Living on a Prayer Ch. 2
Disclaimer: I don't anything recognizable in this story, nor am I making any profit from it.
Author's Note: This story is a LATE birthday present for Criminally Charmed. I hope you enjoy it my friend. _
Previously: 'Should have known he wouldn't fully go to sleep until I was back," John thought to himself before fading off to sleep himself. Dean was very protective when it came to family.
Waking up early the next morning just as the sun was coming over the horizon, John emitted a jaw popping yawn and then climbed out of the sleeping bag, immediately shivering as he felt the loss of warmth that the sleeping bag had cocooned him with. Glancing around for his jacket, he was grateful to see that Sam had shrugged it off before going to sleep the night before and had propped it over his backpack. Grasping the jacket, he quickly pulled it on and then prepared to awaken his sons so they could go catch their morning breakfast. Glancing over at the two sleeping teens, his resolve to wake them dissolved in seconds flat.
Sometime during the night, Sam had squirmed about in his sleeping bag and was now resting with his head in the crook of Dean's shoulder and Dean had somehow managed to arrange his sleeping bag so that he could throw a protective arm over Sammy and still manage to stay warm. Not knowing for sure if Sam had been awakened by a nightmare sometime during the night and had sought out the comfort of his big brother, or if his youngest had just been restless, he decided to let both boys sleep.
Grabbing one of the collapsible fishing rods and a reel along with some fish bait, he quietly exited the tent. Scanning the surroundings for any danger, he breathed a sigh of relief noting the quiet tranquility of the forest, and then made his way down to the stream not too far from camp. With any luck, he would be able to catch some nice sized trout for breakfast and still get back before his boys awoke.
Casting his pole out into the water, John took some time to think about the hunt. They had come to the area because five campers had been reportedly mauled to death by what witnesses assumed was a rabid wolf. Of course there were some conflicting reports with others saying the animal looked more like part wolf, and part lion because of its' long mane. Forest Rangers had assumed that the witnesses were in shock and therefore unable to give an accurate description of what they saw. John of course, knew better. After some research and a little help from Bobby Singer, John had determined that the creature was an Alphyn, a creature that was very fierce and reputed to breathe fire.
Feeling a tug on his pole, John was drawn from his thoughts and quickly jerked the fishing rod just a little to snag the fish and then quickly hauled in his catch as the fish struggled to get away. Reeling it in to shore, John smiled at the size of the fish. Another couple of hauls like this one and he and his boys would have a wonderful breakfast.
Thirty minutes later found John hiking back to the camp area. As he neared the campsite, he could smell the aroma of coffee in the air. 'Sure hope Dean brewed me a good strong cup of coffee' John thought to himself as he quickened his pace just a little.
"Morning boys, hope you two are hungry," John called out as he strolled within their sight just a few moments later, holding up the string of nice sized trout that he had managed to catch for their breakfast.
"Damn straight we are," Dean replied for the two of them, licking his lips at the thought of having such a tasty treat after having to eat those nasty beans the previous night.
"Awesome, then you get the privilege of cleaning them, Sport" John smirked as he handed over the line of trout to his eldest. "Hey Sam, how about making your old man a cup of coffee while I put this fishing gear away."
"Yes Sir," Sam replied, grasping the porcelain pot from the fire with a towel to keep from burning his fingers and filling his father's tin cup and filling it to the brim.
"Sure, give the brat the easy job," Dean complained good-naturedly as he set about his job of de-scaling and cleaning the fish.
"I'm not a brat, Jerk," Sam responded.
"Sure you are, Bitch," Dean automatically retorted as he began to scrape the scales from the fish using his old penknife.
Shaking his head at the antics of his boys, John thoroughly eyed the area around the camp once more before entering the pup tent through the small flap and putting his gear away.
~~Supernatural~~
"Tell me again, what do we know about this alphyn we'll soon be hunting?" Dean inquired as he pulled off a piece of the cooked fish and tossed it into his mouth. They had discussed the creatureon the way up to the mountains in the Impala, but he wanted to make sure that nothing was left out and it was always good to refresh their minds just before setting out on the hunt.
"Well, as you boys already know, the creature resembles a wolf with the mane of a lion. It is said to breathe fire, but that has never been proven yet," John voiced in between taking bites of his own cooked fish. "The thing we need to be most careful of though is its claws since they are razor sharp. "When the creature strikes, it uses it's long, eagle like talons to gut its' victims before they are even aware of what's happening, so I want you boys to be hyper aware at all times when we are hunting the damn thing."
"Yes Sir, you know we will be," Dean replied, knowing that he would be even more vigilant considering that Sam was on this hunt also. Sure, his fifteen year old little brother had been on quite a few hunts already, but he still felt responsible for the kid's safety.
"When are we going to break camp and begin the hunt?" Sam asked as he chased down his bite of fish with some of the water in his canteen.
"As soon as you boys are finished with breakfast," John answered as he finished off his own piece of fish. "We'll hike down to the river and wash up our breakfast dishes and then pack up everything and hit the trail."
"Sounds good to me. The sooner we get started, the sooner it will be over," Dean groused as he swatted at the bugs that were beginning to buzz around his face now that it was beginning to warm up some with the sun. Damn, but he hated camping.
"I'm finished now, so I'll just go ahead down to the lake and st…" Sam started to say before he was interrupted by his father.
"Not by yourself you're not," John voiced quickly, holding up a hand to cut off the objection he knew was about to come from his youngest. "According to reports, this creature starts hunting around noon and I am not taking any chances with that thing thinking you are easy prey if you're by yourself."
"Dad's right Sammy. Besides, I'm finished now also so we can go down together," Dean informed his brother as he stuffed the last of his fish into his mouth.
"M'not a baby, ya know," Sam grumbled under his breath as he pushed himself to his feet. Sometimes it felt like his family would never let him grow up.
"I know you're not Kiddo, but I'd rather be safe than sorry," John voiced as he pushed to his feet also. "Besides, your big brother is the one who needs looking after, so I am going to."
"Ha, Ha," Dean groused, giving his Dad the stink-eye as John grasped the pot of leftover coffee and poured it over the campfire to put it out.
~~Supernatural~~
Making their way through the dense vegetation a couple of hours later, John held up is hand to signal the boys to stop.
"What is it Dad?" Dean asked with a whisper as he scanned the surrounding area with an observant eye.
"I thought I heard something," John answered, nodding his head towards the area where the sound hand come from.
Crouching down, the family listened as a crunching of leaves sound could be heard once again. Immediately focusing their eyes on the area, they couldn't help but smile as they watched a mother doe and her young fawn come into their view.
"Wow," Sam murmured appreciatively under his breath as he watched them feed on some grass. They rarely got to see scenes like this one and it nearly took his breath away.
"Yeah, Dean agreed," watching himself as the two forest animals enjoyed their meal.
Suddenly raising her head as the wind shifted and the scent of danger filled her with alarm, the mother deer quickly darted off into the undergrowth with her baby immediately following behind.
"Damn, wonder what made her take off so fast," Sam questioned with a sigh as he took in the now empty area up ahead.
"She probably caught scent of us," John explained as he and his boys once again started moving as silently as possible through the thickening flora.
'Yeah, or it could be that damn monster we're hunting,' Dean thought to himself as he held his gun in a more ready stance and took up a more defensive position behind his younger sibling.
The thought had no sooner left his mind when the Winchesters were stopped short by a menacing growl.
Raising his gun, John immediately scanned the area where the growl came from. "Boys?" John voiced, the unspoken question of whether or not they had seen anything immediately understood by both teens.
"Nothing, Sir," Dean answered with a whisper as he scanned the surrounding area.
"Nothing here eith-DEAN LOOK OUT," Sammy shouted as he witnessed the Alphyn drop down from a tree above, its claws glinting menacingly in the late afternoon sun.
"Arrrghhhhh."
TBC So…..still interested?