Chapter Text
Crossroads shone brightly in the morning, the tall figure of Flipside tower casting a dark outline against the yellow sunrise.
The distant sound of the train going past rumbled through the empty halls of what could be considered a home, but still it did not rid the dusty warehouse of tension.
Sword had waited for at least three months for Venomshank to return, but to no avail. His mentor went looking for Firebrand and hadn't come back.
He had to scavenge through trash in Crossroads for enough sustenance, but even the thrown out donuts and pastries from that blue cafe could not fill his empty stomach. He had met one of the inphernals that worked there when they were throwing out the leftovers. The tall pink inphernal had scared both their self and Sword when they turned to go back inside. They were nice though, giving him some scraps of pastry every once in a while.
But it didn't last long. They hadn't been careful not to slam the heavy metal door and it scared the underweight demi deity so much he hadn't returned since.
The small feathery shape twisted and turned in what resembled a bed made to be a nest. His headwings stretched out as he lifted himself up slowly and yawned, showing small, sharp canines and small feathers along his cheekbones.
Sword gets up, stretching out his arms and back before getting up to put on fleece cargo pants and a thick hoodie, stolen from some inphernal that hadn't taken off their clothes from their clothes line.
Usually he would wear his signature cape and pants, but Crossroads was entering autumn, and the shadows cast by the tall buildings surrounding the warehouse didn't make it any warmer. He wore his helm though, because it was gifted to him by his mentor, and also protected him from any attacks, even if there were never any dangers in Crossroads. It was a relatively safe place, after all.
He goes out his door, walking down his hallway, scattered with photos of him, Venomshank and Sisyphus.
Sword missed them. He missed them so bad. Venomshank had never left him alone for more than a week, and would always come back and bother him endlessly like a fussing mother over her children. He used to say he hated it, but really quite enjoyed being with his mentor.
What happened to them? Had he gotten in trouble? But surely if that happened, Venomshank would send Sisyphus to tell Sword, right? He always did that when his trips would become extended.
The feathered demi-deity shook that feeling off.
He'll come back. He has too! There's no way he's gotten in enough trouble to not come back for... three months... No! No way. He's a deity! No one can hurt a deity... right?
Sword slowed down at the end of the hallway, and stared at the empty area that was his training ground.
Although Venomshank was still considered a myth by the general populace, he still controlled his gear with decisive efficiency. This was what made him one of the best strategists in the Inferno, third only to Illumina and Ghostwalker. And what made him such a good mentor to Sword.
He reminisced on the times when he would train with Venomshank, especially when he was a small fledgling and loved to tackle the tall green deity from behind. His mentor always feigned defeat, letting the small fledgling indulge in his victory.
Swords precious memory was interrupted by a sharp pang in his stomach, and was reminded he had to find food.
The cold autumn air blown from the ocean wafted over Crossroads, bringing sea fog along with it. Pale yellow clouds and a light blue sky could be seen in patches where the fog was clearer, and Inphernals began to come out from their homes, wrapped in puffer jackets and clothes that protected them from the biting cold. Slowly Crossroads became alive in the deceptively soft morning, and the city soon became bustling with Inphernals doing their day to day business.
But Sword payed no attention to those who moved about in the hazy sunlight. He was busy looking for food, albeit food that was probably half rotting and weeks old. Surprisingly though, he was very careful not to eat anything mouldy, even if he was immune to mold poisoning.
Currently he was rummaging through a skip bin, and had hit the jackpot. A full carton of milk, probably thrown out because the owner had seen it was a few days off. Sword didn't care, though. Milk wasn't something you could find easily, especially a full carton of it.
He swallows down the whole thing, ignoring the sour taste, and throws it back, wiping his lip with his sleeve. The small, lithe wings on his head flitter, and the tip of his long feathered tail flicks up and down a few times, giving away the fact that he is quite pleased with his find. After rummaging a bit more, Sword decides that there is nothing more worth eating, and closes the bin lid, climbing up onto the top to climb the tall building and escape to some other inphernals bin.
A door behind him is slammed open though, and the harpy whips his head around, watching the Inphernal exiting with wide, nervous eyes.
'Ugh... Man... why do I have to take the rubbish out. Every. Single. Time...!'
Rocket looked up to Zuka so much, but he just hated taking the trash out. It was always heavy, and filled to the brim with machine parts that got burnt beyond use, or some other thing that was annoyingly heavy.
The short blue inphernal continued to mutter, obviously caught inside his own mind as he didn't pay any attention to the feathery figure standing on the bin he was going to open. As Rocket reaches the base of the large skip bin, he looks up, clearly bothered that someone was stopping him from opening the lid.
'What the hell- get off-!'
The angered inphernal freezes as he makes eye contact with the demi-deity standing before him, and he jumps back dropping the rubbish bag, his hand twitching and horns glowing slightly, showing he is about to summon his gear.
The two stare at each other for a few seconds, before Sword snaps out of his daze and realises he has been caught. The feathers along his face and tail fluff up, and his pupils contract, his headings fanning out in a defensive position. Not knowing what to do, he drops to the bin lid on all fours, his teeth bared and maintaining eye contact with the stunned inphernal infront of him.
Rockets instincts tell at him to summon his weapon, his usual reaction to being surprised, but for once takes notice of something other than potential danger. He examines the almost feral inphernal and realises how the sweater they are wearing is looser than it should be, and how their bones are poking through the layer of feather and skin on their tail.
Underfed, probably.
He feels kind of bad, actually. He knows all too well what it's like to be underfed, alone, lost...
Without thinking, Rocket goes back inside, leaving the bag of rubbish on the cracked pavement.
Sword tilts his head, his muscles relaxing and body lowering.
Why did they leave...?
He goes on edge again when Rocket comes back out, his hands full of bags of chips. Swords nose twitches, his pupils dilating and staring straight at the chips.
Rocket notices, and places them down in front of Sword who backs away warily, despite wanting to tear the bags to shreds and eat everything inside. Rocket backs away, his hands raised.
'Uh... You can have those, y'know.'
Swords ears twitch, his head raising.
'Okay, so you can understand me?'
Sword nods slowly.
'Huh...'
Rocket tilts his head slightly, his fist to his mouth, thinking. Sword reciprocates the gesture, tilting his head as he grabs the closest bag of chips slowly.
'Weird.'
Rocket chuckles, lowering his hand. Sword flinches, still not trusting the blue inphernal who is smiling now.
'What the hell even are you? Some, like...'
Rockets eyes drift to Swords head wings. Natural, obviously, because they move too fluidly to be mechanical. Maybe a demi-deity? But the only dem-deities he knew were Banhammer and the Flipside brothers.
Sword sits down, his hands opening the bag of chips. Rocket watches curiously, never having seen anything like this before. Sure, the deities absolutely did NOT behave like inphernals at all, but even their descendants were more behaved than this. If this inphernal was actually a demi-deity, which they had to be because no others have natural wings unless they're related to the deities, then it was obvious they had never interacted with inphernals or others outside of whoever raised them, if they were even raised by another at all.
As Sword finishes the first bag of chips, he goes through the rest quicker, devouring everything within a few minutes. Rocket was honestly slightly surprised, because he had never seen anyone eat chips that fast.
'Holy shit dude, you must have been starving!'
Sword nods vigorously, now trusting the inphernal infant of him.
Rocket squints slightly.
'Uh... Do you have a name?'
He rubs the back of his head, waiting for a response.
Sword waits a few seconds, before saying something that just sounds like something someone from thieves den would say, but with a lot of... chirps? Hisses? Rocket had no idea what Sword was saying, but it certainly wasn't common.
'Can you, uhm, speak common?'
Rocket stood there awkwardly. Sword tilted his head again, and thought for a few seconds. He makes a noise remnant of a cough, then attempts to speak again.
'..Sword....'
He goes quiet again, the feathers on his cheeks and back of his neck and puffing up, and his head wings cover the sides of his face, almost as if he is embarrassed.
Rocket stares quietly, then speaks up again, so as to not make the silence more awkward.
'Well, you clearly need a lesson in common, dude. You're awful at speaking it!'
Rocket laughs at his joke, then stops when he realises that Sword was slowly retreating, looking away.
'Wait- no come back!'
Rocket reaches out, and the feathered red inphernal flinches away, his head wings covering more of his face.
'Sorry, I didn't mean to make it awkward. I'm uh, not too good with talking with others.'
Rocket picks at his clawed fingers slightly, looking down.
It was true, though. There was a reason he never talked to customers. Anyone he tried to strike conversation with either pissed him off or was as awkward as him. He also had the tendency to be very irritable, and if Zuka wasn't there when Rocket tried to communicate, he would probably end up trying to blow someone's head off. But, that was only with inphernals he met on the street and in the store. They were boring, annoying, and honestly not very pleasant.
But this inphernal was different. They made Rocket sympathise, which wasn't very rare, probably because they are in a condition similar to his before Zuka found him, huddled up, injured and alone behind the wreckage of a building.
Swords head wings slowly revealed his face, and while Rocket was looking down he creeps over, his steps slow and uneasy, like he was still afraid Rocket would attack at any given moment. He walks over the cracks in the pavement, and gets Rockets attention as he comes closer.
Sword stands up straight, looking at Rocket. The two are the same height, with Sword being only a tiny bit taller, likely because the helm sells the illusion.
Rocket looks back, still quiet.
The red inphernal tries to speak, coughing and stuttering, until he says something somewhat intelligible.
'Im not too good..... talking with others..... either....'
His words are fragmented and barely understandable, but Rocket gets the message. He makes a clumsy smiles, and Sword smiles back in an equally gawky way, his sharp canines shimmering in the afternoon light that has creeped into the alleyway.
The now enjoyable quiet is broken when someone inside calls for Rocket, likely, Zuka, and Rocket throws the rubbish in the bin, walking towards the open door.
'Well, I dunno if I'll see you again bird-dude, but if you want I can bring you more chips tomorrow morning?'
He stands up straight, one hand in the pocket of his pants.
'Same time?'
Sword nods, and Rocket disappears through the rusting door of his home, leaving Sword to process what just happened.
He doesn't really know, but he does know that now he has a way to pass the time left in the empty presence of Venomshank.
And food. Sword is really excited for food.
He climbs the tall apartment block, scurrying away over the roof and towards the warehouse.