Chapter Text
And when they made it to the den, it was empty.
Aziraphale frowned to himself; he knew there should have been a small boar here, and had made doubly certain of it, both when heading out into the hills to look for other boars and on the return back, but there was nothing, not even the trace of footprints in the ground.
“Huh, doesn’t seem like anything’s here. Are you sure this is a den?”
Kneeling, Tyrimmas peered into the hollow in the brush. “Well, it has the look of a den, but maybe it’s just a hollow. If it was a den, it wasn’t one this season.”
“...I could have sworn,” Aziraphale said, muttering to himself. “After all, I saw it clearly with my own eyes...”
“It’s all right, shepherd human, I’m sure that we can find another,” Crowley said lightly. “And if we can’t, we can just go back-”
“Don’t fret, Akakios,” Nikanor smiled, patting Crowley’s back. To Aziraphale’s surprise, Crowley seemed to put up with it, neither appearing displeased nor pleased. That was odd; Aziraphale remembered that Crowley certainly hated being touched casually by people he didn’t know, and here he was, being casually touched and not flinching away or silently upset about it. Perhaps that suggested some familiarity with this human...
“I’m certain we’ll find a boar. It’ll be worth the effort,” Nikanor continued, eyes fixed on Crowley. “After all, hunting isn’t only about killing things. There’s fun in the hunt: spending time outdoors with your friends, the chase, the capture of shy, wary prey…”
An awkward silence, and if Aziraphale didn’t know any better, Crowley was using some kind of demonic miracle to avoid appearing like he was blushing.
“Uh, anything else, shepherd?” Tyrimmas broke the silence with a strategic change of topic. “Perhaps another place where your sheep might have wandered off to?”
“Haven’t seen so much as a deer this whole ti-”
“Well, speak of the devil,” Nectanebo said quietly, pointing to a deer that stepped cautiously out of a copse. “Does someone have a javelin handy?”
The three young humans froze, and looked at one another.
“It’s just a fawn, not even out of its spots yet,” Nikanor whispered.
“But I really would like to make this hunting trip worth it. Since we’re nowhere near close to seeing a boar,” Tyrimmas spoke in a low voice, his hand tightening upon his spear.
“It’d be good eating?” Demetrios ventured, his deep voice a quiet rumble.
“Demetrios,” Nikanor said softly. “You should do the honors; you’re doing us a favor today.”
“Thanks. Back me up.”
Nikanor and Tyrimmas exchanged glances and nodded.
Cautiously and quietly setting down their boar spears, the young men raised their javelins, ready to throw, eyes fixed on the deer, waiting for it to wander closer. Aziraphale watched with curiosity; he rarely was this close to a hunt, and wondered what the humans would do. The last time he had seen a hunt, the hunters had set up nets and traps and had big packs of dogs, but here these young humans seemed to only rely on weapons that were much more like weapons of war than those used for hunting.
The wind shifted but the deer wandered closer, and Aziraphale glanced at Crowley, wondering if the demon had something to do with it. It would make sense; perhaps this would be enough to count, and Crowley could then walk away, letting the humans slake their bloodthirst.
Demetrios threw, and for a man so big to throw so gently, it was surprising. At least, it seemed gentle at first, but a moment later the javelin landed, going right through the deer, the tip of the spear coming out the other side of its body.
With a jerking twist, the deer ran off into the woods.
“Oh, it’s not a killing shot,” Crowley scowled.
“Must have been the wind,” Demetrios grabbed his boar spear as the other young men grabbed their gear as well, taking off after the deer, their footsteps pounding through the fall and scatter of dead leaves.
“Well,” Aziraphale turned to Crowley. “I suppose we should go after them.”
“I suppose,” Crowley said, with a shrug.
“Oh yes, we wouldn’t want to be left behind,” Nectanebo smiled, placid and polite.
It didn’t take long for the three angels, fallen and otherwise, to catch up to the humans. After an initial sprint, the human hunters had slowed down to a walk; now it was just a matter of following the trail of blood that the deer left behind, until it was found.
Droplets and smears, splatters and splashes, crimson stains upon leaves and dead grass, rocks and dirt, and Aziraphale’s lips tightened; did a deer really have this much blood in its body? He caught Crowley’s eye; Crowley was scowling even more than usual.
“Odd, seemed like a good hit. Wonder how the deer’s still alive...” Crowley muttered to himself, doing his best not to look at Asmodeus.
“Was there really much of a wind?” Nikanor wondered. “I don’t seem to remember a breeze.”
“I checked before I threw, and there was nothing,” Demetrios shrugged. “But maybe a gust came up out of nowhere, all these twisty little canyons hide all sorts of stuff.”
“Wind, deer, foxes, hares, boars, bears, nymphs, naiads…” Tyrimmas agreed. “I haven’t seen one myself, but I’ve heard tales. There are some big waterfalls in the mountains that have naiads. Oh, and a hot spring that definitely has one. Stay long enough, and she’ll drown you.”
“Maenads too, in the right season. Thankfully, not now,” Crowley added. “Wouldn’t want to be dodging maenads. Drunk ladies wielding thyrsi just ready to tear anything alive apart. Music’s good though, I like the music.”
“Best to hear it from afar,” Aziraphale agreed. “It’s not worth it getting close up.”
“Oh, but I find them charming,” Nectanebo smiled. “Ordinary women, inspired by the god’s madness into extraordinary actions. All that boundless potential and power…”
“Just imagine, all those tits bouncing around. Those charms would certainly be hard not to be inspiring,” Demetrios grinned, gesturing evocatively with his hands, the outline of bountiful curves.
“Sacred madness shouldn’t be joked about,” Nikanor said in gentle reproach. “You’re liable to bring the wrath of Dionysos upon you.”
“Definitely don’t want that,” Tyrimmas agreed. “Bound to get torn apart yourself.”
“Speaking of things being torn apart, it looks like we have found our deer,” Nectanebo pointed to the thrashing deer, caught in a thicket of thorny brambles, blood gushing from its wound and from the many pinpricks of scratches upon its body.
“Poor thing,” Demetrios said, stepping forward to pull out the javelin with a twist. The deer spasmed once, twice, and collapsed entirely, its blood soaking the earth beneath its feet. The big man carefully lifted it out of the brambles, untangling its lax limbs from the thorns with a surprising gentleness before bringing it over, setting it on a large flat boulder. The uneven surface of the rock was stained all over in patches, and whether it was from being used in the past as a place to butcher animals or it was just the growth of strange lichens, it was impossible to tell.
“I suppose we should skin it and dress it, and give up the god’s portion,” Nikanor frowned to himself, looking over the scratched and bleeding deer. “Tyrimmas, are you up to it?”
“Sure, not a problem.” Tyrimmas patted a long knife that he brought for hunting instead of his sword. “It’s a little small for a fawn of this age but still tender; it’ll make for good eating. Easy to carry what’s left too, it won’t be too heavy. A good size for our little hunting party; anything bigger and we would need some servants to carry it back.”
“Need some help?” Nikanor offered.
“Nah, it’s a little thing, not worth the trouble of both of us getting our hands dirty, I can do this pretty fast.”
“All right, then I’ll get the fire started. Let’s put our spears down for now, want to help me find some wood, Akakios? Oh, Koinos the shepherd, no please, don’t trouble yourself. You can rest if you like; you’re our guest. That goes for you too, Lord Nectanebo-”
“Why don’t I help you, Tyrimmas?” Nectanebo offered. “I am curious to learn the customs of your people; it will be an educational experience.”
“Of course, if you’re interested I’d be willing to show you our customs. Come closer, please. Look, as with any animal you want to start here first…”