Featherweight - Hermitcraft AU

3

Grian was in pain. Well, he was more sore than pained. It was similar to the type of soreness one gets the day after working out. It was pretty annoying, but he was sure it would go away.

He dragged his feet up the stairs and into his bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and sat on the edge of his bed for a moment before carefully removing his sweater and shirt. Almost instantly, he felt better. The wings, as tiny as they were, had major cramps. He stretched them out and let out a relieved sigh.

Grian stood up and once again walked into his bathroom to look at his wings. He realized he had left the light on the night before, but that didn't concern him at the moment. As he stepped over to the sink and mirror, he had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't going crazy. The wings looked bigger. Not significantly, but just enough that it was noticeable. He hopped up on the counter and set his feet in the sink.

Grian just sat there and stared at his little fluttering feathers for what must have been a full five minutes. Finally, he shook his head and looked away, examining his skin instead. His arms and torso were covered with scars in all shapes and sizes. He focused on a particularly nasty one on his right shoulder. He didn't like some of the memories associated with his marks.

Grian moved his left hand onto the scarred shoulder, shaking his head, as if doing so could clear his mind like an Etch-A-Sketch.

There's a reason why I wear a sweater all the time , he thought to himself as he slid himself off the counter.

The feathers ever so often would graze his back. It felt so strange, so foreign. He couldn't rationalize them as a part of his body.

"They'll be gone one day." He said out loud to nobody.

Sometimes the mansion felt so empty. But Grian never felt lonelier than when he looked at the lilac feathers. They were almost the same colour as an elytra, and had the same shimmer and soft-hued glow as an enchanted one. The man looked away from the mirror and left the bathroom, switching off the light on the way out.

His room was cold, but he didn't want to put on a shirt and cause the soreness to return. Grian guessed he'd just sleep cold. It was pretty late, and he was pretty tired, so he changed into a pair of sleep shorts and climbed into his bed.

He laid down on his stomach, resting his head on his folded arms on his pillow. He stretched his wings again. At least that felt good.

Grian felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier until he finally slipped into the sweet bliss of dreaming.

He didn't know where he was.

Everything was dark, and he felt so cold.

Sitting on the hard floor, he felt so alone. So empty.

He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his feet were bare. He had on a pair of trousers, thankfully. He went to stand up when a foreign weight made itself known on his back. He reached his hand over his shoulder to feel something big, soft, and feathery.

In a moment of realization, he felt a pit in his stomach. He opened up the wings, and they gave off a very soft and subtle glow. It was a blue-ish purple glow, and made him feel even more cold.

The wings were huge. He could move them with the same ease as moving his arms or legs.

They were a part of him.

His heart-rate quickened as he thought this notion.

The wings were a part of his body, and there was nothing he could do.

He quickly folded them against his back.

They scared him.

They weighed him down.

They...hurt...

Why did they hurt so much? They weren't confined underneath any clothing. The only thing that was suffocating was the thick darkness around him.

He opened up his wings again, and used the soft aura to help him see. It did little help, but at least he now knew that it seemed to be void surrounding him.

The blue-violet glow allowed him to at least see himself.

He looked down at his hands and gasped.

Instead of hands, he had sharp, bird-like talons.

His arms were covered in feathers.

He brought his taloned-hand up to his face, and felt a beak where his mouth should be.

No, not a bird-

Anything but a bird-

He hated birds.