, placing the smaller angel on the floor in front of Draco. "I have to make sure my father isn't lurking about somewhere. If he finds out I've brought the angel here, he won't trust it. That's why he most definitely can't see you. If you hear anyone coming, hide as fast as you can. If the other angel is discovered, it won't be too bad, but they can't see you or they'll take you away from me. You can't be seen."
"Yes, you've said that more than once," Draco replied in a rather impatient tone, but even so, he couldn't help but feel a pang of nervousness, and on top of that, the newfound thrill of adventure. "I'll be careful not to be spotted."
"Good," Elphaba said, but seemed distracted, and slipped off down the hall they had stopped in front of. Draco made sure she was gone before looking down at the small silver angel she had set down at his paws. It looked so much like him; he knew immediately that it must be the creature known as a wolf, although it had soft-looking fur in place of his dark, ragged feathers. That must be what makes me so different, he thought, remembering his talk with the other creatures in Kiamo Ko, bitterness stabbing painfully at his chest. And this one has wings too… which is all I've ever wanted.
Elphaba wasn't here now… he could kill the angel now if he wanted to. But as he bared his fangs, he felt a shiver of guilt that made him hesitate. This wolf pup was so little… he had only just begun to live. Draco had never killed anything before, not even for food; he wasn't even sure what it was like, for either killer or victim. He had never seen death, had only heard of it vaguely, and didn't really understand it. Will it hurt the pup terribly? Will he feel it and be frightened, just before his miserably short life ends? Despite everything he resented the pup for having, Draco wasn't sure he wanted that. He shivered again.
This is your task, he reminded himself fiercely, his lip curling in a silent snarl. The witch trusted you with it. Staying loyal to her despite your hesitation will give you everything you ever wanted, not just a pair of wings.
But killing this wolf is motivated by jealousy, he couldn't help but think, remembering that he had decided to follow Elphaba rather than fulfill his mission right away, not loyalty. Is causing another creature pain really worth it when it is not even for any proper cause, not even the one you started out with? An even better question: does motivation matter when the outcome will be the same?
Driven by guilt and confusion, he decided to stick with loyalty to the witch, however much he might be lying to himself by doing so, and steeled himself to sink his fangs into the life-sustaining artery in the pup's neck. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the luminous green gaze of the silver pup seemed to have somehow imprinted itself on the back of his eyelids, and a voice screamed desperately in his mind for him to stop. He is a wolf too! He is practically of your own blood! How can you spill his when it would be quite like spilling your own?
I can't do it… he thought, letting out a huge breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His chest began to heave in gasps, as if it remembered that it needed air. Draco's yellow eyes flickered open, and he saw the tiny silver angel looking at him curiously, his head tilted to one side. He doesn't realize how close he came to death, he thought, rage flooding through him again. When he is older I will kill him, when he is not so young and innocent. I will kill him for the witch and I will kill him for everything that he has that I never will.
Elphaba came back around the corner so suddenly that Draco jumped in surprise. Her dark gaze shone with concern as it landed on him, searching for any clue as you what was wrong. "Are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head in a manner that was very similar to the wolf pup's. "What happened to you?"
"I was almost seen," he replied, thinking quickly. "I grabbed the pup by the scruff of his neck and hid as best I could. I was lucky not to be seen; if the person hadn't been so deep in thought, she would have seen me."
"She?" Elphaba echoed, sighing in relief. "It couldn't have been my father, then. The coast is clear for now. Let's hurry and leave the angel with Nessarose, quickly, before he gets back from wherever he's gone."
Draco scooped up the wolf pup in his jaws and trotted down the hallway as quickly and quietly as he could. Being a wolf, or at least a creature very similar to one, he was fairly stealthy despite his lack of practice at sneaking around places. Elphaba bounded down the hall and opened a door at the end of it for him; he padded into the dark room beyond it cautiously. Draco glanced back nervously, but the green girl wasn't coming in with him; she stood guarding the doorway in case her father should appear unexpectedly. Anxious to relieve himself of the small silver burden he was carrying in his mouth, the wolf-monster leapt onto an oddly soft piece of furniture and leaned over to place the wolf pup in a basket-like object balancing on it, beside a bundle of blankets that could only be Elphaba's younger sister. Pausing only to make sure neither child nor pup were close to the edge, Draco leapt nimbly to the floor and rushed past Elphaba.
"We're done with our task," he reported, grabbing her sleeve in his mouth in order to pull her along as he moved swiftly back down the hall. "Let's get out of here before someone finds me." The wolf-monster was growing rather tired of pretending to be something he wasn't and slinking around when he didn't have the guts to do his real job. Elphaba's eyes smoldered briefly, as if she didn't like being bossed around, but she didn't protest aloud.
The two of them were quickly out of the mansion, and Draco was grateful for the dampness of the storm clouds that had gathered again. With a rumble of thunder, rain began to dump on them as if from buckets, slicking down Draco's feathers and Elphaba's dark hair. "We did it," Elphaba remarked proudly, even though her breathing was heavy from running.
Draco didn't reply, although he was panting as well, his pelt growing even darker with rainwater soaking into it. You might have succeeded in your task, he thought, tipping back his head to gaze up at the dark, stormy sky. But I've failed in mine… As if in response to his thoughts, lighting flashed ominously overhead.