White Wolf Fan Fiction Presents:
~Little Sparrow~
A Fable Story
Title: Little Sparrow
Words: 1,666 (15,861)
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 6
-0-
It's been seven months since Hiro had been banished from Albion and he made an honest, though empty, life as a sell sword. He took care of bandits, of assassins, of criminals, and of monsters for anyone willing to pay and even those who didn't care if he got his money or not.
No one cared who he was. All they cared about was that he was good at what he said he was good at.
He missed his home, his kingdom, and his friends… but most of all, he missed Reaver.
He heard news, every now and then, from Albion, but never anything worthwhile. And though several times he had been tempted to go back, every time going as far as the bridge, he could never work up the strength or the heart to cross the barrier again. He wouldn't risk breaking his side of the promise, not over something as silly as being homesick.
"Hiro?" Hiro looked up startled from his thoughts, and turned his head to the side, to where a young woman was, standing at the doorway of his little room at the little inn in a no name village miles from the bridge crossing into Albion. "Are you alright?"
"I… I'm fine Lila, just…" he sighed and looked out the window once more before turning fully away from it and he grabbed his cloak. "Just preparing for the hunt…" he finished lamely and she offered a sad smile to him as he pulled the cloak over his head and grabbed the sword he'd forged himself a week after settling into the first village he'd come across, before moving to the next.
"I see…" she hummed and then held out a small basket. "I brought up bread and cheese for you. I know you tend to forget to eat, oft before hunts, and you'll need your strength for this one, I would think."
"Thank you," he said politely, taking the bread and cheese, taking a bite of each, just to please her, before setting them in his pouch, no doubt to be forgotten later on. He rubbed at his arm, a phantom pain making itself known there, but ignored it, just as he's ignored every other kind of pain he felt through the bond, wishing that it wasn't there, not for the first time.
It was hard enough to deal with his heart hurting on its own, let alone dealing with the bond putting more pressure on his heart.
He feared one day it would actually break and, well, then where would he be?
He made his way outside, frowning at the bright sunlight, not reflecting his mood one once, before shrugging it off and he walked down the path, to where the balverine nest was rumored to be.
The forest he came across after a while, still heading along the path, was dark and the perfect place for a balverine.
He was emotionless as he tracked the creature down, his heart no longer in the things he once enjoyed.
When he found the first balverine, it came as no surprise that the creature got in the first hit, catching him across the chest and tearing his cloak.
He retaliated by cutting its head right off its shoulders.
-0-
Albion was in ruins since the prince had left… had abandoned them, so the people say, and so Page had them believing. Benn and Lexal were weak, Page was furious and had only pushed herself closer and closer to the breaking point with each fight she caused, Kidd fell ill and no longer had the will to fight, and Walter… Logan didn't like what Walter had to say and broke his promise within the first week that Hiro had crossed the border.
Walter was dead and Reaver didn't know who was next at this point.
Him, possibly, if only Logan could find him.
Reaver had got out of there the second he figured out how, promising Benn and Lexal to be back for them.
Within the first month, Reaver had felt emotions so strong his heart clenched at the fact that Hiro was hurting, physically hurting to be away from them and away from his home. By the time the second month came around, he could start to feel how empty Hiro felt, and though there were bursts of emotions, of fear or anger or longing… it wasn't long until that emptiness had taken over him and he spent nights awake, wishing that Hiro was there, with him, and not miles away in a no name village.
When the forth month rolled around, Reaver had discovered not only could he not get through the barrier by himself, but that Logan had sent an assassin after Hiro, to get rid of him like Reaver could not.
"Oh little Sparrow…" Reaver frowned as he stared at the medallion in his hands, before he closed his eyes tightly and he pressed it against his forehead, "I'm so sorry… It's my fault this happened… if only… if only I had been fast enough to save your mother…" he finished in a tony, barely there whisper.
He spent the fifth month searching of ways to get across the border, so he could finally use the medallion the late queen had given him to find the little prince. And when the sixth month came and gone, he was finally across the border, but not without a heavy price that he had been more than willing to give up, if only just for Hiro.
Only ever for his little Sparrow.
When he crossed the border, it was the first time he felt pain that wasn't his own and he grinned, because that meant Hiro was alive and he wasn't too late.
"I'm coming, my little Sparrow."
-0-
It was three weeks after he'd crossed the border that he finally heard any word of where Hiro was, and he learned that Hiro had taken jobs from several people to hunt down monsters or people, just to keep himself from thinking of his home and what he was forced to leave behind. But that was also when he discovered that another man, one of magic and covered in scars, had asked where the little prince had gone to as well.
When he got to the next village, he nearly crumbled to the ground, his hands flying to his chest when he felt phantom claws rake across his chest and he felt fear take hold of him, his blood running cold at the thought that he could already be too late.
"Hiro…" he choked out and gripped the medallion tightly, closing his eyes before opening them again, coffee eyes blazing, "Hiro!"
-0-
Balverine after balverine, Hiro took them apart, spilling blood that was both his own and not, but he ignored the scratches that bled deep and the bruises that formed from being thrown around. He was barely standing by the time the last balverine fell, its silver fur gleaming in the filtered sunlight through the dark green leaves of the canopy above him. "I… I know you're there…" he let out, closing his eyes as he heard the rustle of the bushes behind him and before he could react, he was thrown against a tree mere feet in front of him. He heard his ribs crack as he fell to the hard ground, his cheeks scratched against a little thistle bush and he struggled to get up, as the foreign voice floated to his ears.
"You're very perceptive for someone whose heart is weak." The man smirked and Hiro lifted his emotionless gaze towards the stranger.
"Who are you?" he asked, sitting up and he wiped the blood from his cheek, the blood-loss from the balverine scratches getting to him.
"A man here to settle an old grudge," he answered and lifted his hand, easily lifting Hiro up from the ground, cutting off his air supply with his magic. "I'm lucky I got to you after the balverine's did a number on you. I've heard many a rumor about how strong you are, sword skill and magic both and I feared facing you at full strength, I admit."
"C-coward…" Hiro choked out, though his heart wasn't in his words and the man smirked, knowing that. "Just… just finish it already…" he stopped fighting the magic warring with his own and the man narrowed his eyes, the smirk still on his face.
"Oh? Giving up are we? And here I thought you were going to be more of a challenge." He squeezed his hand and Hiro screamed.
-0-
Reaver was so close… but not nearly close enough.
His grip was tight on the medallion and he ran as fast as his feet could carry him, but it just wasn't fast enough.
One second the phantom scratches were all he could feel and then he was feeling the worst possible pain ever, his heart squeezing inside him and he fell to the ground, clutching at his chest, choking on his breath. His vision swam and he moved one hand to the ground beneath him, only just realizing there was a ring, glowing white-gold around his wrist and he gritted his teeth as it flashed.
Suddenly the bracelet broke and Reaver's entire being froze, his heart feeling as if someone had taken a knife to it.
"No!" he roared, sending several woodland creatures scurrying away from him, before he took the medallion in his hands and he used the magic Hiro's mother had gifted him. One second he was on the forest floor and then the next he was standing behind a man, scarred, who was using magic to hold the limp prince off the ground. "You son of a bitch!" And then he had his gun out and before the man could even turn around, his gun went off, shooting several rounds into the man's head and chest, killing him instantly.
Reaver was at Hiro's side, catching him in his arms, before the man even hit the ground.
