Bird of a Wing - Chapter 7: Chapter 7
You are reading Bird of a Wing, Chapter 7: Chapter 7. Read more chapters of Bird of a Wing.
"Ryraso!" Aw'endo exclaimed his voice and expression full of childlike glee as he twisted in Ryraso's hold. Ryraso suddenly finding himself with a faceful of feathers as the young k'nairi clutched onto him tightly, like if he let go the man would disappear. Aw'endo whispering his name several more times as he buried his face in Ryraso's neck.
For a moment Ryraso didn't know how to respond but quickly gave into his instincts to wrap his arms around the boy. Squeezing him tight, he hugged Aw'endo back, his heart aching in a way it hadn't in a long time. This was different to how he felt when he had come face to face with the Royals again, or how he had felt when he had seen Isst and Wiljam again. A warm feeling grew inside of him and Ryraso quickly kissed him on the top of his head, feeling almost about to cry he was so full of emotion.
"I missed you," Aw'endo whimpered.
"I...I missed you too sweetheart..." Ryraso murmured into the teenager's hair, letting him cling to him. Closing his eyes, Ryraso could feel the boy shaking in his arms and wetness on his chest from tears. For a moment he let himself enjoy having Aw'endo in his arms again, even if Aw'endo was considerably bigger than the last time he had been in Ryraso's arms. He still smelt the same though, and for a moment Ryraso could almost imagine being back in Navat, surrounded by the scents of the trees and herbs which grew there.
The moment was shattered as Kelenn coughed. "Ryraso? You know this k'nairi then?" Kelenn asked, both brothers looking at them oddly. It was one thing for Ryraso to know a k'nairi, they knew after all that he had spent time with them, but for him to embrace one so tenderly? That was not something they had seen him do to anyone.
Ryraso pulled away from Aw'endo slowly and did a quick stock of the twins injuries. Fighting a k'nairi, even a young one could be dangerous after all. He was pleased when he noticed that, ignoring a few scratches, the twins were fine. They were looking at him more confused than anything else. Aw'endo was obviously a good fighter to have kept them busy, but his talons hadn't come through fully yet, unlike an adult.
Aw'endo was still a child really.
That thought made something click in the back of his head. Aw'endo was a child.
"Yes. Yes, I do," Ryraso nodded slowly as he tried to contain the feelings building up inside of him like a storm. "This is Aw'endo," he said through gritted teeth.
At the tone of Ryraso's voice changing from surprise to a mixture of disapproval and anger, the k'nairi in his arms stiffened. Aw'endo knew full well he was in big trouble now. Aw'endo gently tried to pull away but Ryraso kept him against him, not about to let the boy out of his sight now.
"You found him on sweep duty?" Ryraso asked, trying to confirm what he had already expected.
"Yes. He was knocked out about half a click away," Sayskel revealed, his green eyes on the now slightly struggling k'nairi who had been so happy to see Ryraso.
"So he was involved in the fighting," Ryraso's voice turned into an ominously neutral tone. The twins, as troublesome now as they had been when Ryraso had first met them almost six years prior knew that tone well and if there was any doubt they just had to look at Ryraso's expression. Ryraso was furious.
"Yes..." Kelenn trailed off as he saw the look on Ryraso's face, making him refrain from demanding how he knew the k'nairi. That was a look which made most people want to run and hide. A look, no-one wanted to be aimed at them, and by the way the young man in Ryraso's arms was trying to get away, he was no different.
"What the fucking hell were you bloody doing on a god-forsaken battlefield?" Ryraso roared, making both twins flinch. Aw'endo managed to break free and actually moved behind Kelenn and Sayskel, using them as human body shields in between him and Ryraso. Kelenn could understand the desire.
"Fighting?" Aw'endo offered intentively, apparently unaware that replying to Ryraso's question only made the situation worse.
All three men dived for cover as Ryraso threw the nearest thing to hand at them. This time it happened to be a spanner most likely left behind by Wiljam. The engineer was Ryraso's most common patient as he often injured himself in his experiments.
"You are a child!" Ryraso snarled in k'nairi, teeth bared.
"Am not!" Aw'endo pouted childishly, before ducking behind a medical cot as something else was thrown at him. He whimpered and his good wing curled in on him. He had waited so long to see Ryraso again, but he hadn't expected it to go down like this. "Ry!" he whined.
Sayskel stepped forward to interfere, starting to get worried, but Ryraso was already searching through the drawers to find what he needed to deal with damaged wings.
"On the bed. Now!" Ryraso bellowed, grabbing some bandages from his drawers.
Aw'endo wasted no time in obeying, getting on the nearest bed. His legs tucked close to him so he was sitting in a ball as Ryraso approached. Hands searched over his injured wings, the touch gentle and soothing despite how angry Ryraso was with him. Above all else, Ryraso was a doctor and he wouldn't harm someone on purpose unless he had a very good reason to.
"A child?" Sayskel murmured, looking over the now sulking k'nairi. He looked fully grown, but the look on his face certainly made him look considerably younger.
"He's seventeen," Ryraso growled lowly, tugging on a wing joint roughly, forcing it back into place without warning. There was a painful clicking sound and Aw'endo yelped in pain before curling tighter into a ball. Ryraso stroked his back lightly, kissing the top of his head. Aw'endo whimpered before twisting and burying himself in Ryraso's arms again; Ryraso nuzzled him, petting his hair. "Come on Aw'en, I need to finish patching your wings up," he murmured gently, clearly still angry but knowing Aw'endo needed comfort.
Aw'endo made a strange noise and buried in closer for a moment before slowly pulling away. Tears running down his face. He moved back so Ryraso could tend to him, his face blushing slightly.
"Tai'ray must really be going mad if he's letting children onto the battlefield," Ryraso grumbled as he worked.
"Seventeen's not that young. We were eighteen when we started," Kelenn offered, moving beside his twin and watching the two from a safe distance. He watched as Aw'endo's good wing pressed against Ryraso, shivering. Despite knowing about Ryraso's connection to the k'nairi, they had rarely seen him interact with them and for Ryraso to know someone this young, Kelenn wondered just how long Ryraso had lived with the k'nairi.
"K'nairi age differently. At the moment he is the equivalent of a human aged thirteen. Their bodies fully mature before their minds among other things," Ryraso explained calmly, falling into the teaching mode. He began to pull twigs out of his wings, rubbing the spots gently as he got them out. "Next time I see Tai'ray I'm going to rip his wings off his back," Ryraso growled darkly with promise.
Everyone winced, knowing Ryraso would likely attempt it as well. He didn't like children fighting. He didn't even like his apprentice, who was sixteen, learning from him, even though Eyeri wasn't directly involved in the fighting. Not that Eyeri didn't have a good reason to be aboard the ship but Ryraso was stricter with the younger members abroad, twins included.
"Ehh," Aw'endo seemed to curl in on himself for a moment. "Tai'ray doesn't know I'm here," he admitted in a quiet voice.
Ryraso froze, the room falling eerily silent. "The Winglord doesn't know you were fighting?" he said slowly as if he hadn't quite understood what Aw'endo was saying.
Aw'endo nodded and did the most sensible thing anyone who was faced with an angry Ryraso could. He whimpered and curled into a ball, his wings flat against him in the safest place for him. The young k'nairi waited for the inevitable shouting and cursing, but nothing came. Ryraso didn't shout. He didn't curse. He didn't throw anything. Aw'endo had genuinely left him speechless.
Moving around to the front of Aw'endo, Ryraso knelt so he was level with the boy's eyes meeting them firmly. Fear and trepidation were in the young k'nairi's eyes but also a look of desperation. Tai'ray had not been looking after his charge properly, not at all. Anger built in Ryraso again before he sighed, shoulders slumping. Ryraso bumped their foreheads together lightly, subtly letting the boy now he wasn't angry at him, he didn't like that look in Aw'endo's eyes.
"Your wings won't be able to withstand flight for two weeks. I am going to go talk to Inai and discuss what will be done with you. You are to stay in this room until I get back. You are not to use them at all. Am I clear?" Ryraso's voice was calm but serious, an edge of fondness to his tone.
Aw'endo nodded, looking down at the floor at the disappointment in Ryraso's eyes. Disappointment at Aw'endo for being so stupid as to try to join the war. Ryraso leant forward and kissed him on the forehead, his hand patted his knee gently.
"Love you little one, you are a foolish thing but you are still my family if you wish to be so," Ryraso murmured in k'nairi. Aw'endo made a painful sound and pressed against him, not hugging, just leaning.
"You two!" Ryraso turned to look at the twins, not moving Aw'endo from him yet. "You are to stay with him and guard him. Do not let Taidra move him to the brig. If he tries to pull rank, say I haven't cleared him and putting an under-age k'nairi in a brig full of fully grown human men is a recipe for disaster." Most people wouldn't be able to stop Taidra but the twins were his younger cousins, they had ways of stopping Taidra from fulfilling his orders.
"Sir yes sir!" the twins replied instantly, standing to attention. They knew better than to piss of Ryraso, not while he was a time bomb in the making. They were not fooled by his calm act, this was a man who was used to being calm to patients in order to be able to treat them. Ryraso was still furious, they could almost see a black cloud around him.
Ryraso left the room without another word, intent in every footstep. He was a man on a mission, one which only a brave man or a fool would try to stop him on.
The twins slumped in relief as the tension left the room. The twins looking at each other before looking at Aw'endo with mild interest. "Just who are you to Ryraso?" They asked in unison. It was obvious, even to them, that Aw'endo was more to Ryraso then just some kid he had known. To call someone family meant something.
"I'm in deep shit," Aw'endo moaned, falling sideways on the bed, curling into a ball or misery.
The twins chuckled at the tone. That was another one they knew well. Sayskel got a playful look in his eyes. Kelenn hit him over the head as the man's thoughts came over their own twin bond. Sayskel pouted slightly but moved over to Aw'endo and patted his thighs lightly.
"Won't be that bad kid. Inai won't let anything happen to a child. In the meantime..." Sayskel searched through one of the drawers before pulling out a pack of cards. Kelenn moving to seemingly nap on one of the beds in the room. "Know how to play cards?"
For a moment Ryraso didn't know how to respond but quickly gave into his instincts to wrap his arms around the boy. Squeezing him tight, he hugged Aw'endo back, his heart aching in a way it hadn't in a long time. This was different to how he felt when he had come face to face with the Royals again, or how he had felt when he had seen Isst and Wiljam again. A warm feeling grew inside of him and Ryraso quickly kissed him on the top of his head, feeling almost about to cry he was so full of emotion.
"I missed you," Aw'endo whimpered.
"I...I missed you too sweetheart..." Ryraso murmured into the teenager's hair, letting him cling to him. Closing his eyes, Ryraso could feel the boy shaking in his arms and wetness on his chest from tears. For a moment he let himself enjoy having Aw'endo in his arms again, even if Aw'endo was considerably bigger than the last time he had been in Ryraso's arms. He still smelt the same though, and for a moment Ryraso could almost imagine being back in Navat, surrounded by the scents of the trees and herbs which grew there.
The moment was shattered as Kelenn coughed. "Ryraso? You know this k'nairi then?" Kelenn asked, both brothers looking at them oddly. It was one thing for Ryraso to know a k'nairi, they knew after all that he had spent time with them, but for him to embrace one so tenderly? That was not something they had seen him do to anyone.
Ryraso pulled away from Aw'endo slowly and did a quick stock of the twins injuries. Fighting a k'nairi, even a young one could be dangerous after all. He was pleased when he noticed that, ignoring a few scratches, the twins were fine. They were looking at him more confused than anything else. Aw'endo was obviously a good fighter to have kept them busy, but his talons hadn't come through fully yet, unlike an adult.
Aw'endo was still a child really.
That thought made something click in the back of his head. Aw'endo was a child.
"Yes. Yes, I do," Ryraso nodded slowly as he tried to contain the feelings building up inside of him like a storm. "This is Aw'endo," he said through gritted teeth.
At the tone of Ryraso's voice changing from surprise to a mixture of disapproval and anger, the k'nairi in his arms stiffened. Aw'endo knew full well he was in big trouble now. Aw'endo gently tried to pull away but Ryraso kept him against him, not about to let the boy out of his sight now.
"You found him on sweep duty?" Ryraso asked, trying to confirm what he had already expected.
"Yes. He was knocked out about half a click away," Sayskel revealed, his green eyes on the now slightly struggling k'nairi who had been so happy to see Ryraso.
"So he was involved in the fighting," Ryraso's voice turned into an ominously neutral tone. The twins, as troublesome now as they had been when Ryraso had first met them almost six years prior knew that tone well and if there was any doubt they just had to look at Ryraso's expression. Ryraso was furious.
"Yes..." Kelenn trailed off as he saw the look on Ryraso's face, making him refrain from demanding how he knew the k'nairi. That was a look which made most people want to run and hide. A look, no-one wanted to be aimed at them, and by the way the young man in Ryraso's arms was trying to get away, he was no different.
"What the fucking hell were you bloody doing on a god-forsaken battlefield?" Ryraso roared, making both twins flinch. Aw'endo managed to break free and actually moved behind Kelenn and Sayskel, using them as human body shields in between him and Ryraso. Kelenn could understand the desire.
"Fighting?" Aw'endo offered intentively, apparently unaware that replying to Ryraso's question only made the situation worse.
All three men dived for cover as Ryraso threw the nearest thing to hand at them. This time it happened to be a spanner most likely left behind by Wiljam. The engineer was Ryraso's most common patient as he often injured himself in his experiments.
"You are a child!" Ryraso snarled in k'nairi, teeth bared.
"Am not!" Aw'endo pouted childishly, before ducking behind a medical cot as something else was thrown at him. He whimpered and his good wing curled in on him. He had waited so long to see Ryraso again, but he hadn't expected it to go down like this. "Ry!" he whined.
Sayskel stepped forward to interfere, starting to get worried, but Ryraso was already searching through the drawers to find what he needed to deal with damaged wings.
"On the bed. Now!" Ryraso bellowed, grabbing some bandages from his drawers.
Aw'endo wasted no time in obeying, getting on the nearest bed. His legs tucked close to him so he was sitting in a ball as Ryraso approached. Hands searched over his injured wings, the touch gentle and soothing despite how angry Ryraso was with him. Above all else, Ryraso was a doctor and he wouldn't harm someone on purpose unless he had a very good reason to.
"A child?" Sayskel murmured, looking over the now sulking k'nairi. He looked fully grown, but the look on his face certainly made him look considerably younger.
"He's seventeen," Ryraso growled lowly, tugging on a wing joint roughly, forcing it back into place without warning. There was a painful clicking sound and Aw'endo yelped in pain before curling tighter into a ball. Ryraso stroked his back lightly, kissing the top of his head. Aw'endo whimpered before twisting and burying himself in Ryraso's arms again; Ryraso nuzzled him, petting his hair. "Come on Aw'en, I need to finish patching your wings up," he murmured gently, clearly still angry but knowing Aw'endo needed comfort.
Aw'endo made a strange noise and buried in closer for a moment before slowly pulling away. Tears running down his face. He moved back so Ryraso could tend to him, his face blushing slightly.
"Tai'ray must really be going mad if he's letting children onto the battlefield," Ryraso grumbled as he worked.
"Seventeen's not that young. We were eighteen when we started," Kelenn offered, moving beside his twin and watching the two from a safe distance. He watched as Aw'endo's good wing pressed against Ryraso, shivering. Despite knowing about Ryraso's connection to the k'nairi, they had rarely seen him interact with them and for Ryraso to know someone this young, Kelenn wondered just how long Ryraso had lived with the k'nairi.
"K'nairi age differently. At the moment he is the equivalent of a human aged thirteen. Their bodies fully mature before their minds among other things," Ryraso explained calmly, falling into the teaching mode. He began to pull twigs out of his wings, rubbing the spots gently as he got them out. "Next time I see Tai'ray I'm going to rip his wings off his back," Ryraso growled darkly with promise.
Everyone winced, knowing Ryraso would likely attempt it as well. He didn't like children fighting. He didn't even like his apprentice, who was sixteen, learning from him, even though Eyeri wasn't directly involved in the fighting. Not that Eyeri didn't have a good reason to be aboard the ship but Ryraso was stricter with the younger members abroad, twins included.
"Ehh," Aw'endo seemed to curl in on himself for a moment. "Tai'ray doesn't know I'm here," he admitted in a quiet voice.
Ryraso froze, the room falling eerily silent. "The Winglord doesn't know you were fighting?" he said slowly as if he hadn't quite understood what Aw'endo was saying.
Aw'endo nodded and did the most sensible thing anyone who was faced with an angry Ryraso could. He whimpered and curled into a ball, his wings flat against him in the safest place for him. The young k'nairi waited for the inevitable shouting and cursing, but nothing came. Ryraso didn't shout. He didn't curse. He didn't throw anything. Aw'endo had genuinely left him speechless.
Moving around to the front of Aw'endo, Ryraso knelt so he was level with the boy's eyes meeting them firmly. Fear and trepidation were in the young k'nairi's eyes but also a look of desperation. Tai'ray had not been looking after his charge properly, not at all. Anger built in Ryraso again before he sighed, shoulders slumping. Ryraso bumped their foreheads together lightly, subtly letting the boy now he wasn't angry at him, he didn't like that look in Aw'endo's eyes.
"Your wings won't be able to withstand flight for two weeks. I am going to go talk to Inai and discuss what will be done with you. You are to stay in this room until I get back. You are not to use them at all. Am I clear?" Ryraso's voice was calm but serious, an edge of fondness to his tone.
Aw'endo nodded, looking down at the floor at the disappointment in Ryraso's eyes. Disappointment at Aw'endo for being so stupid as to try to join the war. Ryraso leant forward and kissed him on the forehead, his hand patted his knee gently.
"Love you little one, you are a foolish thing but you are still my family if you wish to be so," Ryraso murmured in k'nairi. Aw'endo made a painful sound and pressed against him, not hugging, just leaning.
"You two!" Ryraso turned to look at the twins, not moving Aw'endo from him yet. "You are to stay with him and guard him. Do not let Taidra move him to the brig. If he tries to pull rank, say I haven't cleared him and putting an under-age k'nairi in a brig full of fully grown human men is a recipe for disaster." Most people wouldn't be able to stop Taidra but the twins were his younger cousins, they had ways of stopping Taidra from fulfilling his orders.
"Sir yes sir!" the twins replied instantly, standing to attention. They knew better than to piss of Ryraso, not while he was a time bomb in the making. They were not fooled by his calm act, this was a man who was used to being calm to patients in order to be able to treat them. Ryraso was still furious, they could almost see a black cloud around him.
Ryraso left the room without another word, intent in every footstep. He was a man on a mission, one which only a brave man or a fool would try to stop him on.
The twins slumped in relief as the tension left the room. The twins looking at each other before looking at Aw'endo with mild interest. "Just who are you to Ryraso?" They asked in unison. It was obvious, even to them, that Aw'endo was more to Ryraso then just some kid he had known. To call someone family meant something.
"I'm in deep shit," Aw'endo moaned, falling sideways on the bed, curling into a ball or misery.
The twins chuckled at the tone. That was another one they knew well. Sayskel got a playful look in his eyes. Kelenn hit him over the head as the man's thoughts came over their own twin bond. Sayskel pouted slightly but moved over to Aw'endo and patted his thighs lightly.
"Won't be that bad kid. Inai won't let anything happen to a child. In the meantime..." Sayskel searched through one of the drawers before pulling out a pack of cards. Kelenn moving to seemingly nap on one of the beds in the room. "Know how to play cards?"
End of Bird of a Wing Chapter 7. Continue reading Chapter 8 or return to Bird of a Wing book page.