Hopeless Rebels

Attempt At It

"Hululanu!"

She looked up and hummed an answer. "Hm?"

Virland was flying towards her, his wings flapping to keep himself upright. Running behind him was a small male country, holding his hand out. The unfamiliar country's flag was made up of blues and a pale purple, his eyes a dark blue. But Hululanu noticed scars running through his eyes, causing two almost white spots in his eyes with one on each eye. Virland swooped down low, his legs running towards her before he even touched the ground. The small country who had been following him stopped worriedly.

"Starlin?" He asked.

Virland made an 'oh!' sound as if he just remembered something and ran back to the confused boy. Virland had one wing brush the other's shoulder as they walked over to Hululanu.

"This is Azurelan!" Virland said proudly. "He used to be allies with Starlin."

"I want to help him." Azurelan nodded firmly. "I want to help all of them too."

Hululanu blinked, recalling the photo she had earlier. "Oh- oh thank you."

She smiled at him, Azurelan just stared at her.

"He's blind." Virland explained, walking forward to stand beside Hululanu.

"How did you become blind?" Hululanu asked curiously.

Azurelan tilted his head. "In a fire trying to help Starlin the first time."

Virland and Hululanu shared an alarmed look, and Hululanu guessed Virland hadn't known.

"But I'm ready to try again." Azurelan went on, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I need to help him."

Hululanu put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll help them all."

Azurelan grinned, his expression lighting up as he cheerfully walked away. Hululanu's smile disappeared with a groan.

"...you don't know who to help them." Virland observed, his wings fluttering.

"No, I don't. You?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He stayed quiet with a thoughtful expression. He does. Hululanu sighed.

"You can't keep continuing on with those rescue missions, you're losing numbers." He looked away.

She glanced back up at him and saw that he was gazing at her intently, as if he was waiting for something. Hululanu shook her head.

"No. No, you are not sending your troops to help us." Hululanu grumbled.

He looked disappointed before he reached out a hand. "Come here."

Hululanu raised an eyebrow and took his hand. He pulled her closer, opening his wings and jumping into the air.

"Whoa-!" She yelped, but Virland held a finger up to his lips with a look of warning as he soared higher.

Hululanu rolled her eyes as he changed direction, flapping his wings towards the east side of the land.

"Okay you're flying me into enemy territory." She hissed quietly. "Do you want to get killed??"

Virland paused. "Would we get kidnapped or killed?"

"Kidnapped, tortured, then killed. In that order." She answered nonchalantly.

"Probably not worth it then."

"Exactly."

Virland flew a little higher before pointing down at the ground. She followed his gaze and flinched. A house was being burned, Tigereon soldiers pointing their guns as a threat to the Findonesians trying to flee the house. They shoved them back through the door as screams of fear and pain rose from the burning walls. Hululanu felt something splash onto her head and thought it was rain, but as she looked up, she saw tears streaming down Virland's face. He looked away, angling his wings to fly out of view of the house. Suddenly, something whisked past her face, barely missing her. She heard shouts coming from the ground and was horrified to see another arrow dart past them. 

"I told you!" She yelled.

Virland's face was filled with panic as he flapped his wings faster. Hululanu yelped as she felt pain shoot through her leg. The bloodied arrow fell to the ground, just grazing her. She winced, but felt the desperate beating of Virland's wings stop as he screamed in agony. Hululanu stiffened when she felt them plummeting down from the air, heading right towards the ocean. Virland's grip loosened as he let go of her, falling limp as blood splattered one of his wings. Hululanu quickly scrambled to reach out and grab his arm. She pulled him over to her, reaching out for the arrow stuck through his wing. She gripped onto it, yanking up abruptly. Virland's eyes shot open with a pained gasp before closing again.

* * *

"Virland!" Findonesli cried, watching from the small window as he saw his sister and Virland disappear under the waves. "Hululanu!"

Findonesli's hands shook as he let out a choked sob, leaning against the wall. He shook his head, gritting his teeth as he pulled himself up to the window. He tried pushing through the bars closing in the window, but he couldn't fit. Something lightly pricked his hand as he looked back at the bars. He gasped, pulling back when he saw branches trying to inch their way through. They grabbed onto the bars, straining with the effort to pull them apart. There was a small creak before they went still. Findonesli heard something thud behind him and saw Starlin on his knees, breathing heavily as he hung his head. Findonesli was aware of the power Starlin's wings gave him, the ability to control plants. But when his wings had been cut off, Findonesli thought his power had been taken away. Starlin shook his head and gripped onto the bars of his cell to support him as he stood up.

"Can you get through?" He breathed, his legs shaking slightly.

Findonesli looked back at the bars before trying once again to push himself through. He was very thin from Tigereon so called 'forgetting to feed him' everyday for a week at a time, but hey, it helped him squeeze through. He fell onto the dirt below the window, scrambling to his feet and peering back into the prison.

"Thank you! I'll come back for you I promise!" Findonesli couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face.

Starlin grinned at him, the weary look on his face giving way to a calm happiness. Hillaysi waved.

"If you forget about us, I'm gonna kill you." She joked, at least, Findonesli hoped she was joking.

He laughed nervously before turning to run towards the beach. He stumbled over his feet a bit, his sense of balance all over the place. The humans around him didn't acknowledge his existence, he had made himself invisible to them as all Countryhumans could do. Findonesli reached the sand, just in time to see Hululanu dragging Virland out of the water on the south side of the border. The safe side. Findonesli started to run over, when he felt something whack against his head. He was knocked to the side, crashing into the shallows of the beach. He sat up, not getting to take in any air before he was shoving back down again. He screamed, his voice muffled by the water as bubbles rose up around him. His lungs felt tight as he struggled to push himself out of the water. His struggles grew weak as he fell limp, his mouth slightly parted. Stars danced across his vision as everything grew silent.