Solangelo Oneshots

It's Cold

Before we get into this story, I would like to give a little background information on the Teumessien fox so you will kinda understand the plot better. The Teumessien Fox was a fox sent by the Gods to pay for some crime that had been committed in Thebes. This fox could never be caught, always faster then its predator. It was vicious, eating people's chickens, dogs, cats, whatever it could get its paws on. So basically, it's uncatchable. Is that a word? Pretty sure it's not, but we will go with it.

So let the storytelling comense!

***

"Gods Nico, why did we have to take this quest again?'

Nico rolled his eyes at Will's complaining, climbing over a rotted tree trunk slick with ice. The two demigods were in the state forest, Ahtunum, located in Seattle. When Chiron had heard of some disturbance with the local animals beginning to disappear, he had a hunch of to who was doing it and sent the couple to take a look.

"We are 20, way past the age of the demigod life expectancy. Shouldn't we be like, semi-retired by now?" Will huffed as he tried to warm his hands, slipping on the patches of frozen water that were distributed everywhere. The bow on his back wasn't really helping, catching on every lone tree branch.

"You're just grumpy when you're cold."

"It's called seasonal affection disorder," Will snapped, adjusting his weapon," Apollo children are blessed with it."

Nico decided to ignore his boyfriend's complaints, and instead stopped in a clearing, shielding his eyes from the bright light reflecting off the white snow.

Him and Will had seem some fairly large fox prints, but that was the only sign of life given. Foxes were pretty common in cold areas, so he didn't feel the need to be alarmed. He was watching for something bigger, or scarier.

Will grumbled as he stumbled his way into the clearing, sighing as the sun's rays hit his jacket. "So how do we find this thing anyways? It obviously isn't big, otherwise we would have noticed it by now."

Nico smiled playfully,"Yeah it would have probably said something like,' Oh, you smell like garlic bread and fried chicken! Let me eat you!"

Will laughed at Nico's poor impression of a monster, seeming to forget his anger towards the cold. "But seriously, how-"

Just then a huge, navy fox came barreling past them, snatching Nico's sword and sheath right off his belt. It turned and barked a laugh, taunting​ them, before diving back into the underbrush.

Nico widened his eyes, the plants beneath his feet dying. "What the- that's my sword!" He looked at Will incrediously,"It just took my sword! That little bas-"

"Let's go after it before its tracks disappear," Will suggested, trying to calm his seething boyfriend.

Will pointed toward the snow that had just picked up again, lightly covering the fresh tracks the fox had made. Nico took off, dodging trees and bushes, cursing when thorns bite into his icy skin. Will was in no better condition, offering up profanties on every piece of ice he tripped one, promising each a trip to Tartarus.

Nico's breathing was labored as they came to the end of the tracks, a large den made of what looked like skins of animals, mud, and twigs. Will gagged as the smell hit him, holding his nose as rotted meat filled his nostrils. Nico did the same, eyes watering.

The den was about big enough for the two of them to lie down and have room to move, not that they would want to considering the amount of carcasses and scat everywhere. They could hear small barks and yipes, making Nico grow agitated. Aside from the dead animals, there were also all sorts of weapons and goodies surrounding the area, including his sword which was stuck in a pile of red, moldy meat.

"Oh Gods, I hope you're washing that before we get back home. There is no way that's coming into the apartment."

"Shut up and let me think." Nico snapped, scanning his brain, trying to figure out what monster this could be. Fox, blue, fast, steals things.... This had to have been in the Artic Mythomagic pack, his  absolute favorite...He snapped his fingers, the cries from the den silencing. "It's the Teumessien Fox. I forgot about the legend, but I know that it's suppose to be uncatchable."

"Oh great," Will muttered, inching closer to the door,"Another impossible mission. How are we gonna catch it if it's 'uncatchable'?"

Nico shrugged, clueless, as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. He curled his lip at the smell, pulling it out. "I'm about to slice it's head off and mount it to our wall. No one takes my sword."

The fox jumped out from behind them, seemingly out of nowhere, snarling in warning. Now that it wasn't moving, they could clearly see what they were up against. It was about the size of a hound, with a lean body and muscular legs. It bared its fangs at them, eyes narrowing in preparation of attack.

Will's hand instantly went to his bow, notching it stealthily. Nico growled and swiped his hands in front of him, bringing two skeletons out of the earth. The fox puffed up its tail, ignoring Nico in favor of staring down Will who was blocking off the entrance to the home.

It leaped at the son of Apollo, claws digging into his chest as it tried to regain balance. Will gave a very undignified cry as he tried to smack it off of him, missing.

"Will!" Nico yelled as the fox sunk its teeth into Will's forearm. He cried out in pain, every attack he made futile. Nico launched forward, aiming the point of his blade for its head. It quickly let go and ran back a few feet, blood decorating its fangs.

"You're dead," Nico growled, the temperature dropping. His skeletons came up beside him and lowered their swords. More cries emmited from the home, the animals inside cold from the sudden drop. As Nico advanced on the fox, preparing for another encounter, Will clicked the pieces together.

"Nico, wait! Don't hurt her!"

"Why not? It bite you!"

"Because she was protecting her pups! That's why she attacked me and not you! I was envading her den, that's why she took your sword! She thought you were going to hurt them!"

Nico stopped advancing and gazed at the fox, then back at the crying den. He sighed and put down his weapon, ordering his undead army away and looked at the fox. "Are you sure? Because I really, really want to decapitate something."

Will rolled his eyes, putting pressure on his wound before slowly backing away from the den. "Yes, now apologize, so we can leave."

"I'm not apologizing to an animal."

"Do it!"

"Okay, okay, Gods. I'm sorry. We didn't know that you were protecting anything."

The fox cocked its head, before nodding and running towards its babies to warm them. Before entering the den, she looked at them and barked a laugh, bowing in gratitude.

As Nico and Will walked back, he sighed. "Well that was a wasted trip. Wait till we tell Chiron. He'll get a kick out of this."

Will smiled, "Yeah, but at least now I don't have to reattach anything." He looked down at his wound that he had bandaged earlier. "But for now, I want Chinese and cuddles."

Nico chuckled and rolled his eyes; Will was just too cute. "Yeah okay."

***
I wrote this forever ago, but I just got internet(gonna lose it for awhile again) so I figured I would go ahead and post it.  I'm finishing up the rest of my one shots that I made parts to and never got around to finishing. I like procrastinating.
Bye Lovely Readers!