TW: blood, drowning
There was a distant sound of running water, and at first Virgil thought he was in his hole. But as he opened his eyes and all of his senses came back to him, he realized he was still outside. More than that, he felt like he had been knocked around by a fox or something, bruises and new cuts covering him.
He sat up and a sharp pain went up his leg, making him hiss in pain. He looked over and saw it was still stuck between two jagged stones, blood staining them red. He used his other leg to push one of the large stones back, whimpering in pain as he used all of his strength.
He let out a sob as the stone barely moved, but it was enough to loosen his leg, and he was painfully able to pull his leg out of the crevice. He crawled away from the edge of the rock, and rested in the middle of the stone he was on at that moment.
He was lucky that no predators found him, otherwise he would be dead. Though, that could have been better, since now he was starving and injured and will probably end up dying slowly anyway like this. Though, this isn't the first time that it's happened so it's not like he's definitely going to die.
He took a moment to prepare himself to stand, before doing so. He held his chest and tried to keep his injured leg off of the ground. Taking deep breaths, he set his foot down and tested his leg. Luckily, the injury wasn't too deep so it wouldn't be hard to walk on it. His chest and back were a different story, they were bruised from the kicking he received for stealing the berries.
He started to slowly walk back to his hole, following the river. As he did so, he started wiping the mud off. It dried somewhat, so it was hard to peel, but it was mostly still wet. How long was he out?
It wasn't fair, everyone was so greedy with their food. They could have mounds of food, and still wouldn't share with anyone that has nothing. He only steals when he needs to! And always from those that have the most food.
Virgil didn't ask to be kicked out of his own home! It was his father that did it. He didn't approve of Virgil, even though his mother begged to let him stay. To be honest, Virgil doesn't approve of himself either. He can't even steal a few berries to survive! It was times like this that he always feels completely worthless.
His stomach growled and Virgil stopped to hold onto his torso. He can only hope that no animal will catch the scent of his blood. With how much his head was spinning, he doubted that he could survive any encounter.
He really needed to get some food, and fast. Though, he should clean up first. Maybe he has some spare bandages at his hole?
When the pain dulled down slightly enough, Virgil looked up to start walking again. Something red in the trees caught his eye though, and looking up to one he saw some berries growing in a tree that's leaning across the river.
No, it was dangerous and stupid. He was injured and can barely walk, much less balance himself on such skinny branches. Besides, the tree looked half dead, and the berries were small. They probably weren't ripe, and it just wasn't worth it.
But, his stomach protested the thought of leaving it. Soon enough, Virgil found himself climbing the tree, moving slowly and finding any hand and foot holes to pull himself up. He bit down on his whimpers and after a bit, he was high enough to reach the branch that had the berries.
He balanced himself and started to carefully scoot over the river, not risking falling in. Normally, borrowers were great climbers and amazing at balancing themselves, but the tree was skinny and Virgil was too injured to just walk across the branches.
He glanced down at the rapids below him, and felt himself get lightheaded with vertigo. Maybe if he falls, he'll get lucky and die on impact, but he wanted to avoid that.
He scooted closer to the berries, and reached out to them. He was so close, but a sound made his ears twitch. It was the sound of the branch snapping, and just as he looked behind him it finally broke and he was sent plummeting into the river below.
He screamed in fear and held tight onto the branch. He almost lost his grip when he hit the water and was pushed under, but he managed to hold on and the branch bounced back up to the top.
He took a deep breath when his head broke the surface and shook the water out of his eyes as he was pushed downstream. He felt himself being pushed around by the rapids, and he looked around for anything to pull him out of the water.
In front of him, the rapids got worse. Virgil hugged the branch he was on, since at the moment it was the only thing keeping him afloat.
"HELP!" he screamed, though he doubted anyone heard him. Still, it wouldn't hurt to shout for help, maybe someone will hear him after all.
He wiped the water out of his eyes again, but was forced to take a deep breath as he was pushed underwater again from the rapids. He hugged onto the branch as tight as he could and felt it being spun around. His lungs burned and he pushed himself back to the surface for another gulp of air right before being pushed under again.
It was like this for a while, breaking the surface of the water for air only to be pushed back under and spun around. He was tossed into rocks, almost making him let go of the stick and lose his breath. His whole body ached, though from what it was hard to tell at this point.
The water seemed to slow down, and Virgil pushed himself out of the water once again to breathe. He heard more running water in front of him, and prepared for more rapids, but when he wiped the water out of his eyes and saw what was in front of him he wanted to cry.
There was a drop, he couldn't tell how high it was but he was not ready for it. He tried to turn around and swim somewhere else, abandoning the stick, but he only slowed himself down. He tried swimming to the side of the river but he wasn't fast enough, and soon enough he felt the drop.
He shut his eyes tight and held his breath as he fell through the air and water. Then he hit the water on his back hard, and he was pushed deep under. Everything was cold and he ached for a moment, before it all faded far away from him.
~~~
Roman sighed, drawing in the mud with a splinter he found. He managed to sneak off in his free time to go to the river, but he wouldn't dare cross it, especially not alone. He knew he should be heading back soon, but he didn't want to.
He looked up to see the sun going down, the sky turning dark. He dropped the splinter and stood up, about to fly back when something caught his eye.
He looked further up the river and saw washed up on the bank, someone with purple hair. He gasped in fear, thinking it was a fae that got caught in the water as he rushed to their side.
Once he got there though, it was the weirdest thing. The stranger didn't have any wings, and he had a tail! His ears were long and dropped low, and he was covered in cuts and bruises. His skin was red, probably sunburned, and his breaths were shallow.
Roman doesn't know what the strange creature was, but he was clearly injured and half dead. The fairy prince picked him up, wincing at the small whine that the stranger cried. He stayed unconscious though, and Roman cradled him to his chest.
He needed to get the stranger back to his colony so the healers could take care of him. Well, this certainly isn't how Roman expected his day to turn out.
YOU ARE READING
The Borrower and the Fairy Prince
Fanfiction*Completed* Virgil has never had it easy, not since he was kicked out of his home by his own father. He's struggled to survive, and has fought for food. He sees what should have been an easy meal, some berries on a tree hanging over the river. It sh...
