Wings of Nightmares

"Wings of Nightmares" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
If there could be a rock bottom in any tangible form, Blair was certain that he discovered it in the snow that surrounded him. The footsteps he heard before were a distant memory, and the silence that haunted the empty space around the ferret gave his mind too much room to echo Sylar’s spiteful words.
He didn’t want to dwell on them, but there was little else for Blair to do. His body was beaten and bruised, and any attempt to intercept the hawk on his own would leave him in worse shape than he already was. It was a losing fight.
Maybe my brain will stop from ta’ cold. I guess that wouldn’t be ta’ worst thing.
akkeyagentofhelheim
There was a crunch of a boot in the snow next to him, then he was shifted to have a clearer view of the sky above. A blonde fringe appeared within sight, and the stranger grinned down at him, albeit grimly as he surveyed the ferret’s state, “You good?”
blair-the-navigator
Blair almost felt annoyed with the man’s sudden presence as he let his eyes adjust. “I am fine. Please, just mind yer’ business…”
As he rubbed them, the stranger’s face became more clear – his amber eyes and charming grin nearly paralyzed the ferret further.
“I- I mean, I’m… I, uh, could definitely use a hand from someone the likes of yerself…”
He daintily raised a paw in the man’s general direction, intentionally not looking to him as he did so.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Juro immediately picked up on the shift in energy and he let his lashes fall in the same old habit, lopsided grin and all, as he pulled the half breed up to his feet, tangling slender fingers between fur. He leaned down slightly to meet Blair’s eye level better, one leg hooked behind the other, surveying the wounds he sustained. He was definitely not minding his own business.
“Those are some nasty gashes right there. What happened?” The pencil twirled once behind his back.
blair-the-navigator
If not for the fur covering his face, it would have been overtly clear how red the man made him with the closed distance between their faces. 
“Ah- it’s nothing, really.” He leaned back slightly, afraid that getting too close would cause him to lose all ability to speak. “Just a little scrap between friends, ye’ know?”
He held a paw to his face, feeling a sharp twinge of pain as he delicately studied the wounds through touch. He couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped as he did so.
“I guess I got ta’ worst of it, eh?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Pretty heavy for a ‘little scrap’… I’d say you certainly did, you should get that checked,” he hummed, flicking his eyes up and down, the smile turning wry.
“I’ve never seen you before–” he continued in extreme interest, particularly because he knew everyone on Haligan to a degree. He looked around casually before turning his face back to Blair, “What’s your name? Where’s your friend?”
blair-the-navigator
Blair tried to convince himself that he didn’t enjoy the man’s inquisitive nature, but lying to himself was not something he was capable of in the moment.
“I’ve never been ta’ Haligan before today, so ye’ would be correct. As for my friend… I wouldn’t call ‘im a friend so much as-”
He realized that his time being enamored by this stranger had distracted him from the plight at hand. He felt a wave of heat encompass his fur as he stood straight up, grasping at the man’s clothes in a panicked fashion. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten.
“Oh fuck- Dario. I need to find Dario… he’s… a deer, without antlers, about your height. You need to help me, please!”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Juro blinked and snapped to attention, like the spell was broken, hands coming up in reaction to steady them. He had been trying to catch up to him when he left the Arnasons, but he had lost sight of the half breed. “Dario? Did you say Dario? I know him. What happened?” There was slight alarm in his voice at the ferret’s panic and the possibility that his wounds could be now be related to the deer.
blair-the-navigator
“Shit, ye’ know him?”
Blair felt guilt for being an accomplice in all of this, and the added punishment of having to explain it all seemed fitting.
“He tried ta’ help me, after Sylar did a number on my face.” He looked around frantically, hopeful to spot any tracks that would lead to them. “The stupid fuckin’ bird took ‘im… I don’t know where. He’s not safe, I can tell ye’ that much. I don’t want te’ think that we have time to waste here.”
He scurried around in the snow, peering closely for any signs of life.
“I’m… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for it te’ get this bad.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
It wasn’t often that Juro’s blood ran cold, but this was one of those times.
Do me a favour, Juro. Please tell Milae.
“Shit, I have to–” the Bookkeeper whirled around in action, amber eyes already calculating in his next steps without compromising his own neutrality. Favour. Story. It’s fine. He called out, voice unnaturally rough, “Virion!”
The golem rippled to life while Juro scribbled hastily into a blank page, then tearing it out and folding it haphazardly. He tossed it towards the invisible force, which caught it and effectively wrapped itself around the item, causing it to disappear, “Bring that to Milae!”
He didn’t bother waiitng for Virion to respond as it left with a hum, and grabbed the ferret by the wrist, “We need to find them! Which way did they go?”
blair-the-navigator
Blair took note of the man’s distress, feeling even worse about their situation.
“I have no idea, I-” He tripped on a rock hidden beneath the white blanket of snow, falling with his wound hitting a drift. It would have hurt far more had his face not already been numb. “-shit. I can’t imagine it’s been too long, they can’t be too far… can they?”
He stood as tall as his legs would let him, scanning the surrounding area. It was solemn and silent, as he feared it would be.
“Please don’t die… fuck.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
He had kept his grip around his arm and pulled him up from the ground, slightly rough in his handling–but it wasn’t surprising. He dragged at him slightly, “Just a general direction. Anywhere, anything. I just need something.” He started walking. To where, he didn’t know.
–
The Jaw found itself hearing things across its expanse. A fleeting, humming sound that crossed their ears for a split second before disappearing. There was talk about it for some time afterwards–a spirit, of some sort, looking for something it had forgotten.
Virion warped through space, appearing in spots it thought the goat could possibly be. It took many tries, but finally it found him. It streaked straight for Milae, then rippled into a small, round version of its bird form, and cawed urgently, waving the paper within its talons.
Milae lurched around and quickly recognized the tiny animal squawking at him, and hurriedly fumbled the paper into his hooves, ripping it open and quickly scanning the hastily-written words on it. Had his face not been covered in fur, it would’ve paled instantly. 
“What’s wrong, Milae?” Bhaem said from across the room they were cleaning, to make room for new residents. He could instantly pick up on the atmosphere between the two and Tulli, which had gone very quiet and dark. Milae looked up at his friends, his eyes darting back and forth before he turned on his heel, to Virion.
“Take me.” His voice was ragged, and Tulli quaked at the sound. “Now.”
Virion pulled itself into a familiar portal, and Milae instantly sprinted forward.
“Milae!!” Bhaem roared, but he was already gone.
The cold air of Haligan hit the half-breed’s throat, and his senses fumbled before making sense that he was standing beside Juro and an unfamiliar half-breed barely taller than he was. Milae’s presence was inflated, dangerous, as he turned to Juro, clenching his fists and making his old scars flex. “Where is he.”
[side: Like Birds of Prey]
Juro felt Virion returning before Milae even appeared, but even with that knowledge he took a subconscious breath upon sight of him, as if bracing himself for what was to come. 
“I don’t–” he replied, letting go of the hand that held Blair to motion towards some tracks in some general direction, when they heard the unmistakable roar of the deer pierce through the still air. They all whirled around at the sound, hackles raised.
Juro’s letter floated to the ground as the wind from Milae’s cape stirred it, flapping as the goat moved faster than he had ever attempted to before, slipping through the alley of two abandoned houses. He heard a door slam open to his right, and farther down the meager trail, he saw two half-breeds collide into each other, the larger one beating the winged one against the ground, and he nearly slipped in his haste to approach. 
“DARIO!!”
As if an arrow into his consciousness, hearing his name in that familiar voice stopped a fist in what would have been an imminent impact against Sylar’s contusion-laden face. His heart still pounded against the wall of his chest as he turned his head to see the figure of Milae bounding towards him at a pace he had never seen out of the goat.
“Mil-”
The kick from Sylar’s legs fell just below Dario’s neck, sending him back against the doorframe. His spine made direct contact, and a searing pain kept him from making any quick movements to gain distance from the hawk. While he had a slight advantage, Sylar fumbled back to his feet, wiping the stream of blood that gushed from an eye socket.
“I must say.” He coughed, expelling drops of blood from his mouth. “I did not anticipate this.”
Milae wasted no time with talk. Everything was both blinding and in sharp focus as he rushed forward with full intent to kill. As soon as he was within reach, his cloak was flung off his shoulders and into Sylar’s face, intending to tangle the bird’s upper talons, and then he immediately kicked a fallen spade up into his hooves. The farm tool turned weapon whistled as he cracked the center of the handle into the notch between Sylar’s neck and shoulder.
The hawk didn’t have a chance to fully deflect the cloak before the strike took him back to the ground. As hefty as the blow was, he was still able to maneuver himself a ways from the goat, careful to maintain decent footing. Past history in their combat was fresh in his mind, and the knowledge of Milae’s aptitude with physical altercations was going to pose an issue.
“Wonderful.” Sylar watched Milae intently, ready to move at a moments notice. “I should have suspected you would be here to procure your damsel in distress.”
He pulled a loose board from the side of the worn abode, not wanting to be without comparable weaponry. The hawk was meticulous and slow in his approach, maintaining a stance that would allow for a quick diversion if needed. Milae stood firm, prepared to strike again.
“I have no intention of repeating our interactions further.” Though his face had swelled around his beak, Sylar’s tone had not deviated from it’s low register. “I don’t plan on allowing either of you to leave here alive.”
Sylar tossed the board with full force above him before slamming his wings to toss up a drift of snow at Milae. With the gust carrying a wall of dirt and ice into Milae’s immediate surroundings, Sylar took the falling board in hand, heaving it directly towards where the goat’s head had been visible moments before.
Milae’s reflexes betrayed him. Instead of blocking, he released the handle of his makeshift staff to pull his arms up towards his shoulders, and nothing happened. The board cracked fully across the crown of Milae’s head, the blow lessened only by his half-breed heritage of sturdy horns and thick skull. But stars still flashed across his vision and he was slammed against the ground, biting his tongue hard and almost losing his grip on the spade. He barely managed to scrape enough awareness together to use his back hooves to push him further into the fall, making him roll twice and bringing him to his hands and knees. Everything was swimming in front of him. But he had to get up. He had to make up for his lapse in attention. He had to make it up to Dario. 
Milae pounded the snow with a fist and growled, lurching upright with a stumble and taking the hoe in both hooves, engaging Sylar in blocking several practiced swings, wood snapping on wood, and it frustrated Milae, pushing him to further heights of rage with each attack, trying to drive him as far away from Dario as he could muster.
The time it took the goat to regain his posture and return an attack was plenty for Sylar to catch his breath. As Milae matched each of his swings, Sylar could feel a deadlock; he needed to do something different if there were any chance at taking out the goat. The hawk could see the goat’s attention locked on him, and without another moment of hesitation, he quickly dropped and tackled Milae’s legs, throwing him to the snow-covered ground once more.
Dario’s coherency had slowly returned, and as his vision cleared, the sight of Milae against the ground pulled him to his hooves. Sylar raised a set of talons, preparing to strike, but not before the stag’s weight knocked him to the side and off of the goat. The pressure behind Dario’s eyes was the product of rage and instability, as he returned to his assault upon Sylar’s face. His concentration was so fixated on his beating that the deer failed to notice his hand’s engulfed in a sweltering blue blaze.
–
Each hit was a combination of blunt force and unbearable searing. Attempts to breathe were met with burning lungs, and with his talons barely able to cover his face, Sylar resigned to survival.
I’ve… got nothing.
Risking his only protection, he threw his talons into the ground and tried to push himself upwards and out of the line of punches, but he couldn’t move fast enough. A perfectly swung fist made contact with the side of his head, and the world went dark.
–
The stag’s fist continued to move with no regard to their target. Had Dario not been blinded by stress and adrenaline, he might haven noticed the limp nature of his enemy, but he continued to wail with reckless abandon. His movements were no longer his to control, and the burning of his hands only fueled the pressure behind each emboldened strike.
His ears were still ringing from being thrown to the ground once more, and it took Milae several seconds to stir, feeling immense pain behind his temples and in the lower back of his skull. The goat rolled to his side slowly and lifted his chin to seek out Dario, and through hazy eyes, he saw his love’s back, arms churning as sparks hissed and scattered across the snow, sending steam wafting low across the ground, and smoldering the hawk’s feathers, who lay limp below the deer. The sight resonated as an emotion that Milae could not quite identify, some poisonous mixture of awe, guilt, and fear.
Milae briefly let his face drop into the snow, which helped bring him closer to full awareness, and then he got to all fours, throat sticking as he weakly called out, “Dario…stop…”
He did not.
There were no thoughts occupying the stag’s brain; Dario had been possessed with a need to protect; a need to survive. He could no longer see anything with specific clarity, as cascading layers of light replaced everything in his sight. The only sensation that felt remotely familiar was pain – his hands and arms were suffering immensely, but he could not stop. He could never stop, until survival was certain.
Snow bit and stung between Milae’s toes as he limped towards Dario, and reaching out with a single hand, cloven tips resting in between his shoulderblades, afraid of spooking him with anything more intimate. “Dario.” His voice cracked. “Please. Listen. Stop.” 
Jan 22, 2021
The sudden touch against his back caused Dario’s entire body to tense for a split second. He couldn’t overcome the autonomy that controlled his every movement, and in an instant, he could feel the contact of clenched fingers crack against a sturdy entity, throwing them backwards. His fists continued to launch in the same direction, but there was… nothing. No target to assault, and no further damage to be done. His arms went limp at his side, and as his heart rate decreased steadily, Dario’s vision began to clear.
It only took seconds before recognition set it, and the crushing guilt of what he had done. Not against the hawk; that set of emotions would need to be processed later. It was the unmoving form of the goat, thrown meters away from the unconscious hawk half-breed below the stag. There was an uncomfortably long moment of shock before Dario quickly shifted his weight off of Sylar and rushed to where Milae rested.
“Fuck… no, Milae- hey, hey…” He felt his throat tighten as he looked over the goat, a hand moving to touch his face, but he couldn’t. He felt the pain linger in his fingers, and the skin had been burnt down to his forearms. His own actions placed them in a precarious situation, and he feared touching Milae again.
“Please, say anything… tell me you’re okay.”
Jan 22, 2021
One moment Milae was right behind Dario, the next, his back was in the snow and he saw a vague silhouette against the dark gray sky above him, saying words he could barely hear. He smelled singed fur and ash, far too close for comfort, and he slowly came to the realization that his cheek and the side of his jaw were absolutely throbbing. 
Milae’s eyes wearily blinked and squinted upwards, causing the smoldering welt across the side of his face to stretch slightly, and with a wavering hand, he reached up and gently rested his fingers on Dario’s wrist. “Fyrirgefðu,” he whispered. “That was…foolish of me. I think…I should have been more careful.” A sheepish grin pulled at the good side of his muzzle.
Jan 22, 2021
The touch of Milae’s hoof against his charred skin made him flinch, but not enough to fully recoil from his partner, though everything in his mind wanted him to. He had done this, and there was no taking it back. Dario heard the good nature that Milae displayed, even after the goat endured much pain, and grew frustrated.
“Why… why did I do that?” Dario slowly placed his hand on Milae’s head, careful to avoid the point of impact. “Why couldn’t I stop? I couldn’t stop…”
The pain he felt in his extremities was nothing close to the trauma that his head and his heart were enduring. He wanted to take everything back; to jump to another timeline and fix this, like the stories he had heard from Milae… but that wasn’t an option here.
“I’m so sorry… I am so sorry, Milae. Please don’t… please don’t think I meant to do that.” He could feel the shock wearing off, but continued to look to the goat with wide, concerned eyes. “Can you move? Are you able to sit up?”
Jan 22, 2021
Hands hovered as the fear of making contact with each other lingered, but it didn’t matter in that moment, as a weathered wooden staff blocked the way between both of them, effectively separating the two.
“Stop.”
Juro stepped up to them, the weapon surprising but familiar, but the way the Bookkeeper held it was very different than Milae or Yun did. He swung it with one hand, grip right where a sword hilt would be as he brought himself down to their level, but keeping them apart. His face was blank, void of any usual grin or wit or curiosity that the half breeds were so used to, the light absent from his eyes.
“Don’t,” his cadence was different, too. Low timbre rough and unclear this time. His hand trembled ever so slightly around the staff, “You’re both wounded, you… shouldn’t try to move. O-or. Do anything. No…” 
His lips parted for a moment as his voice wavered, “Virion.” It took the golem a second longer than usual to respond, but eventually it opened into a portal, “To the healer…” 
Jan 22, 2021
Hazel eyes shifted to Juro while the goat rose to an elbow to sit half upright, and with his already-outstretched hand, he gripped the end of the staff that was in the way and slowly made to push it aside. His thoughts were mixed and tangled and difficult to read from the outside. Concern for Dario. Offense at the attempted protection. Relief at their situation. But underneath it all, the shallowest cut of betrayal, that welled up with pain like venom despite its small presence.
Why didn’t he help…?
“Thank you,” he said quietly, matching Juro’s tone. He let go of the staff. “There’s no need for that. We can take it from here.” But he found it difficult to rise to his hooves, as the snow slipped out from under him and his vision spun violently, and he reached to Dario for assistance.
Jan 22, 2021
The intervention on Juro’s part was unexpected; Dario had flinched and moved back slightly at the swing of the man’s weapon. The way he spoke made the deer feel as if he had done something criminal.
“I- I just want to help, please…” He watched as Milae struggled and extended a hoof, but the stag froze. He couldn’t bring himself to move. Between his worry of harming anyone further and Juro’s cold gaze upon the two of them, his heart felt like it could collapse at any moment. Despite how he felt about himself in that second, looking down at darkened extremities and feeling every bit of the burn and ache in them, there was still a need to help in whatever way he could… especially in relation to his partner.
He felt his arm tremble as it reached up, extending closer to the goat.
Jan 22, 2021
It took tremendous restraint on his part.
There was no resistance as he let Milae push the staff away, but he didn’t wait for either of them to find each other’s hand. Face and demeanor unchanged, he moved Virion in the same motion, engulfing both goat and deer in warped space and depositing them straight in front of the healer.
He remained crouched down as they disappeared, clutching the weapon with two hands as it leaned on his shoulder. It had appeared in his clutches subconsciously a few minutes ago, when fire found fur in a fist of uncontrolled rage. He had watched that, as he did the entire development of the fight, and in that instance, extreme anger and fear would’ve surged within him, and all of his efforts would’ve been all for naught. So he had forced himself back, almost shaking where he stood. But he knew. He knew regret would overwhelm him afterwards, even more disastrously, if he did absolutely nothing.
He took the loss of insult, pain, and cold blooded anger towards him instead. He channeled what he knew would overflow, into self-serving action–separation, laid under concern over injury, and transport. Favour. Story.–and let the pieces fall into places as he expected it to. Hazel and blue eyes staring at him, and it took every effort to bury whatever he was feeling very, very deep and hope to forget about it in the next moment.
His eyes slid towards the figure on the ground, then to the new acquaintance he had made. His ragged voice spoke above the morning wind, “You too. Come on.”
Jan 22, 2021
The ferret jumped at the man’s address. He had been still as stone during the entire ordeal; caught between wanting to do anything to help and knowing that there was nothing to be done. Sylar alone could overpower him at any given moment, but to see the deer he tried to warn take such a violent form was unexpected, at the very least. Watching the pair of stag and goat disappear seemingly before his eyes was, incredibly, the least surprising part of the half-breed’s day.
“…alright, but please, let me just…”
Blair took small steps to reach Sylar’s side. The hawk hadn’t shown any signs of movement in quite some time, and though he didn’t wish to ever admit it, there was something difficult about seeing him in that state. Though the day had changed nearly his entire perception of who he thought Sylar to be - a friend, a confidant, now forever marked in his memory as a blood-lusting aggressor - the ferret could not stop his heart from mourning the loss of a friend that once was, or could have been. He knelt down, placing a paw gently on the bird’s head.
“Get fucked, Sy.”
He stood, averting his gaze away from the hawk and back to the tall man and his staff.
“Alright. Let’s get goin’.”
Jan 22, 2021
It was smooth sailing as Virion shifted to bring Blair as well. The ferret disappeared, and Juro was left behind, alone with the prone figure on the ground, snow disturbed, melted, and blood spattered all around it.
He continued to stare at the dead hawk for a few more moments. The very man he had only heard about barely an hour ago--to think he would appear here, now, then perish soon after.
The wind blew again, and for once it was cold against Juro's cheeks. He moved to leave, but his eye caught a flutter across the ground, flipping and bouncing in the air before getting caught on a talon.
It was his message to Milae.
The world went crisp white, and Juro lost his senses as his body moved on its own, the staff grabbed differently between both hands like his weapon from his own past days, slicing it forwards and upwards in a very peculiar, but telltale form of a sword. Already there was a soft clinking sound of metal linked on metal that could be heard. Virion rippled at the command, and found itself being flung forward as a portal for the ocean towards the half breed.
But it was aware, at least. It knew that they needed to leave the body there, if not for the course of history but for Juro's state. It warped into its bird form at the last second, crashing into the wall and burying itself and the body in snow. Juro's face fell, snapping him out of his trance, the world back to normal, "Virion!"
The staff disappeared into his pocket, and he took a few panicked steps forward. But the golem was alright, fluffing the snow off its feathers then training all six eyes towards the Bookkeeper. It crooned softly in acknowledgement, before gliding forward and wrapping the man in its blue and white wings, engulfing him in its magic, a separate, self sustaining entity formed from Hel's power. It surrounded Juro as he stood, shaking, invisible from the world and its watching eyes, like he was never there in the first place, accepting of the magic outside him right now while hating every bit of what was inside, but still knowing he couldn't live without it.
The golem crooned once more, softer this time as he tried to find his peace, to absorb the events that occurred in the very short amount of time, and do his job as Bookkeeper. It was a few more moments, before Virion finally spread itself into another portal, and brought its master away from this mundane-turned-very, very painful place.