Chapter 4- Tibarn/Reyson

Tibarn sank his talons deep into the Daein's chest, then tossed the man aside as though he weighed nothing. His aim was true; the soldier struck one of his comrades and the two rolled off the cliff side. Screeching his triumph, the Phoenician King wheeled around and scanned the battlefield.

It seemed that despite the traps the Daeins had set, the Crimean Liberation Army was holding its own. They would be fine, even without his help. Tibarn had spent the journey in hawk form to reach the battle as quickly as possible, but it had left him drained of energy and soon he would be forced to return to human form. There was still some fight left in him, though, and he searched for a more worthy opponent. His eyes fell on the Daein commander, and he sped off.

He never made it. An arrow thudded into his side, shot form an archer hidden by the uneven surface of the mountain. It was a small wound, but his energy was more drained than he'd realized and it pushed him over the edge. Against his will he felt his body return to human form, feathers melting into skin and talons stretching into feet. Tibarn managed to stay aloft for a few moments, but another arrow sent him crashing to the ground. A sharp crack alerted him that his wing was broken, but before the pain registered his head struck a rock and he sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

From his position partway up the mountain Reyson saw the archer take careful aim at Tibarn and opened his mouth to shout a warning, but before he could the arrow struck and the words died in his throat. He flew foreword, but could do nothing but watch as his friend and secret love tumbled down the mountain, leaving a trail of blood. The archer was quickly killed by Lethe, but it hardly mattered to the heron. The damage had been done.

His only hope was to reach the hawk and try to heal him, and pray that the damage was less than it appeared.

* * *

The first thing Tibarn was aware of was a dull ache in his right wing. The second was that something warm and soft was laying against his side. Must be a blanket, he decided, and reached down to pull it higher. His hand met a silken tangle of hair. "Uungh?" he groaned in confusion.

"You're awake. And have possibly hit your head harder than I'd realized. How do you feel?" Reyson asked, managing to sound both worried and exasperated.

Tibarn raised his head and cracked open an eye. "Why are you laying on me? I'm fine," he replied, and tried to push himself into a sitting position. Two sharp stabs of pain in his abdomen forced him back to the ground.

"You're not healed yet. Stop moving," Reyson scolded, repositioning so that the wounds pressed against his torso. The touch of a royal heron could heal, though it worked slowly.

Tibarn lay still and asked, "How goes the battle?"

"We've almost won. The others are near the top of the mountain and no one's been injured as bad as you, which is why I'm down here."

The hawk opened his eyes again and looked around. He was near the battle's starting place, about halfway up the mountain. "I fell rather far," he said in mild surprise. "I recall hitting the ground somewhere up there." He gestured with his eyes.

"I'm surprised you remember anything at all! You rolled most of the way. By some miracle your right wing is still intact, but your left… Well, it will heal. Eventually."

"And as for the arrow wounds, I've had worse," Tibarn added. Reyson moved to rise and re-check his friends injuries, but the hawk's strong arm wrapped around his waist and he was pulled back down.

"Tibarn?"

His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was sleeping. "I'm fine, Reyson, calm down," he said, a faint smile touching his lips.

Had it been anyone but Tibarn, Reyson would had protested, but there was something about the hawk he found irresistible, and he couldn't help but to relax into his arms. Tibarn's hand once again found it's way to Reyson's hair, and the heron nuzzled his cheek against his rough palm.

Tibarn had loved Reyson for nearly as long as they'd lived together, right after Serenes had been destroyed, but felt no need to, as he always said when arguing with himself, "distract myself from ruling Phoenicis and mess up a perfectly good relationship." Though he never told Reyson of his feelings, he still enjoyed the brief, rare moments they shared where they almost seemed to be more than friends.

He didn't know it, but Reyson felt the same way. The heron had always been cautious not to let it show, but he was too stressed by the war and by Tibarn's injury to hide it now, and so he went on cuddling with the larger man without protest.

After a few moments, Tibarn gently grasped Reyson around the waist and pulled him higher, so that their faces were level. Being injured had made him realize that anything could happen, and Reyson was too important to him to ignore his feelings. What if one of them was killed? His new resolve to keep no secrets from the heron drove him to speak. "I love you, Reyson."

Blushing slightly, the heron did not reply, choosing instead to press their lips together in a gentle first kiss.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Took me a while to get it up here, and all I can say is my teachers have once again all assigned projects at exactly the same time. Thankfully I've finished everything (almost), and can once again work on this. No one's had any suggestions for my final pairing, so I'm gonna have to come up with my last one by myself. Oh well. I'll figure something out.

Anyways, thanks for reading!