Book One: Lost and Found: An Angry Birds Fanfic

Chapter Twenty-Five: Draven

"Tamahara!" The light green guard sternly demands the princess, despite his unreadable expression.
He's covered in armor and a helmet as he stands upright and straight, a sword at his side.
"Just a few more minutes, please," Tamahara begs him.
The guard looks back at the large ship, which stands out against the dark, night sky. He looks back at Tamahara with the same unreadable face.
"Be quick," the guard snaps.
She faces us, looking at each of us individually.
Except me.
Which makes me feel horrible, as if I did something wrong, which I more than likely have and without knowing, but if I did, she would've told me by now.
She would've... right?
"I don't want to leave," she tells us, her eyes glistening with tears. Her voice is filled with desperation and sadness, as if she's longing for another way to make this all work. "You guys have become really close to me, and you made me realize there is so much more to life than royalty and fame. I want to thank you for that. Also, I,um... I need to apologize."
Tamahara sighs sadly as I look at Joetta, who gives me the same confused look as she shrugs her shoulders.
"I treated you all like crap, I put you down and looked down at you only because I was feeling inferior to all of you," Tamahara starts, her eyes settling on each of us, except she still doesn't look at me, which stirs worry inside of me.
She hates me, I know she does.
"I'm sorry," Tamahara apologizes.
Suddenly, she runs straight to us.
Us as in all the birds to the right of me, leaving me to feel awkwardly left out, but for some reason, I didn't mind a whole lot.
"I'm gonna miss you guys," she cries, as she hugs every bird, even the birds she just met today, who I know are Crimson, Bomb, Matilda, and Terence, but the yellow weird bird and the red guy I don't know.
That red guy, just geez, he needs like extreme chill pills, literally.
She hugs each of them delicately, as if she's afraid they'll break or fall and crumble away out of her life.
I stand there, watching, waiting for her to come to me as the worry grows thicker in my gut to the point where I feel like I'm gonna puke.
Maybe she won't even say anything to me. Maybe she won't hug me. Maybe she really does hate me.
As soon as she hugs Joetta, Tamahara turns to me, and immediately starts to cry harder and she embraces me into a hug so tight, my back and ribs crack.
Why is she so strong?
That's one thing I'll never understand, how she's extremely strong.
I notice Joetta usher the others away from us, leaving us to ourselves as Tamahara sobs into my shoulder, making me wrap my wings around her as I gasp for air.
"I'm gonna miss you the most," she says quietly through sobs.
I couldn't say anything. I don't know why, but it's like my beak is glued shut, and I know she wants me to say something.
But words refuse to come out.
"I'm sorry," Tamahara whispers as she lets go of me and immediately turns away, not looking into my eyes as she walks to the guard.
I finally catch my breath, only to have nothing to say.
No, no, no.
I don't know why, but I feel like crying, I feel like convincing her to stay, I want to say something, I want to grab her wing and dance with her one more time, but I can't, something's holding me back.
"I'm so sorry," Tamahara cries, looking back at us.
Then, she finally makes eye contact with me, making my chest tighten inside with pain.
This isn't how it's supposed to be.
She's supposed to stay, and fight, but instead, she's being taken away by her parents' command.
A few tears slip from her dark, blue eyes before she follows the royal guard onto the large ship, which immediately starts moving and follows the other ships that were waiting a little ways away.
I shake my head, trying not to believe what's going on.
Tamahara is leaving.
For forever.
Tamahara's parents, the king and queen of Kaelon Island, sent out half the navy force to find her, going from island to island, asking birds if they've seen her or knew where she went. They kept searching and trying to find her, and eventually, they did.
Now, she's gone, just like that.
And here I am, standing at the edge of the rocky shore, looking like a fool as I stare after the ships, specifically the one Tamahara boarded, which grows smaller and smaller as the sky begins to grow lighter. The soft colors of purple, pink, and grey reflect off the ocean's surface, the clouds promising rain.
An unusual sadness fills me as I continue to stand there, staring at the ocean.
I miss Tamahara.
Yeah, we fought, argued, and talked trash about each other, but it was amusing in some ways, it's as if it was to happen for a reason. But when we weren't together, I felt like a part of me was missing, and I was bored every time she was gone.
Maybe it was just cuz it was really fun to annoy each other.
Is that it? Is it that we've gotten so used to each other's company that we had to anger each other? That's what any bird would do, right?
Just like how any bird would dance with another bird, in the middle of the village... on Christmas night... in the dark.
Okay, maybe not any bird would do that, but some would.
Besides, that's all we did was dance before we went to Joetta's hut and found Joetta, Hope, and Tori having a bonfire.
That night felt different, like I was in -no, I wasn't. But, I mean, if dancing with another bird is Tamahara's way of becoming friends, then I wouldn't have found it extremely fun, and I wouldn't have thought she was beautiful. If I was friends with her, then I wouldn't have argued with her and not danced with her, right?
Was I really... in love with her?
No, I'm not, I can't be.
I'm not even over Crimson, but I don't know if Tamahara and I are friends, or more than that.
I don't know anything anymore, except for the fact that my heart is torn between two birds.
And I also know I can't get that Christmas night out of my head.
Why? I have no idea.
Maybe it was the song, maybe it was cuz it was a holiday, maybe it was from eating too much, I don't know.
Or maybe it really was cuz of Tamahara, I mean, she did make me feel a little better. Actually, she made me feel a lot better. She even got my mind off of Crimson and that Bomb guy for that night and a little while after that, until Crimson ran into me.
Speaking of Crimson, before Tamahara was taken away, Crimson was literally flirting with Bomb, and was really grabby with him, like she would grab his wing, or she would hug him, and honestly I didn't understand why at that time, until she said something about drowning in happiness.
Then, I remembered the promise I made.
"You wanna know something? It really hurts to see the bird you love, loving some bird else," I started. Pain filled the inside of me because I knew Crimson didn't really care, but I kept talking anyways."But that's okay, cuz I made promise that as long as you're happy, I'm happy, and if you being with him makes you happy, then guess what? I'm happy for you."
It really flockin' hurt when Crimson told me I wasn't enough to make her stay, but it hurts worse whenever I see her with him.
She's so happy and jittery when she's with him, and he's the same way, except he's way more nervous.
That's what I've noticed about Bomb, he's nervous all the time, and he's always looking like he did something wrong, and it makes me want to go up to him  and say 'chillax', but at the same time, I don't know how strong he is, and I don't wanna get beat up.
He probably knows what I did, Crimson probably told him about me destroying the islands, and every other little bad thing about me. That's what she does. When Crimson hates a bird, she talks about the negative things they've done and forgets the good qualities. She's ranted about a lot of birds to me before, saying all these things about them that really don't matter, and I knew some of the things she would say would just be fake news or her opinion twisted into a stupid story.
Which makes me wonder if our love was even real, if her feelings, words, hugs were real. Hell, was our first kiss real? I mean, yeah it happened, but did Crimson truly mean all those "I love you's" that she told me? Did she really mean it when she said she'd love me forever? Cuz right now, forever is over between us, and it's all obviously nothing to her, since she's in love with another bird now.
"Hey, Draven, are you okay?" Hope's voice rattles me out of my thoughts.
Surprisingly, I didn't get startled.
"Honestly, I don't even know anymore," I admit, not turning back to look at her. I never noticed that the other birds left, which I'm guessing was hours ago due to the stormy sunrise that is breaking through the once night sky.
"Well," she starts as she comes up beside me. "First, we told all the birds about the pigs, so they're all preparing and second, Tamahara left this for you. It was sitting on the table."
So she did have something to tell me other than 'I'm sorry.'
She hands me a tan-ish piece of paper with my name written on it.
Her writing is so perfect.
The way she wrote my name, it was as if she wrote delicately, taking her time to get each little swirl and line right.
"I'm heading back if you wanna join me," Hope tells me as I stare at the folded paper, which actually has a little weight and thickness to it for some reason.
"I'll catch up with ya later," I answer her, wanting to be left alone.
"Okay," she says as she walks away.
I turn around for a moment.
"Hey Hope," I call out to the turquoise bird.
"Yeah?" She turns to face me.
"Thanks," I tell her, forcing a smile to my face. It hurts to force it because it's fake.
Just like Crimson and mine's love story.
Hope just smiles back.
"Anytime," she answers as she salutes me before turning around.
I turn around as well, averting my eyes back towards the paper with my name on it.
Why did she write a letter? Did she know her parents were trying to find her? Is she saying that she'll be back?
After a few moments of thinking, I carefully unfold the letter, and a few pictures slide into my wing.
Another pang of sadness hits me as I barely look at the photographs.
I'll look at those in a moment.
With a shaky wing and a worried filled heart, I read the letter.
Dear Draven,
     I had no idea my parents were trying to find me, if I did, then I wouldn't have stayed. I wouldn't have talked to any bird, specifically you. I know you hate me, and I know that I annoyed you, a lot, but when I first met you, something clicked. It was as if you're, I don't know, 'The One.' Sorry if that sounds crazy, but I just felt that way. And I can't stop thinking about that Christmas night, I mean, it felt... right. But I found out you liked Crimson, so I backed off and respected your feelings, and decided not to tell you how I feel, even though I was hanging off of you almost every single second of the day. Literally.
Wait, how did she find out that I like Crimson? Well, I don't so much love her anymore, it's just that I'm not over her, if that makes any sense.
I just shake my head and continue reading.
"I wanted to be more than friends, but if that's all we're gonna be, then I'd be more than happy to be friends with you, even though it would probably kill me, but that's okay. I'll find a way to get back to you, and I don't mean over mail, I mean that I'll find a way to get back to Joetta's hut to see you sleeping and cuddling a pillow. By the way, you look really cute when you sleep. Sorry, I had to. I'm laughing right now but I'm also crying and too many emotions are filling me, and sorry, I'm sorry. Just promise me you won't forget me. Okay?
     Love,
          Tamahara
P. S. I took some of the pictures, so did Joetta and a few other birds. BUT LOOK AT THE ONE OF YOU SLEEPING! Sorry, you just looked adorable. Sorry! Gah, I've gotta stop obsessing over stuff like that. (Like that'll happen any time soon:)
I shake my head and laugh a bit.
I read the letter one more time, carefully taking in how she wrote each letter, just like my name. Delicately. And her writing kinda looks italicized.
"Oh Tamahara," I laugh as I avert my attention to the five pictures. "I'll never forget you."
One is of me and Tamahara arguing when we first arrived, just some time before Christmas. The picture was taken from above.
What the pluck?
Oh wait, Lolan was in a tree that night waiting for Crimson, so she probably took it.
I was practically towering over Tamahara as we yelled at each other, and I was trying so hard not to pick her up and throw her in the water.
I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but she was kinda cute when she got angry, I mean, I love how she would try to act scary, which in most cases she can be, but when I first met her, she didn't scare me at all. That was until she punched me in the gut so hard I threw up for the next three days straight.
The second picture is of Tamahara and me, again, when we were dancing. I'm assuming this was taken by the bird who put the spotlight on us.
Boy, does Tamahara look pretty in this one. Curled head feathers, sparkling eyes, beautiful smile. Hell, I can hear her laughter in this picture.
I can't help but smile a little as I look at the next one, which, once again, had Tamahara and me, her head on my shoulder as we nodded off to sleep, sitting on that old wooden bench. We were at Joetta's bonfire that same night and Tamahara said she felt cold.
"Does any bird else think it's cold?" Tamahara asked as she sat beside me and hugged my wing.
I only sighed in response.
"Yeah, it kinda is," Hope said. "But I don't mind."
"You guys think it's cold?" Tori exclaimed in shock.
"Well, it is not bad, but it is not a comfortable temperature," Joetta explained as she stoked the fire. "But it is always this cold at night around this time of year."
Annoyance filled me as I rolled my eyes, irritated with the complaints and remarks.
"Hang on," I told them as I gently pulled myself away from Tamahara and walked into Joetta's hut.
I felt the wall for a switch, and flicked the light on, and walked over to the couch and grabbed whatever blankets there were before strolling back out.
"Here you go," I mumbled to each bird as I handed out the blankets to each of them. Even though Tori said she didn't want one, I gave her one anyways, which, eventually she was thankful for.
She told me so too.
"Thanks," Tamahara told me with a smile, taking the brown blanket and wrapping herself in it as I sat back down on the bench next to her.
"Yup," I responded as I stared into the fire, watching it lick the wood with ease.
While they talked, I started to feel a little cold and tired, but I didn't want to be rude and leave. I shivered a bit as I leaned back in the bench and felt my eyes droop for a moment before jerking myself awake.
"Draven? You cold?" Tamahara asked me, sleepiness filled her voice.
I shook my head.
"But you're shivering," she pointed out.
"I'm fine, really," I assured her as I kept my gaze on the fire, forcing myself to not let my teeth chatter.
"No, you're not," she argued quietly.
I really wasn't in the mood to fight, so I gave in.
"Yeah, I actually am cold," I admitted to her.
"You're so stubborn," Tamahara laughed as she reached over and wrapped the blanket around the both of us, making me widen my eyes in shock. Never in the longest time has any bird shared anything with me, which I don't blame them for.
The blanket was warm and I could smell Tamahara's perfume on it, it's some warm autumn vanilla scent that she recently bought. "Is this fine or no?"
"Yeah, this is fine," I assured her as I looked at her with a small smile.
She gave me a sleepy smile and yawned before she rested her head on my shoulder.
"Sorry I'm just feeling a bit tired," she told me quietly as her eyes slowly closed.
"It's fine," I assure her as I felt sleep overtaking me. I wrapped a wing around her to pull her closer to me, which she willingly accepted and snuggled into my embrace.
I didn't mind too much honestly, I mean, I rested my head on top of hers.
Before I actually fell asleep, I grabbed Tamara's wing with my free wing and we intertwined our fingers, making me smirk a little as she snuggled even closer to me, sighing.
The picture was taken when we were both asleep, holding onto each other not dramatically but enough to show that we're close, even though we're only friends.
I go to the next picture and groan in annoyance.
Tamahara took a selfie with me while I was sleeping, cuddling a pillow, and I was actually smiling a little. Also, I realize that I was sleeping with the same blanket we shared during the bonfire. I couldn't get over that scent of her perfume, and I still can't.
Honestly, I don't think I ever will.
I can tell that she was laughing when she took it. She's covering her beak with a pillow and her eyes are smiling from her cheeks.
Something tells me that she wrote something on the back it so I flip the picture over and find a little message.
'I TOLD YOU THAT YOU LOOK SO ADORABLY CUTE WHEN YOU SLEEP!'
I roll my eyes and laugh as I go to the next picture, which kills my small moment of happiness.
The last picture was of Tamahara squeezing me to death in those hugs of hers. My eyes were wide, and I wasn't real happy cuz she just tackled me with it.
The sadness comes back as I realized that just a few hours ago, that hug we shared, could've been our last hug.
My smile fades as I avert my eyes back to the ocean, its waves gradually getting larger as gray clouds drive away the sunrise, brewing a storm.
If we're just friends, why am I feeling so much? Why do I miss her? Why do I wanna drown myself in a bottle of that perfume she uses? Why does she make me smile?
The realization hits me.
I love her.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of everything.
I'm not over Crimson, but yet I'm in love with another bird. Is that even possible?
I feel like crying, I feel like screaming, I feel like breaking things.
I need Tamahara, she would turn my tears to laughter, she would turn my random screams to screams of her name, and she would always have me holding her instead of breaking something.
Tamahara made sure I turned out to be a self-controlled bird, instead of being the bird I was before, destroying lives to protect one.
Crimson's life.
While the other birds ran away from me or glared at me, Tamahara would always be there, laughing and holding onto me, smiling without a care in the world. I started to give up on myself, but Tamahara didn't allow that to happen, because she believes in me.
It was a few moments after I gave her the bracelet that we had a conversation that will forever change my life.
"Tamahara, I don't think I can do this anymore," I admitted to her as we sat on the couch, while every bird else was getting ready for the festival.
"You don't think you can do what anymore?" Tamahara calmly asked me.
I sighed as I held my head in my wings.
"I can't keep living with the guilt of tearing apart families. I can't keep living with the thought of knowing every bird hates me. I can't keep living like a hopeless, angry wreck with no thought of what I'm doing," I explained as I tried to keep the tears in. "I'm surprised that you've been beside me this whole time."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" She asked me.
I paused for a moment, trying to decide whether or not I should tell her.
"You're gonna hate me," I told her as I turned myself away from her a bit.
"Only if you eat my food," she snorted, making me laugh internally for a bit. "But seriously, I won't hate you."
I sighed as I put my wings down and explained being captured during the war and being put on that prison island, where I formally met Crimson because I've only known of Crimson as her royal position of a princess. I didn't tell Tamahara of how I fell in love with the red female bird. But I explained what I did to protect Crimson by working for the pigs and annihilating islands and raiding huts, taking whatever we found useful. I told her about how Crimson walked out of my life when she found out, which tore me apart because she was the only bird who understood me. Then, I explained how I got recaptured when I ran away from the island, and was kept prisoner, before I met Tamahara.
"So, do you hate me?" I sighed, still not looking at Tamahara.
"No," she answered.
Shock filled me as whipped my head around to face the princess.
"What?" I gasped.
"I don't hate you, I'm just not fond of the things you did. But, will that make me stop being your friend? No, it won't, and it won't make me stop caring about you," Tamahara explained calmly. "And Draven, if you're still not over this pain, that's okay. You're not gonna be able to forget and move on from something overnight, it's gonna take time."
My beak dropped a bit in shock as I blinked back tears.
Tamahara sympathetically smiled at me as she continued.
"It's just goes along with loving a bird," she told me as she gently grabbed my wing and held it. "You can't forget the memories you made. You can't forget the feelings you felt. You can't forget the bird you love most because they've left an impression on you that will never fade."
I was amazed by what she said, it was as if she understood everything I was feeling, and I didn't even tell her everything.
"You can trust me when I say that," she told me as she hugged me.
And that's when I cried.
A real hug, something I hadn't received in a long time.
"I'll always be by your side," she whispered to me as she pulled me back and raked my head feathers out of my face to wipe my tears away. "That's a promise I'll never break."
I look down at the picture of Tamahara hugging me, and smile as tears come to my eyes.
"Tamahara, I'll always find a way to get back to you," I say aloud. "And that's a promise I'll never break."
I pause for a moment to take a deep breath as I look up and out to the ocean, where I last saw Tamara's boat.
"Because I love you."