Chapter 12
Phil and Wilbur had been out hunting when they heard a scream. Instantly they were on guard, wary of any possible poachers who got pat the barrier. Weapons at the ready, they scanned their surroundings with caution.
Phil looked up and shouted “A kid’s falling!” before crouching and launching himself into the air with a flap of his great wings. Will looked up as well in time to see Phil catch a young person plummeting towards the ground.
Wilbur raced towards where he landed gently, carrying the unconscious kid with one hand under their knees and the other under their back.
Wilbur frowned taking in their appearance as they scanned for any possible traps. They had dark circles under their eyes, and looked scarily malnourished. Paired with bruises, scars and grime that covered near every inch of their skin, and it was safe to say that this kid had been through a bad situation. Glancing at his father, he had seemed to realise the same thing.
It was clear they needed help, but they seemed to be human, with no physical attributes giving away any hybrid features. They would take the kid to the commune, but the others would be wary.
They got back to the hidden commune where they, and other hybrids, lived in peace.
They were approached by a Polar bear hybrid called Steve, who eyed the unconscious teen in Phil’s arms with a mixture of wariness and concern. Other residents got up to also greet them after the brief expedition.
“Phil, Wilbur, you’re back sooner than we expected. May I ask who that is and why you brought them to our commune?” He asked, although it sounded more like a demand.
“They were falling out the sky, Steve. Look at them, they are covered in bruises and are clearly malnourished. What was I supposed to do? Let them hit the ground?”
Steve looked them over, taking note of how beaten and weak they looked, then nodded.
“I can see, but you must still be careful,” He took a deep breath in and then continued.
“Take them to see Sam, she’ll be able to look them over, but I expect you to alert me when they wake up so we can ask some questions.”
Will considered protesting, that he shouldn’t interrogate the poor kid, but it was better than leaving the kid to fend for themselves.
2 hours later led them to be standing by the kid’s hospital bed after waiting outside while Sam checked them over and gave them the necessary treatment.
Now, they were just waiting for them to wake up. Sam worried her bottom lip between her teeth, hesitating to reveal what she found during the check-up, but slight movement and a groan cut that thought in two.
She put a hand towards Phil and Will, warning them to stay back as to not overwhelm the poor person.
They rubbed their eyes and yawned, blearily taking in their surroundings before realisation dawned on their face.
They…they actually managed to escape didn’t they? But something went wrong. Where were they?
They then seemed to take in the fact that three other people were in this room, causing their eyes to widen in fear as they tensed up.
“What-“ they started before coughing harshly, a cup of water gently being placed near them, which they gulped down eagerly.
They sighed in cool relief, then lifted their eyes to the strangers, wanting to ask where they were, how did they get here, were they going to be hurt again-
Their spiral was cut off as their eyes caught on the black mass over the blonds’ shoulders that rippled and moved when he noticed where they were staring.
Phil shuffled nervously at the attention on his wings by the apparent human, that they didn’t know if was hostile or not. He was about to ask a question to break the silence when a series of surprised, excited chirps left the kid’s mouth – Avian, in a bout of surprise. They clapped their hands over their mouth in embarrassment, then removed them as they whispered in a raspy voice
“You – you’re like me?”
Phil’s heart simultaneously melted and twisted in sadness at the kid’s awestruck expression.
He carefully knelt by the bed. “Are you an Avian?”
The kid averted their eyes and their voice shook.
“I was – I’m not sure if I count as one anymore though,” they whispered, voice cracking in multiple places.
Phil’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then looked at Sam who looked hopeless, a look rarely seen on the resident medic.
“Phil…their wings are gone. There’s just two scars on their back. Really recent too, there’re still some scabbing.”
Phil’s body stiffened, and sharply turned back to the kid, who seemed to curl into themself more, eyes glazed over, and Phil couldn’t help the pure rage boiling in his veins, but reigned it in for now.
“Kiddo,” he began softly, noting how the fledgling – they had to barely be an adult, and their wings were gone, Christ.
“I am like you and I want to help. Can I know what happened?”
Karlis bit their lip. Could they? Sure they were strangers and they had made the mistake of trusting blindly before, but he was like them. Surely it could work. They needed to let it out eventually, right? They nodded nearly imperceptibly, but stayed quiet, their mouth tasting of ash.
After a moment, Wil piped out from the doorway where he’d stepped back to give some space.
“Would writing it down be easier?”
Karl couldn’t hide their relief as they nodded. Wil grinned and handed them a spiral notebook and ballpen from somewhere in his blazer.
Karl took a moment simply to think about how to word their situation. They didn’t know if they would believe them, but it was worth a shot.
To start off, my name is Karlis Saxan Mage and I’m 18. Thank you for saving me.
My situation is complicated and I’m not sure if you’ll believe it or not.
They paused there, turning it so Phil and Wil could read it.
“It wasn’t a problem mate, and we’ve had ourselves some crazy situations believe me.”
Karl nodded then put down the pen on paper to continue before Phil stopped them
“Wait, you’re only 18?” They nodded again and Phil felt his heart crack again.
“What about you parents?”
Karlis frowned, before scribbling on paper again.
Probably dead. The likelihood of them still being alive is very low.
“Hunters?” Phil asked, trying to get more info. Karl huffed silently. They knew what he was doing, but it was with good intentions, they believed.
I’m not sure. All I know is during one night when we were home, we were woken up by smoke of the fire set by someone. It was definitely deliberate though.
“How do you know?”
We lived practically in the middle of nowhere, the only family for at least a 5 mile radius, due to our my father being an Avian. We woke up and my parents told us to run, so I grabbed my brothers and sisters and ran before we were caught to (prompt where they are capture/raid somewhere and find their parents/ something remains of parents) That’s the last time I saw them
Karlis felt their heart hang heavy in their chest as they recounted the night it had all started.
Phil frowned.
“A few things I’d like to clarify. Firstly, siblings? Second, what about your mother? Third, how does this relate to what happened to you?”
He had an inkling as to what could have happened if hunters were indeed involved, but didn’t want to believe it to be true.
I have 2 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters, Avian like me. Secondly, we thought our mother was human, but she wasn’t exactly. Let’s just say she’s the descendant of something very powerful which was passed to all five of us, though I can’t reveal what, sorry.
Third, the man who hurt me was the one who orchestrated the fire and separation of our family. He caught all five of us and tried to ‘break’ us to make us his personal weapons. I fought back, so he took my voice to try and get me to obey him. That didn’t work, so he took my wings. At that point, I gave up, but he threatened the others’ wings, and I, er, kinda went berserk and trashed the facility and now….I’m here.
Karl hadn’t meant to reveal so much but once they started writing they couldn’t stop.
If Phil was angry before, he was fucking furious now, almost cold with icy rage, but he forced himself to take some deep breaths to compose himself.
“If I may ask, what about your siblings?”
Karlis frowned slightly, biting their lip, reaching up to tug at their necklace with 5 feathers on it, 4 of them light in colour, the one in the middle was pure black.
This necklace has a feather from each of us, and connects us. Due to our mother’s ancestry, no matter what, we all find each other. Within 24 hours or so there’s a possibility that they will be teleported here, I hope.
Phil raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with Wil but decided not to comment. It’s a surprise they were willing to share this much about them in the first place.
He nodded at them.
“Thank you for the information Karl, let me just,” taking the notebook, he gently tore out the pages already written on and pocketing it to view later in a less tense situation. He then handed the notebook back to Karlis.
“You can keep hold of it for now for communication. One last thing before we leave you to rest more, heavens know you need it, the others who live here, we’re all hybrids living peacefully, and you don’t have many hybrid attributes, and the others will bound to have questions. Do you want me to tell them that you’re human, or that you are an Avian hybrid?”
Karlis began writing again, more carefully now, and Phil noticed their eyes drooping slightly and head hung lower.
Sam cleared her throat for attention.
“Sorry for interrupting, but I believe that S5 does have more physical features, but is just hiding them with some sort of illusion. I noticed something off while checking you over.” She clarified at Karl’s confused head tilt.
Karl sighed, then held themselves higher, concentrating on breathing deep, feeling the illusion come off like a wave of cold water, revealing their pointed, feathered ears, and feather fuzz on their face, neck and arms, and presumably their legs as well.
Karlis turned their notebook around for Phil to read.
You can say I’m a hybrid, but not what type please, or anything else I said. Specificities at least. I only told you because you’re the first other Avian I’ve seen
And you remind me of my dad, went unsaid.