Chapter Text
Rossweisse shouldn’t have said yes, finding it more trouble than what it is worth, carrying one of the three last crates of books up to the library. A small place too, which made her wonder how these books might fit. Although the reward is worth it in the end, gaining access to the library after visiting hours, she found herself cursing herself to say yes, finding comfort in the old chair back at home and laying there as the day lay to waste.
The sunlight burned away as it set behind the mountains, making the town appear darker than it was supposed to be. Not that she paid any mind to. Just minding the cracked steps she moved onto, careful not to cause herself to tremble down the flight of stairs and drop the books. Even with the small crowd ticking out the library, she still gave a half mind to where her foot is placed, making quiet sounds.
For a moment - all the while as she navigated on the steps and through the crowd - Rossweisse wondered why there's a small crowd. Far more than the usual who came to the library. Then, it clicked into her mind. There’s a meeting. A way to suggest feedback for the small town with a much smaller population. After a fight breaking out long ago - and one where she didn’t attend to as she held duties elsewhere - the town got mostly destroyed. Now, those seeking a new home wanted to restore the glory it used to be. Back to when it looked beautiful, despite being so isolated from other places. Something she didn't know, given her duties as a soldier, took most of her attention.
Now, she spent her time here with this small town and an angel who appeared to be driven mad. As much as she complained and grunted at the mere thought of looking after the angel, she did it anyway. She picked up the duty a century ago, though she hoped to have dropped the guy off somewhere and allowed him to be taken care of by somebody else, though he found his way back to her side.
Since then, his presence became familiar and a routine went into place.
“Rossss.” Her name ended with a hissing upon being said. Like when an insect with wings darted quickly past your ear. The soft sounds of clicking could be heard, following afterwards. It drew her attention to the speaker.
Much like the others living here (save for herself and Raphael), the speaker appeared insect-like. Black eyes filled almost the entire oval face. Despite it being hard to determine where he looked, she knew the gaze was on her by the way it burned into her from where he stood by the door, holding it open for her. His mouth left slightly ajar, showing off needle-like teeth, making soft clicking noises, especially when his thin tongue darted out to lick the nonexistent lips. The fluttering of his transparent, white wings could be seen, sticking out from the rags he wore.
It's not exactly rags, but it looked like it. For a moment, Rossweisse found herself judging, but quickly pulled it back, knowing she wasn’t much better than him. He and his people did escape from a fight with little to nothing from home. She understood his situation, given she did something similar, but under a different circumstances.
Ross continued her pace, not paying any mind to the aching in her shoulders. Finally, she reached where she needed to be.
“Karma,” Ross muttered, loudly. She lowered her head slightly in greetings before she straightened herself up, careful not to let her bangs get caught in the crate. “Is everything okay?”
“Yesss,” Karma said. “You can put that crate with the others and head home. I’ll finish carrying the others.”
“Oh, you don’t need to-” Ross began.
“I insist. There's trouble brewing on the horizon and it appears to be involving your friend. Someone who looks like him just entered town. White feathers and all.”
“Did they say anything?” There's no panic. Just concern. Although Ross didn’t know much about Raphael and his relationship with the other angels, given it's hard to get a straight answer out of him, she knew something must have happened to make him be away from them for so long. The reason? Uncertain. It's why her concern is present, unsure if this new presence is a threat and whether she must pick up a sword again or not.
“No,” Karma answered. He made a clicking sound. Way louder than he normally did. A sound to express his emotions. “I saw her flying by not too long ago while you were busy putting down one of the crates. It was a brief glimpse too, but enough to connect the dots. Best to be careful.”
Karma didn’t need to tell Ross twice, though his next set of words to avoid this particular angel is ignored. Instead, her mind is made up. She will confront the angel and not give up her knowledge of Raphael. For all she knew, this new angel could be passing through and didn’t come for her fellow angel. Still, the angel’s presence was unsettling. It meant bad news, regardless of her reasoning for her visit.
“Will do. Let me do this quickly.” Ross kept her voice steady and calmly, trying not to make herself suspicious. She didn’t want Karma to step in and further escalate things or ruin the plans forming in her mind. It’s not the best plan, after all. She’s never truly been the planner, even if everyone turned to her for those kinds of things. Why in any realm would they trust her with a plan?
It’s not that she made bad or reckless decisions before. Never been the type to do so, even if she did get ahead of herself, but she always checked in with her fellow warriors before making a final decision. She simply didn’t have the mindset to plan everything. The tiniest details, the back-up plans, anything. Just vague ideas she pieced together and hoped it would work, which normally helped her out.
Ross isn’t that cunning. As much as she kicked herself for not being cunning like that.
It didn’t take long to plop the crate down where it needed to be, tucked into a corner of the library or what could be the corner if it wasn’t for the other crates filling that space. Dusting off the nonexistent dirt off of her black attire, she turned on her heels and headed out, navigating in the direction of where she took over a building at the edge of town. Rather, she made it seem like she did. As soon as she went far enough where the multiple eyes of Karma couldn’t see her, even if she did turn the corner, she changed paths, heading in the direction he vaguely gestured his thin arms at. In the direction of where the angel is headed.
Concern and dread took root like trees into her skin, making her restless and itchy. Question pounded into her mind like horses’ hooves against dirt and rock.
Is the angel passing through, only stopping to take a break and move on? Not that there’s much to offer. Any food, medical supplies, and whatever else is needed is reserved for the town. Even then, it's not reserved for the townsfolk either.
Is the angel here for Raphael, catching word of what he’s been up to? It’s her original thought. She’s not sure how word is picked up, unless there’s watchful eyes at the edge of town, keeping tabs on the town, ensuring they didn’t do anything out of line to upset the war between the angels and demons, turning the tides against the angels, themselves. Not that it happened before.
Ross isn’t sure what Raphael did that caused him to leave in a hurry. He appeared quite upset whenever the topic of Heaven or his fellow winged friends popped up, muttering something about wanting to help yet pushed himself too far. Not enough to form what he did exactly. Perhaps his actions brought him to his current state of mind.
Could the angel be on a whole different mission and didn’t realize who stayed in town? Now, that begged the question of what mission that made the angelic soldier come all the way out here. Assuming the angel is a soldier, which is highly likely she is, given most angels Ross met in other realms are soldiers of some sort. It’s rare she met an angel in a different position.
There are more questions, but none she could truly get a grip on, especially when - whatever took forever and a bunch of turning and retracing her steps to head in a different direction - she spotted the familiar, white wings, belonging to an angel. Possibly a lower rank based on the plain-looking wings this particular angel held. Nothing out of the ordinary. A face Ross could remember if given enough time, but also forgettable within two or three days if proven otherwise.
The angel appeared to be engaged in a conversation with one of the townsfolk. One hand rested at her sword, ready to draw it. Not in a manner of being threatened by any means, but in case something popped out and she needed to start fighting without much of a struggle. Ross held a great deal of understanding towards that, given anyone and anything could be a danger, even if you are the most relaxed.
Ross slowed herself down, coming to a halt. Not that she hurried too much. In fact, she steadied herself early on (as much as she wanted to hurry up) to avoid suspicion, especially when one townsfolk gave her a strange look. She twisted her face into a neutral expression. She didn’t appear to interrupt, even when she slid not too far. Enough to alert both at the same time and letting the angel know she wanted to talk, but enough to allow them to finish their conversation.
Ross’ arms positioned themselves behind her back, folded against the black shirt she wore with a leather vest over it. Shoulders held up high and back like much of a soldier. It's easy to tell she is one, after all. The way she carried herself. By her shoulders, by how she walked, by the stern look in her eyes by the centuries and centuries of witnessing combat, by the way her gaze swept the area briefly but perceptively, so on and so forth. The angel before her - white hair around her shoulders and white eyes darting a glance at Ross - picked up on it by the recognition flickering across her face. Brief, but, thanks to Ross’ keen eye, she picked up on it where others may have failed to notice it.
Once the conversation has ended and the townsfolk move away, Ross hesitantly moves forward. Not because she isn’t sure if she should move, but because she is making sure she isn’t interrupting further.
“At first glance, one would think you are a fellow angel, but fallen,” the angel said. Her voice is stern and raspy. As if she's been yelling for so long on the battlefield. “I would foolishly believe that myself, but I know enough to know you are not one of my own, even with those feathers around your ears.”
“I am not one of you,” Ross confirmed. If she is any of her fellow warriors, she might have moved one hand to touch the black feathers around her ears. She wasn’t like the others. Even then, it was foolish to touch her feathers, given how sensitive they are. “Many of your kind mistaken me as one and often fight me. Then, further their cause when I act out in self-defense.”
A shrug left Ross’ shoulders. Another normal day in her life where she got mistaken as an enemy and had to fight her way through.
“My apologies on their behalf.” Words coming out steady and calmly, but with an apologetic tone faintly attached to it.
“No need to apologize for their behavior, but also understandable. We don’t always know who is on our side or not.” The angel turned all the way to face Ross. “My name is Araqiel.”
“Rossweisse.” A nod was exchanged between the two. “I’m a Valkyrie. I’m surprised you are here, given I saw you fly in earlier on. What brings you all the way here? Your kind isn’t supposed to be this far out.”
“I'll say the same to you as well,” Araquel said. A snowy eyebrow popped up smoothly. A faint jealousy at the sight. Ross wished she could do that, but it's a small skill she could never possess. “Your kind don’t normally be around as much. Last I know, you don’t have many numbers in your ranks either. I’ll tell my story if you tell your story.”
“Whatever details you spare is how much I can tell myself. We all have secrets, right?” A faint smile on her lips. Only briefly.
“I’ll take it.” There's a moment of silence between the two. Stretching out, though it's not uncomfortable. In fact, Ross is impatient, itching to hear her reason for her presence. “I’ve come because I got lost, thrown into a portal I didn’t expect to be thrown into. Now, I’m trying to get back. There was a minor run into a demon group.”
“Oh.” What a relief. Araqiel isn’t here for Raphael. In fact, she didn’t know that he's here. “That doesn’t sound right. A portal throwing you into a random spot? Strange. Very strange. Now, my reason here? Passing through. I thought another Valkyrie passed through here, but I got it all wrong.”
“I thought the same thing. It's a random portal. It popped up, throwing me and a few of the demons into it. Like magic going wrong, but…” Araqiel trailed off, deep in thought.
A few demons? Here?
Would that imply they are nearby or already disposed of?
Based on Araqiel’s face and how she came off, she didn’t sound worried about the demons. It probably meant the demons are dead.
“But what?” Ross asked, tilting her head slightly to the right.
“The portal? It's not anything I’ve seen before. Not any serpent hole, nothing of that sort.”
“What are you implying?”
“Exactly what I mean. Someone is at play here. This isn’t the first time reports like this, but we didn’t realize it would be this bad.”
“I see. Are you planning to stay here or moving onto another place? I’m not an expert on the lands of this realm but there's another town not far from here.” Ross hoped the other woman wasn't sticking around. It meant trouble. It meant Raphael might be exposed. She could try to talk to the guy about staying out and she’ll do most of what he needs, but it meant how much he loathes staying out for too long.
Restlessness was something he was - and still is - known for. He didn’t sit still, always pacing and moving. He always talked about how he needed to help with healing, visiting the nearest building for anyone fallen ill or injured. Even if there weren't any patients, he still paid a visit.
“Staying.” Araqiel crossed her arms. “It appears the attacks on these people are connected to those portals. If I could figure out what's going on and determine if it goes up against us or if the horsemen have to be called in. I hate to have them coming in if it's the latter.”
“Yeah, I hate to have them come here.” Ross never crossed paths with them before, but she heard stories about them from others. She didn’t want to start now.
Dread and concern settled into her bones. From Araqiel staying. From the connections being connected. From the horsemen - even if it's one of those lap dogs - coming here.
Raphael.
Raphael is her top priority.
“Where can I stay? With you?” Araqiel asked.
“Ask someone else,” Ross answered. She turned on her heels. “Not with me. I’ll be leaving soon anyways.”
“How can I convince you to help me out here? I might need help.”
“The least of my concerns. Sorry about that.” A shrug left Ross' shoulders. A half-baked plan already forming in her mind. She is going to sneak Raphael out and head to the next town. Most likely when Araqiel isn’t looking.
“It will be your concern soon. Just letting you know.”
“I hope you don't mean what you are implying.” With that being said and done, Ross left the area, heading to where she lived with Raphael. The glow of the small lanterns helped her get back where she needed to be.