Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was going to be a terrible day. Scar looked over the massive pile of paperwork stacked on his desk. It never seemed to end. Read the document, sign here, rinse, and repeat. SO boring. Who knew that your parents dying could involve so many bland documents?

“Cuubbb,” Scar whined, slumping in his chair, “could you read this for me? There are too many words here.”

“I wish I could.” Cub looked over from the desk across Scars. “Oh wait, no, I don't. I already have my stack. You just need to get through a couple more. Then you can go do whatever you want,” Scar grumbled and looked down at the piece of paper he had been staring at for the last twenty minutes without taking any of it in. He supposed he could waste another ten minutes on this document before Cub would let him go.

Scar aimlessly flipped through several more forms. The immediate letters include a new alliance proposal, an appeal for money, an invite to one of the balls, and a suitor request. That particular note went right into the trash, joining its many fallen brethren. Cub glanced up from the text he had been scanning over to Scar.

“You know you’ll have to accept at least one just to meet the person, right?”

“I know,” Scar huffed, “but all these people are so stuck up. Why do we even have that stupid marriage law anyway? Who came up with that.”

“I believe you can blame your great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother for that one.” Cub looked back down.

“That's a lot of greats.”

“It is”

The pair resumed the silence from before. They had been stuck in this room for several weeks ever since Scar's parents had passed away due to unfortunate circumstances. You would have thought the court would have allowed time for grieving, but nope! Straight Into the paper works with you! No time for sadness when you have overly complex words that have no real business in important documents. Not that Scar was that very sad, Cub was more family than his parents ever were. A knock came from the door before it swung open.

Cub sighed “Bdubs, what's the point of knocking if you're just going to open the door?”

“To alert the room that it's about to be graced with my glorious presence,” the guard said, striding into the room and passing a letter to Cub.

“Another one? Is the court trying to suffocate us in paper?” Sacr grumbled

“Ha. At this rate, it's very likely,” Cub huffed, opened the letter, and quickly scanned it.
“Bdubs, who sent this?”

“That's directly from the high council.”

“They cannot be serious.”

“I'm pretty sure they are incapable of not being serious.”

“What is it?” Scar walked over to Cub's desk and sat on it swinging his feat.

“Well,” Cub began shoving Scar off his desk, “it appears that they want you to choose a falconer consort as you haven't chosen a suitor yet.” Scar spluttered eyes widening in shock

“What? It hasn't even been a week yet? Is that even legal?”

“I mean, technically? You haven't been crowned yet, so you technically have until then to pick a partner. But Falconer Consort? Why on earth did they choose to bring that back?”

Bdubs coughed, and the two looked over at him “I might have overheard a bit from the meeting room.”

“You mean eavesdropping?” Cub facepalmed

“Eh, potato potato, anyways, I heard that they hoped the marriage and all would stop the Falconers from upen leaving the kingdom to fend for itself” Scar joined the club in the facepalm club.

The falconers were a group of magic users who rode giant birds that protected the kingdom from the many monsters that plagued its land. A roc normally would hunt on its own but paired with a falconer, the pair were practically fearless.

“I'm guessing it's too late to stop this?” Scar sighed. He has been really doing that too much lately.

“Yes, it appears that they have already sent a request to the falconers, and they have accepted the proposal. Not that they could have refused with how they worded the ‘invite.’ This is a disaster.” Cub handed the document to Scar, and he quickly looked over it. Great. Scar had thought now that he would be king, he would have gotten a little control over his life. But no, his whole life had already been written for him in shiny gold ink.

And now he was being forced to marry someone he didn't know. What's worse is that Falconer consorts were explicitly chosen for skill and skill alone. He had always known that he would never have been able to marry for love, but with typical suitors, it could have ended with them being friends.

“The scouting team is going out next week. And after that, they've scheduled a four-week tour around the kingdom for the "happy couple" before the wedding.”

“No,” Scar slammed the letter down on the desk. “If I can't get out of this, I refuse to have someone else pick the person I marry.” Cub and Bdubs nodded along to Scar's words

“It won't be easy, but I think I can pull some strings,” Cub stood up and picked up the letter. “and Scar, you can leave for today. We have done enough,”

“Thank you so much!” Scar pulled him in for a hug. Cub awkwardly patted Scar on the back.

“Hey, where's my hug!” Bdubs yelled from the side.

“You haven't done anything.” Cub snorted and left the room, muttering to himself as he went.

“What? I delivered the thing, didn't I?” But he was already gone.

“Don't worry, Bdubs, there will be plenty of time for hugs later, but now I need to get out of this room.” Scar quickly walked through the door and continued down the winding halls with Bdub's indignant shouts fading behind him. From an outsider's perspective, the castle corridors would seem like a maze. And it was, but Scar had been living there his whole life and had long since memorized it.

Scar finally relaxed once he closed the door to his room. He immediately went to the balcony, a sunny place with a great mountain view. But by far, the more important reason is that it was Jellie's favorite napping spot. And indeed, he found the tiny Griffin lazing on one of the plush cushions he had specifically set out for her.

“Aww, Jellie, were you enjoying the sun?” At the sound of Scar’s voice, Jellie sat up lazily and padded over to him, winding around his legs, demanding to be picked up. Scar souped Jellie up and walked inside, flopping down on this bed. Jellie ruffled her tiny wings at the sudden movement and batted at Scar's face in protest.

“Aww, Jellie,” Scar sighed, hugging the squirming Griffin. “What am I going to do?” Jellie only made a tiny ‘mrruh’ noise and closed her eyes in Scar's hold. “You know I should appoint you to be on the high court and fire all the nasty humans. You are way smarter than all of them combined.” With that, Jellie started purring, and Scar drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Hopefully, tomorrow, he’ll have less paperwork.

Chapter Text

Today was going to be a good day. Grian whistled to Xelqua, and the giant bird rolled their eyes back to glance at him. Grian pointed over to the nearby mountains, and Xelqua, understanding, tilted their wings and started flapping their way over to the nearby peaks.

Grian layed back in the saddle, lifting his arms to trace through the clouds in puffy streaks. The pair had taken flight in the early morning to go hunting, with Professor Beak gliding along behind them. After a few hours, Beak screeched, alerting Xelqua and Grian that prey was in the area. A white mountain goat was sleeping in the valley underneath them, and Xelqua had dived down Grian, flattening himself to the saddle so the drag wouldn't pull him off the roc. They grabbed the goat in their talons quickly killing it it before taking off again.

On the way back, Beak had sat on the tiny perch along Xelquas's back behind where grian sat, tired after the long flight. The three were a team. Grian had raised Xelqua since the roc had hatched, as all falconers had. Professor Beak was an ancillary, the falcon joining them on hunts and being trained to point out game or danger.

Not that most creatures would attempt to go after a full-grown rock (and live to tell the tale). And although Xelqua was a bit smaller than average, they were still three times as tall as Grian, with their wingspan easily double that. The roc had a beautiful mix of dark purple and white feathers, some fading to red at the tips.

They had a bronze beak like all rocs and blazing lavender eyes. Grian sat back up as the aviary came into view. It was an enormous building set into the side of a cliff, a truly genius feat of architecture. The entire building was covered in lookout towers, balconies, and windows, so you could always see the sky no matter where you were. Seeing they were close to home, Beak took off from his perch to fly back to the ancillary roost, and Grian waved goodbye to the falcon, which was ignored.

Xelqua flapped their way over to the main entrance to the aviary, an arena-like space completely open to the sky, allowing rocs to land and take off without a problem. As the pair soared into the roost's top entrance Grian noticed that the roost was strangely . . . clean. Not that it was filthy! But between hunting, message sending, and their many other duties, most falconers didn't have much time to clean every spec of dirt in the aviary.

There was a group of other Rocs with their falconers, which wouldn't be unusual, but two strangers were standing before the awkward semi-circle. But before he could notice anything more, Xelqua jerked mid-air and started flapping their wings wildly. Grian looked over and saw that Xelqua had wrapped a string of banners around their body. What? Those hadn't been there this morning. The rope was pinning Xelqua’s left wing to their body.

Grian could see the people below panicking, with most of the other falconer's shouts landing on deaf ears as Grian tried his best to free Xelqua from the rope midair. One of the falconers pulled the guests aside just in time to avoid the carcass that Xelqua had let go of that landed on the floor with a sickening ‘crack.’ The ground was rushing towards the two, and looking up, Grian only had time to think, ‘Oh no’ before the pair crashed onto the floor. Xelqua continued to shrink like their head had been cut off and started rolling on the floor, trying to untangle themselves from the banner.

Grian was catapulted from the saddle with impact and was thrown to the dirt, slowing to a stop several feet from where he had been thrown. Grian groaned into the earth, his eyes tightly shut, firmly wishing he had just stayed in bed this morning, skipping this embarrassment.

“Oh my,” voiced an unfamiliar person from above him, and Grian slowly peeled himself off the ground with a mounting feeling of dread. What day was it again? Did it have anything to do with why Mumbo tried to stop him from going out today? Wasn't there something important supposed to be going on today? And- oh. Oh no. Grian thinks he now remembers what today was.

He noticed the person in front of him had the nicest clothes he had ever seen. Certainly fancier than any of the Falconer's uniforms ever were, even what newly made. The man's clothes were green with gold trim and embroidery that probably took someone months to complete. Grian's eyes rested on the person's face, and oh, he was gorgeous and had the greenest eyes Grian had ever seen. He was also covered in scars with a particularly noticeable mark on the bridge of his nose Then, he noticed a shiny crown on top of the person's head.

OH. MY. Stars.

Xsuma's voice shook Grian out of the two's impromptu staring match. “Grian! Help Xelqua!” Grian stood up and ran over to the roc, still striking and writhing on the floor. All the other riders and birds had relocated to the other side of the roost. Taking caution of Xelqua's flailing talons, Grian reached out and placed his hands on either side of their beak. Xelqua looked down at grian, feathered chest heaving from panic. At the sight of Grian, they calmed down, leaning into his hands. Grian tugged on their bond, Xelqua closing their eyes and, in a flash, vanished into a mark on Grian's back.

The rope fell to the ground as Xelqua disappeared, laying there like a dead snake mocking Grian. He slowly turned around to face the rest of the people in the room. Cleo leveled an unimpressed stair at Grian, matching their bonded roc Gorgon. Grian could almost feel the judgment coming off the pair. The rest of the falconers in the room had similar looks on their faces. He dragged his eyes over to the two guests, eyeing them warily. The guard had a strange mix of fascination and horror and had his hand resting on the hilt of this sword as if he had been about to draw it. They were clad in silver armor with a mossy cloak draped over it all.

However, standing a bit behind the guard was the person Grian had face-planted in front of. Now that Grian wasn't looking at him from the floor, he could see the person's face better. He had shoulder-length brown hair that was currently pinned up in a series of braids and gold clips. Besides his nice clothes (and his nice face (what?)), He was absolutely covered in jewelry. His entity figure was gleaming, and Grian could see some of the Rocs behind him eyeing the fancy man like they were a second away from poncing on him and dragging him to their nest.

“Grian!” he winced, dragging his eyes away from the man and to Xisuma, pacing towards him. “Where were you? The Prince had to wait for your arrival before we could continue the presentation.”
Well, Grian definitely remembered what day it was today. Today was when the Prince arrived to select his new falconer consort. And Gian had gone and forgot.

“Ah, I uh . . . forgot?” Xisuma sighed into his hand, looking like he wished the floor would swallow him.

“How could you forget! We've had a meeting about this for weeks! I even sent Mumbo to remind you this morning.”

“Well, I-” Grian shifted from foot to foot, “I went hunting.”

“I can see that,” Xsuma looked over at the abandoned goat carcass, “but why did you do that in the first place?”

“. . . I don't have a good answer to that.”

“Grian,” Xisuma said with the tone of a disappointed parent “Why-”

“It's not much of a bother!” a voice called. Grian turned to see the PRINCE crossing the room to stand a few paces away from the pair, with the guard scrambling behind him. “I'm going to hear for the next couple of days. A bit of a delay is no trouble at all.”

“Oh,” Xsuma looked a bit taken aback, “shall we continue our presentation?” The prince nodded, smiling too wide for it to be natural. Grian took his place in the semi-circle right between Mumbo and Pearl. The circle was arranged by age, with the rocs on the left and their falconer on the right. Grian stood alone as if he tried to summon back Xelqua now the roc would only panic more.
“I can not believe you forgot that the prince arrived today!” Pearl hissed from Grians right, with Tilly clicking her beak in a mock of a laugh at his expense.

“Can we stop talking about this? X will probably assign me to scrub the lofts for the next month as it is.”

“I did try to warn you, mate.” Mambo looked over sympathetically. Grian grumbled. He had, but Grian had taken off before Mumbo had gotten two words out.

The Prince and guard walked around the group, stopping at each pair, asking a couple of questions to the falconer, and continuing to the next. When they arrived at Grian, he shifted uncomfortably. It felt wrong to introduce himself without Xelqua, well, properly anyway. He's pretty sure everyone in the room saw their entrance.

“My sincerest apologies, your majesty. I meant no disrespect by my absence.” Grian tried to make his voice as apologetic as possible with his arms carefully crossed behind him.

“Oh- no need for any of that majesty stuff,” the Prince wrinkled his nose. “Prince Scar is fine or just Scar, and it's no trouble at all! I quite enjoyed the scenery.” Grian wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

“Well!” the Gaurd shifted the peace of parchment that he had produced from his bag and looked down at it. “We should begin, right?”

“Oh yes!” Prince Scar clapped his hands together, eyes sparkling as the guard started to read off his list.

“Name and age?”

“Xelqua Grian, 28”

“How long have you taken residence at this roost?”

“About 18 years now”

“How long have you been bonded to your bird?”

“25 and a half.”

“That's all in kingdom years, correct? Others gave time from all over the place.”

“Yes, that was all in Aqua kingdom standard.”

“Good, uh . . . What would you describe as your best qualities?”

On that, Grian paused. They probably didn't want to hear about his many traps, pranks, or pettiness in general. Hmm, “I guess my judgment of character?” Mumbo snorted from his left and Grian quickly shot him a glair.

“Okay, and last question. What would you bring to the table if you were chosen to be the prince, soon to be king's, consort?”

“I'm not sure if I would bring much of anything per se,” Grian awkwardly hedged. “I'm not really the court type, you know?”

The guard looked unsure of what to do with this information but wrote it down, squinting at the scribbled text as if it had offended him. The Prince meanwhile looked at Grian with doubled interest. He had no idea why. He had basically just given the worst answers he could.

“Right,” The two then turned to Mumbo, who awkwardly answered his questions. Potato shuffled next to him, ruffling her light brown feathers, looking increasingly nervous by the second. X walked behind the pair, with Void shuffling behind him. The Roc had magnificent deep purple feathers that were not unlike Xelquas. Grian often joked that the two could have been related, not that that was possible.

Grian huffed, wondering how long this would be. The questions were such surface-level nonsense there is no way anyone could have been selected with such little information. He felt sincerely sorry for the person who did end up being carted off the kingdom and trapped in the court for the rest of their lives. Grian could not think of anything worse. He was pulled out of his thoughts only to realize that the Prince had moved into the spot he had been staring at while he was thinking.

The prince looked over from his conversation with Xisuma to look straight at him. Grian's cheeks burned as he looked away quickly. Pearl snicked and elbowed him from his side. Grian, being the reasonable adult that he was, elbowed her back, which quickly dissolved into a silent mini-war of slaps and pokes. Pearl won when she delivered a particularly vicious jab to Grian’s ribs, making him double over with a hiss of pain. The conversation between X and the palace people came back into focus as the pain faded.

“It would be my honor to give you the grand tour of the aviary, Your Highness,” Grian cringed at the overly fancy voice X was putting on. He felt bad for the head falconer. Being practically their leader, the responsibility of dealing with royalty fell upon him and Void. But he reevaluated that statement when he saw a glint in X’s eyes that only meant trouble. “Actually, I think it would be better if Grian showed you around. He needs to go back to Xelqua’s stable anyway. The way there really displays the best parts of the aviary!” okay, Grian felt no sympathy for X at all.

“That sounds delightful! As long as it's not a bother,” the prince said in a horrifically cheerful voice. Grian wanted to be sick.

“I'm sure Grian doesn't mind. Do you, Grian?” X’s tone of voice left no room for argument

“No trouble at all,” Grian gritted his teeth.

He went to one of the entrance corridors and waited for the Prince to follow. He seemed to be trying to convince his guard to stay behind for the tour. Grian zoned out as the two babbled, thinking about where the goat Xelqua had dropped went. It wasn't on the roost floor anymore, so one of the rocs must have dragged it away. It was a shame that Xelqua wouldn't be able to enjoy their kill, but that's what happens when you get tangled in banners unexpectedly.

The world came back into focus when the prince joined Grian, smiling in success as it appeared he had convinced the guard to stay behind. It looked like the armor-clad figure was talking to Etho, the other awkwardly hunched over. The height difference between the two was almost comical.

“Is your name Xelqua or Grian?” the Prince blurted

“Excuse me?” taken aback, Grian stared at the Prince as if he had suddenly grown another head.

“I mean, every falconer's name had two parts, but Grian doesn't sound like much of a last name.”

“It's Grian,” He said stiffly and started walking away. The Prince seemed to want to say more but wisly left it at that. Silence had pressed down upon the pair that Grian led them down the winding hallways that gradually sloped down. The only break in the silence was when Grian tried to point out some of the important parts of the aviary. Prince Scar seemed to barely pay attention to Grian instead favoring staring at him openly. He seemed particularly interested in Grains exposed back where the Mark of Xelqua could be seen. When falconers could properly call their bonded into a mark, they would transfer to the final version of their uniform, which had an open back to proudly display their achievement. As they arrived at Xelqua's stable, Grian instinctually reached out with his magic to unlock the door as he had done millions of times.

“Wow!” Grian jumped at the unexpected noise. The prince had been so quiet during the walk that Grian had temporarily forgotten his presence. “Did you just open that door with your mind? That's amazing!”

“I didn't open the door with my mind’” Grian walked through the entrance as the prince followed closely behind him. “The locking mechanism was specifically made to recognize my magic signal. Once it scenes it, it unlocks on its own.”

“Huh,” the prince looked back at the door as if it had suddenly started glowing and granting wishes. “I understood none of that.” Grian just shrugged and turned his attention to the rest of the room. Every roost was specifically designed with a bonded pair in mind. The large main room was for the roc. Xelqua’s was a large space filled with different perches and all manner of toys. Attached to the stable was a tiny room where Grian slept.

“What is this room for?”

“This is me and my bonded’s room. You haven't been properly introduced to them yet.”

“Who a dond- bonded? Oh, wait! Is that your bird?”

“Well, Your Majesty Xelqua is not mine. If anything, a falconer belongs to their bond.”

“Ah- my apologies, I didn't know that! Oh, this is so embarrassing. None of the tutors I had ever had any clear information on the cha- or sorry Falconers. This is exactly the reason why this union is so important!”

“Is it really?” Grian leaned on one of the support beams of the room. “I mean, what will the roost get from this ‘great union’? It's not like we're struggling without any more of the kingdom's help or anything.”

“That is true, but how the citizens treat you all is unfair! You all do such wonderful work, but nobody ever gives you credit. Isn't that enough of a reason?”

“Hah, and whose fault is that?” Grian stalked over to The Prince, who appeared to be deflating. “Royalty has put down the aviary for centuries. Now you come alone and suddenly want to make peace? I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that whoever you choose will practically be your fiance, and as you've turned down every sutor that has tried your hand, you're running out of options. Am I getting warmer, orrrrr?”

“Oh goodness no!” The prince under Grian barrage had gotten visibly uncomfortable as it went on, “I just thought that-”

“Well, you thought wrong.” Grian felt his magic flickering around him and took a deep breath so he wouldn't do anything regrettable. “You can't just undo centuries of insults with promises of hand-holding and rainbows.” With that, Grian summoned Xelqua, who appeared on one of the nearest roosts and settled themselves with a few flaps of their wings. Xelqua turned their head so that one of their beady eyes stared down at the flustered prince. They Squaked, shuffling closer to the new thing that had entered their territory. Xelqua no doubt sensed the waves of anger flowing off of Grian and the moment puffing up their feathers, and their squawk turned into a hiss. “You should get out of here.” Grian moved between the two. “They have a bit of a temper.”

“Right,” The prince said stiffly, his tone emotionless. “Thank you for the tour, Falconer. I will take my leave now.” He carefully turned towards the door but looked back before closing it. “But I'll have you know that this was not my idea. I'm as trapped as you all are.” with that, The prince closed the door, and it was like he was never there.

Grian and Xelqua looked at each other. “That guy had no idea what he was doing,” Grian grumbled, and Xelqua gave a little chirrup at what Grian interpreted as agreement.

-

In the ensuing week, Giran did his best to avoid the Prince. Surprisingly, X had not given Grian any repercussions for missing the first day of the prince's arrival besides ‘the incident’ as he had dubbed it. Unless requested to attend a gathering, Grian spent most of his time in Xelquas stable or flying. Despite Grian's efforts to avoid the Prince, he seemed to be everywhere that Grian was. They didn't talk beyond the required pleasantries but even that had gotten more and more stranded as the week went on.

Grian, out of pure desperation, had offered to help Mumbo with his ancillary. Grumbot was a black hawk prone to misbehaving, but fiercely protective over Potato. A funny sight, the tiny bird trying to shield the towering roc, Potato being unusually tall even for a roc. When Grum was first given to Mumbo, the bird had been prone to viscous temper tantrums, with most days ending with Grian bandaging up all the cuts and scratches the bird inflicted on Mumbo. The Hawlk had eventually calmed down slightly over time but had still been prone to periods of misbehaving.

“I seriously don't know what he wants this time,” Mumbo said tiredly over the birds shrieking. They were in Potao’s stable as Grumbot refused to sleep in the ancillary section of the aviary.

“Maybe he's unhappy with our visitors,” Grian grumbled, fishing out a strip of jerky from his bag and throwing it to Grum, temporality silencing the bird's noise. Potato cooed in the corner carefully preening her right wing.

“No, that's not it. He hasn't been around them, but you seem more disturbed by them than most.”

“Realy?” Grian widened his eyes as Mumbo, in mock surprise, “The fact that the Prince of the Aqua kingdom and his gaud dog are here poking into our lives isn't disturbing?”

“I mean it is, but you do not have to be mean about it,” Mumbo wrinkled his nose. “and anyways, it's their last day here, and with how you performed, there no way you be chosen.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Grian rolled his eyes at Mumbo. “it's truly amazing how much you appreciate my abilities.” Mumbo gave him a weird look.

“You're talking like you want to be selected, mate.”

“What! I literally cannot think of anything worse! Why did this Prince decide that he wanted to ‘make peace’ with the aviary? We've been fine for years without contact with the kingdom.”

“True, I can't imagine talking to people from the royal court all day. But you should be careful about where you talk like that,” Mumbo winced as Grum finished the jerky and continued his shrinking fit. So, food was off the table. Perhaps he wanted to go flying? “Imagen, if the Prince overhead you say something like that. It would be a disaster!” Mumbo let out a tiny laugh at the idea, and Grian awkwardly looked away.

“Yeah, that would be . . . terrible.” Mumbo looked over sharply at Grian's tone of voice and sighed, seeing Grian's guilty expression.

“Grian, what did you do?”

“I uh . . . mabeylostitandyelledattheprincewhenIgavehimeatour”

“What!”

“It wasn't my fault! He was being weird.”

“Grian!” Mumbo dragged his hand down his face. “that's so bad! What if he decides to cut all funding to the aviary? We could lose everything!” As much as the falconers liked to think they were independent of the kingdom, in actuality, they wouldn't have been able to care for the aviary without the kingdom's funding. Centuries ago, the first king of Aqua town and the local falconers had agreed that they would hunt the dangers of the land in exchange for funding.

Over years of disagreements, that document was the only thing stopping the falconers from leaving and the kingdom from attacking them. It was a symbiotic relationship made in hell. Without the falconer's help, the kingdom would be plagued by vicious monster attacks. Without the kingdom, the falconers would have to relocate. The mountains were beautiful, but the cost of travel and upkeep from the harsh conditions would have driven them out centuries ago.

Pearl burst into the room before Grian could Fabricate a reasonable explanation for Mumbo.

“GUYS, you would not believe the news!” she exclaimed with her eyes glinting wickedly. Potato jerked her head up with the noise but went back to preening when she saw it was Pearl.

“What?” Mumbo still looks disgusted after Grian's admission of guilt. But he looked over as Grum stopped shrinking. Once again, what had calmed the bird down was a mystery.

“The castle people just departed, and the Prince chose the console before he left.”

“What, really? We weren't even there!” Mumbo looked slightly offended

“I know very sad for you, but guess who he chose!”

“Who,” Grian said, only half paying attention

“You won't believe me.”

“I think I really will. Is it X?”

“You really, really won't believe me.”

“Pearl, just tell us.”

“Well,” Pearl giggled, hiding the lower half of her face with her hand, “well how can I say this. . . he chose you.”

“Excuse me? Grain's neck cracked with how quickly he looked at Pearl. “That isn't funny, Pearl. Who is it.”

“I'm not joking, plain as day Xelqua Grian! He even got your name order correct. That never happens with the kingdom folk.”

A deep, bottomless, dark pit seemed to open in Grian's stomach. What. The. fuc-

“Well mate,” Mumbo looked over at Grian sympathetically as if he had just been diagnosed with a deadly illness “that's, uh . . . that's something,” Gian groaned into his hands.

Certainly, something indeed.

Chapter Text

“All ready to go, Griba?” Pearl's voice called from outside the door.

“Uhh,” Grian looked around his room from where most of his items had been scattered throughout the space. “Yah?”

“Hum,” for her tone of voice, she didn't seem convinced. “Well, you need to be ready to go in a half hour. We've already been waiting for a while, and Doc is getting impatient.” Her voice ebbed away towards the end of the halfway, and footsteps followed.

Grian sighed and started aimlessly shoving items into his shulker. He was glad he had finally gotten around to enchanting the thing. It would have been a nightmare if he had had to transport all his stuff without it.

The box was designed to hold things that should never have been able to fit in it. It's just he never thought he would need one. He had been living at the aviary for a long time and had always intended to stay for well . . . forever.

And now he probably wouldn't see it again for a while, if ever.

Grian looked over as Xelqua let out a little chirp.

“I know, bud.” Grian patted Xelqua on the beak and the roc cood.

Grian slung the sulker over his back, but Xelqua hissed and grabbed an item off the floor before shoving it into his hands.

“Oh, you want to bring Maui?” The little cat plush was Xelqua’s favorite toy, and it would make sense that they would want to bring it.

Grian didn't think Xelqua knew what was happening, but usually, Grian packing meant they were visiting one of the other Aviarys. Grian stashed away the cat again, thanking the sky for the bag.

He whistled to get Prof. Beak's attention, and the falcon flapped over to land on the cuff on Grian's shoulder. He Grabbed Xelqua's reigns, and the bird strode along beside him as the pair traveled through the aviary to the roost. T

hey stopped many times throughout their journey to be wished farewell and beyond. Finally, the pair reached the main entrance to see a group waiting for him. Mambo, Pearl, Potato, and Tilly would accompany him to the palace as per tradition, but several others were waiting for his send-off.

The group had a melancholy feel, and each individual stared off into space. Looking over, Mumbo gave a small wave. Grian could see Pearl talking to Gem in the corner, probably saying goodbye. They were both on the guard together, so Gem would probably have more work while Pearl was absent.

“Well, Grian,” X kindly patted him on the shoulder. “We hope to see you soon and that the palace treats you well.”

“Thanks, X. I'm hopeful if all goes well, I'll be back before you all know it.” Grians smile felt slightly forced.

“Remember to bring me something from the palace,” Zed said excitedly. Then, Probably remembering the somber mood added, “Well, all miss you Very much!”

Doc huffed from the corner, “As if, with you gone, I'm going to get the best rest I've had in years.” Despite his harsh words, the glint in his eyes betrayed that he would miss Grian. “I don't think I can deal with your pranks for a second longer.”

Goat gave a little squawk from beside him, no doubt recognizing the words Grian and pranks so close together always meant trouble.

“Awww, Doc, you do care,” Grian teased as the other rolled his eyes.

“That's all I wanted to stay, but here, before you go, have this.” Doc tossed a tiny object to Grian, and he caught it awkwardly.

“What's this?” Grian looked down at the thing. It appeared to be a tiny vial attached to a woven bracelet. Inside the glass was a stage sparkly liquid? Sand? It was hard to tell. It all looked well-made.

“It's a one-time teleportation spell. Crush that vial, and you and anyone you touch will be transported to a safe location. Don't use it unless you have to. I haven't worked out where exactly you'll come out. Every time I've tested it, it has been a new place.” And with that, Doc and Goat disappeared down one of the side tunnels, probably going back to testing dangerous chemicals on themselves.

Grian clipped the bracelet on, and Xelqua started poking at it with their beak.

“Well,” X was looking after Doc with a strange expression on his face, “I’m going to have a talk with him about that, but I wish you well. May the wings of stars guide your path.” then X and Zoid were gone as well. Grian stared after them, wishing he could join them.

Etho then awkwardly handed Grian a sealed letter. “And uh- Grian, if you run into Bdubs, could you give this to him? When he left, he said he'd write. I don't think he realized we don't get palace mail.” Grian took the letter, smirking slightly.

“Etho! I would never have expected you to be into the fancy bodyguard!”

“I'm uh- I'm going to go now,” Etho left quickly. Grian was only slightly remorseful that his last interaction with someone from the roost embarrassed Etho, but you pick your battles.

Grian hoisted himself onto Xelqua, and Beak took off, flying up and out of the arena. “Hey, Mumbo, you have the map, right.”

“Ah yes,” Mumbo grabbed a ridiculously large map from his pack. “X gave it to me before you got here. I tried to look over our path, but honestly, this thing is so outdated I'm not sure that any of this will be the same.”

“I'm sure it's finneee,” Pearl said in a sing-song voice, “and on the bright side if we get lost, we can just skip the whole thing.”

“I don't think that's how that works.” Mumbo clipped the map onto the attachment on the saddle. Grian was glad the four were joining him on the first part of the journey.

“Ready?” Pearl asked

Grian looked around at the roost, he was already missing it, and he hadn't even left.

‘Yeah, let's go.” Mumbo nodded, and Potato took off, then Tilly and Pearl, and finally Xelqua and Grian. They spiraled up and out of the roost and, following Mumbo, started flapping their way in the possible direction of the palace.

Xelqua shifted around, ruffling their feathers as they adjusted to the added weight of the shulker box and several smaller items that Grian had carefully secured around the Roc in the morning. Grian could see that Potato and Tilly were adjusting, Tilly looking especially grumpy.

Peal had somehow deemed it necessary to bring almost every weapon she owned, making the roc look like a strange glittering arsenal. Grian sighed, leading back in the saddle. This would be a long trip. He trusted that Xelqua would follow Potato, and he was already exhausted.

-

The next couple of hours were spent in relative silence.

The one problem with flying in groups was the wind made it basically impossible for a conversation. Each person did have a clicker to relay more messages for emergence, but it wasn't the best for a conversation.

Grian had a long time to think about the fact he was currently flying towards his doom. Mumbo sent out a message to land when the sun was just beginning to set.

The group landed in an open field and set up a small camp. While the Rocs went off hunting, the humans started a campfire. The field had turned bitingly cold, and the warmth was much appreciated.

“So how much longer do you think to the palace, Mumbo?” Pearl poked a sick into the empires of the fire.

“Uhh, if I had to guess, well, arrive tomorrow,” Mumbo said, squinting down at the map. “We should be on time if everything goes well.” Grian sighed, staring into the dancing fire. Although he didn't wish they had gotten lost, he had hoped for some sort of delay.

“That's good, I guess.” Pearl started rummaging around in one of her boxes, pulling out several cooking utensils and a copper pot.

Grian helped her set up a platform for the pot to go over the fire, and by then, the rocs had returned. Tilly had somehow managed to catch a whole deer in the short time the birds had been gone.

Grian didn't even realize that Deer had been in this area this time of year. Xelqua dropped two hairs near the group and hopped over to Tilly from where she was currently tearing apart the deer.

“Aww, mate,” Grian looked to where Potato was trying to give Mumbo a relatively small mouse. “Thank you.” He accepted the mouse and Potato, looking very proud of herself, and went to join the other two rocs.

“You know we can't eat that, right?” Grian said, gesturing to the mouse in Mumbo's hand.

“I know, but she looked so proud” Mumbo walked off into the forest to bury the mouse while Potato's back was turned.

Soon, they were cooking the rabbit in the pot with some broth and herbs they had brought. By now, the Ancillarys had joined the Rocs for their meal. Grumbot was trying to force his way between the Roc's sharp beaks meanwhile, nugget and Beak held back, waiting for the larger birds to finish.

“This is so crazy,” Pearl said as she took her portion from the pan. “I mean, you're going to live in the palace.”

“Don't remind me,” Grian grumbled, shoving a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

“Sorry, but come on, what else are we going to talk about, the trees?” Pearl gestured around to the nearby forest.

“Trees can be cool,” He mumbles.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” Mumbo gestured with the map at Grian. He sighed and swallowed the soup.

“I mean, what is there to say really?” Grian stared down at the bowl in his lap.

“You can make a difference with the palace now,” Mumbo stated helpfully. “Granted, of course, you don’t yell at the prince again.”

“You what?” Pearl's eyes got comically wide

“Yes, and it's probably going to happen again. The man is a complete idiot.”

“He's kind of attractive, right?”

“Wha- Pearl, why?” Grian spluttered, his face burning (definitively only because of the cold), while Pearl's grin only widened. Why was he hot suddenly? Hedent, the wind been picking up? Mumbo was glancing between the two like he was spectating a game of catch.

“I mean, he's not my type, but he seems totally like some of the people that you-”

“NOPE! Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!” Grian stood hastily, pointing at Pearl, “Cutting you off right there! He's the worst, not my type, and you're also the worst.” He nearly tripped on a stick in his haste to escape Pearl and quickly started walking toward the tents they had pitched earlier.

Glancing back, he saw that the Rocs had formed a little huddle for warmth, their feather all puffed out. With the assurance that Xelqua was fine for the night, Grian laid down in his tent, the walls doing little to block out Pearl's laughter that had not stopped since he left.

She was so wrong. The prince was definitely not his type. I mean, he supposed that the prince was objectively attractive. He was certainly more sophisticated than anyone at the aviary, all shiny and such. Grian turned around so his head rested on his arm. But suiting down his train of thought, that was just Pearl planting seeds in his head.

Yes, that was it. Soon, the campfire's light went out, and Grian slowly drifted off to sleep.

-
In the morning, the three humans packed up the camp for a while, complaining about how cold it was. They had a quick breakfast and took off soon after.

The journey did prove to be longer than Mumbo's prediction. On the third day, they started to see some of the smaller villages surrounding the kingdom, and on the fourth, they were in view of the palace.

Grian was already uncomfortable with the people, far below on the ground, who would point up to them, their voices rising as they passed. If it was this bad when they were in the sky, he couldn't imagine what it would be like when they landed. They circled the palace, looking for a spot to land.

Grian got a good view of the structure. He could appreciate the architecture, but the whole building was horrifically oppressive. As Xelqua dove between an arch, Grian noticed that the entire palace seemed to scream, ‘You are the tiniest fly, and we will squash you without a thought.’

It didn't make Grian feel good at all. Looking down, He noticed a green square in the middle of the building.

There were several large, almost cartoony arrows pointing to the field. Grian sighed and pointed Xelqua down so they could see where to land. Xelqua flapped and landed, tearing the perfectly manicured grass with their falcons. Potato and Tilly landed to the side of them, leading to more grass murder.

Grian slid off of Xelqua, landing awkwardly, and started to shake the feeling back into his limbs. He was about to walk over to the others several guards walked through one of the large wood doors.

The Falconers automatically arranged themselves in their typical semi-circle pattern, but how the guards circled them made it slightly awkward. A guard with long blond hair walked forward to Grian while the rest hung back slightly, muttering to themselves.

“Greetings, falconers.” The woman smiled, and her teeth flashed. “I'm Captain False. I'm here to escort you to the Prince.” She stuck her arm out in front of Grian, and he stared at her offered hand for a while, confused.

He vaguely remembered the Pince and guard doing a strange greeting with X, where they joined hands and waved them up and down. After an awkwardly long pause, Grian ripped False's hand, and they shook.

“Er- Greeting Capten False, I'm Zelqua Grian, and this is my . . . escort Potato Mumbo and Tilly Pearl.” He quickly let go of Falses's hand. Pearl elbowed him, and he hissed.

“Right.” False looked a bit disgruntled with the interaction. “Before we proceed, could you call your birds into their dormant form?”

“Is that necessary?” Pearl butted in, not even trying to disguise the annoyance in her voice.

“Yes, while the original palace might have been built with roc accommodations in mind, everything made in the last couple of centuries was not. Your birds will not fit down most of the passages.”

Ah, that was . . . annoying. But the others were nodding, even though not looking too happy themselves, so Grian got to take off all of Xelqua's gear. When the Rocs, for a short period, could live in their dormant form with their saddle and other attachments, after a while, the bond would get confused.

This would result in the roc and attachment getting melded together. It was messy and sometimes could kill the roc. As Grian undid the various buckles and clips that kept him from falling off Xelqua mid-air, one of the guards started over to Pearl. Looking over, it seemed they were trying to help Pearl with Tilly. The Ric hissed as the person came closer, and Pearl waved them off with a slight frown of annoyance.

Xelqua clicked their beak, puffing up the feather along their neck.

“Sorry, Xel.” Grian looked up at their head. “You need to take a nap for a bit. That alright?” Xelqua eyed the guard around them but closed their eyes as Grian tugged more on the bond and disappeared.

Grian sighed, already missing the roc. He wasn't sure when he would see his bonded again.

“Right then,” Grian turned towards the guards again. “Lead us to the prince.”