Chapter Text
“I’m just saying, maybe giving the most important job to the ditzy lover boy and the literal contrarian, might’ve been a poor idea-“
“Opportunist, it’s like three AM, go to sleep.”
“We woke up and then went back to bed in the early morning, it’s probably only seven or eight right now, daytime.
Hero didn’t grant his fellow voice the luxury of a response, opting to instead groan miserably into his pillow.
“Why did you even come in here instead of sleeping in your own room? To keep me up until I blow another fuse?” Hero grumbled.
“Of course not, I’m just… questioning the logic of such a decision. Stubborn I can get, but the other two? They’ll probably just distract the guy.” Opportunist rebuttals, removing the cucumbers slices from his eyes, the dark shadows around his sockets looking barely lighter.
Hero huffed and forced himself to sit up. “I was tired, I still am! I just settled on whoever was in the right place at the right time. I’m not thinking straight, but maybe I will if I get some sleep!”
A startled expression found itself on Opportunist, the cucumbers slices flew through the air as he threw his arms up in defensive pose.
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here, this is my bed, my room.” Hero pushed, raising an expectant brow.
For a moment Opportunist sat quiet, looking progressively more embarrassed. “I don’t trust the other three to keep Hunted under control, given how… weird he’s been. It took all three of them to hold the guy down! And, if he escapes- well-“ his tongue licked out of his mouth, a display of honest nervousness. “I’m worried he’s really really mad at me for essentially tattling on him.”
Another sigh, this one more sympathetic, came from Hero. “You’re too distrusting. Hunted would never hurt you or anyone else, not intentionally. He just… gets wrapped up in his own head sometimes, but it comes from a place of care. And you know him, he’s no revenge seeker. At worst, he won’t preen with you for a while, and you’ll have to make it up to him, which isn’t a hard thing to do.”
Hero moved to bring the other voice into his side like a half embrace, causing Opportunist to let out a squeak of surprise. His lightly trembling hands came to return it, it was probably the most awkward hug Hero had ever received. Eventually, the tense form of Opportunist relaxed against him, Hero smiled.
Hero back under the sheets. “Besides, I doubt he’s going to be able to get out. Sure, the others can be clumsy, but it’s not like they’re incompetent or anything.”
“FUCK!”
“Language! Language my dear fellow!”
“ Language my ass !” Stubborn roared right before sending a pillow careening towards Smitten, who almost let out a shriek as he ducked.
“Hey guys, maybe we should be saving all this frustration for the real problem here?” Contrarian proposed, currently dangling upside down from the ceiling, cocooned in a whooping three of Hunted’s many blankets.
At first it was funny, watching the other two running around like headless chickens as they failed to come to his aid. At the time, Contrarian probably could’ve freed himself as Hunted worked- the job was hasty and the first blanket used was thin- but he was just having so much fun watching Smitten and Stubborn to really give it an honest go.
He’d come to regret this, as his attention wasn’t on the second or third layer wrapped and tied around him, which gave Hunted the time he needed to be more methodical with how the rest of the cocoon came to life. Before he knew it, he was trapped. His concern slowly built as he felt his thoughts slow with all the blood rushing to his head.
The aforementioned Hunted was now scurrying all about the room, running circles around the other two as they tripped over themselves trying to catch him. It was to the point where the rapid avian was pouncing off the walls, leaving divots where his hands and feet had pushed off of, small holes beneath them from where the tips of his talons pushed into the softer surface.
“Shut your trap Contrarian, you don’t get to talk after you’re the one who got captured.” Stubborn growled.
“Usually I’d snark back at you, but unfortunately my head is too full of blood to come up with any good material at the moment.” Contrarian replied, his words getting more mumbled. Damn, embarrassment finally caught up to him. It’d been a while since his last, and now the fates saw it fit to descend down and enact a flustered state upon him once more.
Stubborn raised a brow, before his expression shifted to something more surprised. “Shit you’re serious. Smitty! Get your ass over here and help me grab that little-!”
“Do not call our friend any more of those horrid names!” Smitten squawked as he moved forwards, trying (and failing) to keep his eye on the blur shooting across the room at blinding speeds.
“Until his head is back on his shoulders, I’m gonna call him what he is, and right now he’s being a little shit.” Stubborn was watching Hunted as he moved, or at least Contrarian thinks he was. His vision was beginning to fail him, it didn’t help that Hunted was still jumping everywhere and grabbing the attention of his already unfocused eyes.
“He’s not truly doing damage to the room.” Smitten said, his ears perking up as if realizing something; he was paying attention to his surroundings… for once. “The walls are… a tad worse for wear, yes, but everything else in here has been left unsullied- augH-“ He was suddenly cut off as Hunted, likely sensing the moment of distraction, finally took the chance to lunge and grab onto the back of the chivalrous avian.
He was quickly thrown back off however; as soon as he placed his hands over Smitten’s eyes, an eruption of flowers bloomed from the infected right socket. The pink buds split across the upper middle of his face before blooming into the familiar soft, hearty pink, perfect copies of the one that forever rested in Smitten’s right eye.
The shock of the new texture scared the jumpy voice off of Smitten shoulders, and right onto the back foot as he dodged a blanket attack from Stubborn. Smitten stumbled around, trying to feel for the closest wall.
“Guh- you know I diduh- I did tell everyone to not touch that flower, friend. What it does when s-so suddenly disturbed like that is very-“ Smitten choked slightly, swaying with what was most definitely nausea, “-uncomfortable for me.”
Hunted had adorned a newly crestfallen expression, as if awakening slightly from the trance he’d been in ever since he started this whole hibernation scheme. His faced wrinkled into a horribly guilty expression as he backed up slightly.
“Sorry. Sorry sorry. Didn’t mean to, know you don’t like it, sorry.” His choice of words was even more stilted than usual, like they were a struggle to say but were forced out past his beak anyway. It was the first thing he’d said since whatever went down with Hero and him in the very room they were standing in now.
“Can fix it, make it better. Stay here, in the nest, it’ll be warm and good. No sun, they will wilt.” Hunted’s tone changed, a little more whispery, slightly worse diction surfaced, how he said things slowed from his usual quick speech patterns and faded in volume. Very little context was given to what he was even referring to.
Contrarian, however, had a rather large hunch as to what he was talking about, and the others seemed to catch on easily as well.
“That is- al-alright, dear friend.” Smitten slurred, finally fumbling his hand onto the side of a wall, leaning against it with a shaken sigh, trying to correct his speech no doubt. “If you’re still upset though, you can assist me by letting us help you! We can talk this out, there is no need to lock us away for all of winter in here.” His voice seemed to get back on its feet as inertia returned to him.
Hunted stance seemed to stiffen, and if Contrarian could see the other’s eyes right now, he’d probably had seen them taken on that glazed look again (or as glazed as pure white orbs could look anyway).
Stubborn stepped up again, looking between the two avians. “You said he was only doing damage to the wall, yeah?” Stubborn cocked his head back, addressing Smitten while still keeping his singular eye on Hunted.
Smitten nodded, before seeming to realize he didn’t know if Stubborn was actually looking at him or not to acknowledge the motion. “Yes! He’s purposefully avoiding all other objects. This is like… his castle, for all sorts of wonders! He cherishes it all too much to bring it harm.”
“Whuz t’at ‘haft to do with gettin’ me down?” Contrarian whined, trying to blink the fuzz out of his vision.
“Huh, guess I know how to get you to stop playing unfair then, eh?” Stubborn grinned out, his voice rumbling with determination.
From above Hunted’s nest were strands made of some sort of rubbery plastic, they were extremely reminiscent of wires. Attached to them were all sorts of bits and bobs, mostly shiny, small objects, or things that made fun clinks or jingles when you poked at them. Others were simply random stuff Hunted seemed attached to or liked the smell of; some twigs, an ace of hearts, and high up on a hook was, strangely, one of Hero’s undershirts. Contrarian wasn’t surprised Hero hadn’t noticed its absence.
There were times Contrarian had come into the room searching for Hunted, usually for dinner, and once or twice on one of those trips he would walk in on Hunted laying atop his nest, staring at the collectibles dangling above him. He would always have this enthralled, mystified, almost awed expression as he raised a gentle hand to run his digits over all the lowest hanging bobbles that made funny sounds, glimmered prettily, reflected his face right back at him, or simply brought forth some sort of fond memory.
A few of those times Contrarian had walked in on the strange scene, he’d been tempted to join his friend, but dinner called, and he was forced to drag a grumpy Hunted out of his room; he’d always be quick to forgive when he was given a nice meal, however.
Contrarian remembers Broken asking about the seemingly random assortment of items once. Hunted didn’t have a solid answer other than “I like them. They’re pretty, or shiny, or make pleasant noises, or emit comforting smells, or-“ Contrarian had stopped listening half way through, given the repetitive nature of Hunted’s reasons for stringing up oddities.
He didn’t think much of it. It was a little weird, sure, but they were all a little weird, so what did it matter?
Now, Stubborn was staring intently at the dangling objects, eyeing each and every one of them up. There was a good chance he knew how endeared Hunted was to the collection, given the amount of of time he’d spent with the instinctual voice.
Stubborn smiled near sadistically as he reached up high and ripped Hero’s undershirt from its unique hook. Hunted immediately assumed a defensive position, snarling at Stubborn.
“Whatever it is that you are doing that is making him make those noises, stop it, now!” Smitten ordered, looking ready to step away from the wall that offered him balance. “We should be calming our companion down, not riling him up!”
“Oh, riling him up is exactly what I need.” Stubborn grit out, as he tore a sleeve from the shirt.
Hunted darted forward, a head on attack, falling right into the trap he’d been so careful to avoid before. Stubborn threw the shirt aside and reached out to grab Hunted as the other voice tried barreling into him. There was brief shrieking, and a furious ball of feathers and claws, over in a near instant as Stubborn stood, Hunted bent over by his side.
“Victory!” Stubborn bellowed with Hunted pinned to the side of his torso in a headlock. Hunted squirmed, twittering dangerously as he kicked and wiggled, doing all he could to move.
“Oh my, what is happening?” Smitten called, finally stumbling away from the safety of the wall in an attempt to be of assistance.
“Got ‘em! Go grab the clown, he’s to your left and up.” Stubborn cackled.
“Made a trap fer once? Didn’ see ‘hat one comin’. Bit rude of ya to mess wi’h his stuff like that though.” Contrarian mumbled.
“The stringed up items? Stubborn, those are important to him! How barbaric, even for you!” Smitten reprimanded, stumbling around, now with angry footfalls as he held his hands up high to feel for Contrarian.
“Well I’m not happy about it either, but what else was I suppose to do? Dance around until he strung me up too?” Stubborn rebuttals. “Besides, I chose the shirt on purpose, it’s easily replaceable unlike some of this other stuff, that I know. I’m not a total monster.”
“A partial one then. We were tasked with guarding him, calming him, not causing him further stress and anguish.” Smitten darkly said, finally brushing his fingers against the ends of Contrarian’s plumage. With a slow standing on the dresser, Smitten began carefully prodding for where the blanket met the ceiling. There was a ripping sound as Smitten hissed an “oh no-“ and suddenly Contrarian was falling face first-
“OW!” He hit the ground with a loud thunk.
“Sorry! My talons, they-!” Smitten cleared his throat, composing himself. “Apologies for my mistake, my eye fails me at the moment.”
Contrarian was pretty sure his forehead was bleeding now, and he could already tell a bruise was beginning to bloom. Contrarian rolled over, looking up at Stubborn and Hunted, the former snickering, and the latter staring with a wide, empty gaze.
“My head ‘urts.” Contrarian said, blinking the haze out of his eyes.
“Yeah, no shit!” Stubborn laughed. “You alright? Your brain damage any worse?”
“I don’t have brain damage.” Contrarian muttered, cringing at his lack of a comeback. His mind was still trying to catch up with the rest of his body, he still wasn’t feeling his usual groove come to him.
“Yeah, well- uh-“
Contrarian’s vision finally cleared, now properly able to see the two. Looking closer at Hunted it seemed like he was shaking in place, getting worse and worse as the seconds ticked by.
Contrarian realized that those milky white eyes were likely fixated on the blood rolling down his cheek.
Hunted always threw a massive hissy fit when someone got hurt.
Fuck.
Hunted squeezed his way out of Stubborn’s grip, screeching up a storm; Contrarian was sure his eardrums were about to burst . The quick avian darted around Contrarian and Smitten, quickly swiping something from on his dresser.
“You-! Get back over-“ Moving faster than the Beast, Hunted grabbed a hold of Stubborn’s arm, pulled him away from his nest, and spun him. As Stubborn lurched himself to a halt and attempted to plant a steady foot to stop himself from falling flat on his face, Hunted took the opportunity to run circles around the gruff voice. Within seconds Stubborn was tied in the thin, elastic strands, just thick enough to not immediately bend and break under pressure exerted upon it. Stubborn yelled out something fierce as Hunted applied the final layer to the other’s middle before tying it off with a neat little bow.
“Don’t mess with my stuff.” Hunted huffed, his voice making a reappearance. He turned, refocusing his attention on Contrarian. “You hurt, no?” He questioned.
“Huh? Well, yes but-“ Contrarian didn’t get to finish as Hunted moved past him, picking up one of his blankets on the way. He quietly made his way forward before swiftly wrapping it around Smitten, who gasped, surprised that his ears had failed to alert him to the danger.
There was a scuffle, Smitten blindly flailed against Hunted, who would silently approach from a different angle whenever he was forced to back off. Eventually, once Smitten wobbled a little too close to the nest, Hunted pounced, pushing him into the soft materials. Smitten laid prone just long enough to be tied up in the thick blanket. His struggles grew weaker and less confident after a few layers of the wiry strands was wrapped around the center of said blanket, and he was quickly immobilized.
They were all trapped.
Why did they have to be so incompetent?
Hunted moved back towards his dresser. He left the elastic binding out before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a roll of gauze.
“Why do you keep that kind of stuff in and on your dresser?” Contrarian asked, sweat starting to bead from his brow, the heat from the blankets was beginning to become its own problem.
Hunted crouched down in front of him, examining whatever wound Contrarian had obtained from the fall. “Don’t need clothes, feathers do the same job fine.”
“So… instead you put your ultimate weapon inside: silly string?” Contrarian thinly chuckled.
“And gauze, medicines.” He paused, turning Contrarian’s head so he could apply the bandages to his temple. “And blankets, got a lot.”
“Well no duh.” Contrarian murmured as Hunted finished his careful job. He perked up in surprise as his form was pulled over to the pile of blankets with Smitten.
“How’s it hanging?” Contrarian said, a lack of humor in his voice.
A sigh was what met him. “I fear that I was maybe not the best choice for this, my flowers can be quite the inconvenience once startled.”
“Could’ve plucked them.” Stubborn chuffed as he too was dragged to join the nest. He was still trying to fight against his constraints, his namesake called for it. Unfortunately for him, the rubbery strands were round tight, and just malleable enough to be too difficult to snap in half.
Smitten sputtered. “They- I- they are still apart of my body! They must naturally wither away lest I bring harm upon myself.”
“Let me rephrase: you could’ve plucked them if you weren’t a- PPRRGGRRFF!” Stubborn was cut off by an irritated Hunted, who, on a whim, started wrapping gauze around his mouth.
“Shush.”
“Fwuack yru.”
This time it was Contrarian who was cackling at the other’s misfortune.
“What happens now?” Smitten said. “Are we to become your new nest mates?” Contrarian shuddered at the idea. There was no way he was staying here all winter . He had snowmen to make! Games to cheat at! People to pelt with snowballs! Sure, he probably wouldn’t really be able to feel upset from missing it if he went in a pseudo hibernation, but it still wasn’t ideal.
Hunted seemed to ponder the question for a moment as he fixed up the edges of his nest and moved to gather more blankets from his drawers to replace those used to constrain them.
“Hmm.” He hummed out as he picked up the pillows on his route, scattered about the room by Stubborn’s hand. “Yes.”
He moved to carefully rearrange the pillows and blankets around them, looking thoughtful. “If you’re all here… then no one will be cold, no one will freeze, everyone will be safe and warm and here in the nest and maybe I’ll get to-“ His out loud thoughts turned into mutterings as his wings flexed in excitement. His soft plumage feathered out as he let out a dry giggle, a smile slowly climbed its way up and across his face, an uncommon sight to see on Hunted’s usual thousand yard stare.
He stood. “You may as well rest now, you’ll have to eventually, it’ll make things easier.” That was a warning, right? It sounded like a warning. It didn’t help that it was the most concise sentence Hunted had put together as of yet.
Hunted moved toward the door, it didn’t let out an obnoxious squeaking noise as it opened, something they assured to some of the more jumpy voices for their peace of mind when doing small touches around the house. He craned his neck back to address the three prisoners from their soft cells, smile splitting across his face.
“If everyone is going to be trying to stop me, then it’s their problem for involving themselves in something they could’ve left be.”
“ Don’t worry, you three won’t be alone much longer .”
And with that, he slipped through the door.
…
“Damn, he did a whole evil monologue and everything! Ooo, he’s totally going to kidnap everyone now, and we can’t even can’t even warn them by yelling, Hunted’s walls are soundproof. Ooo, you fucked up lover boy!”
“I-! Skeptic himself said he’d have us in here eventually.” Smitten defended.
“Yeah, but you put the idea in his noodle before he himself came up with it. Haha! Ha… oh we are so fucked .”
Opportunist blinked his dreary eyes open, he saw nothing. His brain felt… fuzzy . Strangely so. He could hear something, feel something, beating loudly, deeply.
Heartbeat?
He brought his eyes up and away from the darkness. In his sleepy stupor, he’d moved back against Hero, and they ended up huddled together; it was blessedly warm.
His mind felt adrift, out at sea.
He buried his face back into the other’s feathers, he could feel an overwhelming serenity.
“Come on, you two can do better than this.”
Cheated was beginning to believe that this was more exercise for him and Skeptic than it was a wake up for Broken and Paranoid. His legs already felt like they were going to give out, and his chest was heaving trying to keep the demoralized Broken from falling flat on his face.
“Can they Skeptic? Even I have to admit, this is a lot. We’ve been walking nonstop for what must be an hour now.” Cheated huffed out, wiping sweat from his brow as Broken groaned pitifully into his arm.
“The sooner we get them lucid, the sooner we get this over with. Better yet, we can ask them questions about what happened to make them like this.” Skeptic replied, pulling a near dead looking Paranoid along the circles they were doing around the lounge.
“I don’t know about him-“ Paranoid started, sending a glance towards Broken. “-but I’m awake! Ask me questions, all your questions! Anything to sit down, please!”
Skeptic chewed at the inside of his cheek some. “You’re still having trouble walking though.”
“Yeah, I was forced to lay down for over a day, my body is still catching up, can we please sit now?”
“Hmm, regardless you three should exercise more; we’re literally just walking in circles, this is nothing. But fine, we can sit.” Skeptic conceded, earning a sigh of relief from all.
“How do you have so much stamina?” Paranoid grumbled as he was manhandled onto the sofa.
“Sometimes I join Stubborn on his daily runs, I find myself out of breath less often nowadays.” Skeptic replied smoothly, bringing his arms high above his head to stretch.
“I go out on those runs too sometimes and that still tired me out!” Cheated countered, narrowing his gaze as he set Broken down beside Paranoid.
“That’s because you stop less than halfway through.” Skeptic snorted, falling into a chair.
“Only because you and him make it a competition. Suddenly, I’m left in the dust as you both start running against each other! I’m not going to jog alone, being alone is lonely.” Cheated’s feathers puffed up as he crossed his arms.
“Being alone is lonely, very intelligent wording there.”
“Fuck you.”
The avian only chuckled in response as Cheated defeatedly slumped into the chair across from him. Skeptic wiped a fake tear from his eye before refocusing his attention on the two they were here for in the first place.
“Well? What happened while you were in his room? What made you like that?” Skeptic questioned, brow raised.
“Oh, um-“ Paranoid pushed his hood off of his head and ran a hand through his thin feathers, ears twitching at the motion. “I can’t really remember much? I remember managing to slip away for a time, before I was literally carried back into pillow hell.”
“There was food.” Broken muttered, sitting up a little.
“Yeah, we ate at some point.” Paranoid nodded, dragging his weary legs up to his chest and laying his cheek against his knee.
“But do you remember when you fell asleep?” Skeptic pushed.
“What kind of a question is that? Who remembers when they fall asleep? It’s all a blur. Less than one, really.” Cheated said with a hint of exasperation.
Skeptic gave him a sharp side eye before continuing. “Just- anything else, even if it doesn’t seem incredibly noteworthy.”
There was hesitation on Paranoid’s face, some of his feathers puffed out in embarrassment as his cheeks darkened. “We cuddled?”
Cheated tried really really hard to not laugh at Paranoid’s flustered shuffling from the admission.
“Go on.” Skeptic encouraged, crossing his legs.
Paranoid huffed. “He pinned us with his wings and we cuddled, not much else to it. It was… kind of nice, I liked it, I can admit that, but that’s it. We argued, cuddled, maybe slept some, ate, and cuddled some more before everything went fully dark, happy?”
Cheated scanned the two, ears perking slightly. “You definitely preened at some point, yeah? I don’t think we’ve ever seen either of you with such well groomed feathers before.”
It was something he noticed the moment he saw them after entering Hunted’s room. Paranoid often got so wrapped up inside his own head that his feathers would frazzle and sink into themselves from the self-induced stress that took far too long to run through and fix; Broken just flat out didn’t preen, leaving his feathers a dirty- sometimes bloody - mess until someone else did something about it.
“Oh- uh-“ Paranoid looked over himself, looking surprised to see the more full look he had adopted. “Maybe? I don’t remember preening, we must have been asleep…”
“This won’t help us. Theories, theories...” Skeptic muttered something as he tried to draw a conclusion from the pitiful amount of information. “Maybe he put something in the food?”
Cheated winced. “I want to doubt he’d go that far.”
“He went pretty damn far when he squirreled away the two we’d be most worried about when missing.” Skeptic deadpanned.
“Why does this even matter…?” Broken whined as his body fell against Paranoid’s side. The other avian flinched, but didn’t move away like he normally would with such sudden contact.
“It matters because if he tries this again, we’ll know how to avoid what happened to you happening to us.” Skeptic sighed out, tapping his finger against his arm in contemplation.
“You should listen to him, I’d rather not be trapped in a room for a long duration again.”
“FUCK MAN!” Cheated cried, almost falling out of the chair in shock as Cold essentially materialized behind him. “Don’t do that, make some noise when you walk, reaper!”
Cold only hummed in response to Cheated’s outburst, unconcerned. “There is no firewood in the house.”
Skeptic raised his brow. “Okay?”
“Can’t warm the house up without firewood.” Cold clarified.
Cheated wondered if whether or not the irony of the one named ‘Cold’ being put in charge of warming up the house was lost on the expressionless avian.
Skeptic gave him an odd look. “Then go chop some firewood? There’s trees everywhere.”
“What, haven’t you seen?” Cold walked towards the nearest window, pulling the curtains aside. “It’s snowing.”
“Oh shit- really?” Cheated pushed himself from the chair and peered between the bright red curtains. Lo and behold, the air held dozens upon dozens of white particles falling from a light grey sky. Only now was it just starting to dust over the dormant grass.
“Well I’ll be damned- it’s our first snow!” Cheated exclaimed.
“Wuh- wait, I want to see!” Paranoid cried out from his place on the sofa, trying to lean closer to where Cheated and Cold stood. Broken slumped over him as he moved, grumbling as his warmth tried to escape him.
“Just a sign it all eventually dies.” He dejectedly murmured, too tired to tug Paranoid back into place.
“A sign that the house needs firewood.” Skeptic counters. “Take the axe Cold, it’s probably in the kitchen, Contrarian won’t stop hanging it next to the cooking utensils.”
“Too cold.”
“Your wings are big enough act as a coat, besides, we all know that’s not what you care about here.” Skeptic countered.
Cold’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, caught in the act. “I’ve chopped wood before, it gets boring after the first time.”
Skeptic smirked, his satisfaction at his suspicion being confirmed shining through. “Well, this go around you can do it in the snow, that’s different.”
Cold looked like he was about to argue, but seemed to reconsider it before heading towards the kitchen. Skeptic stood back up and ran a hand through the feathers around his neck in a short rubbing motion. “I’m going to go check on those three idiots real quick.” He announced as Cold quietly passed back through the lounge, axe thrown over his shoulder. “For all we know everything in the nest is on fire, allegiances have been pledged, and they’re all about to charge into Opportunist’s room and stick his head on the end of a pike.”
Cheated snickered, quickly descending into coughs as his throat caught on an intake of air. Skeptic rolled his eyes with a smirk and left the three in the lounge to pursue his imaginary hell scene.
“It’s cold.” Broken grouched, shifting closer to Paranoid.
“It really isn’t.” Cheated coughed, the last of his sputters dying down.
“I actually agree with him on this one, is there a blanket in here?” Paranoid shuddered, moving back to huddle against the other voice.
Cheated sent the two a look. It was a bit chilly, sure, but not enough to cause any sort of shivering, not even small jitters. The snow had just started, and the house had been relatively mild in temperature before that.
“Uh, yeah. There’s one behind you, actually.” Cheated pointed out. Broken leaned over, eyes widening at the thick, folded up blanket hanging over the back of the sofa. With arms trembling from exhaustion, he pulled it down and towards them. Paranoid took over and adjusted the blanket so that it would wrap snugly around him and Broken; the two proceeded to melt into the fluffy texture.
“Maybe whatever happened to you in the nest made you more sensitive to the cold, cause great Shifting Mound are you two cuddly with each other today.” Cheated teased, smiling as he brought his legs up and over one of the armrests.
“We’re not sensitive to it, just… more aware?” Paranoid responded, throwing off Cheated’s theory.
“We feel like we aren’t where we’re supposed to be, it feels wrong here.” Broken added, peeking his head out from under the blanket to rise up next to Paranoid. “We’re supposed to be-“
“In the nest?” Cheated finished, ears pinned. “Whatever he did to your heads… made your bodies rapidly adapt to the nest?”
Paranoid squinted up at the ceiling, thinking, mouth slightly open as he tried to construct a response. “No, not the nest specifically. Just… the feeling it gave us?”
Through the open curtains, the window showed the snow beginning to blossom, the grass now coated in a layer of thin, white pillows. The air seemed to explode with snowflakes as they fell at an exponentially increasing rate. A modicum of concern bloomed for the voice outside, chopping away at firewood. It was quickly shaken away; Cold could be dense at times but he was no fool (usually), if he stayed out too long and got hypothermia, he knew they’d all warm him up before chewing him out over his fairly obvious death wish. Mound forbid the guy have to sit still and be lectured, it was Cold’s literal nightmare scenario. He’d do anything to avoid that fate.
Cheated readjusted himself so he could sit more comfortably. “What feeling?”
“I don’t know. Closeness?” Paranoid yawned.
“Mmm.” Broken hummed in agreement, somehow snuggling even closer to his cuddle buddy. “Wouldn’t mind going back.”
“But if you lock yourself away in Hunted room, you won’t be able to enjoy our first snow! Surely it’s a little exciting? Even for you.” Cheated cringed as that last part somehow traveled out of his mouth.
Luckily for him, Broken didn’t seem to really acknowledge the accidental insult. In fact, he perked up some, spying around Paranoid to stare out the window. “Yeah… yeah, it looks like it could be fun.”
“Don’t forget all the hot chocolate we would miss out on.” Paranoid whispered, smiling at nothing as he was no doubt imagining the warm flavor. “Can we have some now actually? Hot chocolate sounds really good right about now.” He nodded, agreeing with himself.
“I kind of want to get back on track with what we were talking about.” Cheated voiced. Okay, he was sure Paranoid was usually more aware of conversations than this. His brain must have really been turned to slush if he was this easily distracted by a topic he’d usually write off as unimportant to a larger discussion.
Perhaps he wasn’t as awake as they’d initially thought, given his earlier pleading it had seemed he was rather conscious, but now his functions seemed to be slowly breaking back down...
“Oh, yeah. It was just a nice feeling, I guess.” Paranoid reaffirmed.
“Cozy.” Broken croaked, sinking back down, appearing small.
“Warmth. Safety. Comfort.”
“Yeah! Exactly those- wait, who said that-?”
Paranoid cut himself off with a gasp as he looked up to where the voice came from. Cheated felt beads of sweat slide down his face; he recognized that short, whispery tone. He risked a glance upwards, and, just as he dreaded, Hunted loomed above them from the rafters, wings twitched with barely concealed anticipation.
“Hunted becomes the hunter.” Cheated muttered out the reversal of phrase, feathers fluffing up as he moved slowly, trying not to startle some sort of conflict into being.
Hunted’s neck snapped over so he could stare at Cheated, who froze in his tracks, halfway out of his seat. “Hello.” Hunted said, tilting his head, like he had asked a question.
“Ha-hey?” Cheated rose a hand to give a small wave, moving up just a little further, now fully stood up.
“Three here, four there, three somewhere.” Hunted stated. Cheated waited for some sort of context, before realizing he probably wasn’t going to get any. This sudden shift from straightforward bluntness to cryptic bluntness was far from appreciated.
“How about… we talk? Talking is fun! Everyone loves a good chat, I know I do!” Quiet’s tits that was bad, he almost wished Opportunist was here. Cheated forced a smile, briefly stealing a glance at Broken and Paranoid, the former looking like he was having trouble processing what was currently happening through his dazed mind, and the latter held a conflicted face overrun with nervousness and an almost sheepish rise of the shoulders.
Hunted narrowed his gaze for a moment; Cheated braced himself for attack, knowing the face of refusal, until Hunted looked aside briefly. He breathed out some quick mutterings before turning back to Cheated. “Okay. Trust?” An olive branch.
“Yeah! Yeah, trust.” Cheated hurriedly responds, slowly sinking back into the chair as Hunted leaps off his perch, landing on the armrest of the sofa, crouching down on top of it. Paranoid shivers, and Broken rests his cheek against the other’s chest. They both stare apprehensively at Hunted, who stares back with an ever unreadable expression.
“How… how’d you get out?” Cheated asked. Briefly he pondered if that was too forward to start off with, before waving the thought away. He needed to get on his footing as quickly as possible here.
Hunted’s gaze met his. “Opened the door.”
Cheated’s nervous grin immediately turned into an unamused frown. “You know what I meant. How’d you get out of your room? Where are the others? Hell, where is Skeptic?” The thought of what had happened to them all had been brushing along the edges of his mind this entire time, coiling.
Prickled feathers rose. Hunted slipped off the arm rest, stalking over to Cheated, who resisted the urge to curl in on himself. The voice leaned over the arm rest, long talons carefully controlled as to not rip into the fabrics beneath them. Hunted stared down at him, and Cheated shrunk back as he leaned closer and closer, an intense gleam in his eyes.
“What?” Cheated grunted in challenge, hoping the keen eyed avian didn’t notice his knuckles tighten.
He lay under Hunted scrutiny for a good few horrendously silent seconds. He sat rigidly, as to not show discomfort.
“I…” Hunted seemed to chew on his words for a moment. “…don’t know?”
“You… don’t know?” Cheated gave him a look.
“Nope.”
Cheated sincerely doubted that.
“Lying isn’t your specialty, Hunted.” Clearly .
Hunted shrunk in on himself, his intimating aura washing away like a wave receding from the beachside. “I’m trying, give me a moment-“
“Why would I give you time to come up with a good lie to feed me?!” Cheated cried with incredulity.
Hunted flinched. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Sure sure, won’t have fun fighting him like how you certainly didn’t have a good time fighting the other three.” Paranoid nudged into the quarrel, looking… not particularly any more awake, but he had an equally unconvinced expression painted his face. “You’re clearly giddy, I can feel it rolling off you in waves .”
“Duping Stubborn would do the same to you.” Hunted muttered.
“So you admit it?” Cheated sat up, pushing the other out of his face.
Hunted squirmed, looking awkward and out of place. Knowing him, he had probably formed only a rough idea for how this was going to go, and his confidence shattered the moment he blanked on how to proceed.
“I’d just feel bad fighting you.” Cheated stiffened at that, exasperation building in his stomach.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cheated forced his voice to a controlled volume as his eye twitches.
Hunted stood still, blinking, before leaning back over Cheated. “Stubborn doesn’t trip over his feet every time he throws a punch, or whine about what is and isn’t foul play, or throw insults ad nauseam at the other person unless truly frustrated, or-“
“Okay, alright! I get it I get it!” Cheated stops the other in his track, crossing his arms, dejected. “All of that, eh?”
“He struggles too, there are things you are that Stubborn isn’t.” Hunted provided.
Narrowing his gaze, Cheated lowered his fists. “And what’s that?”
“You’re more empathetic, considerate, fair…” Cheated’s feathers rose with every adjective given, his cheeks darkened.
“This is all just some sort of ruse, you can’t actually mean all this.” Cheated stopped Hunted in his tracks, ears pinned to his head.
A sharp talon tapped against the center of his face, almost like it was taunting him. “I’ll tell you, if you can catch me.” Hunted suddenly shoots backwards, wings flapping against Cheated’s face to give himself a head start.
“Hey- get back here!“ Cheated stood, immediately racing after the other down the hallway. “Damn it- Why are you so fast?!”
Paranoid and Broken peeked over the back of the sofa, weary heat seeping deep into their bones.
Paranoid sighed. “He’s not coming back, is he?”
“Mmmm… no, probably not.” Broken whispered, snuggling into his friend’s shoulder.
A thunk, shatter, and scream. Hero shot up, anxiety pooling in the pit of his stomach. Immediately his eyes blurred, limbs feeling heavy.
Something groaned beside him. Looking down and to his right he saw Opportunist, who had been partially yanked upwards with his hug around Hero’s middle. The other looked uncomfortable, blinking slowly up at Hero.
“S’whazzup?” Opportunist garbled out, yawning after the poor attempt at speech.
“I heard something break and-“ running? That sounded like running. It was getting louder too.
“Shit-“ Hero scrambled out of bed, and immediately found that standing was not an option. His knees buckled under him and his face kissed the wooden planks. He moaned in pain before gripping the side of the bed, heaving himself upright. His head spun, there was a dizzying effect pooling in his gut from his run in with the floor.
The door slammed open, a shriek was pulled out of Opportunist, and in came a frazzled looking Paranoid. He was breathing hard and shaky on his feet. Almost instantly he fell to the foot of the bed, eyes frantically flicking around in his sockets, looking for sanctuary. He seemed out of it.
“Woah, what happened to you?” Opportunist appeared to quickly compose himself, though his body still trembled, likely due to the sudden change in heart rate and the swiftness he sat up with.
“Guh-“ Paranoid panted trying to pull himself up the bed. “He took Broken, plucked him right out from under the blanket! Told me to stay put. I tried to hide but I couldn’t get anywhere fast enough, it’s like my muscles melted .” He took a gulp of air before continuing. “My body responds every time he’s says something, it wants me to slip away from myself and just be lugged back with him. He must’ve done something, I’m sure, I’m sure ! Why else would my own body be so-? He’s-! Oh, oh , oh he’s upset with me, isn’t he? I ran away, I let myself be taken by you guys, I’m still running from him! He’s going to-!”
The nonsensical ramblings were cut short by a scrapping outside the doorframe. Paranoid squeaked and tried to claw further up the bedside, only to lose grip and slide down to the base of the bed.
Brilliant, blindingly white eyes shone like two glittering pearls. Hunted stood in the doorway, and stalked his way forward, talons gleaming in the weak light provided by the agape entrance.
He stopped before Paranoid, squatting down in front of him. For a moment it was silent, except for the quiet whimpering coming from Paranoid, who sounded like he was bracing for some sort of attack. After just a few seconds- which felt more like an eternity - Hunted smiled, ever so slightly, and leaned down to pick the other up. Paranoid wriggled for a moment, ever the fighter, before sagging, looking utterly exhausted, physically and mentally. Despite it all, his body still shook, like a late autumn leaf struggling to hold onto the end of a branch in the tender breeze.
“Sorry.” Hunted breathed into the other’s feathers, “I made you afraid, don’t know how, but you smell of fear regardless. I’d never. You know that.”
Paranoid continued to shake, unable to fully relax.
Hunted turned his attention to Opportunist, eyebrows lifting. He sniffed the air. “You already started?” He hummed, pleased. “Good, makes this easier. Stay put.”
With that he left, Paranoid in his arms, whose expression changed from fearful to groggy in mere seconds of Hunted squeezing the other against him and whispering something soothing.
There was a stunned silence.
“That… oh great Shifting Mound, he’s out .” Opportunist rearranged himself until he sat hunched on his knees. He looked at the doorway like it held some terrible and dark secret. “I told you he’d get out, I told you! He’s got it out for me, I just know it-”
“Opp! Opportunist.” Hero called, pulling himself up the bed and shuffling towards the other. “Calm down, this is far from the worst situation we’ve encountered, I don’t know why you’re freaking out about this.”
“Why I’m- did you not see that look in his eyes? His look when the others had him pinned? Hell, Paranoid’s panic should’ve been enough to convince you- he’s gone full blown crazy!” Opportunist shuddered, pushing his face into the other’s chest. It was… an odd choice for seeking comfort, for Opportunist, that is. At most, incredibly out of character. Usually he’d withdraw into himself as a form of self assurance, never did he seek out others, unless it was opinions he needed, or deceptions he wished to hand out.
Opportunist moved backwards, looking straight into Hero’s eyes. “I’m sc- upset because this isn’t like with the Princesses! They were an outside threat, and at the end of the day, we weren’t making the big decisions, we were advisers at best . This is one of us , someone I have, believe it or not, actual qualms pulling my usual tricks with. And since I’m rendered useless, and everyone else also seems rendered useless, where does that leave us? What’s the plan? Who calls the shots? Where do we even start when everyone except for us is out of commission?”
This was the first time Opportunist had made it blatant that he actually cared about any of them, without making it sound like a big, fat lie for some sort of gain. He supposes Opportunist has never felt so… lost before, not since the cabins, and any of them even slightly experiencing something that reminded them of the less than pleasant times there always ended poorly.
Either way, Hero was starting to see what Opportunist was on to. If the tactical Skeptic and… well, stubborn Stubborn got caught by Hunted, just like Paranoid and Broken had, then maybe freaking out was justified after all. Especially if this went any further. The last thing he wanted was to spend the rest an entire season in a pseudo-sleep state, even if it was “perfectly natural” as Hunted had so boldly claimed.
“Alright, okay we just need a plan.” Hero tugged on the other, pulling him up. “We already know he’s got Broken and Paranoid, and I’m willing to bet he’s got the three meant to watch him. Given Skeptic and Cheated were supposed to be with Broken and Paranoid, I think it’s safe to assume they’re also caught.”
Hero tapped his chin. “That leaves Cold, who, knowing him, probably thought the prospect of hibernation interesting enough to let himself be dragged off. That’s leaves just us. So we’ve- uh, Opportunist?” The conniving avian was swaying, looking stupefied. His eyes were unfocused, and he slouched as his eyelids flitted like butterfly wings.
“Mr. Go-getter? Your brain still chugging in there?” Hero prompted, shaking the other’s shoulders.
Opportunist shook his head, trying to squeeze the sleep out of his eyes with slow, purposeful blinks. “I’m alright, my head doesn’t seem all the way with me.”
Hero just hesitantly nodded, rhythmically tapping on Opportunist’s shoulder to keep him aware. “Well we know he’s coming back for us, so we should get out of here, maybe hide somewhere in the house as we try to come up with something.”
“Hide? Where? He probably knows every spot, he’s Hunted!” Opportunist refutes, brows knitted in disapproval.
“Can you think of a better idea?” Hero watches as Opportunist stumbles over his own words, sighing. “Thought so, come on.” Hero grabs Opportunist’s arm, they both slide off the bed, and make for the entrance.
“Where do we hide?” Opportunist whispers in the hallway, his legs wobbling as he tries to stand at his full height.
“Outside?” Hero peaks around the corner. He steals a glance out the window, and his eyes raise at the shadow of light clouding his view.
“It’s snowing.”
“Well shit.”
Shit indeed, and it didn’t help Hero could hear faint footsteps. They weren’t their usual whisper quiet, Hunted was self-assured of victory.
Opportunist’s shoulders hiked up, and he looked ready to ditch Hero as a last Hail Mary. “What do we do?”
“He can probably already hear us given his sharp senses, so he knows we’re planning. So our only option seems to be to, um…” Hero looks at the other, “run.”
And thus, they take off. Both avians book it out the one doorway the hallway connected to that wasn’t a dead end, leading them straight into the book room. A shiver traveled up Hero’s spine as he heard the angry shriek from Hunted, who, by the sound of pounding steps, was now giving chase.
Hero nearly tripped over himself twice as he angled himself to run, it didn’t help that Opportunist seemed even less geared to their racing, as his strange condition of drowsiness had yet to wear off.
The sound of a crash and dozens of falling books met Hero’s ears. He cringed, Hunted had definitely just slammed into the bookcase with his uncontrolled speed.
“If we keep turning corners, maybe he’ll keep running into stuff and knock himself out!l” Hero yelled, skidding around the book room corner, straight into the kitchen.
“And if he hurts himself?” Opportunist panted.
“Let’s not dwell on the… specifics?” Hero didn’t sound confident.
“You ALWAYS dwell on the specifics, why not now when it matters? Because honestly? I think this plan needs some dwelling!”
Hero wanted to retort, but the sound of long, uncut talons scrabbling against the tiled floor behind them invigorated him into shutting the hell up and keeping pace.
They passed the front door, and they were met with continuing into either the open lounge or dining room.
“Alright, around the table!” Hero pulled himself and Opportunist around and behind the dining table, it was long, with enough seats for all eleven of them.
For a moment, Hero thought they’d have to play a game of cat and mouse around the table, until he and Opportunist could find a window to escape.
Unfortunately for him, Hunted had no time for games.
There wasn’t much room in the house for flying, given the destructive size of a full wingspan. So Hunted opted for jumping up and off the wall, he then tucked into a dive as he headed straight for the two as he effectively flew over the table separating them.
Opportunist shrieked before ducking, bringing both him and Hero into a crouch. Hunted crashed right behind them, directly into the long, thick curtains.
“Good reaction speed, now come on, get up!” Hero yanked the other to his feet as they ran. Hero tried to ignore the sounds of ripping as Hunted frantically untangled himself from the curtains.
“Broken’s going to be upset when he learns Hunted tore up his hard work.” Opportunist muses.
“Hunted will whimper and pout at him and try to make it up by helping fix them.” Hero chuckled as they ran.
“And only make things worse because he refuses to cut his nails.” Opportunist also laughed, in need of levity as they run for- well- what wasn’t their lives, but for good cause anyways.
They had an iota of time granted to them. Hero halted and scanned the lounge, searching for a potential hiding spot. Opportunist was right, they couldn’t knock Hunted out without potentially bringing him harm; there was already concern from him colliding with the wall and bookcases. They had to find a hiding space, as there was no way in hell they had the speed or stamina to outlast Hunted.
For a moment, his eyes flicked upwards, and he did a double take as an idea came to him.
“The rafters!” There were only a few of them, and they weren’t thick enough to sit or lay comfortably on, but they were sturdy enough to hold their weight as they came up came up with a sound plan.
Hero let go of Opportunist and jumped onto the sofa. He carefully stood on the top of the back of the piece of furniture, shaking a little as he struggled to keep his balance. He bent his knees and jumped, breaking his own rule of “no form of flying in the house” by giving himself a little air with a short flap of his wings.
His arms wrapped around the plank of wood, creaking slightly from his weight. He pulled himself up, his talons scrapped against the smooth surface of the rafter as he struggled to rest his elbows against the top.
The moment he was able to lift all of his body above, he realized he was missing something. Looking down he saw Opportunist, who was struggling to stand on the edge of the sofa with his legs still wobbly.
Just when it looked like he’d gotten the hang of it, his knees gave up on him the moment he wound up to jump. He fell to the floor with a yelp, groaning after his head met the cold, unforgiving wood.
And as expected, Hunted was already there. He rushed into the room, no doubt his instincts agitated ever further by the sounds of injury just a mere hop skip and a jump away.
“Ah- HELP!” Opportunist pleaded as he thrown right over the shoulder of Hunted, his brain too rattled from his fall to do any amount of struggling. He was carried away, down the hallway, calling for aid that would never come.
“Shit…” Hero hissed beneath his breath. That could’ve gone better, he thought. Now that his only remaining ally was gone, he’d have to figure out how he was going to go about this, alone-
“Hey.” Something thunked beside him, letting out a neutral hum as it spoke.
“AH-“ Hero nearly launched himself off the rafter. He whipped around and was met with a bland look. It was Cold, who was letting out the occasional involuntary shiver, he somehow arranged himself to where he didn’t need to keep his hands on the sides of rafter below them as he sat upright.
“Lot of screaming today, I’d expect it from the conned pointy one, but not you, and certainly not Mr. My Opinion is Your Opinion.” Cold said, his ears twitching to flick the wetness out of them.
“Cold!” Hero said, bringing his hands to the other’s shoulders, which helped with the balance he currently needed. “I thought you- great Shifting Mound you are freezing! Did you go outside? Is that why you feel damp?” Looking closer he could see the bits of snow that had yet to be melted, little sparkles dotted throughout Cold’s plumage.
“Chopped wood, for fire. Came back inside and almost got hit by the animal running past me, after you.” Cold relayed, eyes looking focused on nothing in particular. “Did I miss all the fun?”
Hero sighed. “Trust me, It has been anything but fun. Hunted got out of his room and is running amuck. Seems like he’s got everyone back in that nest of his. Everyone but me and you, of course.”
“How unfortunate.” Cold remarks. “I don’t care to be trapped in that pillow fort. So, what do you suppose we do?”
Hero pouted. “Does it look like I know? Because I don’t.”
Another twitch of the ear, this one quicker. Agitation perhaps? “You do, it’s somewhere in that skull of yours. You’re just letting all your other grievances crowd and talk over each other.” He tapped against the top of Hero’s head. “Imagine all your thoughts are strands of silk, tangled together. Take a pair of scissors and cut right through the busied roads, the scattered, the worried, the unimportant. Keep cutting and cutting away until all those useless cloudy troubles dissipate, and you’re only left with what you need right now.”
That… actually wasn’t bad advice, which had that strange touch that only Cold could provide, of somber, wispy comfort. Hero closed his eyes and breathed in and out, putting a hand over his heart so he could it slow from the adrenaline he had accumulated from the chase.
Snipping away at fabrics, unfurling the threads, tugging free the knots. Again, and again, and again.
“Alright, okay. I think I got it. You said you were getting firewood, yeah?”
Cold nodded. “What I could carry is outside. Set it down while opening the door, I got distracted before I could bring it in.”
“Okay, alright. Help me bring it all inside. From there, let me explain what I need you to do.”
Opportunist head rang piercingly from his fall. Given what the Long Quiet had been through, one would think a dinky little drop from the back of a sofa would be laughable by comparison for him or his voices. As it turned out, falling directly onto your head from any amount of height sucked major ass .
He tried calling for help, but he knew there wasn’t much Hero could do, as all he could do was drop on top of them, which would practically guarantee more than just a little bruising. And as much as Opportunist loved and believed in the guy, he sincerely doubted he would get into- let alone win- a scrap with Hunted.
He resigned himself pretty quickly to his fate the moment Hunted’s nails tensed against his back in warning, the bastard knew that shit scared him. Hunted wouldn’t, Hero said he wouldn’t, he’d never harm him, but he also wasn’t himself right now. Opportunist wasn’t taking any chances. He stopped his shouting and tried to count the doors lining the hallway as they approached winter’s blind eye.
The second Hunted’s door was opened and closed he was carried right past the nest with a grouping of seven other voices, five of which were in various states of tied up. His attention was stolen as he was sat on the floor and quickly wrapped in a blanket before being tied up by what looked like wiring. He didn’t even try fighting, knowing he wouldn’t get jack shit from the effort.
“Think we can still talk about this fluffy guy?” He’s got to at least have a go at it, if he does maybe he’ll be allowed to stay awake a little longer, or get the best spot on the nest? He wasn’t sure if there was one, actually, the whole thing looked like if a pillow fort went to war and lost.
Hunted didn’t respond, Opportunist opened his mouth to try again and-
“Save your breath, he doesn’t do bargaining.” Cheated said. Opportunist deflated a little; he knew that, but being able to pretend for a little while longer that he could get some leverage from this kind of situation would’ve been nice.
“I fell off the sofa.” Opportunist sighs. “What’s your story?”
“I made the mistake of checking on the three dolts meant to watch him. And he-“ Skeptic gestures to Cheated with his eyes. “Is a dumbass that fell for the most obvious trap in all of history.”
“Oh come on! I don’t get complemented often, the flattery was something I felt I had to confirm. And! And it’s not every day Hunted makes a trap using a social method, how am I meant to predict that from him?”
“It has nothing to do with prediction, it was plainly obvious he wanted you following him for his own reasons. But fine, we’ll be sure to bathe you in a shower of sunshine and kisses from now on so you don’t act like a fool.” Skeptic sarcastically asserted, clearly the two had been going back and forth for quite some time.
“Oh, please do. I oh so love being lavished in praise that isn’t real.” Cheated spits, he sent a glare at Hunted as he does so, who seems to feel the eye contact, since he looks up.
“It was real, I think those things about you.” Hunted states, taking his time fixing the strands to where they were as comfortable as they possibly could be wrapped around Opportunist’s middle.
Cheated doesn’t reply, but Opportunist sees the lift in his feathers. The other seemed to be trying to prevent them from rising in his flustered state, an admirable effort that did nothing to help as Cheated’s spiky plumage puffs anyway.
Opportunist lets out an awkward chuckle. “Um, hey what’s with Contrarian? Why’s he in a cocoon? And Stubborn, Why’s he also tied differently? And… gagged?”
Contrarian sighs in a long and drawn out way, he’d probably explained this more than once and was getting sick of it. “I got tied up first after getting dragged to the ceiling. Stubborn was a real heat of the moment situation, so he’s got a pretty uncomfortable bind going on there. Smitten’s flowers were disturbed again and spread, he isn’t really used to being blind. Went down easy, so he got Hunted’s favorite trap, same one he’s given the rest of you so far. I’m jealous honestly, three blankets around you is enough to make winter feel like summer.”
“And the… what are they, wires? Gagging Stubborn?”
“Stubborn was still mad and saying stupid stuff, Hunted got annoyed.”
A disgruntled and muffled “Wartch iet.” came from Stubborn, it went ignored.
“And them?” Opportunist looks down at Paranoid and Broken as he’s dragged over to the nest by Hunted.
“We thought we made some progress with these two, but it seems they’re back under the effects of whatever the hell Hunted did to them.” Skeptic grumbled. “Broken was put in here, and instead of getting tied up like the rest of us, his feathers were run through, over and over and over as Hunted whispered to him. He was asleep by the time Hunted left. We tried waking him to get him to untie us, but he would only lethargically mumble every once in a while. Same happened with Paranoid, he crashed even faster. They’re both acting just as they were when we first found them.”
“That’s the intention.” Hunted says, he’s started pulling more blankets out of his apparent wellspring of a drawer. He builds up the edges and carefully chooses where the pillows go. There’s some sort of complex process behind that blank stare that Opportunist wished he could take a peak at to learn the ins and outs of the strange avian.
Skeptic grunts, eyes pinned on Hunted. “The intention, yes. Since you’re using your words now, mind telling us how this all works? Bit in the dark over here. There’s no harm in telling us what you know about hibernation.”
Hunted opens his mouth and-
“Oh mound, don’t ramble incoherently please, you tend to retread when your excited about something. Break it down into steps if you can.” Cheated bleated, interjecting into the explanation.
“…Okay.” Hunted’s ear flicks at nothing. “First, you need to feel warm and soft, on the outside and inside.”
Skeptic nods along, Hunted continues. “Second, needs must be met, you must be content. He-“ Hunted looks at Paranoid, “-needed assurance, feelings of safety, soundless and eyeless environment. And he-“ Hunted now looks over at Broken, “-only needed someone to lean on.”
“So… you just make us all cozy and then appeal to our wants?” Contrarian asks with incredulity.
“Not wants, needs, your senses. Whatever makes you ready for the third part: resting.” Hunted sighed, almost wistfully as he brings a hand up to stroke his collection above the nest. “Then, you feel it. I had a taste, but my needs haven’t been fully met, but I know I’ll like it. You’ll like it too.”
“Not so sure about that one.” Opportunist mutters. Hunted crowded in front of him, blocking most of his vision.
“But you already started, didn’t you?”
“…What?” Opportunist stares at the other with confusion. Started what?
“Your needs were already met, I could smell it off of you.”
Oh.
Fuck.
“But- how? What?!” Opportunist feels flushed, mostly from shock and embarrassment.
“Whatever happened when you went to sleep helped bring it, I imagine. I didn’t smell it on you this morning, only after.” Hunted supplies. Opportunist wonders how much of the last few minutes he’d potentially been out of character, in front of the others.
Did he slip up or make a fool out of himself? What if he revealed something he wasn’t supposed to and couldn’t remember like how Paranoid and Broken couldn’t? What if- how-
With Hero. Hero had reassured him that Hunted didn’t hate him, and that he’d never hurt him. He pulled Opportunist against him, no part of him felt naked or exposed, he was warm and comfortable, it was-
Damnit, he got fucked over by being shown affection by mother fucking Hero. Were his “needs” really coddling ? Really ?
“Fuuuuck…” Opportunist groaned, wanting to collapse into himself and never see the light of day ever again. Maybe Hero would keep his mouth shut, at least save him his pride. Because if they knew, he’d never live it down.
“Well, at the very least it didn’t stick.” Cheated voiced. “He’s normal now.”
Oh thank the Mound he didn’t appear out of character to the others, that was apparently the one thing going for him right now, and he latched onto it. He wouldn’t trust his own tongue ever again if whatever he said would come out as half-baked as everything Paranoid and Broken tried to say after their kidnapping.
“You’d think.” Hunted grins. “But as he already started, his body won’t let go of the memory. Now his needs barely have to be grazed to slip back into it.” Hunted pats the top of his head, it feels like an insult. “It’ll be even easier when I get Hero. I assume he had something to do with your needs being met? You were in the same bed. If he did have something to do with it, you hearing his voice will speed this up.”
Opportunist can see his own pride, it’s dug itself a grave and has started to shovel the dirt on top of itself.
Skeptic’s eyes widen. “Was that why you were whispering and touching them? Because their hibernation… remembers you?”
Hunted looks at him for a moment. “Not exactly, but sure.“
“That’s why those two got so much worse after sitting down!” Cheated looks at Paranoid and Broken with new clarity. “They were with one another when they started, they fed off each other once comfortable again! And we had no idea. That was so unfairly stacked against us from the start, how could we have known?”
Hunted stands now, looking down at his assembly of voices. “I got carried away. I need to go get the other two, I’ll be back. Stay put.”
“Like we’re going anywhere.” Contrarian mumbles as Hunted slips back out the door, as quietly as ever.
“Well boys? Think we can work as a team and break out of here?” Opportunist’s ears fell when the others’ shook their heads, clearly they’d tried and failed.
Smitten, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, pipes up. “What’s this sleepover you had with the leader of our aberrant guild?”
Whatever scrap of dignity Opportunist had left to his name fluttered away as he was violently stabbed square in the chest by the question.
“Don’t forget to-“
“Not give anything away, even if I think it’s more interesting. I’m not stupid, Hero.” Cold huffs.
“I don’t know, you seemed pretty stupid when you insisted on us stabbing a ghost.” Hero teased.
Cold’s ear twitched involuntarily. “Do we have time for this, or do you actually want to hibernate?”
“Yeah yeah, you’re right.” Hero’s closed his eyes, straining his hearing as far as it could reach with concentration. “He’s coming, get ready. This is our last chance.” Hero wedged his way into the tight space between the sofa seat cushion and back cushion. Only the bright white of his eyes were visible from the small hole between where the four corners of the cushions met in the middle.
Cold turned around and jabbed at the fire with the fire poker, it was still trying to crackle its away across the shortened logs of wood in the fireplace. He tried flipping the wood to where it could burn faster, which seemed to work.
He listened. He could hear steps coming up from behind him, barely. He took in a quiet breath. This wouldn’t be hard.
He turned, which, as predicted, was not what the deathly silent Hunted expected. He froze in his tracks, blinking down at Cold, who found the eery stare easy to take.
“Well? Are you going to just stand there, or sit down by the fire? Either is fine by me.” Cold evenly says.
Hunted’s fingers twitch, looking eager to grab him, but hesitate. Hunted knows Cold will fight him if he tries anything, and Cold, much to Stubborn’s delight, doesn’t throw the towel in, even when it isn’t going in his favor. It was something the others became very aware of after an incident that almost lost him his arm in a duel with Smitten. He didn’t tell anyone about the extensiveness of his injuries until one day Paranoid, weeks later, innocently grabbed his hand and had the lovely experience of hearing and feeling the horrible crunching of shattered bones.
He sat, Cold exhaled.
For a moment they just sat next to each other, looking into the fire.
Hunted sniffed the air. “I smell Hero.”
“He lives here.” Cold replies, lazily poking at the flames.
Hunted grumbles something, sniffing again. “It smells… icy, bad.” Hunted looks more closely at Cold, intently. He places a hand on his shoulder, only to hiss and flinch backwards like he’d been burned.
“You’re freezing .” Hunted whispers, worry radiating off him. “You went outside, it’s cold, so so cold. You aren’t shivering, that means you have the deadly chill.” Cold assumed that meant hypothermia. “My nest. Now.” Hunted moves to grab him, but Cold bats him away.
“I’m not shivering because I don’t bother myself with feelings of heat or cold. Besides, I did what I was supposed to do, didn’t I? I sat down in front of a fire after going out. I owe you nothing.” Cold states.
Hunted looked conflicted. He touches all over Cold’s body. The plumage where all the straggling dollops of snow had long melted into his feathers, making them appear darker with their wet state.
“At least put a blanket on.” Hunted moved to go grab the blanket on the sofa, but Cold quickly pulls him back down.
“I’m fine. Even if I don’t let myself feel the effects, I wouldn’t be able to speak without my teeth chattering every other word if I were that cold. Fortunately for us both, I’m not doing that, am I?” Cold reasons.
Hunted chews on nothing. “I should still bring you back with me.”
“I’d warm faster by a fire, and none of your horde of blankets get soggy in the process.” Cold rebuttals.
Hunted’s ears flick over and over with poorly concealed anxiety as he thinks. It seemed his usual split second decision-making wasn’t so useful in this scenario. He ruminated for a few more seconds before sighing.
“Fine, but turn your back to it, your chest is mostly dry now.”
Cold does as he says, turning his back to the now large, crackling fire. Hunted sits in front of him and starts feverishly preening through the dried feathers, searching for non-existent injuries.
It was… pleasant.
Or it would be, if Cold cared. He didn’t.
“Why did you go outside?” Hunted questioned, paying extra close attention to the clumps of feathers Cold never bothered to take care of, which was most of them.
“Hero wanted me to warm up the place, but we ran out of firewood.” Cold explained. He looked over the other’s shoulder. Say his name and he’ll come, Hero was slowly and steadily pulling himself free.
Distract, he needed to keep Hunted’s worries on him. Keep him just far enough he doesn’t fix a perceived problem, but just close enough to not ward him away.
“You’re preening too roughly.” Cold says pushed Hunted’s hands out of his personal space.
“I’m preening just fine.” Hunted looked offended. He was the best groom of the group, and he knew it too.
“And I say you’re too much, stop touching me.” Cold argues, shifting back as Hunted makes another grab for him.
“Why are you always so difficult.”
“Why are you always so insistent?”
“Why- wait, too rough. Too rough? You never care when someone’s too much, you care when they’re too little.” Hunted wonders aloud, as if realizing something amiss.
Cold should’ve stuck with whatever popped into his head instead of the script Hero fed him.
“Is something wrong? Why aren’t you saying you’re bored, or sick of talking? You never care how something feels unless something is wrong wrong. Unless this-“ Hunted pauses in his quiet theories, before slowly turning to look behind him. Hero is on the sofa, holding the blanket and looking flustered.
“Shit- Just do it now Cold!” Sure, why not? Cold swiftly moves and bowls Hunted over. Hero jumps and attempts to trap him under the blanket. Processing the situation quickly and accordingly, Hunted picks up on the intention and rolls over with Cold.
There’s hissing coming from Hunted as he and Cold fight, rolling around with a hard grip on each other, both were trying to come out on top.
But can it really be considered a fight? Hunted won’t hurt Cold, but Cold has little to no issue-
“Don’t hurt him Cold, I’m trying to time this, just stall him out!” Well damn. He might get a talking to if he leaves more than a few feathers tussled, and he could go the rest of his life without another banal scolding he wasn’t allowed to walk away from.
For a while longer they rolled about, like an angry tumbleweed. At multiple points one would push the other down onto the floor by their shoulders, before the seemingly defeated lurched forward and started the whole dance up again.
It was near thrilling, Hunted had never been so prone to violence like this. There were multiple windows he could have used to escape. Usually by now the skittish voice would’ve scrambled away, unwilling to be part of an unexpected and unnecessary duel. But currently? Hunted was gnashing his teeth together, tensing his hooked talons, puffing up to look bigger; he was doing all he could to make Cold either submit or run.
He wasn’t afraid to play dirty either. He’d nipped at Cold’s face, and tried blinding him with his hand multiple times. Cold thinks he tried spitting at his eyes at one point. He had never been like this, which made it all the more interesting, exhilarating even. It was something new.
Unfortunately, all good things come to end, as Hero finally took a literal leap of faith and tackled Hunted just as he pressed Cold into the flooring for the third time. Hero held the blanket down at all four corners as Hunted let out shrill shrieks that would make anyone feel nauseated with their volume.
“Little help here?” Hero called. Cold sighed almost disappointedly, and he moved to help contain his vicious housemate.
“Thanks a lot. Sorry you had to grapple with him for so long, I wasn’t confident just blindly throwing the blanket on both of you and hoping it worked out.” Hero explains as Hunted’s angry calls turn into fearful chitters and apologetic peeps.
“It’s fine, I don’t care.” Cold easily replies.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve never seen him that upset before. Opportunist was right, the winter has really made him lose it, huh?”
Cold doesn’t reply, he simply does his motions to help secure Hunted in the thick, fuzzy blanket.
“We should’ve taken more precaution. Hunted chattered on and on about how we weren’t prepared for winter and how he wasn’t going to go outside unless he absolutely had to. We did a lot, we’ve got tons of food and loads of blankets and pillows, but I guess we should’ve assured him more. I feel pretty bad about it in hindsight.” Hero laments.
“Don’t be. He’s the one who’s feeding into his own narrative of death and despair from the dropping temperature.” Cold answers, the blankets were wrapped around Hunted like a sack filled with gold.
“But it’s in his nature, he can’t help it. I just feel like we could’ve been a bit more empathetic towards his plight. This isn’t how I wanted this to go, and now everyone’s going to be mad at him.” Hero pauses for a moment. “Do you… hear anything?”
Cold listens. There was the whirling wind dancing with the snowflakes outdoors, the fire crackling with its gentle coat of orange light permeating the room, and there was always the satisfying tapping sounds of the tips of their talons hitting the wood whenever they shifted or moved. Aside from that and their own breathing, nothing.
“No. I’m assuming there’s something concerning sounding enough to bring this up?” Cold returns, looking over at Hero.
“No no, him. Hunted. He stopped making noise, and he’s not moving.” Hero poked at the blanket, it didn’t so much as twitch. “Do you think he has enough air?”
“It’s a thick blanket, but I doubt he can’t breathe.” Cold responds.
Hero still looks uneasy. “Maybe we should check, I just want to be sure.”
Cold shrugs, and open the blanket. He peaks inside. Hunted is deathly still, and his chest doesn’t look like it’s rising or falling.
Cold lets the blanket fall open, Hero gasps at what he sees.
“Hunted? Hunted can you hear me? Are you alright?” Hero’s voice rises in panic. “You weren’t in there long, please tell me you’re okay?”
Suddenly, Hunted’s eye pops open, and he lunges for Hero, who yelps as he topples under the other. The sound he makes when his head meets the wooden planks, it’s harsh, much harsher than when Hunted did the same to Cold.
Hero goes limp, near instantly. Hunted cranes his neck around to Cold, there was an untamed look in his eyes. Before Cold can even stand, he’s pushed to the ground. He’s picked up by his shoulders and slammed back down. There’s a loud ringing in his ear, and then it all goes black.
Calm, calm down, breathe.
Flock hurt him! Why?
Calm? No, calm down. It’s fine.
Hunted continued breathing until his muscles were no longer tensed. He looked around, the other two were unconscious.
This was guilt, he felt bad, really bad. He played dead as best he could, he made Hero all worried about him. Then he hurt him! Hurt both! He hurt his flock and-
No, he just calmed down. He needed to focus.
Hunted checks the backs of their heads. He’d smashed them pretty hard into the ground, it must have hurt a lot. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, or play dead, or have to go on a wild chase, but what was he to do? Watch as they frolic outside and into the snow? Ridiculous! His flock all had terrible instincts: they got into fights they would limp away from, they all insisted on sleeping separately, sometimes they even begged for death from minor inconveniences!
But that’s why he was here, to make sure his flock lived long and stayed healthy. It was quite odd to him that they had so profusely refused this time. They’d brushed him off before, but never like this. Usually they at least listened when his stress had legs to stand on, but this time? This time when it was so very important they all listen to him? This time they scream and pout and refuse? He didn’t understand.
But he had them now, he shivered when he realized. Everyone would be safe in his nest now. The image alone in his head had him grinning in anticipation, excitement. It’d take some work, but soon everything would come together, and he’d have nothing left to do but follow the flow.
There was some blood coming from both of them, but feeling around he couldn’t sense any major damage, he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt nothing bad from their skulls. Cold had some bruising, but that wouldn’t take too terribly long to heal up. He moved to put out the fire- he couldn’t leave its flames unattended- and got to work transporting the remaining flock. He had to restrain himself from flapping his wings to release his built up joy and energy.
Hero felt a distant buzzing in his head. Flickering his eyes open, there was a mixing of color and shapes, where-?
“HEY! WAKE UP!” Hero jerked backward and fell with an “oof!” onto something soft. He attempted to right himself, only to find he couldn’t, as his upper half was bound together by a fluffy blanket and what resembled wiring.
“What the- where- what happened?” Hero sputtered. Something came up behind him and sat him back up. He dazedly looked around, spotting many others in a similar predicament to him. Including Cheated, who was evidently the one who had just shouted at him.
“What happened is that you got caught like the rest of us, by him.” Cheated pointedly looked past Hero, who cocked his head around, spotting none other than Hunted.
Oh, he was in the nest.
“Don’t suppose you’ll be letting us go anytime soon?”
Hunted shook his head no.
“Really? Was that really a question? What did you think he’d say?” Contrarian snickered.
Hero sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know anymore, I’m past my breaking point.”