Bird of a Wing - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

The royal triad flew for the rest of night, stopping around sunrise to let Ryraso look over Herymi and for the boys to eat some meat jerky. Aw'endo definitely needed a booster, the young k'nairi was tired. Ryraso didn't look at any of them as he worked to bandage up Herymi, the royal's watching him like hawks.
'I'll get Aw'endo to hook on my back for a bit,' Tai'ray murmured as he watched the boy drowsily eat. 'We'll stop as planned tonight tonight.' he added. It was an early stop as the royal triad could go further but Aw'endo would need the rest and unfortunately they couldn't stop for long just yet.
'You keeping Eyeri?' Nel'os asked, chewing on his own bit of jerky.
'I'm not sure me carrying Ryraso would go well at the moment,' Tai'ray pointed out sadly. Nel'os and Dyn'ad looked at Ryraso again and reluctantly agreed. Ryraso seemed willing to tolerate Nel'os, the scent of guilt coming off of Ryraso suggested it was for personal reasons, but none of them could see him reacting to Tai'ray carrying him very well. Dyn'ad was the only one of the three big enough to carry Herymi with enough support for his injuries. 'I better keep Eyeri for now. Enjoy having Ryraso."
Nel'os snorted, making the humans look over at them from where they had been murmuring, Aw'endo basically asleep on Eyeri's shoulder his wings cupped around his brother. 'Enjoy? Man's as stiff as stone at the moment. Hopefully after a few days of us not hurting him or Eyeri, Ry will loosen up for us again.' Nel'os mused sadly.
'Hopefully,' Dyn'ad echoed before standing up and moving to the small crowd. He ran a hand along Ryraso's shoulder and squeezed gently before helping Herymi back up off the ground. "Does anyone need the toilet before we set off again?" Dyn'ad asked calmly. Everyone shock their heads, it having been the first thing everyone had run off to do when landing. "Ok then, let's get moving," he said, patting Herymi on the shoulder in warning before gently picking him up again. Herymi grumbled but accepted the movement. Dyn'ad jumped in the air and started flying.
Tai'ray moved over and gently nudged Aw'endo. "Come on Aw'en," he murmured gently. "When we are up in the air, hook onto my back and get some rest, okay sweetheart?"
Aw'endo murmured a sleepy agreement before kissing Ryraso on the cheek and jumping up in the air, hovering high up waiting for Tai'ray. Tai'ray reached over to cup Ryraso's cheek but the man moved away, walking over to Nel'os. Nel'os lifted an eyebrow and turned him around, patting Ryraso's bottom.
'Nel...' Ryraso grumbled.
'Don't be a child,' Nel'os scolded through the link.
Ryrsao grimaced but moved back to Tai'ray. Eyeri watching the conversation with confused eyes, deaf to the link. Tai'ray reached over and hugged Ryraso, Ryraso clearly reluctant but he let it happen.
"You better look after my boy," Ryraso growled darkly in k'nairi so Eyeri didn't understand.
"I promise I will," Tai'ray swore, letting him go to catch Ryraso's hand and bring it to his mouth to kiss Ryraso's knuckles. "I want you Ryraso. I know hurting your little one is not the way to go for that. I will protect him as if he were your blood and kin."
"He might as well be," Ryraso said back sadly before pulling away and kissing Eyeri on the forehead.
Tai'ray let him go sadly. Nel'os was right, this was going to take some time before Ryraso trusted that his apprentice was indeed safe. Once Ryraso trusted that however, that's when they would get a shot at getting the man's heart back where it belonged, with them.
They had been in the air for a while when Tai'ray felt it. Aw'endo had already unhooked from Tai'ray's back and was flying on his own again, having managed to get a nap for an hour or two. He had been carrying Eyeri in his arms, on his chest, the boy clinging on tightly while also being very tense.
Tai'ray was not stupid, he understood why the boy was tense, but it was still unnerving to hold a child who was like that. They were flying fast and direct with Aw'endo in the centre of the formation to keep him blocked from the wind so he could keep up with them. They could only really do it for one k'nairi and Aw'endo had plenty of practice from when he was learning to fly long distances.
A warm wet feeling grew on Tai'ray's stomach and groin. Eyeri inhaling sharply before somehow tensing up further. Tai'ray blinked twice before it hit him what had just happened. Disgust filled him for a brief moment before he shook the feeling off and focused on what to do next. Disgust was not going to help him in this situation, not with Eyeri already being justifiably scared of him. Tai'ray let out a growl and separated from the others, telling them over the link to keep going.
Eyeri had wet himself.
On the descent, Tai'ray quickly spotted a river and headed towards it, having a basic knowledge of the lands below. They were safe enough. "You, my boy, are very lucky," Tai'ray grumbled to the human child who was now hiding his face in Tai'ray's shoulder. Possibly crying given Tai'ray was feeling a wetness there too.
"Sorry," Eyeri let out.
Tai'ray hummed and nuzzled the boy with his cheek. This was not how he was planning this to go.
"You really should've just told me," Tai'ray scolded setting them down next to the river. "It would have been less embarrassing than this," he gestured downwards stepping back. Both of them had large wet patches and now they were no longer flying, the smell had also hit. The sharp, sickly smell of urine.
Eyeri bit his lip, eyes averted on the ground. His face was bright red, his eyes swollen with tears running down his face. He was trembling and stank of fear over the urine as well, his thighs pressed together timidly.
Tai'ray sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead, looking at the river. It wasn't the best thing, but he was not going to spend the rest of the day with wet or drying piss down him. Still he needed to gain the little human's trust and maybe this situation could be used to set some presets. Number one being, Tai'ray wasn't going to hurt the child for needing something.
"You got any soap in that bag of yours?" Tai'ray asked as he pulled off his cloak and set it to the side. He took off the several belts he had on which stored his stuff and put them on it as well, before kicking off his boots too.
"A bit," Eyeri admitted, before looking at the river warily.
Tai'ray wasn't happy about using the river either, it was going to be cold but it was better than nothing. "Strip down then," Tai'ray commented as he took his shirt off, grimacing at the smell. "By the looks of you, even your cloak is going to need a wash now," he scolded. He stole the boy's bag from him and quickly located the bar of soap, putting the bag with the rest of his stuff.
"I'd rather not..." Eyeri stammered.
"Trust me, I've seen what you have a thousand times over. There is no need to be embarrassed but we are having a wash," Tai'ray said drying, pulling his trousers off to wash as well.
Eyeri flushed but took his cape off and slowly took his shirt off, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. It would be more uncomfortable to have to fly with that drying on them however, Tai'ray reasoned seriously. Tai'ray waded into the river, the cold water making him flinch. If only Eyeri had done this near a hot spring, Tai'ray thought sadly, glad that it was a warm day and the sun was out. He rinsed his clothes in the water, rubbing some of the soap on them to try and remove the urine.
There was a splash of water behind him as Eyeri stepped into the water. Tai'ray glanced over and gestured for him to move closer, his body stiffening as he saw the scars. He kept his face painfully neutral as he looked at Eyeri's hairless but badly marred chest, anger building inside at what he was seeing. Eyeri was sixteen. He was sixteen and it was clear what had happened to him: slavers. Suddenly Eyeri's hesitation took on a new meaning.
Nel'os's presence pressed against his at the anger, Tai'ray calming slightly and sending a wave of reassurance to his mates. He didn't tell them yet about the scars, that was a talk to have with Ryraso in person.
"It's a bit brisk, but once we get out we should dry quickly enough," Tai'ray smiled warmly at the boy, giving his clothes one more go over before passing Eyeri the soap. The water was cold but the sun was out and it was warm out. Eyeri moved closer to grab the soap, but was still slightly away from him, not wanting to get too close.
"I'm sorry," Eyeri whispered again, his cheeks still red but the tear tracks were gone, Eyeri having washed his face down. He began to wash his clothes down, which was when Tai'ray noticed he still had his trousers on.
"Trousers too little one," Tai'ray ordered softly.
Eyeri shifted unhappily but pulled them off under the water and washed himself down properly. Tairay stretched his wings wide, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his back before wading towards Eyeri and stealing his clothes from him. Eyeri yelled and tried to keep a hold of them but ended up falling over in the process. A wave of water washed over Tai'ray from this, but he darted out of the way laughing. He grinned at Eyeri as the boy glared at him darkly, teeth chattering.
"The water is freezing," Eyeri complained, his expression turning fearful for a moment as he realised he had let something out but Tai'ray was too busy laughing.
"You'll warm up," Tai'ray beamed at him, putting the clothes in a bush to dry them. Clothes sorted, he moved and gathered some branches and twigs from around them. Eyeri stayed in the water a little longer before wading out of the water, looking unhappy but biting his lip. Tai'ray inwardly winced as he realised Eyeri looked about to cry again. Sighing, Tai'ray moved over and pulled his cloak up from under the stuff gently. "Come here," he called.
Eyeri walked over nervously and Tai'ray quickly wrapped the boy up tightly in the cloak. K'nairi were less body conscious than humans but this wasn't the first time Tai'ray had dealt with someone who was a little skittish. Eyeri looked confused but considerably warmer and less nervous with the grey cape wrapped around him.
"Better?" Tai'ray asked, with a smaller smile.
"Yes, thank you," Eyeri murmured, clearly not sure what to think about this action.
Tai'ray grinned at him again, fangs and all, before gently pushing him to sit down on the soft grass. "It's going to be an hour or two before our clothes are dry," Tai'ray commented, crouching down to build a fire. Leader of his people, he still knew his basic survival skills. He was no noble born Winglord after all. "We might as well eat. By the time we catch up to the others tonight, it will be late and hopefully they will have eaten," he mused.
"Oh," Eyeri said softly, hugging his knees to his chest and the material closer to his skin. The human watched slightly as Tai'ray built the fire, the Winglord still naked and seemingly unbothered by this. Tai'ray ignored the stare and focused on the fire. Once it was burning Tai'ray stood and waded back into the river to catch some fish.
"So tell me Eyeri? How does a child end up on the Namya warship," Tai'ray asked as he watched for fish,
"My brothers asked Inai," Eyeri said, almost guardedly.
"Inai's a kind hearted sap sometimes," Tai'ray said with half a smile. Eyeri wasn't sure if the Winglord was insulting Inai or not. "How many brothers do you have?"
"Four," Eyeri said looking at the fire. "Five including Aw'endo," he added almost like an afterthought.
"You don't sound happy about that," Tai'ray teased catching a fish and flipping it onto the river bank.
"I'm still the baby," Eyeri scowled. "Aw'endo is supposed to be younger than me technically but I'm still the younger brother."
Tai'ray let out a full on belly laugh, not having expected that response. "Yes, I suppose you are," the Winglord grinned while he flipped several in succession. "I imagine your brothers are very protective of you," he commented. He would have to prepare for that.
Eyeri pulled a face and looked away from him. "They fought a lot with Aw'endo but things got better. I doubt I'll ever get away from being the baby," Eyeri admitted softly.
"It's not a bad thing to be," Tai'ray smiled calmly, making a noise as he almost missed a fish, grabbing it just in time. He waded back to shore and put them on sticks over the fire to cook. "Are your brothers as pretty as you?"
Eyeri's face lit up red and he curled tighter. Tai'ray chuckled but didn't miss the fear in his eyes. Tai'ray sat down near him and stretched out on his stomach, wings folding on his back. Eyeri clearly didn't know how to act with him. Tai'ray knew what slave 'training' did to a person but at the same time he was willing to bet Ryraso had told Eyeri not to be meek or show weakness in front of the k'nairi. Two very conflicting viewpoints on how to act. It was going to be a while before he felt safe enough to really interact with him, Tai'ray mused.
"Not pretty," Eyeri grumbled unhappily. "Maybe Oria. He's only a few years older than me," he allowed begrudgingly. Tai'ray just grinned, looking at Eyeri over his shoulder. It was time to start laying foundations.