Azure P.O.V

I wake up, feeling Rufous' arms around me. He kisses me as I kiss back.

"Good morning my perfect angel." He smiles. I blush and put my head on his chest.

"I'm not perfect or an angel."

"You look like one." I smile up at him, leaning in for another kiss. We clash our head together in a passionate kiss as a knock is heard at the door. We break away and Vida peaks her head in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we must leave while the time is right." I nod my head and begin to get my clothes on. Rufous and I head out to the front of the house as Mrekulli sets up the horses. The sun was coming up, giving us some darkness and cover, but light enough to see where we are going and any threats.

"We only have three horses, so we'll need to pair up." He announces. We nod our head as we pair up. Mrekulli is with Látinn, Vida is with Aisling, and I am with Rufous. We get on.

"Is everyone ready?" Aisling asks. Everyone nods their head.

"Lead the way," Rufous says, indicating to Mrekulli. We pull on the rains, signaling to the horses to go. The break out into a run as I hold on to Rufous.

"You okay back there?" He asks. I nod my head.

"I'm fine just didn't expect them to go that..." I go silent, hearing something around us. Aisling looks back at me.

"You heard that too?" He questions.

"Yeah," I answer. Aisling passes the rains to Vida. and gets on the back of the horse, drawing his bow. Mrekulli and I pull our swords out and keep a sharp eye out. I see bushes begin to rustle.

"Guys something's here!" I shout. I look back as a wolf jumps out. Rufous sees it and makes a sharp turn. It follows us without a problem. It jumps on a rock and makes a swipe for us. I watch as an arrow lands directly in his heart. I look over to see Aisling loading another arrow. I swing my sword to hit a wolf. This chase went on for a while before one jumps out and tackles Aisling off the horse.

"KEEP RIDING! I'LL BE FINE!" He shouts.

"We have to go back to him!" Vida shouts. Mrekulli shakes his head.

"There are too many on our tails. We must get rid of them before we head back." I look back one last time as Aisling is surrounded by wolves. I take a stab at one who was about to pounce on me. We go for a bit of a loop, determined not to let Aisling die.

Aisling P.O.V

I draw my bow, aiming an arrow at one's heart. I shoot, burying it deep into his chest. I feel claws dig into my back. I scream and fall on my knees. Another wolf attacks me, biting my neck. I hit him in the head as he let's go. Another wolf attacks me. I feel several claws and teeth digging into my bones. My vision begins to fade in and out. I see another werewolf, attacking and killing the others. They turn their head to me, getting down on his knees. He looks into my eyes and faintly smiles as tears roll down his face. I smile myself. I've missed that smile far too much.

"Hello, brother." I manage to spit out. He stares at me.

"Long time no see. You're still short." I chuckle.

"And you're still freakishly tall." He kisses the top of my head, much like he did when we were still children.

"Goodbye dear brother." I reach for him to stay, but it was too late. He already disappeared into the forest. I hear the familiar sound of hooves hitting the ground.

"Rufous over there!" My vision finally gives, the last thing I see is Vida healing me... And a figure with a tail watching through the trees.

Mrekulli P.O.V

After Vida was sure that Aisling would live, Látinn placed him on Vida's horse. We all get back on our horses and head out for the castle once more.

"Take a left and go straight," I tell Látinn. He nods his head, taking a left. Through the trees, we see the castle.

"It's bigger than I thought." Látinn comments. I look at him.

"You've never seen the castle before?"

"No." I stare at him in disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that. I've been in the forest for the majority of my life."

"True... Why did you stop the meetings with me? I understand that you didn't want to see the townsfolk, but it was me. We didn't even meet in the town when we wanted to talk." Látinn goes quiet for a second, reviewing the question in his head.

"I thought you could never love an outcast like me. Why would you? You're a perfect being and I'm not." I chuckle, hugging him from behind.

"You're perfect in my eyes." I see him smile as we jump a log, dodging trees along the way. Behind us, Vida is watching Aisling as Rufous and Azure protect her from behind.

"Why do you think that wolf saved Aisling?" I ask.

"It's his brother. That's the only explanation." I look at him questionably.

"Why would his brother risk his life to save him?"

"I would risk my life to save Vida, and I'm positive any other sibling would risk their life to save the other. It's what they do. Other than Rufous, all he has is Azure."

"How do you know?"

"He told me." I nod, replaying the words in my head.

"Wait, what do you mean every sibling except for Rufous? He doesn't seem like the person who would just abandon his brother and or sister."

"Well, he's not. His brother turned into a werewolf. Unlike most other circumstances, he decided to turn into a werewolf. He's now the king." I nod my head.

"Don't tell anyone else. I don't want the townsfolk to cast him out like they did me." He says, looking back into the forest. I tear up a little, hugging him closer.

"Never leave me again. Please."

"Never again Mrekulli. Never again." And with that, we arrive at the castle. We get off and go to the door. I knock and a young man answers. He's probably somewhere in his 20s (most likely early). He wearing a beat-up hat and glasses.

"Hello, may I help you?" He asks gently

"Yes. We came here with Azure." I say, signaling to the others as they get off of their horses. They walk over, Rufous carrying Aisling.

"Right this way." He moves aside, letting into the castle. We take a few steps before someone hugs Azure.

"Azure you're okay! Fallacy said you might die." Látinn looks closely.

"Who is that?" He asks me through a whisper. I lean in.

"That's Jasper. He's the prince of the vampires and brother to the king."

"And who is the hat guy standing next to him. He looks like a butler but acts like a husband."

"What do you mean?" I ask, curious about how he acts like a husband in Látinn's eyes.

"He stands close, making everyone know he's here, but not close enough that we would feel uncomfortable. He also stands with his back to the crowd. This is a protective maneuver, for if someone jumps out to attack Jasper, he'll take the blow from the weapon. He also continues to eye the door, also a sign of protection. Normally couples and such won't notice these differences, and I doubt he does too. He's still skeptical to touch the prince, meaning they got together just a little bit ago." I look at him, confused how he knows this. Azure begins to talk to the two, mentioning people like Aisling and Vida. He nods his head and walks up to us.

"Fallacy would like to talk to Rufous and I. You guys can go socialize." Rufous grabs Azure's hand as they begin to walk off to a hallway after setting the now conscious Aisling down. The one in the hat walks up to us.

"My name is Suave and I'll be around if you want to ask any questions." I nod my head

"Okay thank you Suave." He walks away with Jasper. Látinn intertwines his fingers with mine as we walk around. I run into a man with a priest outfit. He has blue eyes with hints of silver in them. He also has what appears to be a chess piece birthmark on his cheek.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He asks.

"I'm fine, but I haven't seen you before. Are you new?" Látinn question

"I've been here for a few months," I speak up.

"Are you the town priest?"

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"I am 29 years old." I and Látinn look at each other.

"Aren't you a little young to be giving life-changing advice and expelling demons from houses and people?"

"Why yes, yes I am." (Comment if you get that reference).

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Xadrez." He reaches his hand out. I shake it.

"I'm Mrekulli and this is Látinn."

"I must apologize, but I have to go see a friend. Would you like to come with me?" I nod my head and he leads us down a series of hallways. We end up at a door that leads to a big room. He closes the door as we walk in. In the corner is a pile of sheets and blankets. Xadrez walks up to it, staying as quiet as he can. Látinn looks at me, caution and worry evident in his eyes. We turn our attention back on Xadrez. Without warning, the sheets are whipped back as someone jumps out to attack Xadrez. He wraps himself around his neck, long sleeves dangling from his arms. Xadrez places his hands on the guy's arms as I look at Látinn.

"Should we do something?" The person stops attacking Xadrez and looks at us.

"Why would you do something? I'm not attacking him."

"Oh." I and Látinn quietly say. The kid lets's go from Xadrez and runs up to us.

"Did you think I was choking him? He's like a brother to me and Ghisa. This is Ghisa. He's my actual brother. He says hi." I look skeptically at Xadrez as he walks beside the boy.

"This is Folle. He's not the most mentally stable individual in the land. That's why he's under my care. His parents abandoned him when he was little and I found him not too long after. He's roughly the age of 21." Folle smiles proudly, obviously happy he was able to live this long.

"How come he's back here?" I question. Xadrez looks at me.

"He can't be in big crowds. We had to travel to the castle by ourselves. Once we were in, a few maids took me to this room. That's where we've been since." I look at Folle. Honestly, he's really cute. His eyes are mismatched colors and his one pupil is bigger than the other. He also wears long sleeves that fall off his hands.

"Wanna see my bandage collection? There very colorful." Folle lifts up his sleeves, showing scratches upon scratches on his arms. Twenty or so bandages lay on his arms, all ranging from different colors. I tear up a little but smile anyway.

"It's beautiful."

Aisling P.O.V

After Rufous and Azure left, Mrekulli and Látinn went off with some priest and Vida went to care for the sick. After much convincing that I'm okay, I made my way down to the dungeons to see which wolves they had and if one of them would talk. I walk up to the guards.

"May I question one of the werewolves? I don't have to be in the cell."

"Why do you wish to talk to one?" The one asks.

"Let him through." I look behind me to see a vampire in armor.

"Yes, Ibutho." They move out of the way. The vampire places a hand on my shoulder.

"I will come with you. My name is Ibutho. I haven't been able to get anything out of one of them, but sadly that one knows the most."

"My name is Aisling. I've been hunting a certain werewolf for years now, and I'm trying to get any information I can."

"Revenge story?"

"Love story about brothers." Ibutho nods his head

"Yes. That does seem to be a thing lately. Sibling bonds surpass all challenges."

"Yes, it does." Him and I both look to you, making eye contact as if saying 'you are putting us through this.'

"WE TALKED ABOUT THIS! NO BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL IT'S VERY FRAGILE!" We look over, seeing the author walk in with a person from another book she's working on. Something about the ship children traveling across the different multiverses to save their parents. Two more break through the wall, fighting with a bow and arrow and a giant paintbrush. The author whips her head around and looks at them.

"All of you get back into places. THAT INCLUDES YOU TWO PALLET AND PAPERJAM!" They look at each other.

"HE DID IT!" They say in unison. The one that first came with the author shakes his head.

"I'll take them back."

"That's why Goth's my favorite." They look at each other, pretending to be hurt. We take our lecture from the author as a group of elephants repair the wall. After that's done, we continue on as if nothing has happened.

"Which werewolf are we interviewing?" I ask. Ibutho stops at a cell.

"This one." I look inside and see a werewolf I've seen with my brother a lot. Kustard I think? That's not right. I look at a little name tag on the cell door. Kirsti. I was close.

"Great, another interview. Did you bring someone new? What, you think you can get me to talk by having some hot guy standing there?" He questions. I blush and look away.

"If that was the case then I would have you talking right when I walked in." Ibutho answers. I begin to laugh as he looks away, obviously embarrassed by not having the last laugh.

"Anyways, this guy has been tracking your group for a while now. He's here to help get answers." Kirsti get's up and walks closer to the bars. He places his paws against the metal, getting a good look at me.

"You're Aisling aren't you?" I back away slightly.

"How do you know?"

"You used to sing every night with your brother, did you not?"

"Who told you all of this stuff?"

"He still sings."

"What does that have to do anything... He still sings our song?"

"No, I said that just because I wanted to see your reaction. Yes, he stills sings that song. A few times he walked to a cliff while we were out on a mission. Out of curiosity, I followed him one time and found a sight I never imagined. He was sitting on a ledge and was singing that song. At his side, he had a crown that belonged to every member of the royal family in a far land. It wore a crest of a crescent moon, the one given to the eldest son of the family. The one that went missing years ago. After the song, I left back to my tent. I remember the youngest son went on a trip to find the eldest. He wore a crescent exactly the same as the one you have." Ibutho sits on the side, taking this all in.

"How do you know all of this stuff about us?"

"I stayed in your land one time a while back. I was intrigued by the history, curious about the statue of you and your brother. I got my hand on the history for years. I took it back to the castle and would read in my spare time. I know the history from the wedding to the old king's death." I tear up a little, remembering that Papa was sick. I wasn't there when he died, but I was told he did. I also left a note for Naktis, telling him what happened. I wipe my tears away and look at him.

"Do you have any information on my brother?" I ask, choking on my tears a bit.

"If he stops fighting then Bellator will find you, turn you into a werewolf, force you to kill, then cause a slow and painful death in front of Naktis." I look down. That explains why he hasn't escaped yet.

"Will you tell me anything more?" Kirsti thinks.

"Nope." I look at him with pleading eyes.

"Please?"

"Maybe for a kiss."

"Welp that's my cue to leave." We look at Ibutho who gets up and walks away.

"Try not to be too loud. We all need our sleep." I blush and look away. Kirsti smiles.

"No promises how loud he'll be when I jack him off."

"You two are so immature!" I yell, hiding my face in my cloak. They laugh as Ibutho leaves. I go to leave.

"He misses you." I look back

"What?"

"He still misses you. I've heard him cry at night a few times." I smile.

"Thanks for letting me know."

"Goodbye, Aisling."

"Goodbye, Kirsti." I walk away, a strange affection growing in my heart for the wolf hybrid.

Rufous P.O.V

"And that's why Aisling came. I have no clue why Vida, Mrekulli, and Látinn came. Maybe Vida wanted to help heal some soldiers or something." Azure explains. Fallacy sits there with his arms crossed, thinking of what to do.

"So Aisling will give us all of his services as long as we spare his brother and allow him to return to normal and good? Sounds fine to me. He may be able to get something out of the wolves we had." We hear a knock on the door as Ibutho walks in. He walks over to Fallacy.

"Were you able to get anything out of him?"

"A man named Aisling got him to say some of the places he has been. Other than that, we know he likes to read and he thinks Aisling is cute. It's not much, but it's far more than what we had." Fallacy nods his head.

"I understand. Well, I'm afraid that we must take him up on the offer. I'm sure this is going to bite me later, but I don't see a downside other we cannot kill his brother." Fallacy rubs his temples as Ibutho leaves.

"It seems too easy. It never is this simple." Encre walks in with a plate of tea and coffee cake.

"Ne pas trop penser, amour. (Don't overthink it, love.)" Encre says, placing the tea and cake on the table. I grab two cups of tea and two coffee cake slices, giving one of each to Azure. Fallacy takes a deep breath, attempting to calm down a bit.

"There must be a twist. There is always a twist."

"Chérie, écoute-moi. Si c'est le cas, nous le comprendrons. (Sweetheart, listen to me. If there is, we will figure it out.)" Fallacy sighs.

"We always do. Okay, we'll take him up on his offer. I will tell him in the morning." Azure leans his head on my shoulder as I gently stroke it.

"How did you hear about the shack outside the woods?" Fallacy asks.

"I stumbled on it when I was going to the town. I didn't know who it belonged to, but I just continued going. A year ago when the rumors of a healer existed, I figured that was the healer, but never needed to check. A lot has changed since then." I look at Azure who fell asleep on my shoulder.

"How has the castle been?" I question.

"In a panic. There has been a fear of werewolves, and you being the only blacksmith and gone only made it worse. We don't have anyone to make repairs on the armor that broke." I nod and stand up.

"I'll get started on them. Do you have anywhere for me to work?"

"Yes, Fibis will show you the way." I place Azure down on a bed and walk out of the room. A little maid walked up to me.

"I assume you're Fibis?" The maid nods and begins to walk me towards the main area. Villagers look at me, hope evident in their eyes. They begin to come towards me as I look at them skeptically.

"You're the blacksmith right?"

"You can fix the armor right?"

"You can make a weapon that can kill the wolves right?"

"You can make our soldiers stronger than theirs right?" I keep walking, trying to understand the swarms of questions. I have never been this popular before. Normally people avoid me. I feel a tug on my arm and look down to a little boy. He looked at me with pleading eyes.

"You can give the heroes superpowers right?" I place a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. All I can do is fix the armor and make the weapons. I cannot promise it will be better than the werewolves, or that my weapons will kill them in one shot. What I can promise is that I will do all in my power to make sure they come home to a safe and happy house. In the end, the good guys will always win." The boy smiles and hugs me. I stand there a little stunned but eventually hug back.

"You will always be a hero in my eyes." I smile and pat his head.

"Thanks, kid. I gotta go before another round of questions I can't really answer comes." I get up and continue to follow Fibis, ignoring the people who want answers. I make it to the blacksmith room without starting a riot. It's a little dusty, but it should be more than enough. I go and start a fire inside the stove, lighting up the room. I pour some water into a bucket and place an apron around my body. I grab the tools as I organize everything. I reach over and grab the first thing, placing it on the table. It's Azure's helmet. Cracked and broken from when it was left on the ground. The memories come flooding back to me, a slideshow going through my head. How he fought because of me, he faced off to a werewolf because of me, and how he got stabbed because of me. I break down into tears and fall to my knees. Fibis runs out of the room, probably going to get someone. I sit there, crying. I don't deserve him. He needs someone better. All I do is cause pain. I clutch the helmet tighter as I hear footsteps running towards me.

"Rufous are you okay?" I hear a voice ask. I know that voice. The voice I've caused so much pain to and the voice that I can't live without. Azure falls to his knees in front of me, hugging me to help calm me down. I push him away as he looks at me stunned.

"Go away! Why are you even here!" I scream. Newly formed tears begin to glisten in the corner of his eyes.

"Because I love-"

"Lies! Why would you ever love me!?! All I do is cause you pain! I could never give you everything you deserve! Do you feel bad for me!?! Is that it!?! My own flesh and blood caused this giant mess! This isn't love its pity. It's just a feeling Azure! It's gonna pass and you're gonna see the fact that you don't love me! Do you really think someone like you could ever love someone like me!?! You deserve better! I couldn't make you happy if I dedicated my entire life to it! Just go! Be happy and never look back!" I scream. Azure grabs my face, kissing me deeply. I sit there shocked but eventually melt into the kiss. He gets on my lap as I wrap my arms around his waist. We pull away.

"Rufous I love you. You say you could never make me happy, but you are my happiness. You don't just deserve me, you complete me. You act mean and tough, yet you will sit by and hug a crying child broken over a dead goldfish. I'm with you because you light up my day. You cause me to smile in a way no one ever has. I'm here because I couldn't be happy anywhere else. Nothing will change the fact I'm willing to give my life for you." I pull him into another kiss, the helmet clattering on the ground. We pull away as I wipe the tears still falling from his eyes. He smiles and leans into my hand. I get up, helping him up as well. Azure looks around us.

"This is a lot of stuff the fix." I rub the back of my neck.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a long night. That's okay though. I'm used to it." Azure looks at me.

"You need help?" I smile at him, kissing his cheek.

"That would make this entire thing a little more bearable." We get to work, fixing chest plates and swords. I teach some of the basics of fixing armor and he watches, his beautiful eyes wide with wonder. In return, he teaches me some of the simple swordsman skills. I finish the last boot and see him asleep on the floor. I lay down next to him and feel him cuddling into my side. I lay a blanket over us.

"Goodnight my knight in shining armor."