Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

Ren awoke to a song.

One he was very familiar with.

Ivy’s.

But when he opened his eyes, there was only red.

Endless.

All consuming.

Suffocating.

He’d been here before, plenty of times, but if he was careful enough, then he could escape from the depths unharmed.

The man gently pulled the cherry tresses away from his face and body, managing to free himself from the woman’s long and wild hair without waking her. He sat up and looked at the girl who sat close by as she ceased her melody and smiled beautifully at him.

“Good morning, Ren!” Ivy chirped, perky as ever, mouth going a mile a minute as if it had been just another day and no strange occurrences had befallen her. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I’m not sure how long you’ve been asleep for. It’s hard to tell down here. I didn’t know when you’d wake up, and it was starting to get lonely, and this place makes me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t exactly drag you all out of here. I thought about it, and I might have been able to do so with Sakura. But you and Zero would have been difficult. Especially you. You’re just so big, and I...”

He barely registered her rambling as he was focused on the wings that gently flitted behind the girl in her hysteria. “Little One.” It was still so hard to believe. “You’re fae.”

She fell silent and sighed, glancing back at her own wings that she had just only recently discovered herself. “It certainly looks that way. I suppose it does explain some things.”

The angel nodded slowly, looking at the boy in her lap, his features back to normal. “I suppose it does. You brought Zero back.”

“He brought himself back.” Her fingers swirled around the devil’s collar bones and neck as she gazed down lovingly at him. “I just helped a little.”

“Did he…” Ren didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know. The words were difficult to say, though. How do you ask someone if the boy you’d spent years caring for had tried to eat them? Especially when that someone is the girl that the boy is in love with. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable conversation to start.

“Try to eat me?” Ivy finished for him, her face sweet but serious with a small pout to her lips. “Of course not. Zero would never hurt me. You know that.”

He felt the relief wash over him and he pressed his hands to his face in an attempt to contain it all. Of course he knew that. But just because you know something doesn’t make it true, and even if it does, things change and sometimes the truth along with it.

But fortunately, this wasn’t one of those times.

Ren pushed his apprehension out with his breath and got to his feet, making his way to the girl and kneeling before her. His large hands cradled her cheeks as he pressed his lips to her forehead, grateful to be feeling the warmth from her skin against his once again. “You’re okay, Little One?”

“I am.”

He pulled back and observed her carefully, tilting her head side to side and prodding at her limbs, before tearing a strip from his shirt and dipping it into a small, nearby puddle. “You look mostly alright but you’re bleeding.” He dabbed gently at her temple. “What happened?”

“Oh!” She seemed surprised. “That’s right. The devil hit me.” A wide smile spread, showing off the pearly, little weapons within. “He did that because I bit him.”

It was Ren’s turn to be surprised. “You bit him?”

“I did!” Ivy raised her hand, spreading her thumb apart from the other fingers. “Right in here. As hard as I could. I think I bit a piece off.”

He met her smile with his own along with another peck to her forehead. “That’s my girl. Vicious and feisty and doesn’t take shit from even a devil. Papa’s so proud.”

The girl giggled with the compliment, but her sense of pride was short lived and quickly replaced with a timid confusion. “That devil,” she spoke carefully, trying to work her way through her thoughts and words. “He talked like he knew me. I guess he did at one point. He said he was glad he found me again and asked why I didn’t go back. He said there were others and that one had sacrificed herself for me so that the others and I could get away. That he ate her but wouldn’t make the same mistake with me, and that he’d savor me since he hadn’t been able to find any more.”

The man considered it. “Raz told us stories of the fae sometimes. How they lived in the forests and would use their magic to manipulate the earth. They’re pretty elusive beings, only being seen when they want, and often moving their tribe all throughout the land, never staying in one place for long. Supposedly, if you left an offering where they had settled, things like jewelry, clothing, shoes, or coin, they would come out and trade with that person with medicinal remedies and their own outfits and wares. The only beings that could find them against their will were devils since they can smell blood, and they crave the blood of the fae. It’s believed they wiped out all the fae a couple thousand years ago when people were no longer coming into contact with them.” He tapped his knuckles against her head with a grin. “But that’s obviously not true. They must have gone into hiding and only come out onto the land when they have reason to.”

Ivy nodded, staring down at the devil asleep on her lap. “Where do you think they went?”

“My best guess… Summerland.”

The girl looked at him curiously. “Summerland? Where’s that?”

“As a fae, you should be the one who knows. That’s where you came from.” He chuckled at her flustered pout. “Summerland is the midpoint between awake and asleep, reality and dream, life and death. Only the fae can summon the entrance to Summerland, and they would freely go between there and the land back then. No other being can enter unless exclusively invited in by a fae. Not even a devil can get in.”

Delicate fingers glided through the boy’s white tresses. A devil that would have never made his way to Summerland. One she would have never found had she not left. “If Summerland was a safe place, I wonder why we left?”

“I’m not sure,” Ren admitted, trying to piece any reasonable answer together. “However, the fae are all women, and they typically choose human men to have children with. Unless they want to die off, they would have to venture out into the land to find them. I’ve heard a few stories during my time in The Guard of men disappearing for months or years, and then showing back up, completely out of their minds, rambling about beautiful woman. I never paid it much mind, seemed more like old men spinning tall tales than anything else,” he groaned, disappointed in himself and the ease in which he had disregarded information that could have saved him a lot of time and prevented a lot of strife. “Now I wish I would have listened and talked to them about it. But maybe that’s why they left and took you along, so all of you could find men to bring back.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Ren and Ivy turned their attention to Sakura, the woman still laying on her side in the same spot where she had fallen, watching them, obviously displeased with the man’s theory.

“Ivy was too young to bear children. She wouldn’t be ready for another year. That’s actually when being around men became problematic, after her first bleed. So why would they take her out to look for a man she couldn’t reproduce with? They obviously did it for a reason, but I don’t think that’s it.”

The angel shrugged, finding himself all out of ideas and not appreciating being called out. “I don’t know why fae do what they do. I’m not exactly an expert in fae behavior. I’m basically just making stuff up as I go along, hoping something sticks. If that’s not good enough for you, then let’s ask the fae for clarification, shall we?” He looked at the girl in question. “So why were you running around the land getting chased by a devil?”

“I don’t know,” Ivy sighed. “I still don’t remember anything. I didn’t even know I had wings or why I have them now. They were just here when I woke up.”

“Whoever hid you must have concealed them.” Sakura pushed herself up and went to the girl, kneeling behind her and tracing the swirls in the dainty wings, softer than silk against her fingers. “Similar to Ren’s, but without a bracelet.” She pulled it from her wrist and returned it to the angel. “It makes no sense why they would hide you and your wings, though. Why not just take you back to Summerland where it was safe? Why leave you asleep in those thorns, especially if one of them sacrificed themselves for you all to get away?” She glanced away from the wings and at the dejected expression on Ivy’s face, and quickly changed the subject. “Do you think you can hide them?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know how to. I tried while you were still sleeping but nothing happened, and I don’t even know where to start.” Her voice lowered. “I’m so sorry for doing that to you. For putting you to sleep.”

“How did you do that?” Sakura asked. The state in which she had drifted into had been light, warm, and soft. The most nurturing of embraces. Never had she felt that way. So comfortable. So at peace. So loved. It was better than a dream.

“I just didn’t want you to get hurt.” Tears welled in Ivy’s eyes as she looked down at the boy and ran her fingers through his hair. “Zero was hurting so bad, and he was hurting everything around him. I just wanted to help him. And protect you. I didn’t know what else to do. It’s just what popped into my head, and I said it, and the two of you did it.”

“Well, it worked, and probably for the best.” Ren pushed himself up. “Come on, I’m done with being here. Let’s find our way out. We’ll find a spot to set up camp, and I’ll go back and try to find our bags.” He bent over and grabbed the boy, throwing him over his shoulder, and went to his and Zero’s weapons.

Sakura gathered her glaive before grabbing a torch along with Ivy and together they made their way through the tunnel that they had come through, taking the same curves and turns back to the surface. It was deep into the night when they emerged, and they only traveled a short distance before setting the tent for the remainder of the night. The angel laid the boy down inside before crawling back out. He slid off his bracelet and handed it to the vixen.

“I’ll be back. Hopefully our stuff is still there or it’s gonna be one hell of a journey,” Ren grinned at the girls as if it hadn’t already.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until there’s light?” Ivy asked, looking up at him and twisting her hands with worry. “The moon’s not very bright tonight. What if you get lost?”

His smile softened as he smoothed her hair, touched that despite what the girl had gone through, she was still more concerned about others than herself. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine, Little One. Go lay down with Zero and get some rest. I’ll be back before you’re even awake.”

The girl hesitated but obeyed. “Please just be safe.” She hugged the angel tightly, and then slipped into the tent.

“Well.” Sakura watched her go before patting the man’s chest roughly. “Better hurry before someone grabs our bags. I still have a little chocolate left, and I want it back. Be quick. I’m hungry.”

The woman never ceased to amuse the man. “You always know just what to say.” He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her to him, holding her close as her arms wrapped around his waist. “You gonna wait for me?”

“I guess I could,” she said like she hadn’t already planned on doing so. She was quiet while she knocked her toe against the side of his boot, not ready to let go. “Thank you,” her voice quiet. “If you and Zero hadn’t been here…” The words stuck in her throat but raced through her mind.

Ivy would be gone.

Forever.

Ren took her face in his hands and raised it, ocean spilling against emeralds as he smiled tenderly. “You’re ornery as hell, and you drive me fucking crazy, but I love you. I’ll always be here. Whatever you need, I’ll do it.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said he loved her, but it still felt like it. Her foot knocked against his a bit more aggressively as a willful pout puckered her lips. “I need my chocolate.”

His smile widened, and he chuckled. “I bet you do. So damn stubborn. Always playing hard to get.” He tweaked her ear and turned around, walking off. “That’s alright, though. I’m breaking you down. I can feel it. Not much longer now, and I’ll get ya.” He threw his hand up in a lazy farewell before shooting into the sky, onyx wings against the night.

Sakura watched until he had disappeared.

No matter how many years had passed or how much time they’d spent apart, the man still knew her too well.

She could hear Ivy humming, and she turned to peek into the tent. It was dark but the woman knew that the girl was smiling brightly at her as she sat there. For such a sensitive soul, she sure was taking being kidnapped by a devil who wanted to drink her blood in stride. She crawled in to the girl and took her face in her hands, kissing her forehead before wrapping her in her impenetrable embrace. “I love you,” she told the girl softly, breathing her scent in deeply, savoring every moment. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you. I just…” She stopped, unable to say more.

Ivy snuggled closer. “I love you. Please don’t worry.”

Sakura shook her head and kissed her again. “You know that’s never gonna happen.”

“I know.”

The woman looked at the girl, feeling the vice around her heart constricting. Even though the danger had passed, and Ivy was now safe in her arms, the realization of how quickly it could all be taken away now had plenty of time to settle uncomfortably in Sakura’s mind and chip away at her defenses. “You should get some sleep,” she insisted, for herself just as much as for the girl. “I’ll be right outside, unless you want me in here.”

“That’s okay. Go wait for Ren.”

The woman kissed her one last time, her lips lingering, before exiting and sitting just outside the tent. She could hear the rustling as Ivy lay down next to Zero. She heard the sound of her lips against his skin. Heard her voice.

“I love you, Zero.”

Sakura smiled and looked towards the sky.

And let the tears fall.