Shepherd [Sterek]

Chapter 8

Everything felt light as a feather. It all moved in slow motion, but at the same time, it was going at hyperspeed, people moving would leave streaks behind them that faded moments later. Was this how being dead feels? The last time Derek was like this, he was in paradise with an imaginary Stiles. Derek's wolf broke saved him last time, now he's trying to keep the grumpy spirit before they're both gone forever.

"Where do I even start?" Derek asked himself, looking at his surroundings. It was horrific how white and dull everything was. Was this the world their inner wolves live?

"Where do you start? Tell me, Derek, where do you start?" Derek turned to find a very dull, grey-skinned, almost hollowed eyed Stiles standing behind him.

"Stiles? No, no, this is just a figment of my imagination." Derek stepped away from this strange version of Stiles. No matter how badly he wanted to hold the boy in his arms, this wasn't Stiles, and Derek knew that.

"Maybe, I am. Maybe, I'm not. Maybe this is what I'm becoming since you were too weak to keep me from being taken by Chase." Stiles sneered.

"No." Derek gritted his teeth. "No, I won't let you say that to me. We didn't have a choice, and I tried my hardest to come after you, but I nearly died that night. My mind is trying to tell me that I needed to try harder and find my wolf before it's too late; before you become this. You aren't the Stiles I know and love." Derek watched Stiles smirk.

"Tell me, Derek; what is bigger, the more you take away?" Stiles began to circle Derek, watching as the man scrunched his eyebrows together. "What is bigger, the more you take away?"

"I heard you the first time," Derek snapped. He willed his claws to grow but felt nothing. He didn't have time for mind games.

"Then answer the question, Derek! What is bigger, the more you take away?" Stiles snapped.

Derek flinched at the tone of Stiles' voice; it almost hurt more than an Alpha. Derek bit his lip, thinking back to something his grandfather used to teach him, riddles were a form of communication, they're used to beat around the bush, and taunt people, but most were fairly easy when you take you time. His grandfather had taught Derek this riddle, the answer wasn't obvious, but it was simple. "A hole," Derek answers, staring down Stiles.

"You've felt like you've been going down into a pit, haven't you Derek? One that never ends. Answer my next riddle, and maybe you'll be able to save all of us." Stiles eerily giggled. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?" He crooked his head sideways, an eerie smile on his face.

Derek opened his mouth to answer the riddle when Stiles cut him off, "You only get one chance Derek, time's running out."

Derek took a deep breath holding it for a split second. Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it? Derek doesn't remember his grandfather ever using this riddle. There are many things that everyone has, but can't lose; though when he thinks about it, you can lose parts of your body, vision, voice, and almost everything.

Derek scanned the room, examining the people walking around the white space. The streaking their bodies left behind as they moved. Almost like a "Shadow." Derek whispered.

"You're running out of time, Derek. You've saved yourself, but can you save everyone?" Stiles hackled before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke. As the smoke cleared, stood in the place where Stiles was just at, was Derek, but healthy and smiling; a normal-looking Stiles next to him, their hands intertwined, exchanging loving looks. Stood at Derek's hip, his wolf standing tall and proud.

"It's all a dream; you know that, right?" Derek asked, looking at how happy he and Stiles were. He wanted to be like that with Stiles; they never got the chance to be that before Chase showed up and ruined everything.

"Yes, but it can be a reality if we fight for it." His wolf's voice echo's in Derek's head; he never realized how much he missed that grumpy voice until now.

"Then, we need to fight. Fight to stay alive, fight to save Stiles, and everyone else. Fight for the life we want." Derek felt a fire inside him begin to burn, one he hadn't felt in so long.

"We will fight. We will save Stiles before he becomes into what you just witnessed. It's time to fight."

"Together."