TRAVELERS: Ch 1

Disclaimer:

The following story series contains characters that belongs to the author only. Any characters in the story can only be used only with the author's permission. Characters, locations, events, and time similarities in the story with the real life are truly a coincidence.

Warning:

The following story may contain mild violence and romance between two male characters. Viewer's discretion is advised.

I. Preparation

Autumn morning has broken. The yellow and red leaves covered both the sky and the yellow grass. A soft breeze glided, creating a colorful dance in the air. The breeze stopped in front the white manor. The majestic three-storied building stood there, facing the early sun.

The master bedroom on the second floor was filled with sunlight. Each furniture was covered in white sheets, protecting them from collecting dust from the years to come. On the bed was a duffel bag, containing spares of clothes, a first aid kit, books, quills, and ink, rations to fill two people for a week, and a large light brown blanket.

A tall and muscular figure entered the room. He had the features of a lion, but he stood up on his hind paws like a normal human being. He had emerald colored eyes, a deep brown mane sticking out of his head, light brown fur covering most part of his body except for his underbelly, which was beige, and a long light brown tail with a dark brown tuft on its end. He wore a sleeveless dark brown shirt, darker than his mane, with beige cloth leggings that covered him from hip to his ankle. His feet were covered by brown leather boots that reached up till his shin. Covering his paws were two leather gloves from the tip of his claws to his wrists.

The lion sighed as he stepped closer to the cream bag. He stared blankly upon the traveling set he made a few days ago. John, his partner/mate, had successfully created a dimension opening a few weeks before. After thirteen years of trial and error, he finally mastered the forbidden art. Now they only had one mission left: find their friends.

Thirteen years ago, Nil Memphisto Rey, an old master of the lion five hundred years ago, somehow broke loose from his vessel. The possessed warlock caught him and his summoner's friends in surprise. In that distortion, the sorcerer managed to separate the group of friends through the dimension gates. He only managed to send three of his mate's friends somewhere else before he was contained once more. The dark art of dimension travel was extremely hard to do, even if it was cast in a group. The dark warlock managed to create two in mere seconds and it took John thirteen years to perfect his skill and create one himself.

The lion sighed, remembering his past. He was what the people of his land a Tusol, a dimensional being summoned by a mage to help them in any way they want. Before Nil, he was treated only as a tool before their contract, an object bounding the summoner and the Tusol together, expired. Nil was a different summoner. He was an orphan. A young mage who had lived through years of torture from his mentor. The same mentor who sealed his fate by creating the Memphisto Seal, summoning the devil that possessed his former master and nearly destroyed the entire world. It was the same seal that separated the kindness of the young wizard into a similar form, but with blue eyes and none of Nil's talents. The same person who used his body as a vessel to seal the evil Nil away and the same mate he saw everyday: John Yerlin.

A series of knocking interrupted the lion's train of thought. He turned his head slightly towards the door. Another figure, much like him, stood on the doorway. This time, it was a red fox with black glove-like fur on each paws and a white under belly. The vulpine had cerulean colored eyes that gazed upon the bigger figure. The fox didn't have as much muscles as the lion, but he was perfectly toned, a result for working as the king's escort for over twenty years.

"You're home early," the lion stated and pointed at the chain mail the vulpine was still wearing.

"His majesty had an appointment that he needed to take care of," the canine responded. "So everything's all set for tomorrow?"

"Yes," the lion nodded. "Clothes, rations, and kits are all prepared. We'll depart at dawn."

"I can't believe you two are finally leaving," the fox sighed. "We're going to miss you two, Terrance."

"Thank you, Christian," the lion smiled. "I know we're going to feel the same as well."

"Take care of my brother, okay?" The fox padded the lion's shoulder. "We may not be blood related, but I care about him dearly."

"Don't worry," Ter nodded. "No harm shall come to him whenever I'm around. Besides, I did swear that I’d always protect my master, even if it costs me my life.

"Even so, don't die, okay?" Chris patted his shoulder.

"I won't. Unless it’s to save him," Ter nodded.

"Still, take care of yourself," Chris smiled. He glanced down to the bed and noticed the duffel resting on the mattress. "I thought you already brought your things to the living room."

"I did," Terrance replied.

"Then is this my brother's?" The fox pointed. The lion glanced to where he pointed before facing him once more.

"No, actually it's Dean's," Ter told him, causing the vulpine's mouth to gape.

"Dean's tagging along?" He asked.

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The Rivergale castle stood on the center of the bustling town. The ancient castle had withstood sieges for hundreds of years. It was considered a symbol for the citizens. It was nearly improbable to break into it. There was only one time, but it was years ago. It was considered an ancient history for them.

On the red-carpeted hallway, two wolves strutted. One of the two was a white furred arctic lupine while the other was a pitch-black timber wolf. The white wolf had heteromic eyes, a left green eye and a constantly changing right. In daytime, it turned blue, but after one o'clock sharp, it turned to green. The other wolf had piercing gold eyes. Both wolves wore a similar outfit: deep green, long sleeved shirt with beige pants. They wore the same leather boots that reached their shins. The only difference in the costume was what they wore in their forepaws. The smaller white lupine wore different lengthed leather gloves. The one on his left reached his elbow and the one on his right reached his wrist. The black lupine only wore leather armguards on each wrist.

The white lupine turned his head towards his fellow canine and stared speechlessly.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. "No pressure, Dean, but did you think about this carefully?"

"I have nothing to hold me back anymore," Dean said. "Jer died because of me, I lost friends because of that bitch, and now I have nothing else to do."

"If you say so..." The other lupine nodded. They reached a large door guarded by two guards. They saluted the two before opening the majestic door for them. The throne room of the castle was carpeted like the hall. White curtains covered the two storied windows on the left and right walls. On the other side, red curtain draped behind a gold colored throne where a white tiger sat down, talking to a few advisors. The king smiled and stood up from the seat. His purple robe draped from his shoulder to the floor. The striped feline raised his arms in front of him, greeting the two canines.

"John! Dean!" He said. "How nice for you two to drop in."

"It's good to see you too, Albert," John smiled.

"Your majesty," Dean bowed.

"So you're here to say your goodbyes, old friend?" Al smiled at the white lupine. "I can't believe it has been over thirty years since you came to our time. And now we're going to part. And I believe," Al smiled at the younger wolf, "from the rumors spreading across the city, you will be joining the two on their journey."

"Uh... That's correct, sir," Dean shakily nodded.

"Don't worry, Al," John smiled. "I promise, we'll come back to you as soon as we found them."

"So it's not 'farewell', but 'till we meet again', huh?" The white feline grinned, his blue eyes gleamed.

"It will take a while, but I'm sure we'll be back."

"Then we'll count the days till your return. Is there anyone else that you wanted to say goodbye to?"

"Well, we still need to check with Hillary first. We want to get some potions before we leave."

"Then I'll be seeing you at dawn then. You best be off then."

"Thanks. See you."

Dean bowed a little before following the white lupine out of the room. John tilted his head towards the teen in confusion as they walked. Dean soon noticed this and stared back.

"What?" The black wolf asked.

"You seemed tense around Al," John said. "You didn't do or say anything except for 'your majesty' and bowing to him."

"Well, how am I supposed to act in front of the ruler of the entire kingdom?" Dean asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Talk to them normally like any other person?" John cocked an eyebrow.

"Well... There's that and messing up completely in front of a powerful ruler."

"He won't even care," John told him. "He will never embarrass anyone on purpose."

"Really?" Dean's ears perked up. "Huh... Then I guess I wasted years of being afraid of something stupid."

'Yeah… So stupid that it brought an end to a life...' John thought to himself. He sighed and stared on the red padding beneath them. His thoughts came back to Jeremiah, his godchild.

A few months ago, things happened between the black lupine and the orange fox. The fox freaked the wolf away, causing him to avoid the distraught vulpine for a long time. John's worst thoughts came true not long after that. The black lupine received a parting gift and a letter of apology from the missing vulpine. Dean, knowing where the fox could be, went after him. But it was too late. The fox died on the wolf's arms. A smile of content filled his muzzle as his last seconds was filled by the wolf's presence.

"John?"

The arctic lupine snapped out of his daze and raised his head towards the black wolf.

"Sorry, what?" He asked.

"You were in deep thought, weren't you?" Dean stared.

"Yeah... I remembered something that I shouldn't have..." The white lupine sighed and wiped the tears that were forming on the corner of his eyes.

"Care to share?"

"I… no. It’s not important…" the older canine said, not wanting to remind the younger one about his loss. The two stopped walking and gazed up another double door. It had a plank with the word infirmary attached to the right door. John raised his paw slowly and began to rap on the wood. He opened the door and entered with the other lupine.

The infirmary itself was your standard white room with multiple single sized beds. White sheets covered each and every one of them. Covering the windows were white drapes with corsages on the bottom end of the fabric. Close to one of the patients in the room was the person the lupines wanted to see. An elderly husky with dulled tan fur and white underbelly. Her gray hair was twisted into a large bun on the back of her head. Her tail wagged slowly back and forth when her blue eyes found her way towards the two lupines.

"Hello, boys," she said.

"Hello, Hillary," John said.

"Good day, Grandma Hillary," Dean said.

"It's good to see you young men walking in here just to talk to little old me," the husky said.

"I wouldn't say young man to me though," John corrected with a smile. "I am five centuries older than any of you."

"But you still look like a young man to me," Hillary chuckled.

"What can I say," John shrugged. "Being a vessel has its advantages and disadvantages as well."

John could remember the day Nil broke loose. When his true body broke loose from inside of him, the dark wizard began to transport his friends away from their dimension. John resealed him with his body once more, but it proved inevitable. The power of the warlock was multiple times stronger than their last encounter, which was five hundred years before. John knew his body would lose to the power contained in him, so he called upon the guardian of time, Horlogonium to give suggestions on what to do. On that same time, he also gave Terrance the decision to choose what to do next.

The lion was faced with two decisions that he hated. The first one was the easy way to save the entire dimension: kill the vessel, along with the entity contained in him. The second option was a bit gentler one: stop the vessel’s body time. It not only stopped the wolf from aging, but also prevented the entity from breaking loose. He couldn’t bear harming the wolf. He was his summoner, his best friend, so he chose the second option, stopping the lupine’s body on age 23.

John never liked what had happened to him. He could do nothing but watch as others grew older and die. It was King Marvic, Albert’s father, at first, followed by Audria, and then Dean's parents, and last but the most important, Jeremiah. He felt completely helpless as the years went by. Terrance knew exactly how he felt, seeing as his masters died one after the other for a lot longer than he did. But only one struck a chord: the time Nil became the entity he was now.

"So you're here for the potions and poultices?" Hillary asked.

"You know me too well, Hillary," John smiled.

"I would say I could be your grandmother, but I can't," the elder husky smiled as she handed the wolf his usual belt bag. The wolf opened the bag and checked the contents. There were at least ten bottles of red health potions, five green bottles of stamina potions, five poultices of wound closing kits, three all purpose health poultices, and two bottles of white liquid that he never had before.

"Hillary, what's this?" John pointed at the new concoction. The husky gave a sly grin that brought shivers to both lupines. She waved her right paw to the white one, asking him to come closer. John stepped closer and perked up his ears. The elder canine whispered something in the white lupine's ear with a smile. John's body went frigid as she finished her statement. His heteromic eyes were shot open, his tail stiffened into a straight line below him, and the fur on his entire body bristled.

"W-w-w-What!?" He blushed ferociously, stepping away from the elder woman who was chuckling at his reaction.

"What is it!?" Dean quickly.

"Nothing!!" John snapped as his face fur turned beet red. "You don't know anything about it, you hear!?"

"Oh, child," Hillary smirked. "Your reaction was completely priceless."

"Wait! So that was a joke!?" John's eyes snapped back to the elder canine.

"Nope," she replied bluntly, causing him to turn deep red once more.

"Dare I ask what it is again?" Dean stared in confusion.

"You'd probably won't understand my dear," Hillary chuckled as she handed another belt bag. This time to Dean. The black lupine checked the contents as well. It had the same things as the white lupine's except for the mysterious white potion.

"Seriously, what is that stuff?" Dean asked, getting more frustrated.

"I wouldn't want to embarrass him any more, but I can say that it involves our little whitey here with his little friend back at the manor," the husky chuckled, causing the white wolf to shrink back in embarrassment. Dean emitted a small "oh...", catching what she meant. He blushed, knowing where the discussion would lead to.

"I feel like I want to die..." John mumbled softly.

“Uh- Um… Yeah… That is kind of embarrassing…” Dean scratched his chin.

The elderly woman laughed out loud, causing patients in the ward to turn towards the three canines. John shrunk back once more, beet red from the attention others gave them.

“P-please stop…” he mumbled.

“Oh very well…” the husky smiled. “I also have things to do as well. You kids be careful, you hear?”

“Don’t worry, Grandma Hillary,” Dean nodded and strapped on his belt bag. “We’ll take care of ourselves.”

The husky handed the white lupine one more belt bag of their traveling requirement.

“You didn’t put those stuff in Ter’s bag, did you?” John asked.

“Nope,” she smiled. “He’s not as motherly as you.”

“I swear, you’re doing that on purpose,” John blushed.

“Oh, I’m going to miss you two,” she smiled and gave the lupines one final hug.

“Take care, Hillary,” John said to her. The three waved each other goodbye and the wolves went out of the ward. They sighed and stared at the belt bag on John’s waist.

“So…” Dean mumbled. “Are…you going to use it?”

“Only when the time is right,” John replied, slightly blushing. “Well, all of our goodbyes are given. Wanna head back to the Manor?”

“Actually… there’s one more place I want to go to before we leave,” Dean smiled. “I’ll catch up to you back at the manor.”

“All right, but don’t stay out too long,” John nodded. “We don’t want to be late.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Dean nodded as well. John waved goodbye and headed out back to the Styler’s Manor, leaving the black lupine alone in the hall. Dean sighed softly before heading towards the other direction.

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Dean stopped walking and gazed his perimeters. Around him was the uncharted thick forest he and Jer used to go to when they were kids. The same trees facing up towards the sky waved in the gentle breeze coming through the branches. He gazed down to the same small stream he and the fox waded on years before. He sighed heavily before walking upstream towards his destination. It was a large oak tree, standing close to the stream. It was different than any oak, due to the scratches made years ago by the two canines. There was also a pair of knives stabbed to the ground close to it, shaping the letter X. Bouquets of lilies were placed here and there, close to the old knives. It was the spot where the fox committed his suicide.

“Hey…” Dean smiled sadly. “It’s me. I came here to talk to you again, just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.”

The lupine knelt to the ground and placed another small bouquet of lilies in front of the knives. He began to stare at the center of the blades. Etched on it was the name of the deceased fox: Jeremiah Winston Stone. The middle name was only known by the vulpine’s parents and the wolf himself.

"So how are you today?" The lupine said. "I'm good today. Got a few laughs back at the castle. Grandma Hillary gave John a few new potions today. When she told us what they were, he was shrinking to the background. Heh, you should've seen him."

Tears started to form on the wolf's eyes. As he continued.

"I've finally decided to come along. I wanted to travel around with them, experiencing new things, and..."

The lupine's tears rolled down his cheeks and dropped to his knees.

"I... Only wish you were here... I missed you so much. I know you wouldn't forgive me for doing those things to you, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!! I could've prevent this from happening, but...

"I was foolish... I'm so stupid that I did that... If I hadn't... If I didn't... Heh, look at me. Quivering like a pup. This is the real look of your loved one."

The wolf wiped the tears away from his eyes, but they kept coming.

"I don't deserve you. I never deserved you. After all, all I did was hurting you deeper and deeper. You could've chosen another person, but you picked me. Even after all that crappy stuff.

"Sometimes I want to ask, why? Why do you love someone like me?"

"Because I do," a familiar voice rang out in the air. A small breeze gently passed the lupine and the lilies. A wispy figure started to form behind the lupine, holding him close in his arms. It was a vulpine figure with orange fur over his body, white chest and stomach fur, and black fur on his ears, forepaw, and back-paw. The figure smiled gently and caressed the lupine’s cheeks.

“Do I even need a reason to love you?” he asked. “Sure, you may be a handful at the times, but I will always love you.”

“But I... I caused you to kill yourself…” the wolf sobbed.

“True,” the fox smiled. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Even if I die, which I already am, I will always love you. I can never blame anything on you. You’re so precious to me that I’m willing to kill myself if I had to.”

“I’m sorry…” Dean sobbed. “I’m so sorry…”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” the vulpine chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve already forgiven you months ago. You can’t get that in your thick skull, can you?”

“But you killed yourself…”

“Which proves how precious you are,” the vulpine chuckled. “If I didn't, then I would've sabotaged your relationship with Nadine, which, I'm afraid, had backfired, considering on what you did after that letter."

"You didn't want me to come to you...?" The lupine sniffed.

"No," he shook his head. "At first, I didn't. But I'm glad you did. I know now how you felt about me. Even though I died, it was worth doing to know you feel the same."

"Jer..."

"Now, dry your tears and smile at me. We wouldn’t have any of that anymore, would we?”

The lupine took a deep breath, wiped his tears, and smiled softly at the spirit behind him.

“Now that’s the Dean Vent Charmile I know and love,” the fox smiled. The wolf nodded slowly, turned around to the fox and held on to him. Unfortunately, his arms passed through the spirit.

“Oh, yeah…” Dean sighed.

"I'm sorry..." The vulpine frowned, pinning his ears back.

"It sad. We're finally in love with each other. And we're standing here, facing each other. But we can't touch each other," the lupine stared sadly.

"We'll find a way. I assure you..." The vulpine smiled sadly.

"Just stay there, Jer," the lupine smiled. "I'll try and find the clues as we travel around. And when I come back, it will be the time when we can be together again."

"Hoo, no," the vulpine smirked. "I'm not going to stay here and wait for you for centuries now."

"Uh... What?"

"I told you, I'll always be with you," Jer smiled softly as his body began to glow brighter. "And I will never break that promise."

"Jer!?" Dean darted up immediately.

"Don't worry. I'll be with you all the time. Right here..." The fox smiled and pointed his finger on the teardrop pendant on the wolf's neck. The lupine stared down on the necklace and smiled. It was the parting gift Jeremiah gave him before he died, and it was considered his most precious belonging. Now, it had turned into a part of his life.

"Thank you..." The wolf smiled back at the vulpine.

"There's just... One other thing, before I go," the fox smirked.

"What is it?"

"Don't forget that shampoo. You know, the tropical fruit one?" Jer chuckled. The two began to roar in laughter before finally regaining their breaths.

"I won't," Dean nodded. The crystal jewelry glew for a moment before a small circular glyph appeared in front of it. The fox smiled one last time as his wispy body began to flow towards the glyph.

"See you around!" He said before finally disappearing into the crystal. One last gleam appeared from the crystal and the circular glyph transformed. It had runic symbols etched between the outer and inner circles. On the center was a symbol, giving a close resemblance to the vulpine's facial features.

"This glyph..." He mumbled. He remembered seeing one on the night of the fire. When a fire broke out in his wooden home, he did absolutely nothing. He was distraught for the lost of his vulpine and sat there in the kitchen, waiting for his doom to come. It was then the same glyph appeared beneath him and strong gales of wind blew the flames, creating a safe passage towards the front door. He thought it was John for a moment. But when he noticed the fact that he wasn't around, he didn't know who did it. But now...

"You were the one who saved me from that fire, weren't you?" He smiled. The glyph disappeared and the teardrop crystal glow a mild white light.

"Thank you..." He chuckled. The lupine wiped his eyes once more and stared to the daggers. He knelt down and pulled out one of them from the ground.

"Let's go, Jer," he said, raising the dagger up into the air. "We have a journey to do."

He sheathed the weapon on the side of his belt and headed back outside of the forest. Beaming in happiness, he knew now that everything is going to work out.

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