The Brightest Of Wings

Falling star

-prologue-

Another day in the young prince Sirens life. He wakes up, he gets dressed and had breakfast, and then he does whatever his mother tells him to do and then does whatever he wants for 4 hours before he goes to sleep and then the whole thing repeats. Every day. Every week. Every year, until his mother dies or passes the crown and he becomes a king without a husband. Wouldn't that bore you to death? Everyone thinks, 'he's the happiest prince alive! He has everything and can do everything!' Well they're dead wrong. He's the unhappiest prince alive a prince who's bored as hell! Okay that was a little dramatic. Of course he's aware he could have things a lot worse than they are, but wouldn't you get bored too?

——

Siren trotted along his path, his bow and arrows strapped to his back and his hand fidgeting with an arrow. He whistled to himself a song his mother had sang to him when he was a child, he had remembered it recently and it's been stuck in his head for way too long since. He looked forwards. The forest he had been coming for wasn't too far away now. He had to travel pretty far to get here, considering he lived in the ice tribe and plants don't really survive well in cold weather, and it would've been way longer walking. He was just about in when a glint of gold from the corner of his eye stopped him. He backed up, looking up curiously. He was taken aback by what he saw. Siren stared at the gold star falling from the sky, his eyes wide with curiosity and wonder. Wait a second. That's not a star. "Oh shit!" Siren yelled, dropping his things and running. That wasn't a star, that was a person. Without thinking Siren spread his wings and jumped off the ground, reaching for them. A wave a relief washed over him once he held the person safely in his arms, and then a wave a panic came over once he saw he was landing for trees. He tossed and tumbled in the branches, holding tightly onto them to keep them from getting hurt. After that there was a slight drop and then he hit the ground with a thud, his breath being knocked out of him. He layed down, processing everything and trying to get himself to breath properly after that fall. "Jesus Christ.." he muttered, reaching back and touching his spine while he sat up. Well, at least he saved-

Siren was caught off guard seeing him. He quickly realized after seeing him that.. this was the most beautiful boy he had ever layed his eye upon. Siren reached over and tucked his fluffy hair behind his ear, his closed eyes now visible. He was gorgeous, Siren stared for awhile, not being able to take his eyes off him. He noticed a mark on his face, like he had been hit by something. It had probably been a branch. But either way my god was this boy engaging. What would you call it.. he was.. alluring? Snap out of it Siren! He shook his head and thought for a moment. Okay, he should probably check for injuries on the both of them. It would be pretty hard to check on him, he has a pretty covering outfit and it would just be weird if Siren was taking anything off. Personal boundaries!

Siren found out he had several scratches in different places, most likely a bruised spine, and some bruises along his legs and arms. He looked over at the boy, still unconscious. Well there is one thing he should check, his wings. Some peoples wings are tough and made for battle but some are more delicate, so he needed to check if they needed to be bandaged. He reached over and leaned the boy up, reaching over and gently opening his wing. Sirens eyes widened at what he saw. He had never seen anything like this. The boys wings glowed a light gold, mixes of red and yellow spotted on. They shimmered like snowflakes, or that might just be in Sirens eyes. "Ughhh.." He heard the boy groan in pain. Siren immediately stopped checking on his wings and held him in his arms, waiting for him to say something. "ꀘꋬꇙ ꓄꒤ ꏂꇙ꒐?" He asked groogily, and Siren had absolutely no idea what he said. "ꀘ꒤ꋪ ꒐ꋪ ꓄ꏂ꓄꒐ꇙ?" He asked, now sounding panicked. "I'm sorry! I don't know what your saying!" Siren said worryingly.
"ꂵꋬꂵꂵꋬ! ꓄ꏂ꓄꒐ꇙ! ꀘ꒤ꋪ ꒦꒐ꋊ꒐ ꒐ꋪ?!" He reached up and shook Siren a bit, worry filling his expression and his tone. "What are you saying??" Suddenly the boy had a look of realization. "꒒ꋬꃳ꒐.." he mumbled, and then he pulled Siren closer and kissed him. Wait. What? He pulled away and Siren sat there for a few moments, processing. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaa..." he spoke, his words dragging out. "Family!" He yelled, snapping Siren out of whatever trance he was in. "Dad! Dad! Mom!" Siren look at him in confusion while he panicked. He suddenly stood up, taking a second to stand there because his legs were wobbly, and then he took off running. "Hey wait!" Siren shouted, standing up and running after him. "Mom! Dad!" He yelled while he ran. Wow! For someone running in bare feet, he's really fast! They got into an opening in the forest and Siren saw him slow down a bit, and then he fell to his knees, covering his eyes with his hands. He was crying. "Hey.." Siren said quietly, walking over to him and sitting down. "Can you understand me?" He looked up, his bright yellow eyes running with tears. He nodded. "Where is your family?" Siren asked. That was when he had the most painful expression Siren had ever seen, it hurt him to see that. He covered his face with his hands again and sobbed. "U-Up! Clouds! I-In the clouds!" He said in a shaky voice. Siren looked confused. "They're.. dead?" He asked. The boy shook his head. "No! No! In the clouds! Sun!" Siren was still confused, and that's when he grabbed his shirt and pulled it off quickly. Siren covered his eyes, not wanting to be invasive of that or anything. Then he felt the boys hand on his wrist, gently pulling his hands off. "Sun! Sun Fairy!" the boy managed to get out, pointing to himself. On his chest there looked to be.. glowing.. markings? There was a sun-looking marking on his chest, and a lot of swirls running down his arms. There were some along his hands, but Siren hadn't seen due to his long sleeves. "I.. am Sun Fairy!" He said again. "What? Sun fairies don't even exist?" Siren said in confusion. "We do we do! Up there! Alone! Hidden!" The boy said, and Sirens eyes widened. "You mean there's a whole tribe up there? And we never noticed?" He nodded. Siren sat in thought for a moment. "Are there any other tribes up there?" The boy nodded, and put up three fingers. "Huh.." Siren said quietly. "Moon, Star, cloud." The boy listed. Both sat quietly for a moment, Siren was trying to process everything. "Well.. I don't think you can fly up there. That's a long flight, and nobody has ever done it." The boy burst out laughing at that, like Siren had said something idiotic. "Sky tribes.. tough wings." He said, trying to find the words. "They.. have different wings?" He nodded, but Siren was still confused. "Then.. why don't you just fly up there?" He then looked a bit sad, as if realizing something slowly. He extended his left wings to show Siren a mess of shackles and rope tying his wing. The sight was startling. "Huh?? Why didn't your parents take these off what the hell?" The reason he hadn't seen to at before was because of the long poncho he had been wearing, and the fact that Siren had only seen his right wing. "That's not healthy, you could loose your wings if you have that on too long. How long has that been on?" Kappa thought for a moment, and he looked down. "Two." He answered. "Two days?" Siren asked. "No. Weeks."

"What?! Weeks!? How are they still.. functional??" The boy smiled brightly. "Tough! Tough wings!" He said. Siren paused, but then he smiled. This made his life a bit interesting. "My name is Siren, what's yours?" Siren asked. "Kappa." He answered. Both just sat there for a few moments, wondering what to say. The silence was soon broken hearing Siren reached into his pocket for something. Kappa flinched back when he pulled out a knife. "I think I can get the rope off, then we'll just have to get the bindings off somehow." He settled a bit hearing that. "Could you turn around? I promise I won't hurt you." Slowly and hesitantly, Kappa turned around, lifting his left wings slightly for him. Siren gently held the rope in one hand and his knife in the other. Carefully, he began slowly sawing at the rope till it became loose. He cut some ropes before Kappas wings were free of them, still being held by a few bindings. There were some an the base of his wings that stopped him from spreading them out, and then there were some further along his wings. Although Kappas wings were indeed tough, trying to slip off the bindings would not be worth the risk. It could still damage them. Siren stared more at Kappas wings. the metal bindings were like nothing he'd ever seen, it wouldn't take just anything to break it. He sighed and lowered the knife, knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything about the bindings. "Well, I'm sorry I can't help you with that right now." Siren said. "It's okay" Kappa replied. He was silent for a bit, then he started playing with the ropes that had been cut from his wings. "Can you tell me more about the sky tribes?" He asked curiously, wanting to know more. Kappa smiled brightly, the sun glinting off his wings and the sky seeming to get brighter. He began to tell Siren all he knew in the best language he could manage, explaining how the three tribes interacted and how each tribe operated. He told him about the stories, the customs and traditions, the food and the lifestyle of each tribe. He explained how their wings were different, and how each tribe had unique traits. By the time Kappa finished, the sun began to set. Siren had so many questions, but he figured he'd save it for another time. He stood up and held out his hand for Kappa, who took it gently while a soft blush appeared on his face. He helped Kappa to his feet and handed him his shirt, which he put on with an embarrassed look. "I'm going to help you get those off." Siren told him, which he paused hearing those words. He looked at Siren, confused. "Why?" He asked. Siren smiled nervously at him. "I don't know. I guess I just want to." He said. Kappa tilted his head, still confused, but Siren changed the subject.

"I'll need to go and get some things I dropped, and I'll have to write something to my mom so she isn't worried, and I'll have to pack things for this." He said, brushing some dirt off his pants. "Come on Kappa, let's get going."

——

(I drew that💀)