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He was stupid. Stupid and lazy. He knew this day would come and he ignored it. Now he's far from the others at two in the morning trying to get as far as he could. For the time being anyway.
He found a cave far from the shelter. Far away enough so no one could hear his pain, his screams. He walked until the moon light dimmed. Dragging his wings limply behind him as he did so.
He stumbled to the ground when he felt it was safe enough. It hurt his knees but he did not care. He inched to the wall of the cave slowly and pitifully. The cold hard rock scraped against his body.
His back pressed against the wall. The cold touch prickled against his skin and more specifically his wings. He hated those wretched attachments. It did nothing but remind him of the past.
Grasping the feathery appendages, shivering at the sensitive touch that came along with new wings. He looked on so longingly at them. It's been a while since they grew back and a while since he cut them off.
It would turn out messy but he'll clean it up later he supposed. Grabbing a piece of leather he brought and bit down on it to hide his screams. He stretched out his wing with one hand and grabbed the knife with the other.
He knew this would be a pain but it was better to get it done as fast as possible. Suspensing the knife inches away from the appendage before putting full force into a downward strike.
As soon as the stab was made the pain raked through his body. His face stretched as he gripped the knife tighter. Muffled cries came from him as his eyes began to water. He doubled over as the bile began to rise from this throat. Cold sweat dripped from his brow and onto the cold floor.
He sat there trembling for a few moments.
Heaving and gasping through the pain as he did.
“W̷̢̝̺̜̖̠̫͋̅̊̂̀̔̈́̔͗̚͘͝ḩ̶̠̃̿̊̀̈́̀̉̀̃́̈́̉̉͐͆͛̑̽̈́̈́̈͂̿̕͘͝͠A̶̡̧̠̪̠͓̫̻̦̥̣͕̋̂̽̆̎̌̏̃̉̂́͐̍͝͝t̷̲̦͇̝̪̞̅̎ ̴͖̪̱̤͉͇̜̼̲̋̂͑̀̍A̵̢̡͇̗̤̮̭̯̳͓̻͚̗̖̩͉̟̪̖̠̥̳͈̰̗͔͇͓͆̀͌͛́͂͆̎̈́́̔̀͗́͆͋̚͜ṟ̸̡̧̼̞̝̤́̎̑̍̄͜ͅE̶̛̠̟̼͎̫̲̘̳̲̙̹͚͊͂̓̓̾͒̀̉̍̔̄̃́̋̎̈́̍͒̇͐̇͊̎̕͝͠͠ͅ ̷̡̛̞̤̖̣̤̰̟̫̪́̒̉̃͛͜y̴̢̢̛̛̻̦̜̺̗̗͎̗͎̬̭̪̫̩̥̲̭̠̻̐͂̀̿̌̈́͑́͑͐̐̈́̍͜O̴̞͚͋̈́̇̂̓̑̇́̈́̔͂̾͆͊̃̈͊̀̔́͂̇̋̐̅́̆̇̐̚ǘ̴̝̤̝̗̭̰̣̅̊̀̽̑̐̓̊̀͆̈́̔͋͘͜͝ ̶̤̫̲̙͔̱̥̙̞̣̼̠̰̞̺͙̪̮̒̑̂͂̀͊̃͐͆͛͑͛̓̽̈́͝D̷̨̨̙̮̼͍̺̹̹̠̹̫͕̩͍͇̩̺̗̰̗̫̂̓̋͜ō̴̡̧̧̝̯̮͎͙͍͉̗͍̦͍͇̬̘̪̗͔̭̟̪͕͒̃̏̓̂̎̿̕͘ͅĮ̵̧̰̩̰̠̫̮̬̪̻͖͙̱̙͚̠̄̿̍̍̔͌͗̓̾́̀̃̈͆̎̏̌̓̽̃̽̾́̌̈́̕͘͜͜͠͝͝͠͠͠ņ̴͌͊̓̓̇͌̓̂̑̓̓̈́͂́͌̿́̌̎̌͛̈́̌̚͝͠G̸̨̧̨̞̩̭̪̝͉͉̱̬̟̝̺̦̮̯̱̟̺̩̪̣͎͉̈́̏͊̄͌̏͊̄̈́̎̾͒͑͐́.̷͈̩̘͛̌́̑͜”
- · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Normally, they would not be up at this hour in the morning. However, something was severely off and whenever they felt off there was only one person to blame.
So they found themselves walking in one direction through the forest. They did not know where he was going but they knew it must be this way.
They found themselves at a cave a few miles in the forest. Shedletsky better have a good reason to be out here so early in the morning or they would kill him. But they might do it anyway just because.
Their eyes narrowed as they peered into the dark expanse of the cave. There is no way Shedletsky would stay in a place so cold for a warm blooded chicken. That is until they heard muffled crying.
Waking a few steps in they found Shedletsky, who was in too much pain to notice them, clinging onto his bleeding wing with a knife still attached.
“₩Ⱨ₳₮ ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ĐØł₦₲.”
Shedletsky jolted with a pain hiss, quickly looking where the noise came from. Wings flared up in an offensive position despite a knife through one of them.
Their eyes raked over the trembling man. To think the once proud Telamon was reduced to this state. It was laughable, honestly but they really did not like it.
“Y̸o̷u s̴t̵u̷p̴i̵d̸ ̸f̷o̴o̴l̶ ̵ S̶h̸e̴d̶l̷e̸t̷s̸k̴y̸”
Shedletsky seemed to finally recognize their voice as they noticed his wings slumped and eyes dropped to the floor into what they assumed guilt.
They walked over to the man. Slow and carefully so as to not frighten him. Kneeling over the slumped man as to access the damage.
They took a hold of the injured wing to look at it further. Shedletsky froze under the touch as if he would blow away any second.
“S̴t̷a̵y̴ ̶s̵t̷i̵l̶l̶.̶”
They left any and all first aid at the base but luckily enough there was some Shedletsky brought himself. The stab wound seemed pretty deep, but it would be enough for some simple first aid for now.
They grabbed a hold of the knife and pulled it out of the wound without creating any further damage. Shedletsky produced a string of whimpers as the trembling started back up again.
They took a hold of the first aid. They grabbed some gauze and pressed against the wound until the blood clots. After the bleeding seemed to stop, they set the gauze aside.
Taking the alcohol solution and small scissors. They cut away any feathers directly at the wound site and any that would bother stitching.
Pouring some alcohol in a cup and the rest on his wound. Shedletsky whimpered again, his wing flailing for freedom, but 1x1x1x1 gripped the appendage harder, making the man shut up.
Shedletsky’s eyes looked so dazed, probably not fully in reality at the moment. But there was no time for him when the wound still needed to be closed.
They stuck a curved needle into the alcohol cup and some suture with it. Sanitized their own hands with hand sanitizer and pulled some gloves over them. He took the needle and started sewing the wound.
Shedletsky made cries with each puncher but it was his fault for not bringing any pain medicine. After it was closed up 1x1x1x1 pushed away the supplies and finally turned his attention back at the man.
They took some bandages and wrapped the wing making it immobile. That way it can have time to heal before Shedletsky re-opens the wound and he cannot drag it on the ground.
1x1x1x1 wanted answers, but clearly none would be given out of the dazed man. So they maneuvered Shedletsky on top of his lap.
Prying open the man's jaw in order to take out the wet leather. Then dismissing it by throwing it across the room and wiping his hand on Shedletsky's clothes.
They combed a hand through the man's messy hair, clearly unwashed and oily. The right hand crosses behind the name's back comfortingly and soothes the injured left wing. Both arms put weight on the man's back like a hug.
Despite the wings clearly being newly regenerated, they were already so messy and dirty. 1x1x1x1 thought that Shedletsky purposely did not take care of them because he was already going to cut them off.
They sit there waiting for the man to stop trembling enough to talk, but they might be waiting hours. It's not like they had anything to do anyway. This was more important.
- · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
After waiting silently for when it felt like hours. With nothing but the slow methodical hands keeping shedlesky in reality. Eventually Shedlesky began to stir, blinking out of the daze of his mind.
“Chirp”
Or… maybe not. 1x1x1x1 looked down at Shedletsky who was already looking back at them. He woke up enough for his instincts to take over but not enough to be fully conscious.
That or the fact it could be from typical instinct suppression. Telemon used to do it and it very well must have not changed or gotten worse since he attempted this with his wings.
They let Shedletsky drag him to the corner of the cave. Shedletsky's body language was clear that they should not move from the spot he put them in.
Shedletsky tried using his wings, but pretty quickly found one was bound in bandages. He huffed, ruffling his feathers in annoyance before walking out of the cave.
1x1x1x1 stayed there for minutes, waiting for Shedletsky to come back. He finally heard rustling from outside the cave and footsteps coming close.
Shedletsky walked in holding bags and bags of blankets and pillows. He dumped each one into one corner of the cave and rearranged them into some sort of nest.
He dragged 1x1x1x1 into the nest and beamed at his finished work. 1x1x1x1 chuckled a laugh at this new unexpected development, but did not attempt to get up.
Shedlesky plopped half-heartedly into the nest and spread out lazily. 1x1x1x1 took their chance and grabbed a hold of the uninjured wing. Shedlesky squawked out a chirp and glared hardfully at them. They paid no mind as they ran their fingers through the soft appendages. Loose feathers glide out with each stroke, as even more become straightened.
Shedlesky began to purr a soft rumble, his body relaxing with each soothing glide. It had been a while since he allowed his wings to be treated in such a way, so delicately and kind.
Shedlesky had fallen asleep by the time 1x1x1x1 was done. They should kill him right now, but instead they stared at the sleeping man with gentle eyes. They are supposed to hate the man, yet here they are playing caretaker. They did not know when they became soft. Especially for the likes of this flightless bird. A bird who fell from a world so high.
The snores were like a beast, but it was the only thing piercing the cold silence. They wondered if the two of them could have been something less tragic in another life. Damn you Shedletsky.