When they had first seen each other tension between the two brothers had snapped within the air like the roar of thunder during a storm. The entire bar quickly fell silent as the onlookers noticed the glares which covered both Iratu and Buwaro’s faces, however, instead of getting into a heated altercation which would literally blow the roof off of the small pub the younger fire demon went over to the other side of the bar, sat down, and then ordered himself a flagon of ale. The anxiety within the room soon lessened to naught but a dull hum and before long the pub was once again a buzz with the murmurs of those within.
Nothing was said between the demonic brothers as they downed their respective drinks, not even when another fire demon came over to drink with the elder of the siblings.
“Hey, isn’t that...?” the newcomer demon asked once he caught sight of Buwaro quietly sipping his ale.
“Shut up, babe.” Iratu growled low.
“But…” the fire demon tried to say but was cut off by a sharp bark.
“Shut up! Just...shut up.” Iratu snapped causing the fire demon to instantly snap his jaw close.
For his part Buwaro said nothing to either of the two other demons. Instead he ordered hismelf a second ale and then threw it back into his throat with the same silent appreciation he had done with the previous drink.
Two hours later Buwaro got up from his place at the bar, paid for his four ales, and then walked out of the pub. Iratu and Azurai watched him go in silence; both demons thinking various thoughts to themselves all the while, and yet neither one had much to say as the memory of their earlier encounters with the younger fire demon filled their respective minds with dread.
It was a month later before the three demons came across each other again, this time though their interactions were less favorable as Iratu and those within his pack had been on the side of a gang of demons that were trying to protect some sort of ancient device. Iratu could admit that he hadn’t been paying much attention to what exactly the machine could do, after all he was only interested in the money that he and his group were being paid at the time, especially as he had quickly been demoted and then chased out from Hell.
With his body no longer having the power he once held the earth demon was left quite vulnerable to those upstarts looking to try and make a name for themselves, and so it came as no surprise to him when a group of them took the opportunity to pounce on the former general’s position.
That some of them had decided to pounce of him was something that Iratu hadn’t exactly been expecting though.
It was lucky enough for him that Azurai had been getting up to go and take a piss the night when his home had been invaded, otherwise Iratu was sure that he would have been reduced to a bloody pulp. The sound of the fire demon’s barking cries of pain made Iratu snap awake just in time to miss a hatchet aimed at his throat. The ensuing fight which had enveloped his home led Iratu to gathering up his possessions, Azurai included, and then hauling tail back up to the land of Medius. The rest of his group had quickly come to his aid once he had sent them a message stating what had happened, and thus the rest was literally history.
However, the problem of Buwaro and his pack, well, that was something that had proved itself to be difficult to pin down.
Clashing with Buwaro was something that didn’t happen often, as the paths the two brothers walked normally didn’t intersect with one another. That Iratu was silently thankful for this was something that the earth demon didn’t like to think about, as it would leave him open to admitting that he was somewhat frightened by the younger fire demon, and that was something which would never sit well with a proud wolf. Yet when it did happen the fight that usually ensued normally ended with Iratu having to call a retreat, less he and his pack be...killed by Buwaro? That was something that the earth demon wasn’t sure about.
Since he and Buwaro had never spoken after the purple furred wolf had...thoroughly humiliated him Iratu didn’t know what the younger fire demon thought of him, or over their relationship.
Did the other still consider them brothers, or was the flicker of that relationship long since snuffed out? Iratu refused to ask when the two of them were battling one another, as his own dark feelings over their bond as siblings was one that he didn’t often like to think about.
Would Buwaro try and claim his life if he got the opportunity? It didn’t seem so, as more than once the fire demon had the opportunity to end him, and yet he never took the given chance.
There were just so many questions, and yet the biggest one at the moment was the fact of whether or not they would be getting their full payment for the job that they were trying to pull off.
This question turned out to be a resounding nope as Iratu’s crimson eyes watched his current employer get slashed in half by an angel and then immolated by Buwaro’s fiery breath.
Seeing that the job had suddenly turned to shit for him and his pack Iratu ordered the lot of them to retreat; somewhere in the back of his mind the earth demon silently wondered if his brother would give chase. Thankfully Buwaro hadn’t. Yet that small grace was completely lost on Iratu when, after returning to the small shack where he and his allies were holding themselves up, the group began arguing with each other.
“I cannot believe that we lost such a score!!” Azurai snarled while kicking over an empty box.
“There will be others.” Iratu replied somewhat tiredly while slumping onto the hardwood floor, his eyes set on the lantern within the center of the claustrophobically small building.
“Not like that.” said a water demon by the name of Sapphire as she splashed a cup of water over her dolphin-like head. “It’s not often that someone decides that they want to use some ancient technology to rewrite reality and have the money to pay for bodyguards like us to guard them.” The younger demon had come along a little while after Moonshade had been killed, or rather she had stalked Iratu and Azurai after they had been passing through a town she was being held within on charges of murder.
“Just our luck that ‘you-know-who’ happened to show up.” Azurai said with a pout while slumping down next to Iratu. That the larger demon curled his long black tail around his mate’s side without thought was not missed by the black wolf, as evident by how he nuzzled himself into his lover’s side almost innocently so.
“Boss, what are we going to do now?” Azail, a draconic wind demon, inquired while pulling some dead scales from off of his naked shoulder. The scrawny looking demon had been the most recent addition to the group after Tsavo had abandoned them for a better opportunity to research his mad science down in Hell. Iratu didn’t like to think that he blamed the other for leaving them, however he knew that to be a lie, especially considering who it was that the other was now working for.
“I...don’t know.” Iratu sighed before slumping his head down.
The fire, water, and wind demons said nothing as they looked over their leader who now looked so very defeated.
“Hey, want to go and get a drink?” Azurai asked suddenly as he looked up to his taller lover.
“With what money?” Iratu replied somewhat tersely while looking down at the fire demon from out the corner of his eye.
Instead of answering his mate’s question Azurai got up and went over to the worn down mattress that he used for his own personal bedding, which was mostly reserved for those times when Iratu wasn’t around. He pulled up a loose plank of wood underneath the sleeping mat and then snatched out a small brown satchel from a small hole he had made underneath. Turning around the black furred wolf smirked triumphantly at the curious earth demon.
“Dare I even ask?” Iratu questioned with a bemused smirk.
Azurai just laughed out loud.
Later that evening found the group of four at a small pub in a nearby town, this one not as demon friendly as most of the others that they liked visit but still tolerant enough to serve demonkind, drinking their woes away.
“We’ve got to find more work.” Sapphire stated after downing her half empty glass of wine, an unladylike burp escaping her mouth seconds afterwards.
“Not like we haven’t, but there’s not much need for ex-soldiers these days.” Azail retorted while sourly looking down at his empty mug. “At least here in this country.”
“Think we should try and catch a boat to someplace else?” Sapphire asked with some trepidation.
“Let me remind you that there are not that many places which can be considered safe havens for those of our kind, especially with the second great war still being fresh on other people’s minds.” Iratu stated while growling down at his empty tankard of mead.
“You can get another one.” Azurai offered after seeing the look of disappointment on his lover’s face.
“I’m fine.” the earth demon groused.
“Yes you are, but putting that aside, get another drink.” Azurai snapped.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Iratu growled, the fur on the nap of his neck rising.
“I wouldn’t have to if you started acting like a demon and not a whipped dog.” the fire demon said while blowing out a billow of smoke.
“I’ll show you a whipped dog!!” Iratu snarled, his eyes narrowing as the foundations of the building began to shake slightly.
“HEY!!!” the pub owner, a stout looking human, shouted from behind his counter. “Take whatever shit you got going on over there somewhere else other than my pub!!”
All four demons shivered and then quietly hunkered back down.
Had this been two years ago then the quartet would have quickly and grotesquely killed the man, the people in the bar, and ransacked the entire town, however, because of the peace treaty which had been signed by the demon, angels, and people of Medius the once fearsome demons had been reduced down to simply allowing things like this to pass, less they face the full wrath of the Special Force Defenders who now acted as guardians of the world.
Made up of the various races which lived on the planet Iratu and the others knew well enough that if they caused any sort of trouble then there would literally be hell to pay. The knowledge that their own would flay their hides for murder, and then probably kill them once they were done, gave Iratu and the gang pause for consideration, especially given how several angels within the room were glowering dangerously at them.
“Maybe we should try and see if Tsavo can hook us up with a job?” Azail said in an almost hushed whisper as he quietly huddled closer to Sapphire.
“I doubt that he’s interested in helping us out, seeing as he’s oh so busy with his studies at that new academy.” Azurai groused while puffing out a small puff of flame.
Those words brought silence to the table.
“It’s fine.” Iratu said with more than a little annoyance coloring his voice. “We all knew that we weren’t going to be staying together, so let it go.” No one was sure who the earth demon was talking to as he had his turned away from everyone.
“Well, what are we going to do?” Sapphire asked while taking a small sip of the last bit of wine in front of her. “We can’t just keep surviving on Azurai’s charity.”
“We could always join one of those guild things.” Azail offered.
“Yeah, sure. I can just imagine what would happen when we told them who we were.” Azurai spat.
The problem with being a former villain is that the people who remember the shit that you did tended to make you something of a pariah to everyone else who could get within earshot. More than once a potential client had asked for their names and then suddenly become very standoffish after learning who they were. It had made trying to find a place to live somewhat tough as well and so the quartet of demons had been forced to move more than once because of...angry residents. This in turn had led them to taking on seedier jobs from those who didn’t care who they were so long as they didn’t ask any questions and could keep certain nosy individuals off of their client's backs. Yet after so many years of working underground there was nothing really lucrative to be found in the usual places, with the exception of the unusual oddities like what they just managed to get in bed with, as such Iratu and his group were left with…
“Excuse me.” a shy voice called out causing all four demons to flip their heads around, fangs bared. What they saw made all of them raise their collective eyebrows. “Um, I was told that you were available for work. Is that true?” a young teal haired human woman with ram horns and a furry tail ending in a spike asked.
“Depends.” Iratu said while crossing his arms in an attempt to look imposing. “What do you need people like us for exactly?”
“Um...b-building a house?” the nameless half demon asked shyly which caused the four demons to blink up at her in confusion.
- - - -
As it turned out, Marissa, as the halfling called herself, was a part of multi-species a group who were trying to build a small town for themselves but needed some extra muscle to help them import materials from various regions and to stave off small group of demons that seemed content on terrorizing their supply lines. At first Iratu and the others were in disbelief over the situation they had gotten themselves into, what with them realizing that they would have to be fighting other demons for the sake of demons and angels and humans, but within a week’s time the quartet found themselves settled somewhat comfortably into their roles of protectors and builders. Of course it wasn’t all gumdrops and sugar cubes, as more than thrice did they have to kill a bunch of idiot bandits who just couldn’t take a hint, yet the food and shelter they were given for their service made up for it.
By the time the village was built, some six months later, the group felt an odd sense of satisfaction for what they had done.
The fact that they had stayed on longer than the time that had been projected weighed very little on their conscious, especially since the quartet ended up making a couple of new friends amongst those who would become the new villagers of said town. Leaving the new town of Ivali behind proved to be something of a challenge but Iratu and his pack decided that it would be best to move on for now and so made their way down the worn road without looking back. The fact that the town’s location was circled on their map wasn’t lost to anyone but that was of lesser concern compared to getting to the nearest township so that they could cash in their declaration of completion which they had been given by Marissa.
Meanwhile, from the shadows of a nearby willow tree a purple demon watched them go in silence.
After cashing in their voucher the group was given a very hefty sum of money for their hard work.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!!” Azurai cheered as he looked at the satchel of coins which was half as big as Iratu’s waistline.
“I’m surprised that we’re getting paid so much considering that the people in question were basically broke.” Iratu said while looking at the reward sitting on the counter.
“The person who put up the request offered less than this at first but afterwards someone else came back in and put up triple the amount which had been put up.” Said the human behind the front counter.
“Really?” Sapphire asked in amazement, to which the older human nodded.
“Oh, by the way, since you did a good job I was told to give you these, if you wanted them.” the man reached underneath his desk and then pulled out four small green buttons.
“Is this...for real?” Azurai asked as he looked over the winking face on the pin in morbid fascination.
“It could be worse, right?” Sapphire said while placing her’s onto her vest.
“Who told you to give us these?” Iratu asked.
“Some young fella.” the older human answered while reaching up to rub the bottom of his chin. “Actually he was the same one who tripled the reward, now that I think about it.”
“Do you remember his name?”
“He didn’t say.” the guild representative shook his head. “Just came, spoke his piece, and then left after delivering the commission money.”
“Whatever, we got paid and now we can take more jobs, right?” Azail asked while looking at the wall filled with numerous white notices.
“Stop pretending that you can read.” Azurai teased the wind dragon.
“Fuck you, fleabag!” Azail shouted from over his shoulder, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly.
“What did you say?!’ Azurai questioned hotly as his breath literally became liquid fire.
“Alright, knock it off!” Iratu commanded making the two demons stop from tearing into one another. “We need to find a place to stay for the night and then split up the reward money.”
“I think there’s a couple of rooms at the inn, sonny.” the aged human behind the counter said cheerfully.
“Thanks. Come on, guys.” Walking out of the door of the building Iratu didn’t know what to think about the entire thing and resolved to drown his concerns about the situation over a couple of beers.
- - - -
“So, how did it feel doing some honest work for once?” Buwaro asked as he came over to sit next to the monochrome wolf. Both Azurai and Iratu tensed at first but quickly settled down once it became apparent that the other fire demon wasn’t there looking for a fight.
“I was always honest with the work that I did.” Iratu grunted as he lifted his half filled mug up to his lips.
Buwaro merely chuckled upon hearing these words. “Hmm, maybe, but at least now no one can complain about the results, unless you fuck up.”
“I suppose so.” Iratu grumbled.
The siblings sat in silence for several seconds before they began to speak once again. “Have any plans going forward?” Buwaro gently questioned.
“What do you care?” the earth demon snapped.
“Call it consideration for your well being thanks to dad’s upbringing?” there was something within the tone of that question that made Iratu pause in reaching for his next mug of alcohol.
When the elder demon couldn’t decipher the unknown ‘thing’ that was hiding within his little brother’s voice he replied with, “Like I want you to keep an eye on me.”
“Better than having my claws on your back, right?” Buwaro chuckled into the beer he was drinking.
Iratu’s tail snapped behind his back just barely missing cutting into the floorboards beneath him. “Tsk, go to Hell.”
“We were born there, remember?” Buwaro teased.
That actually managed to get a chuckle out of Iratu. Downing his sixth ale the earth demon could feel himself slipping over into the edge of intoxication but decided not to stop himself as he was actually having a good time at the moment.
“Don’t get drunk.” Buwaro warned.
Iratu turned to bark at his sibling. “Shut up! I know my limit.”
“Do you really?” the fire demon was truly curious about this fact.
Iratu huffed. “I’m older than you, or did you forget?”
“Being older doesn’t mean smarter.” that was a truth that Iratu refused to accept.
“Stupid runt!” Buwaro giggled as he heard these words, it had been a long time since he had heard them being spoken in such a casually aggressive manner.
“Dumbass brother.” the fire demon smiled.
That made Iratu pause mid gulp.
Turning the earth demon looked down at the younger demon sitting next to him, his ruby eyes a bit glassy, though whether from the ale or something else couldn’t be accurately stated. Nothing was said by the purple furred wolf as he quietly sipped on his third glass of beer, not even as he felt the inquisitive stare of his elder sibling lasering in on him.
Silene covered the space between them until Buwaru suddenly got up from his seat, set down money for his drinks, and then walked towards the exit of the pub. Iratu didn’t bother turning around to watch the other leave.
The next time the siblings met up it was several months after Iratu and the gang had come from defending a trade ship from a gigantic tentacle monster that had been sinking ships. The others within Iratu’s group had nothing to say as Buwaro sat down two seats away from the elder demon, though Azurai did growl like a freight engine as he sat between the pair, the short fire demon protectively shielding his larger lover from the other fire demon. If Iratu noticed this he chose to say nothing. Instead the elder demon turned his crimson eyes onto his brother as Buwaro spoke over to him.
“That must have been fun.” Buwaro said as he sipped on the rum within his wooden mug. “Have any idea where he came from?”
“No.” Azurai grunted while chugging down his beer.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“So.” Buwaro turned to give the other fire demon a glare but Azurai simply flipped him off.
“Enough.” Iratu said which made Azurai grunt and then turn away in a huff.
“Nice to see that you can keep the riff-raff under control.” Buwaro chuckled which made Azurai growl.
A soft whack resounded within the room as a massive hand smacked against a thick skull.
“H-hey!!” Buwaro gaped as he felt his head start to ache slightly.
“Don’t you start any shit either.” Iratu warned.
“You really think you can talk to me like that?!” Buwaro growled while rising up from out of his seat.
“Yeah, I can.” Iratu said cooly, his ruby eyes glowing dangerously as he did so.
The pub grew silent as the two brothers stared each other down.
Time passed in a slow crawl before Buwaro smirked and then sat back down.
“And here I thought that you’d be scared of me.” the purple furred wolf chuckled.
“Hehe, don’t forget that I was a demon general once upon a time.” Iratu snorted.
“Yeah, but you could also stand over a house a while ago. You can’t now.” It was a fact that still irked Iratu, if just slightly.
“Doesn’t change anything except for how much harder I have to work to make idiots learn their place.”
“So that’s how it is, huh?”
“Hmph, you expected something less?”
Buwaro merely chuckled at that.
- - - - - - -
From that day forward the brothers made a habit of sharing drinks and stories with one another whenever they crossed each other’s path. It was somewhat of a struggle to find common ground to talk about though, as the past was still fresh like an open wound between them, yet over the years that followed their conversations became easier to start up as they compared and contrasted their adventuring experiences.
“You should have known better than to try and fly with a damaged wing.” Iratu chided after finishing up his second tankard of ale.
“It was either than or stay within a collapsing tower.” Buwaro pointed out matter-of-factly, his eyes half lidded as he swallowed down his fourth beer.
“And yet you ended up crashing into the ocean for your trouble.” Iratu retorted dryly.
“Hey, any win you can walk away from.”
“You technically didn’t win.”
“I got out with my life, that counts as a win in my book.”
“Your book’s shit.”
“Says the person who ended up nearly getting used as a ritual sacrifice earlier this week?”
“That was NOT my fault.” Iratu growled.
“You took a job from someone who looked like a certain insane Jakkai and didn’t think things would go wrong?”
“I’m used to handling crazy.”
“No. You’re used to intimidating crazy.” Buwaro corrected. “Now that you can’t do that you shouldn’t expect others to put any consideration into taking any threat you make seriously, especially given that demons are now the norm in Medius.” Buwaro said sagely.
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to remember that.” Iratru growled, his long tail lashing behind him so hard that the blade on the end carved at the wood.
“Careful you don’t tear up the place.” Buwaro teased.
“Hmph.” Iratu stopped his back appendage from thrashing about and then ordered himself another ale.
“But seriously, how is your group doing?” Iratu asked honestly.
“Azurai is a bit shaken but he’ll live. The other two...they probably are going to need some time before they’ll be ready to move forward.”
“I can only imagine what nearly being killed will do to someone.”
“If you trying to say something…”
“Karma’s a bitch.”
“Yes, I’m getting that, but there’s a line before it starts becoming needless torture.” Iratu said before ordering another tankard of ale.
“Coming from you that’s actually funny.” Buwaro said despite not laughing. “Are you guys going to stick around here for a while?”
“Don’t see why we shouldn’t, you made sure that no one would come after us.” that made Buwaro stop mid drink to turn and look up at his older brother.
“What are you talking about?” Buwaro asked, his face blank.
“That angel that rescued us, you sent him, didn’t you?”
“What makes you think that I would or could do something like that?”
“Because you’re so much like dad that it sucks being around you some days.”
“Heh, you’re welcome to leave.”
“You first.”
The brothers shared a laugh at that before going back to their drinks. Without any ceremony Buwaro reached into his pocket and placed something on the counter between himself and Iratu.
“Isn't this one of those rainbow...” the elder earth demon asked while looking at a glowing vial filled with minty green liquid.
“Yes it is.”
“If you were anyone else I wouldn’t trust this.” Iratu asked even as he pocketed the potion.
“If I were anyone else do you think we’d be having this civil conversation?”
“Point.” Iratu admitted before taking a strong pull of his ale.
- - - - -
Several months later found Iratu and Azurai in another little bar in a small town whose name they couldn’t be bothered to remember drinking their woes away.
“I can’t believe that Sapphire and Azail are hogging the room again!!” Azurai groused while downing his beer, his furry canine tail wagging behind him erratically.
“They almost died when that bastard earth demon used that energy searing spell on us.” Iratu didn’t want to admit it but he had truly been scared when he had seen Azurai’s body floating into the air, his hellfire being tugged out of his chest as the earth demon that had employed them chanted his spell away. “We’re all lucky to have walked away from that mess with our lives, babe.”
“Still though, if they were gonna fuck they should be a bit considerate and invite us to watch, not kick us out of the room!”
“Someone’s got a naughty habit I see.” Buwaro chuckled while looking at the other fire demon from out the corner of his eyes.
“Sit on a dick, fucker!” the orange striped wolf snapped while flipping the purple wolf off.
“I can make you sit on mine if you keep talking like that.” Buwaro challenge which only served to make Azurai angier.
“Fuck you!!”
“Keep it up and I’ll do it.” Buwaro said after you got up from the stool he was sitting on to loom over the other fire demon. Azurai was left growling as he looked up at the taller demon, however he could say nothing as the glittering eyes of the stronger demon honed in on him as though he were a rabbit.
Before anything more could be said between the two a large clawed hand grabbed Buwaro by the collar of his shirt to drag him back down onto his seat. “Calm down.”
“He started it.” Buwaro said petulantly.
“He always starts it, just learn to live with it.” Iratu chuckled.
“I’m not as patient as you when it comes to shit like that.”
“Your angel must be very submissive in that case.” those words made Buwaro huff. Iratu lifted an eyebrow at that.
“My angel is with someone else right now.”
“Makes sense.” the elder earth demon nodded. “I kept wondering why you were always had time to come around.” Even though he didn’t know anything about their relationship Iratu could be wondering when things between his brother and the blue haired female were going to fall apart. “Guess it got too much for her to deal with one of our kind?”
“Not really.” Buwaro said casually.
“Then…”
“She wanted a baby and I didn’t.” Buwaro admitted somewhat sadly.
“Oh.” Iratu was smart enough to guess what was really behind those words. “Yeah, I guess that would put a damper on things.”
“It’s fine.” Buwaro shrugged. “We promised to meet up again later on after this got out of her system.”
“You really think she’d wait that long for you?” Iratu asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Meet as friends.” Buwaro said with a chuckle. “What we have is over with at this point, but she told me that I could be the kid’s godfather if I wanted.” the fire demon smiled into his ale. “With that said, do you mind if I share your bitch with you tonight?” those words made Azurai do a spit take. “I could use some stress relief right now and that ass is very good at gripping a dick.”
