Chaos and Calamity

They were chaos and calamity.

A disaster waiting to happen.

And they were so fucking annoying.

Raz groaned, his thumb and middle finger rubbing against his good eye and the scarred remains of the other as he attempted to push his irritation out with his exhale. It was the first time in a few weeks that he hadn’t taken Ren up into the mountains, and Sakura was taking all of her pent up energy out on the boy now.

From the time she woke up she’d been going at him— starting with a punch to the gut to suddenly force him out of his slumber followed by a roundhouse kick towards his head which he deflected with his arm as he was getting dressed and his back was turned. The girl stole a good portion of his breakfast, which was ridiculous considering the boy would have given it to her anyways as he always did. She tried to tackle him as he exited the cottage to do chores, which barely phased him, and he continued on with her dragging behind him with her arms locked around his ribs. However, the sharp canines digging into his side caught his attention as he yelled out and she took off running, laughing. But Sakura didn’t think it was so funny once Ren caught up to her and dumped her in the creek. Which led them to now with the boy in hysterics as the soaking wet girl attempted to put him in a headlock that was being thwarted by his hand in the way.

She was fourteen and he was a newly minted sixteen, and they were both too old for this shit.

The elder angel was getting too old for it as well.

“Enough!” Raz finally snapped from where he was in the garden. The man had already begun counting down the days until it would be acceptable to give them both the boot and let them figure out life without him constantly holding their hands. “Get off of him and knock it off!”

It seemed so far away.

Like that day would never come.

Sakura groaned and pouted but did as she was told.

And Raz could finally hear himself think again.

Up until Ren licked his finger and swirled it around the girl’s dripping fox ear, setting her off as she chased after the boy who stayed two steps just out of her reach.

Raz couldn’t do it anymore.

“I said enough!” he yelled, stopping the two in their tracks. “Both of you grab your poles! We’re going fishing!”

The man was either coming back with enough fish for a few days.

Or coming back with two less children.

Possibly both.

The two complied but not without plenty of shoving one another around as they went to the shed and returned with theirs and Raz’s fishing poles. Sakura handed the man his before skipping ahead of the angels down the path into the village.

Raz had hoped that the girl would grow out of her destructive ways, as most children do. That one day something would click, and she would slowly begin to better compose herself, possibly start acting like the other girl’s in the village and town who were more interested in conversing than fighting. She still hadn’t, and even though she had calmed down some, and the cottage wasn’t constantly in shambles anymore, she was still completely willful and unpredictable. A violent creature unlike any he had ever seen, her unusual strength only growing along with her although her slender form hid it well.

It was no wonder the den didn’t want her. They were a society with intricate values and traditions that relied on each and every member conforming to their specific roll. Never challenging the status quo. It was a delicate balance, one that needed to be persistently maintained with any opposition immediately stamped out and rectified; further ensuring that their way of life would go unspoiled even while the world around them continued to change. A way of life that had been preserved for over a few millennia.

To have a child such as the girl born, a contradiction to everything they knew, must have set the entire den on edge. What measures had they taken to stifle her rebellious and vicious nature? What measures would they have taken had she never left? She was a threat, and there was no way they would just continue to allow her to further disrupt their livelihood.

They couldn’t.

She was chaos.

And she was impossible to control.

Raz glanced over at the boy beside him and shook his head with a light grumble. Of course he was watching her, captivated by every tilt of her hips, swing of her arms, swish of her hair, and it was only getting worse as time went on. It was no real surprise, boys were boys, he was going to look.

But it wouldn’t stay as looks for long.

Sooner or later, he would want to reach out and touch.

And with touching came trouble.

The boy had always been more on the timid side, unsure of himself and his capabilities. But recently, a switch had seemed to flip and his confidence had begun to grow. It was slow progress, but it was progress nonetheless. He was beginning to trust himself more. Starting to pull away from Raz’s word to follow his own.

To do as he wanted and only what he wanted.

The very thing that The Kingdom feared.

The fear that one day the boy would grow into a man, and his thirst for devastation would lead him back to The Kingdom where he would attempt to lay waste to all of God’s grand creation. And it was a valid concern, one of which Raz had seen in small ways from the time Ren was a young child. The potential had always been there, for him to inflict the ruination of all. He was incredibly strong already, and he wasn’t even yet fully mature. But more than that, he was patient and determined and intelligent and could predict the actions of others simply by observing their behavior. He never rushed into anything, rather took advantage while it rushed into him.

He was calamity.

And he was something to be rightfully feared.

But somehow, whether it be luck or fate or a mistake, two negatives had come together to cancel each other out, creating a positive. The only way to stop the chaos was for it to focus on the calamity, and the only way to stop the calamity was for it to focus on the chaos.

The boy and girl had created a sort of dance that only the two could perform. Whenever one pushed too far, the other was there to pull them back. Over and over, spinning in circles around each other.

An endless cycle.

Push, pull.

Give, take.

They made their way into the village as Sakura spun on her heels, facing the angels while she walked backwards.

“Can we get something to eat before we go to the river?” she asked sweetly, casting her eyes up at the older man and attempting to woo him into purchasing treats.

“No,” Raz shut her down quick. “You had breakfast. You don’t need anything else.”

“But I’m still hungry!”

The man was so tired of arguing. “Alright, but you’re using your own coin.”

The girl wasn’t pleased with that answer, and the disapproval was written all over her face. “I didn’t even bring any coin. Besides, I’m saving up for a dagger.”

“That sounds like it’s not my problem,” Raz grumbled.

The fox pouted, knowing the man would buy her nothing.

Ren had watched the exchange quietly before reaching into his pocket and counting the meager coin he had on hand. “I’ll get you something.” He smiled as her face lit up with the offer.

“Don’t waste your coin,” the man told the boy. “She doesn’t need it.”

“It’s not a waste, and it’s my coin,” he lightly argued as he turned towards the shop. “Just go on without me, and I’ll catch up.”

Raz knew that Ren had made up his mind, and there would be no point in arguing. Not anymore. Though there had been a time where the boy held his uncle’s opinion in the highest regard, those days were gone and his influence was waning.

As it should be.

He looked at the girl who had stopped and was watching the door where the boy had entered. “Come on, let's keep going.”

“I’m gonna wait.”

“Of course you are.” He went and stood beside her. There had never been any point in arguing with the girl, and he was in no mood to bother trying now. Not when there were at least a dozen more important matters to fight for on any given day.

Sakura chewed on her cheek and bounced on the balls of her feet. “How much longer until you’re done taking Ren up to the mountains all the time?”

Raz looked down at her bleak expression, guilt nibbling at his insides. The girl struggled with the loneliness, and it had never been his intention to make her feel that way, but that was life and a lesson she needed to learn. Just as the boy needed to learn it. It was unreasonable of them to expect the other to always be there, and they needed to come to terms with that.

This really was the gentlest way for them.

“He’s doing better. He’s able to exterminate pests quickly now without getting too… distracted.” He put his hand on her head and smoothed her hair down. “Not much longer, and you can start coming. It’s time you learn to control yourself as well.”

She smirked up at him, not completely convinced. “You think so, huh?”

Raz snorted. “No. That’ll never happen. But with any luck you’ll stop obliterating pests and making a mess of yourself. If you can learn how to pull your swing even a little bit, then I’ll consider it a success.”

The girl nodded. It would be nice to accomplish a clean kill for once.

Her ears twitched as the door opened and Ren stepped out and went to the pair, holding out an orange to the girl who snatched and thanked him quickly as she began peeling it. He grabbed her pole and the two angels continued on while the demon finished removing the peel. She quickly caught up, jumping and wrapping her arms and legs around the boy’s shoulders and waist, hitching a ride without asking.

“Do you ever walk, girl?” the man asked.

“Nope,” the two responded simultaneously as the girl stuffed three orange segments into her mouth before pushing one past the boy’s lips.

Raz knew he should count his blessings.

At least they weren’t fighting.

For now.

At the first glimpse of the river, Sakura flung herself away from Ren and ran to the bank before wading into an area with slower moving water where she found a comfortable spot to dip her arms into and wait. Raz baited and cast his pole as the boy did the same for his and the girl’s.

“Will you watch them?” the younger angel asked the older.

“That’s fine. Go on.” The man watched the boy take the time and consideration to roll up his pant legs— a vast contrast to the oblivious girl whose skirt was halfway soaked and floating along the currents— and enter the river close by the demon. The two had been catching minnows since they were small, and now that they were bigger, so were the fish they went after.

There were only a few things that could keep Sakura’s attention, and this way of fishing was one of them. She had a pole, but she didn’t care much to use it. Instead, she’d stand in the water for hours if she had to, just waiting for the first unfortunate soul to attempt to swim through her hands before scooping them up away from their home.

Raz observed the two and decided that all was well, and he’d be able to lie down for a bit. Possibly even get a nap under the warm sun.

And he had been half correct.

But as the man let his eyelid drift closed, he heard the disturbed sloshing of water.

Every fucking time.

The demon didn’t even have enough forewarning to defend herself, her sole focus on the school of fish swimming around her legs, as the angel abandoned his position to sweep her up into his arms and launch her out further into deeper, colder waters.

The boy found it hilarious until the girl rushed him, and this time, successfully put him in a headlock. Her free hand clenched and slammed into his stomach, and as he doubled over, she pulled with all her might to topple them both into the river.

Raz didn’t even have the energy at that point to yell at them as the two grappled with who would come out on top.

They would wear themselves out eventually.

Or, with any luck, drown each other.

Either way, it should be a relatively peaceful night.

The man closed his eye, and waited for the conclusion to their battle.

Raz would return home that evening with no fish and two soaked to the bone children walking before him still taking cheap shots at each other.

They were chaos and calamity.

Without one another…

They would dismantle everything within their reach.

And Raz was ready for them to be the world’s problem rather than his.