Again, there was a loud rumble. His eyebrows went down in a grimace, while his hand moved onto his belly.

He knew that he should have not eaten that much. He should have not let him offer him any meals. Now, he barely had anything to eat. He had grown costumed to the abundance of food. It was a curse.

Alexis ruffled his hair tiredly and let himself sit on a rock inside his small cave. He decided to clear his thoughts, too upset to focus on anything after hours of work.

First things first, he had found some fruits. He would not go far if he did not get supplies. Now… he had gotten rid of the bad herbs infesting his patch of garden. There was only one thing left to do.

The day was ending. His eyes trailed to the dust and mud bundling in his nest. There was a broken chair on the ground, near a small table, which had crumbled down with the humidity. No one had used them for a long time. He had to get rid of them, because there was no way he could fix them.

The angel stood again with a growl, tired. He was not in the mood, but he threw out the cave the rotten furniture. He also removed the wooden support on the rock where he slept. He emptied his hideout. By now, he did not need to get rid of a certain bed that had been there, because the first thing he did when he returned to the clearing was chop it down. The wood made a good fire.

While he had searched for some food, he had collected some leafs. He was now placing them onto his flat rock, to get ready to sleep and let another night go by. Once he was done, he sat and laid on it.

It was late, he needed to rest. He really tried to sleep, but he soon came to realize that he was missing something. It was something important, very obvious. His amber eyes closed tight with impotence; he snatched his cape from the ground at his side, where he had thrown it angrily before. He threw it over himself, as much as he could, and then he curled to hide below it.

It was a cold night. And not the last he would have to endure. He spent the next nights trying to forget about his wings. He spent the days working as hard as possible, to not think. He exhausted himself, as much as he could. However, he never managed to rest. His eyes always cried, fixed on the dark that surrounded him.

In the fogginess between wake and sleep, he could swear that he felt like nothing had happened. He could feel like if time had not gone by as he drifted off. He could swear that he was not alone…

But there really was no one there at all when he would wake up. The tears always fell, before dusk and at dawn.

—————————

Warm…

His eyelids twitched. His hand moved blindly, to reach over his shoulders. He woke again with a small gasp. His eyes opened, filled with slight shock and confusion. Only for a moment, a single moment in which his mind forgot what had happened to him.

His hand slumped limp once more, slowly; his eyes lidded and stared at the leafs he slept on. The sun rays were reflecting into the cavern, and as always, they fooled him into believing he had been embraced by feathers. He lay there, not enjoying the idea of yet another tiring day. A day surely spent trying to reach the lake, because the way to it was more long and tiring without wings. He had to waste time walking.

Those thoughts almost made him curl and just sleep the day away. Almost. He could never stop thinking, ever. The only thing that could shut away his dark thoughts was work.

The angel took a deep breath and yawned, to bring air into his lungs and wake. He pushed himself up slowly and sat cross-legged on the edge of his stony bed.

He blinked with cloudy eyes, half asleep. The makeshift drapes, which he had made again, concealed a little the light outside. He could see the small reflections of the water flowing by the river, small flickers of green and blue. He could see the small green sprouts by his opening, his garden. His campfire as well, which he had let burn all night; it was dead now.

As well, there is the tall shadow that always-

He jolted a little, because he could not remember waking to a big shadow near the river all these days. His reaction to the strange sight was instant. He threw himself down off the bed, without minding hurting himself with the thud. He dashed behind a small rock at his side, and peeked from behind it with fear. He looked at the drapes, through them. His breathing fastened, and so he threw his hand onto his mouth, not wanting to make noise. His mind was quick to imagine a predator; the adrenaline began to pump through his veins.

He waited. And waited. And the shadow that loomed onto the ground with the light… did not move, not an inch.

Alexis leaned onto the rock a little, trying to peek and see what could cast such a shadow. It resembled a figure too much for it to be a tree or a fallen log. He did not hear anything in the night.

No matter how much he leaned to a side or forward, he would not find out or see what it was, not without stepping out of his cave. He fidgeted there, in fright and nervousness, not knowing what to do. His shoulders hurt, he was too tense. He was trying to curl his wings around him subconsciously, only to tremble when he did not feel them.

Though, Alexis could not think about his wings right now, because he was too busy imagining what could have moved so silently in the night. He crouched there for an hour, hidden in the shadows of his cave. He did not hear anything, nothing but the water that fell from the waterfall.

He stood slowly, and then took the first step towards the opening.

Maybe… it is just a log that fell from the waterfall.

Two more steps, small and silent.

But… Why would a tree fall down the waterfall? The shadow does not look like one.

His hand leaned slowly onto the wall near the drapes. He halted there, hidden, a step away from getting outside. He gulped and sighed, then closed his eyes for a moment.

It is… It is just a log.

He reassured himself that, again. And after a long intake of breath, he took the last step forward.

Alexis raised his fists, his eyes narrowed with weariness. He came out of his cave, in plain sight. He glared at the small river nearby, towards the shadow.

It was not a log.

The black armor did not move, not even when Alexis gasped and stumbled a little in shock, just a second after he bolted out his nest. He was taken aback, because he had not expected to see an armor there.

The armor was not facing him, but the water. He stopped his fall with a hand, thanks to the fact that he still had the rocky wall nearby. He blinked at the armor, confused. But then he glared again, losing his fear completely; he let out a hiss full of resentment.

“Uriel…”

The armor finally moved, slowly. It turned around to face him; its ghostly violet eyes glowed, even if in plain daylight.

The angel stood still, both did. Both gave the other a long weary stare. Both looked calm for now; the armor seemed conflicted, while the angel seemed hurt.

“I told you to leave me alone.”

The armor nodded slowly, too slowly. Its glows seemed to glint smaller, like if those unnatural eyes could narrow.

A long minute went by, full of doubt, for both. The armor kept staring at him in silence, while he leaned with a defensive stance, ready to run off. He could not know what Uriel was thinking now, and he did not want to find out. So it was not a surprise that when the armor moved again, he took a step back. There was a spear hanging from the armor’s belt, and it unnerved him; he snarled and shivered, he saw one of its gauntlets grip its handle to unsheathe the weapon. Those violet glows flickered, the armor shook when Uriel stopped himself, because he noticed how Alexis’ eyes filled with rage again, distrust… fear. So he made the armor raise a hand, slowly. It bowed a little, commanded by its master, to show that there were no evil intentions behind its moves.

Alexis took some steps away when Uriel took the spear and held it low.

“Are you here to make me bleed and-?”

The angel stopped, because the haunted armor brushed the tip of the sharp spear against the ground. He was surprised to see it cut the humid earth.

There was silence; Alexis pondered while he looked at the ground intensely. His amber eyes stared at the clumsily scribbled word, and he ended up voicing it with confusion.

“…No?”

The armor gave another slow nod, and then took a step away. It kneeled, and then held the weapon in its hands, parallel to the ground, clear to see for Alexis. It was a spear, not a sword. There were no runes on it.

The angel leaned his head to a side, as his body relaxed slightly. He was not hostile anymore, but he still was bitter and angry. He did not want to trust in Uriel.

“Tell me why you are here.”

It was a demand. Not a question.

The armor raised a shaky finger, as if in thought; its helmet looked away and down. The angel did not flinch this time when the spear moved again. It was dragged along the ground, because it was the only way they could communicate. Alexis read again once it was done scribbling.

“I worry…”

Its movements were shaky, clumsy, and the words were not easy to distinguish. But Alexis understood them. He crossed his arms and whipped his head to glare again.

“I don’t care. Why must you ignore my pleas, Uriel? Can’t I carry on alone? Is the ache so strong, that I must return? Must I? Are you here to drag me-” He sighed, because the armor seemed to wince and hurried to scribble again. “…back…”

He could only wait patiently, because Uriel was taking his sweet time.

Time I could be using to reach the lake, or find some apples, or just fucking sleep…

The plates of the armor dropped a little when it moved away the weapon, in order to let the words be seen. Alexis looked at them intently, and his gaze turned more serious.

“No, no need. I fear. I worry that a devil could harm you.”

Uriel waited, his claws trembled in the distant darkness. All his eyes filled with sorrow when his angel scoffed with disdain.

“Worry…?” Uriel could do nothing when Alexis gave him his back. His angel walked away and grabbed a net on the ground. “The only devil I should worry about is you, Uriel. Stop haunting that damn thing, before you have a seizure or something. I don’t need either of you. I don’t want you here.”

The armor shook as the hurtful words reached its host. The resentful tone echoed in his mind. And he could hear more coming.

“Fucking idiot…”

Any other curse was muffled by the distance and the dense forest. The armor did not move while the angel walked away; he climbed a small ledge, to take the path towards the lake.

Uriel stayed nonetheless. He did not go away, no matter how much it hurt.

To be honest, he could not tell what hurt more, the distance or the antagonism…