Shipwrecked Part 4
Title: Shipwrecked
Author: earth_heart
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Castiel/Dean
Warnings: AU
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Supernatural is not mine. It belongs to Kripke and the CW/WB.
Summary: Gift!fic for Gedry. The prompt given was ‘shipwrecked’.
AN: No porn yet, guys, but it’ll come soon!
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Angry voices woke Dean the next morning. Well, that and the feeling of Castiel uncurling his fingers from the vhorztah’s ankle. Dean reached out at once, grabbing at his foot as his eyes opened.
“Dean, let me go. I’m not going anywhere.” Castiel soothed. “However, it would be a good idea for you to wake up now. We’ve got a problem.”
Dean sat up at once, more awake than he’d just been. The first thing he saw was four other vhorztah glaring at him, each one of them holding a weapon at the ready. They had the same rich blue-green skin color as Castiel, but all of these guys were also sporting war paint.
“Uh... friends of yours, Cas?” Dean muttered, shifting closer to the halfbreed beside him.
“Do not call me Castiel right now, Dean.” the creature whispered, curling his cool fingers around Dean’s elbow and making him stand as Castiel stood. “These four are my half-siblings. They would take great offense to hearing such a moniker.”
The vhorztah in the lead stepped forward once Dean and Castiel were fully standing, glaring at Dean through narrowed brown eyes. “What magic have you weaved over our brother, human?” he demanded. He used the tip of his spear to tilt Dean’s head up. “We are a peaceful race, which is the only reason I do not kill you where you stand. However, I do demand that you release Castiel from whatever spell you have trapped him in.”
“Whoa, whoa, I didn’t put him under any kind of spell.” Dean retorted angrily. “What, because he saved my ass all of the sudden I’ve got him under some spell? Really, do you listen to yourself?”
“Dean!” Castiel snapped, tightening his hold. “Show some respect. This is my family.”
“Your family is full of dicks.” Dean snapped back. He couldn’t believe that Castiel could even be related to people like this. Sure, the vhorztah had his own temper, but at least he seemed to care more than these guys. Weren’t they the ones who had just wanted Cas to leave him to die? Yeah, dicks.
The tip of the spear pressed into his throat, and Dean decided that, yeah, silence might be best, here. Peaceful or not, this guy still looked like he wanted to kill Dean.
“Such filthy mud monkies.” the vhorztah growled. “I do not understand how you could want to help them, Castiel. They are weak, and flawed.”
“They shine bright.” Castiel replied proudly. “Dean shines brightest of them all. Uriel, put down your spear. He does not even have a weapon. Besides, what is the harm in me wanting to help him? My plan was to aid him in his recovery, and then return him to his family.”
“He is recovered. Why haven’t you?” another one demanded. Dean could tell that this one was actually female, now that he looked at her. It had been harder to tell at first because she was just as flat-chested as the males. Her voice was lighter, though, and her hair longer; even though it was pulled back into some sort of braided bun.
“It’s not that easy, Anna.” Now Castiel sounded hesitant. Dean glanced at him quickly and noticed how his eyes were fixed on the sand at their feet. “It is five-hundred miles from here to his home, and I would have to return him in a way that is not suspicious. A man who had been lost at sea suddenly walking out of the ocean and onto a beach is sure to raise some awkward questions. I have our best interests at heart, as well as his.”
“We’ll take him with us.” Another one said suddenly. He was staring at Dean intently, his honey-brown eyes curious. “We will take him with us back home, and then see what the Council says. They will know what to do.”
Uriel looked unimpressed, but Castiel was beginning to look hopeful. “Gabriel is right. The Council will know the proper way to proceed.” he agreed.
Dean stared at them all before he rounded on Castiel. “Are you nuts?” he hissed. “How is any of this going to help? How do you know the Council won’t just vote to have me killed?”
“We are peaceful, Dean; even if some of us seem more violent than others.” Castiel murmured soothingly. “The Council will not let any harm come to you. You are under my protection.”
As strange as it was, that actually made Dean feel better. He trusted his future to a fish-dude, but he wasn’t really worried about it. Somehow, he knew Castiel would protect him.
“Fine, then we leave now.” Uriel commanded. He and the other three turned and walked straight back into the water, vanishing under the surf. As many times as he’d seen it happen, Dean was still amazed how quickly these guys could become one with the water.
“Let’s go.” Castiel said firmly, his deep voice excited as he pulled Dean along into the water. The waves were gentle today, but it didn’t stop them from nearly bowling Dean over several times. Every time he slipped, though, Castiel was there to catch him. When one huge wave crashed over them, suddenly they were underwater.
Anyone who knows humans knows they are not meant to breathe underwater without special equipment. Equipment, by the way, that Dean did not have. He began to flail immediately, his lungs already burning and his cheeks bulging out in a way that probably made him look like a blowfish.
Fingers pressed against his cheek just as his mouth opened, and suddenly Dean was breathing. Sure, water was still flowing into his mouth, but he wasn’t choking and drowning. Amazed, he turned to look at Castiel. The vhorztah was smiling at him, looking more amused than he had any right to.
“You don’t think I’m just going to let you drown, do you?” he teased, and Dean huffed.
“Whatever, fish-man. Your buddies are getting ahead of us.”
“Indeed they are. My family has always been impatient. Very well, then. Hold on, Dean.” That was all the warning he got before wings suddenly unfolded from behind Castiel. Only, they weren’t really wings in the way people might think. Sure, they definitely were shaped like wings, but there was no leathery membrane, or even feathers.
The only way Dean could describe them was that they looked like dragonfly wings; a lot more kickass, of course, but still dragonfly wings. There were six wings; two at the very top, a smaller set in the middle, and then a larger set at the bottom. The bones were thin and brittle-looking, and the webbing of the wings looked so fragile. However, when Castiel began to flap them (there was really no way to say it to make it sound cooler), the two of them shot forward at a speed that Dean had not thought was possible.
“Jesus, Cas! Slow down!” he yelled, wrapping his arms around the vhorztah’s torso and holding on tightly. “Do you have to go so fast?”
“Yes.” Castiel deadpanned. “Also, while we are with my family, you cannot call me Cas. You must call me Castiel. We are all about tradition and respect, and many would see it as disrespectful for you to address the heir to the Council leader in such a derogatory way.”
“The... heir... of the Council leader? What?” What? “Dude, you’re the Council leader’s son? You couldn’t have mentioned this before?”
“I’m sorry. I did not think it was important.”
Of course he didn’t. Dean groaned mentally and shut his eyes. Then he just had to open them again. He had no idea how fast they were actually going, but they were cutting an incredible path through the ocean. The water was bright and clear, and it didn’t even sting Dean’s eyes; which meant he got to look around as much as he wanted to.
Schools of fish raced along beside them, and once Dean even swore he saw a shark. It was swimming farther away, but it definitely looked like a shark. They went by to quickly for him to be able to tell, though.
“How many miles have we gone already?” Dean asked, looking up at Castiel. The vhorztah glanced down at him, his wings a blur behind him as he propelled them along. It was actually amazing to see.
“We have traveled thirty miles so far.” Castiel replied, smiling at him before looking up to keep an eye on where they were going. It was because of that that he didn’t see Dean gaping at him.
They’d been in the water for hardly five minutes and they’d already gone thirty miles? How was that even possible? They were slowing down now; schools of fish were gathering in greater numbers to look at Dean curiously. This time, it really was a shark that Dean saw, because the thing swam right up to them. It was a Great White shark, and it had to be ten feet long. However, all it did was nuzzle against him curiously before it swam away.
“Dude, I just got touched by a shark.”
“She will not hurt you. You are under my protection. No sea animal will harm you so long as you are with me.”
Wow, that was actually pretty cool. Dean could breathe underwater, and he wasn’t in danger of being some shark’s lunch. There was no way you could get it better than that.
“Look ahead of you, Dean. This is my home.”
Dean obediently turned to look, and he sucked in a sharp breath at what he saw. It literally looked like a village built out of solid corral. There were small, simple houses gathered around the base of an enormous building. It looked kind of like someone had taken the blueprints of a palace and a mansion and squished them into one impressive work of art.
The siding was shades of blue and green corral, with open spaces where windows would be. High towers rose in a few points, and all around the structure vhorztah were swimming and playing. They stopped to look at Dean curiously as the small group went past, and Dean felt how Castiel’s arm tightened around him. It made him smile. Obviously his friend didn’t feel like sharing right now.
Uriel, Anna, Gabriel, and the fourth vhorztah came to a halt outside of a set of large, white gates that were made out of pearl. Castiel caught up with them, and then the four of them gently sank until their feet touched the surface of the corral beneath them. When Dean followed their lead, he realized that he was standing easily, rather than floating up and away. It must have been some more of Castiel’s awesome mojo.
Looking up, Dean realized for the first time just how deep under the ocean they were. He couldn’t even see the sunlight, but that didn’t seem to matter. Everything around them was lit with an almost unearthly glow.
“Dean,” Castiel called, and Dean looked back at him curiously. Castiel was smiling wider, his wings twitching behind him and stirring up the water; making little whirlpools. “Dean, welcome to my home.”