Caged Wings

CHAPTER 9

Five years ago. . .

"Punz?" Purpleds antennae drooped, his older brother's eyes meeting his own. He sat in the open house door, his brown eyes looking guilty. "Where are you going?" He asks, coming out of the hallway all the way. The grip the older had on the bag slung over his shoulder told the other he was hiding something, but he tried to ignore it.

"Just, a late night job Purp. Ill be back in a few days." He smiled, trying to reassure the fourteen year old. Purpled wanted to trust his older brother, giving a small smile as he came closer to Punz. Purpled hugged the older close, hesitant arms wrapping around him a few seconds later.

"Be safe, ok?" Purp mumbles, backing away from the other. Punz smiled, nodding before making his way out of the house. Purpled couldn't help but to go to the front window, watching as his older brother slowly disappeared down their village's street.

Present. . .

Purpled led his brother and his companions to his house, still bitter about the situation no one spoke on the way. Purpled was thankful for this, himself not in the mood for trying to start a conversation. His brother was lucky he hadn't picked up any jobs up for this week, or he would have shut his offer down automatically. But now, hearing what was happening in the back rooms in the alliance, and the gold he'd be getting for this job, he couldn't say no. So, he was heading to gods know where with his brother and a bunch of snobby royals and officials. He sighed, making his way to his tiny one story house. Once he pushed the door open his wolf came bounding up to him.

"DogChamp!" Purp greeted, letting the huge oversized tamed wolf jump onto him. The others behind him gasped, watching the interaction with fearful eyes. "Hey, Champ! Were you good while I was gone?" The teen scratched behind the pure white wolfs left ear, watching its red eyes close as its tongue came rolling out and attempting to give the other a wet kiss.

"You have a wolf?" Punz asked, making said animals blood red eyes shoot open towards the other four behind him. DogChamp growled, showing his pearly white teeth to the others. One pat on the head though got the beast to stop, red eyes softening as he looked towards his owner.

"Yes, this is DogChamp. I found him when I was on a mission a few years after you left. Hes been my wingman ever since."

"Does he bite?" The brownette next to his brother asked, holding the child in his arms closer.

"Only if I instruct him to." Purp answered, smirking at the reaction he got out of the prince. Niki glared, obviously not happy with the young mercenaries' joke. After the introduction, Purpled got up, letting the other four come into the house. Purp switched many of the house lights on,letting them see more clearly. The living room was the first thing you walked into, and many personal trophies covered the many shelfs the teen had in the room. It had a nice couch, and a fireplace that wasn't lit. on the left was a kitchen, and between the two rooms was a hallway, where most likely the bedrooms and bathroom was. It was a cozy little house, fit for a person like Purpled who likes things simple.

"Where do we sleep?" Niki asks, looking around a bit more than the other two. Purpled looked over to the other four, seeing the baby they had with them was awake and looking around with the other three.

"Out in the living room." With that he started his way down the hallway towards DogChamp's room, pushing the door open and watching the wolf get up onto the bed he had in this room, curling up with a huff. Purpled walked over towards the door he had installed into the room, making sure the doggy door he had made for his companion was unlocked in case he needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. With that finished he made his way towards the cooler in the corner, opening the container and fishing a piece of meat out for his wolf. Champ's head whipped up, watching with blood red eyes as the thick piece of meat was put into his food bowl. "C'mon. I know you wanna eat dinner." Purpled said, placing the bowl down for the wolf. DogChamp didn't hesitate to make his way to the food, grabbing the piece of meat with his pointy teeth and taking a huge bite out of the meal.

"So, you made the spare bedroom your wolf's room?" Purp looked over towards the door to see his brother there, arms crossed and leaning against the frame.

"Yes, I did." His tone was harsh, showing the other he wasnt in the mood of speaking to him. Punz frowned, but himself couldn't blame his little brother for the way he was acting. "Shouldn't you be with Prince Wilbur and General Niki?" Purp spat, closing up the cooler with a loud thud. Punz knew when he wasn't wanted, sighing he made his way out of the doorway, leaving his brother to be alone.

+ + +

Xisuma was nervous, why? Because Grian was nervous. Everytime he and Grian interact the avian seemed alert, like hes expecting something. X had managed to get the avian out of his home, and come out to the shopping district with him. Grian seemed a little less tense and a bit more like his more laid back self, which made the older feel a bit better. Maybe hes just stressing over something? Or one of his unexpected journeys didnt go as planned? He wasn't going to pry too much into the other hermits' life, but he did want to know what was bugging him so he could possibly help.

So, there they were sitting in a diner eating a nice dinner. They were telling stories of the past, and some from only a few days ago. But The question Xisuma really wanted to ask was nagging at him. The bee hybrid's wings twitched, wanting to ask. Grian must have picked up on this and given the other a concerned look. "X? Are you alright?" The other wanted to brush it off, but it was the perfect time to ask.

"Well, Grian, actually I wanted to see if you were ok. Me and a few of our friends noticed how you seemed more skittish lately. Mumbos been worrying about you a lot, Grian." The avian seemed grateful for the others' worries.

"X, Im fine. Just a personal issue I need to deal with. Ill try to act a bit more normal in front of you guys though." Xisumas wings fluttered again, making a low humming sound as he did so.

"You shouldnt have to hide how you're feeling Grian, if anything maybe you should try and talk to someone? Like, Mumbo, or Scar even." Grian frowned, standing up slowly before placing a diamond on the table for the cost of his meal.

"Sometimes people want to keep things to themselves, X. But thank you for your concern." And with that, the bee hybrid was left alone watching a very tired looking avian leave.

+ + +

One Day Later. . .

Dream sat in his port watching a ship being loaded up. Do you think its a good idea keeping Tommy under this spell? He asked, hoping hed get an answer from his other half. None came though, which only made his thoughts spiral further down. He knew that as soon as he lifted that spell on him, Tommy was going to try and kill him. Even if they viewed each other as brothers, he knew there was no chance that would stop his sibling from taking any chance he could get at the final blow. As much as he didnt want to admit it, he lost his little brother the minute the castle was attacked.

"Dream?" He looked over towards his friend, George, who was unmounting a horse.

"George? I thought I told you to stay at the castle." He murmured. George stepped closer, brown eyes holding a mixture of fear and sadness.

"Dream, I know you did something to Tommy. I want to know what you did, or I cant follow you anymore." George demanded, but still seemed sincere as he spoke. But Dream felt shock course through him. "So, what did you do to him, Dream?" The two stared into one another's eyes for a moment before the king looked away, defeated.

"I gave him the potion I had you get one of his feathers for, but I also slipped another in that one as well." George felt angry, but tried not to show it to the other. "I put him under a trance of sorts, one that will keep him on my side."

"You cant be serious, Dream! You took away his free will?" The humans fists balled, anger implanted in every word he spoke.

"I did what was necessary, Geor-" George got in the other's face, fuming in anger.

"No, what you did was selfish, Dream. Tommy is a living breathing human and you just stripped that away from him when you messed with his fucking mind." Dream looked away, green eyes clouding at Georges words. "I swear to the gods above, you better take Tommy off of that spell when we find whatever it is we are looking for, or just like Sapnap and Karl, Im leaving." And with that, his general left, remounting his horse and giving the king one last dirty glare before leaving. Dreams fists balled, what was he to do? Everything seemed to be crumbling before him with no hope of him ever being able to fix it.