Royal

You Will See Me Fly

I lean against the tree and stare up at the night sky. I listen to the hoarse sounds of Peter's struggling breath and my eyes trail over to his unconscious form. It's been a few days now. There has been no sign of Brendon's return and Peter has taken a turn for the worse. The food rations are running low and I fear the one horse I have left is falling ill.

My stomach rumbles with hunger again and I pull my knees up to my chest and hug them closely. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a fate, I was kind to my people. Tried to mend every thing my father had caused and yet here I am slowly starving to death with my love in the forest.

I take a deep breath and on the exhale my breath emits like a fog. The nights have fallen cold, the leaves beginning to change colour and some drop to the forest floor. Autumn has begun to set in and soon the snow will follow. When that happens there is no way one small fire will save us from the deathly grips of the cold. Even now under every blanket that remains Peter's fingers remain ice cold to the touch.

I gaze up at the stars yet again and sigh. "If this is how it is meant to end just please send me a sign. I don't know how to carry on like this another day." A tear streaks down my face and I close my eyes and wipe them away with cold hands. I fear Brendon has left me for dead. Or possibly has been killed for his efforts along the way to find help. In any case I don't believe I will ever see him again for he has been gone for too long. I look over at my horse. Who lazily nibbles at the grass and then at Peter.

I know the only way for me to get out of here is to leave Peter behind. For moving him in anyway would surely kill him. I run a hand through my hair and tug on the ends lightly. I sigh and slump over onto the ground shuffling as close as I dare to the warm fire. I let the peacefulness of sleep overtake my worried bones and fall into a dreamless state.

When I awake my body feels frozen. The morning light illuminates the frozen grass around me and the once healthy fire is now nothing more then ash. My teeth chatter as I sit up. I rub my arms to try to get warmth circulating once again. I grab the nearby firewood supply I gathered the past few days and try desperately to get the fire going once again. I curse at my numb fingers for bumbling over the simplest of tasks.

I curse at it and throw the sticks down in a rage. I turn toward Peter and stop dead in my tracks. His chest no longer moves and his breath has stopped. I rush to him and fall to my knees by his side. I touch his cheek and the skin is cold and hard.
"No no no no. Please no." I cry and I grip onto his shoulders but his entire body has gone stiff. I scream into the forest as pain rips through my body as I hold my lover in my arms. I curse to the sky for ever doing something like this to me.

I spend the day just holding onto Peter but my heart knows that it is no longer him. Just simply who he used to be and now everything I know and loved has left his body and is gone. When night falls and the cold sets in I don't reach for warmth. Instead I lean back against a tree and pull Peter into my arms. Close my eyes and let the darkness take me with him.

.
.
.

When I open my eyes everything feels different. Shifted in a way I can't quite put a finger on. The air is warm and humid I lay on the ground staring up at a bright blue sky I do not recognize surrounded by plants I am unfamiliar with. When I stand the plants are taller then I am. I take a few shaky steps out of the field I seem to be in and on the way notice my clothes have been changed. When I emerge a small house stands before me which I have never before seen in my life. But a woman sits there on the porch with needle work in her hands and streaks of grey in her hair.

"Patrick! What are you doing out in the corn field dear? Nightfall is nearly upon us come wash up in the house son."

Confusion floods me as she says this to me but she looks at me with fondness and my heart swells with the feeling. I never had a mother's love but somehow this feels like I have stepped into the shoes of a strangers life.

This woman gives me a fresh set of clothes feeds me and sends me up to a room that is quite small. It has a desk littered with drawing tools and a bed leaving barely enough space to stand.

Hand drawn portraits scatter the walls all I assume made by the hand of the person who lives in this room. Somehow seeming to be me. I scratch my head and sit on the bed and sigh. When night falls I sneak out from the house and take a walk across the plains. Soon finding a small forest. I walk through it and it feels so familiar that my chest aches as I walk along the river bed.

Suddenly I feel a tune spring into my head and unlike me at all I start to sing it. I feel like a foreigner in this body that has its own skills and habits. But the tune is easy and sweet and I happily sing it. I find a tree by the river and lean against it and sing my song.

I fall into the ease of the sounds of the night. An owl near by hoots, crickets and cicadas chirp and buzz and the water flows swiftly down the river. Perhaps this has been a second chance at life, a new one where no one hunts for my head or curses my families name.

Suddenly I hear the flapping of wings and I look up to see a figure standing in the shadows with huge white wings spread out behind them. I stop singing immediately and scramble up to my feet.

"I know that you do not know me. But I have felt drawn to your presence since the first time I heard you sing. Who are you?" The person asks and steps out from the shadows and into the moonlight. I gasp and I feel the air leave my body as in front of me, with huge white wings and curious hazelle eyes stands...

Peter.

The End.

Authors note:
Hey everyone. No I'm not dead, it has been so long since I've visited this story and last night I had a dream about it and merging it with another story of mine. So for those of you who have never read it I'm Onto You is now the official sequel of this story! So please go give it a read.

I hope you all have loved reading this as much as I have writing it.

-madicat