Just a Side-Character (4)

I kept it short, just the war and that afterward there was a hunt for all remaining Angels. The other day was most likely his birthday, he reached maturity and that brought out his wings. I had no idea they would just burst out like that, I was suddenly grateful that I was born with my own.

It was silent. I had finished telling him what was going on, who he was and he hadn’t spoken since.

He was laying on Marakin, wings flowing in the open air. Because they were open, the wind caught them every so often, making it seem like he was flying. The grass was thinning out, we were reaching the edge and Sora wasn’t talking to me.

Maybe I jumped ahead of the plot, maybe we were supposed to stay at the Home Tree and Sora would plan on leaving on his own. Did I just ruin the whole story!

“Thank you.”

It was muffled, but I heard Sora’s words.

“I couldn’t let them send you away or turn you in, I didn’t know what else to do. But, we will find people that will support you and we will take down the Drago-”

“How can I hide my wings?”

I looked over but his face was hidden by Marakin’s neck.

“I, um, I have no idea. Why?”

“I just want to live, Mina. I want to be myself; I’ll change my hair and wear something that hides my wings. I’ll live in some slum somewhere, just tell me how to and you can go home.”

This was not what I expected. Sora, when he was fighting, was confident. I’d never heard him sound so down.

“But, the throne, it’s your birthright, your duty?”

“What about my life?” He looked up enough for me to see his crying face. “What about me?”

My eyes never left his as I told Marakin to land using the Chirp. She reached the ground and Sora stayed angled away from me, hunched over once again.

“I knew we were different; I was always running with my parents.”

I stood next to Mara as Sora continued to talk; I’d never heard him mention his parents before.

“From the slums, hiding in the wastelands and here in the mountains. We had traveled all over Mistros, hiding from these Dragons I had never seen but I was terrified. I saw my parents hide who they were, living in the shadows, never forming relationships. My parents left me where you found me, they said they knew there was a Dragon nearby. I never saw them again.”

Sora went quiet and I could see his shoulders shaking.

“I don’t want to live like that, running and fighting to live. If it means my wings will never fly, so be it. But I will not die for a people that no longer exist.”

I didn’t know what to say, it made sense. But the story had to go on, he had things to do and people to save; he just didn’t know it yet.

It was still morning and neither of us had eaten, so I reached into the bag and pulled out two melting Sweet Grass treats. I gave one to Sora and ate the other while leaning against Marakin.

“Can you tell me more about your parents?”

He didn’t speak, I expected that. Really though, I don’t understand. I had my family, a large one that never left me alone. I lived in peace, flying around, and doing what I wanted. I didn’t know what it felt like to be alone and on the run. But I could try.

“My mom was beautiful, I guess all Angels are, but she was wonderful. No matter where we went, she was smiling and loving. My father was kind, silent but sweet. He was the one that said we had to move again, as I child I didn’t understand so I didn’t like him all that much. He didn’t talk much and when he did, it was always that we had to leave or for me to be quiet. Looking back, he did what my mother couldn’t.”

“I saw so many amazing things, traveling from island to island and all in secret. I remember seeing a person with cat ears, I thought it was the coolest thing.”

He laughed and I turned to see him smiling at the sky.

Sora continued to fill the silence with his chatter. We should be moving, but I knew he needed to do this. He said everything, from the dangers to the best parts of his life. He showed me everything.

Night was close to falling so I set up a fire while Sora was walking around. He said he couldn’t feel his feet so I made him get some wood for us to burn. It was worth him punching me.

With the fire burning, I took care of Sora’s back again. He was bleeding less, but movement aggravated the wound.

“Will you teach me to fly?”

My hand froze and I saw red creeping up his neck.

“I thought you wanted to hide your wings?” I used a sing-song voice so he wouldn’t feel I was bulling him. Wings were a delicate topic, especially for someone like him.

Sora coughed and red reached his ears. I have no idea why he is so embarrassed but I am so using this to my advantage.

“Well, I-”

Before he could finish, a branch snapped and we both froze. He turned around to try to hide his wings while I laid a hand on the ground.

“Three, humans, maybe wizards. Stay quiet and they will go away.”

We smothered the fire and stood in the dark, barely even breathing. I could sense them coming closer, but I also knew they were heading more to the right. They would skip over us with the grass protecting us.

At that moment, Marakin let out the loudest honk I have ever heard.

I rushed over to her, shushing her and petting her feathers. Eventually, she calmed down, but we had been made.

“It came from over here!”

Of course. I motioned Sora over, hiding him behind Marakin. His wings were long, but hopefully, they would be hidden by the dark and Marakin’s own feathers. That’s when the lights hit us.

“Found them!” The female shouted and two more lights joined her.

Great, we were found by Wizards, servants to the crown. If they found out who Sora was, we would be killed within minutes.

Joining the woman were two people, one male, and the other female. Both were carrying staffs with dim yellow lights at the top.

“What are you doing out here all alone Pixie?”

My wings jerked about while I focused on not freaking out. Keeping my smile pleasant, I flattened my skirt and widened my eyes.

“Nothin’.” Innocent eyes always worked.

I was technically fifty-nine in Fairy years which was barely an adult, while in human years I was maybe eighteen. Physically though, I looked much younger.

“You shouldn’t be out here, it’s unsafe for children.” The man spoke firm and I looked over.

He was tall, just a bit shorter than Sorata. His hair was dark along with his eyes and skin, if it weren’t for the light, I probably wouldn’t have seen him.

“Where is your home darling?” The third woman bent down and I fought a glare.

They all treated me like I was incompetent, it bothered me.

“I’m gonna go visit my Grammi in the big city!”

I threw my arms up for effect and smiled once more. The two girls cooed, saying how cute I was and I mentally smirked. Humans fell for anything cute.

“Do you want us to help you? We can go back; our task doesn’t have a time limit.” The man frowned at the first girl but she ignored him. “I’m Aratazz Gentleheart, these are my companions Ozani Magnificent and Arwen Devoted. You are?”

They must be new graduates, who tells your name to strangers in the dead of night and on a foreign island?

“My Chi Chi told me to not say my name to strangers.” I put my arms behind my back as I swayed and Aratazz smiled more.

“Smart girl! Now, where are you headed.”

Wow, they really were falling for my act. Was I that small?

“The island of Volar!”

They all smiled except for the man; he groaned and turned his back on us.

“Well, is it okay if we spend the night with you?”

Who are they to ask that! They could kill me in the middle of the night; I’m not that stupid!

“Sure! I’m lonely with no one with me.”

I really am that stupid.

The wizards sat down in a semicircle across the fire from me. That’s when I remembered the fact that Sora was still behind Marakin. Keeping my eyes on them, I crept around Marakin to where Sora was hiding.

“That’s a beautiful creature.”

Sora looked up, glaring at me from under Marakin’s wings.

“She’s my dove, all fairies get one for their whole life.”

Kneeling down, I gave Sora a weak smile. “Sorry.”

“You get me out of this Ya-”

“What’s her name?”

I jerked back up, leaning on the creature, and petting her feathers. “Marakin, she can peck out your eyeballs with her horn.”

All three leaned back, sharing a look. I loved adding that in, even though Marakin would never dirty her horn like that. Damage the horn, kill the creature. Still, it was funny to watch.

“That’s, interesting.”

Glancing down, Sora continued to glare at me. I shook my head at him, I didn’t know what to do, I have no idea why I even let them sit with me in the first place.

Leaving Sora, I went to the other side to lean against Marakin. The Wizards were all looking at each other, whispering, and holding out their lights.

Since no one was talking to me, I took the time to look at them closer. They all wore the robes Wizards were known for; red for the dragons and silver for the Wizard schools. Their staffs were all different, Arwen’s was dark and tall, Ozani’s was thin and even taller than Arwen’s while Aratazz’s was thicker and shorter.

“We are wizards, do you wanna see my staff?”

I looked up to see Aratazz staring at me; she had caught me looking.

Honestly, I did. I’d never seen anything like the staff, fairies did magic naturally. I nodded and stood, flying over to sit at her side. She handed the staff over, the light now gone from its top.

The wood was smooth, soft almost. Her’s was an oak color with a soft warmth coming from it. Her staff fit her personality; something that just made sense to me.

“Tazz, we shouldn’t be here.” The man kept looking around as if he was waiting for someone to come out of the grass and eat him.

“Oh, hush Arwen, we have all the time in the world. We harvest some Redyr horns, and we go home and finish our lesson.”

“Redyr?”

They looked over at me, not a worry on their face.

“Yeah, we just need some of their horns and then we can go home. We technically haven’t graduated; we need to do one last task to graduate.”

“But why would you harm a Redyr? You damage their horns, they won’t be picked as a mate, they can be unbalanced, and some are even unable to hunt for food. You can’t take their horns and leave them to die.”

They seemed surprised by my words; my child act was now ruined. But I couldn’t let them harm Redyr just for some school project. That was just meaningless.

Arwen was the first to speak up.

“Redyr are just animals, why should we put them ahead of our studies. You have no idea how long I’ve worked to be where I am.”

“There are other ways, gather ones that have been shed or take them from those that are dead. Redyr rely on their antlers too much for you to just steal them.”

“I don’t need to listen to a child. Come on Tazz, Zani, we are leaving.”

He stood while the girls remained sitting. I jumped up, barely reaching his chest. Instead of feeling small, I flew so I was now looking down at him.

“I am no child, wizard. I have lived in this forest and it is my duty to protect it.” At my outburst, Marakin threw her head up and started to make noise, flapping her wings in the process. “If you aren’t going to respect this forest and the creatures that reside in it, you won’t be allowed here.”

Ozani and Aratazz stood up, staying at Arwen’s side; staffs at the ready to attack.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone that uses this place for protection.”

Arwen looked between me and the other girls before he surprised me by bowing. “Fine, we will leave your forest, after you show us how to properly harvest Redyr antlers.”

That, wasn’t part of the plan. We couldn’t spend time with these humans, they would see who Sora is and everything would be ruined.

Just as I was about to say no, Arwen moved his to move his staff away and I saw his wrist. Showcasing on that wrist, was an intricate H. He was a party Healer. Arwen was a part of the story, I needed him to go along with us.

“Sure, if we can’t find any, I’m sure some markets still have some in stock.”

Now I was gonna have to deal with wizards too. Great.

Arwen smiled along with his group and they all sat down. I joined them, looking back to where Sora was hiding. I would have to deal with that later.

As we sat around the fire, the Wizards took forever to relax, now that they knew I was an actual threat. With the fire as a barrier between us, I pointed out constellations and they told me about their magic. Neither of us really trusting the other.

“-And then Arwen released the fireball, blowing up the wall and sending the rest of us flying. He was the only cadet that produced one that day, hence, Arwen Devoted.”

The girls and I laughed while Arwen looked the other way. That all stopped when the grass began to move in the dark.

We all turned to the area, watching as it moved about. Something was defiantly there, coming towards us. The Wizards all picked up their staffs, but I held out my arms to stop them.

“There aren’t many violent creatures here, it will most likely just be a small animal.” A Buzzwasp would have made their namesake buzzing sound.

The Wizards put their staffs down but still gripped them tightly. I flew forward, watching as the creature came closer. We were all silent as an animal jumped out of the grass and right at Arwen.

He shrieked, throwing his arms up and catching the creature that was trying to lick his face. Ozani and Aratazz jumped back while I floated and laughed. Holding the Hollinhog away from his face, Arwen continued to fight back at the happy animal.

Having enough fun, I glided over, took the Hollinhog, and sat down. The Wizards all sat, staring at me while I pet the animal. The body was small, feathers sticking up and out from its back as he licked at my hand and arm.

“What,” He paused to take a breath. “What is that thing!”

“A Hollinhog.”

“You say that as if it makes sense.”

I held the Hollinhog out to Ozani and Aratazz, he smiled in return, his feathers peaking up. Hollinhogs are well known for seeking out people for food and comfort. He probably saw our fire and knew he would get pets.

“Don’t worry, they don’t actually attack, they just want your love. Feel their feathers, trust me.”

Aratazz reached first, smiling at the soft feel. Ozani followed her lead, cooing at the animal and happily accepting the Hollinhog.

“He’s so cute!”

“The feathers are so soft, like a dress or something!”

“Fairies will often use their feathers for pillows and things like that, they are highly desired pets. They go for it too; they love any attention anyone will give them.”

The girls continued to pet the Hollinhog, the Hollinhog just sat there and made soft noises of appreciation.

“Pet it Arwen!”

The man shook his head, refusing to get any closer to the animal’s cute eyes and soft feathers.

This might not be so bad, hanging out with a bunch of Wizards.

At that moment, Marakin decided to change her position, drawing all our eyes. As she moved, I watched in horror as Sora was put in perfect firelight; bright white wings catching every single ray.

Well, that didn’t work out.