Createrra

Chapter 1: Part 2

The sleep tent was rather noisy in the morning. That didn't stop Theo from trying to sleep in. The noise of Dakota and Hau bickering like an old married couple could be faintly heard, and Theo felt someone nudging him. He groaned, pulling the blanket over his face, but the person didn't let up. Theo grabbed his pillow, tossing it at the person before hearing an oddly familiar hiss.

"That's fucking it, Theo." The voice growled, before a scaly hand grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out of bed, dragging the blanket with. Theo opened his eyes, ready to whine until he focused on the figure above him. "I tried being... nice to you, like Julio suggested, but you're worse than an infant, Theo." The voice of Apollo snarled.

"Ah- Apollo! I'm- I'm sorry, I was just really tired and I thought I could sneak in a few more minutes-"

"Yeah, well you can't. Get ready, patrol's early." He walked over to the bag beside his bed, pulling out a roll of bread before tossing it to Theo. "We won't have time to get breakfast at the mess tent, so have this. It's stale, but edible."

Theo caught the bread. Stale? More like a rock. He stood, proceeding to take a bite out of the bread... he could've sworn he chipped a tooth. Theo rummaged around, getting the warmest clothes he owned on, before tugging on his boots. They were a little small, considering it's been nearly a year since he had gotten new ones... his mom always made his clothes for him. Maybe he should've taken up her sewing offer. 

"Do you think you can keep up, or do you need me to get Hau's leash?"

"Why would- no no, actually, don't answer that. I'll be fine, it's not like you'll be going that fast, right? We're patrolling, it's not like we're actually going somewhere far." Theo shook his hands.

The two left the tent and started trudging southwest of the camp. As they got closer to the tree line, they could see a small part between the territories in which the trees weren't quite as dense. Apollo led Theo to this area, although Theo was visibly concerned. 

"Isn't it unsafe to be in the tree line? I mean- one sudden noise and you'll be crushed under pounds of snow." Theo whimpered.

"First of all, grow a pair- second of all, not here. The trees aren't quite as packed, so there's way less snow on the leaves. And this is the border between the clans, so... it makes sense to patrol here." Apollo rolled his eyes, speaking as if that was an obvious thing.

As they got to the border, the two slowed down to a stop, as Apollo scanned their surroundings. Theo looked around as well, shivering from the weather. The dragon's tail was stiff, almost as if he felt unnerved. Theo looked up at him, tilting his head.

"Do you... see something?"

"Shush."

"Apollo-"

"I said be quiet, human."

Theo stood quietly, kicking around the snow. He started to wander off, getting distracted by something behind him. He had crouched down to dig around in the snow. Theo felt a presence in front of him, and noticed a shadow growing above him. He sighed.

"Right, I know, I shouldn't be playing around like a child, I should- MMMF!" Theo was muffled by a claw, before being pulled up. He started kicking and thrashing, before biting down on the hand. It was softer than Apollo's, but definitely scaly. He was given a chance to yell. "APOLLO-" He was muffled again as the creature snarled.

"I'll bite you back next time, human." The figure turned around, beginning to walk off. Theo heard something... big.

"PEYTON!" Apollo roared. Peyton turned around with Theo in his arm, seeing the dragon in his true form, charging at the two. Theo seemed to freak out, kicking, his screaming muffled by Peyton's claw. He pushed Theo to the side as the young human landed face-first in the snow. As Theo flipped himself over, he saw the two - both in their true forms - fighting in the snow. Apollo had successfully pinned Peyton to the ground.

"You know his brother wants him back." Peyton spoke. For being in such a sticky situation, he seemed to not be phased by this. In fact, his voice showed no emotion at all.

"And you know I can't do that. Theo told me what you monsters did. You're really following a human? Especially one like him? What happened to you guys? The last thing I'd expect out of you and the proclaimed 'Wyvern of the West' was that you'd let some human push you around like ragdolls."

"You don't understand Apollo-"

"Oh, I understand clearly, Peyton. And I'll give you something you'll understand, you scum. You're going to leave this territory and never return. If I catch you here again, especially with your filthy claws on Theo, I'm going to make a coat out of your skin. Are we clear?" 

"You don't know what you're doing, keeping that human away from his brother."

"Oh, I'll take my chances. But you better be wary of taking your chances." Apollo growled, letting go of Peyton, who proceeded to run towards his clan's territory.

Theo was still sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. Apollo hadn't seen him like this since the day he found him. Theo had the look of fear in his eye, even though Peyton was gone. Apollo knew why. He shrunk down to his humanoid form, sighing as he walked towards Theo.

"You're never going to get used to that, are you?"

"W-What? You going... into y-your true f-form? N-No. Of course n-not. Not considering h-how that's how you th-thought it'd be appropriate to a-approach me when we met. It s-still scares me." Theo stuttered. Apollo crouched down to be on the same level as Theo, seeming to feel guilty.

"Can you.. at least trust me?" Apollo questioned. Theo hesitated before nodding. Apollo gently hugged Theo, keeping it loose incase he was uncomfortable. "I promise your brother won't get you. I couldn't know how bad it feels to have a brother like him, but if you don't trust him... I'll keep him away from you."

"...Th.. thank you, Apollo."

--------------------------

"Well?"

"Well what? I obviously don't have the boy. Maybe if somebody had known that Apollo was his patrol partner, I could've been better prepared. Like, oh, you know, having someone to come with me?"

"Oh well. Next time Vaarin will go."

"Why can't we just send out two people? Isn't it painfully obvious that we can't get your brother with only one person?"

"No. You're dismissed."

"Boss, we can't just do small, pathetic attacks. We need to-"

"I said leave."