Chapter Text
They awoke slowly, muscles groaning as they tried to shift away from the light that pressed into his face.
A relieved sigh was heard next to them, and he tried to sit up, but something firm had pressed against his chest, pushing them back down.
He relaxed back into the firm thing at his side, letting out a breath of pain as something—feeling distantly like an elbow—pressed into their side. Then it moved, wrapping around their shoulders gently and pulling him into the warmth that was no-doubt a human body.
“You’re such an idiot.” They recognized the voice as Feinberg’s. They were pressed into Fein’s side, and if he focused hard enough, he could hear the heartbeat of the other. They let out a sigh, their shoulders untensing as they lifted a shaky hand to wrap around Fein’s chest. “Yeah, yeah, love you too.”
It took a few more minutes for him to come-to. When it happened, he whispered to Fein, holding back a sob.
“I’m sorry.”
Feinberg let out another sigh and lifted their head up gently, his bones protested, but he didn’t as Fein sat him up.
K4yfour opened their eyes and winced at the sunlight that shone into the place he now recognized as Feinberg’s coastal base.
Brown eyes met his and they were full of care, but it was covered by the wall of nothingness that always bedecked Fein’s eyes.
“Well, you don’t look too different. The sunflowers even compliment your eyes.” A pause, “Or… eye.” The mentioned eyes widened, glancing around for a mirror. Fein seemingly pulled one out of nowhere and handed it to them.
They gasped staring into their reflection. His eyes were still grey… the right one at least. The left was no longer an eye, but a magnificent sunflower. Their hair was still half black and half white and a few more flowers grew into a crown over his head. He closed his right eye and gasped again. They could see out of the flower, the colors of everything were far more vibrant.
The sea beyond was a shining cerulean and the beauty of it was stunning. He let out another surprised gasp.
A few chuckles rang out through the room, and they flinched, opening both eyes and whipping around, wincing as their neck screamed in pain.
Fulham, Illumina, Fruit, and Couriway sat there, along with Eleventy, Nerdi, Reign and Tek.
“Hi.” He croaked out, grimacing at the roughness of their voice.
Fulham, Fruit, and Couri didn’t so much as look up from their gazing at the ground. Illumina offered him a forced smile and Reign, Tek, and Eleventy offered polite waves. Nerdi stared at him with paralyzing frost eyes. The color was much more vibrant, practically glowing as the sea reflected light into them.
“You—” Fruit choked on his words and his empty eyes looked up to meet theirs. “You accepted it…”
K4yfour felt their heart squeeze with guilt and the petals of the sunflowers seemed to droop.
“I- I’m sorry—”
“Face it. We can’t yell at him for it. Then we’d just be hypocrites.” Fulham said from his spot leaning against one of the bookshelves near the enchantment table, eyeing K4yfour with a look of apology.
“We warned you!—”
“We warned Couri too. And Fein. And Silverr. But they still accepted the Gift, didn’t they?” Illumina asked, looking to Fruit.
The latter grit his teeth, but it disappeared quickly as Illumina pulled him into a hug.
Couriway then stood up, eyes shadowed as he stalked up to K4yfour. Feinberg’s hand on their shoulder tensed.
“I’m not mad. I’m just confused as to why.” He said, wings puffing up as he glanced to Feinberg. The man’s face was one that screamed ‘shut the fuck up.’
The only reason that he held back from actually saying it was probably because K4yfour had just went through a traumatic experience, and he didn’t want to scare them.
“I was… I was just so… tired.” They whispered. Couriway frowned and his wings lowered a few inches. He tried to reach forward, but the hand on their shoulder tugged them forward and into Feinberg’s chest. The other’s body rumbled as he let out a growl.
“You couldn’t have waited?” He snarled, K4yfour tensed as a dangerous energy radiated from Fein.
“Calm down, Fein. He was just asking a question.” Feinberg ignored Nerdi, gaze still locked on Couri.
“I needed to make sure.” Was all the winged one said, folding his wings and staring down at Fein with a look that was unnamable.
Feinberg slowly released the one pulled to his chest, but a hand rested on their knee, unwilling to let go completely.
“You really scared us there, Kay.” Nerdi said, smiling sadly. “Gone for 5 days and no checking in? It’s unlike you.” K4yfour opened his mouth to respond, but someone beat him to it.
“Oh well, they’re back now.” Reign shrugged, sending a sharp grin towards the two on the bed, mostly K4yfour. “And plus, the flowers make him even cuter.” A wink accompanied the statement.
Tek grinned from beside Reign, the colorful TV that usually donned his head was now gone, pushing himself off of the crafting table he was sitting on and wrapping an arm around the black-haired male.
“I second that. Now I can call you my little Sunflower.” A smirk bloomed on his face and K4yfour broke into laughter, along with everyone else.
“Ooh! What about our little Sunshine?” Reign added, unable to keep the bright smile from tugging at his lips. Tek’s laughter joined in with everyone’s.
Leave it to Reign and Tek to cure the tension in a room. They could make it a career at this point, honestly.
K4yfour ended up staying over at Feinberg’s place. The latter saying that he wanted to keep an eye out on them. He simply rolled his eyes but stayed put.
As the sun settled low on the horizon, K4yfour idly watched as Feinberg trailed around the room, trading with villagers that seemed to really not like him today. They cut off the rambling of endless curses that flowed from Feinberg’s mouth.
“You never really told any of us what your Gift was.” They quipped, fiddling with one of the petals on a sunflower that crowned his head. Fein tensed, but quickly snapped out of it.
“It just kinda enhanced my mechanical skill. It’s like…” He trailed off, thinking of the words that could possibly describe what it was like. “It’s like I just know.”
K4yfour quirked a brow at the wide-ranged answer, silently hoping for more than whatever bullshit excuse Fein just gave them.
“Anything that has to do with the mechanics in worlds, I just automatically know them. Of course, I don’t know fucking everything, like I’m not able to read minds or shit like that, but just things that very many don’t know.” K4yfour’s eye lit up.
“Really? That sounds so fucking cool, dude.” They said, leaning forward from his spot on the bed. Feinberg snorted, trying to keep the unamused facade up, but a traitorous smile bloomed on his face.
“Yeah, whatever.” He deflected; a villager cooed at him with a smug gleam in their emerald eyes. He sent a glare to them and held up his axe up to them and they quickly turned around.
“I’m serious! Do you know how good that is for Running! Like, what if there is another automatic evolution? Do you automatically know those mechanics too?” Feinberg turned to look at K4yfour. The other was smiling. But pain was the only thing that flourished in his almond-colored eyes.
“What did you mean by ‘you were tired’?” he asked, and K4yfour’s smile dropped.
To be completely honest, they didn’t even know what they meant when they had said it.
It just felt right.
Of course, they were tired. Exhausted even. He always was after a Running spell that lasted for longer than 3 days.
[3 weeks was the longest they had gone. 3 weeks of non-stop Running, never taking a break and completely skipping the Universe’s poem and praises in order to spawn in the next world.
Eleventy had been the one who hacked into his communicator and screamed at him to ‘get his ass back home right this second.’
K4yfour was too numb to do anything but agree. And as soon as he stepped back into HBG, Eleventy, Raddles, Fyroah, Draconix, and Marcus were there with different things that offered comfort.
Fyroah angrily splashed a fire resistance potion at their feet and pulled them into a rib-crushing squeeze. K4yfour would be lying if he said it wasn’t grounding.
Raddles held a few blankets that she had sewn herself and wrapped one around his shoulders. He barely reacted, and the fluffy ears atop her head flattened.
Eleventy was angrily pacing and lecturing them before finally pausing and pulling them into a hug and then wordlessly stepping away. (That was just how Eleventy was. Struggling to deal with overwhelming emotions as they overlapped, so he left to deal with it himself.)
Draconix handed them a glass, the liquid in it swirling with a phantom lilac light.
If he was in his right mindset, he would’ve accused them of trying to knock him out with a sleeping potion, but K4yfour took it without complaint, sipping on it and relishing in the way that it soothed their throat and replenished the thirst that they didn’t realize was there.
And finally, Marcus stood with his arms open and an elytra strapped to his back, the feathery, thick fabric of the wings shifted as a sad smile came onto his face.
In one hand was some fireworks (K4yfour would’ve laughed at that, but they felt the wooziness and fatigue hit them all at once as he stumbled into Marcus’ arms.) and in a second, his arms wrapped around K4yfour, and he shot into the air. He took them back home and made sure they laid down until giving them a small lecture and a glass of water before taking off back home.
Couriway and Pete came by the next day and basically put him on house arrest, not allowing him to Run for 4 days. Pete had told him that he felt bad about it but would also hate if K4yfour had collapsed and they never would’ve been able to find them.
A bolt of fear struck him at the older’s words, and he decided that 1 and a half weeks was his limit from now on.]
And here he was, sitting on Feinberg’s bed, newly Gifted after being too mentally and physically exhausted to do anything but accept the Universe’s offer.
“I was… She took advantage of me being so… exhausted. I was so sore, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop it.” They whispered. Feinberg’s face contorted into anger, and he had to look away from the drooping petals of the sunflowers that donned K4yfour’s face and head.
“I was upset. I didn’t… I didn’t feel like I belonged. Anywhere. And the Void was so calming, and I just… I didn’t want to deal with the pain of doing anything anymore.”
Feinberg whipped back to look at K4yfour, panic flooding his features. Instantly, K4yfour wished he could retract his words.
“Don’t tell me you—” he cut himself off, but shook his head and continued, “Don’t tell me you wanted to...” His voice raised in the slightest, held-back anger dousing his words and immediately K4yfour shook their head.
“No! No, I didn’t… I didn’t.” He reassured, hands coming up in surrender. Feinberg’s shoulders slumped, but the worriedness was still there. “I just… the way that the Universe spoke to me, it was calming, relieving in a way.” Feinberg’s expression softened and he dragged a hand through his short, hazelnut hair.
K4yfour looked up with a look of slight confusion, wonder slipping through the cracks and the marigold sunflowers seemed to lean towards the other in the room.
“What did you feel like when the Universe gifted you?” He asked, grey eye swirling. Feinberg looked up, and the wonder in K4yfour’s eyes turned to concern.
The chestnut eyes of the other donned shadows, shadows of regret and anger. It was a look that surpassed the normal pissed-off demeanor that Fein had. Surpassed it by a lot.
“At first I was like you, tired, but I was also proud of the Run I accomplished. The Universe took advantage of that, and in that moment I forgot Fruit and Illumina’s warning. And…” he snapped his fingers. “I felt it. Felt the pain. Then something be taken, something being put back—altered maybe—but not fully there.”
K4yfour’s heart ached, and a knowing gleam was in his eye. Ached for Feinberg, for what he went through. Ached for himself, what he let happen. They felt a sudden burst of anger tremble through them, and their hands clenched at their sides.
He felt the petals flare wide, and power strummed through their veins. It was foreign. Unforgiving and wrong.
“Hey, Sunflower, settle down.” Feinberg said, stalking to his side and sitting down next to him. “I’ve had a long time to overcome my hate and rage for the Universe. Getting angry won’t solve anything.” His bright brown eyes flitted down to meet K4yfour’s icy stare. He gave a soft smile and the frigidness of that gaze shattered.
The petals stopped glowing with an unnatural light—when had they begun to do that?—and slowly resumed to their natural resting position. The purple gleam to their eyes drifted away and their shoulders slumped.
Their brows furrowed. “I don’t like this feeling. Of not being in control of my emotions. It’s…” he gestured vaguely in the open air. “I don’t even know.”
Feinberg hummed in acknowledgement, eyes flitting around the room. “I know what you mean. It sucks—learning to control it. Especially around the other non-Gifted.” At that, K4yfout twisted to him.
“Why don’t we tell them? Why don’t we give them a warning they won’t forget?”
“Because it’ll destroy their love of the Universe. Their Runs would deplete.” Fein explained, “And… we don’t want the Universe to start taking them by force.”
K4yfour felt the blood in their veins still as silence washed over them, the words taking their time to settle deep in his bones.
“What… what do you mean?” He asked, the petals seemingly trembling about in his hair. Feinberg sighed.
“It’s one thing to resist the pull of the Universe. It’s another thing to absolutely shut it out.” K4yfour’s eyes filled with curiosity, it may have been the only thing that allowed him to tell the rest.
“Anger is a poisonous thing. An emotion that the Universe doesn’t want, deems it unnecessary, tries to change it.” He paused, clearing his throat and standing up, walking over to the flowerpot that held a small dandelion, his fingers brushed the petals gingerly.
“If any of the un-Gifted were to show their hate towards the Universe in the Void… she would… take them. Try and ‘fix’ whatever anger was there by totally stealing it away, but it came with the product of them losing all of their emotions—their bodies as well.”
He yanked one of the petals off, K4yfour flinched.
“Gone. Taken.” He said, voice still smooth, but his words were heavy. Heavy as they hung in the air, heavy on his tongue even after they were out. Heavy on his bones, deep in his body.
“They don’t come back.” He let the petal drift slowly to the ground, catching the sun’s light and reflecting it beautifully as it fluttered through the air. Even the sea breeze seemed to calm.
Waves crashed on the shore outside. The smell of salt was distant, but mostly blocked off by the smell of old books and that nostalgic smell of a home, far, far away that Feinberg always seemed to carry around.
“Is that what almost happened to Illumina?” Was all he could muster. Fear clutched their heart in mighty talons, seeking to dig in and destroy.
“Illumina… is different, in a lot of ways.” Feinberg mused, walking over to a bookshelf that surrounded his enchantment table. “He is— he never showed anger to the Universe. He doesn’t seem to have a bone of anger in his body.” He added, as an afterthought, “Unless it involves the safety of Fruit.”
K4yfour nodded their understanding. “They call themselves ‘soulmates’ right?”
“The Universe declared them soulmates.”
K4yfour started. The Universe can do that?
“The Universe can do a lot of things.” He flashed a knowing smile; it didn’t quite meet his eyes as he pulled a book off the shelf, thumbing through the pages mindlessly. “She is a curse and a blessing all in one. She decided that Fruit and Illumina were made for each other. We still don’t know if she meant platonically or not.” K4yfour snorted a laugh and Fein echoed it with his own hoarse huff of air.
“But soulmates would do anything for each other. Even show an emotion that was stolen from them.” K4yfour tensed.
“Illumina… had his anger taken from him? By the Universe?” Feinberg stayed silent, only offering a small smile that said ‘Bingo’ before returning to skim the book in his hands. K4yfour let out an empty laugh.
“Holy fucking shit. No way.” Anger and astonishment. A swirling, confusing mix of the two. “That’s… that’s horrible.” Feinberg let out a hollow snort.
“No shit.” He shook his head, snapping the book shut and slipping it back onto the shelf before pulling another one out. “He didn’t even realize it until Nerdi brought it up. And the worst part? He couldn’t even be angry about it!” Feinberg said, twisting to face K4yfour as he threw his hands up, the book clutched in a white-knuckled grip.
“That’s… that’s so fucking unfair.” K4yfour managed, looking broken as ever as the velvety petals of gold drooped down, covering his other eye. “That’s fucking bullshit!” He yelled, standing up on shaky legs, looking down at his hands. They shook with rage, icy and uncontrollable.
As soon as K4yfour stood up, Feinberg immediately realized the harm his outburst had caused, and settled himself. The crown of the other’s head began growing purple, petals upon petals growing into glowing violet.
“Hey, hey, calm it down. Remember what I said about being angry?” K4yfour let out a groan of annoyance and Feinberg’s eyebrows flicked up in surprise. The purple seemed to halt, not disappearing, but not consuming them fully.
“Sunflower. Calm down. We’re here. We’re safe.” He said, voice falling into a soothing tone. K4yfour looked up at the use of the nickname, the flowers atop their head fluttering in seemingly delight as they returned to their natural color of sunset rays. But those grey eyes still sparked with flames of amethyst.
“Are we really?” They whispered, hands falling as the purple disappeared with a blink. Fein smiled sadly and set the book he was holding on the enchanting table and walked back over to K4yfour. He swung an arm around their shoulders gently and walked them slowly out of the house, and into the sunshine that awaited.
He helped K4yfour up the hill of his island, both of them settling under the shade of the large oak tree that branched far out, the leaves a vibrant shade of green.
With the bark of the tree pressing into his shoulder blades, and the breeze caressing his face he spoke.
“We are safe as long as we all have each other.”
K4yfour sat on the grass and leaned into the tree, small spots of sunlight dancing along their features and they instantly felt a lot better. He leased a sigh and combed his fingers into the soft grass beneath.
Feinberg made a noise of amusement at the back of his throat. “Well then.” He muttered quietly. K4yfour opened their eyes and looked down, a sound of surprise echoing from the back of their throat.
“Holy shit.” They whispered, watching as small flowers—mostly consisting of tiny sunflowers—coated the grass around them, continuing to grow and swirl together as they reached towards the sun. Magical, surreal almost.
Feinberg laughed as a vine stretched up, whirling around his fingers before sliding up his arm. Feinberg, to his credit, did not blanch from it, only followed it with shining almond eyes.
It stretched up, up until it swirled atop Fein’s head, K4yfour watched with a bright smile, eye wide with surprise as flowers of pink and blue bloomed along the vine, their stems connecting and weaving together in the way K4yfour always did from memory. When the crown was finished, the vine laid it gently upon Feinberg’s locks and peeled away, unwinding from his fingers and into the earth once again.
“That was fucking sick.” K4yfour whispered. Feinberg laughed, loud and unreserved.
“What do you mean? That was your Gift!” He said, a smile painting each word.
“I- I didn’t do that though! It’s like they have a mind of their own.” They said, picking up a hand to brush one of the smooth petals lovingly, they seemed to wriggle with joy, leaning into his touch. Feinberg laughed again.
“Maybe you need to go talk to Dylqn about that, because that’s freaky as fuck.”
“Don’t call them freaky, dickhead!” K4yfour sneered, but there was no real bite to it.
Feinberg rolled his eyes, but a smile stretched onto his face. “I’m calling Ninjabrain, telling him to come pick your crazy ass up and do some experiments on you.”
“As long as it’s not Reign or Tek.”
They both fell into laughter at that, more flowers blooming on the hill.
Soon, night fell and K4yfour’s body had begun to grow dormant.
He told Feinberg about what it felt like as the other laid them in bed, their limbs moving to slowly to do it themselves.
“It’s probably because you’re a Helianthus Gerentis.” Feinberg stated. K4yfour looked at him with a confused stare. He cleared his throat.
“Helianthus Gerentis directly translates to Sunflower Wielder in Latin.” Feinberg paused, “I don’t really know how exactly I know that, but I know that you are a Helianthus Gerentis.” K4yfour quirked a brow.
“Gift things.” The other made a sound of acknowledgement and nodded, fatigue setting in.
“What does it mean for me?” he mumbled the question, grey eye fluttering shut.
Feinberg hummed and lit a few candles, placing them on the hastily built nightstand beside the bed. The flowers on K4yfour’s face and head drifted steadily towards the light emitted by them, though they didn’t leave K4yfour’s hair and face.
“The sun’s energy allows for photosynthesis to make energy within plants. With you now being part plant, it’ll be the same for you.”
“Wait- does that mean that I won’t be able to Run if it’s night out?”
“You might have to either stock up on sunlight or eat a whole lot—or maybe both—and you should be good to go. Especially in the nether, where there is no night and day.” The smile on Feinberg’s face was mostly for himself, but K4yfour saw it and a lazy one grew on their face.
“You really are like a dictionary. Er- encyclopedia I think.” Feinberg snorted and shook his head. “Fuck off, I’m a fucking… Flower Wielder now.”
Now it was Fein’s turn to quirk an amused brow. “Fuck off.” K4yfour mumbled again, slowly rolling onto his side. Silently Feinberg was scared for the Flowers donning K4’s head, but he watched as they snaked out from behind K4yfour’s face and into the candlelight.
He sighed and walked forward, tucking the quilt—a gift made by Rad—up to the other’s neck and mumbled, “Goodnight, Sunflower.” Before stepping away to continue looking through one of his very many books.
The leather on the front was dyed a burnt yellow and had a picture of a sunflower on the front, engraved in gold. Along the spine it read “Properties Of A Garden.” In fancy swoops of the same gold as the flower.
He hummed and set to work, trying to learn even more about his newly Gifted friend… maybe he will start a garden.
Couriway and Silverr arrived the next morning in a flurry of golden feathers. K4yfour was sat on the grass right before the sand of the beach, basking in the sun with a cup of water right next to him.
“You’ll need to drink twice the amount of water as normal if you want to stay hydrated.” Feinberg had said this morning, handing them a glass with water and a neutral face. K4yfour saw the bags rested under his eyes and decided that if they were or weren’t there, Fein’s sleep schedule would still be fucked.
The Gifted avian landed softly on the grass beside them, Silverr hopping out of his arms, combing out his hair that had been thrown during the flight.
His long horns came from under his hair, covering the top half of his face with fluffy white strands that felt like the softest of cotton. (The rest of HBG had to hold back Rad from taking a clump of it multiple times now, Silverr was still quite weary of her, even though she has ceased to try since she had been Gifted) His horns curled up over his head and stopped at a sharp point at the back, much like a goat’s would.
Two fluffy ears extended from the sides of his head and twitched every time he brushed them with a finger as he combed his hair.
Couriway laughed and ruffled his hair and Silverr most likely glared at him from under his hair.
Silverr was one of the most recently Gifted ones of HBG. Surprisingly, he wasn’t Gifted the horns and ears. Unsurprisingly, he was very, very quiet about what he was actually Gifted.
Silverr wasn’t a quiet person in general, but he wasn’t loud and boisterous either. Mostly a chill, realist who had a big sense of humor (most of it consisting of Mustard being hurt or falling over.) He was one of the mellow Runners, by himself at least. When he was surrounded by the others, a curious spark of chaos is created, and the others are always there to fan the flame.
But… the only thing that seemed to shut Silverr down, was the mention of his Gift.
Any time it was mentioned Silverr immediately became still and closed off. He only seemed to respond to Mustard, but even then it was vague answers in a tight-lipped voice that strained with uncomfortability.
K4yfour remembers a time when Silverr had gotten into a fight with Illumina. (Looking back at it, they should have known that it was because Illumina peered into Silverr’s mind to try and Seek out his gift.)
…
It was a village house in Couri’s small town that they stood outside of. K4yfour and Draconix had been on a walk with barrels of sticks riding on their backs for trading when the door of the house burst open.
Silverr was pushing a terrified-looking Illumina out of the door and into the cobbled street. It was then that they heard the yells of anger that flew from Silverr’s mouth.
“—you’re fucking mind! It’s none of your fucking business! You think that you can just go in and meddle with memories that aren’t even yours? Well, find someone else because if you ever think of doing that again…” A pause, but the man’s voice became colder than ice as he spoke the next few words. “I’ll make sure that anything you care for will burn in hell, along with you and your meddling ass.”
Illumina’s hands were trembling as they raised in surrender. Fruit dashed out of the door, standing between Silverr and his soulmate with a look of neutral calm. But it was rage that simmered beneath those half-lidded eyes.
Most of the words the green-clad warrior spoke were inaudible, and K4yfour and Draconix exchanged worried glances with each other.
Silence befell upon the road as Fruit stopped talking. K4yfour’s eyes widened as a ripple of powerful energy tore through the air. They dropped the bundle of sticks in their arms and froze as it clattered to the floor.
A flick of Silverr’s fluffy ear was the only indication that he had heard them, and his head instantly whipped towards the two un-Gifted. His ears drooped automatically and the magic in the air went away with a blink.
Fruit and Illumina noticed the other two now as well. Fruit stood himself up taller to block Illumina from their eyes and offered a polite wave. Draconix gave one back, K4yfour did not. He was too busy gazing at the trembling figure of Illumina and the stiff figure of Silverr.
“We were just going to trade with some of Fein’s villagers.” Draconix explained, wringing their fingers together.
“Ah, okay. Sorry, we just had a… disagreement.” Fruit said, choosing his words carefully. A low snarl came from under Silverr’s black mask. It was echoed—much more quietly, but still terrifying—from behind Fruit.
(Fear clanged through him at the sound, he had never heard a sound like that come from Illumina. Ever.
But they brushed it off quickly. A soulmate will protect a soulmate, no matter the cost.)
K4yfour nodded slowly, gaze flicking back and forth before he leaned down to pick up the sticks they dropped and grabbed Draconix’s elbow and dragged them along.
“You should keep your ‘disagreements’ out of the streets. Unless you want a pissed off bird on your tail.” K4yfour commented, sending a wary look to Silverr—who’s head dipped forward to stare at the floor—and then Fruit. The latter snorted.
“Sorry, again.” He replied, sending a look that K4yfour could not decipher his way. They deigned a nod and turned back around, Draconix fidgeting behind them.
When they were far enough away, Draconix cleared his throat in the way that he always does when they have something to say.
“What do you think that was about? Like- did you hear Silverr?” K4yfour blew out a sigh, crouching down by the small stream that ran beside them.
“Probably some Gifted-folk shit. I wouldn’t question it too much.” K4yfour replied, trying to diminish his own questions swirling their brain.
Draconix’s face twisted into one of distain, but wisely kept his mouth shut.
“What are you two here for?” K4yfour asked, peering up at the other two—and Feinberg who was now stepping into the sun.
Silverr’s shoulders stiffened, but Couriway turned to them with a smile.
“We are here to try and figure out what exactly your Gift is. And see if there is anything that could harm or damage you.” Couri explained, hands bracing on his hips.
“ ‘Damage you,’ they aren’t a fucking tool.” Silverr snarled at Couri, the avian’s wings puffing up. Feinberg echoed it with a growl,
“Watch it.” Silverr didn’t deign a response, instead turning to K4yfour, expression hidden by hair and his mask.
“We are basically going to run tests on you to see what you can or can’t do and if it’ll affect anything other than physical attributes.” Silverr explained, crossing his arms. Couri nodded and turned to Fein.
“Has anything been expressed other than the flowers?” Feinberg glanced to said sunflowers growing atop their head and nodded.
“Let’s go talk inside.” He turned, but threw over his shoulder “C’mon Sunflower, enough sunbathing for you.” K4yfour groaned and Silverr snickered. He shot the other a look as they started walking and clenched his left hand.
The other let out a yelp and he face-planted into the grass. They both looked down to see a vine wrapped around his ankle, but it slithered back into the ground as quick as it appeared. He twisted to face the other, who was now laughing quietly.
“I hope you get allergies.” He hissed, K4yfour smirked and continued walking.
Couri and Feinberg were talking animatedly, eyeing the smirk dressing K4yfour’s face and Silverr who was now brushing grass off of his shirt and knees.
“What did you do?” Feinberg asked, crossing his arms and quirking a brow. Couri looked at them both with a curious smile.
“He tripped.” K4yfour shrugged and Silverr grumbled something under his breath.
“They have the power to manipulate plant life.” Fein commented to Couri, who’s eyes widened, and his gold-flecked cocoa eyes snapped to him.
“Really?” K4yfour nodded, “Does it come naturally? Can you control it? Does it listen to you?” His golden wings fluttered excitedly, and Fein rolled his eyes.
“I can sort of control it. It’s like… I have a thought about what I want to do, and the vines or whatever follow it.” He paused and their brow furrowed a bit, glancing to the flower clown still sitting atop Feinberg’s head. “Though sometimes they can go a little overboard.”
Silverr hummed, following K4yfour’s eyes to the top of Fein’s head.
“The vines made that for him?” K4yfour nodded, “What were you feeling in that moment?” Silverr asked, looking at them, though his amber eyes were hidden from view. (It stopped unnerving everyone a long time ago.)
K4yfour thought for a moment. What were they feeling then?
“Well, I was relaxed. Relaxed and I felt myself beginning to accept what I became. I was happy. We were sitting under the tree outside and I just—I was happy.” He said, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced between the other three.
Couri stared at him with a half-here, half-there look. Fein smiled faintly. Silverr’s head tilted to the side in thought.
“I wonder what you could do when you’re angry.” Silverr mumbled. Fein and Couri snapped out of their minds and looked to the other.
“No.” Couri said, and a breath later Fein said, “Not yet.” Couri glanced towards Fein, a flicker of desperation in his eye. Fein breathed, sending a look of trust to him. “We test physical things first. Then mental.”
Silverr nodded, pulling up a hologram. “I’ll message Fyroah.”
“And Dylqn,” Silverr cocked his head, hand hovering in the air. “Flos Gerentis. Flower wielders.” Feinberg amended. Silverr nodded slowly, his ears twitching at his side.
Once the messages were sent and replied to, Silverr looked up with a sigh. Straight at K4yfour.
“You ready for one of the most annoying things ever?”
Dylqn arrived first, stepping out of his boat before pocketing it in a hologram slot. As he walked up, K4yfour could now see the blades of grass that leaned toward him, the green growing more vibrant with each step. Even some small, pink flowers sprouted in his wake.
He offered a bright smile as a greeting, K4yfour echoed it and as soon as he did, felt the power withing strumming through his veins with happiness. Another of his kind. Gifted by the Universe.
“Quit it, you two. You’re gonna make the tree’s roots come through the roof.” Feinberg said, though affection tinted his words.
Couri folded his wings from where they had been subconsciously stretching out, as if trying to somehow capture the magic in the air. Silverr’s ears flattened to the sides of his head, as if trying to block out the magic.
Dylqn and K4yfour mumbled their apologies and stepped farther into the base.
“So, how is it?” Dylqn asked, looking at K4yfour with dark eyes full of wonder.
“It’s… surprisingly normal. Though it sucks when you can’t make energy when the sun goes down.” Couri scrunched his nose in distain at the admission.
Feinberg cut in then, “Do you happen to have a remedy for that?” he asked. Dylqn perked up.
“Yes, actually. We might need to get Ninjabrain here, though.” Feinberg grumbled something about having so many people in his base, Couri elbowed him in the ribs. K4yfour breathed a sigh of relief.
Some stumbling was heard outside before a yelp and a curse sounded and Fyroah tumbled around the corner of the base. The fire spirit glanced up to find everyone eyeing him with a look of amusement. He let out a small laugh and rubbed his neck sheepishly.
“I tripped over a root.”
K4yfour and Dylqn yelped, and a hand collided with the backs of their heads. Feinberg scowled at them.
“What did I tell you, morons?” K4yfour and Dylqn broke into laughter while Couriway shook his head. Silverr chuckled quietly as Fyroah stared at them with a confused expression. “Don’t worry about it.” The white-haired male commented.
“So… what did you need me here for?” Fyroah chirped, glancing between them all, before landing on K4yfour and pausing. “Oh.”
The latter waved a hand. “Hi, Fy.” He said with a sheepish smile.
“You were Gifted?” he asked, flames flickering as if debating whether to be happy or worried about this. His white eyes blazed with something unnamable to them. “I guess that explains the tremor I felt the other day.” He brought a flaming hand up to rub at his—also flaming—chin.
Couri looked inclined to question him, but Feinberg stepped up. “We need to see if your flames burn any of K4four’s flowers or vines.” Fyroah frowned, in the weird way that he could show expressions through the flames.
K4yfour felt a spark of fear at the implication of his flowers burning. They had become a part of them, and he didn’t know if it would burn him or not.
“You know I don’t like doing this.” Fyroah said to Couri and Fein, glancing at Dylqn and Silverr briefly. They were all silent. They knew Fyroah was special, but hated using his flames, even if it offered useful information.
“Your flames are special, Fyroah. Special in ways that not even Ninjabrain can understand.” Fein commented. (Somewhere in the back of K4yfour’s mind, he had a feeling that Feinberg knew. That Fein knew a lot more than he let on.) “It’s important for all of us to know if his Gift is fireproof or not for you.”
“It’s better to learn now then later on by accident.” Silverr said, Fyroah’s frown deepened.
“That still doesn’t mean that I like doing it.” Fy mumbled, wringing his fiery hands together. The flames seemed to dull, not as bright as they should be.
“I’m sorry.” Couri mumbled, stepping forward and wrapping a wing around the younger. The latter leaned into the golden feathers. He hummed in acknowledgement, but that was the extent of it as he stepped towards K4yfour.
“Can you see through the flower?” he questioned and K4yfour nodded.
“It makes colors a lot brighter, but I haven’t found any other use for it.” He commented, somewhat uselessly. Fyroah nodded and looked to Fein.
“It would be better to do it near the sea. Just in case.” Fy said, flames flickering slightly. Fein and Couri nodded, and they walked out onto the beach once again.
K4yfour stood barefoot in the salty water, waves lapping at his ankles and the anxiety washed over him. Fyroah looked at them with a grim expression and lifted a hand. The flames split into 5 fingers, and he held out his thumb, flame leaping up into the air.
K4yfour blinked and leaned forward a bit, the flame warming his face, right under the petal that rested above his cheek. K4yfour squeezed his eyes shut as Fyroah lifted his hand up more, the flame licking at the petal, but not yet touching it.
“3… 2… 1.” K4yfour bit his tongue as the petal warmed slightly. But… nothing seemed to burn. He peeked open his right eye and watched as the flame danced along their flower but didn’t set it ablaze. They breathed a sigh of relief and Fyroah echoed it, bringing his hand back down to rest at his side.
Fyroah tried to step back but froze as his foot budged only slightly. They all looked down to see a vine wrapped around Fyroah’s pants and boots. The vine stretched from the grass beyond the sand and curled tightly.
K4yfour let out a small gasp and unclenched his hands, willing the vine to release the other.
“Wait.” Couriway said from the side, “Fy, see if you can burn it.”
The aforementioned frowned once again but leaned down to hesitantly grip the vine with a molten hand.
K4yfour heard the sizzle before the pain set in. He let out a yelp of pain and the vine peeled away quickly, snapping back into the ground as K4yfour sucked in a breath through their teeth.
“Sorry.” Fy mumbled, tucking his hands behind his back.
“It’s alright.” K4yfour said, forcing a soft smile, “Better to know now than later.”
K4yfour watched as yellow flowers sprouted around Fy’s feet, it had only been a thought in K4yfour’s mind, but it happened right away. Fyroah smiled down at his feet before stepping away from the other.
Couri clapped once. “Great. Now we know that only Kay’s vines and natural things are flammable to Fy.” The avian walked over and wrapped his wings around Fy’s shoulders, “Thank you.”
Fyroah’s flames burned, and he brought a hand to the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “Yeah, no problem. I guess I should be used to it by now—In, in the good way of course.” His flames turned a fiery red and flicked higher into the air.
Couri laughed and released the younger from the hold. Fein and K4yfour leveled looks of ‘really?’, and Couri looked at them incredulously.
(“Couriway.” A dramatic pause. “What a fine piece of man.”
Everyone around the fire turned to look at Reignex.
Said bear hybrid was draped across Pete, Zylenox, and Tek’s laps, looking up at the stars dramatically.
“Don’t look at me like that.” He choked on a laugh, “You know I’m fucking right.”
“He’s like an angel, come down from heaven to bless our eyes and souls.” Tekniik chimed in, speaking in an airy tone and waving the hand that wasn’t massaging Reign’s fuzzy ears.
A few people laughed, a few continued to stare at the two idiots with varying levels of concern.
“What the hell?” TapL asked, coming out of his laughing spell long enough to speak.
Reign sat up instantly, being careful to not bang his head on Tek’s arm.
“You’re telling me that you’ve never looked at Couri?”
TapL broke into another laughing spell and tipped backwards. But as he did the laughter was replaced by a gasp as his butt slid off the back of the log. He only had enough time to reach his hand out and grab something to try and steady himself.
Unfortunately that something happened to be Punz, and he let out a raspy yell as he, too, was pulled off the back of the bench.
Fruit began wheezing and the rest of HBG broke into their own form of laughter. Even the two on the ground.
A few minutes later, after the laughter died down, it was replaced by a whole ass 20-minute platonic rant about Couriway’s beauty (professionally written and distributed by Reign-to-the-Ex.) People were beginning to question if it was a joke anymore… with Reign, nobody really knew.
A quiet thud sounded from behind Reign in the middle of his second rant. Everyone else seemed to notice before Reign, fortunately.
After a few more minutes, Reign realized the attention was not on him, but the thing behind him.
“Oh my god! My angel! My beautiful gold-feathered platonic savior! My—!”
“How long has this been going on?” Couri asked, looking to a few people before them.
“About… 25 minutes.” Eleventy replied, looking down at an invisible watch before looking up with an exhausted expression. “Can you do something to make him shut the fuck up?”
“Preferably knocking him in the mouth.” Mustard said, sleepily tucking himself further into Silverr’s side.
“You can do something else with my mouth—”
A yelp was heard and instantly Reign was on the ground. Everyone silently thanked Zylenox and Tek (Pete was too polite to push him off, but definitely did not stop them from doing so.)
Couri looked up with a smile as bright as the sun, the fire glinting off his glasses as his dimples showed on his cheeks. “Thank you.”
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“Okay.” Dav1E muttered, “Maybe Reign has a point.”
Almost everyone nodded in their agreement, a few whooping and smiling brightly as well.
Fyroah’s flames blazed brighter as he laughed through his form of a flush. Illumina turned away with a nervous chuckle, Fruit laughed at him. TapL and Punz seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes—mostly relating to Couri, if the way they kept glancing to him with increasing intensity was anything to go by. Raddles was shaking her head with a smile on her face. Feinberg was sitting with a smirk, staring at Couri with a brow raised.
A Couri who was flushed by his friends complimenting him like that. “You guys are idiots.”
“Aww, the baby bird’s blushing.” nEmerald said, a smirk forming on his face. The group let out a choruses of ‘awes’ and coos. Couri’s wings puffed up and everyone laughed.
“We’re just messing with you.” Feinberg said, smiling a bit. “Though, platonically, we all think Reign has a point.” Couri shook his head, laughing.
“Idiots.” Everyone smiled at that, it was always nice to show your friends your platonic love.
And now whenever Couri smiles, people call it the Couriway Curse with how encapsulating it is.)
The Couriway Curse seemed to be showing true now. Silverr shook his head and let out a quiet laugh.
“Couriway Curse got Fy.” Dylqn said, crossing his arms and clicking his tongue.
“Fuck off.” Couri and Fyroah said at the same time, the rest breaking into laughter.
Ninjabrain arrived later, the sun still shining bright in the blue sky.
His coat was dusted with redstone, and his glasses were crooked as he stepped onto the shore.
Feinberg greeted him at the entrance to the small base on the island, but Ninja did not return the sentiment. Instead, his eyes—so dark they were almost black—were locked onto K4yfour.
“What the hell happened.”
It was said with such intensity that the few people in the room winced. Ninjabrain was always one of the tamer ones of the server and group of friends.
“What did you—” the man stopped short, shaking his head before looking to Dylqn. “Will he need the same shit as you?” his accent was heavy, but his words were thick. Quieter, but with venom.
Dylqn shifted from his spot on one of Fein’s anvils. “Yeah.” He responded, his petals recoiling in the slightest.
“What’s got your panties in a wad?” Silverr quipped, leaning forward onto his palms from his place sat crisscrossed on the ground.
Ninjabrain was silent for a moment, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. His face slowly began to twist into an uncertain snarl—like he wasn’t even sure what he meant by the words he was about to say.
“I don’t understand why you wish to give into the Universe’s wishes. Why, even though we have been warned by you guys for—how long now?—that being Gifted isn’t as glorious as it sounds, you still accept it.”
“You think that we don’t know about the shit you hide? You think we don’t know that there’s more-than-meets-the-eye going on behind those ‘special powers?’ You think that because the rest of us are un-Gifted that we are unworthy of your fucking knowledge?” He shook his head.
“That is something I do not understand.”
The thing is, Ninjabrain had always been the smartest of them, rivaling even K4yfour’s or Feinberg’s or Couriway’s level of knowledge… combined.
And he wasn’t Gifted.
Refused to even think about it. About giving up a part of himself to the Universe for something that could possibly be worse than what was taken.
He had too much to lose. They all knew that.
He was naturally one of the ones that was blessed with the thinking power that rivaled that of a fucking god’s.
So, what could one possible say to try and defend themselves from that almighty power of knowledge and fact?
“And you will never understand.” Couriway spoke, sitting atop one of the lower bookshelves with his wings fanned out behind him. The slight illuminating magic of the enchanting table casted onto his side, dressing him in a dim glow of pinks and purple.
His words held no tint of anger, but his golden eyes were locked directly onto the other.
“Just because we make decisions that you cannot and will not understand, I do not believe that it should cause a rift between any of us.” His eyes narrowed. K4yfour’s heart stopped dead. “Which I believe will begin to happen if you keep this act up.”
The tone, the look, hell even the words were so un-Couri-like that the room turned cold. Even Fyroah’s flame simmered down to almost ashes and embers.
Then a sharp laugh. Although, it wasn’t Ninja.
“It’s a reasonable thing to think. Look at us. Gifted, and barely sharing a shred of what we know. What do you think that makes us? It already causes a rift.” Silverr spoke, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back.
Couri, Fein, and Dylqn tensed. Fyroah shrunk in on himself even more. K4yfour’s hands clenched and the flowers on their head tightened.
“But, you know about most of our traits.” K4yfour spoke slowly, “And those that don’t wish to share… that’s their own business.” He forced himself to keep his eyes on Ninja, forced himself away from the ledge that represented looking over at Silverr. Nonetheless, a quiet snarl was heard.
Ninja looked at them with a name that they could not place.
“That’s because they haven’t taken the time to tell you about what it truly means to be Gifted.”
K4yfour blinked. Then he looked to Feinberg, to Couriway, to Dylqn, to Silverr, then finally back to Ninja.
“That is because we don’t know how this Gift has altered his mental state.” Feinberg said, cocking his head to the side lazily as he leaned against the doorway’s walls.
“It’s because we still don’t know what it truly means to be Gifted, and we are left to try and piece it together with every one of our friends that end up accepting it.”
His voice was unnaturally calm. It held none of the fiery humor that usually trailed Feinberg’s every step and syllable.
Ninja hummed and looked back to Silverr. The other’s ears pressed down in the slightest.
“But you know.” He said, voice monotone and icy. “That’s why you despise talking about it.”
Silverr made no sound at first, but eventually reached a hand up to tug his black mask down, like it would block the true meaning behind what he was about to say.
“I was Gifted against my own fucking will. Something was taken from me. Something that made me forget the true reason I hated the Universe in the first place.” He spat; teeth bared.
Ninjabrain only blinked, arms coming up to cross across his chest.
“Huh.” His charcoal eyes flitted to meet Couriway’s. “So that’s why you refuse to tell us the whole story. Because the Universe would rather have no anger—” he stopped dead as his eyes met Feinberg’s.
They blazed with an unruly amethyst fire. Rage and something akin to hurt welled in them.
“Anger is something that would infect all of us if we told the whole story. And then we’d have more stories like Silverr’s. But, who knows, maybe She’ll only begin to take and not give back.” Feinberg pushed himself off of the wall stalking forward slowly.
“What if she starts to pick you all off one by one? Because we couldn’t protect you from the anger? Because we couldn’t protect you from Her?” Feinberg paused when he was a breath away from Ninja. “What if you never come back?” He said, eyes still blazing with such heat that K4yfour was sure they would melt Ninja’s glasses to his face.
“We don’t want to lose any of you.” Dylqn said, eyes glancing to Fyroah who flinched. The younger’s flames flicked once, twice, before they seemed to go impossible still. His white eyes somehow glazed over, a far away look tinted them, even in the blankness.
“And now that you know,” Couriway said quietly, “all we ask is that you don’t hate the Universe… and that you keep this conversation between us—”
“No.” Ninja started, “No, no, no, no, no. This conversation is not over. What the hell do you all know? What the hell am I—are we—being kept in the dark about?” he demanded.
K4yfour tried to quell the emotions and sparks of energy bursting though their veins, but he knew—felt—their eye beginning to glow with a purple light. The petals atop their head and coming from his eye began to illuminate with a pale lilac.
Nobody said a thing, not even Silverr.
“I—” Fyroah began, and everyone’s eyes snapped to the fireling, “I believe that it isn’t for us to know.”
Ninja narrowed his eyes but did not open his mouth to retort.
“We haven’t experienced it. It’s sacred for a reason. The Universe picks and chooses. We should—with this new information—be grateful that we haven’t, yet, been chosen.”
Silverr’s mouth tilted as he looked at Fyroah but said nothing.
Dylqn nodded solemnly, respectfully.
“It’s not our place to try and force ourselves into their positions. To try and feel what they feel.”
“You talk about our friends like they are a whole other species.” Ninja mused. The tone of his voice brought a growl to K4yfour’s throat, surprising even him. Ninja raised his eyebrows at them, then cocked his head to the side, looking back to Fy. “I guess you could be right.”
Fyroah’s flames flicked again, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Don’t talk about our friends like that. You know what I fucking meant.” K4yfour saw in the corner of his eye as Fein and Couri both tilted their heads, whether in appreciation or something akin to disapproval, K4yfour didn’t know.
Ninjabrain seemed to sense the anger radiating off of everyone in the room because he only nodded.
“Well, do you want anything other than the same stuff I give to Dylqn?” K4yfour looked to Fein and Couri, both of them exchanging looks that held silent words. Then, they looked back to Ninja.
“We want you to keep quiet, and for the sake of yourself, keep your anger to a minimum when it comes to the Universe.” Feinberg said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall near his villagers.
Couri nodded and then, like the polite person he is—very unlike the…thing he had turned into before—he tacked on, “Thank you, Ninja. It means a lot to us that you are willing to help us.”
To everyone’s surprise, Ninja let a smile onto his face and nodded, “You guys—despite our differences—are my friends.” A look was tossed to Fyroah. “And I want you guys to be able to Run.” He laughed, “If not for your sake, then for mine.”
K4yfour smiled as the color finally returned to his petals, turning them back to a sunset gold.
“I’ll get it to you by tomorrow. But today you will probably have to stay outside and fill up on sun and water.” Feinberg nodded as K4yfour groaned quietly. The rest laughed at Kay’s agony.
Ninja left with sparse goodbyes, leaving quiet and hope in his wake. And…
Couri turned to Silverr.
The ram hybrid resisted the urge to flinch back.
“It’s nothing. If you’re going to feel pity for me or any shit like that, you can fuck off.” He said, his ears flattening to the sides of his head.
Fyroah sighed and pulled out a fire resistance potion and dropped it on the ground, the fragile glass shattering and then dissipating. Silverr sputtered a bit, but his insults were quickly swallowed by the leather of Fyroah’s jacket.
With fiery hands wrapped tightly around him, the warmth of the other leaking through him, he sighed a little and wrapped his arms around the other.
Dylqn smiled sadly, Couri and Fein looked to each other before stepping out, K4yfour watched it all with sad eyes.
Eventually, Silverr pulled away and Fyroah was off him in an instant, giving him the space that he wished for.
“Thank you.” He smiled, tugging the mask back over his face. Fyroah smiled back.
“Being sappy doesn’t fit on you, Silverr.” K4yfour commented, Silverr flicked him off with the tilt of his head. The other two rolled their eyes and laughed.
“I would say the same to you, but some plants are actually able to carry sap, and I don’t want to offend any of you and your kind.” Silverr responded, K4yfour could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
Dylqn and K4yfour both scowled, Fyroah just laughed… And then he had to quickly throw a fire res potion on himself and jump in to try and save Silverr from the other two after they pounced on him.
Feinberg and Couri walked in on a Fyroah stuck to the wall with roots that came from the dirt wall of the hobbit hole—the fire res rubbing off onto the roots to make them resistant to Fyroah’s fiery flicks of flame.
K4yfour was standing back with his hands clenched; most likely controlling the roots that came through the cracked stone on the floor that were holding Silverr’s forearms to the ground. And Dylqn crouched overtop of a flailing Silverr.
The two were panicked, but quickly realized that the yells from Silverr was actually just laughter and semi-panicked pleas.
They stepped to the side to watch as Silverr squirmed and tried to pull himself away from the hands dancing over his ribs. Dylqn had a determined smile on his face.
“Say you’re sorry Silverr!” The other only gasped out laughs and giggles.
“No!” he managed out, throwing his head back to laugh some more, some of his white hair falling back to reveal his eyes and the crinkles surrounding them.
“Say it!” Dylqn jokingly demanded.
Silverr responded with a heavily giggled out ‘fuck you.’
They also watched as a dim green glow illuminated from under his black shirt. His laughter grew louder as he gasped for air, only for it to be punched out of his lungs by another loud laugh.
“Okay, okay, enough, enough.” Couriway said, stepping forward and pulling Dylqn gently off of Silverr. The white-haired man slumped down onto the rocks and the roots around his arms reluctantly let go, sucking back into the ground.
Feinberg frowned at the cracks, scowling at K4yfour. The latter returned it with a sheepish smile and shrug.
Silverr stayed on the ground, heaving breaths, and Couri’s wings puffed up.
“You guys killed him!” he exclaimed, grabbing Silverr’s hands and lifting him up onto wobbly legs. Dylqn and K4yfour laughed, Feinberg only shook his head.
…Until a muffled yell came from the side of the room.
Everyone broke into laughter once again after seeing Fyroah still stuck to the wall, a vine covering his mouth and his eyes looking deadpan.
The vines made quick work of unwrapping him and setting him down on the floor. He looked up with a frown. “I hate all of you.”