Chapter 6 - Reason

Iris

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"So."
Valkyre was on his feet, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Iris sat where he was, blanket wrapped loosely around his shoulders, face lifted as he stared upwards at the vaulted height of the church ceiling. The boy didn't turn to look at the angel, but Valkyre knew that he'd heard him.
"Where'd you come from?"
There was a long pause, then Iris sighed, dropped his eyes to look at him. No words.
"...Don't you know? I mean, you can't just fall out of the sky the way you are. You"-
Valkyre blinked, stopped suddenly.
Iris... he was smiling at him. A soft smile that lit up his lifeless, cold face, made him seem warm and alive and... happy.
"...How do you know I haven't?"
His eyes were so bright, gentle and sweet. So different than the apathetic boy Valkyre had just been facing. The hunter watched silently as the other stood, folding the blanket over and placing it gently on the ground.
"...I-It's not reasonable," he managed at last, immediately cursing himself for his lame response and complete lack of control. "Everyone has to come from somewhere. There has to be a reason for existence."
Iris stepped towards him, bare feet scuffing on the smooth floorboards.
"Is there?"
The silent boy he'd known had suddenly become sharp, questioning, prying. "Can you tell me why I exist?"
Iris paused, close enough to reach out and touch the other, then turned away and ran his fingers over the dusty surface of the back of a pew. Quiet again, closed off to him.
"Valkyre."
His name was softly spoken, breathed out in a whisper as if to hide it.
Iris turned back, looked at him, quietly. Shouldn't he fear him? Shouldn't he try to escape?
...What did he see?
"...Do you believe that everyone has a purpose? A reason for living?"
Valkyre shifted his eyes away, dropped his arms to his sides, stared down at the scratched wooden floorboards. He sighed.
"...I don't know," he answered truthfully. Did everyone have a purpose for living? Anyone?
The hunter started when he suddenly saw Iris in front of him, hands pressed on either side of him and trapping him against the wall, face peering up at him, soft gray eyes searching him, questioning him.
Valkyre could've pushed him away, easily overpowering the smaller figure, but he stood there, breathless, inches from touching the boy, his long dark hair falling down and brushing the other's clothing lightly, feathery whispers on skin and fabric.
"Are you going to kill me?" Iris breathed, pale lips barely moving, eyes unblinking, calm, endless nothingness.
...What was in this boy?
Valkyre swallowed emptily, kept himself away from the other's touch, from the small body leaning closer against him. He wanted to reply, wanted to say something more, but nothing came to his mind.
Instead, Valkyre found his arms again and he grabbed the boy by the shoulder, making to push him aside, get away. He was startled when Iris suddenly wrapped his arms around his torso, pressed his face into his jacket, leaning against him.
"...Don't you know?"
The whispering voice held him still, made him close his eyes and pause in the frozen moment. Iris' body was cool like wood or stone, but soft and supple, the small chest rising and falling against his own so full of life, so frail and dangerous. The uneven mass of pale gray hair ran down the boy's back, strands tangled in his small thin fingers, gripping tightly to Valkyre's black undershirt and rough jacket.
The angel kept his eyes closed, felt the soft but unwavering pulse of a beating heart against his body. If only for a moment, maybe they could both forget what they were. Forget everything else, just exist so simply for nothing more than a moment, an instant...
Valkyre sighed softly, let his body relax, breath exhaled in a quiet sigh.
Yet at the same time, he knew that he couldn't be at ease, that his body wouldn't let him. He could feel Iris, more than just his physical body; he could feel the presences flowing from the boy's form, from his touch against his own. So many bloods, so many species sang and whispered and played over his skin, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge, made him shiver. He was feeling antithesis itself, was feeling what should be impossible... and yet here it remained, pressed against him. He could feel the electrifying shudders, the echoes of unease and pain from sides that ran against each other, threatened constantly to wipe each other out, simply by blood, by touch.
And yet... he felt none of the pain. He knew it was there, knew it in the world all around him, in his own hot, rushing blood, but he didn't feel it...
...Why?
Valkyre blinked open his eyes as he felt Iris loosen his grip, saw that gray gaze looking up at him again, soft bangs hanging over them.
"...You..." The angel searched for the words, but they wouldn't come to his lips.
The boy suddenly pulled away, stepping and turning to face the doorway of the church, far down the stretch of hollow hall and rows of orderly pews.
"...Iris."
The boy turned to face him, cool gray eyes expressionless again, waiting. ...What had made him this way? Was this what being something so extraordinary and amazing did to you?
Iris cut him off, soft voice almost nothing more than a background murmur, but enough to make Valkyre stop and listen, straining to hear him in the engulfing silence around them.
"Valkyre... Am I still... your bounty?"
The hunter blinked, held on to those stone-gray eyes in front of him, so cold and hollow.
"...Yes."
Iris closed his eyes with a sigh, turned away. Valkyre almost regretted the statement, but the logical hunter side of him demanded to be heard, demanded that he not break what little he had left over a creature that didn't make any sense, a creature that shouldn't exist...
"Why? Are you trying to convince me otherwise?"
He tried to keep his voice level and cool, but his uncertainty was seeping into it, poisonous and infectious. Valkyre wondered, why... Why, when he touched the boy...
Iris only looked back at him, expression almost sad, almost hurt and regretful. Almost.
The angel exhaled slowly, then just shook his head and stepped forward. Below him, the boy seemed almost ethereal and unworldly with the colored stainglass pieces painting him their watery shades, the sun slowly sinking down towards the horizon. The day was dying, last bleeding trails fading slowly, slowly to black. They couldn't stay here much longer; it was definately not a safe place to spend the night.
"Well, whatever. We- I'm going to find an inn for tonight, and you're coming with me."
Valkyre searched the boy's face for expression, almost hoping that he'd retaliate or disagree somehow, just to give him something to do, to say. But Iris' back was turned to him, and the boy was already walking towards the entrance, bare feet whispering slightly over the smooth wooden floor.
The hunter frowned, footsteps uneven as he slowed, studying the other. The boy's hair ran midway down his back, unkempt but smooth and rippling slightly with his movements, the gray rising with the reds, yellows, and light greens the stainglass painted on him. His thin arms hung at his sides, fingers half-curled. He looked so skinny, even from here, so weak, so thin and frail... Was this really a creature so rare and exotic?
Iris turned, as if sensing the eyes on his back, and stopped, looking back at the angel.
"Valkyre."
"What?"
The boy held his gaze evenly, not looking away or shying from his eyes like so many others had.
"...Will you help me?"
The hunter stared at him, feeling his pulse quicken slightly, what was it? Anticipation?
Valkyre opened his mouth to answer, still searching for the words, still questioning what he wanted, what he needed, what he felt about this boy...
Iris' face was calm, emotionless, showing nothing of what he had to be feeling inside, stainglass images dancing over his skin, his clothes, his bare, pale arms.
Dark violet eyes widened as a black shadow spread like a stain over the ground, suddenly casting the boy into dark gray tones, destroying the mosaic of color over him like they'd been shattered, crumbled to dust.
And then, everything did shatter.

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AN: Ooooh, a cliffy! Well, I did promise action and stuff, but that's gonna have to be the next chapter.
I'm still trying to cut this up and keep it short, but I know it's gonna get longer eventually... I'm sorry...
But I'll get up the next chapter sometime, gimme a chance! It should be easier since it more closely follows my rough draft...
I hope you guys take the fact that I posted this chapter so soon as time for me to finish my next! Be patient please!
...I want to work on this a lot over winter break, but our break's only 9 days, and we're going skiing and all, soooo... I'll find time for it, hopefully. :)
Had trouble with this chapter [part of why it took so long for me to get around to the last and this chapter] 'cuz I was having Valkyre and Iris suddenly together too fast (I know you all are just screaming at them to do it, but I have to make it seem realistic! ...However you do that in fantasy...) and I had to go back, delete half of it, re-do it, blah de blah...
Ignore my ranting, and have fun. Thanks again for reading, I love how you guys still visit me and check for updates, thank you so much~!!! ::bows profusely::

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