Till death do us part
He did not know how it could have come this far.
He did not know what he was supposed to do if it came out as it looked.
He did not even know if he was going to survive this.
All Reyson knew was that this battle would decide on their future.
Whether they would live or die.
Whether they would get separated or...
No.
That was the second thing that could not have been any clearer to him, and, closely scanning Tibarn's face, he found that there was some else who did put any thought to that.
No matter how all this was going to come out.
No matter if they were going to fall, no matter if they were going to win.
They would not get separated.
The low whirring of arrows, crossbows being drawn and bullets, closely passing by.
A silent hiss of Tibarn's, lightly pulling Reyson aside.
Reyson struggled, he didn't want to draw back.
If Tibarn was going to stay here, there was no way he would have left him.
This day was going to bring an all or nothing decision, Reyson knew it, and he was slightly aware of what direction everything would turn to, but still refused to admit it.
His ability of precognition could have prevented some things and enabled others, it could have been a weapon.
There had been times when Reyson really had considered using it that way.
Foreseeing battles, forecasting enemy tactics.
Tibarn had refused to let him do so.
He was way too precious to him to be used as someone's instrument, was what the hawk had said.
Reyson had obeyed his wish.
It was cruel to use that gift of his to cause others' deaths.
There was only few he wanted less than that.
But if it was for the hawk tribe's and Tibarn's sake, he would have done it.
A light touch at his shoulder, one short glance of Tibarn's, then he knew what was coming.
Reyson's heartbeat started rising, he could feel it throb strongly against his chest, and he knew that Tibarn's would be beating in the same rhythm.
The fight was coming.
He could feel it with every single cell of his tensed body.
On his side, he could watch Tibarn's jaw flex and relax again, the hawk's face was calm but alert.
Another cloud of arrows raining down on them, and again, nobody moved.
Reyson could see Janaff jerk back for a second, then standing still again.
Arrows, stones, burning cloth.
Nobody dodged the bullets.
The mice were expecting the cats, ready to face death.
Backing off was no option anymore.
More bullets.
More arrows.
Still no movement along the rows of hawks.
Why would they show any insecurity?
Why would they make the enemy feel their anxiety?
Strong will and independence was all they were going to show off today.
And if it was the last thing to do, they would accept their fate.
Another hawk bent down, and another, and another.
More arrows struck down next to them.
One barely missed Reyson't knee, another one would have gotten him down if Tibarn had not pulled him aside again.
Reyson did not even blink.
For once, he thought back to the times when he had been timid and shy, hiding whenever a battle was approaching.
He never had been able to stand up for himself, weakly defending against verbal attacks and strictly avoiding physical ones.
Tibarn always had been there, encouraging him, keeping his back.
Now the time had come for him to handle it all himself.
It had taken him quite some time to convince Tibarn of letting him join the fight.
There had been some harsh arguments between the two of them, and it had been the first time ever that Reyson really had refused to share the hawk's opinion.
He had known what he wanted right from the beginning.
He had known what was going to come ever since that dream had startled him to death.
Anxiety.
Some kind of fear.
But still, no doubt in mind.
Reyson was calm.
Calmer than he had ever experienced himself.
He noticed the repeated looks Tibarn shot him, and he answered them, but they both did not bother to talk.
Everyone was waiting for the real attack.
For the spear- and swordsmen to approach them.
For the fight they all had prepared for.
Nobody cared about the bow users anymore, although especially these were dangerous to them.
As birds, they were vulnerable to arrows and any other kind of bullets, especially once they shifted forms to their animal self.
And still, nobody bothered to dodge.
Tension was filling the air.
Arrows, arrows and more arrows.
And then, finally, the real strike began.
Reyson heard a quiet whisper of Janaff's, telling Tibarn that the enemy's back lines had started to move.
His body felt light and strong, unusually tense.
One heron along the hawks, and he did not even think about retreating.
If Tibarn was going to fight, there was no way that he would stay out of the battle.
It took Reyson a while to finally discover the enemy.
His eyes were far from being as excellent as the hawks' were, and he was taken by surprise when he noticed how many they were.
The heron had been way too excited to pay much attention to the hawk tribe's troups, holding their back.
Now that he finally turned to make sure everyone was prepared, he felt his eyes widening.
'Wow', he lowly mumbled, feeling Tibarn's glare touching his face.
'I never realized how many of us there actually are.'
He met the hawk king's gaze, lightly pulling the corners of his mouth up, while his eye color was a soft green.
One short nod, then they both turned to face up front again, Tibarn's fingers carefully wrapped around Reyson's.
'I won't leave you, Reyson. So don't you dare leaving me either, alright?'
The hawk's voice was only a whisper, and the blond lightly squeezed his hand as an answer.
None of them would leave the battlefield alone.
Either both of them would survive all this, or none.
'Ohhh dear.'
A quiet murmur rushed through the hawks when Janaff anxiously narrowed his eyes.
Everyone was following his gaze, and the tension seemed to reach a new level.
The enemy apparently had decided not to wait any longer but to send out all their troups at a time.
Reyson could hear Tibarn's low grumble when the hawk king observed the hordes approaching, silently stepping out of the forest, weapons and shields bared.
A low shudder made the heron's body tremble.
So it really was to begin now.
Should he be happy about getting released from all the tension?
All of them had been strained for hours, so it probably was good to get started after all.
On the other hand, Reyson's worry started to draw his self assurance down.
No way.
He had been so very sure of what he wanted to do.
So very sure of what was supposed to happen.
Now that he was close to facing his fate, the heron started being afraid.
A light poke on his forehead.
'Don't start worrying now. It's too late anyway.'
Reyson looked up to meet Tibarn's encouraging smile, the hawk king's calm face was more than what he needed to get his mind eased again.
Liquid gold.
Damn, how he loved those eyes.
A silent laugh escaped the heron's lips, obviously irritating Tibarn.
'I'm just being silly, never mind me. I'm having improper thoughts.', Reyson explained with a gentle smile.
The journey his thoughts had started going on suddenly came to an end when an awful shriek caused the heron to shudder.
Slowly, carefully, and obviously unseen, a small unit of spearmen had made their way through the trees to the hawks' back.
Now the troups finally started moving.
Reyson hardly swallowed when he saw blood splattering, men going down, deadly wounded.
There was a short moment of hesitation, a minute of thinking and doubting.
Too late.
There was no time for this anymore.
From the corner of his eye, Reyson could watch the hawks switching forms, one by one, bodies seemed to explode in a cloud of feathers, green glows releasing giant birds, eyes widened in bloodlust.
Tibarn was one of the last men to transform.
He exchanged a silent look with Reyson, expressing his wish to have the heron stay back, then spread his wings and turned into his other self.
A short moment of indecision.
Then, another light green glow, followed by a silvery white cloud of feathers whirling through the air.
A piercing shriek mingled with the hawks' deeper caws, and everything seemed to become quiet for a second.
Hundreds of eyes stared at the graceful heron, gazed in disbelief, trying to understand why one of the innocent creatures of Serenes would get involved into the hawk tribe's battle.
One moment of surprise.
One chance.
The hawks changed some excited looks, waiting for their king to give them the sign everyone was waiting for.
Tibarn did not hesitate.
With an agitated outcry, he sped up, strongly flapping his wings, then suddenly changed his route and started to rush down towards the rows of enemies.
Countless birds followed his movements, dashing and raving behind their king, approaching the opposing squads with bared beaks and claws.
Reyson was no exception.
Fearless, his mind blank and his talons reaching out for the enemies' weapons, the heron launched himself into the hordes of Beorc, barely noticing what was going on around him.
Blind rage had taken over.
All the years of suffering, all the pointless deaths of Laguz.
There was no way Reyson would back off now.
Hesitation?
Forgotten.
Doubts?
Insignificant.
Tibarn was only a few meters away, fighting several enemies at a time, standing his ground without any visible effort.
He was as excited as everyone around.
Once and for all, the hawk tribe's independence would be proved.
Once and for all, their attitude would be demonstrated.
Cries of pain, awful screams.
Blood being spilled, reeking, making the heron shudder.
No options.
He was killing, he was joining the massacre.
For so many years they had accepted him as one of them.
For so many years they had offered him a home.
Now was the time for payback.
More and more soldiers were falling, more and more blood contaminated the floor.
The battle had spiralled out of control, but the fighting was still raging on.
Nobody thought about quitting the battle now.
Even Reyson, peaceful and calm as he always had been, could not escape the fighting rage anymore.
Crossbows still got drawn, firing bolt after bolt, here and there taking a man down, and both Laguz and Beorc corpses littered the floor.
Once Reyson got the chance, he threw a glance at his own coat, uneasily noticing how bloodstained it was.
How many kills had he scored?
He had no idea.
A heron, taking humans down.
Even hunting was a sin to the innocents of Serenes.
Whatever.
Whilst the heron's thoughts kept trailing off, his beak was busy defying two spearmen at a time.
Another volley of arrows cut across the sky, and Reyson did not notice the body spiralling down towards him until it crashed into him, throwing him out of balance and bursting into a nearby bush.
Lacking concentration, the white heron tumbled for a second, not paying attention to the nearby enemy anymore.
There was a sudden yell, a fearful outcry, then one of the crossbow bolts struck and pierced the heron's waist.
Tibarn was too late.
Frantically, the hawk's talons met the nearby swordsman's blade, tearing it apart and beheading the surprised soldier.
Reyson had been struggling to stand up straightly, still keeping his heron form.
He bent down, over and over, fighting for his consciousness.
The heron's rage was fading, all he knew was that giving up was no option to him.
Tibarn was still furious, his anger had only started swelling.
No trace of fear was visible in his eyes, no sign of weakness effected his movements.
There was only fury, blind and destructive.
The massive back of the king of hawks flexed as he flapped his wings and let loose a challenging cry to the forest below.
Those people had wounded his precious Reyson.
Mercy?
None at all.
Moss-colored feathers floated to the ground next to where Reyson was still fighting not to collapse.
Tibarn was avenging him.
Now...
His intention had been to support the hawk king, to be anything but a burden.
And now he was standing here, struggling not to break down.
What a shame.
Anger started taking over again, although different from the fury he had felt before.
This time Reyson was disappointed.
Disappointed in himself.
Quietly moaning, the heron shifted forms back to his human self, ripping the crossbow bolt out of his waist with a grimace of pain and throwing it off.
No hesitation.
No regrets.
Blood splashed to the ground, soaking the forest soil.
This was now or never.
Grimacing again, he ripped one of his sleeves off, carefully stuffing it in his belt to stop the bleeding.
Breathing in once.
Switching forms again.
He would not leave Tibarn all alone with his revenge.
An agitated shriek escaped the heron's throat before he, his neck stretched to its fullest, started dashing down towards the hordes attacking the hawk king.
His waist was burning like fire, consuming his fear and fueling his rage.
Reyson could not remember ever having been as furious as he was now, getting dizzy due to the loss of blood but still not ready to give up.
Over and over again he reared his head back and forth, beak closing on whatever it could reach and snapping at anything that was in range.
Even too excited to notice how very much the wound was weakening him, Reyson was taken by surprise when his wings suddenly betrayed him.
Muscles did not respond to his wishes anymore, and he turned straight into a suffocating flurry of feathers.
Helpless.
Reyson felt queasy, dizzy.
His head was spinning as he staggered towards the bloodstained ground.
One second, maybe two.
A cloud of white feathers, a green glow.
Then he crashed into the warm, wet soil, wings crumpling, clamping a hand to the now intensely bleeding wound.
Ugh!
And again, Tibarn was too late.
Shifting forms in midair, the man rushed down to earth, kneeling next to the heron.
'Reyson!'
The anxious face of Tibarn's was all Reyson could make out right now, and he did not need anything but that.
'You stubborn heron, why did you join the fight again? You knew you were injured, why couldn't you just back off and get treated as all the wounded soldiers do?'
There was a lot of anger in the hawk's rough voice, his skin color had turned into a pale grey as he had been talking, and Reyson irritatedly noticed how the other man started faltering.
'...Tibarn...', the heron lowly objected, gently raising a hand and placing it onto the other's waist.
His gaze did not follow his fingers' movements, but what he was able to feel confirmed his worst expectation.
Head still spinning, Reyson shoved the bandages on the hawk's waist aside and lightly palpated the other's skin to find what he was searching for.
Warm.
Wet.
Uneven skin where the blood leaked from Tibarn's body.
Not the slightest scratch in the other's clothings.
'You...', the heron began, an expression of shock on his face.
Tibarn's lips pulled up into an adorable smile, his golden eyes did not let go of Reyson's.
'Don't worry', he lightly laughed, 'I'll be okay.'
Reyson did not believe him.
He felt the pain clouding his mind, his power weakening due to the loss of blood, and he was sure that the other felt the same.
And indeed.
It took a few more minutes before the hawk's massive body started shaking heavier than before, trembling and reeling until he finally broke down right on Reyson.
The heron gasped, fighting for his breath.
'T...Ti..Tibarn!', he choked, nearly losing consciousness.
'I'm sorry', the hawk whispered, struggling to get back up but failing.
Reyson was panting but quietly nodded.
He knew.
He had known it all along.
The more time passed, the more blood was pouring out of both their waists, mingling between their bodies.
Their heartbeats got faster and weaker, lightly thudding against their chests, meeting one another.
A cry, then a tiny body breaking down next to them.
Reyson recognized him before he was able to spot him.
The voice, yelling for help with a trace of panic, clearly belonged to Janaff.
Janaff...
Even the king's eyes were late today.
But it was fine.
They had tempted fate, and now they lost.
Apparently, the hawk tribe had won the battle, and that was all they had been aiming for.
'Rey...son', Tibarn gently breathed, his voice cracking as his breaths got shorter and shorter.
'Even death... can't part us, eh....?'
The heron felt tears escaping the corners of his eyes as he finally closed them.
No.
Even death would not part them.
And with a quiet 'I will always love you', Reyson's breath ceased into silence, closely followed by Tibarn's.