Chapter Text
*Mono*
Six was tired when Mono first brought it up. They had just shot a guy and were running away from police, despite the fact that the guy had tried to shoot them first. She had no idea what got Mono curious, maybe he had just taken the rare moment of peace to look at her.
Maybe she had just stretched out too far and bothered him. The large feathered appendages on her back were very inconvenient and she had to constantly keep them in check. So, maybe in that slight moment of respite she had gotten lazy and they drifted
“Six.” He started slowly, almost like he wasn’t quite sure he should continue. Six just offered him a grunt, opening her eyes slightly to give him a bored look. He was fiddling with his fingers, small brown wings, a matching colour to his bag, fanned out slightly behind him twitching with his nervousness. Stretching out slightly as the sun beaded hot against her back and the wind ruffled through her feathers
“What happend to your wing?” Jolting up, she sat up, leaning back slightly as she tugged them into view. Six doesn’t see a lot of wings, many of the people she comes across don’t leave them on full display. She had seen a total of three people with wings too big to hide and she’d never really been too interested in examining them. As she was… you know, running for her life.
But, compared to Mono’s she could tell that her wings weren’t exactly uniform . First, they were massive. They reached down to her ankles if she was holding them normally and they would often fan out when she didn’t want them too, it made running and hiding very hard.
Mono’s were far more manageable as they were only the length of his own arms and he himself seemed a lot more adept at controlling them. Their colours were also different and while she doubted that's what he was talking about, she still took a moment to examine them.
His wings were a fluffed brown colour, with off-white inner feathers, amongst them were several dark grey primaries. Dark brown speckles lined the back and top, focusing more on the bone. All his feathers were straightened and smoothed down, not a strand out of place.
While hers were a rich black colour with a white diamond right under the flex and white tipped primaries. But, they were also splotched with dark red mixed and faded into the feathers so much that it had basically become a part of the appendages. She had several crooked feathers and several sections with patches missing, the closer the feathers were to the tip the worst they got.
The most glaring difference was her left wing. Her right wasn’t bad if a bit ill groomed and dirty. But, her left was almost worse. Several feathers were crooked and the entire wing itself seemed to be half the size of the other. Several chipped spots even worse than the other and a harsher black defining the ridges, the colour and feel of soot, but impossible to get out.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Six ran a finger down her charred wing. A few of the smaller feathers dropping down, resting gently across the bright green grass. Humming, she did that a few more times, before Mono gently palmed her hand away.
Curious, she looked at him. This close she could see nice grey eyes, small shining flecks of white made it almost look like static, through the shrouded eyeholes his bag casted
“I don’t think you should do that.” Clearing his throat, he sat back, averting his eyes to her wing. Gentle hands reached out and softly poked at her wing. Nudging feather into place as best he could. He looked like he wanted to do more, but his ear wiggled and with a small head tilt. He stood back up.
“We should go.” With a long glance towards her discarded feathers, he backed away slightly to reclaim his coat. Carefully sliding it back on, he had to wiggle his wings slightly to fit into the long holes cut into the back. Six followed his lead, standing up and ruffling both her hair and her feathers, to the disgruntlement of her companion as several more feathers dropped down.
Slowly, he walked back to her side, gently brushing against her hand. Face tilted as he checked for permission. Hunching down slightly, she gave him a subtle nod, heart lifting as he gently combined his fingers with hers. A soft cooing sound fumbling out of his throat as he led her forward.
Subconsciously, she lifted her wings higher than she normally would. Just slightly above her ankles, rather than the lazy half dragging against the ground posture she normally kept. Mono was smarter than her and he seemed to know what he was doing… plus, she didn’t want to worry him, she’d never seen him so soft and gentle. Glancing, she smiled crookedly as Mono skipped slightly, wings fluttering with his steps.
*Rk*
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Six doesn’t like pity. It makes her feel small and babied, she hates it even more when it's directed at her from a person that doesn’t even like her.
Ren, who despite all of them being runaways preferred the term ‘Runaway Kid’, was a boy with a chip on his shoulder. Someone they found trapped in a cage amongst others, the only one actively trying to escape, to be released from his cage.
Rk was a penguin. A flightless bird desperate to fly, to feel the freedom of it. The wind, the release of mortal boundaries. But, all he has are two sleek flippers that can barely be registered as wings.
Rk always looked at her wings with hatred. Six didn’t know why, maybe he was jealous. But, if he was then he would be looking at Mono the same way. But, all he did was smile at Mono and even when the boys back was turned, he only looked at those wings with envy.
Six didn’t really care if Rk hated her. They weren't friends, they were barely even cordial, because Mono looked so happy when they got along. If Rk had some weird hatred of her wings or her, he’d have to use his big boy words and tell her.
Six grumbled as she fumbled with the log, spitting up sparks from the fire. She kept her wings up and away, never quite comfortable with them close to flame. Even if it was as small as a lighter or as big as a bonfire, there was always a trepidation, phantom hands grasping at her feathered appendages and just making her anxious.
Mono had set off to get more wood, she could see the bright red yarn wrapped around a tree near her shake and wobble with his movements. He had gotten lost before, a terrible sense of direction in a uniform wooded place with it being near pitch black wasn’t doing him any favours either.
They had done a weird, terrifying game of marco polo, till he broke through halfway into the morning. Shaking like a feather and with wide eyes as he jumped and wrapped Six up in his arms. Six wasn’t even scared of the touch like she normally was, she just felt relieved. After that, they set new guidelines till Mono bought two long balls of yarn from the next town they were in.
If they ever got lost they could follow the thread back and if for some reason they got hurt, the yarn could be used to communicate. It had taken a bit for Six to completely memorize the signals and they haven’t had to use them yet, but it was a nice safety blanket to lean on.
She was set to be the fire stoker, keeping it fed because it wasn’t a fun time trying to start a fire anew. Especially with it so cold and dark. Rk was checking all their bags to make sure they still had everything and then he would settle down to cook.
“Hey Six, we need to get more food when we go into town.” He grumbled, flipping the bag closed as he flopped down to slide closer to the fire. Cheeks red from the cold. Puffing up slightly, Six grumbled a bit as she found another stick long enough to keep her a good distance away from the flames.
She poked it slightly, letting it get warmer for the penguins sake as he looked absolutely awful and she didn’t know how well they could care for him if he got sick. He gave her a quick and feeling thankful glance, before scooting a bit closer.
Her wings puffed up further as she carefully watched him, fear gripping her skin and twisting in her gut watching how the flames cast against his silhouette. Sitting down, she pulled her knees up to rest her chin on them. Paying close attention to Mono’s string, Rk, and the fire.
Pulling down her sleeves she tried to keep herself warm, even as she could hear her teeth chitter against each other. Rk wiggled a bit in the dirt, body-language loudly spelling out UNCOMFORTABLE. He sat like that for barely a minute, before loudy groaning and throwing his arms up
“Why are you sitting all the way over there?!” Taking a deep breath, he stared at her nostrils flared as dark blue eyes glared at her “Do you hate me or something?” Immediately, she sat up all sharp, eyes narrowed as a growl rumbled through her throat. Sharp canines, a severe disconnect to her aviane nature, bared and flashing dangerously in the flickering light
He jumped up, kicking a rock into the flame, looking like he immediately regretted it as sparks kicked up in a cloud and the rock started to make furious popping noises.
But, Six wasn’t even paying attention to his loud almost cursing. Her entire body had tense, wings drooping down into the dirt as she tried to tear her eyes from the crackling orange. Her body fell prison to her mind as she struggled to regain her breathing.
Several distressed noises dropped out of her chest, breathlessly as she furiously paddled back. Barely even noticing as sharp stones and dirt cut into her palms, or as Rk worriedly called her name. All she could perceive was the screaming in her ears and that stupid fire.
Her left wing twitched and swung about, almost as if trying to protect her from something. Then as quickly as it started it was gone. Shaking, she couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or the water dripping down her face, she stood up. Furiously whipping at her face as she walked back to the fire and sat down, still staying a further than reasonable distance from it.
“Six…” She hated it, hated the pity. Hated the hesitance in his voice. She kept her eyes away from him and away from everything else, focusing instead on red. The red of yarn, a flash of colour amongst pale oranges and dark browns. She wanted Mono to come back.
Mono was warm and safe. Her hands itched and she dug them into the dirt.
“Six… I’m sorry.” Turning slightly, she peered at him in the corner of her vision. His head was drooped into his shoulders as he fumbled with the manacle wrapped around his ankle. It was weird to see him so vulnerable, so she fumbled to her feet. Hesitantly walking towards him, he looked up when she got close, water brewing at the corner of his eyes.
Gulping down, she peered at the ground before picking something up. Lightly tossing it at the boy's chest. He stared confused for a moment, picking it up incredulously. Looking at her with raised a raised eyebrow, before he broke into a grin and laughed
“Alright, I get it. Being too sappy.” He tossed it back at her, watching as it bonked her right on the noise. Letting out a squawk, Six gave him another glare as he fell back laughing loudly. A bright grin on his face.
Mood successfully lifted, Six sat back down in her earlier spot. Watching as Rk started cooking, wrapping some fish in tinfoil and carefully settling it into some weaker burning embers. Humming quietly, Six spread out her wings. Carefully, looking at them and trying to poke the feathers into place like Mono had, carefully settling them in a poor imitation of how his looks. They still didn’t look too great, but a lot less frizzy.
A couple did fall out, but she was pretty sure that was a normally-ish thing. Collecting them up, she stood, setting them gently in the pocket of her jacket, careful to keep the spine intact. She could feel Rk watching as she kept glancing at the ground, careful to not leave the fires light.
With a happy noise, she picked up a few things that Rk couldn’t see, nodding at them smiling widely as she practically skipped back to the fire. Mumbling, she stuck her tongue out in concentration as she fumbled slightly with it. But, she carefully forged on, making sure it was snug and finely woven. Finally satisfied she stood up again, to the curiosity of Rk as he poked at a thing of tin foil.
Presenting it to him, like the cat who caught the canary, looking very proud of herself. Rk delicately took it from her, taking a closer look. It was a flower crown… which he didn’t quite peg Six as the kinda girl who made them, but people can be surprising. It was very nicely done too, firmly intertwined, a nice balance of feather and flower.
He loved it. Smiling wide, he perched it on his head, puffing up in pride. To the laughter of Six. They may not have been friends before, but it looked like that was changing. Rk gave the girl a smile
“Thank you! I’ll give you first fish.” He knew the best way to repay her kindness was with food and just the way she lit up at the prospect, feathers all fuzzy and flapping excitedly. He knows Six doesn’t really express with her wings, knew that she barely even thought of them before Mono, so just the thought that he could make her happy enough to do that warmed his heart.
*Rcg*
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Six could barely hear him scream through the ringing in her own ears. But, she felt his hand grow limp in her grip as he fell.
Air fogged out of her mouth as she fought to keep down a scream, at seeing Mono drop. Blood spraying out of his shoulder. With shaking hands, she lifted him up, tugging his arms around her shoulders and keeping his legs off the ground. There was no stopping right then, she could still hear their pursuiter, hear boots shift through the underbrush that just barely concealed them.
They had to go. Huffing through the ice cold air in her lungs, Six jumped up slightly to roll under some tree roots, barely ducking her wings in time to keep them from catching.
Hearing a click and the sharpness of someone cursing, she ducked behind a rock. Fire in her throat as her vision blurs. She couldn’t tell if it was from her own harsh breathing or the water dripping down her cheeks. With a moment till he got close enough to try and fire again, Six pulled up Mono’s head terrified of what she might find.
Mono’s face had lost it's nice light coffee brown colour and was almost deathly pale, grey colouring his cheeks instead of a more healthy pink colour, his breathing was shallow, even with her face only inches away Six could barely even feel it.
Terror gripped her heart as she tugged him closer, each crunch of snow from behind her an uncomfortable prick down her spine. Gulping, she rested her forehead on his for a second, trying to chill her breathing. She didn’t want her last moments with him to be just running.
She couldn’t do anything. What was she supposed to do? Run out of cover with a trigger happy Hunter within earshot of them, heaving Mono on her shoulders while he himself was practically a foot taller than her. Just stay there till the Hunter pops around, while the fear killed her.
Stomp stomp… the loud growling got closer. Whimpering, she wiped the tears out of her eyes, curling around the injured boy, hand pressed into his shoulder. Blood flowing through the cracks in her fingers no matter how hard she pressed down, or how much it pained her to hear Mono whimpering.
Eventually she heard a triumphant ‘aha’, lifting her head up she bared her teeth at the grinning man. A sharp glint in his eye was the only thing she could see past the bandages wrapped around the rest of his head, the bright glint of a barrel pointed right at her felt like lead in her lungs.
Her wings flared out in defense, the left on curling around Mono as if to protect him. Even while knowing that delicate feathers would never hold a chance against dangerous slug. She kept a defiant glare as he stalked closer.
His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t make out the words between his heavy panting and the bandages wrapped around his mouth. It just sounded like choked gloating. Hearing Mono groan, she split her attention between him and the still monologuing Hunter.
Cracking an eye open his vision swam around the little cocoon her wings casted him
“Six, I’m scared.” He whisper, mouth wet as he looked up at her “I don’ wanna die.” He whimpered again curling up further into her grasp, hands clenched weakly into his coat and her heart broke. Seeing how vulnerable Mono was, Mono the strongest member of their little group. The one who stared down grown adults ten times his size and didn’t even flinch, the Mono who would run through burning fire or across freezing snow, just to help someone.
An unfocused rage burnt in her chest, targeting everything that had brought them to this moment. That had brought so much suffering to a boy who deserved the world. She couldn’t just take this lying down, what was she even thinking?
Giving the boy a kiss on the head, she got close to his ear speaking under her breath
“I’ll be back Mono.” With wide eyes he tried to grip her coat, tried to stop her from doing whatever he thought she was planning. He was probably right to do so, this plan was so beyond stupid, that it shouldn’t of ever become one.
Slipping him down onto the rock, she unclipped her coat to his utter terror as she laid it on top of him “I’m gonna fix this.” Turning around, she couldn’t bear to give a last glance to the sobbing boy. The Hunter had eased down on his rant, one curious eye on her. Thinking he had all the power as the only one with a weapon.
But, isn’t the most dangerous weapon man itself. He had gotten close and sloppy, only one hand on his gun and it was resting on the barrel, not the trigger. Glaring with opened teeth, like a rabid animal, she quickly palmed the barrel tossing it high in the air. As she turned against the bend of his arm, her entire body weight pressing against the joint of his elbow as she twisted the gun around.
Yelping, the Hunter instinctually dropped it, backing off while rubbing the joint. Only realizing his mistake, when Six clicked the barrel back into his own face.
Breathing heavily, it barely registered in her mind that she had actually done it. The sharp wood pressed against her chest was almost reassuring. The cold bite of the trigger, brought her out of the daze. Staring at the gun in her arms almost in shock, before grinning all sharp and shark-like.
The Hunter jumped back again, eyes dilated and shaking in their sockets, flashes of memories with them in almost this exact position almost visibly flashing across. Adrenaline shot through her like a million tiny knives, eyes flashing across every bit of his body, looking for any tiny movement. Even if it was just a flick of the toe.
His eyes narrowed as he slid his left foot forward slightly. Immediately icey blue eyes shot down then back up at him as she squeezed the trigger as hard as she could.
The trigger barely even flinched, dread crashed over her and she suddenly felt like she was in fire. Burning and tearing at her skin as, even with her thumb and pressing harsh against her ribcage, she couldn’t depress it enough to fire.
She heard him laugh, a loud chortaling… mocking sounds. As he advanced, he seemed to shoot up, taller and taller, dwarfing her in an evil shadow. As sharp bat-like wings shot out from the until then folded position behind his back.
Shifting backwards, she tripped over a smaller rock, barely catching herself painfully on her elbows as she shot out her wings again, trying to conceal Mono from whatever might happen to her. As the Hunter's manic laughter filled the field, sending birds scattering from the trees.
Just like Six wished she could do. Just fly away from everything, save Mono from his painful fate of having to watch her die.
Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she took in a deep breath. Her chest turning to ice as she could hear the boots advance through the soft blanket of snow.
Then with a flick of her ear she heard it. A loud chittering bird call, almost sounding like a car having trouble starting, but far more… demonic. A familiar bird call.
It was Rk. The same Rk who had abandoned them once he realized the Hunter wasn’t gonna divert from his actual targets. He had run away like his namesake, like a coward.
Anger once again flared harsh in her chest, almost painful. Before she actually thought about it. Rk had just let out his ‘Don’t worry, I’m here’ call, he was smart. He probably realised that they had almost no chance against a person so determined to get revenge on them. He had gone back to the camp to get something, and was trying to get back to them again. The commotion and the lack of any more shots must’ve gotten him close.
Six took in a deep breath a trilled back, wincing at how her voice broke and crackled. But, the Hunter, not learning his lesson, wasn’t focused on her anymore. He was staring narrowed eyed with a confused head tilt into the forest
“What the living 'ell was 'hat?” Six could barely hear him utter, as he stepped closer to the forest line. Wings dropping back behind his back.
She could hear the rustling get louder along with the reassuring demonic car noises. Slowly, the fear gripping her heart eased as she fell back, a smirk growing on her face. Before, she scrambled up and went back to Mono.
His eyes had closed so much that you could barely even consider them open, he weakly reached out when she approached dropping down on her knees to wrap her raincoat tighter around him. He was speaking, but the words were so quiet and slurred together that she couldn’t make them out.
“You’re alright?” She heard him whisper, hand reaching up to clutch in her sweater
“I”m alright, and so is Rk. Can you hear him?” The boy seemed to strain, before his eyes lit up as he gave a weak smile “Yeah, he’s coming to help us, then we can get you…” She glanced at his shoulder, gulping nervously at the amount of red seeping through his coat “all bandaged up.” She gave him a smile, trying her hardest to reassure him that everything would be alright, despite barely believing it herself.
Rk didn’t come into the clearing from the floor like she expected, but she could see him rustling up in the trees. Leaves and sticks making a mess of his hair as he crouched down, long wooden bow that he had carved and strung himself pulled taught in his hands.
Even with the distance between them she could see him expand with a long breath, before releasing with a loud reverberating twang.
The Hunter barely had time to see the boy, before the arrow lodged itself into his stomach, right where the brunt of his barely healed injury was.
"Varmin." He gurgled as his arm dropped, shotgun clattering lose to the floor without the grip to hold it as he folded in on himself. The air itself seemed to go still as Six looked down at the collapsed man, half expecting for him to just shrug it off and go after them again.
Scrambling, she brought his shotgun closer to her, clicking both shells out carefully. Still breathing heavily, the adrenaline still rushing through her body almost hurt. Eyes watching as Rk struggled down from his tree, rushing over his face losing all it's colour when he got close enough to see Mono.
“What happened, how is he?” He slid down, his torn jeans probably unpleasant on the snowy ground. Six just gave him a desperate look, glancing worriedly at the wound
“Cold.” Six whispered breathlessly feeling as if her chest was being crushed “Hurt bad.” It felt wrong talking with Rk, he wasn’t safe. At least not as safe as Mono
“I saw a barn.” Rk hurriedly spoke, “It’s warmer than out here and I’m sure they have something that could help.” Jumping up, Rk tried to navigate the larger boy onto his back, wincing at every creaking movement or any hurt noises coming from his mouth.
Six rushed to help, cause Rk was even shorter than her. They eventually settled on a carry that almost looked like a chair, with Mono’s arms loosely around their shoulders with each of them having one arm around his back and legs, in a semi-chair shape.
Rk took the lead and it didn’t take them long to reach a pasture. Even if it seemed like an eternity with the snow underfoot and freezing through their bare-threaded clothes, every groan or whimper seeming to add several pounds of weight to their shoulders.
Eventually Rk shifted Mono into her, the extra weight on her sore arms almost making her drop him, but Rk returned quickly having opened the large doors a crack. Fumbling him past the curious animals and the wide stalls, they carefully laid him down onto a large pile of hay.
Taking off his coat, Six pressed it into his shoulder, trying to smother the wound as much as possible. Rk stood uselessly off to the side, looking incredibly lost
“He looks bad.” Six heard him mumble, and she growled smacking a fist against the hard wooden floorboards
“You think I don’t know that!” She yelled, snapping her eyes to the startled boy. Who had almost fallen back at the yell “I-I… I know that.” Deflating, she sniffled, resting her head on the fabric folded over his chest.
Gently, she felt Mono’s hand plomp down on her back, gently scratching at her sweater
“Sorry, Six.” She heard Rk sob, muffled through her own crying. Both of them tensing when they heard a loud wooden creaking. Jumping up despite all instinct telling her not to, Six tensed. Fists balled up and her teeth barred as she looked towards the only entrance.
“Hello.” The words echoed in silence, as the footsteps got closer, the scratch of claws quietly following along “Stay here Fox.” They mumbled and the scratching stopped, the footsteps didn’t.
Breathing heavily, Six kept glancing at Mono and then Rk’s paled face. Rk wasn’t a fighter, he didn’t do close combat and wasn’t strong enough to hold his own against anyone while fist to fist.
Bright yellow rounded the corner, wet from the melting snow and very familiar to her own. A large braid flew out of the hood, tied with a bright red bow. Wings a rich grey colour that went darker the closer to the figures shoulder blades, highlighted with a dulled orange almost yellow colour.
Their hands were out in the universal signal for ‘Not here to hurt you and unarmed’, Six didn’t relax, though she practically felt Rk ease down behind her,
“Hello,” They spoke gently, carefully lowering their hood. Revealing soft emerald eyes and even fluffier dark brown hair “I’m Raine, are you hurt?” Kneeling down, her eyes were flickering towards Mono, but her attention was on Six, who only narrowed her eyes.
Shifting to stand closer to the injured boy. They had broken into this person’s barn and they hadn’t given the girl any reason to trust them. Mono was their main source of defense as Six just crumbles without him, they were a team. She couldn’t focus without his reassuring presence at her side, covering her weaker wing.
They were vulnerable enough without this girl getting close enough to harm them. So, she growled deep in her chest, when the girl in the raincoat tried to get closer, Rk hopping up to get between them.
“Yeah! He’s hurt real bad.” Six wanted to punch the boy so bad, as he desperately crowed “Can you help him?” Hopeful desperation pricked down her spin, but she stomped it down. Nobody would be dumb enough to wilingly help a group of obvious runaways while one had a clear bullet wound.
“I can.” The girl nodded a calm fire in her eyes, as she kept her eyes on Six “But, you have to let me closer to him.” Six furiously shook her head, only showing more teeth. Rg backed off slightly, still keeping too close to them for comfort as Rk furiously looked between them. Confusion clear on his features.
“Six, he won’t survive if we don’t get him help.” What was Rk doing, wasn’t he on her side. Snapping her teeth at him, she glared. The boy jumping at the obvious hostility pointed at him. Everything felt like it was collapsing around her. A stranger with obvious malicious intention, a betrayer who didn’t realize how much danger they were in, and Mono… Mono, Mono who was hurt… hurt bad.
Faltering slightly, Six tore her eyes away from the two facing her to the small boy behind her. He had curled up and was looking with confused glassy eyes at her
“You can sit right next to him…” Snapping her head back, she saw that the girl in the raincoat had gotten slightly closer, stepping back. Six hesitantly nodded, rushing to the boy's side, gently resting his head in her lap.
Toying with the faint white streaks in a mess of fluffy dark brown hair, her heart pounded harshly in her chest and she was sure that the girl could hear it. Rk plopped himself a few feet away, gently intertwining his pinkie with Mono’s.
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“He needs a hospital.” Six jumped, fear shooting through her at that one simple sentence. Raine sat back, covered in a sickening amount of blood “I know you’re probably runaway’s,” Her eyes danced across their clothes “But, it’s bad and he needs stitches and the bullet picked out.” Chewing on her nail, Six glanced from the girl's serious face then too Rk.
Taking in a deep breath, she looked away, towards the head in her lap and her hands tangled in messy brown hair.
Six would go to hell and back for Mono, if that meant facing the authorities or someone even worse. She would do it in a heartbeat. The answer was always gonna be a yes, if it meant that Mono would live. Even if it had her going back, even if it left her suffering again
“We’ll go.” Her throat clenched, it wasn’t safe to talk. But, she didn’t have any other choice. She glanced up, keeping up a brave face despite how much she wanted to break down and cry, “Rk,” The boy’s gaze shot up to her, as he collected himself “You can stay.” He furiously shook his head, jumping up.
“No, I’m not leaving you guys. Even if it means another cage.” He grinned sloppily at her “You’re stuck with me.” He chuckled light-heartedly, bopping a fist against his chest.
“I have to call nine-one-one,” Seeing Six tense up, she hummed softly “Don’t worry, just an ambulance, I’ll give you some new clothes.” Just the thought of it made her skin itchy, but she relaxed slightly “They’ll give Mono treatment, they will get him all nice and healthy again.” She gave a gentle smile
“Do it.” Six confirmed, she didn’t need to hear anything more. Even if her anxiety was through the roof and her brain pounded with fear. Raine jumped up, fumbling with her coat. Flipping up a dinged up flip phone, glancing at her before dialing
“My parents are out in town, Fox is the dog and is a big softy once they get familiar with you. The house is just across the yard and it shouldn’t be hard to find something to wear.” Taking in a deep breath she finishes typing in the last number and hovers her hand above the faded green dial button.
“Sorry I can’t help.” She rushed out, before pressing down and holding the phone up to her ear. Rk jittered forward, looking like he was about to rush off, before looking at her.
Six wasn’t just gonna leave Mono, so she waved him off. With a bit of hesitance, he gave her a weak smile, before rushing off. The scattering of claws followed him for a few seconds, before they stopped and started again, this time coming closer to them.
A small, faded ginger dog with a long snout and a scruff of curled fur atop their head, crossed the corner with a large panting grin. Six gently reached out, offering her palm for them to sniff. With a few tentative sniffs, they got closer. Curling gently into Mono’s lap, the boy giving a weak smile, hand twitching as if wanting to pet them, but not being able to gather enough strength too.
It didn’t take long for Raine to get off the call and shove the phone back into her pocket. She bounced on her heels, staring at the barn door waiting for Rk to get back. Though she kept sending gentle and worried smiles towards the huddled group enveloped in hay, little strands of it getting everywhere.
“I’m not gonna ask why you ran away,” Six jumped as Raine mumbled, still looking away from her “But, you aren't in danger right?” She seemed to tense, shoulders dipped “I don’t want to force you back into something like that…” Six kept quiet, despite feeling guilty at the slow drips of water running down the girls eyes. She was probably only a few years older than her, yet she sounded so mature.
Like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Humming quietly, Six rocked. She didn’t want to think about what could be awaiting them in the hospital, whether Mono would be taken away, or even what would happen to her. She didn’t know which one was worse.
“Did…” Raine cleared her throat, eyes dancing around as she carefully picked her next words. Focused intently on a spot behind Six. Glancing back, she noticed the stare was directed at her wing, spread out wide against the backdrop of hay, curled slightly over Mono. Self-consciously, she pulled them in slightly, not wanting to disturb the hurt boy, but not liking the way emerald eyes traced over every bit of damage.
“Did you get that while running, or…” She dropped off as Rk came rushing back in. Arms full of clothes. He was panting, a bright flush to his cheeks from the cold. Despite looking like she wanted to continue, Raine stood up grabbing half of the clothes from the out of breath boy.
“Thank you Rk.” She smiled, as the boy gave her a weak thumbs up from under the pile of clothes he still had in his arms “Fox,” She whistled, the dog jumping up with their tail wagging “Go stand guard, please.” The dog gave a bright yip, running out of sight.
Setting the clothes on the floor, she picked through them. Giving Six a loose white tee shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that went a little below her knees, and looking way too wide to sit around her waist. Raine tutted for a second, before pulling out a long leather belt and giving it to her.
Rk had gotten a faded blue and black flannel, paired with a light grey high necked shirt. He also grabbed a pair of far too long insulated jeans, that he had to fold five times to get to a reasonable height.
Raine just took off her raincoat and left her blood soaked jeans untouched, it was pretty gross, but she had already told the operator that she had tried her best to staunch the bleeding. If she was fully cleaned, it would seem weird, plus she wanted to keep an eye on Mono. To see if anything changed with his condition.
Six was very reluctant to separate from Mono, but necessity out ruled her brain and she rushed into a storage room. Full of tack and saddles. She changed quickly, still fastening her belt when she exited, rushing back to Mono’s side.
She could hear fant sirens and dread grew toxic in her lungs, as she struggled to keep her breathing steady. Holding Mono closer, she gave him a soft kiss on the forehead.
“Everythings gonna be okay, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” She took in a sharp breath “Not if I can help it.” His head moved slightly in her lap as he gave a wobbly grin. Two people ran in, one carrying a stretcher. The other with a box in their hands.
One crouched down next to the boy and despite her best instincts, Six barred her teeth. Mono sensing her tense, slowly slid closer to her. His mouth opening in a wince as his wings flared out, one slightly weaker than the other
“We need you to stay calm.” The one closest to them whispered, keeping their voice down and smooth, reaching up they gently held their hand a short distance away from Mono’s face. Looking down at their watch, before moving to place two fingers on the exposed vein of his neck, the opposite side from his wound.
The boy tensed, but Six gently started to pet his hair again, keeping a close watch on everything the EMT was doing. The person barely gave her a glance, before looking closer at Mono’s wound, taking something out of their bag and pressing it hard onto Mono’s shoulder moving the coat, already soaked, away.
They shouted something, indistinguishable through the swimming in her ears, to their partner and they closed in setting up the board in their hands
“We have to get him up…” Both of them tensed at that and the boy in question grumbled angrily “You can come with, but you have to give us room to work on him.” The EMT gave her a hard look, not maliciou, just trying to make sure she understood.
Swallowing through the lump in her throat she nodded furiously. Watching them put a weird collar around his neck and then gently scoop him up. Mono furiously wiggled his hands and trying her best to keep out of the other peoples way she grasped it.
“I’m here, I just have to let them help, I won’t leave you.” With a gasp of pain, he nodded at her, his grasp falling loose. She let go, backing up, wings tugged close into her even as they were desperate to flare out with her worry.
Rk pattered right behind her. Raine close to his side, watching her with swirling green eyes
“We’ll get a taxi over.” She breathed with a weak smile “We can’t all go.” Despite how much she did not wanna be separated from Rk, she knew he was gonna be fine if that girl wanted to hurt them she would’ve done it already. Giving her a quick nod, she rushed into the ambulance, getting directed into a seat at the very back of the space, closer to the front cab.
Everything felt like it was crashing down around her as the two other people flurried around in a hurricane of activity with the occasional piped pained noises from the boy right in front of her, but still feeling so far away.
Far too quick the car screeched to a halt and they were whisking him away. He had to be put into immediate surgery, the wound was not clean and it hadn’t exited. Six was very nearly ready to claw her way through, just to see that nothing bad was happening when Rk burst in slipping and sliding on the linoleum floor with how fast he was going.
He didn’t hesitate holding her hand when he plopped down in the seat right beside her, his eyes wobbling as he watched the door barely blinking. Raine walked in panting, sweat running down her face as she sat a few seats down with a heavy sigh.
The room seemed to heat up and Six swore she could hear crackling. Pulling in her wings, she picked at a feather, then looked for another one. A crooked quill, a loose feather stuck amongst others, even just feathers that looked weird. Only a few minutes of that and she shot up pacing and shaking out the feathered appendages.
Almost spanning the entire hallway, she grumbled and jumped. Even just wiggling out her hands. It helped work out some tension and the crackling in her ears died down along with the heat. Rk’s head was tilted in confusion and Raine, through her heavy breathing, was giving a crooked smile. Leaning over, she whispered into the confused boy's ear, who nodded and gave her a grin.
Someone exited Mono’s room and Six nearly jumped on them, jittering on her feet as the doctor stumbled back, glancing at the other two in the room
“How is he?” Raine popped in, breathing level as she stood up.
“Well, he’s asleep for now and on pain meds.” Six winced, he must’ve been hurting bad “I just need you to fill out some information and we can call your parents.” Six felt like her heart burst in her chest, wings clamped tight behind her back once again, as she swiped the extended clipboard from the doctor's hands.
Why did they have to call all their parents? Was Mono even fine with seeing his dad again? Six knew he had lived in the man’s shadow all his life and that's what led him to running away at first. Then he met Six and they became a pair, nearly inseparable, he said he never wanted to go back if that meant getting pulled away from her.
The fear must’ve been apparent in her eyes, because the doctor looked like they were about to place a hand on her shoulder. If Six hadn’t scrambled away, glaring right into their eyes showing her gums
“Well,” clearing their throat “he’ll recover fine, you are lucky that the shot was a slug and not any of the nastier shotgun bullets.” Glancing around, they crouched to get down closer to Six.
“We haven’t called the police yet, but you need to tell us what happened, how did he get shot?” Six gulped down, looking at Rk, who turned to look at Raine. The girl giving a startled look, before clearing her throat. The doctor turned their gaze towards her and Six took the time to scramble away reading through the papers in her hand.
“We think a hunter mistook Mono…” She fumbled, looking at Rk who furiously nodded “for a deer thanks to his coat and how snowy it’s been. We ran off before they could check on us, out of just panic.” She fumbled with her fingers “We ran back to my house and when we saw how bad it was, we called the ambulance.” The doctor sighed, this time keeping their hands on their knees
“You really should’ve let them check on you, but I get why you ran.” Giving them a soft smile “You were right to come here, you are a smart girl.” They gave Raine a finger gun, the girl puffing up slightly in pride.
“We have to move him to a new room, but you can follow.” They stood up with a groan, back popping “Just watch for the wheels, they can be pretty heavy and we don’t wanna treat a broken foot now do we.” They let out a quiet chuckle as the doors opened and a large weirdly shaped bed rolled out, Six jumped up when she spotted the familiar white spotted hair of Mono.
She hurriedly walked alongside it, gently grasping his hand, one without the weird tubes. She felt the digits twitch, faintly wrapping around her own. Despite all the fear and questions still rushing through her head, she could feel her heart jump with elation at his response even while asleep.
She held his hand all the way to his room, only stepping back when one of the nurses had to do something on that side. The clipboard had laid forgotten at her side, the weight almost impossibly heavy in her hand. Leaning against the bed with a heavy sigh, she started to fill it out.
Only stopping when she couldn’t give any more information, she then swapped it over to Raine so she could fill out her information. Rk refusing, despite looking incredibly anxious at the thought. Perhaps she should’ve done the same, but… looking down at her hands then her wing.
A wing which was looking so much better. Nothing would’ve changed if she just hadn’t filled out the paperwork, she always knew when Six had gotten in trouble. It was only a matter of time. Fear pricked up her back and she made sure her wings didn’t react at all, she didn’t want to end up hitting something important or even one of the other people in the room.
Raine’s parents showed up first. Wide eyed and fearful as they pulled the girl into a hug, scared that she had gotten hurt. They were nice and very respectful of distance, letting them advance in their own time. They even brought some leftovers from their lunch in town. Rk got the most of it, Six felt nauseous at the very idea of food. Though she did end up picking at a cold piece of salami.
The doctor said that they had gotten a hold of Mono’s dad, who was on his way. Being pretty far from the area they were in. Six wondered if they had really gotten that far away, or if Mono had been on the run a lot longer than he had made it out to be.
They were also a bit confused onto why they couldn’t get a hold of Six’s mother, even grilling the girl on why she wasn’t picking up
“Does she have a busy job, where she can’t have her phone on?” Grumbling, Six rolled her eyes.
“No.” She barked.
“Does she have any medical conditions that make it hard for her to get up?” Scratching at her leg, she sighed heavily. Giving the doctor a deadpan look.
“Don’t you have her files.”
“That’s a no… Do you have any idea as to why she can’t come?” Throwing her arms out the girl jumped.
“She just doesn’t care!” Breathing heavily, Six gulped. Immediately feeling regret at the look the doctor gave her “... I mean,” Coughing she hurriedly came up with a lie “She’s probably just asleep, or maybe her phones on mute. You know how old people are these days?” Chuckling weakly, she averted her eyes from the intense look the doctor was giving her.
“Hey,” Crouching down, the doctor looked at her eyes full of pity. Feeling small and weak, she puffed up, trying to bring back the anger from before. But, all she felt was… defeated “Do you want us to call CPS?” Rolling her eyes, she glanced up.
“No.” The doctor flinched back slightly, confusion in their eyes. Steeling her voice, Six squared her shoulders and flared out her wings. Making her appear as big as possible, despite how small she still was compared to the adult. She had been taught how to command a room, it had been drilled into her brain since she was young enough to stand.
“I’m fine, that was just a… slip of the tongue. She’s probably just busy driving here or something.” With that, Six walked back into the room. Averting her gaze from the other occupants, sitting facing slightly towards the wall staring at the frame of Mono’s bed.
“What was that, Six?” Rk seemed to realize his mistake as her wings immediately flared out, despite her not turning to look at him
“I do not wanna talk about it.” She growled, hands clenched tightly in her borrowed tee-shirt. Rk seemed to realise her mood as he didn’t say anything more, and the room was plunged into silence only broken by the occasional mechanical sounds from Mono.
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