Songbirds (FTO Fanfic)

Ori's POV (Flashback)

I'm not going out like this, you thought repeatedly. But no matter how many times you said it to yourself, with every beat of your heart, your vision faded. The stars of the night sky soon became your only indicator of consciousness, and even then they were vague. Your mind begged to drift to different thoughts to dampen your unbearable pain, but you knew that if you allowed that then death would slip its cold embrace around you.

I'm not going out like this.

And yet, in due time, your eyelids ever so slowly grew heavier. They pressed down like bricks on a window, and with each added brick the window cracked.

I'm not going out like this.

The stars became near invisible, and your brain started to force memories into the forefront of your mind. Peaceful times, in which you were laying down, not in pain, but in bliss. Pure, sweet bliss, something you craved with every minute you sat there on the ground, bleeding out.

And more bricks were added to the window.

I'm not going out like this.

You heard two people in the distance, walking and chatting. You didn't think much of it, even when their voices got louder and louder. You couldn't see the stars anymore, and as one of them yelled in distress about the sight of the disaster, you finally closed your eyes and let whatever your subconscious wanted to do. The last thing you heard was someone approaching you, asking if you were okay, but you didn't respond.

You let your memories take you away to a time not that long ago, and bathed in the warm feeling it gave you. Almost like sunlight on your skin- and a breeze flowing over you, ever so gently, brushing your hair in your face. Grass tickling your skin, the blades flowing in the soft winds...

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The birds chirped in the willow tree as you lay under its shady leaves, the wind blowing its cool touch over you. The faded noises of the fields ahead of you swayed in harmony, a melody of nature at its finest. You lay just infront of the tree, at its base, resting your arms against your chest, eyes closed, letting the world sink into you. In the distance, fellow guildmates ran about the guildhall, but their shouts and yells were nonexistent in your world. All you wanted to do was tune into mother nature's orchestra, and that you did, until...

"Ori? Orriii, where are ya?"

Oh dear gods, who came looking for you now?

"Ori, if you're hiding in the fields, you know that I could find you, right?"

Oh gods it was Jacqueline.

"Ori? There ya are, I've been looking all over the guild for you- are you alright? You're kinda just laying there and it scares me, usually you're out and about the guild-"

You sat up, turning to him as he rambled on. It honestly amazed you how much he could talk. You waved your hand to signal that he had your attention, but he just kept on going.

"-Ya know, I heard you were going to Atlantide. Merlin says she's been there, and that it's really pretty, and I've always wanted to go. Maybe you could like- take a picture or something- you can draw right? Xerin says you can draw, but I've never seen you do it before-"

"Jacqueline," you signed, but he still went on.

"-And ya know, he tends to do that. Bad habit of his, it's how you can tell he's lying. But yeah, if you could give some sort of description, that would be great. Captain said that I'm not very diplomatic, so I can't go, which I kinda see but it also hurts, I can be diplomatic-"