~ Soul Bound ~ { A Scarian/Double Life Fanfic}

Chapter 18

      Everything hurt.

      And he meant everything. Grian's entire body felt sore, and he could barely lift his head. He heard footsteps and murmured voices, but all of it was.. fuzzy. Like hearing someone speak through water.
"Scar?" He croaked out, blinking to clear his eyes. Worried green eyes appeared above him. "Oh, Grian! Thank goodness! I was worried the last time you woke up an-" the brunette was clearing rambling, his hands fidgeting nervously. The blonde chuckled drily. "What happened?" he asked, confused. All he could remember was being at the picnic, talking with Scar. If he squinted, he could slightly remember a flash of silver and a world of hurt. Suddenly he was reminded of his wing. He looked over at it, and gasped.
It was wrapped in a bandage, but he could clearly see it wasn't it's normal red, blue, and yellow colors. It was gray, as if the color had been sucked out of it. Tears threatened his eyes, and he turned to Scar. The hybrids voice cracked. "W-what happened?"
      Scar almost broke down crying right there. The poor Avian's beautiful black eyes were littered with tears, and he was obviously heartbroken about his wings. Aves has explained earlier that an Avian's wings were their pride and joy. Scar looked away. I'd he kept eye contact with his friend, he was sure he'd break down. "There was... an attack," he manger to choke out. God, why couldn't he protect the people important to him? His very best friend was sitting there, hurt and crying. He'd failed him, simple as that. Grian didn't deserve such pain.
      Grian was still trying to process his mangled wing. "An...attack?" He tilted his head, confused, his pain briefly forgotten. Aves answered. "Scar said someone shot you with an arrow. He didn't see anything other than silver hair, though." She leaned in to whisper in Grian's ear. "Scars really beating himself up about it. Maybe you can cheer him up?" The blonde nodded vigorously, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed through his wing.
      "Hey, Scar?" The winged man questioned, tilting his head as the brunette turned toward him. "Thanks for bringing me back. I know I must've weighed a ton, so yeah. I'm glad you were there to help me." The elf looked away again, tears in his eyes. "But I couldn't protect you. I messed up, and now your hurt, and-" he was interrupted as he felt arms around his waist. The Avian, skinny and pale, was hugging him with his face buried in the taller's side. The businessman smiled slightly, bending down to hug him back.
      "A wise person once told me that you can't fix everything," the smaller commented quietly. "We'll figure all this out when the war is over. Then you can get all the revenge you want. Just stay focused until it's all done, okay? Do it for me." The other just nodded, rubbing the parrot-like man's head. "Alright then. Get some more rest. You'll need it." Bleary eyed, the shorter nodded, and fell asleep on his bed in moments."
      Scar turned to Aves. "He will get better, right?" The elf questioned anxiously. Aves stayed quiet for a moment. "I don't know. We can only hope." Too tired to argue, the bigger nodded, and settled next to Grian's bedside.

                                             ...

      The hybrid awoke again, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around confusedly until what had happened came back to him. He sighed. Scar was bound to be upset, and it was all his fault.
      Speaking of the elf, Grian glanced around the room for him, then glanced to his side. The man was fast asleep, snoring softly with his hand on the smaller's. "Oh, Scar..." the other said softly, his heart aching. Why did love have to be so difficult? He could never be with Scar, no matter how much he wanted to. Avian and elf relationships were usually frowned upon, and with the war it would only make things worse. Suddenly he couldn't take it anymore. The thought of being without Scar broke his heart. He started crying quietly, looking down at his hands. Just then, the brunette woke up groggily, instantly snapping to attention when he saw his friend crying.
      "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He questioned, taking Grian's face in his hand. The blonde sniffled, rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I shouldn't be crying over silly things anyway."
The other shook his head. "Hey. Emotions are a natural part of life. Your feelings aren't silly, they're valid. If something is upsetting you, don't ever feel like you can't talk to me. I'll always be here to listen and support you." The older finished confidently.
      And oh, how Grian wanted to believe it. He couldn't say anything to Scar, of course, but inside he knew that just wasn't true. He looked toward the window, where Wander was perching as he squawked at Jellie. "Thanks, Scar. That means a lot to me," he said, turning back to his friend. "I'm glad I have someone like you," even if it's not forever, he added in his head. Scar nodded. "Of course. Your my best friend, i could never leave you,"
      Aves walked in, turning toward the two guys. "Sorry to interrupt, but I've got some news. We've sent a letter to the elves, and they've responded. Unfortunately, they didn't accept our peace treaty. We'll be meeting with the other Avian towns soon to discuss. I'll update you when we get more info," she announced, then left again, but not before signaling Scar to come meet her. "I'll be right back," he said fake-cheerfully to Grian, before heading out behind Aves.
      "We've identified the archer that shot Grian," she said slowly, as if she didn't know quite how to word it. Scar immediately listened close. "But, we'll, it's not who we expected. Turns out the silver hair you saw was part of a disguise so they couldn't be detected. One of our scientists ran tests on the arrow that was in Grian's wing, though, and it turns out the fingerprints match someone's in this berry bunker."
      Scar's eyes darkened. "Who was it? Who shot him?"
      Aves took a deep breath. "The fingerprints... we're Pearl's."

Decided to give you guys a quality twist as a Christmas present... hope you liked it >:) Thanks for all the reads, hope you have a good Christmas <3