Archive of Our Own

It was a beautiful day in the forest. Walking through it, you could hear many incredible creatures. And not just any. If you were lucky, you could even meet one of the more mythical ones. If they still existed outside, that is. 
For you see, there used to be a special creature called Entoloma Hochstetteri that roamed the forest. They were one of a kind mushrooms, as not only were they the biggest delicacy in the human world but also a great scientific discovery.

As Entoloma were alive, and I don’t mean alive in any sense other mushrooms were.
These mushrooms were sentient. And they had actual limbs and functional organs close to their animalistic counterpart. 
They even gained the ability to see, and they were one of the smartest beings out there. Capable of creating even their own items for daily use. 
One would describe them as little guys with blue mushrooms on top of their heads like hats and orange ribbon-like arms.

Which made them even more special, as these arms had the ability to hold stuff properly, and were made from an elastic yet tough enough tissue that changed its consistency depending on the situation.
Capable of even using said arms as weapons, mimicking a sharp sword or a needle.
There were Entoloma villages you could encounter in the forests filled with joy and laughter.

That is.
Before they got captured by humans. 
To be now known as what they are known for most. 
A human delicacy.

They were also an incredible scientific discovery, as they are being studied to this day, trying to replicate the upper limb tissue. Now, if you want to see one for yourself, you would just go to a zoo, as their kind is almost extinct. And if you're extremely lucky, you will see what little remains of one of these villages. But if you would like to taste one, you would have to pay a lot of money on the black market to experience that type of delicacy. Although they do say it’s to die for.

 
However. 
One mushroom never got captured. 
And this?
This is his story.

Lium was walking through the forest with a makeshift bag around his body. He was collecting some small berries as food for later. He never stayed in one place, always moving and only stopping to take short breaks or sleep. He didn’t like to stay in one spot for too long. 

As he walked, he passed a bird nest. He heard a bird call and immediately hid in the bushes to avoid the predator's eyes. He waited for a moment. Watching as a brown bird mom feeds her featherless, screeching babies. After the mom flew away, he waited a bit before moving from the bush past the tree.

He even noticed a few small bones that fell out of the nest. Which he collected. Who knew when a material rare like that might be needed? 
Although he had to be careful, as he was slowly running out of space in his bag. It couldn’t store that much to begin with, so he always needed to be mindful of what he took with him.

Lium suddenly heard the sound of flowing water. He headed towards the noise. As he reached the edge of the forest and entered an open field, he saw a river. He climbed onto one of the smaller rocks to scout for any potential danger.
As he saw no one, he decided to walk to the river. When he reached it, he took out a small spherical flask he had made himself out of clay, with vines attached to it, as he used it to collect some water.

Lium decided it would be best and faster if he swam through the calm-looking river. He grabbed a big leaf, a few small sticks, and ripped some grass, which he used to tie the sticks, creating a makeshift paddle. He hopped onto the leaf and then pushed it away into the river as he started to paddle across. While swimming through, he could see some beautiful small fish swimming under him and long green plants, as well as a few shiny rocks. 

When he reached the other side, he decided to leave the paddle and the leaf behind. No point in dragging it with him, and who knows? Maybe it could come in handy for someone else that passes by. As Lium walked to the nearest tree line, he suddenly heard a loud noise of an animal. When he turned to the side, he saw a pack of wolves. This wasn’t good. Although lucky for him, he was too small for a big predator like a wolf to waste its time on him.

He wasn’t going to try to risk his life, though, to test that theory. He hid behind a big rock, thinking he could wait it out until they walked past. But. To Lium’s bad luck, a small wolf pup got interested in his presence as it walked in his direction, probably from picking up on his scent. He knew the moment it saw him, it would attack and chase after him if he even got the chance to run in the first place. 

The wolf stepped closer, sniffing the ground and getting near to Lium’s position. Then, as the wolf was about to reach him, Lium made his hands stiff like a needle as he jabbed at the pup’s nose. This gave him a chance to run as he didn’t waste a second, sprinting away at full speed. The pup followed soon after. Lium thought he was done for, but at the last second, he managed to jump into a hole at the bottom of a tree, barely avoiding the wolf’s teeth as it ran into it, making the pup yelp out a pained noise as it trotted away to its pack.

Lium lay for a bit on the ground, gasping for air as he tried to get his heart to calm down. After a few minutes, he got back onto his feet, drinking some of the water he collected. He made sure everything he had was still with him as he slowly stepped out of the hole he had dropped into. Lium slowly looked around for any other potential danger; his head snapped to a blue feather that fell to the ground next to him. And as he took a step to the side, looking around where the feather could have dropped from, he suddenly got violently dragged into the air as Lium felt dizzy and disoriented.

After a moment, Lium realised that he was hanging upside down on some sort of contraption. With his leg tied to something, all his items fell off him to the ground. He tried forming his arms into a sharper form, but he couldn’t pull himself high enough to cut the rope he was tied to. He was stuck. And even worse, he saw a small group of animals come running because of the noise. And they got to, now his open bag was lying on the ground. A mouse group started to go through his stuff, as Lium tried moving desperately to get out. He tried making any noise to make the mice run away, but it was to no avail as they ran off with all his stuff, leaving nothing behind. Lium thought this couldn’t get worse, but then he felt the branch the rope was attached to shake. 

And as he looked at it, he saw a blue Jay sitting on it. This wasn’t good. Now, Lium was really worried, as the bird jumped closer to where the rope was on the branch. Lium watched as the avian stopped right next to the rope. His heart froze as the bird’s cold eyes looked at him. The avian tilted its head at him, and as Lium held his breath, the bird hit the rope with its beak, breaking it. As Lium falls to the ground staring into the avian’s eyes, he feels the world slow down for him.

He remembers their voices when everything was okay. Their smiles, laughter, sadness, anger, and joy. Every memory was flashing before his eyes, which started to fill with tears. But before any could drop on his face, he hit the ground as extreme pain shot through his body, specifically his leg. Lium’s ears were ringing as he tried to get up with his vision dizzy, only to immediately collapse onto his knees. He heard the bird take flight. He didn’t have much time before he became a meal. He needed to get up. Lium tried moving forward as he hobbled, thanks to the boost of adrenaline. He heard the bird's noise getting closer, Lium’s heart beat fast as his breath was uneven. He was getting away; maybe he could make it.

Suddenly, Lium trips and falls to the ground, hearing the bird step behind him. He crawls on his back backwards as far as possible, but then he hits a rock behind him. 
Dead end. This was it.  Lium heard the avian approach closer as he squeezed his eyes shut, ready to experience his fate. He knew what would happen next would be a very painful experience.

But...

nothing happened.

Lium opened his eyes, and as he let his eyes focus, he saw the bird in front of him just standing. The bird tilted its head at Lium like it was curious about or maybe analyzing him? The avian looked around and hopped to the side near a tree as Lium kept following the bird's movements with his eyes. The avian grabbed a small stick and hopped with it towards Lium as it placed it next to him. Lium was confused as he looked at it, then at the bird.

The avian proceeded to repeat what he did, but this time brought him a few flowers with durable stems. Then the bird just stood there watching him. Was it apologising? He couldn't tell. Lium then realised as he remembered his broken leg. He grabbed the materials and cut the stick with his arm as he used it against his leg to stabilize it. He wrapped it around with the flower stems;  as he cut the flower crowns off with his arm, so he could properly use the stems like a rope.

But it felt like something was still missing; he noticed some grass strands not too far away. He was about to get up for them, but before he could, the avian hoped for them and ripped them off as he handed them to Lium. Lium covered his whole leg with them by weaving it with the stems and the stick, which made it look like a makeshift cast. 

Lium then grabbed one of the left sticks and used it as a cane to prop himself up. He stumbled, and he thought he would say hi to the ground again, but to his surprise, the bird used his head to stop Lium’s fall and help him stand. With that, Lium was back up on his legs. But now injured and having lost all his supplies. He had to first find a shelter and slowly replicate all the items he lost and wait for the leg to fully heal before he could move on.

Even with his fast healing, it would still take a while. He hated the idea of staying that long in one place, but he had no other choice. He turned to the bird and bowed as a sign of gratitude. Lium was about to walk away to go and look for a shelter when suddenly the avian stopped him by stepping in front of him and blocking his path. Lium tried walking to the side, but no matter which way he turned, the bird just jumped in front of him. Lium sighed as he gave up on trying and stood still, looking with an eyebrow raised at the annoying bird. 

The avian sat sideways to Lium as he looked at him, waiting. for something? Lium looked confused, but then realised. Did the bird want him to… sit on him? Lium realised the bird wanted to help him get around to a safer place, or at least he hoped so. He couldn’t really trust the avian, but he had no choice. He had a few close calls recently, and he wouldn’t make it with a broken leg. If he agrees, it MAY be a death sentence, but staying would be a guaranteed one. Lium sighed as he made his choice. He grabbed one of the flower stems, and he tied his cane to his back.

With that, he walked slowly to the bird; he didn’t want to startle him and lose his life in the process. Lium reached his hand out slowly and gently touched the feathers, to which the bird gave no reaction. He slowly got up onto the avian's back, and before he knew it. The bird flew up into the air with Lium barely reacting in time to grip tight and not fall off its back. 

He held his eyes closed while holding onto the bird for dear life. They were moving extremely fast with the wind blowing past. Lium opened his eyes slowly, and what he saw took away his breath. He saw the falling sun while being this high up, and it was gorgeous. He looked around at the faraway mountains and the treelines of the forest they were flying above. The wind felt incredible on his body as they flew. It was like for the first time, he finally felt free.
The bird flew towards the mountain.

As it got close, Lium saw a small cave opening that the bird flew into. It was dark, but thanks to his better night sight, his eyes quickly adjusted. When the avian sat down, Lium got off of him the bird flew away, which startled him. But he'd assume he left him here for a reason, and hopefully be back. He noticed a nest lying on the ground with the bird’s feathers. So it must be his home. There wasn’t much in this cave, and it wasn't really big to begin with, but it was a little cozy. At least it wasn’t that cold, thanks to its small size.

As he walked further back, he noticed beautiful rocks with different colors emitting a small light that grew as the sun disappeared further into the horizon. They were already immensely beautiful, and he couldn’t imagine how much more they would be when the sun fully hid to let their full shine show.

He could definitely stay here; it was a high-up, well-hidden location. The only problem would be getting out, as there seems to have been no way out other than flying, and he didn’t want to rely on the bird. Each time he wanted to do that, he doubted the avian would even want to help that much, seeing that he already helped. Unless this was a trap, after all, he hadn’t returned yet, and maybe he wouldn’t. But before he could dwell on it more, he heard wings rustling, and as his head snapped to the sound, he saw the bluebird holding some leaves in its mouth. Lium stepped to the side as the bird hopped forward and placed the pile of leaves on the ground. 

The bird then hopped into his nest and lay down as he closed his eyes. Lium walked close to the bird, not seeing any other option than to try and join him in the nest, when the bird used his wing to push him back the moment he heard Lium enter his nest. Lium was baffled and surprised as he landed on the ground, which quickly turned into annoyance as he heard the laugh of the bird that followed after. Lium huffed and used his cane to get back up as he gave an eye roll to the bird, who only gave him back a wicked grin of joy at the situation. As Lium grumbly sat on the leaf pile and used the biggest leaf to cover himself as he lay down. He looked at the ceiling and the beautiful, illuminating, colorful rocks as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next day, Lium woke up to the sun on his face, as he slowly sat up with a yawn. He quickly realised that he was completely alone, the nest in the cave empty. He propped himself into a sitting position, and as he did, he heard a familiar sound of rustling feathers, and as he turned his head to the entrance of the cave, he saw the blue avian holding a big berry. The bird hopped in front of Lium and placed it on the floor, nudging it towards him with its beak.

Lium nodded thankfully and picked up the berry as he stared at it. This wasn’t a berry he had ever seen before, and he didn’t know if it was safe. For all he knew, it could have been poisoned. Did he trust the bird standing in front of him? He did help him, but all Lium knew was that maybe it was just the way said avian played with its prey? His overthinking was interrupted by a growl in his stomach. He couldn’t remember if he even ate anything yesterday, and all that running really exhausted him.

The fruit smell hit his nostrils with its sweet aroma, like it was taunting him. In the end, hunger won over as he bit carefully into the fruit to quickly melt at the sweet taste as the juice of the berry dripped down his face while he devoured the whole thing. After finishing it, he wiped his face as he watched the bird fly away once more.

Lium had a lot to do; he needed to replace all the items he lost, but mostly make new tools. However, with the current state of his leg, he could barely stand, let alone do enough walking and movement to make himself a new bag and use clay to build a new water jug. Lium moved away the leaf covering him to look at his broken leg. Thanks to being partially a mushroom, his healing was superior to most other animals, being able to even regrow lost limbs.

It would still take a few days before it was fully healed. He hoped that maybe if he stayed here the whole day, it would heal enough that he could walk in the morning without trouble with the use of his cane. And it wasn’t like he could leave in the first place with the bird now gone off to do whatever avians do. Probably collecting food. Lium was left alone with his thoughts, and to his surprise, the bird returned to him throughout the day, bringing gifts.

Stuff like: berries, acorns, small sticks, nice-looking pebbles. One of the more special items was a blue piece of glass; he didn’t know where the avian found it nor what he could even use it for, but he thought it might come in handy in the future as he put it away safely to the side.Then the bird moved on to bringing stuff like: sticks, moss, more leaves than he already had, and bark. As the avian started to lay them all around him, building a protective barrier around him like a nest. Which Lium really appreciated, even when he didn’t understand where all that kindness was coming from and why the bird was doing it. But he decided not to dwell on it as the avian got into his own nest as they both drifted to sleep.

In the end, Lium spent 2 days bedridden, with the bird bringing him trinkets and gifts in the meantime. On the 3rd day, his leg felt good enough that he could walk with his cane without a problem. With that, he was ready to finally leave and take care of replacing his lost items. He sat on the avian's back as it flew out and scanned the territory for any dangers as they landed next to a river with trees nearby after he pointed at it. Lium immediately after getting off went to work as he turned his arm into a sharp sword and cut long pieces of grass, which the avian helped him move to one spot.

As Lium sat down and started to weave a new shoulder bag, which took a while to do. In the meantime, the bird hopped around looking for predators but mostly digging through dirt for worms and other insects. And of course, he didn’t miss the opportunity to annoy Lium by kicking some of the dirt onto him, followed by that stupid and annoying laugh as he swiped off all the dirt that got on him and the bag. After a while, though, he finally finished as he added the final touches and put the bag strap over his shoulder. Now. He needed to make a new bottle to store water out of clay and small rocks.

For that, he headed towards the river with the avian following behind him. Lium grabbed a piece of tree bark and started to dig near the water in different places, until he stumbled into some clay hidden there. After which, he sat down next to it and dug out some of it as he started to form a new bottle. By placing clay on the tree bark, which he then placed on a small rock, he spun the bark while forming the shape of clay. After a few failed attempts, he finally nailed one, decorating it with small rocks as a finishing touch. He then built a small shelter out of rocks for the item as he placed the clay structure inside and covered it with leaves.

He didn’t have a better place to hide it for it to dry or any way to safely transport it somewhere else. As Lium sighed, finishing his work, his eyes caught a glimpse of the bird that was staring into the water, probably looking at anything edible passing by or just out of boredom. He never really paid attention to his appearance, but he was so… breathtakingly gorgeous.

The beautiful blue feathers with incredible black-blue-white patterns, his white belly, and the black marking on his head. The sun made the colors shine more, showcasing its beauty as Lium looked amazed. Before Lium could realise he got too distracted, he slipped and fell into the water with a noise of annoyance, which was followed by an affectionate laughter of the avian.

Lium didn’t waste a second to pull the bird with him into the water with a smug face, which gave him a shocked and startled noise of the avian as they both got drenched in water while laughing about it. Lium noticed that the water made his bird companion's feathers change color, instead of the blue color Lium knew the avian for. He was covered in brown feathers, and he wasn’t any less beautiful with them. In fact, Lium enjoyed the way he looked, especially when combined with being drenched in water. Well. As much as his feathers let him, seeing how most of the water just bounced off his feathers. 

After that, they both got out of the water, and Lium giggled as he saw the bird fluff up his body. Soon after, they returned to the cave and sat in their separate nests to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a beautiful day in the village. Lium was running around it behind his older sister, Tina, as he chased her to the house after she stole his toy. They ran into the house, almost running right at their pregnant mom, which they got them scolded for a bit by their dad. They nodded and apologised to their mom, to which the dad petted Lium’s head affectionately before he picked him up into the air and threw him up and down as Lium's laughter filled the whole house. Later, he ate a delicious dinner with his whole family, after which he played around with his sister more and said hi to his new sibling as he put his hand on his mom’s belly, feeling the baby kick back. 

He couldn’t wait for his new sibling, his mom said that if it was a boy, they would be named “Juan” but if it was a girl, the name would be “Jullie”. They would travel the whole world together, he was sure of it. Lium helped his sister dig in the garden as they looked for any hidden treasures. Tin loved doing this; she always said that if she ever grew up, she wanted to be someone who would find the best treasures and discover secrets of the past. 
Soon, though, they got called back as his mom walked in with cake, and all of them sang happy birthday.

Lium smiled from ear to ear as he received different gifts. And that wasn’t all, he was buzzing from excitement as today was the incredible spring festival that was about welcoming spring to their forest. It was a day filled with performances, games, different foods, and music. Lium was running around excited as he encouraged others to go faster so they could get there quicker. It was so much fun that he spent the day playing with his friends. Then they all gathered for the final and biggest performance. He couldn’t wait for it to start as he separated from his family by going between the crowd to get to the front for the best view. 

It was the best day of his life. 
...
Until it wasn’t.

Loud noise of screams were heard from afar as some houses of the village caught fire, and as everyone turned, they saw.

Humans.

They grabbed every Entoloma and dropped them into bags as the rest were being mauled by dogs. Lium saw his parents being grabbed as they screamed in terror, and they were put in cages with the others. Lium was frozen in place in terror; he couldn’t move. He was going to be next when suddenly he was grabbed and tugged to run. It was his older sister, Tina, who looked terrified but determined to keep him safe as they ran between the burning buildings. Everything was in chaos as the air was filled with nothing more than screams. Tina and Lium jumped and hid in a bush as they watched the horrors.

They saw some being killed, others captured. No one was being spared. Tina looked around, making sure they were safe as she looked for a better hiding spot, while Lium just stared and watched. As a dog walked close to them, Lium, in fear, stepped back. Suddenly, he heard a loud snap as he realised he stepped on a stick that broke on impact. He saw the dog pounce at him; he thought this was it, but out of nowhere, he saw Tina push him away as she jumped in the way. Lium reached his hand out to hear as he saw her getting grabbed by the dog between its teeth and-

SNAP.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lium woke up in cold sweat as he immediately sat up, wiping tears from his eyes. He couldn’t forget the way her lifeless body looked between those teeth. His body was frozen in place, and breathing frantically, like it was then, tears kept flowing down his cheek as he remembered all their screams. He could never forget them. He could never forget what he caused and what staying in one place did. That’s why he was always on the move. He couldn’t believe how stupid he was to let that happen. If he were just more careful, he could hav- 

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt feathers rub against his cheek, which wiped the tears off. He looked to the side to see the blue bird rub his head against him supportably. He must have been too loud when he woke up to awaken the avian. But a part of him was glad that he did, as he really needed someone by his side right now. The bird nuzzled to him as he sat down and put his wing around Lium like a blanket. He couldn’t remember the last time someone hugged him. That was a lie… he did. It was on that day. Where everything good in his life ended. But at least now. He had someone again. Lium smiled at the avian as he nuzzled close to him, and the warmth that emitted from the bird as he fell asleep. 

A few days passed as Lium’s leg healed fully. He took off the cast and felt his leg be finally free as he carefully tried standing by himself. He felt like new as he walked and even ran around without any problems, as he threw his cane to the side, happily twirling around. He looked at the wall of the cave where a construction he had been working on for the past few days lay. It was a glider he could put on his back. He built it out of many layers of leaves stuck together by small amounts of clay. The frame was made out of sticks, and he had woven a harness for himself as he attached it to it so he could put it on like a backpack.

He made it not only so he could join his avian friend in the air, but mostly so he could leave the cave whenever he needed to. The blue bird looked at him, a bit worried, as Lium, with confidence, put on the harness and protective goggles he made with the blue piece of glass, cork, and flower stems.

He stepped close to the edge.

And then.

Jumped.

He fell for a bit as the bird flew behind him worryingly, ready to catch him. Suddenly, Lium opened the wings as he started to glide in the air.The feeling was incredible as the avian glided with him to the side. He flew side to side, trying to do different maneuvers in the air. He enjoyed the view as he flew in different directions, exploring new territory. They flew so long that he didn’t even realise the familiar trees, until it was too late, as he saw the dark patch of the forest. His eyes focused on it like he couldn’t look back as he flew down on a nearby branch, staring at it.

The bird landed next to him, confused as he looked at what Lium was staring at. He saw ruins; everything was charcoal black, but you could figure out the shapes of the place, like something used to be there before. Lium jumped off the branch and opened his wings as he glided to the center of what used to be a city with the avian following behind. Lium looked around silently and then started to walk slowly in a specific direction. All he could hear at the back of his mind with each step were the screams. The never-ending shouting, pleading, begging, and then a loud snap. As he saw in front of him Tina’s limp, cold body covered in blue blood between those sharp teeth, as he stared in horror, his breathing stopped. His eyes couldn’t stop looking at the empty eyes. In that moment, he couldn’t even hear the screaming anymore as his ears filled with a ringing noise. He was unable to move even after the beast walked away to bring its prey to its master. 

He could never forget that memory. 

Lium stopped in place when he reached his goal, a familiar place he never thought he'd come back to. He didn’t even come back that day before he left. He was a coward who stayed there for so long that it had been hours after they left before he even moved. And then. He just ran. 

He slowly walked into the building, looking around, seeing memories of his young self spending time with his family. He stopped in front of what used to be his fireplace as he picked up a small frame in his hands. Wiping the ash off revealed a painting of his family, or what was left of it.

His eye filled with a tear as it slowly fell down his face. He put the picture frame into his bag, and as he turned around, ready to leave, he got stopped as his path was blocked. The bird stood in front of him, holding a beautiful blue flower. It was Tina’s favorite kind. He grabbed it into his hands, admiring its beauty, as he remembered her laugh as she made him a flower crown out of these. Then he planted it at the ruins of his house. For a second, he just stood there in silence, looking at it, before he turned around and thanked the avian as they moved to leave.

They walked out of the village when suddenly they heard a loud noise coming from behind them, as they saw a horde of birds flying away and animals running, before they could realise what caused it. The answer showed up in front of them as a human hunter walked out of there with a bow, and behind him ran out two hunting dogs. Lium froze in place. He was a little kid once more; he stood in the same place now as back then.

Just a little scared boy, and this would be his end as the dog charged for Lium with his big teeth, his sister's scream of pain echoing in his head, when suddenly he got pulled up and thrown over the bird's body, barely dodging the dog’s bite as the avian flew up fast with Lium barely grabbing on in time. But it wasn’t that easy, as the hunter started to shoot arrows right in their direction. But the bird was a very skilled dodger, and he weaved in different directions, sometimes barely avoiding the arrows.

Everything was going well before they hit the tree leaves as they tumbled down to the ground. Lium’s fall was slowed down by the leaves, which let him open up his wings at the last second to land, but since he opened them a bit too late due to how fast he was falling, he hit the ground at high speed tumbling forward. After the dizziness and ringing in his ears died down, Lium got up, and although his invention broke, he was completely fine. He checked if the picture frame was okay, and when he realised it was, he sighed with relief. He quickly hid it back up with a smile on his face as he took off the wings on him. He couldn’t believe how incredible the avian was; it was phenomenal how he dodged all the attacks. He saved his life once more. Lium should really find a way to repay him somehow. He looked around quickly to find where the bird landed as he wanted to give him a huge hug, after all, it was all thanks to hi-

Lium quickly ran towards the bird as his eyes filled with tears. He quickly knelt in front of the bird, whose chest barely rose. His hands were shaking; there was so much blood. He didn’t know what to do; he couldn’t take out the arrow, it would just spill everything more than it already was. He looked at the avian's eyes that were breathing in pain, barely clinging to life. The bird's eyes showed such pain in them that it broke Lium’s heart. He didn’t know. He felt so stupid for taking him there. He should never have gone back. He should have known better. He-

Lium's train of thought was stopped as he felt the bird move its head against Lium’s forehead. Staring into his eyes, he couldn’t read what they were saying. But they were full of a fond emotion and the need to comfort his companion.
Then the blue bird closed his eyes.
His head fell to the ground with his last breath. 
Lium couldn’t control the amount of tears that fell down his cheek, soaking the avian’s feathers. As he hugged the bird tightly, he didn’t want to let go. 
He couldn’t let go. 
He can't accept that this is the end.
It wasn't fair.
But no matter how deeply he held him and how many tears were spilled for him.
There was nothing he could do to bring him back.
This.
Was it.

The End.

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What?
…
Not satisfied with the ending?
…
Liam.
You knew deep down this was how the story would end.
...
This. 
This is how it’s supposed to be. 
Great story with a great sacrifice. 
An ending with a hero!
…
Why are you looking at me like that?
There is nothing left for you here.
Not anymore.
This is it.
Accept
it.
…
..
.

Lium cried over the bird's body when, suddenly, he heard a noise from a bush. He fell back, quickly crawling back to the bird, knowing he wanted to stay by his side. Then he saw a Human enter from behind the trees. 

Wait… What are you doing!?

He was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and dark glasses. He had long ginger hair and black painted fingernails, as his hands were decorated with beautiful bracelets. He wasn’t the best-looking guy, but he had a big heart.

Liam. You can’t just enter the story! Stop!

Lium was paralysed from fear and worry. Maybe this was finally his time? No more people he cared about sacrificing themself for his life. As he watched the human walk close and kneel to pick up the bird.

No no no no…. Stop it!

Lium saw the hurt avian next to a human, and he realised he couldn’t let fear control him anymore. As he jumped at the human's hand, he formed his arm into a sharp sword-like shape, which dug into the human's hand deep, leaving blood as the giant made a sound of pain.

This is not how it’s supposed to be!

Lium was about to stab the human again, but he got picked up by his cap with the avian as they both were taken away. He knew whatever happened next, he couldn’t leave the bird alone.

Chip!? Do something. Stop him!

The giant took them away into a big house made out of wood. Inside, he swiftly tossed Lium into a cage made out of metal, with one of the feathers falling with him. The bird was handed over to another human with dark blonde hair who was wearing a grey hoodie as they both headed out of the door with the avian. Lium was left all alone as he tightly held his friend's feather to his chest. 

Y’know what? You want to ruin the ending of this story? Be my guest.

It felt like hours had passed when Lium was stuck in thought. Watching the door, hoping for any sign, for any sound. Was this it? Was this the place where he would die? At least he would get to see his family again. 

Suddenly, the humans came back with the now bandaged-up bird. Lium jumped up immediately to the bars of the cage as he saw the bird move his head. 

He was alive.

The human placed the bird in the cage, to which Lium stepped back. Like he couldn’t fully believe that this was, in fact, his avian.The bird slowly jumped towards him, shivering its tail as he made soft, melodic noises. To which Lium responded with similar noises as he walked to the avian. And hugged him strongly as the bird laughed that annoying laugh of his, Lium missed so much as his eyes filled and dripped tears of pure joy. They stood like that for a while in each other's embrace.

Nothing bad could go wrong now. Because they had each other. 

Lium stepped back slowly as they both looked at the two humans who were bickering with each other as the short-haired one was stitching up the wound of the other. The short one seemed to make a snarky remark at the other as he quickly got bonked on the head by the human wearing glasses, to which the short man laughed. 

They looked happy together. 
Just like them. 
And as they looked at the sunset through the window. 

Maybe…

just maybe….

They could find their happy ending, too.

.

..

...

....

There. You got it. Are you happy now? You ruined what I did just to get what you wanted.
People truly lost appreciation for art and the beauty of tragedy....

Here.

You won.