White Wolf Fan Fiction Presents:

~Little Sparrow~

A Fable Story


Title: Little Sparrow

Words: 2,302 (4,065)

Warnings: Yaoi (Boy Love), fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, minor humor, character death, violence

Pairings: Reaver/Hiro; Lexal/Benn

Disclaimer: I've written enough of these stories for you guys to know that I only own Hiro. Reaver and the rest of what is in Fable belongs to those who made Fable… except for Lexal, kind of. The human form of him anyway.

Summary: Hiro is a young prince who struggles with having an older evil brother that has taken over the kingdom, a seemingly unrequited love, and little to no freedom. But when something seemingly impossible happens, binding him to the one he loves, things only go downhill from there when Logan takes advantage of new information and Hiro's life takes a major turn for the worse. The only question is… can he overcome what happens or will everything become too much for him to handle…?


Chapter 1

-0-

"God. Fucking. Hell. On a. Fucking. Bloody. Shit stick!" Benn shouted, pacing back and forth along the bloodied grass- the blood from a recent bandit attack on their camp- just outside said camp, with his hands in his very messy, dirty blonde hair.

"Day who bloody knows what and Benn has officially lost his mind…" Kidd grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his green eyes, his dark brown hair sticking up in odd angles from having just woken up.

"Shut the fuck up Kidd…" Benn hissed at him, eyes blazing as he whipped around to stare at the other man. "You'd be pissed as fuck too if only you would just open your damn eyes and realize that we're short a fucking person because a certain god damn prince doesn't know when to quit risking his bloody fucking life for every little wrong thing that we pass!"

"…shit." Kidd grimaced and Benn glared darkly at him before grabbing a thin, silver long sword leaning against a burnt tree stump and he stalked off through the forest, leaving the stunned and frankly, still half asleep Kidd on his own in the camp while Walter and his sister Page were also nowhere to be found.

-0-

"I thought that you said no one knew you were gone…" Hiro whined, as best as he could while also sounding frustrated, the hood to his black cloak concealing his hair and face just enough that the young woman in his care, who had gotten lost in the forest after running away the previous night before, wouldn't recognize him enough to call him out on it.

"W-well…" she started nervously, eyes wide as she looked at the man in front of them, with his lackeys and goons behind him.

"Oi! Shut yer trap an' 'and over the girl!" the man hissed, very obviously drunk, but it was also clear his goons were not and were very clearly able to fight on their own without their leader ordering them about.

"I-I may… m-may have been gone l-longer than the n-night…?" the woman stuttered out and Hiro just barely slumped his shoulders, because of course that's what is happening now.

"Just… hide somewhere and let me take care of these idiots before I take you back home, safe and sound." He told her, his tone sharp at the end, a clear order and she, thankfully, obeyed him. The man didn't find this very amusing, however, despite it not having meant to be so, and threw out his arm in a ridiculous attempt to lunge at Hiro. The prince managed to successfully dodge him, but couldn't dodge the swipe of a sword from another goon, one that had taken the swipe from the leader as the signal to attack. "Just give up now and let us go in peace…!"

"Not on yer life!"

"Well… just don't say I didn't ask nicely…" muttering to himself, Hiro managed to take out the leader without any help of his magic or his sword, knocking him back against a tree and he barely held back a cringe from the crack sound his head made against the hard burnt wood. The first goon was a little harder to take out, with three others at his sides and back, trying to disarm him and send him backwards at the same time.

He used his magic, a particularly weak wind blast spell to send two of the goons back, feigning that he pushed them away himself, and took a swipe with his sword at the one in front of him, knocking him back against the ground and making sure he couldn't get back up. This time he didn't cringe as much as the first time, aware that after a few years of doing this, he was about as used to hearing bones crack and snap as much as someone his age could get used to the sounds.

Turning to the other goons, he was pleased to find that one of them had run while the other two looked about ready to run away. "Am I going to have to ask again or…?"

"Yer fuckin' crazy!" one of them hissed at him and he only smirked, blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight filtering through the trees that weren't burnt.

"Maybe." He countered, expertly sticking his sword in the ground and within the next second, he had his bow out and armed. "I'm going to give you to the count of- oh." He blinked, startled when one of the two ran away, shrieking like a little girl. He couldn't help it, a giggle bubbling up before turning into full on laughter, except he really shouldn't have let his guard down.

In five seconds flat, he went from laughing to shouting curses when he was knocked back, sharply against a tree, his head cracking against the wood much like the leader's own had, only he wasn't knocked unconscious.

"O-okay… not a big fan of- ow…" Hiro huffed out, getting up and straightening his hood before the man could do anything else and he made a quick move to grab his sword, before turning on the man, holding it out. "Last chance?" he grinned cheekily, as best as he could with blood running down the side of his face and nearly into his eyes from the knock to the head.

"We're takin' that girl and yer not gonna get in our way!"

"…right." Hiro sighed and without thought, lunged forward, matching the man's sword swipe for swipe, just a little stronger and a little faster, pushing him back until they were at the edge of a ditch and Hiro pushed him into it, cringing fully now with the scream the man let out as he fell.

Hiro turned away before he hit the ground and sheathed his sword, walking over to pick up his bow and he put it away before turning towards the hiding spot the young woman had picked out.

"You can come out now," he told her, and turned away again, ready to start back towards the village before any more unwelcome visitors showed up.

"W-wha…? W-who are you? T-that was a-amazing!" she gushed, rushing up to meet his fast pace, clinging to his arm, much to his annoyance and awkwardness- he wasn't used to having a girl, or anyone for that fact, hang off of him, if his blush was any indicator of that fact.

"Just… just a friend… a-and please don't touch…?" he cleared his throat, relaxing significantly when she let go of his arm, apologizing profusely about her behavior. "It's okay…" he added in a softer tone, offering a smile back to her, before offering a last promise to get her home safe and sound.

-0-

The minute Hiro returned the girl to her family, he left before anything could be said or done, back into the forest and out of the village as fast as he could. He didn't want to be stopped by anyone who would recognize him, or worse… by the guards in the village that came from King Logan's castle.

When he returned to the parts of the forest he knew best, he let a weary smile cross his face that didn't leave it until he came upon a thin, crystal river, one of the few left untainted by Logan's destructive reign. When he pulled down his hood and bent down to splash water in his face, he was unsurprised when he heard barking from the other side, before a black and white dog came jumping across stones, avoiding the actual water, until he was by the young prince's side. "Hello to you too, Lexal." Hiro chuckled, shrugging off his cloak, hanging it up on the branch of a tree near where he was standing.

Lexal, the dog, snorted and ducked his head, sitting down on the ground.

"What?" Hiro asked, frowning now and he sighed when the dog huffed again. "Don't get all huffy with me, mister. That young woman needed my help, and my mother always taught me to help those in need, no matter the cost."

Lexal growled low in his throat before standing up and he jerked his muzzle towards the blood now staining the water.

Hiro at least had the gall to look apologetic before he took off his shirt, hanging it up beside the cloak. "I know… I let my guard down, but only for a few seconds. They got in a lucky shot, I'll admit, but nothing worthwhile." He assured and Lexal only growled again before making a noise in sharp confusion when Hiro shot him a look. "Lexal… I need to get washed up…" he started slowly and when Lexal only tilted his head in more confusion, Hiro blushed and cleared his throat, before motioning to his trousers and then to the water.

Lexal did not look impressed.

Hiro groaned and scrunched his nose up at the dog, "Look, just because you're… you know, a shifter doesn't mean I can get undressed in front of you. Because, you know you're not actually a dog." Hiro huffed out himself before snickering when Lexal made an affronted noise, at being called out on what he was. "Don't deny it mister, and besides Benny-boy may be okay with you doing stuff like that, but I'm not. So… if I were you, I'd wait until you're boyfriend gets here to drag me back to camp and turn around, please? So I may get washed before he does?"

Lexal grumbled to himself, his tail flicking back and forth, but he eventually did as told, turning around so Hiro could get undressed all the way before he got into the river to wash the blood from his skin and his hair.

"Honestly, I don't get what's so wrong about me going off doing things like this, you know? I'm trying to make a difference in this chaotic world my brother has created… and if that means getting myself hurt along the way, and maybe even killed, it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"You stupid son a fucking bitch. How dare you say you're willing to die for all of those ungrateful bastards out there?!" Hiro flinched when he heard Benn's voice, but didn't turn around as he finished rinsing the blood from his face and his head.

"I don't regret my decisions, Benn," Hiro said, his voice calm and smooth, a big contrast to how he was feeling on the inside, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He never liked it when his friends got involved with his suicidal plans, or even knew that he was planning on going out fighting this war against his brother, because he knew they were suicidal, he did. That didn't stop him from trying to make a difference though, like he told Lexal.

"You… you… argh! You're so fucking selfish, do you even understand what you're saying?"

"Yes." He answered, knowing full well the consequences of his words.

Benn was dangerously silent behind him, seething no doubt, and Hiro waited a few minutes, to either let the blonde cool down or boil in his anger. When he finally turned around, Benn was glaring daggers at him, obviously still pissed, but Hiro couldn't help but giggle when he saw Lexal circling him, trying to brush up against him, but Benn apparently wasn't in the mood for any of Lexal's antics.

"Lexal, leave poor Benny-boy alone, okay? And turn back around so I can get dressed again, both of you, please?" he pulled up his precious puppy face, just for Benn, and reluctantly, the blonde did so, waiting barely a minute before turning back around. The second Hiro had his cloak back on, not bothering with his hood, he grabbed the prince roughly before dragging him back in the direction of the camp. "H-hey! Ow, okay, Benn! That hurts…!" he whined and Benn only glared at him, not answering with a verbal response.

Lexal made a noise behind the two and Hiro only barely managed to sneak a look behind them, relaxing when he saw the dog grab his sword and bow, before following after them.

-0-

"Why the bloody hell is Hiro tied to a tree?" Walter questioned, sounding annoyed, and even more so when all the prince in question did was grin up at him, tilting his head up in greeting.

"Long story short, Hiro left, pissing Benny-boy off, and when they returned, Benn tied Hiro up so he couldn't leave again." Kidd hummed, sitting next to the campfire with a bowl of beef stew in his hands.

"Pointless really, since you all know I can get myself out of this easily," Hiro piped up and Lexal huffed out a laugh, from where he was lying beside the young prince.

"Right… and where is Benn?" Page questioned, frowning slightly, more annoyed than the old man was.

"He's brooding in his tent. He won't even let Lexal in there with him, and that's saying something," Kidd snickered, even more so when Lexal whined pitifully.

"Well, tell him to stop brooding," Page growled out, crossing her arms. "We have to move camp, again. Guards were spotted near the river south of here."

Hiro deflated and sighed, nodding to Lexal when the dog perked his head up, and while the others went around packing their things up, he watched as Lexal shifted, from a dog to a man- tall with black and white hair and stunning onyx eyes- before making his way to Benn's tent.

He himself worked to get out of the rope tying him to the tree and when he was free, he started helping out, knowing it was best to lie low for a few days at least. If only just to let Benn simmer down enough to forgive him for his words said earlier.