Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

Raz pressed his face into his hands, trying to will away the growing throbbing in his head.

He was so tired of the noise. The fighting. The arguing. The constant bickering between the two children who had taken over his once calm and quiet home. He looked up from his spot at the table. The girl was crawling all over the boy, trying to grab at the book in his hand as he pushed her away with the other, snapping demands as she ignored them and whined for what wasn’t hers.

They were ten and twelve and annoying as hell.

This had been going on for days. Sakura couldn’t stand it anytime Ren tried to get anything done or steal a moment to himself. She was there, constantly in his face, wanting anything that he had, or for him to help with her chores, or spar, or whatever else she could come up with. She rarely stopped. But when she did, Ren was just as bad. The moment the girl gave up, he was tugging at her ears and tail, smirking, and antagonizing her until she was red in the face and chasing him around as he laughed hysterically. That is, until she caught up to him and her fists would fly.

Raz no longer bothered pulling the enraged girl off of the boy.

If Ren wanted to keep putting himself into that position, then he was going to have to figure out how to get out of it.

Or die trying.

Raz was ready to take them into the mountains and leave them there. Let them fend for themselves.

It actually wasn’t a bad idea.

“Enough!”

The children froze and looked at the older angel. It only lasted a moment before Ren elbowed the girl in the stomach and the fight was on again.

The man groaned and got to his feet, his patience at its breaking point as he pulled them apart from each other. “I said enough! Get your sword, boy. We’re leaving.”

The boy complied, tossing the book onto his bed and disappearing into Raz’s room.

The man looked down at the girl who looked back at him curiously as he carefully weighed his options. “Get your daggers.” Her eyes went wide, thrilled, and she scurried off practically throwing herself under Ren’s bed for the box. “One!” he barked. “No more than that.”

Sakura pulled the box out and ripped the cover off, staring down at the five daggers that her and Ren had collected, and picked one, jiggling it in her fingers.

“Outside, both of you,” he commanded as he retrieved his glaive and met them, guiding them up the path towards the mountains.

The girl bounced around the man, completely wound up. “Where are we going?”

“The mountains.”

“Really?!” She couldn’t suppress her excitement. They had never been allowed to go with Raz up into the mountains. He had forbidden it, and even though Sakura couldn’t help herself from pushing back against the man’s rules, she knew that this was one not to tempt.

The boy looked up at his uncle, the large sword on his back looking less and less awkward as time went by and he continued to grow. “What for?”

“Because the two of you are driving me fucking insane, and it’s either the mountains or I take you to the river and drown you both.”

Ren nodded, the mountain sounding like the better option. “What are we gonna do up there?”

Raz looked down at the boy. “You’re gonna learn how to kill pests.”

The demon froze ahead of them, her tail and ears straight up and frazzled. She turned slowly around, her eyes nearly falling from her skull. “Are you serious?”

The man shot her a look. “Don’t you…”

But the girl was already screaming and running to the base, unable to wait any longer.

“That damn child,” Raz growled, watching her bound further away until she was nearly out of sight. “I wasn’t talking about her.” The girl already came by exterminating pests with ease, the process as ingrained in her as the act of breathing. There was really nothing for her to learn other than to sit down and be quiet.

The boy, on the other hand...

“Are you sure about this?” Ren asked, attempting to gulp down his hesitation as he stared at the ground passing by under his feet. “I don’t know if I can.”

The man turned his attention to the boy. “I think we both know you can.”

He nodded and looked up at his uncle, an ocean of uncertainty in his eyes. “What if I can’t stop?”

It was a concern that Raz shared, one that had plagued his mind from the first time he laid eyes on the boy with his shock of ebony hair and small raven wings, wrapped so tightly in a frayed and thin blanket.

So tiny.

So innocent.

So terrifying.

But fear wouldn’t solve their problems.

Only they could.

“You will,” the man said, convincing himself as much as the boy, both well aware of what the alternative would call for. “Say it.”

“I will.”

“Good.” He tousled his nephew’s hair with a nod before facing forward, needing the reassurance one last time. “You will stop. I know you will.”

The two angels caught up to the demon who had stopped at the entrance to the narrow valley, hopping around from one foot to the other, ready to jump right out of her skin.

“Come on!” she whined. “Let’s go. You’re so slow!”

Raz walked up to her, raising his hand and smacking her in the back of the head as she yelped. “Knock it off! If you’re gonna act a fool then you’re going back home. These mountains are dangerous, and you’re gonna get yourself killed acting like that. We’re sticking to the valley. The higher up the mountains, the bigger and more dangerous the pests get. You talk when I tell you to. You move when I tell you to. You kill what I tell you to. Do you understand?”

The fox pouted and nodded, rubbing at the spot, her pride hurting more than her head. She looked between the two large weapons on the angels’ backs. “When am I gonna get a sword? How am I supposed to kill anything with a tiny dagger?”

“Never.” Raz glared, his patience barely hanging on. “You’re a menace, and the world is a better place when you’re unarmed.”

She ignored him. “Can I have your glaive? It’s not like you ever use it. I’ll take care of it.”

“You can have this glaive over my dead body and not a day sooner. The last thing you need is a weapon you can’t handle. Now quit your talking or you won’t even have that tiny dagger to keep you company.”

She huffed but fell into step beside the boy and they followed the man as he led them further into the valley.

“Why do we have to kill pests?” Ren asked. “Couldn’t we kill something else? Like a rabbit or a deer?”

The man shook his head. “You’ve been hunting for years with no issues. It’s time you step out of your comfort zone. Pests will be a good starting point, they’re more difficult to kill and require more thought to do so.”

“I don’t want to kill something just to kill it,” the boy argued meekly.

“You’re not killing them just for the sake of killing. Pests are of the land, and it’s best to return them to it,” the man told him. “You have ones that never bother anyone, while others are a nuisance and can do a lot of damage. Some are dangerous and can even manipulate magic. It’s best you learn how to deal with them. This isn’t the city where you can just sit back while someone else takes care of it. It’ll be your problem, and no one’s going to help you, so you need to help yourself.”

The boy went quiet, knowing there would be no getting out of this test that his uncle was determined to put him through. Slender fingers slipped through his own and he looked down at the girl who gazed up at him with an encouraging smile as her lips moved without noise.

It’s okay. I’m here. Just breathe.

His hand tightened around hers, trying to pull from the girl the strength and confidence that came so naturally to her. That he wanted to share. To have himself.

They continued on, stopping every now and then to listen or look for tracks. Sakura led Ren along, staying just ahead of him when she caught the sound, the subdued snapping of dried pine needles and soil being shuffled around. Her ears and body perked up and she released the boy’s hand, stepping forward as a large hand grabbed her head and stopped her.

“Don’t even think about it,” Raz growled. “It’s Ren’s. Leave it.”

They made the stalk and came upon the pest that Sakura had heard, its large, round, hard body held up by six stilt-like legs. Its head was much smaller, and the creature shimmered different colors under the sunlight as it moved slowly, one thin leg at a time.

The man turned to his nephew, speaking quietly, “Ren, you can…”

But the girl was gone.

She sprinted towards the pest, launching herself against the trunk of a tree in order to spring her body higher and onto its polished back.

“Fuck!” Raz cursed loudly, the boy no longer his main concern. “Damn it, Sakura! Get your ass back here!”

She heard the man cussing but paid him no mind as she grasped the dagger tightly and dived onto the beast’s head, driving the blade deeply into its narrow eye. It stilled for several moments before beginning to shake vigorously. Its legs slipped out from under the beast, and it toppled to the ground, exploding into brightly colored leaves upon impact that rained down on the angels and demon.

Sakura jumped up, twirling around with the remains embedded into her hair and stuck to her dress. “I did it! I killed it! I saved the mountains! Let’s find another one!”

The man rubbed his forehead, realizing too late that he had made a mistake. Of course it would end this way. Who did he think he was kidding by believing that the girl would actually listen to him for once? That she would sit back and allow the boy to be put in a position to fail. That she wouldn’t rush to his rescue at the first sign of trouble.

Not only did she behave in a completely predictable way, but now Raz had a new problem.

He had allowed her a taste of that which he had forbidden.

There would be no keeping her out of the mountains and away from the more dangerous pests now.

What a damn fool he was.

The boy smiled, watching the demon roll around in the leaves, throwing them into the air and letting them fall on her, her giggles chasing away his dread and leaving behind exhilaration in its wake. Just as she always did. “Are you surprised?” he asked his uncle, already knowing the answer.

“I never am.”

Raz should have just let the two fight it out at home.