“Wait until the beat comes out.” Click screen for animatic as well TW : contains violence, weapons & blood BIO : Name : Uriel Pronouns : any Rank : archangel (deity in training) ——— I am not used to feeling things. To me, emotions seem wrong, foreign. More of a memory than a reality. A concept too complex and strange to grasp. Sometimes I want to feel. Sometimes I want to know how happiness and excitement and love and hate feel, sometimes I try and glimpse them. Happiness- would it feel like the taste of the sea on a windy day, full of freedom and energy? Or would happiness be more of a soft, warm sensation.. a cozy blanket on a cold day. Maybe it’s both. Maybe neither. I suppose I’ll never know. But the absence of emotion was not a new thing for me. It was the root of my kind, one of the main things that tore the rift wider between humans and archangels. That, our wings, our realm in the sky- full of wondrous and ethereal entities, and out of them all, us archangels were the only beings able to access the earth- the realm of humans. Normal angels were too low in the ranks, deities and goddesses too high. And, me being an archangel of course, was doing just what we did best. Going somewhere we didn’t belong. Somewhere foreign. The human realm. I’m ok with that. Well, I would be. If the last time I had seen my own kind and been in my home realm hadn’t been 5 years ago.. I’m sitting in a large park, probably some kind of animal sanctuary, though open to the public. In my left hand rests a large bow, decorated pale pink with tiny love hearts. I clench the last few arrows in my hand, their heart-shaped tips glinting in the midday sunlight. Only two arrows left. After 5 years, I’d finally fired almost all of the arrows into peoples hearts. 248 hearts ached, eventually broken and burning in my wake. Thanks to me and my arrows, 248 souls have fallen in and out of love, something I will never feel because of my stupid, stupid archangel blood. I catch myself. /you should thank your kind. They gave you the gift of giving to humans a new and beautiful emotion. Any real archangel would know that is a blessing. Besides, feelings are dangerous to archangels. Dangerous./ Atleast that’s what I’d been taught. I pull myself from my spiraling thoughts, looking back down at the two arrows remaining. Soon I would have fulfilled my trial of shooting 250 arrows into the hearts of humans, and I could return to the archangel realm after 5 years. I could return to my home in time for my 16th birthday- the age limit of completing the trial. After that, I would be granted a raise in my rank- I would become a deity. Of what, I did not know. Excitement fizzed in my belly as I examined the possibilities- the deity of an element, perhaps? Or maybe of a certain creature, maybe even a concept. The possibilities were endless, a closed door with mysteries on the other side. These last remaining arrows were the keys. But finding a target of the arrows was not easy. I had spent the last 5 years tracking down humans not yet targeted by others facing the same trial, me being later to the trial, this meant I got the hardest targets. Secluded, distant humans. Ones living at the farthest edges of towns, or in forests, or straight up dangerous ones. And I had finally found my second to last target, or so I hoped. I got up and swerved to a small hiking trail near the back of the park, almost invisible to the untrained eye and leading into a dense forested area. I followed the path for a good hour or so, tracing my steps back towards a small cottage I had spotted yesterday. Finally, after what seemed like a day of walking but was probably just a few hours, I reached the edge of a large clearing in the shaded forest, one large enough to let sunlight stream in large rays down to the mossy forest floor. I crouched in silence behind a large bush, looking out into the clearing. There, just as I remembered, was the cottage nestled in a dip in the ground. A small stream ran along next to it, appearing and disappearing back into the forest, and a small barn sat to the side at the very edge of the forest. I skirted the very edge of the clearing, keeping to the shade and crouching down in the bushes at every noise, whether it be a bird call or a distant rustle of foliage, i was quite jumpy. Still, better be safe than sorry- otherwise let mortals glimpse me. That had almost happened numerous times over the past 5 years of me travelling in search of targets, though luckily no human had gotten a glimpse of my wings or anything else… /strange/ about me. Usually my heart arrows were invisible to the untrained human eye, as were most supernatural things.
Faeries, deities, gods and goddesses, and everything in between. Including me, an archangel and deity-in-training. Emotionless and almost lifeless inside, just like the rest of my kind. Suddenly, a small noise came from somewhere on the ground near the bush. I jumped, then cursed silently to myself. Looking down, I spotted a tiny, spotted white and ginger cat- by the looks of it, barely a year old. /a kitten/ I thought, unsure of what to do, I crouched awkwardly and hoped the feline wouldn’t meow loudly again. ‘Hey there, little guy’ i whispered in the smallest voice I could muster. I extended my hand gently. The kitten hesitated for a few moments, then tottered over to sniff my fingers. ‘OI!!’ Came a shout from nearby, scaring me out of my skin. I swore- out loud, this time, and whipped around. /how on earth has a human seen me?! I should be practically invisible to their eyes!/ Yet, to my utter shock, the figure my eyes had settled on- someone who had exited the cottage silently behind me- was very far from human. I leapt to my feet as the figure walked forward, instinctively pulling my bow from my back and loading an arrow, ready to aim and fire if needed. The figure stepped forward and looked up, ice cold eyes glinting from the shadows of messy dark hair, skeletal ash-coloured wings protruding from their back, bronze skin letting off a faint glow. They were wearing a small vest, baggy pants and a long grey cloak that brushed the mossy ground. A sudden cold dread trickled down my spine, and I shivered, every nerve in my body on alert- ready to run or fight, adrenaline making me jumpy. This strange being had wings- but not the archangel kind. They seemed to be the very opposite of an archangel, dark, skeletal wings replacing pale feathered ones. ‘Fine, shoot me,’ the figure spoke, ‘Just don’t hurt that cat.’ I blinked, my face heating. Their voice reminded me of cold autumn days and snowy forests, of a bubbling, clear mountain stream, of storm clouds on a rainy day. Distracted, I tried to pull together an answer. “I- I’m not a monster.” The figure narrowed their eyes, as if to say, /you sure about that?/ I winced. Suddenly they rushed forward and in a split second were by my side. I whipped around, prepared to fire my arrow as a last defence resort, but was too late. The figure grabbed the arrow in a swift motion and plunged it into my heart. Pain. I felt it flare through my body, like a million matches lighting up my insides. I fell to the ground and with shaking hands looked down at the arrow, the figures hand still grasping the end of it. it should’ve been impossible. I was an archangel, incapable of feelings, emotionless. Emotions were dangerous. They made you weak. So what were these sensations swirling through my chest? I felt the iron cold pang of fear, the icy claws of terror. I felt anger at my attacker, bright and hot like a newly forged blade. somehow i managed to look up at the figure. And, somehow underneath my newly found fear, terror and anger, I felt… A warm, spreading sense of ease. I felt a fluttering in my stomach and sparks of something more in my chest. The cold icy eyes of my attacker glinted down at me. ‘W- why.’ I somehow choked out. ‘It really is unfortunate. I didn’t want to do it, but, you see, you’re an archangel. I had to.’ The being’s emotionless eyes looked down at me. I felt a strange mix of all the new emotions coming together in my chest, the bright and fluttering ones, the angry cold ones. They gave me a sudden burst of energy through my pain. I wouldn’t go down without a fight. ‘You go down with me.’ With all of my remaining strength, i whisked the very final arrow from my quiver and plunged it into my attacker’s heart. Newfound shock filled those icy blue eyes, and they were the last thing I saw before I drifted into darkness. The first thing I was aware of was the cold press of stone against my spine. Grey light filtered through the gaps in my eyelids, and my mind was suddenly torn by a headache. I sat up, very slowly, and opened my eyes. I was surrounded by mist. Everything was grey and desolate. The floor beneath me was cold, smooth stone, carved with strange symbols. I jumped to my feet as I recognised one of them- a small sideways diamond with a star as a pupil in the middle. The symbol of my home in the sky realms. THE REST WILL BE POSTED IN COMMENTS (there’s not enough space lol) “Who’s a heretic now?!”
