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Martyn woke up with a gasp, the memory of freezing cold water rushing into his lungs at the forefront of his mind.
He was named a traitor on his Father’s ship, and tossed over board at the mercy of the waves.
Martyn didn’t know how to swim so he sank near instantly. But his mind couldn’t focus on his own survival- no he had two much smaller life forms that were sinking with him…
Sinking because of him….
The young pirate remembered the limp forms of the two fairies before him.
He killed them.
Sentenced them to death along side him with his recklessness.
He doomed then from the start.
Desperate for more air in his lungs Martyn clawed at his chest- heaving heavily as he struggled to discern where he was.
It was too light,
But he was so cold,
He had air
But couldn’t get enough,
He couldn’t see the fairies anymore
He couldn’t see at all.
The last memory had wrung out like a wet sponge-
Muddle and soggy.
But still there.
In his final desperate moments.
Martyn called out-
He prayed to any deity willing to listen
Save them… please…
His irrational mind still fixated on saving the lives of the two fairies he was dragging down into the depths with.
And then….
Something miraculous happened.
Martyn had called out…. And the ocean replied…
Light and air flooded the Pirate’s Senses properly now and he slowly took in his surroundings.
He… was in a room decorated in mother of Pearl and coral.
There were water features running along almost every wall and the light he saw emanated from soft blue orbs that looked like pearls.
But all of that came secondary to the woman in front of him.
She was beautiful by definition, soft pink hair and light blue skin.
Her features were delicate and ethereal whilst her Elaborate dress seemed to ripple with an invisible current of water Martyn couldn’t perceive.
“Are you back with us again Little wood?” Her voice was soft and kind and it reminded Martyn fondly of a time his mother spoke to him in such a way.
Although he words did cause his train of thought to stutter “huh-??”
The woman smiled gently “I’ll take that as a yes, you woke up and had a panic attack right away. Quite the excitement for someone in a coma for so long.”
Once again Martyn blinked at the woman like she was speaking another language, before finally snapping back to himself.
“What are you talking-… where am I??? Who the hell are you?! And what in the bloody hell do you mean Coma?!!”
The woman quietly laughed to herself before realizing the Young Pirate wasn’t laughing with her,
“Oh, you’re serious- my apologies humans are difficult for me to read sometimes aside from my own husband.”
Martyn just stared at her in reply,
“Well first off, my name is Lizzy, or more formally known as the queen of the ocean, or ocean goddess if you want to get technical.”
It clicked then for Martyn right then and there-
“You answered my prayer…”
Lizzy smiled “that I did.”
“Does that mean… the fairies are they-?”
“Safe and sound, Jimmy has been quite egar for you to wake up so he can thank you in person Little Wood-“
Annnnnddd the confusion was back-
“Who’s Jimmy? And why do you keep calling me little wood, my Name is Martyn- is that supposed to be an insult or-“
Lizzy giggled “no no, little wood is just the nickname Jimmy has been calling you, but I think he will be pleased to learn your given name.”
Martyn’s processed the information slowly before asking again, “who’s Jimmy??”
“Oh! Right silly me- Jimmy is the canary Hybird you rescued, Grian is the Parrot incase you were curious- you called them Fairies before and while not completely incorrect they are more closely related to birds than the fey.”
This woman-
Martyn would swear she was going to give him mental whiplash from providing to little information to all of a sudden to much!
But he supposed it was handy information to know what the fairies names were.
Even if it was to settle his own curiosity.
“So…. … a coma?” Martyn asked hesitantly, dreading the answer to this question the most. “How long was I out for?”
Lizzy hummed softly as if trying to recall for herself before answering “over 6 months now I believe, so not very long.”
Martyn felt his jaw drop. “6…… 6 months….. that’s…. That’s half a year… I slept for over 6 months…”
“Oh…. Is that longer for mortal lives? I alway feel like I lose track so easily.”
Martyn fell into a state of silent shock.
6 months…. He couldn’t imagine being unconscious that long, not eating or drinking-
Not to mention his father definitely believed him to be dead by now.
Suddenly there was a tight pinch in his stomach making itself all too well known and a dry scratch in his throat begging for even a single drop of water.
Lizzy seemingly picked up on this and offered her hand out to the young human. “It’s almost lunch time, if you care to join us- the ocean kingdom has some of the finest chefs.”
Martyn took the goddess’ hand and she helped him stand shakily to his feet.
His muscles felt weak and nonexistent, if it wasn’t for the woman who Martyn’s just now realized was quite a bit taller than him.
(She had to be what- like 6’6? 6’8? maybe somewhere inbtween that?)
He would have surly collapsed to the floor instantly.
But with her Help Martyn managed to walk beside the ocean queen as she led him out of his unfamiliar quarters to a massive dinning hall. With a dinning table at least thirty feet in length and 20 feet off the ground
Something definitely fit for the royalty of a goddess.
Before Martyn could even think about sitting down at such an Impossible table he heard a familiar whistle.
And a dart of yellow feathers flashed past Martyn’s eyes before circling back around to hover shakily in front of him.
Is was the canary Fairy- or Jimmy was his name.
Without needing much thought behind it Martyn held out his hand and Jimmy landed on it seemingly in out of breath-
The first thing Martyn noticed tho was how much healthier his wing was looking, the last the pirate had seen it was broken in two separate places and it was doubtful that his poor attempt at a splint was going to help it heal right.
But 6 months seemed like plenty of time for the fairy to fully recovery and take back to the air once again.
Having caught his breath the small Canary Hybird Chirped and whistled excitedly in a langue Martyn had no hope in understanding.
But still he smiled as Lizzy laughed next to him.
“Slow down Jimmy, you don’t want to info dump to much information Little Wood.”
Jimmy chirped in reply before it clicked for Martyn.
“You can understand him???”
Now it was finally Lizzy’s turn to slowly blink at Martyn, “you can’t?”
Martyn shook his head “they sound like song birds to me.”
“Oh… well let’s fix that shall we?” Lizzy snapped her fingers together and a flurry of pink and blue sparks shot off, indicating magic was just used.
“What was that for Liz?” Asked a small voice and instantly Martyn jumped slightly.
“Whoa!”
Martyn looked back to his palm where Jimmy had been knocked off his feet by The Pirate’s flinch and was now in the processing of getting up once again.
“I… I just understood that-“ Martyn said, mildly stunned
Now it was Jimmy’s turn to freeze and look at Martyn before laughing and pointing at him excitedly.
“And I just understood you!”
Something close to relief and pure joy released in Martyn’s chest and he couldn’t help but join the fairy in laughter.
Jimmy fluffed his wings up, like a bird getting rest to roost for the night before speaking again, “I really am happy to see you awake Little Wood, I was really worried I wouldn’t get to say thank you…. For everything you did for me and my brother-“
Martyn chuffed another laugh at the nickname before sincerely nodding, “I’d do the same thing over in a heartbeat…. It wouldn’t sit right with me.”
“I don’t think that makes you a very good pirate-“
“Sure it can,” Martyn gasped, trying to infuse his tone with enough mock offence to get across the joke to Jimmy, “every man needs a code and every Pirate is no better…. It just turns out my code draws the line at hurting fairies.”
Jimmy smiled before tilting his head to the side.
“Fairies? Is that what you call us?”
Martyn flushed and if he had a free hand that wasn’t either helping support his weight or holding a fair he wouldn’t rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment-
“Eh… yeah… that’s what m’P-… m’Captain told me at least, so it’s what I’ve been calling ya.”
Jimmy just smiled wider “well I like it, Fairy sound nicer than Avian-“
Martyn returned the smile before Lizzy gently cleared her throat.
“I hate to interrupt your reunion but I think it’s best Martyn gets to sit down, is Grian still at the kitchen table?”
Jimmy seemed to buffer for a second “Mar-tyn?” He looked to Lizzy, then to Martyn, then back to Lizzy before lighting up and Looking back to Martyn,
“that’s your name isn’t! Sorry I went ahead and gave you another, Grian told me not too, that you weren’t a lost pupp, but I didn’t know what else to call you and- oh! Grian’s my brother by the way, the Parrot Fairy- he’s a little grumpy at times but super nice.”
Martyn just laughed softly “it’s okay Jim, Lizzy filled me in, for the most part- I don’t mind the nickname if you like… I mean…. For you it’s been a while of not knowing my name… if could be tricky to switch-“
That was the selfish part of Martyn speaking, part of him wanted to leave his family name and given name behind and trade it for the nickname.
But he also knew he couldn’t abandon it completely.
Names did mean power after all, and they weren’t something to be traded on a whim
Jimmy smiled before Lizzy hummed getting both their attention again.
“Before you two get distracted again, Jimmy is Grian still at the kitchen table or no?”
“Oh! Right, yeah he’s still there-“
“Very good, alright you can continue your conversation there- Little Wood here needs to get some food in his system after so long-“
Jimmy chirped happily “sure! I’ll lead the way-“
With that he took to the air once again darting away from the giant dinning hall and table, into another side exiting door that smelled incredible.
And Martyn couldn’t wait.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Grian had woken up before his brother after they had been chucked into the sea because of the pirate.
Originally Grian had tried to fight and swim to the surface with Jimmy is tow, but the heavy cloth of Little Wood’s cloak was impossible to move on his own and he quickly lost consciousness.
Grian hadn’t expected to wake up somewhere warm and light after hitting the ice cold ocean.
And then he met Lizzy the ocean Queen and learned what had happened.
The Human sent out a prayer in his final moments, asking anyone to save the two hybrids, Before he lost consciousness as well.
Lizzy had been close by and decided to spare them all.
Little wood included.
Lizzy also explained how he had only been unconscious for a week. Which was to be expected since he wasn’t previously injured.
It took only another week for Jimmy to wake up-
Lizzy had healed his wing with magic to help his recovery time and when his little brother finally woke up Grian couldn’t up but cling to him with all his might.
Right then and there Grian was fine with leaving this place.
Lizzy had told him she could take them to the surface on the night of a full moon.
And Grian was itching to see the sky again.
But upon hearing thing Jimmy had refused.
“What do you mean Tim?! We can leave- go back home, see Papa K, don’t you miss them all?”
“Of course I do Gri but…. We can’t just leave Little Wood… he saved our lives.. Multiple times! We can’t leave him to wake up alone-“
“You can’t be serious.”
“But I am- if I had woken up in a place like this without you here I’d be way more scared.”
“He doesn’t even know us Timmy! He helped on a whim, who’s to say he wasn’t planing on flipping us to profit himself-“
“He made a split for my wing-“
“Damaged goods don’t sell as well, he’s still a pirate at the end of the day Timmy, we should leave while we can!”
Jimmy opened his mouth to argue before Lizzy interrupted.
“If I may interject, I have seen into that pirates heart through his prayer- and I can assure you there is nothing but sincerity behind his words.”
“See!” Jimmy said defiantly “I’m waiting until Little Wood is awake- then we can leave.”
Grian could only scowl because he saw the stubbornness that ran in their family settle firmly over his younger brother.
“Fine.” Grian grit out- “but once he’s awake we’re leaving, got it?”
Jimmy nodded
And little did Grian know that they were in it for the long haul.
after a month Grian regretted not fighting back harder.
After two months he thought he was going insane,
After three months Jimmy invited Grian to visit Little wood with him more often. But he refused
After four months, Grian went and visited Little Wood alone, primarily to curse him out for keeping them trapped here. And partially to satisfy is own curiosity
After five months Grian continued to visit, just to rant about something annoying Lizzy and Jimmy had been up to- to the unconscious sailor, And strangely he felt better afterwards.
And after six months?
Well that’s when Little wood finally woke up.
Grian had heard the news and part of him was elated, they could finally leave and the full moon was just in three days!
But another very small part of Grian mourned the loss of his time chatting with Little Wood, even if he was unconscious.
And then Grian saw him.
Jimmy had flown into the kitchen, returning after darting off, with that stupid grin on his face.
And moments later Lizzy came up holding up a very weak looking Little Wood.
The ocean queen ordered food for him and water whilst helping him sit in a chair across the table from Grian, Who was just trying to enjoy his sweets.
Jimmy and Little Wood chatted and Grian Quickly pieced together that Lizzy must’ve used magic to solve the language barrier momentarily. Of course it was just between Jimmy and Little Wood, the Human’s language still sounding like mashed syllables to Gri.
The Parrot hybird figured he’d let his little brother chat away while he quietly watched.
After all Little Wood was in no way ready to travel, and they were leaving next full moon.
Or they could wait until he healed as well.
Wait- who said that?
Grian looked around confused before realizing it was his own subconscious.
Quitely cursing himself Grian stood and excused himself before flying off.
He couldn’t have gotten attached, not to this human, Not to this pirate.
Grian proceeded to avoid the lot of them for the rest of the day, instead choosing to settle into his and Jimmy’s shared nest and pick through his wings, cleaning out dust and bits of coral that got stuck between his feathers.
It wasn’t until near midnight that Lizzy brought Jimmy back into the room, the Canary soundly asleep in her palm.
“Tuckered himself out I take it?” Grian asked gently as he retrieved his baby brother from the Goddess’ hand and got him situated in their nest.
“Mhm- poor thing fell asleep in Martyn’s hair after supper. He was doing his best to stay awake though to keep talking to him.”
“Martyn-? Oh… the human?”
“That’s right-“
“He still has time to talk to him before we leave…”
“Is that right?” Lizzy asked with a knowing smile gently resting on her lips.
“Yeah…. … we waited for Little wood so he wouldn’t be alone… but… we need to leave now….”
“Such a shame- I don’t think Martyn will be fit to travel by the next moon-“
Grian just nodded before brushing a few strands of hair out of Jimmy’s face.
“We never planned on sticking with him in the long run…. Jimmy knew that..”
“Oh! Yes it will also be quite sad for Jimmy, but I meant for Little Wood.”
“Huh?”
Lizzy hummed solemnly as she brought a hand up to her temple, “if I can remember correctly Martyn has no one to return too- once he leaves this place he’ll be a wanderer, after all he betrayed his crew in order to save you and your brother.
He’s likely going to live a very solitary existence for a while.”
Grian’s nose scrunched “I know what your doing Lizzy”
“Hm? I’m not doing anything but informing you how this will play out. I figured your curiosity would want to know.”
“I’m fine- thanks Lizzy-“
The goddess simply smiled before retreating back to the door, “any who- good night Grian-“
“Night Lizzy.”
The Parrot inwardly sighed, he could see through Lizzy’s ploy right away, she wanted him to sympathize with Little Wood, and wait a little longer till he was strong enough to travel once again.
But Grian didn’t trust him!
But he wanted to…
Shut up!!
No.
No! He didn’t want anything to do with this Human! He wanted to leave with his brother and go back home!
But what if he’s like Skizz?
His subconscious questioned and it froze something in Grian’s core.
Skizz was the only Human Grian Trusted, the man acted like an older brother to Grian and Jimmy during their time with Papa K-
But Skizz was also a special case.
Papa K raised him ever since he got lost in the fey wild
That had to be the reason Skizz was so nice to them.
It must!
Little wood was nice too..
Grian winced as he realized Lizzy’s plan had partially worked.
Grian couldn’t leave now.
Not without definite answers.
Carefully as to not disturb Jimmy, Grian took off into the air and flew off to confront Little Wood face to Face.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Martyn’s got the strong feeling Jimmy’s brother still didn’t like him.
Granted their first meeting had been… less than ideal and the parrot Fariy had very nearly clawed his eye out.
If it hadn’t been for Lizzy’s healing he probably would have lost that eye permanently due to infection.
And then at Lunch Grian said nothing to even acknowledge Martyn’s presence, choosing to remain glowering at the other side of the table before chirping in frustration and flying off.
Jimmy had tried to reassure Martyn that Grian just needed time to warm up to him but the Pirate felt differently about it.
He don’t think about the Parrot Hybird much more after than though, instead focusing of talking with Jimmy and eating the delicious food Lizzy had ordered for him.
And the more he talked with the Canary Fairy the more a foreign warmth seeped into his chest.
It felt eerily like the belonging he once felt on his father’s ship. But that didn’t turn out good.
So as he sat and chatted with Lizzy and Jimmy the more Martyn began to doubt if they would turn on him too-
Once he lost his novelty-
They’d throw him out too.
Martyn tried to push the unpleasant feeling away, but still it lingered.
Then before the pirate knew it, they all had supper together, Jimmy perched on his head before promptly falling asleep there, and Lizzy had to whisk him away to bed.
Martyn wished them a goodnight before heading back to the room he had originally woken up in.
He foolishly hoped the silence would let him sort out his thoughts peacefully.
But that’s not how this worked-
He should have known.
Instead as soon as Martyn sat down on the single bed, he tucked his legs up to his chest and let out a shuddering breath.
He couldn’t show his vulnerabilities to anyone, otherwise they’d pick at them and tear him apart like vultures.
That’s what he’s learned over the years on a pirate ship.
Any softness, any tears- are only weapons for your enemies.
But once he was alone he couldn’t help but have it all bubble over-
So much changed so quickly, so much he felt like he had no control over.
Sure this all started because he had helped the fairies.
But ever since that decision it’s like his life had snowballed down hill and he couldn’t change course anymore.
He was doomed to his inevitable fate-
To be thrown out.
To be useless.
A burden.
Despite his best efforts to stop himself, a strangled sob still escaped Martyn’s lips.
And immediately he curled into himself further hiding in shame and weakness.
A sudden Chirp snapped Martyn back to his senses faster than a bucket of cold water could.
As he sharply looked around the room for the source of the noise.
Eventually his eyes landed on the Parrot Hybird standing at the edge of his bed.
He looked just as akward as Martyn suddenly felt.
“So… how long have you been standing there exactly-?”
The Parrot scrunched his nose in confusion before letting out a string of chirps that judging by tone alone Martyn would guess were curses??
But he could be wrong.
Hold on…
He couldn’t understand the Parrot?
And then it clicked for him also. “Oh… I guess Lizzy only made it so Jimmy and I could talk huh…”
Grian Chirped something in reply, it sounded exasperated though so he assumed they were both on the same page.
Then… silence… awkward and long and neither person really knew how to approach the other.
Martyn tried to subtly wipe the tears away from his cheeks, but Grian watched his every movement like at any moment the Pirate would strike out and make a move for him.
Such a moment never happened.
After a few more painful moments of silence Martyn huffed in frustration. “Did you need something from me? Or are you just here to make sure I behave-“
He knew he wouldn’t get an answer he could understand, but what else was he supposed to do?
Grian’s multicoloured wings fluffed up defensively as he scowled at the human’s tone, before stringing together a series of chirps and whistles in reply.
Martyn clearly couldn’t understand it so instead he chose to bury his face between his arms and knees- “in that case can you just… … leave me be… … I don’t have the energy anymore…”
Grian was silent for a moment before softly chirping and the sound of him taking to the air sounded in the room.
Martyn thought that was it, that the Parrot had left him alone.
That was before he felt a small weight land on his knee, causing him to look up sharply to find the little fairy looking at Martyn with a much gentler expression than the Pirate had been expected.
He softly cooed and chirped in a tone that Martyn guessed was a form of understanding.
Slowly the human relaxed, nodding in agreement with whatever the parrot was saying.
“Thanks mate… I think…”
Slowly Martyn lowered him head once again, as his thoughts overwhelmed him, because who was he kidding??
Grian didn’t like him in the first place, why would he be reassuring to him now???
If anything this was probably his attempt to break the news easy to Martyn.
After all he can’t be upset if he didn’t know what was being said.
‘Jimmy told me just how incompetent you really are so we’re sending you back to the human realm.”
Or
‘Lizzy is sick of supporting you for all this time- and she’s kicking you out- good luck bud.’
Another traitorous shuddering breath broke free before Martyn could bite his tongue and shut himself up.
Don’t show any more weakness.
Don’t give the enemy any more weapons to use against him.
There’s a gentle pull at his hair, right abouts where Grian was settled next to.
And Martyn realized it was an attempted gesture of reassurance, or maybe it was pity.
But Grian was brushing through his hair.
And Martyn lost all control over his breathing-
If this was a ploy to get him to break-
It worked.
After all the human was reduced into a puddle of dread and heartache.
But even through his sobs Grian continued to work through his hair until eventually, sleep pulls Martyn under its waves.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Grian was too dam attached.
Who would have guessed it’s- (besides Lizzy, Jimmy and any other ethereal onlookers 👀)
But upon finding Little Wood curled up barely keeping himself together Grian no longer saw a human pirate.
But a little kid who got lost in the human realm.
Someone who got chewed up and spat out more broken and hurt than any child should be.
Just like Skizz…
Of course he couldn’t FREAKING Tell Little Wood this! Because Lizzy only enchanted him and Jimmy to understand each other, and Grian was left out only able to try and convey his message through tone and emphasis.
But that didn’t do much good either as Little Wood grew more despondent and sorrowful looking the More Grian tried to Reassure him.
So all and all this whole thing went as poorly as it could.
Curse you Lizzy and your short sightedness
The only positive Grian managed was when he started to preen the Human’s hair.
The motion seemed to break through the despondency and soon Little Wood was hiccuping through sobs and wobbly breaths.
Grian cooed, and softly sang to the human, whilst continuing to preen his hair.
And eventually he lulled Little Wood into sleep.
The human’s every muscle went slack and he tilted sideways before falling to the bed below him.
Grian had to fly in order to not go down with the human but once he was lying down Grian grabbed the corner of his blanket and did his best to pull it over Little Wood.
Then he heard a voice clear her throat from the door way.
“So-… are you still planing on leaving on the full moon?”
Grian looked back to find Lizzy looking smug as ever that her little plan had worked, and Grian huffed his frustrations.
“No…. We’re taking Little Wood with us… he’s ours now…”
“Oh really now? You sound more like your father in the fey realm than a simple Parrot Avian-“
Grian Ignored the comment before landing next to the Human’s face and brushing a few rebel strands of hair out of his face.
Just like he would with Jimmy.
“There’s nothing wrong with adopting another brother-… I’ve done it once before….”
Lizzy hummed, still very pleased with herself.
“Although an enchantment to help us ALL understand each other would be appreciated…”
“Oh did I forget to do that?”
“Yes.”
“My bad- whoopsies.”
“Yeah yeah, but can you-“
Without another word Lizzy snapped her fingers and sparks of magic went flying off-
“There- all done.”
Grian sighed, before turning his attention back to Little Wood.
“I know you can’t hear me now… but… I need to tell you was I was trying to before….
Thank you Little Wood… for everything… you saved our lives…. And now I’ll make sure we save yours too…..”
With that Grian departed from the human, and he could almost believe he saw the giants face slacken in relief.
He said his good nights to the team ocean goddess once again, before returned to his Nest with Jimmy.
Protectively laying a wing over his body brother Grian feel into a light sleep, preparing for the days ahead.