skeletinmoss - Tumblr blog

skeletinmoss · 4 days

Text

The curse of the dark Phoenix

Chapter 6: Healing words

First chapter | Previous

“That was pretty intense. I never saw you do anything like it,” Roman stated after walking a while. Virgil had taken to the sky again to scout the path ahead.

“I would guess that you let your guide show you something?” Logan wondered as they followed a creek.

“Yeah, something like that. I just, sent my magic into the ground to make the plants there grow and have control over how they grew. You remember we learned some spells that could expedite the growing process back in our first year of wizarding school?” Patton asked.

The duo nodded.

“It was that. But much stronger,” Patton stated looking at his paws thoughtfully.

“But you need several herbs to guide that process,” Logan argued.

“All of which grow or have grown in that meadow… The Jackalope told me that the earth never forgets,” Patton explained.

Roman nodded thoughtfully. That made a strange sort of sense to him.

Logan just hummed thoughtfully. Was he thinking of whatever piece of wisdom his guide had given him during his dream?

“We should be coming up on the road soon,” he stated. “Once there we should look for a place to eat and regroup,” he mused.

That sounded pretty great to Roman actually.

As Logan said they came upon a road not long after. It wasn’t a main road or anything. It looked like a path between villages that the locals knew off but wasn’t often used by anyone else.

A caw drew their attention to the sky, Virgil was circling above them and just the sight of that tugged at Roman’s heart.

Once he was sure they had seen him Virgil continued down the path. Doubling back every once in a while to make sure they were still following. It made Roman a bit happy that he wasn’t taking off on his own after realizing how much time he was losing letting them tag along.

A bit later they found him sitting at a bit of a clearing on the side of the road. A good place to stop for some food.

Without a word they all settled down and once again shared some of their provisions with Virgil.

“We should try and gather some more food in the village up ahead. We only packed for two days,” Logan pointed out. “It looks to be a farming community as far as I can tell on the map,” he added.

“Good idea,” Roman agreed.

“Especially since we have an extra mouth to feed,” Patton added gesturing towards Virgil who was enjoying his meal.

Logan handed Roman the map. “It is pretty straight forward, but I won’t be able to read the journals and the map at the same time,” he explained. Roman nodded and studied their route. There were a handful of forks in the road he’d have to keep an eye out for. But it was indeed not a complicated route to follow.

“Alright,” Roman agreed.

“Good,” Logan said as he paged through the first journal. “Like Virgil said it seems encrypted. The words are all scrambled… I’ll try and meditate on them while we continue,” he informed them as he finished his lunch and started reading, a faint blue glow in his eyes as they drifted over the page.

Virgil let out an approving squawk.

Roman took in a deep breath. Time to be a leader he supposed.

He got up and looked at Patton. “Pat, can you help make sure Lo doesn’t trip on the way. I’ll look out for loose rocks and stuff but just in case I miss something or he does something I didn’t expect,” Roman asked. Patton nodded determinedly and helped Logan up, their friend didn’t even look up from the page.

“Let’s go, High Mage Virgil? Do you want to ride on my shoulder again or would you rather stretch your wings?” Roman asked. Virgil looked at him for a long moment and then took off to the sky.

That answered that question.

Roman readjusted his backpack and looked at the map. “I think it’s maybe an hour or two till we reach the village,” he stated as he started walking.

Virgil scouted the road ahead of them once again and kept doubling back every once in a while, maybe to check if they were still on the right track or because he could make it to the village and back many times over while they were stuck walking.

Flying sure looked great…

Roman decided not to let his thoughts wander too far down that road as he had to focus on the one he was walking on.

Virgil looked magnificent though. Both as a bird and a man… And he was kind, even when he was firm. He was gentle, even if he was powerful. Roman couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be like once he had his friends around and everything had settled down.

During the time they spent walking and talking with him as a human, Roman had gotten more familiar with their connection. It felt dulled now that Virgil was flying off, but he could feel it strengthen before he came back in sight.

And as they had walked earlier, a thought occurred to Roman. Virgil, for as casual as he had been acting, had his guard up. So what was he like when he was relaxed and comfortable?

He was pulled out of his musings by feeling Virgil approach.

“Um, this way,” he told Patton when he realized they’d come up in the first fork in the road while he was daydreaming about amethyst eyes staring into his soul.

“How’s it going Lo?” Patton asked.

“I broke through the magic seal, but it’s still cryptic… Listen to this:

The flame of night is blinding. Rivers of raven flow as he dances. Amethyst jewels full of wit. How I wish to be the subject of their query,” Logan read.

“That sounds sweet,” Patton said.

“I’d say a love poem of sorts. And I’d guess the subject of said poem is also known,” Logan mused as he glanced up to Virgil making a turn above them before heading back in the direction of their next stop.

Roman nodded. He’d have to agree. That explained a lot. If the poor man had a crush on the High Mage of the Night Flame then he might have found himself struggling to express those feelings and even lashed out in attempts to be noticed.

“Roman… If we find the Arch Mage… If he’s alive like Virgil and his friends… He might pursue him. From what I can gather, he was working on a cure for Virgil’s curse before setting him free and rather determined not to lose his chance again…” Logan warned.

Roman didn’t reply right away.

“Roman, I can see that the High Mage has your interest. Just be careful… He might choose an old friend over someone whose parents weren’t even born when he last walked these roads. Living as long as he has… He’ll have little in common with you.” Logan was trying to protect him.

“You may be right. But he also made it clear that he had no interest in the Arch Mage. So no matter what his excellency’s hopes were, Virgil might verry well still turn him down. As for any interest I have… Well, if it becomes serious I doubt I’d be able to hide that from him… He hasn’t seen the need to turn me down yet,” Roman insisted.

Logan sighed and turned his attention back to the journal, searching the pages for a clue.

Roman focused back on the road. Reminding himself that Virgil would feel it if his appreciation for his better qualities shifted to something more than just platonic queerness.

He hadn’t commented too much on Roman’s feelings in general unless it was relevant to the conversation, but that didn’t mean that he was unaware. Just that he was nice enough not to embarrass him. Roman was a bit worried what Virgil might tell him if they have a moment to talk among each other though.

He might not think that Virgil was even remotely interested in a romantic relation with the Arch Mage. He would have noticed if there was any kind of positive feeling attached to his memory during their talk. He was pretty sure he could feel Virgil’s fondness and worry for his friends when he talked about them.

But just because Virgil wasn’t interested in the Arch Mage, didn’t mean Roman stood a chance with him. Again. He was pretty sure he’d have noticed if he did.

That didn’t matter though. Virgil’s friends needed help. The whole kingdom would be better off if they were freed from their prison (if they were indeed imprisoned like Virgil was and not dead as Roman still feared). Not to mention their own improved chances of completing their quest with the help of three high mages.

Roman looked up as he felt Virgil approach once more. This time he dove down and landed on Roman’s shoulder.

“I’m guessing we’re getting close,” Roman concluded, checking the map. Indeed they just passed the last crossing, the village should be just around the bend.

As the end of the trail revealed itself Roman became aware of an excited bustling in the distance.

It was like their visit to the town coincided with some kind of festivities.

As they saw the first houses they also saw a small crowd gathered in some type of square.

They were cheering.

A few children ran ahead to meet them halfway in their excitement. From their babbling Roman understood that they were interested in Virgil mostly.

“It would seem the locals have spotted Virgil scouting ahead,” Logan concluded as he closed the journal he’d been reading.

“I think you might be right Lo,” Roman chuckled.

Virgil shifted on his shoulders and let out a warning caw to the children. He wasn’t angry, but cautious of their grabbing hands. Roman assumed he was worried for his tail feathers.

The children let out excited squeals and ran back to their parents who were seemingly trying to hold back on charging at the group as well.

“Greetings!” Roman called out as they finally made it to the welcoming comity.

Much to his surprise and embarrassment they all bowed to him.

“Noble wizards, we are overjoyed at the good fortune that brought you to our village. When we saw the phoenix in the sky we knew our luck was at last changing,” the eldest of the group stated.

The trio glanced at Virgil who righted himself, he looked very regal and put together. Like he was trying to say “of course I am a good omen”. But Roman sensed his nerves and remembered that Virgil mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to be much help magic wise while in this form.

He might know how to help these people but he wouldn’t be able to do so until the sun went down and they didn’t have time for that.

Roman turned to the elderly man who’d greeted them. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked. They wouldn’t know if they could help unless they asked.

“When I was a child, every few years a high mage would visit and bless the land so it could withstand the harsh winters for the coming years and would reject any illness that might take our harvest. But after the plague took them… We haven’t had a plentiful harvest like the ones in my youth in forty years. The king, praise be his mercy, has always been understanding of the struggles, but the past cycles winters have been especially rough for us. Last winter was a bit kinder and we were hoping to finally have a good harvest once more, but then, a blight has taken our crops. Please, if this is not resolved, we won’t simply not have enough food to pay our full dues to the kingdom we will not have any food to eat,” the man said.

Roman’s heart broke for these people. Virgil likely would know exactly what his fellow mage did all those years ago. He’d probably say it’s not even that hard. But Roman had no clue how to ‘bless the land’…

He felt a sharp pull on his hair. “Ow!” he exclaimed turning to Virgil with a scowl. Virgil stared back at him. And he felt both scolded and encouraged at the same time. Like Virgil was both reprimanding him for getting in his own head like that and telling him that he could do this… Well. If Virgil said so. His advice had helped Patton.

“Show me the lands,” Roman stated.

A cheer went through the crowd. And he and his friends were ushered towards the fields.

When they laid eyes on the state of them Roman could hear Patton make a heartbroken gasp.

His friend had grown up on a farm just outside their home town, Roman had visited often so he too was familiar with the faces of farmland. But not as familiar as Patton. So if Roman could see the crops were struggling this had to look devastating to Patton.

“Oh my,” Logan breathed. He too could see that the tomatoes shouldn’t look like that.

Roman could feel all eyes on him. All those people were counting on him…

Roman felt a sharp squeeze in his shoulder. Virgil.

It felt reassuring. A promise. He’d help how he could, but it was mostly up to Roman.

Okay… The herbalist knelt on the ground and placed his hands down.

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. Trying to meditate. Focusing on the flame in his heart that had to be his tie to his magical guide.

He needed help.

In his dream he’d been flying. Following his guide through the sky. And at some point they were so high that Roman couldn’t see the houses or the trees anymore. All just seemed like one big mass. A blanket of living things.

Life is life, whether it is a flower or a human. He remembered thinking.

And his studies of medicine and diagnostic magic had taught him how to find what was harming that life. He had learned to heal a body. What was so different between a fungus that attacked a plant from one that attacked a human?

“What ails you my friend?” he asked the earth and it felt like his flame spread from his heart to his shoulders to his arms down to his fingertips and into the earth.

And for a moment it was like he Was the plants growing in those fields and he knew exactly what they needed. Not only that. He found that what Patton said about the earth remembering was right on a whole new level. The earth remembered not just all that ever grew here, it remembered the spells that used to help it thrive even if the odds were stacked against it.

Roman got up and dug into his bag. He seemed to have most of what he needed.

“I can heal this harvest and attempt to do the blessing. I’ve never done either before so it might not be as good as it was, but next year’s harvest should be better than previous years in any case,” Roman muttered. Ignoring the excited murmuring he pulled out his ingredients. And then turned to Virgil’s bag. And then he hesitated. Not because he wasn’t sure if Virgil was okay with him digging into it, but because what he needed was a moon flower. A level four.

He set his jaw. These people needed him. He’d deal with the repercussions later.

He'd have to act fast though. If Logan and Patton realized what he’d taken from Virgil’s supplies they might try to stop him from doing something admittedly stupid and impulsive.

He could feel Virgil squeeze his shoulder again. A reminder that he wouldn’t do this alone.

Roman nodded, took a final, deep breath and pulled out the moonflower to add it to the other herbs clutched into his palm. He imagined his fire reaching through his right arm and feeding on the ingredients, and as he felt their essence fuel his magic he reached out his hand and traced a sigil in the air he’d ordinary use to treat malnourishment, then one to treat infections, one to revitalize after being undercooled. And on a whim a bug repelling charm he normally use to keep his slumbers mosquito free.

On every sigil Virgil let out a mighty cry and Roman could feel his magic joining forces with his own, but it didn’t feel like he was taking over. Roman felt like his own magic was taking the lead, Virgil’s was just giving him a boost. And some boost it was. Roman could feel the spell cover far more land than just the plot in front of him.

Something that should have exhausted him, he was sure, but he felt fine.

He heard shouts of joy and people who started sobbing in relief. He opened his eyes and he was taken aback by awe. He’d done it. Somehow he’d not only cured the blight but the plants looked like they’d made a full recovery already. As though they’d had weeks of sufficient sun and rain and fertilizer.

He looked at his hands in awe. The shriveled up remains of the herbs, including the Moonflower fell to the ground harmlessly. That… He’d expected it to feel different. For the Mana of the flower to give him trouble… But it was no different than any other plant…

Was it because of Virgil’s aid? Or was it something gradual? Like one time didn’t do any damage but do it a lot of times and then the symptoms start?

Suddenly he was pulled out of his musings by someone embracing him, resting their head into his chest. “Thank you, thank you! You saved us,” they sobbed.

“Well, I don’t think I’ve been able to bless the lands to ensure a good harvest for more than just this year, but I’m glad I could help this much,” Roman allowed.

The farmer let go and then rushed off to celebrate with their friends and families. Others had ran off to see if the blessing had reached the plots out of sight as well.

“It was truly wonderful to see such magic once more,” the elder stated as he approached.

“This mage you remembered, was his arrival announced by a phoenix as well?” Logan asked.

Oh good point. Had Virgil been the one to bless the lands in the past…?

“No, no. But magical creatures are usually a good sign. I remember chasing a multi tailed fox through the fields when I was young whenever the mage came to visit,” the elder recalled.

Roman could feel a sense of fond recognition. Virgil had known this mage and seemed on good terms with them.

The kitsune was likely their guide.

“I see…” Logan nodded thoughtfully.

“We owe you much. Please stay, we will be happy to throw a feast in your honor,” the elder offered.

“Oh no! No we couldn’t. You shouldn’t waste your harvest on us,” Patton insisted.

“We indeed must be on our way. We have a long journey ahead. But we could do with some supplies for the road,” Logan offered. The elder bowed and not half an hour later they were

gifted not just food but also two horses. Roman took one and Patton and Logan shared another. Right after they managed to reassure it that despite his claws Patton would not harm it.

Not long after that, the village disappeared out of sight and they continued their journey. Roman had seen that Virgil had marked a certain spot with an ‘x’. Some place to set up camp? From the looks of it it would be getting late when they arrived.

“No word from the council?” Logan wondered.

Roman shook his head. He’d been a bit surprised by that himself. He’d been sure the council would have contacted him right after being made aware of their progress to interrogate him on the details after his vague message.

“Maybe they are talking things over? They tend to take a while to decide things,” Patton argued.

That was true. Their request to find out what happened to the Arch Mage was made when the trio became Wizards. And that was about ten years ago now.

On Roman’s shoulder, Virgil became restless. The sun was setting.

Not much later, there was a bright light behind him and then Roman felt two arms encircle his waist and he was trying very hard to be normal about it.

“Why don’t you put those claws away? I mean I know they look bad ass, but right now they are spooking the horse,” Virgil mused.

“Um… I can’t. It’s a little keepsake from my first and last attempt at shifting,” Patton chuckled embarrassedly.

Roman could feel Virgil’s skepticism. “Close your eyes,” he instructed.

Maybe it was because his advice had been helpful so far, maybe it just wasn’t in Patton’s nature to mistrust. But he did as he was told.

“Okay let your magic flow like you did for a transformation. Focus your energy. You are a human. You have a human head with human eyes, human ears, a human nose and human teeth in a human mouth. You have a human neck and human shoulders. Human upper arms and you know your elbows are human too. So you have human forearms and human wrists and human palms and a human pinky. A human ring finger. A human middle finger. A human index finger and a human thumb. And humans don’t have claws or fur do they?”

Virgil’s base was so soothing , Roman felt his own body tingle under his guidance. And when he glanced over to Patton and Logan he caught the later staring down in shock at the now human arms encircling his waist for support.

Patton’s eyes fluttered open and he wiggled his fingers. “Oh… Oh my…”

Patton leaned back and held one hand in front of his face, a little teary eyed.

“They are back to normal! Oh, mom will be so happy!” Patton squealed.

Meanwhile Roman was trying to keep it together as Virgil rested his head against his back.

Oh, sweet stars above have mercy.

“I can’t believe your teachers let you walk around with those for I don’t want to know how long,” Virgil grumbled dissaprovingly.

“I don’t think they knew how to fix it… Shifting magic got a little out of style the past few decades…” Patton offered.

It was true, while not forbidden, shifting in animals was regarded as probably difficult and risky. It was more a superstition than anything. The arch mage never warned against it but wizards and mages alike were cautious about it all the same.

“Of course it did,” Virgil mumbled. “Incomplete transformations are part of the learning process to shift. All you have to do is not panic and do the shift again but with focus on the parts that didn’t make it all the way to the other end. You should have seen me fumble my first few attempts at shifting. And that was nothing compared to Remus, though he didn’t mind looking like a freak of nature so I don’t think he was trying that hard to get it right,” Virgil informed them.

“Right… Thank you,” Patton said, touching his face with his now clawless hand.

Virgil just hummed.

“Maybe you should take a break. I’m sure we can find some place to settle down so you can meditate,” Roman offered.

Virgil grunted in protest. “I’m not wasting my few human hours on sleep. I’m just a little drowsy from boosting that spell. Some tea at the inn and I’ll be right as rain,” he insisted.

“The inn?” Roman wondered.

“Yeah. Little inn. It was run by a nice couple, then their kid and so on. S’been a good place for a mage to stop by on their way home from wherever for centuries,” Virgil muttered.

The group exchanged glances. If true, then no one had felt the need to inform them of this inn’s existence. Would it still be there after an apparent big part of its customers vanished?

“So… The village elder said the king had been forgiving of their struggles with taxes… If it’s been fifty years, then I doubt that’s still king Theodor. Has his son taken the throne?” Virgil asked. He sounded casual but Roman could feel there was nothing casual about the question.

“Yes,” Patton confirmed.

“King Theodor passed away in his sleep forty years ago. King Thomas was in his mid-twenties at the time and took the throne under the guidance and tutelage of Arch Mage Noctora. He is fair and just, though he is private and withdrawn,” Logan elaborated.

This news disturbed Virgil but Roman decided not to point that out. He just hoped Virgil could feel he wanted to comfort him.

The way the high mage seemed to melt more into him led Roman to believe that at the very least the intent was understood and appreciated.

“Maybe I can take a quick powernap,” he mused drowsily. “At the inn. After we figure out where Remus is at,” he insisted.

Roman didn’t argue with him.

“Oh, Logan! I can ride now! Then you can read some more!” Patton realized excitedly, making his fellow mages laugh.

They stopped for a moment to allow the two to switch places. Roman took the opportunity to look back to Virgil who was sitting a bit more upright now that they weren’t moving.

“I’m fine. Just… I suppose you could say it has finally sunk in. The time that has passed…”

Roman supposed that hearing that the teenage prince is now an old man would put it a bit more in perspective.

“I’m sorry,” Roman offered. There had to be people this man knew that were gone now. Even if somehow All High mages had merely been trapped instead of infected and could be brought back…

But how would that even happen? Maybe the disease affected great mages only. Maybe High Mages were immune due to their close bond with their guide. Maybe that was why Roman didn’t suffer any side effects from the Moonflower. Because he had a High Mage guiding him.

And maybe someone took advantage of a mysterious illness taking out Great Mages to go on a quest to imprison every high mage without anyone realizing the disappearances were even more nefarious than a strange magical illness… That made sense.

“Nothing to be sorry for. Sometimes, sometimes you are just handed a shitty deal and you have no choice but accept it and make the best out of it that you can,” Virgil insisted.

Roman was about to comment on how deep that was but… He was talking to someone who’d lived long enough to have earned that wisdom.

It was hard to remember that they weren’t entirely the same age…

“Let’s go!” Patton announced excitedly as he urged the horse in a light trot. Logan was sitting backwards leaning against Patton to continue reading. Roman dismissed his musings and followed after him. Couldn’t have them ride past the inn without noticing.

“What’s got you so twisted up inside?” Virgil mused.

Right. Empathy link.

“I… How does the not aging thing work…? Like you are at least 100 years old, but you look my age,” he explained.

He could feel Virgil chuckle.

“I’m not mentally at least a hundred years old. The village elder doesn’t come across as a child to me just because I probably have met his grandfather while passing through the area.

There is a maturity that comes with physically aging. There are parts of life I will never experience no matter how old I get. I am your age, but infinitely more experienced at it.

I have always lived as someone in their late twenties. I think of it more like my next birthday just never really came. I stopped really celebrating it after a hundred. It seemed very redundant and even Remus was starting to struggle to come up with weird ideas for a party by then. We decided to just do a semi regular random party for the three of us still being friends after that. Those were pretty fun. Boys weekend out,” he recalled. The nostalgia and fondness so strong Roman was almost convinced that Patton and Logan must feel it rolling off off the mage in bittersweet waves as well.

Suddenly Virgil perked up. “We’re here,” he announced.

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #ts virgil #roman sanders #ts roman #prinxiety #the dark phoenix au #logan sanders #ts logan #patton sanders #ts patton

20 notes · View notes

skeletinmoss · 7 days

Text

Ruffled feathers

Chapter 3: Nails and claws

Ships planned: Prinxiety, Logicality, Dukeciet

Patton and Virgil are brothers in this one

Thanks @lovelivingmydreams for being my beta

First chapter | Previous

Emile hoped out of the van his hooves tapping against the gravel road.

He was glad to be back after his sudden vacation.

The halls were filled with a familiar smell of moss and metal with special addition of food aroma near the kitchen and fresh laundry near living quarters.

He missed it. It was his second home, sometimes it was more comfortable than his actual home.

Logan and Janus were about to leave for their undercover mission and they only got to exchange greetings. This ment the facility was left under careful supervision of the twins. The fawn felt a bunch of goosebumps at the thought of that.

He bet he had 3 hours until some kind of disaster. « Doctor! Nice seeing you!» greeted one of the aforementioned twins.

« Roman,» Emile smiled as the human came closer and took one of the boxes from his hands. « How have you been lately?»

« I'm quite fine. Thank you for asking,» came the answer. They kept up the small talk as they went toward the med area.

«How do our guests feeling?» the fawn wondered.

He didn't like the frown that crossed Roman's face, but he waited for the answer.

At their first meeting he thought the twins were pretty easy to read. He soon learned how many thoughts they had, so their emotions could be related to any of them, which made their reactions a tad different from their real opinions.

« They're fine, » Roman finally decided. « Moody is still living up to the nickname. Oh and Patton is finally talking with us! Did you know that he's actually the older one?!» he revealed with excitement.

« We haven't met yet,» the medic reminded him.

« Oh right, sorry,» the twin apologized as they set boxes on the table. Emile smiled at him,

« I was planning on doing it after setting up the med bay. You can help of course.»

And soon the boxes were unpacked. There was some fresh supplies, some medicine in neat antique bottles which the fawn had a special fondness for, and some equipment to replace a few broken ones he left there before going away.

Everything he might need to start his work.

Moody and Sweetie were now adapting to the facility and frequently left their enclosure. Although one of the brothers was gone more often than the other finding them both was a challenge.

Virgil with his loud purple and cyan feathers was surprisingly hard to spot among the trees.

« Oh my goodness! A nest!» Emile exclaimed as soon as he saw it.

« O my goodness! A new friend!» echoed a bird that popped out it of it.

The brown and blue feathered Avian quickly jumped out and bounced towards the new face.

« Hi. I'm Patton. Oh wow I’ve never seen anyone like you!»

« Pleasure to meet you, Patton. I'm doctor Emile. My species is called a Fawn,» greeted Doc and extended his hand for a handshake.

Patton looked at the hand confused. Emile quickly caught his mistake.

« Sorry, I've been working with humans for a long time. It's a human greeting called a handshake. You take it with your hand and slightly move it up and down a few times,» he explained.

The avian excitedly followed the instructions for a handshake. Fawn smiled, « I know avian's usually use their wings or ear feathers for a greeting, but I unfortunately have neither, and I'm not very good at chirping,» he apologized.

« Oh no worries. Handshake is actually quite nice! How do fawns usually greet each other?» wondered Pat, his wings spreading out from anticipation.

Emile was only pleased to show. He stepped with his hoof making a clank sound and bowed his head.

Patton instinctively bowed back and giggled, « I like this one too~»

« I don't usually greet anyone like that. I've grown up among humans mostly,» the fawn admitted shyly.

« That's a waste of a funny greeting right there,» pouted Pat.

Amiable chatter filled the room.

Patton was fine and dandy health wise.

His wings started to molt and some new shiny feathers already popped out.

Then Emile noticed the claws.

« Do you bite them off on purpose?» he wondered gently.

Patton looked down, oblivious at first, but the moment he understood the topic, he immediately paled.

« It's fine! I'm not worried about them,» he tried to reassure the doctor.

The way his wings folded spoke volumes.

They were pressed against his back so tightly it was painful, almost like a binding was back on them.

« It's not healthy Patton,» Doc slowly reached out, afraid to cause a negative reaction, and placed his hand on top of Patton's.

« I know it must have been hard for you two out there. Some habits are a pain to get rid of,» he stroked avians hands with his.

« But I need you to know that it's going to be ok. First step is always to figure out that you have a problem,» he reassured.

Patton relaxed a little still holding this wings behind his back, but not in a painful position like before.

« We're going to work together on it, ok? All you need to do is stop yourself from biting them. And it's fine if at first you can't help yourself, more important is the effort,» the fawn told him.

« Could you do that for me?»

Patton nodded with an apologetic smile.

He was going to try. He knew he would fail, but Emile didn't care, so why should he? He can keep trying.

It was extremely hard to control the urge to bite into his claws when his brother ran into the room at full speed, clearly being chased.

After him, almost missing the door because of a wild drift, came the twins.

« Get him!» yelled Roman.

« The Bastard stole our last spoon!» added Remus.

Here comes the disaster. And it hardly had been an hour.

The black avian swiftly passed his brother and the doctor, and with a powerful jump reached his safe zone in the line of trees.

The twin duo came to a stop, both understanding that they wouldn't be able to follow a bird in its natural habitat.

« Give back the spoon, you thief!» demanded one of them.

« You stole a whole drawer of cutlery already! Where do you even keep those things?» pleaded the other.

Patton lightly tapped the actor's shoulder.

« Can I?» he asked.

After the duo exchanged looks and gave him a nod he jumped and stood on their shoulders with his hand in a demanding gesture towards his brother.

« Virgil,» he said sternly, « The spoon.»

Virgil growled with the cutlery in question between his teeth.

« Now,» Patton insisted until his brother finally gave up and spit it out.

« The other ones too.” The younger avian huffed and disappeared into the little forest that was their enclosure. He returned with a dozen or more spoons. But before he can fully emerge the older brother added «Forks and knives too.»

So he went back to his secret stache and brought back the same amount of other cutlery. « Good,» Patton nodded and hopped back on the ground.

Twins looked at the cutlery bewildered. Some of it was bend as if Virgil had slept on them.

Avians loved shiny things.

With how many avians they hosted in this facility the rescue team knew that for sure.

Many of the avian tribes had a habit or hoarding shiny things they liked.

Patton and Virgil weren't an exception. Although both of them had a different approach on the topic.

The older brother was more careful with the shinies. He played with them where he found them and left them in their place.

The younger one on the other hand. He was a stealing menace.

Janus tried several times to locate his stache of stolen goodies, but all in vein.

Virgil knew how to hide.

After a few first forks went missing from Patton's nest he figured it wasn't the right place to store them in. And since then no one could locate anything.

If the thing went missing there was a fair chance that Moody had stolen it.

Roman already lost five of his rings. Only because he took them of for a couple of minutes.

Janus was missing his expensive makeup brush he forgot to put away. Remus once left his holographic top unattended.

Logan couldn't locate most of their stationery. And they've been gradually loosing cutlery.

The culprit? A kleptomaniac bird with trust issues.

Roman sighed.

Moody looked so hurt after parting ways with his collection.

He took a pocket mirror out of his jacket and handed it to the avian.

Virgil looked at him confused.

« A trade for the cutlery,» he explained.

« We can't have your collection dwindling after all~» he smiled and was delighted to see a soft pink blush spreading on the emo's face.

« Thanks,» Virgil whispered before disappearing in the trees again, likely to hide his new treasure.

Tag list: @aphandgflover @yourdragonwitchroyalty @warcats-cat @aevhee @cyanide-violence @fandomfollowerart

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #ts virgil #patton sanders #ts patton #ruffled feathers au

33 notes · View notes