Title: A Gift of Wings
Summary: "This is my gift to you…" was the last thing Lyner remembers hearing before waking up to discover that he now possesses a pair of angel wings! What implications will it have on him, and those around him, now that he has wings?
Pairings: Ayatane/Lyner
Warnings: Yaoi and somewhat strays from the original story line.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit from this whatsoever
AN: I'm super excited about this fic. It's my third attempt at a Cross Edge story and my third attempt at a multi-chaptered fic! I've decided to upload it here as this fandom seems pretty dead anyway, so I doubt I'll get any flames. Not that it would stop me from writing this, anyway.
If there is anyone reading this at all and are interested in my other stories, links can be found on my profile. You can either read them on my Livejournal account or at Wattpad. Either one.
Other than that, enjoy!
Chapter 1:
This is my gift to you…
That was the last thing Lyner remembered hearing before his world went dark. A gentle voice reached out to him, a soothing grace touched him. He felt comfort, light and, surprisingly, a little bit of familiarity.
He remembered very little else, only glimpses of what had happened. There was a battle, a Soul needing rescue, a surprised back attack, pushing Ayatane out of the way, and the unconscious desire to protect as many as he could. Including the Soul.
The details, however, were rather sketchy, especially the way his head was now throbbing.
His body heavy with fatigued and pain, Lyner forced his eyes to open. His vision, at first, blurry and unfocused. All he could see was the colour brown of different shades and he immediately wondered where he was.
As he blinked his eyes in an attempt to focus, his mind reeled on the condition of his body. He was lying on his stomach, on some rather uneven ground. He felt tired, heavy, with a slight uncomfortable achiness. And his back; he was certain that something was on his back.
Other than that, he could feel no other injuries. No significant injuries at least.
His first coherent thought after that was whether or not Ayatane and the others were ok. He hoped they weren't injured in some way.
Slowly, he tested his limbs, curling his hands into fists before relaxing them again. He was making sure that he could still feel his legs and arms, which thankfully, he could.
Although his vision was still not completely back to normal, Lyner pushed himself up onto his knees with his arms, an unfamiliar weight seemingly shifting against his back. He chose to ignore it for now, having years of experience pushing aside pain and discomfort, and rested on the heels of his feet, immediately noticing that the armour that always adorned his arm was gone, the long sleeve of his clothing torn in random places. His armour must have been destroyed in that battle. A testament at how sudden and powerful that surprise attack was.
Looking at his surroundings, Lyner quickly deduced that he was in a cave of some kind. How did he get here? He remembered being outside, in a rocky terrane. Could the ground have collapsed underneath him?
Well, anything was possible in this world.
Lyner glanced quickly over his shoulder and had to do a double take. Over his right shoulder he saw something white, light and feathery. And it seemed to be attached to his back. He stared at it, unblinkingly.
A…wing?
Ok, that was definitely not there before!
Quickly, he looked over his other shoulder and was immediately greeted with another large what he could only describe was an angel wing. Large, white, shimmering feathers. Lyner timidly tested a wing, using his mind to move it; and it did. It did move.
Slowly, he stood up, not believing what he was seeing or feeling. He tried them again, this time spreading his wings out, stretching them to their full length. They were as longer than he was tall!
They weren't a prop or a practical joke; there were real. These wings were attached to him. No, a part of him.
This is my gift to you…
W-wings? The Soul had granted him wings?
Wha…? How…? Just what the hell happened here?
With his breath quickening, on the verge of hyperventilating, Lyner ordered himself to calm down, well as much as he could giving the circumstances. And his situation was this; he was separated from the others, trapped in a possible cave in, his armour was damaged beyond any use and his weapons were missing.
And, most importantly, he had two large angel wings on his back. Of which he could move with his mind.
…This world was undoubtedly strange!
Were they permanent? Would they interfere with his ability to fight? Can he actually use them? How were they…?
So many questions, none of which Lyner had an answer to.
"Ok," Lyner muttered to himself as he drew in a deep breath. "First thing first; I need to get out of here."
Wherever 'here' was.
His vision cleared significantly, Lyner pushed aside his blatant disbelief and shock of his newly acquired wings and studied his surroundings again. He knew he was in a cave of some kind, a cave in more likely, but it was dimly lit. Meaning, there was a source of light coming from somewhere. He had to find that source of light.
Taking a step forward, Lyner winced, a shiver racing down his spine, when one of his wings brushed against a sharp rock. He looked back at his wings again, subconsciously twitching one of them to remind himself that, yeah, they were still there and still very real.
Thinking as logically as he could, Lyner folded the wings back behind him, pulling them in closer to his body. He then began to walk once more, taking great care with his steps. Normally, when he walked, it was in haste and with a need to get something done as quickly as possible.
But now, he was being cautious. He didn't like that feeling he got when his wing brushed against the rocky walls. His new wings seemed to be rather sensitive. Was it because they were new to him? Or was it a permanent thing?
…He really should stop asking himself so many questions. The only one that mattered right now was how he was going to find Ayatane and join back with the others. And whether they were alright or not.
A noise suddenly caught Lyner's immediate attention.
Instinctively, Lyner stumbled backward, up against the rocky wall behind him, pressing himself into the shadows, biting back a winces when his wings twitching from pain. He couldn't locate his weapon, so he wasn't armed. And he was in no condition to deal with a monster attack.
He heard another noise, which sounded suspicious like his name being called. So, he strained his ears to listen.
"Lyner, can you hear me?"
That voice, it was Ayatane's. He was so relieved to hear his voice. It meant that he was ok, that he was able to push him out of the way of that surprise attack. Truly, it was such a relief to him.
"Where could he be?"
"Do you think he's alright?"
"I'm…sure he's fine. Probably a little worse for wear, but alive at least."
"That's not entirely reassuring…"
And a few of the others were with him. He could distinctly hear the voices of York, Miko, Lady Shurelia, May, Marie and Etna. They were looking for him, worriedly as the concern (Eh, Etna? Not so much…) was palpable in their voices. Lyner sighed with relief, his shoulders sagging, his wings relaxing.
He, however, winced soon afterwards. Yeah, his wings. What would the others say when they saw them?
Would they even be able to see them? Maybe he was the only who could?
The voices were drawing nearer, although still not within sight. They weren't far away.
"Ayatane!" Lyner called back, his voice echoing through the cavern.
Suddenly, the shuffling of footsteps stopped and Lyner was pretty sure that everyone was holding their breathes, probably hoping they weren't hearing things.
"Lyner?" There was Ayatane's voice again, unsure but hopeful at the same time. "Where are you?"
"Ah, ahead of you," Lyner replied, trying to estimate where the voices were in fact coming from. It was hard to tell with all the echoing. "I think."
"Are you alright?" Ayatane asked him, concern heavy in his voice.
Lyner licked his lips nervously, completely unsure how to answer that. "I…I don't know?"
His response only made them move quicker and Lyner flinched at making them worry about him even more. But, it was the truth. He wasn't sure what had happened to him, or rather what was happening to him.
"Lyner?"
Much closer now. Right around a corner it seemed.
"Over here!"
The very second they came into sight, Ayatane's gaze immediately collided with his own, his usually gentle eyes filled with worry and concern. He paused, the others nearly running into the back of him as the two of them stared at each other for a moment. Lyner was certain that Ayatane couldn't see his wings, not yet, as he was half hidden in shadows.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Ayatane all but demanded to know as he moved closer to him.
Swallowing down the trepidation that was building, Lyner slowly stepped out from the shadows toward his 'family' members, toward Ayatane. He could feel his wings as they floated behind him, unfurling from his back. They didn't feel heavy, thank goodness as it would be hard to fight with something big and heavy on his back. But they were bulky and would take some time to get used to.
Not looking at anyone but Ayatane, Lyner watched as Ayatane's eyes immediately widen in complete and utter shock. And he heard the gasps and sharp intakes of air from the others, but all he could look at was into Ayatane's eyes.
Feeling decidedly self-conscious, Lyner folded his arms over his torso, his wings twitching at his back.
"L-Lyner?" Ayatane stuttered. "What…?"
"I, ah, woke up with them," Lyner said, subconsciously twitching his wings again, the very tips brushing against the dusty ground.
"W-wings?" someone spluttered, Lyner wasn't sure who.
"Yeah…A gift from a Soul, I think?"
"A Soul?" May repeated with a whisper. "How?"
If Lyner knew the answer to that he would tell them.
"They can't be real," Etna stated in a rather firm voice.
Etna suddenly moved forward and grabbed one of his wings in a harsh and painful grip, twisting the feather in her fingers as if to prove they were either an illusion or completely fake.
But Lyner screamed.
It wasn't a yelp of surprise or discomfort, but a scream of pain. Squeezing his eyes shut, Lyner wrapped his arms around his torso as he curled up into himself, his wings immediately folding around him. He stumbled backwards, Etna having released her grip on his wing the moment he screamed, clearly shocked by his reaction, as was everyone else.
"Lyner!"
Ayatane immediately made his way over to Lyner, standing before him and placing his hands on his shoulders. His brow drew together in concern when he felt Lyner's body tremble under his grip. Ayatane moved his hands down Lyner's arm to his elbows in an attempt to help Lyner stay on his feet, feeling him swaying a little from the pain.
"What did you do?" Ayatane immediately hissed at Etna, standing protectively in front of Lyner.
"I didn't do anything!" Etna insisted. "I just touched his wing and…"
"D-don't," Lyner managed to say around a hiss of pain that seemed to consuming him whole. "Don't touch my wings, please."
"His wings appear to be very sensitive," Lady Shurelia said. "It would be best not to touch them."
That was kinda stating the obvious.
Gah, the pain…It was unlike anything he had felt before. It was hot and jagged, seeming coursing through every fibre of his being.
"Lyner?" Ayatane prompted, his grip tightening on Lyner.
The leader and knight part of Lyner's personality wanted to tell Ayatane and the others that he was going to be alright, that he wasn't in much pain. Reassure them that there was nothing to worry about. But…
"…I think I'm going to pass out," he muttered, his vision fading at a frightening rate.
And after that, everything went black again.
Well, that was the first chapter. I would love to hear any comments, but no flames, please.