Chapter Text
Couriway was up early the following day. He slipped out of bed, careful so as to not wake Feinberg, and ducked out of his tent into the outside world. His face still felt dry with the tears from the previous night. He’d fallen asleep in Fein’s arms, crying himself into slumber. Stretching his wings, he navigated the deserted camp, walking past the dead fire and beyond the temporary settlement’s edges.
The avian walked through the autumn forest as it gently sloped upwards. Emerging out into the open, he found himself at the crest of the hill, overlooking the rest of the dying mountain range. Couri spread his wings and sent himself up and onto a twisting tree branch. Behind him, there came a light rustling that he paid no mind to.
“You’re up early.” Fulham landed next to him, tucking his phantom wings to his back.
Couri sighed, staring distantly across the landscape. “It was a hard night.”
Fulham sat down with a hum. “I heard.” The phantom hybrid looked at him. “What happened yesterday?”
Couri scoffed. “What part?”
“When you left with Jumper. What happened out there?”
Couri felt his fingers dig into his pants, biting his lower lip. “I went out to teach her some running basics.”
“And?” Fulham raised an eyebrow.
“It went well. Really well actually.” He looked up at his friend, a small semblance of a smile on his face. “She is a natural. Like, her movement is actually insane. She asked some good questions and learned how to balance in the trees in like two seconds. Then, right after that, she beat me in a fight.”
The phantom hybrid nodded along. “Okay, then what went so wrong?”
Couri’s smile fell like a stone into a lake. He looked back to the horizon. “She nearly fell into the river.”
A sigh.
“That would do it.”
“I caught her, thank Universe, but for a few seconds I was sent back… there…” Couri felt a breath get caught in his throat. “And I’m just so scared that I’m going to lose her. I mean, I feel like I have to hold her back from running or else… you know.”
“Well holding her back is the last thing you should do.”
Couri whipped his head around to look at him. “But she could-”
“She’s going to resent you.”
Couri felt his heart sink. “What?
“If you’re scared that she’s going to get hurt, then you might as well not be teaching her at all.” Fulham continued. “You can’t run without getting hurt, that’s just reality, and Jumper clearly wants to do this. I mean, literally day two she was bugging you all day about it. If she sees you continue to hold her back, she’s going to grow bitter.”
Couri ran both hands through his own hair, grasping at brown strands as he searched for words. “Fulham, if I lose her, I-” his voice cracked. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself.”
“You wouldn’t. I mean, look at Rek. You still blame yourself for that whole clusterfuck and it’s been five years.”
“Because it was my fault!” Couri snapped. “If I hadn’t broken my wings then he would still be here!”
Fulham sighed, a tired look in his eyes. “Look, I’m just saying that if you want to teach her anything, then you have to be okay with taking risks. Obviously you’re there to keep things from getting out of control, but no one can learn without messing up. Sometimes, learning also means getting hurt. I mean, you of all people should know this.”
He was right. Couri, and most of HBG for that matter, had been wandering the world for years before coming together. Most of them had to learn running on their own, at the mercy of the guards, gangs, and any other environmental hazards. The times Couri learned the most was when things went wrong. Even with scrapes, broken bones, burns, whatever, he survived and learned from it.
“I know you care about her, we all do. The last thing anyone wants is to see history repeat itself, but even Rek had to learn things the hard way.” Fulham patted Couri on the shoulder. “Don’t hold her back just because you are sacred. She isn’t. Use that.”
Couri said nothing as Fulham took his leave. The phantom hybrid had been on the last night guard shift, so he probably went off to bed, not that Couri really cared at the moment. He continued staring off into space, mulling over his friend's words. Fulham had a point. Jumper had directly pushed back at one point, so if this were to continue… He didn’t want to think about it.
“Alright,” he whispered to himself. “Let’s get to work.”
Couri did his best to push the thoughts of Rek falling to the back of his mind as he dismounted the branch and trekked back to camp.
***
“Today I’m going to teach you everything else you need to know about second ring routes.” Couri began.
Jumper sat across from him on a log, hanging onto his every word. She had a bright, ecstatic smile on her face, and her feet tapped on the ground with energy. Couri smiled to himself. She was born for this.
“We’ve already covered bridge, so next I want us to focus on housing.” He grabbed a stick and started sketching two circles in the dirt, creating a ring. Jumper leaned forwards to get a better look at the image.
“There are two main parts of the second ring: the shantytown and downtown. Downtown makes up most of the ring,” Couri continued, sketching large squares within the ring. “This is where all the gangs hang out and where the vault will be.” He drew a star to represent the vault. “The shantytowns are scattered throughout. They aren’t really focused in one spot. This is where the poorest of the poor live. These people will be your best allies in a housing run.” The shantytown was represented by a series of small dots.
“Ooooooh, so do we get to talk to them?” Jumper’s eyes lit up.
Couri nodded. “We are known throughout the continent, and the shantytowns love us. When we leave the town, we usually drop off any extra gold and our disguises to those who need it far more than us.” he had a sad smile on his face. “They are some of the kindest, helpful people you meet, and are the ones the king has hit the hardest only second to hybrids.”
Jumper’s happy expression quickly turned almost guilty at her previous joy. Seeing this, Couri quickly continued on a happier note. “Some of our best allies are also fellow runners who do work in the shantytowns as they travel. Things like soup kitchens, work, whatever they need. I will show you where these people are stationed if they are around. Sometimes they aren’t, so the other townspeople take care of us.”
“That’s so sweet!” A look of happiness was reignited in Jumper’s face. “When you say ‘take care of us,’ does that mean supplying us with extra tools?”
“Exactly!” Couri replied. “If the disguises found in the first ring wouldn’t work in the second, then we’d get new ones from them. Afterwards, we always return them, so don’t forget.”
“I won’t! Honestly, I’m already thinking of all the fun things I could bring to them.”
Pride bloomed in Couri’s chest. “Good. Now, as I was saying, from the shantytown, you’ll go into town, find the vault, and sneak in. There’s multiple ways to do this, one of which being the stables route. I’m not going to have you do that until you’ve gone through the other routes though, so don’t worry about it.”
Jumper nodded along.
“How you sneak into the vault without doing stables is by “selling out” criminals. This means making shit up and getting the guards to run off. Most of them are pretty stupid like that. Sometimes though, you’re going to be forced to sneak in through the roof, which is partly why I had you do all that balancing yesterday.”
“Oh I see. Does that mean we get up on a house roof and jump over to the vault?”
“Yep!” Couri chuckled. “Honestly, I feel like I shouldn’t even have to teach you this. You’re getting all of this faster than Kyle and Infume combined.”
Jumper giggled, kicking her feet. “I’m excited for this! I think it’ll feel really good.”
“You have the perfect mindset for it.” Couri said assuredly. “I won’t get to the endgame until tomorrow, so now I’m going to move onto the treasure route.”
The avian began by making mini circles around the vault.
“You are going to skip the shantytown for this and head straight through the streets until you find the vault. Surrounding the vault are a series of armories. These armories are where you are going to get a guard disguise. From there, you can easily gain access to the vault.”
“Oh,” Jumper blinked, surprised. “That was simple.”
“It is, which is why I’ll take you through this route after housing. We’ll then do bridge after that and end things off with, ugh,” Couri shivered. “Stables.”
Jumper laughed, throwing her head back. “What did stables do to you?” she asked, wiping away a tear.
Couri snorted before dropping his stick to the ground. “It’s just incredibly dangerous. You have to go into the alleyways around the vault, which is where the gangs are going to be waiting for you. You have only three options, run and divert the guards’ attention to them, run right past them and hope for the best, or fight.”
He looked up to see Jumper’s eyes widened. “Oh,” she met his gaze. “Now I get it.”
The avian sighed, kicking dirt over his drawing. “It’s pretty bad, so we’re saving that one for last.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Couri kicked his stick over to Jumper, leaping up and snapping a different one off the overhanging branches. He looked back at her, already seeing her get into a battle-ready position.
“We’ll do a bit of warm-up, and then I want us to do some hand-to-hand combat. More often than not, the creeps in ring two aren’t going to have much on them, so it’s good to be able to fight even if you’re somehow disarmed or just don’t have a weapon”
Jumper tapped a foot in anticipation. “I’m never leaving camp without a weapon. I feel it’d be stupid not to.”
“I thought you’d say that. Still, it’s important to practice these things.” Couri made sure to keep his wings tucked firmly to his back. He’d lost count of how many times he’d hit someone in the face with them while training.
With little warning, Couri launched himself at his student, swinging his “sword” at her shoulder. Jumper, while briefly surprised, managed to step back enough that Couri’s stick only grazed her. She slashed at his sword-wielding arm before he could recover, running behind before he could counter. Instinctively, Couri flared out his wings to obscure her vision, pivoting around on a foot to face her.
“You’re fast,” Couri commented as he dodged another attack. “But, you need a little bit more power behind your strikes.” At that moment, he brought his weapon down on her wrist, knocking the stick from her hands. He forced her back towards the trees, smiling. “I like your strategy, you just need to have more purpose behind your sword.”
Jumper took a moment to catch her breath, nodding. She pushed Couri’s stick away, walking past him to pick up her own.
“My friends used to tell me that, but I’ve never been all that strong.”
“You don’t have to be strong to hit hard.” He watched Jumper tilt her head curiously. “A lot of it comes down to gravity. With the correct weapon of course, putting only a little force behind it, coupled with good technique, can make all the difference. I’ll show you.”
Couri took an apple he had been saving for lunch out of his bag. He set it down on the log, taking out his actual sword for a demonstration. Jumper could be seen out of the corner of his eyes, watching intently.
Couri stepped back, preparing his swing. “Watch how hard I swing this.” He swung at the ground first. The silver blade hit the ground with a thump, cutting through to the point where the blow would have likely killed someone. “See how deep it cut?”
Couri looked up to see Jumper nodding. “So, like this?”
She swung her stick, hitting the forest floor and snapping it clean in half. Couri sputtered a laugh, slapping a hand over his mouth. Jumper looked up, eyes wide, before letting out that bubbly giggle that made Couri’s heart bloom with pride and adoration.
“Definitely put enough force behind it to snap a twig. If anything, it should be just enough force to bend a bigger branch. Say, that one.” Couri pointed to a branch hanging over his head. It was not as thick as his arm, but it was close. “Just do your best to keep your arm steady. No shaking. When you do that, your attacks will be sloppy and do basically nothing.”
“Alright,” Jumper nodded, smiling. “I can do that.”
Couri smiled at her confidence. “If you can hit something with half the strength you hit that guard with some wood, then you will be just fine. Just be confident with your swings.” He took his sword out of the ground, lining it up again to hit the apple.
In a swift, sudden moment, Couri let the momentum he put behind his sword, coupled with gravity itself, to slice the apple… unevenly. He shrugged.
“Remember not to get too cocky, cause then this will happen.”
Jumper chuckled softly. “Okay…” she paused, glancing at the apple slice that just sat on the log now. She slowly looked back at Couri, a question in her eyes.
Couri laughed. “Go for it. I’ll let you try this after.”
Pouncing on the chance, Jumper snatched up the slice and plopped down on the log to scarf it down. Couri sat down beside her, taking a moment to wipe dirt and apple juice off the blade of his sword. Sounds of the mountain forests filled the relative silence between the two. Goldfinches and sparrows hopped from branch to branch overhead, while the rattling creak of a robin echoed from further away.
Jumper wiped excess juice off her face, letting out a content sigh. Couri watched her lean back on the log, sputtering as she leaned too far back and hit the wood with a hollow thunk. The girl flinched from the impact, frowning before noticing the colorful canopy above her. Her eyes widened as the colors of autumn stared back at her. A baby blue sky was just barely visible through the branches, peeking out as the wind rustled the leaves. Seeing this, Couri craned his neck upwards too. He couldn’t help but chirp a string of notes at the sight, the instinct to sing overwhelming. Jumper hummed softly.
“What’s your favorite song?” the girl asked, continuing to gaze upwards.
Couri paused for a moment, slowly falling to lay on his back. “Everything sounds nicer in spring, but I really like answering back to the babies that are trying to sing for the first time.” He chuckled. “It’s really cute.”
“I’ve always thought baby birds looked weird.”
The avian couldn’t hold back the loud laugh that burst from his lungs. “Oh really?”
Jumper smiled, a giggle on her lips. “Yeah! I mean, they’re completely bald AND have heads that are way too big for their body! Like, come on!” she sat up, throwing her arms out as if that would make her point more effective. “Did you look like that as a baby?”
At this point, Couri just lost it. “OH MY UNIVERSE, NO!”
“Did you just not have wings? Was your back bald?”
If Jumper asked another question about bald babies, Couri might just die on the spot.
“She asks a legitimate question.”
The sound of a new voice nearly made Couri jump out of his skin. He sprung to his feet, grabbing at the hilt of his sword and whirling around in the direction of the sound. Jumper had stepped back, grabbing at her broken stick like it would do anything.
Fruitberries just stood there, unbothered, leaning against a tree. “You still haven’t answered any questions, Couri.”
The avian sighed, lowering his weapon. “One day, sneaking up on one of us is going to get you killed.”
Fruit shrugged. “You hesitate before fighting, so I’d say I’m pretty safe around you.”
“You know too much.”
“And you don’t answer questions.” Fruit elbowed Couri as he walked past, picking up the other half of Jumper’s stick and swinging around. “Were you bald as a baby or not?”
Couri covered his face with his hands as Jumper broke into laughter. “I was not bald.” he groaned.
Fruit raised an eyebrow. “Were your wings bald?”
“NO! I mean- kinda-?”
“THEY WERE?!” Jumper’s shocked voice scared the entire audience of birds away.
Couri felt his face getting hotter. “I’m done talking about this.” He looked up to see the type of smile on Fruit’s face that told you he was planning something. “ANYWAYS,” Couri handed his sword to Jumper, who still hadn’t quite regained her composure, but took the weapon anyways. “Show Fruit what you’ve learned by destroying this apple.”
“Yeesh, is that a threat?”
Couri rolled his eyes. “Just watch.”
The two runners watched as Jumper collected herself before walking over to where the apple was. She adjusted her grip on the sword, stepping back a few paces and taking deep breaths. Jumper took a few more seconds to line up the weapon before she swung the sword back, and let it fall. Her breathing hitched as her eyes shut and the blade sliced through the air.
There was a high pitched slice followed by a loud thunk. A small, giddy laugh escaped from Jumper. She whipped her head around to look at Couri, beaming.
“How was that?”
Couri’s wings exploded out from behind his back, nearly whacking Fruit on the side of the head. “That was FANTASTIC! I think the only thing you need to work on is your confidence, because you shut your eyes there, which isn’t ideal, but we can work on that. Now, how do you feel?”
Jumper was bouncing on her heels excitedly. “I feel amazing! That was like- I don’t even know man! I got possessed for a second there, it just felt so- so-”
“Natural?” Fruit chimed in. Couri had almost forgotten he was there.
With a nod, Jumper bounded over to the two, her hand shaking with the sword in her hand. Couri gently took it from her grasp and slipped it back in it’s sheath. Looking over at Fruit, Couri felt his smile almost slip. The brunette was running a hand through the lime green streak in his hair, lips knit in a straight line while his eyes almost bore into Jumper, calculating, observing. Fruit finally met Couri’s gaze.
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
Couri was momentarily taken aback, blinking a few times before coming up with a response. “Uh- yeah, sure.” he glanced at Jumper, who had clearly seen the look on Fruit’s face. “Wait here. You can do some movement practice, climbing up trees and whatnot.”
The girl put on a smile, a fake one, Couri could tell. She watched the two until they disappeared from sight, and only then could be heard clambering up a nearby tree.
Couri waited until they were out of Jumper’s earshot before speaking. “What the fuck, dude? First you crash our training session, and then you make her feel bad.”
Fruit said nothing as he pushed further into the autumn forest. Couri felt his teeth grind against one another, the feathers on the back of his neck standing up. He stomped forwards and grabbed Fruit by the shoulder.
“What the hell is your problem?”
Fruit turned to face the avian. He shrugged Couri’s hand off and sighed. “I’m getting annoyed with you, Couri. We all are.”
We all are…? Couri felt his brain practically short-circuit.
“What-” he shook his head. “Fruit, drop the cryptic bullshit. What did I do wrong? And if this is about something Jumper did, I don’t want to hear it.”
Unphased, Fruit carefully observed his friend’s facial expressions, watching them morph into frustration, then confusion, and then anger.
“Your instincts have been clouding everything else out. I know that you think the girl is special, but you don’t realize-”
“BECAUSE SHE IS SPECIAL!” Couri snapped. “For fuck’s sake- she’s been catching onto every single concept faster than Kyle and Infume did COMBINED! Jumper is incredible and- and-” the avian shook his head. “If everyone can’t see that, then fine. I don’t know where all of this suddenly came from, because everyone seemed fine with her when we left not even two hours ago, but I DON’T CARE!”
Silence enveloped the two runners like a suffocating blanket, threatening to choke them both out. Couri’s heavy breathing was one of the few things breaking the quiet. Fruit watched him, his face one of concern and.. Hurt? Couri could see his own torn expression reflected in Fruit’s green eyes.
“Couri, she is special. We’ve all seen that.” Fruit finally said. “But all of your ‘mother bird’ instincts have clouded out everything the Universe has been trying to tell you.”
Couri’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach, gnawing at his insides like a parasite.
“You didn’t even realize they’ve been on max the whole time. Haven’t you?”
“Fruit-”
“Try ignoring them for a second.”
Couri took a few shaky steps back before sinking to the ground. He stared at the earth, blood roaring in his ears as any and all feeling slipped away.
Their words hit like a runaway carriage.
THE BROKEN HEART, BROKEN RABBIT. BEWARE THE KING’S IRE. FOLLOW HER TO ME. FOLLOW HER TO HIM. FOLLOW. FOLLOW. FOLLOW. FOLLOW.
“Couri,”
The avian in question jerked away at the sudden touch from Fruit. He stared up at his friend with wide, tearful eyes.
“This whole time…” Couri’s voice was small, broken even. “How..?” He shut his eyes, a tear escaping down his face. “How’d I never- Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Fruit was sitting down in front of him now. “We thought you’d have realized by now.”
Couri let out a hurt scoff. “You guys have always overestimated me.”
“Stop. We’re not doing that right now. This isn’t about you, this is about her.” Fruit’s gaze suddenly hardened. His look could slice through bedrock if he set his mind to it. “This is the closest to the Universe we have ever been. If we follow her, we can find them. Once we find them, we kill him.”
“For Rek?”
“For Rek.” Fruit pushed himself back to his feet. "So get her ready, because the moment we find a town, she's going in. And if you try stopping- even delaying her," Fruit bit his lip. "I have a feeling she'll make up her own mind."
⍑ᒷ ꖎ╎⍊ᒷᓭ