Serendipity (Karlnapity Fantasy AU)

Chapter 12

Authors Note: It's either going to be very cringy or very angsty, but buckle up either way. Shit is about to go down.

~~~

The pain that rushed through his body, making it shake, the sweat that prickled on his forehead, and the short-lived breaths were almost a relief. It was like a reminder that he was still alive. Not for much longer, but he could still feel the world around him, drawing his last breaths, looking up at the clear blue sky. Around him, the dense bushes and trees blew evenly in the wind.

His eyes watered, his vision became more and more blurred, and the sound of the wind was drowned out by his heartbeat. Actually, he did not want to die, praying that this heartbeat would not stop. He wanted to apologize, and this time for real. He also wanted to kick Wilbur, even when it would end badly for him.

At that moment, he would have preferred a black eye rather than dying. Quackity had no idea where Karl was right now. He could be dead, maybe lying next to him, or missing, but Quackity was too weak to move. His body felt nothing but the debilitating pain and the gentle breeze that mocked him for his situation. Suddenly, something moved in the sky above him.

Like an angel, not the ones of today but the ones from the old legends, a figure shot across the sky. For a brief moment the figure stopped in mid-air, and as quickly as it had appeared, whizzed back in the same direction from which it had come. Quackity huffed. Was he hallucinating now, too?

Quackity closed his eyes, a groan escaping his throat. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than Sapnap and Karl by his side. If he had known how his life would have ended, Quackity would not have listened to his parents. He would have run away and resisted joining the academy. From the beginning, he had known that with those wings and that confused head full of emotions, he would not have made it through the education. But his parents had insisted. Feeding several children was exhausting, they didn't really live a happy life and if Quackity, the eldest son, really passed the education, his family would get money. it wouldn't have been much, but it would have made life easier.

Well, thought Quackity, I guess it won't happen. I've even disappointed my family.
Next to him, he felt the ground vibrate slightly, next to him something trotted through the tall grass. The steady steps made him incredibly sleepy. He would have loved to fight against it, screaming and kicking.

However, he was unable to do so. By now he no longer felt the pain, only the light wind whispering around his nose which prayed to fall asleep. Maybe then the pain would stop, Quackity thought. As Quackity drifted into the endless blackness, he could no longer hear the cries of the person next to him. Even shaking his shoulder vigorously didn't help, didn't make the hybrid more awake. The last thing he heard was the shallow heartbeat growing slower and slower in his lanky hybrid chest.

~~~

Sapnap had been running through the forest for quite a while. His voice was hoarse and the fact that none of his friends answered him frustrated him.
"Karl! Quackity!" he flailed his arms wildly as he fought his way through the bushes, "Karl! please answer! It's me, Sapnap!"
He felt a strong breeze next to him as Philza landed next to him.
"Sorry kid, but I don't think those two made it here," Philza moved closer and cautiously approached the black-haired man.

The dark-haired man felt a hand on his shoulder that wanted to comfort him. His hair was spraying sparks, slowly catching fire. The heat of his insides tingled on his skin. He shook off the hand and continued to rush through the thicket, unperturbed. The cries for his close friends grew louder and more desperate with each passing moment. Philza flew after him, trying to calm him down. Sapnap's hair burned more than usual, nervousness driving him to give in to his strength. Philza had to prevent the boy from burning down the entire forest below him.

"Sapnap please calm down! Otherwise, you'll burn down the whole forest!" shouted the winged man, sinking closer to the forest floor. Sapnap remained in his position, his chest rising and falling abruptly. When he turned to Philza, his voice was slightly shaky, his body tense.

"What do you want me to do?" he replied, sinking to the ground in despair. His breaths were shaky, his hands ran several times through the fiery strands of his hair. Just before he could land to comforter the black-haired man, Philza became aware of two crows. From a distance, he could hear them crowing. The cries were panicked and Sapnap also turned his worried eyes to the sky. Immediately, the hybrid swung over the trees. The first thing he saw was his eldest son and in front of him a small group of crows.

"Phil! I found them!" Wilbur's voice echoing over the forest was shrill.

~~~

Already from the sky, he had been able to see them. Their twisted and lifeless bodies are on the ground. Without thinking he had rushed off, almost tearing the bushes as Philza had set him down. Wilbur was already between them when Sapnap arrived and dropped to his knees. They were lying side by side, Quackity having his left-wing protectively draped over the brunette boy beside him. Karl had injuries, a laceration or two, but he was alive.

Only Quackity...oh Quackity, Sapnap thought and slid closer to the Avian. Pale as snow, his legs just a useless heap and blood everywhere. He felt helpless as he watched the blood seep into the ground.

"Don't-...Don't leave," Sapnap's voice broke as he leaned toward him, pulling his upper body carefully onto his lap, despite protests from Wilbur. Sapnap was almost certain the fragile hybrid beneath him was dead. Wilbur expected the boy in front of him to burst into flames from shock, but instead, he heard loud sobs.

As the life of Quackity tore between his fingers, he remembered the unspoken things he loved about the boy. When he had accidentally fallen asleep in Sapnap's bed because he enjoyed his friend's high body temperature on cold days, Sapnap had always laid down next to him and falling asleep too. He wished back those dark brown eyes that lit up as soon as he laughed and melted his heart.

"Please, open your eyes, Quackity," he wept in the bloody shirt of his beloved. With a flood of kisses, he would meet him, speak out the unsaid and make up for the missed. Sapnap wanted to apologize a thousand times, to shout it out to the whole world. All Quackity had to do was open his eyes. Gently he shook the smaller one's shoulders, Sapnap's pleading growing louder and more hysterical with each breath. He wished he could give him his heart, his blood, and new breath.

Sapnap's body trembled, tears made their way inexorably down his cheeks. His love for Karl did not make his love for Quackity any less precious. It was always there, like something unspoken it always hovered in the air between them. Both boys belonged in his heart. Both boys were the reason why it beat faster when he saw them, or why it hurt when they were away from him.

The situation worsened as Niki and Ranboo made their way through the thicket. They tried to separate Quackity and Sapnap, but he would not let go of the Duck hybrid. When Wilbur dragged him away from Quackity by the shoulders, he screamed. His face was puffy and tears streamed down his face as he was pulled further away from him.

"Let go of me!" he yelled, turning to Wilbur, then turned his head again, "Wake up! Quackity! I beg you, please wake up!"
When the snowy owl hybrid let go of him, Sapnap couldn't bring himself to get up. Crying, he clawed at the soft earth and collapsed. He felt himself falling into the blackest abyss.

With each heartbeat, it became harder to think. With each breath got his chest tightened more and more. The indescribable panic he felt he screamed into the earth.

He screamed until his lungs burned with pain and his throat scratched.