Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

Ren strolled along, whistling and kicking at the small rocks at his feet, watching as they tumbled away from him before going after another. Every so often, one would make their way to his hand to be launched at a stone face and ricochet back to the ground. The extra clacking of the stones of his bracelet with each throw was a reminder that one was missing, and any element of surprise he might have had was gone with it. So, he peeked around corners and into caves, poked around bushes, and clomped about being as annoying as possible.

It certainly wasn’t the first time the fox had gone into hiding. It had been a regular occurrence when they were children, a habit she’d never been able to break since leaving the den. Whenever Sakura fought with Raz, or when she knew she would be in heaps of trouble for whatever mischief she’d found herself in, she’d take off to the mountains or woods or river. Once, after a particularly heated argument with Ren, he had found her on the outskirts of the next village over, her anger diminished and sitting under a tree waiting for him. Over the years, the angel had become an expert in tracking the demon down to her general whereabouts. However, even if he knew she was there, he struggled with finding her unless it was what she wanted.

But no matter what, sooner or later, she always wanted to be found.

Though, sometimes, she just needed a little encouragement.

A little push to come out of hiding.

The man switched from whistling to singing, his voice booming and off key as he belted out random lyrics for all those around to enjoy. The song rose and fell, too high then too low, the notes breaking and the pitch out of control.

It didn’t take long for his hard work to pay off.

“Can you stop?” The annoyed tone silenced the man, and he looked above him for the source, finding the fox demon sitting on a shelf carved into the rock a couple of stories up, her arms curled around her legs and squeezing them close. “You’re so loud and it echos. You’re giving me a headache.”

“I have the voice of an angel,” he informed her.

“You have the voice of a tragedy.”

The angel chuckled in satisfaction over his victory and jumped up, plopping down next to the woman. They sat in silence, the man watching her as she refused to look back at him.

This could go on all day.

“You’re wrong.” Ren poked the back of her head. “But so is Ivy. You’re being mean just for the sake of being mean, and she’s acting like a spoiled brat. Which, by the way, really reflects negatively on you and your parenting skills.” He smirked as the fox’s ears and tail bristled. “You both are being ridiculous and putting Zero in the middle of it. I know you’re pissed, and you can be mad at him all you want. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it to an extent but tormenting him like that is overboard. It wasn’t something he did intentionally, and he’s trying to work with you and you’re just kicking him while he’s already down. There’s nothing you can do that is going to make him feel worse than he already feels. So how about you actually start trying to help him rather than hurt him?”

Sakura continued staring off, refusing to acknowledge that she was even listening. Ren tweaked at her ear.

“And Ivy needs to get over herself. She wants to bitch and moan and pout and stomp her feet around like a child not getting her way. She doesn’t have to like the situation, I don’t like it either, but it is what it is and throwing a fit and making demands that only benefits her isn’t going to change it. Neither of you are doing any good for Zero, you’re just worrying about yourselves. You need to quit your tantruming and figure it out for his sake so that this doesn’t happen again. He’s doing what he can, you two need to do the same.”

The man wasn’t wrong.

But she wasn’t quite ready to admit that.

The demon tilted her head, resting her cheek on her knees, and looked curiously at the angel. “Why didn’t you tell me that Zero couldn’t die?”

“Would you have believed me?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Absolutely not. I would have thought The Guard made you go crazy.”

“Exactly. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret or anything, but how do you explain something like that? You would have needed proof, but you would have thought I was insane if I told you to kill him.” The man leaned back on his elbows and sighed, watching the fluffy white clouds drift lazily by. “And I’m too much of a sensitive soul to do it myself. He’s my darling baby boy, I don’t want to hurt him. I thought if I trained him well enough that dying wouldn’t be an issue, but that didn’t really go as planned.”

“How is it even possible? Neither angels or devils are immortal, so why would their offspring be?”

“No idea. It always seemed like one of those little life’s mysteries that you’d never find the answer to, so I never bothered to try. He is who he is, and I don’t question it.”

“You just don’t care about anything, do you?” She sighed with a shake of her head. His nonchalant attitude over the matter should be surprising, but it really wasn’t.

“I care about a lot of things.” Sapphire eyes leered into emerald ones. “But not that. I don’t really give a fuck why he can’t die. I prefer it that way, and I’m not gonna try to fix what’s not broken. But I guess I’m gonna have to start caring a little. At least enough to figure out how to keep him from taking off with Ivy again. This whole ordeal has been kind of inconvenient.”

The woman was quiet, thinking everything over. “I think he’ll be able to control it. It’s obvious he had the madness, but he acts different than anything I’ve ever heard of. There has to be some semblance of sanity left for him to be able to take Ivy and not hurt her.”

“His father had the madness.” He glanced at her shocked expression. “He must have gotten it some time after he killed an entire squad. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t have been able to kill him if they showed up when he had it. He was blinded by rage and destroyed everything in that fortress. But he was slow and clumsy, barely knew what was going on around him. Zero’s not like that. His strength and speed increases, he’s still somewhat mentally there, and I’ve always been able to get him out of it with a quick knock in the head. I agree that he could probably learn to control it, but it needs to be done correctly. You can’t go at him looking for blood.”

Sakura turned away, grumbling and ready to accept the truth. “I know. I fucked up. I wasn’t thinking, and let my anger get the best of me.”

“Again.” Ren pointed out.

“Shut up!” The fox spun back towards the man and smacked his knee. “I know I was wrong! No need to rub it in!” She huffed as he roared at her outburst, but her agitation faded with his laughter and was replaced with concern. “Is Zero okay?”

He shrugged. “Not really, but that’s on Ivy not you. As sweet and cute and cuddly as she is, she sure is ruthless. I’d rather deal with your screaming and punches all day than that silent treatment crap that she’s pulling right now. She’s much better at it than you are.” Ren smirked at the demon. “Which is also your fault. You really should have taught her better conflict resolution. You have to raise your kids with an iron fist. Look at Zero, he would never disrespect me.”

The woman rolled her eyes at the angel but hugged her knees closer to her chest. In all the years she’d been with Ivy, the girl had never spoken to her like that. It was understandable, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Despite her anger, the girl had still been so much more calmer and kinder in the way she tore the fox down.

Sakura could never say the same for herself. The way she threw her own words around, as if they were the daggers around her thighs, flinging them wildly and with little thought, hoping to inflict as much damage as possible with each one. How many times had she made those she cared about feel this very way?

How many times had she done it to Ren since he’d found her?

Yet, here he was, still reaching out, offering her everything she needed when she needed it.

If he could do that, then she could at least try.

“I’m sorry, Ren.” Voice low, remorse dripping from her tongue as she stared down at her feet in shame.

The man leisurely picked up a rock and tossed it from the edge to the ground below. “You should tell them that. They’re the ones who deserve an apology.”

She shook her head as she swallowed her nerves and peeked over at him. “No. I’m apologizing to you. I’ve said some awful things to you without caring how it affects you and expecting you to just take it without complaint. And you always do. Ivy was right. I get mad, and I hurt everyone around me. I’m sorry, Ren. I didn’t mean it when I told you to go away, or when I said that you should have never found me. That was cruel of me. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t hate you.”

A brow raised as he looked at her, challenging. It was an opportunity that he wouldn’t just let pass by. “Prove it.”

She titled her head, eyes questioning.

“Prove you don’t hate me.” His smile grew, sly and expecting.

Sakura knew she could. Knew just how easily it could be done. The man was about as simple as they came, grateful for anything he could get. It wouldn’t take much.

She just needed to reach out.

But it was so hard.

“I’ll mind my words better,” the vixen declared pointedly, getting to her feet, ready to make an escape. “I’ll be nicer. I’ll be good.”

A light tugging at the tip of her tail kept her from leaping from the ledge, and she looked down at the man behind her.

“Come here.” Ren patted his lap, eyes and smile bright and welcoming. “Right here. Take a seat. Don’t be shy.”

She turned away, chewing her cheek. “We should…”

Another tug, slightly more demanding. “Come here.”

The woman thought against it. She really should go.

But she spun around and dropped, straddling his lap and placing her hands on the top of her thighs. “What?”

Strong arms snaked around her waist and brought the two of them together as he rested his chin on her head. “You’re so damn stubborn,” Ren pouted, another attempt resulting in failure. “You could have been very nice to me there, but you always gotta play hard to get. That’s okay, though. I’m a patient man if nothing else, and we both know that I very much enjoy the chase. I can wait, and when you’re ready, I’ll be here. I’ll listen to what you need to say. I’m not going anywhere.”

Sakura opened her mouth, struggling terribly to tell him everything that he needed to know, but the words slipped and drowned in her own self-loathing.