Surviving in Shadows [Saria & CharlotteV]

Lucas couldn't bring himself to answer that. He wanted to say no, give Max some sort of reassurance, but he wouldn't lie. Not to Max. Not about this.

"Seems like it," he murmured, leaning forward and letting his head fall against the mirror. Anger and frustration and maybe a little fear welled up inside him and he banged his head against the mirror, harder this time. The pain helped, a little. So he did it again, and again, and then he was punching it so he didn't have to look at his eyes anymore and see they weren't normal. Not...human.

He pulled his hand back as the mirror spiderwebbed, staring at his hand and seeing the small cuts and smears of blood, though he didn't feel the pain.

What the hell was he supposed to do now? He was changing. Maybe he was already losing himself and didn't even realize it. Maybe he was a danger to Max already, but he couldn't just leave his brother on his own. He'd have to fight it. If he could. If he felt the power start to overtake him, he had his dagger, knew where to cut to end it quickly. He just hoped if it came to that he wouldn't have to do it in front of Max.

Dread. The feeling smacks into his chest so hard Max almost didn't recognize it at first. Sure, the last few years hadn't been easy. He'd been downright terrified before, but he'd never felt straight up dread. He does when Lucas confirms his fears though. Because if Max had been scared of them when they weren't real...this was a whole new game park.

Max winced when Lucas banged his head against the mirror, but he didn't say anything. Max got anger. He'd always been an angry little shit. He got pain making it better. He understood. But it got to be too much. "Lucas," he muttered. Nothing. "Lucas," he tried again, a little louder when the punches started.

"Lucas!" He's moving finally, off the bed, wrapping his fingers around the wrist of Lucas' raised hand. He places himself between the mirror and his brother, glaring up at him. Their heights actually weren't that different, now. Max had always wanted to be as tall as Lucas when he was younger...and somewhere he'd missed the growth spurt that put them almost eye to eye. But he was still shorter, especially up close.

"It's fine, okay?" It really wasn't. It was scary and who the hell knew what it meant, what was happening. Max searched his brothers eyes, the gold unsettling but...not at the same time. Fear of the unknown, possibly. "Calm down."

Lucas lifted his eyes from his hand to look at Max, absently wondering when he'd gotten so tall. It seemed like yesterday he'd still been shitting his diapers.

"Okay?" he asked, lips twisting in a mockery of a smile, a short, bitter laugh escaping before he clamped down hard on his runaway emotions. He couldn't lose it. Not here. Not in front of Max. He had to be the strong one. Had to prove that this wasn't anything to worry about despite his instincts telling him to run or end it now while he still could.

It'd be easy. Max wouldn't even know what hit him. His eyes flicked to his brother's neck, where he could see the pulse beneath the skin if he looked hard enough. He could end it here. For both of them. They wouldn't have to suffer anymore, wouldn't have to worry about losing each other. It wasn't like there was anything out there for them anyway. They'd never find a place they could belong. Would always be shunned or live in constant fear of being found out if they did find a place.

"It's not..." he whispered, stepping back, rubbing at his eyes. He was tired. Even more exhausted than before he'd slept. He stumbled back to the bed and collapsed on it, burying his face in the pillows. Maybe he'd wake up and find this had all been the dream.

Max felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, felt the tingle of something other than magic run down his spine. He and Lucas had been through a lot together. They'd gotten in fights so bad doors had slammed, stuff had been thrown, walls had been punched. They were boys, for christ's sake, they'd wrestled and insulted each other more than actually admit they cared.

But Max had never been scared of him.

He was now. He was scared of the smile that twisted his brothers face. He was scared of the way Lucas looked at him. And he'd never felt more relived to watch Lucas step away from him. Ever.

There was a beat of silence while the older male fell on the bed, buried his face in the pillows, while Max just stood there. He debated with himself for a moment, then eventually grabbed his pants off the floor, tugged them on followed by his socks and shoes. "I'm going to go rummage. You...sleep some more or something."

Get your fucking shit figured out.

He didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed the nearly worthless pocket knife he'd found the night before and headed outside.

Lucas listened to Max getting dressed and slumped further into the bed when he left. He rolled over and pressed his arm across his eyes. He just needed sleep. Sleep would fix everything, it usually did when he got this...frustrated.

Thankfully no dreams were there to meet him when he did.

-----------------------

Kithiel circled the town he'd followed the human boys to, feeling the world solidifying around him. It'd taken longer than he liked, years longer, to finally break through the stubborn one's dreams and anchor to him. The one who held sway over animals and whose soul smelled like forest.

His anchor was sleeping, or trying to. He could feel the restless thoughts at the back of his mind. It would grow stronger over time, as he used the tether to this world to cross over. Usually his kind could only cross when the veils were weakest, but with an anchor he could pass freely.

He circled the house the two were staying in, keeping to the weak shadows in this realm. Shade. The slow creep of knowledge filtered through his mind from his anchor. He looked down at the ground, pawing at it. The shadows didn't move, not like they would have in his own realm. Weak. Lifeless.

The scent of human drew his attention and he followed his nose, spotting the second boy who was kin to his anchor. His silver ears flicked forward and he skirted the edges of shade and sunlight as he followed.

The town wasn't much. It was small enough that there were only a couple of blocks worth of houses, a pharmacy or two, some convinces stores. He'd seen a church when they'd originally passed through, what might have been a school, and a little hospital on the outskirts. Those were too far to go to now, Max stuck close.

Day was safer than night, because different creatures roamed once the sun went down, but it was also dangerous in it's own sense. Because Max could see, but others could see him too. He walked slowly, hands shoved in his pockets, listening to everything around him.

He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. So much so he shot more than one look behind his shoulder.

There were bags scattered across the roads, and he squatted to go through all of them. Some proved to be nothing other than old school work, void of anything interesting save a rare comic on occasion. Max could pick out nerds easily, based on the stickers on their bags. He found Spiderman, which was his favorite, and a one or two he'd never heard of, but he rolled them up and kept them in his back pocket anyway.

There wasn't much else. A water bottle in a diaper bag, as well as a pack of wipes he took anyway. Sometimes being able to clean just ones hands or face was a nice plus.

Eventually though, Max had reached the end of the block they were on. The sun was setting again, Max had a bag of goodies over his shoulder, and that feeling was still there.

His eyes shot across the shadows, searching, but he never saw anything.

He rubbed one hand over his chest, wincing as he remembered the pain from his dream. Finally, he moved, glancing at one of the houses on the street. One story, brick, lock obviously broken. He shrugged, went inside anyway.

This house wasn't as torn to pieces as the one he and Lucas were crashing at was, but the kitchen was empty. Max poked through it anyway, tried the electricity, tried the water. Nothing.

There was nothing in the house all together, but there was a locked door at the end of the hallway. It actually didn't take much to break the lock, which made Max feel a little better about himself. He'd lost a lot of weight over the last couple of years, but at least hadn't lost much strength.

The basement revealed a game room. Max walked through it slowly, found a better pocket knife in a drawer, and a bottle of scotch in the back of a cabinet.

Max had never had alcohol before.

He was sure it was a bad idea, but the curiosity was there, nagging at the back of his brain. He carried the bottle with him while he walked across the room. His fingers drifted over a poker table, cards coming to life under them. He shuffled the pile one way, and then the other, never touching. Magic.

He liked it too much. He liked the tingling in his fingertips, liked the warmth in his blood, liked the idea of what he could do eventually...He lifted his hand a little higher, watched the cards rise into the air, one my one, slowly drifting. He didn't let them get higher than his shoulder, willed them back down.

He had to stop.

In the end, Max pocketed the card, left the bottle of scotch on the table with a frown. He wanted it. He wanted a lot of things.

He was good at ignoring things he wanted.

He'd been doing it for years.

Finally, he walked back upstairs, and back to Lucas before the sun could go down.

Kithiel followed silently, keeping out of sight like he had for years though it took more effort now that he was a part of this realm. The heat of the sun was stifling here even in the shade and he breathed easier when the shadows began to lengthen.

Night was coming.

He paced around the house the boy had gone into, ears pricking forward as he felt the pulse of magic within. It was easy to sense in this world, at least here, away from the cities ruled by those gone mad with its power. It was richer here, mostly untouched for centuries. And even now it wasn't being used to its potential. Humans were weak.

Except for these two who smelled like forest and lightning.

The sun was nearly set before he saw the boy again and he howled softly, unable to stop when he caught sight of the moon in the sky. It was brighter here, shone with a magnificence he'd only heard tales of. He moved to the clearing in the yard in front of the house and tipped his head back with a long, loud howl of worship to the moon.

His ears flicked when the boy finally stepped out of the house and he turned to face him, his form shifting with shadows as the veils weakened.

Max hated the dark. He always had. As a kid he'd had a nightlight. A cool one though, with spiderman on it. It was red and painted spiders on his ceiling. He'd called it his badass light if anyone asked, because it made things. He wasn't a big scardey cat who couldn't walk to the bathroom on his own. No, he was rad little shit with spiders on his ceiling.

But things had changed a lot in the last ten or so years since then. The dark wasn't just something to be afraid of anymore. There were literal monsters out there. Things that Max swore grew out of the shadows.

He ignored the prickling on the back of his neck, ignored the howling he was sure he was imaging as he stepped out onto the porch. Ignored everything until he drew his eyes off the ground...and onto a wolf.

Max swore he saw it. He would be willing to draw blood over that swear. It was right in front of him, not even halfway across the yard, beautiful and white, bright golden eyes. But just as soon as he registered what it was, it was gone. Shifting with the shadows. There, but not there.

Max ran back. He wasn't even going to pretend like he didn't. He shot glances over his shoulder, threw himself in the two story house, pressed the chair back up against the door, and then ran all the way upstairs.

He saw it.

But a glance out the window showed the yard three houses down empty...covered in shadows, but empty.

Kithiel watched the boy, amused at the way he ran. As if he was the worst creature that existed beyond the veil. His form continued shifting as he trotted after the human, back to the house where his anchor slept. He heaved a sigh and circled it, calling on his magic as night started to fall. Shadows thickened around his feet as he paced along the perimeter of the house, marking it, laying protections that labeled it as claimed. It was something he did every chance he had. He couldn't let his anchor or his kin be claimed by someone else.

Once the house was under his protection, he stood in front of the door. He'd already been seen. There was no use hiding in the shadows any longer. He faded to wisps of shadows and passed through the door, following the scent of fear and human up the stairs. Silent. Only half in this realm. Until he found the boy and crept up behind him, solidifying and pressing his shoulder into the back of the boy's legs with the softest growl he could manage.

He was not a small wolf, one of the biggest among his kin. His shoulders reached almost to the boy's waist and his paws were nearly as big as hands.

Don't scream.

That feeling came back, slowly; a prickling sensation down his neck, over his arms. Max cursed under his breath, dropped the curtains over the window again, went to take a step back when he felt it.

Max had never really liked animals. That was all Lucas. He'd been bitten in the face once as a child, still had a light scar on his cheek, but there are some things you don't forget even when it's been years since you've felt them. Like, for example, a distinctively dog like shoulder being pressed into his legs.

Or, you know, wolf.

Max held his breath, willed it to go away, but it got worse. The damn thing talked. No...no, not talked, it wasn't out loud. It was...magic.

Of fucking course.

The boy glanced over his shoulder a moment later, voice caught in his throat. It was a beautiful creature, even Max could tell that. Stark white, tall, probably soft.

"What do you want?" he asked finally. Because apparently this was what his life had come to.

Kithiel shifted and moved around to stand in front of the boy, sniffing him, testing the air around him. What did he want? Why did he have to want anything? It wasn't like this human could give him anything worth his time anyway. He sniffed up a leg and paused at the boy's hand, flicking his tongue out to taste him. Human flesh. Light. Dark. Chaos. He pulled back with a shake of his head and a soft growl, circling the boy again.

What are you called?

He'd been spotted. He'd marked his anchor. He may as well get to know them.

Max swallowed slowly, watched the wolf as it circled around him, uncomfortable. His gaze darted towards the doorway. He could see Lucas from where he was standing, it'd be easy to call out to him. Did that count as screaming though? He wasn't sure. Having the wolf so close to him shut him up though. It sniffed up his leg, to his hand, which seemed to be about as tall as it was.

Max would like to say he was manly enough not to tense up when the damn thing licked him, but he wasn't. He was too afraid he was going to lose a finger or two.

At least the growls were soft. They didn't seem threatening. Still, Max didn't particularly like the way he was being circled.

"Uh...Max," he answered, and then wondered for a moment if he should have made something up. It seemed pointless though. Why not be honest? What did he really have to lose?

Max.

Kithiel stopped circling and stood in front of Max, tipping his head back to look up at the boy. He glanced past him to where the other was sleeping.

And what is he called? he asked, pushing past the boy called Max to head into the room where his anchor slept. He'd been watching them from a distance for years. He wanted to see them both from up close. He paused and glanced over his shoulder as his senses finally recognized the other scent / taste he'd picked up from Max.

Why do you smell like flowers?

"Lucas," Max replied, following the wolf after a moment. His brother was still out cold...actually, probably a little too deeply asleep if he hadn't woken form Max talking earlier. Which worried him. Lucas had slept a lot...more than they usually got. He snorted at the question, shook his head a little. "I smell like flowers because life hates me."

He dropped his bag of stolen goods on the floor, climbed up on the bed easily. He ran his hand through his brother's hair softly, not particularly trying to wake him, but he wouldn't mind not being alone.

He wasn't afraid anymore...not really. A little on edge but...surely if the wolf meant him harm, it would have happened already.

Kithiel let out a soft growl that was almost a purr, pacing along the side of the bed. He sleeps deep. He jumped onto the bed, sniffing at Lucas and growling when he reached his shoulder, using a paw to push the sweatshirt aside. The mark wasn't taking well. It should have been healed by now, though he had been rushed in making it. He sniffed it, baring his teeth and tilting his head to cut the flesh with one of his sharp teeth.

Lucas made a pained sound in his sleep, but didn't wake.

Once the blood welled up, he licked the wound, a twist of magic activating the healing properties in his saliva. It would mix with the blood and heal it by morning.

That done, he turned his attention to Max, stepping over to him and sniffing his face and hair, the source of the strange flowery scent. There was no room for him to stretch out on the bed so he settled for using the human boy instead. He was light as a feather though as hard to move as a two-hundred pound wolf.

Your kin will live.

"Not usually," Max muttered at the comment about sleep. But Lucas was now, out cold, completely dead to the world and not particularly looking...rested. He tensed up a little when the wolf got too close to his brother, but he pushed the feeling down. Likely he was just sniffing, right? Like he'd done to Max.

The bite shocks him enough he jerks forward, hands raised and ready, though he doesn't have a clue what he was going to do. By the time the wolf's attention was back on him he was settling down, because Lucas was fine. No threat. Safe.

Then there's a nose at his face and against his hair, and Max grimaces as he leans away a little. He'd never particularly liked animals...that'd always been Lucas' calling. Max was good with...well, nothing really. He'd owned a plant as a kid. It'd lived a week. And then the freaking wolf is laying on him.

Max accepts his fate.

His eyes flicker back towards Lucas, the worry never really fading. "That's good," he decides, too confused to really think of anything better to say.

Kithiel rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes, though his ears constantly flicked and twitched as he kept alert.

You should move on in the morning, he finally said. The humans and beasts tracking you will return here by tomorrow.

Some of the humans who had tracked these two over the years he'd been able to kill, but it took too much out of him to do it this time. The mark on his anchor would draw his power and keep him weakened for several days while Lucas healed.

"Of course they will," Max muttered with a sigh, falling against the bed on his back. He stayed that way for awhile, simply staring at the ceiling, watching the sky darken little by little as night moved in.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he figured that was probably a good thing. It definitely wasn't an easy sleep by any means, but it was dreamless, so Max counted that as a win.

He woke before the sun rose, twisted awkwardly so his head was pillowed on his arms, the body of a wolf still basically pinning him down, Lucas close. He yawned slowly, buried his face in the crook of his elbow, and stayed there until the boredom set in.

Max was nothing if not a teenager, regardless of the world they lived in.

"Luke," he mumbled, reaching a foot out to kick at his brother. "Lucas. Wake up."

Lucas groaned in protest at the kick, jerking awake and rolling over to glare at his pest of a brother. "I'm up," he grumbled, rubbing at his face and propping himself up on his arms. He felt worlds better. Fully rested. For once. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like he'd had enough sleep. He yawned and scratched at his stomach before he finally noticed the wolf, scrambling back until his back hit the wall. "What the fuck?!"

Kithiel growled at the loud humans disturbing his sleep, yawning and revealing a massive maw full of sharp teeth before sitting up between the two. He looked at his anchor and flicked his large tail, smacking first Max's leg then Lucas'. Good. You're alive.

Lucas gaped and stared at the wolf and his brother and back again. "You're not real... You're just in my dreams." It had to be true. The dreams couldn't be that real.

The wolf heaved a sigh in a way that was close to a human snort and jumped off the bed, wisps of shadows swirling around his feet. I am real. I am able to walk this Realm as my own now that I've marked you. He glanced back at them over his shoulder. You're not safe here. We should continue.

Lucas eyed his brother, making sure he was still in one piece considering a wolf had apparently shared their bed for the night. "We..? Max... What the hell happened after I fell asleep?"

Max could feel the glare being shot his way, and lifted his face out of his arms just enough to throw one back, but it was completely lost because, yeah, the wolf was much more interesting than Max was. Go figure.

He snorted when the creature seemed please that Lucas was alive, buried his face again and huffed out a sigh. Yeah, this was definitely happening. Right now. Once the bed shifted, leaving just the boys on it, Max finally sighed and sat up, running his fingers through his hair and pulling lightly on the short strands at the base of his neck before dropping his hands in his lap.

"Um...I was bored so I went scavenging. And then as I was leaving your Lassie over there followed me home. And then we had a real nice talk, he promised you'd live, and I fell asleep. Ta-da."

He hadn't actually been sure the wolf was the same one in Lucas' dreams until just then, but it seemed...right, for some reason? Besides, how many white wolves with golden eyes existed anyway?

"You what?" Lucas growled quietly at Max. He knew his brother was getting old enough to take care of himself to some extent, but walking around when he wasn't even awake to be able to help? He rubbed at his face again, swearing he wasn't awake yet, but he was. Not only was he awake, but everything felt...more vibrant than he was used to. He could smell the lingering scent of shampoo on Max from here, could hear the wolf outside the door.

He sighed and looked at Max. So they had a wolf who was apparently joining them. And it could talk. His fingers strayed to his shoulder, tugging the sweatshirt down to look at the wound. The bruising was gone and in its place was what looked like a tattoo of a crescent moon partly covered by clouds. That moved. Great. Could their lives get any more fucked up?

Max winced a little bit, rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Hey, I was fine. It was fine. I was careful." No need to mention that he ran back with his metaphorical tail between his legs. Hell nah.

His eyes followed Lucas' movements to his sweatshirt, watched him tug it down, and he lifted up on his knees easily to get a bitter look, reaching out to brush his fingertips over the new mark. "Torn between thinking that's really cool and fucking terrifying," Max decided. Maybe his touch lingers for a little too long, but when he finally moves away it's just to run his hand awkwardly over the back of his neck. "You slept for a really long time."

The 'it scared the hell out of me' was kind of understood.

Lucas glanced up at Max, shivering visibly at the strange tingles that ran through his body from the touch to the mark. He sucked in a breath and let the shirt go back into place, fighting the effect of the touch. He already had trouble hiding his morning wood, he didn't need it lingering around any longer than necessary.

"Sorry," he replied, running his fingers through his hair. "And sorry about yesterday. I... lost it a bit." But he was feeling fine now. Better than fine. He didn't feel the crushing weight of hopelessness and frustration that had built up anymore. "Let's get packed. Find anything useful in your scavenging?" he asked, crawling off the bed and looking for a pair of shoes or boots that weren't worn through.

"Thanks," Max mumbled. He did appreciate the apology...yesterday had been a trip, between Lucas honestly scaring the shit out of him and then being out of commission during the day...he hadn't particularly liked it. He looks his brother over for a moment, but...there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about. Lucas looks...good. Well rested, calm, normal. Besides new developments, of course.

"You mean besides a wolf?" Max asked as he slid off the bed after his brother, grabbing his bags and filling them back up. "Not much. Couple of little things. Got myself a new knife though, so there's that."

Lucas found some hefty boots that were a nice fit in the closet and pulled them on, straightening his clothes.

A wolf might be useful, if it was friendly and not out to...harm them somehow. Surely if it was going to eat them it would have tried by now. He grabbed his pack and filled it with what he could, switching out some of the clothes with warmer ones and grabbing a heavy jacket he found.

"Make sure you find warm clothes. And a jacket if you can."

He mussed Max's hair on his way out to raid what was left of the kitchen, glancing down at the wolf that followed him. "What are you?"

Kithiel shook himself and stretched before reaching the bottom of the stairs in two leaps. Wolf. He slipped into the kitchen and onto the table to watch Lucas. I am not here to harm you. You are my anchor.

"Yeah? And what's that?" Lucas asked, rummaging through the cupboards and filling a sack with some canned goods. Expired, but maybe they'd get lucky enough they would still be edible.

A link. A bond that allows me to pass through the Realms freely. And you have Wolf essence now. Faster, heightened senses.

Lucas sighed and found the water bottles, taking what he could carry. Great. Not only was he shunned and hunted, now he was a freak.