Run.
Just run.
That was all that ran in his mind.
He didn't care where, he just needed to hide. He needed to get them off his tail. He couldn't go out the border. It was too heavily guarded.
He had no choice.
He had to go there.
The cursed forest in the middle of the entire kingdoms.
No one would ever go there. That's exactly why it was perfect.
"STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
They yelled and warned but he won't listen. The closer he got the more visible and brighter the barrier grew. This was his last chance. He had to-
He had to escape!
He stopped and fell on his knees. He breathed heavily from all the running. Now that he had stopped, he could perfectly see his halo dripping down but never disappeared. The essence of the halo that fell would disappear before it can even make contact with any surface.
He looked around his surroundings. He was there. The barrier was barely visible above the entire forest. The other angels were no where to be seen. All that surrounded him were trees. He examined the trees. They were normal, but lifeless as well. It meant he was not in the core of the forest yet. He was not close enough for the Beast to find him.
He sighed and laid to the ground. He didn't care if his shirt got dirty, his hands were already worse. He killed him, his hands can never be cleansed until the other angels catch him. Or until he dies.
He hadn't realize how long he had been lost in thought. But as soon as he came back to his senses he saw someone. Right beside him, crouched and it seemed they were examining him? The person- no, demon had a cloth covering his face that hanged from both his horns. The demon immediately took notice of the his realization and stood back up. He wasted no time, scared that this demon would turn him in.
He grabbed hold onto what seemed to be his cape of some kind? A scarf maybe? It only covered the right of his body till the waist. The demon got off balance for a while. And in that while the demon's cloth that covered his face flew enough. Enough for him to see it. His eyes.
He didn't need to think twice. He pulled on the cape, causing the demon to fall. He pinned him to the ground and pulled a fist up, threatening for it to hit him. "You... You're the beast?" He asked. The demon frantically shook his head, "N-no! No, I'm not! I'm just a demon! You're a fallen angel right? You're here to hide? You can hide anywhere but here! Haven't you heard about this place!? The beast-"
"I don't give a shit about that!"
The demon quickly pulled a finger to where his lips would be, "Quiet! You'll-"
"Shut up! Don't tell me what to-"
The ground shook. A low growl echoed through the forest. It startled the two. "What was-" The demon slammed his palm to the ground. Roots arose around the two and covered the two, leaving barely enough holes for light to come through. The fallen angel was about to speak once more but was shut when a hand covered his mouth.
"SHUSH! Shut up! I'm trying to save you, you schwein!" The demon whisper yelled, "I'm suppose to be helping people like you. Lost or whatever dare you had to go into this place. But you are by far the most STUBBORN person I have ever met in this forest! If it weren't for me you could just get killed by that Beast-"
The fallen placed a firm grip on the demon's neck, firm enough to make him shut up. His other hand, he grab hold of the demon's hand and pulled it away. "Then do it. Let me get killed. See how that goes for you," he threatened. The demon kept quiet, he never met anyone like him. He was too desperate to leave the forest even if his life depended on it.
A loud and heavy slam came behind the fallen. The impact nearly made the entire root shelter fall. The fallen immediately let go of the demon. He looked back to see that something on the other side was ripping the roots open. "I didn't think you'd mean it!" The fallen said crawling back.
"I didn't but I might well do if you don't come with me!" The demon said opening an exit on the opposite direction and grabbing the fallen's arm. The two quickly fled, the beast too busy to notice.
"Do you even know where we're going!?" The fallen asked. "No, because if you had been less stubborn and noisy, we wouldn't be here!" The demon replied harshly while trying to breath with how fast they were running. Though it wasn't that fast for the fallen.
"So you're saying this is all my fault?" The fallen complained. "Technically speaking, yes," the demon confirmed, "Now because of you, we have to go-"
"Wait-! You're gonna-"
Out of instinct, the fallen tried his best to grab hold of his left arm, the closest he could reach. But to his surprise, the only thing he held onto was the cape. The demon, did not have a left arm at all. It didn't matter because that was already enough to prevent the demon from falling of the edge.
"JUMP!" The demon ordered.
Before the fallen could process, the demon had kicked him hard enough to lose his balance. He fell with the demon, but before that he felt a force of wind behind his back. He took a glimpse back and saw that a claw had nearly caught him.
He couldn't see the rest of the Beast's form as he and the demon fell.
The fallen shot his eyes open. He sat up and examined himself. He wasn't dead? He looked around his surroundings. There was a flower in the middle, Night Shiners (it's fireflies but in this au, they call it that) surrounding it. They provided light as it turns out night had already fallen upon him. The demon was laying across from him.
The fallen slowly crawled towards the demon. He assumed that the demon was asleep, but he couldn't tell for sure. He pulled on the cape, gently and saw that he really didn't have a right arm at all. He dropped the cape down and attempted to take the cloth of off his face. "Are you done trying to take a peek at me?" The demon shifted his head away from the fallen's hand.
Startled, the fallen pulled his hand away and scooted back. The demon sat up and faced the fallen. "It's not what you think-" "I know, I'm an eyesore to look at," the demon interrupted.
Silence took place over the two until the fallen decided to speak, "Thanks for... for helping me earlier, I'm Russia." The demon faced Russia as if to be skeptical. "My name isn't necessary if that's what you want. You'll be leaving soon anyways," the demon said facing away from Russia. "Believe me, I'm not going anywhere with this on me," Russia stated, pointing at his halo.
"Can't you hide somewhere else? This place is dangerous," the demon asked. "Why do you want me to be safe so badly? You barely even know me and I was already pretty rude when we first met," Russia huffed. "Because... It'll be my fault..." the demon said, and laid back down. Russia did the same but he rolled making his back face the demon.
It was quiet again and Russia thought the demon slept.
"Germany," the demon muttered, causing Russia to face the demon, "My name's Germany."
Russia chuckled, "Well, goodnight Germany." He faced away again and tried to sleep. "Night..." Germany mumbled.
