Sooo yeah I wrote this in advance. Now we'll see more of our beloved Winchester bros, woohoo! As usual, read and rate, and of course, enjoy. No singing in my stories. Unfortunately. Wondering if I should come up with a unique song for Cas' magic wings. Or just refer to it as a song... /sigh So I'm not very good at writing about a stony-faced and apathetic character, so Cas may seem a little off. Even if I love him very much. I'M STILL PRACTICING ALRIGHT.
...
20 years later in the middle of nowhere
In the heart of a forest stood a tall, tall tower. It composed of pale grey stones stacked on top of one another to form a pole. Nestled on top of the pole was a dome-shaped arrangement of more grey stone, topped with a blue roof made out of bricks. The dome was painted white, with windows that looked out into the forest. Dirty red ceramic pots hung from all windows, filled with a variety of colored flora.
A young man sat by one of these windows, gray-blue eyes staring out straight ahead into the mass of trees. He was dressed in a plain white tunic, with two strange slits on the back, and an equally plain pair of dark-colored pants. He had rested his head on his arms, which were folded neatly on the windowsill. Obviously bored, the man temporarily lifted an arm to muss his mop of short black hair. It's not like he had anyone to impress today.
He attempted to stave off the growing feeling of restlessness by starting a conversation with a bee that had buzzed by his window, browsing through the large selection of flowers that were planted inside the pots.
"Hello," The man said in his rather deep voice. The bee didn't reply, although it started to burrow into a particular red flower that had large, crimson petals and a bright yellow center. "Today is supposed to be an exciting day for me, you know." He continued, but the bee ignored him. The man furrowed his eyebrows into a frown as he stared at the working bee.
After a short pause, he drew a weary breath. "I see. You have to support your colony, and I am disturbing your duties." The bee continued humming, never paying attention to its observer. The man gave the insect a stiff nod. "I apologize, I'll take my leave."
And with that, he stood up from his stool, closed the wooden windows, and walked aimlessly toward a bookshelf. The room had a certain homely feel to it, its floors decorated with a mix of coral, red and orange tiles and the walls painted a creamy white. The white was hard to see, though, because of the endless parade of pictures and colors splashed across the walls. Most of them contained the dark-haired man doing quite mundane things. One picture depicted him collecting honey, and another seemed to show him painting on an even smaller wall. The man stopped in front of the bookshelf, absent-mindedly thumbing over the spines of dozens of books, eventually picking out several thick books that read out 'ENCYCLOPEDIA'.
The man spent most of his afternoon holed up in his bedroom, sitting on his bed and reading the large books he had chosen. Once the sun began to set, the man took one glance out the window and snapped his book shut, sliding off his bed and walking back downstairs. He stopped by the bookshelf again and picked out a book that read 'RECIPES'.
As he drifted into the kitchen, the man picked out a few ingredients and opened his trusty book, reading out loud the instructions. He sifted through the pantry, searching for a number of ingredients. He dropped them into a boiling pot and began stirring methodically, eyes still on the recipe book.
Once his meal was complete, the man emptied the pot's contents into two bowls, sticking a wooden spoon into each respective bowl. His head only jerked up toward an open window when he heard a familiar voice.
"Castiel, let down the rope!" It called in a sing-song voice.
Meanwhile, in a nearby not-so-serene kingdom
Three men dashed through the cobbled streets, leaping over carts and darting around surprised bystanders. The man in the lead was Dean Winchester, a handsome and well-built man. His hair was brown, short and cropped, and his eyes blazed in a startling shade of emerald green. The tallest man was his brother, Sam Winchester. He sported his brother's good looks, although he was quite a few inches taller than Dean. His mop of hair was a shade of chocolate brown, falling down and barely covering his hazel eyes. The third man, Gordon Walker, was dark-skinned, his black hair short and his brown eyes flashing with confusion as they ran through the streets.
This unfortunate trio were just harmlessly ambling around the streets until a nearby woman dropped her basket of fruits and continued to lose her shit, pointing at one of them and screaming something about her friend's uncle's cousin's neighbor getting murdered because of him. The man she flailed at, of course, had to be Dean.
"Who, me?" Dean had said, innocently pointing a finger to his chest. His brother had visibly stiffened.
"I thought you said that the news never got out of that kingdom?" Sam had asked, while the third man simply looked confused and wondered if the woman had a drink this morning.
"What news?"
"The shape-shifter...?"
"Oooh... Crap. Gordon, we gotta get outta here."
And so they were off, running through the previously peaceful kingdom as similar cries of terror began to echo behind them.
"Y'know, Dean, just once, I'd like to be able to stroll through somewhere, anywhere, without someone screaming bloody murder," Sam complained with a glare at his brother. If looks could kill, daggers would shoot out of his eyes and into his brother's stupid head.
"Aww, you don't mean that, Sammy," Dean retorted. "Life would be boring, and you'd have to end up working at a library or something." He turned his head towards his brother and gave him a wink, his emerald green eyes sparkling. The taller man only scowled back in return.
"Will you two quit talking and just tell me why we're being chased by the goddamn royal guard?" Gordon grunted, clearly irritated. They were nearing the end of the bridge where three horses were tied to a post.
"Wellll, remember that shapeshifter story I told you about? It kind of took on my skin and went around killing a couple people before me'n'Sam were able to gank it."
"…"
"Well, it's dead now…"
"…"
"And so's the nest of vampires we all took out last night…?"
"Remind me to never work with you two again."
"Oh come on, that's just not fair."
Before anyone could say anything else, the three men arrived at their waiting steeds, rapidly untying their reins and leaping up onto their respective horse.
"Right, me'n'Sam will head off into the center of the forest, while you go along the river," Hollered Dean as he mounted a pure black stallion. "I think they'll just split up and eventually just give up."
The third man nodded and without another word, dashed off on his bay horse.
Dean looked back at his brother, still fiddling with the reins attached to his chestnut colored mare. Dean rolled his eyes.
"Dude, just make some 'hya!' sounds and she'll understand you." He lifted up his own tangled up reins.
"The trainer said that she's still pretty new to reins!" Sam protested. They both looked up when they heard shouts from the distance. The small army was now halfway through the bridge.
"Well, looks like you'll have to wing it, eh?" Dean said, flashing Sam another one of his winning grins and nudging his own horse to a gallop. With a 'hya!', he was racing through the forest.
"Real funny, Dean!" Sam shouted after his brother. With a groan, he encouraged his own horse to a gallop. The mare let out an irritated snort and started galloping through the forest, charging after Dean's own horse.
Back in the middle of nowhere
A rope was thrown out of the tower, sailing into the air and down towards the waiting figure. The hooded woman grabbed onto the rope and made a loop, stepping onto the steady rope and giving it a yank. The rope began its slow journey up towards the tower, eventually reaching the window and allowing the woman to step from the rope into the dome.
"Hello, mother." Castiel greeted with a respectful nod.
The woman let down her hood, revealing black, long hair that curled and fell behind her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes focused on Castiel, reaching out an arm and giving Castiel a pat on the head.
"How's my little angel?" She cooed. Castiel only shifted uncomfortably under the nickname.
"Mother, I am no longer four." He said, but she was already gone, wandering into the kitchen.
"Did you make dinner already?" She asked, sniffing the air.
"Yes, I did, but I have a question- " He started but was immediately put down by a series of shushes from his mother.
"Hush now, Castiel dear, I've spent a day trekking through that awful forest." She said, and with a melodramatic sigh, plopped down onto a nearby chair and reached for her dinner.
"Alright then," With a stiff nod, Castiel trailed into the kitchen after her, taking his own dinner and eating in silence. It's not like silence was bad. In fact, Castiel was quite accustomed to it. It was either that or his mother's many rants that filled his home, anyway.
After dinner was done and the dishes were washed, Castiel opened his mouth to ask his question, but was once again cut off by his mother.
"Castiel, dear, I'm a bit worn out by my journey. Would you like me to groom your wings?" She asked in a sweet tone. "You know how that always soothes me."
Castiel only nodded obediently as he went to the nearby shelf, picking out a brush and a stool. He handed the brush over to his mother and sat on the stool. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, and out came his golden wings, basking the room with a golden glow.
As his mother began her brushing, she sang her song as Castiel's back was turned. His wings shone even brighter, the light flowing off his wings and into a steady stream, which vanished into his mother's skin.
Once done, Castiel lingered by his mother's side. Unsure of how to start, he cleared his throat. "Errr, so, mother, as you know, this week is quite a… Uh… Special week for me." His mother looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. "It's… My birthday?" He managed to croak out.
"Hmmm, really?" His mother asked, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Can't be!" She snapped her fingers. "I thought we celebrated your birthday last year already." Castiel's eyebrows furrowed downward into a confused frown.
"That's the thing about birthdays…" He proceeded cautiously. "They tend to happen once a year." Was this a joke? His mother always thought her jokes were quite hilarious, although Castiel never really saw the appeal in them.
"Smart child, go on," She said with a Cheshire grin.
"Well, it's my twentieth birthday, and I was wanting to…" He sucked his breath in for the final sentence, "to see the lights."
"But we see them from your nice spot on the window every year!" His mother said, pointing out a window that looked out into the seemingly endless forest.
"Yes but I'd like to actually observe them from up close," Castiel replied, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. He didn't want to see that look his mother would give him every time he mentioned the outside world.
"Castiel, why would you ever want to go outside?" She asked, stepping towards him. "It's such a dangerous place, I told you about it and you even read it in a few of your books." She gestured toward the bookshelf crammed with books.
"But-" Castiel began, but was cut off when his mother gave him an all-too-hearty slap on the shoulder.
"My dear angel, haven't I told you about the creatures that lurk the night? Coupled with your innocence and, to be frank, your incompetence when it comes to human interaction," She gave Castiel an innocent 'you know I'm just teasing' smile when he frowned at her, "it's much too dangerous for my son! People will take you away from me, you know. Once they learn about your wings." His mother had an almost fearful look cross into her eyes.
Oh dear, Castiel could sense an impending rant about her sweet and dear angel and how her poor little son would turn into a rotten pile of meat and bones in less than a day's time inside the forest. Castiel couldn't bear another one of those.
"No, no, mother, I quite understand," Castiel said before she could even draw out a strangled sob. "I'll stay, mother." He promised, and then he was pulled into a crushing hug.
"Good," His mother sighed. After a moment's silence, she extracted Castiel from her arms, and then pulled up her hood again. "Well, I have to go now. I'll see you, my sweet little angel!" And with that, she grabbed the rope perched by the window, waiting for Castiel to lower her down.
"I'm not four, mother," Castiel repeated with a sigh as he lowered her down. He watched as she walked away from his tower, disappearing into a nearby cave.
...
Ehehehehe, this one wasn't nearly as edited as the last one, so there may be some obvious errors. Please point them out to me, you know I'll appreciate it. WHEEEEE. Yes it's 1 AM in the morning and I'm real tired.