Unhung (Invite Only)

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Extremely unlikely. Major starting point of a hopefully involved plot.)

The Hellhole. The name was, perhaps, ironic. While not the dark spiritual realm by any definition, it had similarities to many of them. It was oppressing, and the many demons that has passed through it and stayed there had given it an air of evil. Those sensitive to that sort of thing might have the hairs upon the back of their neck raise. There were few areas for mortal entities to walk, unless they enjoyed taking a bath in lava. The black rocks jutting out of the magma seemed to be of sulfur, and the smell of brimstone hung heavy in the air.

The area was, for the time being, vacant of any real presences. Where they all were, it was anyone's guess. The place was known for harboring those called demons. Those with evil hearts. Perhaps it was the scenery, maybe it called to things of that sort. But for now, no such call was being answered.

Perhaps a mile into the area existed a large area devoid of more than the tiniest jagged rocks jutting from beneath the top layer of lava. If anything were to fall here, they would have to prey immunity to the flames and heat. It was thare that the call for darkness seemed to be answered. Something resembling a shadow appeared a solid fifty feet above the lava, near the jagged stone roof of the area. It swirled out like smoke, and a distinctive sulphur smell added to the already present smell of the surroundings. After expanding to roughly fifteen feet in diameter, the shadow rippled once before two human males were dropped through the hole. Their injuries were fairly extensive, the older far more than the younger. It was perhaps a miracle they lived, one that would not remain for long as their bodies fell towards the lava pits below.

They had already reached the halfway point when something appeared that pushed back the air of the environment. The shadowy mass near the ceiling seemd almost to growl before breaking up into a cloud of black powder that seemed to disintegrate itself. The source of its banishment because clear seconds later as an effiminate figure with long wavy blond hair dressed in both pristine white and pitch black managed to move in what seemed to be a beam of light under the two men. They landed in either of its harms, and the intertia meant it was now heading towards the lava itself.

The Seraph that had taken the name Gabriel by the legends of Man spread out all six of its wings. The two coverings its upper body, the two concealing its lower, and the two that extended as one might expect wings to went out to full arch. They curved back just a bit as what was sure to be inevitable death for the men sped closer. On this plane, Gabriel was more susceptible to the laws of physics that governed mortals. However, the way he curved his wings granted both air resistance and a way to harness the thermal heat being given by the lava below. The angel arched its back and managed to curve up in a manner that prevented the certain death. However, he had come dangerously close the the fire, and the laws of convection points felt the need to apply. His large toe was severely burned, his robe burst into flames, and worst of all, the two men he was attempting to save caught fire as well.

A serious expression of displeasure crossed Gabriel's face as he shot towards the ceiling, a light best described as holy emanting from his body. The fire burned itself out on both himself and his charges, although a small burn remained on the angel's left foot. With the immediate danger over, he resettled his wings into their proper positions and sped towards a stable landing, a fairly smooth brimstone cliff face a fair distance away from where the men had appeared.

Taking care to not injure the two further, he lay them down on the ground. The angel then came to a landing, wincing with an expression of disgust as his burned foot reacted to the pain of contact. He came down to his knee in a way to favor the foot, his gown like robe neatly folding with his movement. He placed a single hand on the head of both of the arrivals. He could not do as well as Raphael or even Ramiel at such a task, but if the two severely injured men were not treated immediately, it was quite possible they would die. He was a Seraph, and he knew in sketchy detail what these brothers and their family had been attempting to do. Light gathered around his finger tips as his hands covered the men's faces, and with a slow pace and the unpleasant sound of rearranging bones, the brothers began to heal.

The younger one had fared better. He would be rather sore upon awakening and his injuries were far from comlete repair, but Gabriel lifted his hand from the one known as Samuel Winchester first. Paying no heed to the chance the man would awake soon, he turned to the one known as Dean Winchester and reaaranged his hands so that they both covered the man's face. If Sam awoke now, he would find a being of obvious light, holy presence, and six pristine feathered wings of white standing over his brother. Visible light was gathered as his fingertips as he drew the man further from the brink of death. This had been so very close, those demons of their dimension had clearly not wanted to take any chances...

[Jilak]

Samuel Winchester's eyes slowly opened. Where... where was he? And why was it so... warm, wherever he was? Oh, wait, that was right, he'd been hit by a truck. Would that imply that he was in hell, however? But if that was the case, where was John? Had he survived, or something of the sort? But Sam didn't FEEL dead... and while he didn't know much about hell, but honestly, as hot as it was, he didn't think it was NEARLY hot enough for hell. And furthermore, where was...

"Dean!" Sam sat up with a start, the realization that there was currently what seemed to be a bona fide ANGEL standing over his brother, hands on his face. Glowing hands, on his brother's face. Had Sam been paying complete attention, he might have realized that he was less injured than he should have been, after being hit by a bloody TRUCK. But even SAM'S godly observational skills can be stopped cold by the prospect of his family's life being in danger. His father, he'd need to find out where his father was. But Dean's safety was the more pressing concern at the moment.

Sam scooted back a bit, putting his back against the wall his head had formerly been laid near. He reached for his pockets in an erratic motion and one thing became obvious at that moment. The Colt? Yeah, that was gone. And slowly, very slowly, Sam began to notice other features of the being over Dean. Were those... were those wings? And with how hot it was... was this really hell?

Sam's first guess should have been that the being before him was, by and large, an angel. But that contrasted with the general feel of the area. Unless this was one of those type of places where angels were the ones that dished out the punishment. But again, Sam was taken entirely off guard at the moment, and as such was not thinking at 100% thinking capacity. As such, he did one of the things that felt... natural to him.

"Kristo." Sam called out, glancing around erratically. Not too many escape points unless he could fly or get his telekinesis to work again...

[mugenginga]

Gabriel had noted the younger brother's awakening. He had heard the yell. In fact, had Sam not been having one of the most understandable freak outs of the millenia, he might have noticed the angel ever so slightly turn his head to regard the boy. It however split his attention from the more injured sibling, and the Seraph returned its full focus to the task at hand. It was not as if the mortal could inflict much harm upon him.

The light from his hands had receded a bit. The injuries to the older brother were severe, and Gabriel could still sense the lingering taint of what had inflicted them. A demon lord, there was no doubt, and one of significant power. Even the echoes of the attack were as strong as Belphegor stood now, a clear sign of the power the man's attacker had possessed. He closed his eyes to push forward more energy, knowing he would require some time to recharge beyond this, when he heard the younger one say a name known to effect the unholy. For a moment there would be no visible reaction to Sam, but after making sure the transfer of energy would remain stable, he turned his head again.

"Be at ease, I cause your brother no harm. I have aided you for the time being, but his injuries require more strength," Gabriel stated.

[Jilak]

Samuel had to admit, he felt like the angel was ignoring him at first. His lack of reaction to the name 'Kristo', however, led Sam to the realization that he wasn't a DEMON, at the very least. And that left the only other explanation Sam saw. They'd just been randomly saved by an angel. And honestly, Sam was glad. Because he wasn't looking forward to dying yet, especially not with the demon that killed Mary and Jess still out there running around.

"What happened? Where... where's dad?" Sam asked of the angel. As long as the angel was healing him, Dean would be okay. And Sam wasn't sure why, but he just... felt compelled to trust the man before him. He had no reason NOT to, so far. And really, whether or not he trusted him, it wasn't like there was much he could do, given their current surroundings.

"Where the hell are we?"

[mugenginga]

Gabriel had already turned back towards Dean. He was almost done here, but it had taken more energy than he predicted. He could only hope that human could direct more energy his way. Sam's voice struck him as annoying, as did his divergence from the task he was vaguely aware the Winchester family had been trying to peform. So he left Sam's questions unanswered for a few more minutes, until the light from his fingers finally faded and his hands lifted from Dean's face.

He went to get to his feet, but a sharp and scalding pain hit his left foot. While the attempted ascension to his feet had been calm, the collapse back down to his knees had been anything but. The impact of knee on ground, despite the robe padding, sounded rather painful. Nothing sounded like it had broken, but it was a rather solid thump. In fact, the fact it made such a noise through the angel's robe was an indication of the noise it may have made without.

"Sammy!"

Before there would be time to react to the angel's apparent injury, Dean had bolted not only into a sitting position, but into one standing as well. This lasted all of half a second before the man's knees attempted to buckle beneath him. Still not at full awareness of where he was at, he managed to throw his weight well enough that he could support himself against the wall with one hand. Still, he looked wobbly. His free hand went to his head. The last time he had possessed such a headache... he had no memory of how much he'd drank that night. He shook his head, unaware of the slight pained sound he was making, and lifted it again. He seemed to relax once Sam fell into his view, but then the angel came into his view and his entire body tensed up.

"Sammy..." he looked back up at his brother, "What the hell...?"

Really, the fact Dean had been stricken that speechless rather well showed how blown his mind was. What the hell indeed.

[Jilak]

"Dean, it's okay. He's here to help." Sam responded to Dean before turning back to Gabriel. He'd noticed how the angel dropped to his knees but hadn't been able to address it due to Dean bolting into an upright position. He'd mentioned something about healing Dean taking more energy than it took to heal Sam. Was it possible that, as a direct result, he had been unable to heal himself?

"We need to get you to a doctor. That looks pretty bad." Sam said, having seen a burn mark upon his left foot. On the lower half, centered mostly on the big toe. And if he was unable to heal himself, that could be pretty bad.

"Sam Winchester. This is my brother, Dean. We're looking for our father." Sam gave a glance back to Dean as he said this. No, they weren't, they'd already found him. But Sam hoped that, had Dean not noticed ALREADY, this would help him realize 'oh, hey, dad's not here'.

"Here, let me help you." Sam offered his hand to the angel. The LEAST he could do after the guy healed he and his brother was help him stand.

[mugenginga]

Dean was still grabbing his head. He didn't seem to be quite all there just yet. He gave a confused look to Sam before looking back at the angel. It was almost as if he hadn't really seen Gabriel before for how his eyes widened and the narrowed. The playback took a few seconds at most, and he recalled Sam saying he was there to help. The playback also ran through the events at the cabin, the fight, and the... he was scowling pretty badly by this point.

"Where's dad?" he was almost growling.

Gabriel had turned to Sam during Dean's reassesment. He shook his head and pushed Sam's hand away as it was offered. The two central wings on his back flared out a bit and he came off the ground just a tad. It was enough to get to his feet and settle most of his weight on his good foot. He put the other one down. His expression didn't change, but there was a slight delay indicating it did still hurt. It was also rather clear he was maintaining most of his weight on his light foot.

Dean didn't react well to being ignored and this time he did growl. Sounded more than a bit dangerous, "John Winchester. What the hell did you do to him?"

Oh yeah, he'd gone there.

[Jilak]

Sam was about to say something to Dean along the lines of 'Dean, if he wanted to hurt us OR our family, why would he heal us', but the more he thought about it, the more logical Dean's argument became. Quite the coincidence, that as they were on their way to the hospital, a truck would hit them. But okay, he could chalk that up tot he demons being damn good at this, and the Winchesters being off their game at the moment. However, it was an even LARGER coincidence that they would just happen to cross an angel as they were, presumably, dumped here. And their father would just HAPPEN to be missing.

"Dean's got a point. Where's the Colt, where's our dad, and where the hell are we?" Sam asked, backing away. They'd encountered demons, and various monsters along their travels, but they'd never encountered an angel.

"And just who ARE you?"

[mugenginga]

Gabriel gave an unkind look towards Dean as the man all but accused him of spiriting away their father. He was looking up to see the best route of escape, having chosen to ignore the older Winchester son, when Sam spoke up. There seemed to be a level of dedication to the task at hand there rather than the somewhat unnecessary meandering of Dean. He looked at Sam and began to speak.

"I can not say I have full certainty of this Colt you speak of. As for the location of your father, only you two came through the portal. Your accusations are quite simply insulting, as if I had not arrived when I had, there would be nothing of you two remaining. Your location is of little import, I do not intend to have you remain here for long," he was turning away from Sam when the final question was asked. The way he answered made it clear he was addressing both brothers, although his head was turned towards Dean, "I am known by man as Gabriel."

Dean had taken a step forward when the angel paused, and found his legs were still weak. He gritted his teeth and dealt with it, pulling his hand off the wall. However, when the angel gave his name, he stumbled again and his hand hit the wall for support. There was extreme worry on his face for about half a second, and then he was reaching for... a gun that wasn't there. He jerked his head up again, not sure what the hell to do if things went south now.

"The archangel!?"

[Jilak]

Well, okay, that was good, he was finally talking to them. Unfortunately, he not only didn't know what the Colt WAS, he didn't know where John Winchester was. As, apparently, they were the only two to have come through the portal. So that wasn't a good thing and they would have to find a way back to their world if they were going to find and/or save John. And kill that demon, which Sam was almost CERTAIN had the-....

...did he just say his name was Gabriel? As in, as Dean so elegantly summarized, ARCHANGEL GABRIEL? Sure, he was God's messenger, but Sam was more worried about the fact that he was said to be the HERALD OF THE APOCALYPSE. And the fact that Dean finally noticed that the Colt wasn't there, which made the situation feel even more real, more... bad, really.

But there was a shimmer of hope there. His horn wasn't out, which was good. Because Sam couldn't have taken that mindscrew, honestly. But regardless, he had to try to get the situation under control again. He moved to the point that he was standing in front of Dean. No matter how polite Sam was being right now and how much he WANTED to believe that the herald of the apocalypse only wanted to help, if things went bad, he'd have to go through Sam first.

"How are you gonna get us out of here? I mean, with your injured foot and all, doesn't that unbalance you when flying?" Sam asked, choosing not to make any more accusations towards the man.

[mugenginga]

"In the myths and legends of man, that is so. An archangel of the seven Seraphim."

Dean was running about fifty million scenarious through his head. Most of them didn't end well. Even if he'd had the gun, he hadn't intended on shooting it. Even if he'd had the gun, he was now sure he wouldn't want to shoot it. The Seraphim were more than a bit important in the hiearchy of Judeo-Christian legends, and no scenario seemed to end well if one were killed. He was trying to come up with some kind of answer, some kind of solution, when Sam stepped in front of him.

"Sammy, get out of the way!" Dean said, although it was somewhat run over by what Sam was saying.

Gabriel gave a smile that bordered on kind. There was still the stoic seriousness that surrounded the Seraph, though, "With no weight upon it, I shall be fine. It would appear, however, I have lost your trust, Samuel son of John. Is there a reason you seem to now fear me so? Perhaps what your legends have stated my purpose to be?"

[Jilak]

Well, that was grand. Was Samuel really projecting it so... obviously? Or was Gabriel able to read emotions? With all the hundreds of thoughts running through Sam's head right now, he didn't have time to analyze the situation. He went with Gabriel just being that good and left it at that. He'd probably look back on the situation later, in different circumstances, and chuckle.

"I'm sorry, but it's just... in all our travels, with all we've done, we've run into monsters, demons, people... but never an angel. And not just an angel, one of the Seraphim, archangel Gabriel. I guess it's just a bit... awe-inspiring, and with all that's happening... we just want to find our father." Sam responded, noticeably relaxing.

If they were going to get out of this... place, and find their father or, hell, the COLT, they needed to trust each other. They needed to fully trust each other. And 'trust' didn't usually involve making empty accusations on the fellow that had saved yours and your brother's lives.

[mugenginga]

"Fear of what one can not comprehend, I understand," Gabriel stated. He looked past Sam towards Dean, "I have no inclination to leave either of you here. As you may have noticed, there is no simple escape from this locale. If you seek to pursue your father, there is chance he may have arrived elsewhere in this world. I will not state what you have likely surmised to have happened to the man yourself. If you will allow me to carry you, I am capable of settling you in a location you can escape from under your own power. However, you in particular will need further rest. You are still quite injured."

"Why would an angel care about us?" Dean said. He took his hand off the wall and stepped to the side so that Sam wasn't directly in front of him. He'd have a talk with his brother about pulling reckless shit later.

"Why would an angel not? You seek to destroy the antithesis to my very being, and does that not make us allies?" He extended both his arms, one to either brother now that their positions allowed it. He rose into the air with only the slightest twitch of his wings, and now stood about an inch off the ground, "If you will allow it I will remove you from here. If not, I shall be forced to leave you here. You are not my mission and I will not allow its impediment by foolishly stubborn mortals."

[Jilak]

Sam was going to give Dean a speech about how Gabriel was, really, their only way out. He was going to make vital points about how Gabriel was their only way out and how if Dean DIDN'T take his hand, they'd have to take one of the harder ways out and probably injure themselves more. And Sam really didn't feel like being injured even worse at the moment. Besides, like Gabriel said, Dean needed some serious rest.

And then Gabriel mentioned the demon, and time stopped for Sam. Not directly, no, but the fact that he mentioned a... mission, soon after, it just... it made Sam want to trust him. He didn't flinch at the word Kristo, he'd healed both Winchesters, and he didn't seem to have any malicious intent at the moment. And if his... mission, just so happened to cross theirs, well... they'd just have to work together, then, perhaps.

Sam paused for a moment before taking the hand nearest him. He turned to Dean and motioned towards Gabriel with a slight head and hand movement.

"Dean." It was the words he didn't say that spoke volumes.

[mugenginga]

Dean had full intentions of going into an overly long and likely less than articulate rant towards the angel. About how he was obviously withholding information. A mission he wouldn't elaborate on? Did that make them so much on the same side? He had taken a step forward and was about to go into that speech when Sam gave his gestures and spoke. Dean stopped and for a moment he seemed he was going to turn the lecture towards Sam, but the weight dropped from his shoulders.

As much as he would have never admitted it out loud, he was sore. If they got left here (and it would be they. Sam was stupid enough to stay behind if he did), there were little odds of getting out. He looked at the angel and the older Winchester son seemed to be in some kind of match of dominance before he finally took a few more steps forward and took Gabriel's hand.

"Don't think I trust you," he stated.

Gabriel gave no response. He pulled the two men a bit closer so he could better support them and flared the higher set of wings he'd drawn back before to position them. The sensation would be similar to a hang glider as the Seraphim flew towards an opening that showed the night sky. He spoke nothing, and Dean seemed in a bit of a grumpy mood himself. He was avoiding eye contact with even Sam, although every time Gabriel turned he'd check to make sure he was okay. As soon as they arrived, Gabriel would set them on the ground without landing himself. The foot was still a problem, after all.