When the fires have surrounded you, with the hounds of hell coming after you

[cinereoargenteus]

 Who: Garrett and Raphael
When: Day 157
Where: The kitchen
What: A rescue from hellhounds.
Warnings: Probably violence and injuries.

Garrett had mostly been keeping a low profile after being warned about these devil dogs. He'd learned the hard way back home that just blindly moving forward, thinking he could handle things himself, wouldn't keep himself safe. He had to be smart if he wanted to stay alive. Still, he couldn't stayed holed up in his room forever, ears twitching every time he heard a snarl or a howl.

He'd gone to the kitchen when the hunger gnawing away inside his belly became greater than the fear inside his head. He'd put some water on to boil and then began looking for something quick and easy to make. That's when he heard the howls right outside the door. How had they snuck up on him so fast? He turned around slowly as the door to the kitchen was slammed open by something that he couldn't even see.

Faced with a stronger predator, he still put on a brave face. Ears flattened back to his skull, he stared down where he thought the big beast was. Maybe he wasn't able to see it, but he could still hear it. "Leave now and maybe you'll get outta here in one piece," he said. Two sets of scraping claw marks appeared in the floor in response. Two of them? This had gone from bad to worse "No? Okay then." He reached into his pocket, drawing out his salt lick. Raphael had said they didn't like the stuff. He dropped it into the pot of boiling water.

There was a tense moment where neither of them moved. Then he heard a roar as the first beast charged. Garrett grabbed the pot's handle, heedless of the hot metal. and dumped the boiling salt water onto the hellhound. The yelping cries of pain were intermingled with the second's growls. Garrett turned and began to run across the kitchen, a desperate prayer in a mixture of Common and his own Tongue on his lips.

Comments

[servingmichael]

He heard the prayer, cocked his head for only a fraction of a second before he spread his wings and landed in front of Garrett, sword already in hand. Raphael flipped it easily and swiped at the nearest, injured hound and a spray of black blood coated the blade and splattered on the floor. Both hounds growled, but backed away.

"Are you injured?"

[cinereoargenteus]

As happy as he was to see Raphael, it was a bit intimidating to see him go to town on the hellhound. He huddled against a wall, feeling small and frustratingly helpless.

"Yes." He was cradling his right hand against his chest, the burning metal having left a nasty burn mark. Adrenaline running high, he had barely notice, more concerned with the hellhounds' teeth. He kept one wary eye on his attackers, wondering how Raphael had gotten there so fast.

[servingmichael]

He hadn't really even laid into the hounds yet, a soldier for millions of years, this was simple at least to Raphael. The injured hound snarled and lunged, Raphael's sleeve torn from it's teeth and he seized it by the back of it's neck, blade dispatching it quickly. The other howled it's outrage but slunk against the far wall.

Raphael stepped back, light on his feet, reaching back to touch his first two fingers to Garrett's forehead, to heal the burn. "Better?"

[cinereoargenteus]

He flexed his hand experimentally, waiting to feel the throbbing pain again. When it didn't, he slowly turned it over, and then looked up at Raphael with an expression both surprised and a little fearful. If he there wasn't a wall against his back, Garrett would've scooted further away from the angel.

"How did you do that?" He asked quietly. Healers weren't uncommon back home, but none could've done it so quickly from one moment to the next. They would have needed a healing stone at the very least. It also brought to back to the forefront of his mind the other question of how the man had gotten there so quickly.

[servingmichael]

"Be not afraid." It had been a long time since he had broken out that speech, but there was a reason it was a common on. "The Healer is one of my titles. You'll find none of my brothers more skilled at it than I." In person, Raphael is probably also bringing to mind other questions - there's no scent of sweat or body oils, like a body throughly and freshly washed, but no scent of soaps either. And there's a very faint scent of something other to him.

[cinereoargenteus]

There was a lot of questions running around in his brain, but his priority wass currently staying alive. He glanced warily over to where the other hound was backed up against the opposite wall. Who-- or whatever-- Raphael was seemed to be enough to keep it from charging again for the moment.

"Be not afraid." Where had he heard those words before? Perhaps in a Bible story, but the last time he had heard one of those had been five or six years ago. Too long ago to recall anything useful. Raphael's scent brought another puzzlement. There was no lingering odor of sulfur, which ruled out a demon like Meg. In fact, he couldn't smell much of anything. It reminded him of Balthazar's scent.

He doesn't like riddles, not when he's just been scared out of his mind and then saved by a mysterious figure. Garrett pulls himself back up off the wall, standing up as tall as he can. "Hope you do not take offense and leave me t'the dog if I ask, but what are you? You ain't a human 'n you ain't a shifter, I know that much."

[servingmichael]

"I'm an angel. Archangel, technically." The answer is factual, devoid of emotion, save some amount of pride. He's not offended, it's a question that gets asked, often. An angel who becomes offended at it doesn't land on Earth often.

[cinereoargenteus]

There's a moment where Garrett just processes the information. An angel of the Lord, huh? Well, that does make sense, as far as those powers of his go.

Then he sweeps into a deep bow, kneeling on the floor, fists braced on either side of him. He's from a different world with different rules. Still, Garrett knows when confronted with a God's servant, respect is accorded. "Thank you for saving me," he says quietly.

[servingmichael]

Garrett's motions catch his vision and he half turns his attention, the hound taking the time to growl once more and then flee, seeking easier prey.

But the respect is nice, welcome. Brigid had offered it, and now this boy. Too few people paid proper respect. "You're welcome." He'd offered his assistance, he would give it. "And you may rise."

[cinereoargenteus]

Garrett gets back to his feet. He keeps his eyes focused downward before stealing a curious glance back up, half-expecting to see he's changed into something else, a being of greatness and terribleness all rolled into one. Nope, Raphael still just looks like an ordinary man. "Aren't you the one who healed a man with a fish?" His knowledge of Bible stories are a little rusty.

[servingmichael]

Raphael will keep himself contained and that means not flashing his wings. Even if he's tempted - that will certain keep the hounds off for a while. "A few of my brothers likely also mentioned, depending on the text you read, but healing and fish are contexts you'd commonly find my name."

[cinereoargenteus]

Garrett thinks back on the stories he was told by the preacher. Mainly, it was the dramatic ones he had always paid attention to: a man being swallowed by a whale, a temple being brought down by one man's strength, and of course, rebellious angels being cast down. "There is four main ones including yourself, yes? Michael, Gabriel, and...." He frowns. "Damn, I can never remember the name of the last one."