#the bear in the forest is clearly a Leviathan | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

Text

The Leviathan

[Breakaway]

TW: Drowning, blood

———————

The first time Maria encountered the thing was early one morning.

The sun had barely began to rise, but even its fresh golden rays couldn’t cut through the thick, impenetrable wall of grey that had settled over the ocean. The water below was roiling, waves crashing and clapping loudly against the ship. Something in the sea seemed agitated- Maria could feel it. Perhaps it was because of the oncoming storm.

She leaned against the railing at the very back of the boat, watching the water and taking in the serene silence of the early morning. And that’s when she had seen it.

It was a mere silhouette in the fog, an outline of a large head and a long neck that slid down into the depths of the ocean. Despite it being at least a hundred meters away, Maria could see it as clear as day.

There was something out there.

And it turned to her.

The pointed snout turned and looked in her direction.

Looked at her.

Maria couldn’t see its eyes, but something told her, deep down, that this thing was looking at her.

And it’s stare bore right into her very soul.

Then, it was gone. Maria blinked and the figure had disappeared. She only saw the fleeting flick of a tail before fog encompassed everything again.

———

The second time Maria saw the thing was when she was snorkeling.

The activity was offered on an island called Cozumel, which was probably Maria’s favorite stop so far, mainly due to her Spanish heritage. It was a nice change of pace from all the European stops, even if they were just as amazing.

She, the queens, and the other two ladies in waiting, along with a few other tourists, were taken out on a boat to the middle of the ocean, where they then got to snorkeling for several hours.

And it was absolutely magnificent. Maria ended up ditching her snorkel to dive into the water and swim alongside fish colors she’d never seen before. And, while she was doing so, she noticed that they were going somewhere, not just flitting around aimlessly. They were going deeper into the ocean, down a sandstone cliff face and into a dark crater carved into a sandy plateau several meters away.

Something compelled Maria to follow.

She paddled slowly along the surface, careful as to not get caught by any of the monitors on the boat. Then, she took a deep breath and dove. Down, down, down, she swam, brushing by the drop off. Her ears popped, but she could hardly care. She was too enamored by the petrified forest of rainbow coral and sparkling stalks curling out of the sand along the plateau.

Fish were gliding down into the crater- tiny fish, large fish, long fish, fish the color of ebony and fish that looked like the sunset. They were gathering down there for something. And Maria wanted to know what it was.

A blobby indigo octopus goggled at her from the brambles of a jagged reef. Maria does a double take- was it normal for octopus (octopi? octopuses?) to be in such shallow waters? Sure, it was probably twenty feet deep, but still...

The octopus gawked at her face in the diving mask before lazily stretching one of its slimy limbs and clambering across the coral thicket. It seemed to be going down to the crater, too. Along with an emerald green sea turtle that took Maria by surprise when it glided over her head and a small, soft grey shark that brushed right against her foot without a care in the world.

Maria quickly went back up for air, but went back as fast as she could. She returned to the paralyzed forest and grappled onto one of the pieces of coral. A washed out red lobster blinked at her from another cluster, bristling its whiskers and snapping its pincers, like it was judging her for touching such an ancient and fragile piece of aquatic flora with her oily human hands. She let go quickly and it skitters away.

She paddles closer to the crater, feeling the chill of the depths embrace her tightly. It isn’t long before she needs to get more air, but she returns just as fast, kicking and pulling herself through the water until she got to the perimeter of the crater. Her flippers gently touched the sand as she crouched awkwardly- it wasn’t the best position to be in, as she was slowly floating off of the ground, but she managed.

Intense water pressure pressed uncomfortably against Maria’s temples, practically forcing her eyes into a wince. It was slightly difficult to see, but she dealt with it and looked into the crater.

The hole was illuminated by bioluminescent pink and purple jellyfish and violet and maroon glowing plants that almost looked like mushrooms. Skeletons of multicolored reefs twisted from the incline that dipped to the bottom, along with sun-colored tentacles of kelp and plum-streaked ferns and waving green fans, which almost acted as seating for the abundance of aquatic creatures down there.

Fish of every color were peering out from sparking anemone- some had beaks like parrots or big ogling eyes or long tails or bristling spines along their backs. A few deep green and dark grey eels had their heads poked from holes in the crater side, gaping their jaws open like they were witnessing the meaning of life itself. Sea turtles bobbed patiently above the forest and sharks in various sizes moved slowly through the reaching limbs of coral. Crabs and lobsters scuttled through the sand, stingrays glided on their bellies around the sides of the crater, something large and yellow was lying flat against the seabed, and that blobby octopus from earlier was attached to a zigzagged piece of coral. And, among them, there something very big.

In the middle of the crater was a jagged pillar of limestone surrounded by orange clusters of coral. Atop it, stood the thing.

It was too dark to get a clear view of it, but some details stood out. Like the whiskers that waved lazily in water around what was very clearly its snout. And the long tail that curled around the spire like a jungle snake. And the glinting green talons gripping a knob of limestone. And the fins bristled on a body part that couldn’t be made out.

Whatever it was, it was big. Or, well, long. Very long.

What kind of creature was this?

A strange vibration filled the water. It was a deep, rumbling sort of coo that sends shockwaves and ripples through the ocean, shaking Maria to her very core...but not in a bad way. No, it almost felt...peaceful.

And then a sharp sting sears in her chest like a hot knife.

Maria springs off of the ground. The sand sinks in and sucks greedily for her feet, but she manages to get enough momentum to return to the surface on time.

She bobbed up with a gasp, sucking in deep breaths of air. Once she regained her bearings, she was about to go back down and try to get a closer look when one of the monitors on the boat yelled at her to come back, that she was too far out. The option to ignore him or pretend like she didn’t hear and go back under arose, but she gave in and began paddling back. But not without stealing one last glance down to the crater.

From the sunlight filtering down into the water and the faint glow of the jellyfish, she swore every fish, lobster, crab, turtle, eel, shark, and octopus were looking back at her.

A deep green stare branded itself in her mind.

———

The third time Maria saw the thing was on a paper.

The next day while waiting to perform, she doodled a few shapes on a piece of paper at her makeup table. These two shapes turned into orbs and these orbs turned into great big eyes.

That thing’s eyes.

Maria crumbled the paper and threw it away quickly.

———

The fourth time Maria saw the thing was when she was at the beach.

The cruise had docked on an island she couldn’t remember the name of for a few hours, allowing patrons to explore the land and do the regular tourist things. Maria had decided to go to the beautiful beaches on her own and was able to find a rather secluded strip of shore after a quick hike through some trees. It was perfect.

She swam for a long time, looking at all the shells and aquatic life and colorful fish. But then the amount fish started to get smaller and smaller. Sure, it was normal for them to swim away from people, but there has been dozens just half an hour ago.

Confused, Maria decided to swim out a little further. She was thinking back to how all the animals had gathered in one area when she was snorkeling and was hoping she would see something like that again. But, instead, she just got teeth in her leg.

Maria wasn’t exactly sure what was biting her, she just knew something was biting her. She could feel its razor sharp teeth sink into the delicate flesh on her right leg. Blood hazes the water to terrible hues of murky red. It mixes horribly with the tang of salt when she opens her mouth to scream.

She thrashes and struggles, clapping her arms against the surface of the water before she’s yanked back down. A scream is choked back by an overflow of water that rushes down her throat. She coughs and cries out at the same time as darkening clouds of crimson billow around her.

Was this how she died?

Would her body be found half eaten by something or would it never be found?

The ocean is getting darker, and not just because of her blood. Consciousness is slipping away with each pull on her leg. Faster and faster and faster and—

There’s a guttural roar that simmers the water. The sharp, unbearable pressure on Maria’s leg disappears and she hears something heavy slam into a rock formation, but her eyes are already rolling to the back of her head before she can swim to safety...

Maria awoke on the beach after an unknown amount of time passed. She shot up with a sharp gasp, expecting a waterfall of water to be pouring out of her mouth, but none came. She only spit lingering salt from her mouth a few times.

She looked down and saw that her right leg was wrapped tightly in several slimy pieces of seaweed. She doesn’t need to untie them to know the wound was still present- she could feel the ache it caused whenever she bent her knee. Somehow, though, the kelp was easing the discomfort, because surely she should be in much more pain than what she was feeling.

How did these makeshift bandages get on her leg, anyway? She may have blacked out, but there’s no way she could have done this. And how was she safe on shore? Did she coincidentally get washed up there?

After looking around, Maria noticed something. Footprints in the wet sand.

Footprints with five splayed, webbed toes and claws.

———

The fifth time Maria saw the thing was on paper once again.

She had decided to buy herself a proper sketchbook from one of the cruise shops, along with pencils (colored and regular), markers, and pens. What came out was a diagram of what she thought the creature she’s been encountering looked like.

It was long- that was its main trait. Its body in her drawing resembled that of a Chinese dragon. Two sets of whiskers flowed from the cheeks on its big head, which had large, finned ruffs on either sides with small ears right above them. Fins ran down the spine- she didn’t know what color but she went with green. The webbed talons were green, too, while the rest of the body was an iridescent silver color. The beautiful tail on the thing was perfect for propelling itself through the water. She wonders if that’s what it’s used for.

———

The sixth time Maria saw was late in the middle of the night after a terrible nightmare. She dreamt of a young girl from court, a maid in waiting, a mere child named Elizabeth Blount. Bessie for short.

Several people in the show said Bessie was going to be one of the four ladies in waiting that were reincarnated, but either they lied or something happened because Bessie never showed up.

All the happiness and joy that Maria had felt while waiting to see her precious girl again left her in a flash at this revelation. She was cold without it—just like how she had been cold after the exile.

If anyone deserved a second chance at life, it was Bessie.

So why wasn’t she here?

She just wanted to hold her again...

Maria couldn’t bear to go back to sleep after her horrible nightmare of watching that little girl get gruesomely executed for an affair she had no choice in. She wandered out to the deck and braced herself against the railing, watching the boat split the sea as it moved along.

She wasn’t stupid enough to actually ever do anything bad to herself, but sometimes she wondered what it would be like to jump off the ship- to let the front of the vessel pierce her body, to let it run her over, to let the propellers shred her into tiny, bloody pieces, to let the black water claim her. Would that be enough to make up for her not helping the abused child Henry had imprinted on as his mistress?

Would exchanging her life be enough to give Bessie a chance to live?

Maria yanked off the necklace around her neck- a pendant given to her by Aragon. She doesn’t know why she’s let it linger on her for so long. What gave her the right to wear such a thing? Especially when it had been given to her by the woman who took the greatest blessing in her life away from her.

She angrily threw it as far away from her as possible, hearing it splash distantly in the water. She hoped it could be taken as an offering of sorts as she began to pray- pray for her to have her girl back, pray for her to see her, pray for her to be alive and there.

This process was then interrupted by something hitting her forehead.

Maria tottered backwards with a yelp, rubbing her head and hoping a bruise wasn’t left. She looked around for the offending item and saw her necklace lying in a small by her feet.

She picked it up gingerly and found small claw marks on one side of the gold pendant. She gasped in fright and it slipped from her hands, falling back into the water below, this time getting tread on by the boat.

And yet it’s thrown back up to her in mere seconds.

Maria watches the necklace fly through the air and clink on the ground several feet away. She waits for a moment, then picks it back up and throws it in the water again.

This time, it’s only a second before the necklace is thrown back up, hitting her in the chest with a bit more force and aggression. She grips the cold golden chain tightly as she carefully crept over to the railing and looked down.

Big green eyes peer up at her from the black water. Something about those eyes was so familiar, like a person is staring out of them.

“Bessie...?”

———

The seventh time Maria saw the thing wasn’t really visual, rather audible.

She was laying in her bed after a long two show day when a beautiful noise hummed through the air. It sounded like a cross between a howl, a coo, and a purr.

She quickly got up and pushed open one of her windows, sticking her entire upper body out. She scans the water, noticing it rippling several hundred yards away. The noise sounds again, this time in a tune of sorts, pauses, then goes once more.

High, low, high, low. That was the pattern of the pitch.

Maria wasn’t much of a singer, but she tries to sing the tune anyway. The possibility of being heard by someone didn’t cross her mind at the moment.

Silence. Maria thinks she might have scared the creature off with her unpracticed singing when it replies with the its tuned cry again. Maria laughs and replies to it with her own. It was slightly altered: Low, high, low, high. The creature copies enthusiastically.

Maria smiles and gets on her knees, leaning against her window sill, singing with the creature.

She never wanted to stop.

———

The eighth time Maria saw the creature was on a stormy day.

She didn’t know why she ventured out into the rain- something was just compelling her to go out to the back of the boat and lean over the railing. She watched the water bubble and splash and roil relentlessly for a long time, then she looked up with a new fire in her eyes.

“Are you here?” She called out. Her voice was soft, but something told her that it could hear her.

She could hear her.

Maria swallowed a lump in her throat. She wasn’t realizing she was shaking until that moment, and not because of the chill from the rain.

Slowly, she reached her hand out over the edge of the boat.

Rain starts to fall harder, pattering loudly against the surface of the churning ocean. The water was bubbling below the ship. The waves were crashing violently thanks to the gales whipping through the cold air, riling them up into towering shapes before they end up crashing back down with piercing claps. Lightning ignites the dark grey sky, thunder cracks loud enough to make it seem like the boat was ripped in half, and up comes the Empress of the Sea to touch Maria’s hand with her nose before diving back down into her deep sea kingdom.

#the leviathan #may write more with this...may not...it’s purely self indulgent #six breakaway #six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #six the musical #breakaway maria on the drums #breakaway bessie on the bass #breakaway catherine of aragon #catherine of aragon #I know she was barely mentioned but I want people to read this so im gonna tag her and exploit the system lol #tw: drowning #tw: blood

22 notes · View notes

howler518 · 5 years

Text

Kratos x Faye: The Stranger

The forest was calm and dim. Errant rays of sunlight shot through the heavy cover branches. A hunter moved silently through the thick shadows. The morning frost had made the foliage stiff under her boots, and small puffs of fog rose from her nostrils.

Faye inhaled deeply, sampling the air on her tongue. She could almost taste the stag. There was a bitter musk, nearly undetectable among the mix of scents in the forest. Faye followed the currents of wind where she could catch the scent of her prey. She followed the trail the cloven tracks made in the spongey earth.

Faye crouched, tracing her fingertips along the edges of the hoof-marks. The imprint was nearly as large as her spread palm. A grin quirked on her lips. It would be a large catch today. A creature that size could feed her for months with good preserving. She itched at the anticipation of a new pair of boots, knowing that her current pair wouldn't last much longer. But first, she had to catch the elusive creature.

Wildlife had grown more and more scarce since the Desolation. Each season proved harder to provide enough resources to last through the long cold months. She hovered her hand over the track and focused her senses. Shutting out the forest around her, silencing her mind of the chatter of birds and the babbling streams, Faye could catch the faintest warmth emanating from the earth. She had grown closer to her goal.

Faye bounded through the forest she had come to know these past winters. So many had winters had passed since her kin had fled Midgard, leaving her to guard the realm alone. Had it been eighty, gods, ninety winters? The exact number escaped Faye's mind.

By now, she knew every rock and every stream. She knew the varieties of every shrub, and herb, and flower. She even knew the names of the trees by heart. The ones forgotten by time and by tongues, ones she could only hear whispered among the branches. They called to Faye now, but in her singular focus, she too had shut them out of her mind.

A stranger walks here, they warned her. But she could not hear their gentle words.

Faye found the stag drinking from a stream, unconscious of her presence as she crouched a couple yards away. A gentle breeze carried the scent of the stag towards her, filling her nose with its musky scent. Strands of auburn hair tickled her cheeks and she knew that she was downwind from the creature.

Faye nocked and arrow and hooked her leather-guarded fingers around the bowstring. On a slow inhale, she reeled her arm back and drew the bow. Holding the bowstring taught, her ice-blue eyes narrowed on the stag's chest. The animal straightened, it's large dewy eyes not seeing the imposing danger. She watched the beast exhale a long puff of fog from its mouth.

A twig snapped in the distance, breaking the spell. The stag froze as it suddenly became hyper-aware of its surroundings.

Before Faye could loose her arrow, a figure burst from the foliage with a howl of rage. At first, Faye thought the beast to be a troll or perhaps a wulver. Her heart pounded in her chest, her instincts caught off guard.

The poor stag released a wail of pain as it was wrestled to the ground by the feral beast. But it was no beast, Faye realized, but a man. He had a stone grasped in his pale hands. He brought the stone down hard on the stag's skull. Blood exploded from the creature's face.

Though no beast, the man was feral. He roared as he brought the stone down again and again. The sound of bone crunching wetly under the force of impact made Faye nauseous.

She had seen reavers scavenging in the forest and old ruins, but none like this. It all happened in a matter of moments and the stag grew still under the man.

The stranger remained crouched over the animal, his chest heaving as he panted. She couldn't see much of him. He wore a makeshift cape of bear-hide and a pack was slung over his back.

Faye released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Before she could make a swift exit, the man's eye's shifted from the animal. Piercing gold eyes met hers.

Faye's fingers slipped. Shit.

The arrow sang through the air and struck the man in the shoulder. He grunted but didn't seem to take the impact. For a moment, Faye wasn't sure if she had actually shot him.

The man regarded the arrow, grit his teeth, and snapped the shaft off in his fist. Adrenaline flooded Faye's bloodstream, her chest pounding hard with her stranger stood and faced her head-on, his face twisted in rage.

She nocked another arrow.

"Stay back," Faye warned. When she spoke, his expression only soured further. He seemed more annoyed than anything.

She stood amongst the shrubs and other foliage, the space between them feeling immensely smaller. He was a giant of a man, at least a head taller than her and broad with thick bands of muscles.

The man dropped the bloodied stone at his feet. With bloodlust burning in his gaze, he took a step forward. Faye's heart stuck to the downbeat she fired another arrow at him.

This one hit him square in the chest. Again, he didn't seem phased. He took another step, a snarl brewing on his lips.

Her eyes darted to the bloodied, crushed face of the stag to the stranger. The sirens in her mind screamed.

She fired two more arrows in quick succession.

The man dropped to a knee.

Stay down, Faye thought. Though she didn't know how he was still conscious in the first place. This was clearly no ordinary man.

The man looked down at his chest and Faye could see that his mind must have caught up with his body. The energy drained from him almost instantly as his hand gripped an arrow. He winced, saying something under his breath in a language that Faye did not recognize. It was coarse and foreign, escaping her knowledge of all the languages in the nine realms. The rage that was burning inn him before deflated and his golden eyes lulled.

The man drifted backwards as he lost consciousness. He hit the earth with a heavy thud that echoed in Faye's chest. Her heart raced, her mind churned.

Silence returned to the forest.

Suddenly, a sharp twist crawled from Faye's gut, up her spine, to her forehead. She gasped, images flooding her mind.

A young boy with auburn hair and ice-blue eyes darts through the trees. The pale, tattooed man follows him, wielding the Leviathan axe. Her axe.

The images receded like the ebb of a tide. Faye's stomach turned as she looked at the man lying in a heap next to the dead stag.

Indeed, this was no ordinary stranger.

#kratos and faye #god of war 4 #kratos #faye #laufay #slowburn #romance #god of war #atreus #kratos x faye #fanfiction

28 notes · View notes

blissfulcastiel · 7 years

Text

When Faith Returns

Supernatural Creations Challenge | blissfulcastiel ↳ Prompt: {Word} Faith Tags: Gen, Benny POV, blood

It’s never silent in Purgatory. Not really. There are times when it seems every damned soul is holding their breath, an eerie still settling between the trees. But if you listen closely, there’s always someone screamin’.

Tonight’s one of those nights.

Well, now it is. Benny yanks his blade out of ground, where it had been buried when he took off the head of some corrupted bastard. He was just mindin’ his own business, settling down at the base of an ancient tree to rest his feet, when he was jumped from above. The fang snarled and made such a show at trying to get at Benny’s throat. Must’ve been new to Purgatory – maybe freshly turned before he was sent to his second life – because it didn’t take Benny longer than a minute to get the upper hand and introduce him to a more permanent death.

Benny holds up the jagged blade, the dark blood covering the edge. That ever-present dry thirst constricts his throat. He’s so damn thirsty. He’s even more convinced this was a newborn vamp because the smell, the one that only comes from fresh, human blood, is nearly driving Benny delirious. He has no control over himself. He swipes his tongue along the blade, careful not to slice his tongue, and growls lowly at the warm taste.

He’s not sure when the last time he fed was. Couple weeks? A month? That’s the thing about Purgatory. Not only is every day a fight to survive, but it’s done while starving. It can really drive someone insane. They’re all reduced to nothing more than the reason they all ended up here in the first place. It don’t matter if you had an ounce of humanity up top. They’re all the same here.

When the hunger starts to become more demanding, Benny shifts his attention to the corpse, ripping open the dirtied shirt and sinking his fangs into the shoulder since there’s not much left of the neck to latch onto. He drinks all he can from the corpse, trickles of blood dripping down his chin as he pulls away.

It’s the most he’s had in however long, and the thirst may be quenched, but the hunger’s still there. Always still there. Benny feels like he could be sick.

How was he able to do this up top? How was it, for so many years, he was able to take life away and not bat an eye when he and his nest sunk ship after ship? An even more disturbing question – how is it that, in Purgatory, he can’t bring himself to drown that last little spark of humanity in him? He knows why, though.

Andrea.

His heart aches as his fangs retract back into his gums. He may have mostly reverted back to that time before he met her since waking up in Purgatory, but her memory follows him around like a shadow. Some days, he’s able to look the other way and not give a damn how much of a monster he can be. But then there are these falsely silent nights where her shadow towers over him, darker than the pitch black night.

He don’t sleep much, but whenever he tries to get an hour or two, that’s when the hunger really sets in. It’s why no amount of borrowed blood will ever sate him in this place. His real hunger’s for revenge. For the humanity he lost for the time he’s been trapped in this never-ending forest of agonized screams. For his drained love that’s probably at the bottom of the ocean. For the faith he once felt.

Shaking his head, Benny gets to his feet and walks back to the base of the tree and settles between the roots. He strains to hear the screams, which have come to serve as almost comfort, but there’s nothing tonight. Just thick darkness and the wind rattling through the branches.

Then, there’s a thud.

The whole ground shakes beneath him. The energy in the air changes drastically, causing him to stiffen while he readies his weapon, fangs sliding out on instinct.

What the hell?

His skin tingles with the new presence – two, actually – but he can’t place what they are. This never happens when a new monster is thrown into Purgatory. Whatever’s found itself here, it ain’t no monster.

Gradually, the distant screams and snarls start up like a chorus. The hunt’s on. Instead of getting to his feet to investigate, Benny remains seated. No use in trying to find the source of the disruption. Every monster in all of Purgatory will be searching for these two new souls that clearly don’t belong, and Benny isn’t in the fighting mood. Not with him stupidly missing Andrea the way he shouldn’t be.

Clutching his blade firm in his hand, he leans back into the aged bark and closes his eyes, fangs relaxing once again. Even though he’s choosing to stay put, no doubt he’ll be missing the show that’s about to take place.

He gives the poor souls ‘til morning.

*****

Over the following months, Benny hears the rumors passed through the grapevine, snarled at him as he encounters other monsters before they’re promptly silenced by his blade. Of course, he doesn’t kill every soul he comes across. Sometimes, there are just monsters looking for a fight, to feel that thrill Benny knows too well, before they go their separate ways. Not without some promising threats, though. Either way, these two new souls have made quite the stir.

An angel and a human.

Benny couldn’t believe his ears when he heard the news. How the hell does an angel and a human end up in this place? Even more astounding, how are they still alive? Benny’s never met an angel before – hell, didn’t even know they existed – but there’s only so much power it can have in the melting pot of Monster Land, right? Still, the angel – Benny could reason out its survival. It wasn’t human, after all. But what Benny can’t wrap his mind around is this human running amuck through Purgatory day and night.

Must be a hunter. Was a hunter? Present tense could be debated if the guy was slicin’ his way through the countless monsters that were no doubt after fresh blood and a little fun.

Benny thought about finding either of them – or both, if they were together – but he had no interest. What was the point? He kinda enjoyed the other low lives lurking in the trees putting their energy into trying to find them while Benny went on his way.

That is, until he gets an idea.

He’s circling with two other vamps. He knows them, but not so much by name. No one ever exchanges names, really. Benny’s convinced some even forget what their name is with how far off the rails into oblivion they go. But these are a couple of the vampires he comes across on occasion to shed a little blood with. If anyone else were observing the showdowns, they’d probably assume it was to the death, but they always backed off before someone’s head could roll.

Benny wasn’t surprised to see the two fangs traveling together. Some attempt to form nests, but they never last too long. While a nest meant more protection up top, it’s a death sentence in Purgatory. In a place where there’s nothing but bloodlust, established nests are targeted – seen as a good challenge – or they fall apart within themselves as a result of power struggles. The safer alternative is traveling in pairs, or going it solo, the way Benny prefers. No one can ever be fully trusted here.

Now, it’s the first time he’s come across the two of them since the angel and human got dumped here.

“You get an eyeful of the human?” The fang with the pretty long hair that’s usually tied back – which is why Benny’s decided to call him Pretty Locks - grins at Benny.

“Don’t think about lying either. We’ll know, Grizzly,” the second, sporting a dark goatee, goads. Benny doesn’t acknowledge the nickname they’ve always called him. There was never avoiding any bear comparisons with a build like his.

“Will ya, now?” Benny smirks. “Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure. You gentlemen sneak a peek?”

Pretty Locks snorts. “No, but we’re looking for him.”

“Gotta find him before he finds the portal,” Goatee adds. “No way we’re letting that one loose.”

That pulls Benny up short. He’s always heard stories of there being a portal out of the place, but he’s never seen it nor met anyone who has. But since it’s obvious this human’s a hunter, perhaps the guy knows a little bit about a little bit.

“Y’all know that’s a bedtime story told to new monsters, right?” Benny says casually, not wanting to seem too intrigued but hoping it leads to more information.

The two vampires exchange a knowing smile before they all stop circling each other. “We may have a hunch it’s real,” Pretty Locks says conversationally.

Benny has to keep from rolling his eyes, but does allow a small quirk of his eyebrow. “Mind educating me?”

The two share a look, seeming to have a silent conversation before Goatee turns back to him. “The human’s a hunter. Obviously knows how to stand his ground in a place like this for as long as he has.”

“We’re not about to be proud and underestimate him like others have,” Pretty Locks adds.

Goatee nods in agreement. “We’ve been looking for a third to help us take him down, but you know how it goes around here.”

Benny smirks. “I’ve had plenty of opportunities to take you two down if I wanted.”

Pretty Locks grins. “And us to you.”

“Seems we’re on the same page then.”

“There’s one small thing though,” Goatee chimes in, and a Pretty Locks smiles wider, fangs glinting. Benny raises his eyebrows to prompt the contingency. “We get him and the angel.”

They seem to expect Benny to turn the offer down, but Benny could care less about that. He just wants the information on the portal outta here.

Benny shrugs. “Kill’s all yours, fellas. As long as I get a slice in, I’m game.”

Pretty Locks and Goatee’s mouths drop open in shock but school their features quickly. “It’s a deal then,” Goatee says.

Not that it matters much, but they all shake on it before they explain to Benny where this supposed portal is. The two fangs say they overheard it from a couple of Leviathans who were on the hunt for the angel, suspecting that it would try to escape through it. If anyone here’s gonna know about this portal, Benny would guess it’s the big mouths that have been here since the beginning, so perhaps he’ll put a little blind faith into the idea.

Faith. Now that’s a concept Benny hasn’t known for some time. It’s a tricky thing. He’s long since forgotten what it felt like. He used to have faith in his father, but his father’s lack of faith in him got him a one way ticket to Monster Land. Maybe not so one way, though.

As the three of them set out to begin their hunt, excitement sparks through Benny’s veins. An idea is forming in his head and he’s prepared for it not to work. But if it did…

Benny grins.

“So this human got a name?” he asks as they trudge through the trees. His answer is a hungry growl.

“Dean Winchester.”

*****

It takes some time to find Dean Winchester. One human in a whole realm. It’s like some ridiculous game of ‘find the piece of hay in a needle stack’. Yes, needle stack. The three of them quickly realize that as they get closer to Dean Winchester, the amount of teeth lurking about increases significantly. Pretty Locks and Goatee are tickled at the prospect of fighting and taking out their opponents one by one, but Benny’s restless, that nagging faith making him irritable the longer it takes to find the human.

Finally, though, they spot him.

Pretty Locks gets sent in first to serve as a distraction, but Dean disarms him and he’s pinned to a tree in no time. Benny finds it odd, as he and Goatee watch from a safe distance away for an opening to ambush, when he hears the low timbre of Dean’s voice reverberating low through the trees. He’s not just slicing and dicing. He’s talking. Still, whatever conversation they have is a short one that ends with Pretty Locks getting beheaded before he can rip himself free of the knife Dean stabbed him with.

Goatee snarls in outrage and springs forward. This is the part where Benny is supposed to follow and take Dean Winchester down, but he waits. He stalls for several moments, letting Goatee get the upper hand on Dean before he runs in and tackles him off.

The surprise and betrayal in Goatee’s eyes only last a second before Benny takes a clean swipe through his neck. When he stands, he can feel eyes burning into him. Now’s the moment he’s been waiting for. This hunter could be the key to his freedom. To a second chance. To regaining faith in the idea of justice and putting an end to this insatiable hunger he’s felt for too long. Perhaps he already has it, though. There’s something about Dean’s presence that speaks to Benny. Gives him real faith rather than the fragile thing he’s been clinging to. It’s been awhile since he’s come across someone who’s given that to him.

The feeling makes him chuckle quietly. He doesn’t even bother raising his weapon in defense.

“What? No thanks for saving your hide?”

#spncreations #benny lafitte #adoringjensen #envydean #galaxystiel #megan writes #my stuff

24 notes · View notes