Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Seven Deadly Sins: Zeldris x OC)

Chapter 2

    "That's one freaking huge tree!!" Hawks squawked as he stood at the foot of just one of the weeping willows roots, the tip of it as thick as his entire body. "It's even bigger than Momma!!"

    "That's what she said-" Meliodas snickered a moment before a vine whacked the top of his head.

    "Speaking of Hawk Mama, she was acting strangely right before we reached this area, and burrowed into the ground as soon as we stepped off," Elizabeth said, furrowing her brow worriedly.

    "It was almost like she was agitated. Her, who gulped down that giant flaming bird with no trouble," King agreed with a nod of his head.

    "Nah, she's just super sleepy. Nature energy-infused places always make her that way," Meliodas shrugged before hopping up the winding roots, making his way towards the main trunk.

    "What the hell are you doing, Meliodas?!" Hawks demanded with huge eyes as he watched Meliodas's ascent up the tree.

    "Be careful, Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth shouted up worriedly, to which he waved casually.

    Meliodas stopped in front of a strange bump in the wood that resembled a leaf bud, the immediate air around it wavering with a malignant aura. He placed his hand on his chin as he examined the bud with squinting eyes, then placed a hand on the blade strapped to his back. "A chop should do-" he said before feeling a bump on the small of his back. When he turned around...

    "Eeeeeek! There's a floating sheep behind Meliodas!" Hawks panicked, his shrill voice reached all the way up to where Meliodas was.

    "Excuse me, but the Missus wouldn't like it if you harmed her tree..." a snow white sheep around the same size as Hawks bleated plaintively, his watery hazelnut-brown eyes blinking sleepily at the blond. He was standing in midair as if an invisible platform existed only beneath his hooves.

    "I've never seen you before! I guess you were born specifically to protect her body, huh?" Meliodas exclaimed, examining the sheep curiously. "Well, well, well! Sorry, but I need to wake your 'Missus' up. She's been having a long enough beauty nap."

    "The Missus doesn't want to be woken up, though," the little sheep argued agitatedly, shifting his hooves in midair. He hopped forward and circled around Meliodas, putting his body between the blond and the wooden leaf bud. "Please leave the forest quietly."

    "And if I refuse?" Meliodas challenged with a shit eating grin.

    "Please don't refuse," the little sheep begged, his eyes starting to tear up. "The Missus won't be very happy, and I don't like it when she's not happy."

    "She'll be very happy to see me, don't worry," Meliodas reassured him, crouching down to pat his head.

    "Are you sure you won't leave her alone?" the sheep asked one last time, shifting his hooves from side to side.

    "Nope!" Meliodas said blankly.

    "Oh... Then I suppose that I'lL hAvE tO uSe FoRcE!" the sheep declared as his voice distorted, his body growing at an alarming rate.

    "Holy cow, it's a freaking huge floating sheep now!" Hawks shrieked as King and Merlin tensed, preparing for battle.

    "No need for that! I can handle this little guy by myself," Meliodas called down, casually crossing his arms behind his head.

    "Little?!" Hawks deadpanned.

    The sheep was not little anymore. Standing at the same size as Hawk's mom and equipped with a pair of intimidating horns, the ram looked like he was fully prepared to throw away his identity as an herbivore and eat Meliodas in one bite. With a bellowing bleat, he raised his front hoof and stomped down towards Meliodas, intending to flatten him beyond recognition.

    "Sir Meliodas!"

    "Meliodas!"

    "Captain!"

    Elizabeth, Hawks, and King collectively shouted towards Meliodas, Merlin merely watching passively from the sidelines. They needn't have worried, however, as Meliodas effortlessly knocked the hoof out of his way.

    "She obviously designed you to fight against regular people... but not me," he grinned as he jumped into the air, hovering right above the sheep's head before delivering a vicious downwards kick. The sheep roared in pain as he shrunk in size before he returned to his original form, his eyes swirling.

    "That was... anticlimactic," King sighed as he leaned against his pillow, all of the tension rushing out of his muscles at once.

    "Hah! I guess that sheep was all fluff and no bite! I could take him on with one hoof tied behind my back!" Hawks declared with a disdainful snort.

    "Nah, you would be dead with one swat, lil' porker," Meliodas muttered to himself as he turned back towards the wooden leaf bud. "Now, let's get you back on your feet," he said as he sliced the stem connecting the bud to the tree. The weeping willow shuddered as it lost its connection to the bud, causing the group down below to shift backwards in case something happened. Unbothered by the shaking of the tree, Meliodas jumped down with the leaf bud held up over his head.

    "Shouldn't we run? That tree looks super mad," Hawks trembled.

    "It's reverting back to its original state, before this was bound to it," Meliodas explained, tossing the bud to the ground.

    "What the heck is this?!" Hawks asked, snuffling the bud dubiously before squealing as a burst of aura spiked towards him.

    "It's a tricky lil' thing that needs to be opened. Merlin, could you cast Absolute Cancel on it real quick?" Meliodas asked, looking towards the ravenette.

    "No problem," she said, waving a finger. With a snap and crackle, the aura surrounding the bud fizzled away.

    "Great! Now we won't die the second we open it!" Meliodas grinned.

    "Die?!" Hawks squealed, paling.

    "Captain, are you sure about this?!" King demanded, panicked.

    "Sir Meliodas..." Elizabeth murmured, worried about his next move.

    "Don't worry about it! It'll all be worth it in the end," Meliodas said with a grin as he unsheathed Lostvayne. "Wakey wakey, Sleeping Beauty," he said as he slashed downwards.

┏━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┓

    "Milady, Blanco has been defeated! Permission to deal with the enemy?" Noir bleated as she paced in circles around Andrea, who was calmly sipping tea.

    "No need. I know who is awakening me, and I trust his judgment. If he believes that he is able to handle the consequences, then I won't stop him," she answered, setting her teacup down. "Besides," she added with a warm smile as the sky above her split in two, a pitch black void spilling into the area, "A little stretch every so often wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Edited: Nov 11, 2023