Arc 2: Journey and Discovery
White continues to walk with a noticably slower pace through the woodland brush, his fluid movements disrupted by thick undergrowth as Racheria follows behind him a short distance away. Pushing a tree branch out of the way with his empty left paw, he releases a relieved sigh then grabs the branch and snaps it off, revealing an unkept vehicle trail and partially visible doorless wood vehicle shed alongside it. A matte black and dark blue Ford Raptor rests within the darkness of the shed, barely visible from the trail with the thick growing flora in the narrow area.
"Still here, just as I left it."
He says in a deep but flat rumble, his ear rotating towards behind him as as falling footsteps in the brush disturb the quiet scenery around. He turns his head just as Racheria stops by his right side, a soft huff escaping her lips as she looks around the space before her. She turns her head and looks up at him, meeting his studious gaze with her own blood red eyes.
"How often do you use this trail?"
She asks, doing a sweeping gaze then snapping her sight onto the vehicle shed. "... Or even that for the matter?"
"A decent amount, usually every two weeks or so."
He says casually, shrugging his shoulders to adjust his assault pack then walking out of the treeline and heading straight for the vehicle shed. Walking into it's protective coverage, he turns to his right and slings his M14 over his right shoulder then runs his right paw against the wood doorframe, lifting a small panel and grabbing the keys inside.
Drawing his arm back, the slot clicks closed as he turns around and faces the vehicle, tossing the keys into the air and catching them in his paw several times then unlocking the Raptor with a button press on the keys.
-----------------------------
Racheria walks into the shed just as White unlocks the pickup, blinding her for a moment as the lights flash brightly into her eyes once. Letting her eyes adjust back to the darker lighting inside the shed, she turns to her left and walks to the passenger side of the sizeable truck, slinging the H&K 417 across the front of her body then reaching out and opening the passenger door. She sizes up the firm and slightly large seats covered in a felt like material along with the custom dashboard and radio system for a moment then snorts softly, slinging the rifle into her arms and placing it against the passenger dashboard.
"In such a hurry to be moving, already?"
White's quiet rumbling voice breaks the silence within the shed from the entryway, causing her to pause her footpaw from landing on the skidstep. Tipping her head down into her chest, she softly sighs and places her footpaw back onto the ground firmly then turns towards where his voice originates from, placing her forearms on the door's interior then leaning into them.
"....Maybe I am." She retorts softly with her silk like voice, gazing at White' back as he leans against the front of the vehicle and stares outside. "It may not be high on your priorities, but dealing with the threats against me is high on mine. Especially when they wish to kill me..... or worse."
White chuckles in response, causing her to push off the door and walk over to his side, confusion twisting her facial features as she stops besides him.
"What, something amusing about that, mister Secretive, Lethal, and Sexy?"
She quips, leaning the left side of her body against the vehicle hood. He chuckles softly again as his head slightly turns towards her, gazing at her from the corners of his the frozen cold blue eyes.
"Just the hint of dread that crept into your voice as you were talking. But while I also rate eliminating any enemies extremely high, I don't worry about if I will die from them in the future." He turns his head back to look out the entry, gazing solemnly out into the forest beyond it for a few moments then uses his hip to push off the truck.
Using his left paw, he grasps the M14 EBR by the foreguard from where it leans against the vehicle, smoothly lifting the weapon into his arms as he walks over to the driver door with solid soundng steps. Reaching out with his left and grabbing the door handle, he pulls the door open a few inches then pauses, turning his head to meet Racheria's confused and watching gaze. "Death comes for all, so I do not fear where it will come from in my future. There's too much life to be missed if I fear it."
Pulling the door open fully, he releases his hold on the door handle then slings the assault pack off his shoulder into his empty paw, swinging the pack then tossing it into the back seats as Racheria watches from the open passenger door. Taking hold of his rifle by the foreguard again, he places it in a small pressure clamp just on the inner chassis frame next to the seat, locking it into place but still easily accessible. Racheria clambers into the passenger seat then reaches out and grabs the inner door handle, shutting the door with a slam. He glances over at her as she settles into the seat with a click from the seat belt, then flicks his wrist and starts the truck with the keys in his right paw and shifts it into low gear, driving out of the shed and onto the barely visible vehicle trail with a low rumble from the engine.
Minutes pass as they travel silently up the bumpy trail towards the looming mountains some distance away, a deep silence shrouding the vehicle cabin within its' press of tension. A soft sigh passes through his lips followed by his eyes glancing at her as Racheria gazes at him, meeting his seemingly emotionless dark ice blues with a question in her own.
"Just stay near me when you feel lost or afraid," He says softly while he faces straight ahead, the rumble of his voice barely detectable as his arm muscles flex to guide the vehicle through rougher terrain on the trail, "And I'll shroud you in the strength to continue on."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
She nods and turns her head to look out her side of the front window, a soft shudder passing down her spine as she realizes the meaning of his words.
'Damn sentinel of a wolf, more so now then ever.'
She thinks while absentmindedly raising her right paw before her and drawing the small particles of earth into a growing ball above her palm pad.
-----------------------------
White continues to guide the Raptor up along the sparse trail, glancing over at Racheria in the passenger seat then focusing back on the increasingly rocky trail leading further up a slightly steeper hill. A soft hmm escapes his lips as he spots something faintly falling from the clouds some distance away, a slight dark red edge framing the body with long, black extensions from the figure as it plummets out of view behind very distant peaks.
"..... Was that one of Va'hael's people?"
He softly asks to himself, turning the vehicle onto a well traveled stone road leading into the mountains. Racheria looks over at him and perks her right eyebrow, following his gaze with her own and searching for a moment then cocking her head to the side.
"Why are we on the mining road? You have a secret cachè or whatever somewhere other than in your house?"
She asks, turning her head to face him again while reaching her arm out and opening the closed paw against the dashboard, just above the radio. Retracting her paw, a small sphere sits firmly on three spindly rods the size of toothpicks where her paw was.
"......No, this is the easiest way to reach the highway. No need to barrel through the forest when you could just drive to the miner's roads and use them." He replies simply, glancing at the small sphere quickly then returning his focus to the road. "Besides, a secret cachè in the mountains? What the fuck am I to you, an über-SpecOp soldier?"
Racheria snorts and turns her head away at his words, then does a double take at the hard center spacer where a noticeably large black feather lies on top when nothing was there only moments before. As she looks it over the feather shudders and rotates closer towards White's hip as if a gust of wind brushed past it.... only the air conditioning wasn't on.
"Uhh, White? Where did this feather come from?"
She asks, reaching towards it with her paw. A sudden burst of air lifts the feather into the air and sends it sailing onto White's shoulder, who just glances at it before sighing deeply.
".....This is a feather from an ancient friend, and a small piece of him. Literally."
He says, curling his right paw up towards the feather and stroking it softly with two fingers for a moment, a slight shudder passing through the feather as he places his paw back on the wheel. "From what he's told me, there are tens of thousands of these feathers on his wings, each one individually sentient but hive mind-linked to him."
"I'm sorry, did you just say, 'wings'? Is he a bird of some kind?"
Racheria asks, confusion spread across her features as she watches the feather. White chuckles and shakes his head, slowing the vehicle down to a stop as they approach a T intersection of mining road and paved road. He turns his head and looks straight at her after shifting into park, nothing revealed within his cold blue eyes as she meets them, lowering her gaze to his lips after a moment.
"Some days I believe he wishes so, but no, he's not. He's mostly human, but something that many religious people have at least dreamt of seeing in the flesh, hoping one day to be blessed by the grace of whatever God or Gods they follow." A horribly dark but amused chuckle echoes out of his chest as he glances out the windshield, looking towards the cloudy sky. "If they knew what he knows, they would never worship anything again."
Racheria perks her eyebrow then shifts into shock as she connects the dots, or feathers, to the icon he mentions. A fierce questioning gaze is directed at White, who nods.
"Yes, they are very real, and he is one who's past is incalculably long. A second generation..... Archangel."
-----------------------------
'..... Holy fuck, he's dead serious.'
Is the only thought that passes through Racheria's mind as the weight of White's words settle, leaving her speechless as he faces forwards and shifts the large pickup truck to something via a switch. She watches the feather on his shoulder as he moves hs head left and right to check the obviously clear paved road, easing the vehicle right onto the blacktop and accelerating rapidly to what she assumes is the speed limit.
"Wait, 'Second generation?' Archangels weren't all made at once by the Christian God?"
She asks as he reaches towards the intricate dashboard radio, one with a 5" square screen, several buttons underneath, and two knobs on each side.
He presses on the top left knob and the screen lights up with a dark yet vibrant green, a black 'Power ON' blinking in the center of the screen for a few seconds then several empty black lined bars show up parallel to the sides, followed by a selection menu with fifteen different names listed in the remaining space. Deftly he taps the bottom left knob then reaches to the top right one and twists it with a quick buzzing click sound, while the first name blinks rapidly for a moment then flashes an unknown album cover with scrolling text underneath the image. A quiet rock ballad song starts to rumble from hidden speakers inside the cabin, filling in the audio space with quiet background music.
"I don't know exactly what he means by that," He says, setting his paw on his thigh in a loose fist, "But from what he's told me, he figures that he's probably the oldest Archangel among humans. Something about a third war and decending.... I don't know. He's a historian's worst living nightmare though."
"Huh...." Is Racheria's reply as questions pop up in her mind, but she feels that White doesn't know the answers to them. "Hey, is it possible to,"
"Dunno. He could be anywhere, even places that we'll never likely see alive." White says, predicting her question before she could finish it.
"Damn it."
She says, closing her eyes and sighing as she places her right paw on her forehead.
"...Hey," He says after a few moments, a warm pressure settling over her left paw as she opens her eyes and looks at him. "He'll come to us. I can assure you of that."
Racheria softly smiles and shifts her paw within White's, locking their palms together in a gentle clasp. The music shifts to another song as she gazes at the radio, one filled with a passionate piano and lonesome violin that remains as the vocals start to filter in. A strangely familiar voice plays from the hidden speakers, rumbling through her chest and sending a tingling chill down her spine as she listens to it. As the guitars start to play in the rock portion, White squeezes noticeably harder, drawing her eyes to his face and watching as he sings perfectly in tune.
"And nothing shall ever hold, what I feel reflected in your eyes.
A broken soul wandering, lost and affected by the world.
So shroud me in a cloak and let me die, for everything I wish for....
Is buried before your eyes."