A set of multiple segments of the beautiful times Marcy and Joe spent together. Because Joe Sparrow is the best birb and deserve more love. (I did an unholy amount of research for the sake of this fic, hope y'all like it lol)
TW: blood; depiction of violence
Joe struggled against the shackles in his legs and ropes on his upper body as he tried to spread his giant wings. He could hear some harsh, frustrated insults from the newt guards that tried to restrict him. He had been charged with treason for helping traitor Captain Grime deliver his messages to what remained of the toad rebellion. It was against what he was trained for: his duty of putting his loyalty toward the king of Newtopia second to no one. That however, had never been the case, and he couldn't help it.
Marcy had always been an influence to him, and that had been long before he became a part of the Knight Ranger crew. In fact, he and Marcy pretty much worked their way up together. And for Joe Sparrow, it was his entire life. Joe wasn't too old, due to which Marcy often got away with treating him like a hatchling as if she wasn't a child herself. Joe often rolled his eyes to himself; he wasn't stupid of course, he was a Sparrow, he wasn't some dumb pigeon.
The memory of her distressed him. He really missed her guidance at this point. Marcy had always been more than just a rider, she had been the only comfort he had known in his rough life and career as a Newtopian Knight Guard. Right now he was being kept as an animal 'gone mad'. All he wanted at this point was to break free so he could go and find her, so he could hear her whistle from miles across and follow it in a fraction of seconds, carry her through the mists of clouds while she complimented his spirit. He heard the newt guards leader yelled at his subordinates, commanding them to get the bird under control.
"For frog's sake," He heard the leader say. "What's it gonna take all of you to get a damn bird under control?"
"In our defense, it's like 10 feet tall." One of the guards countered.
"Can we not…just simply end him or something?" Another one questioned, panting hard as he and his coworkers yanked the ropes harder.
"Y'all are planning to get me killed or what?" The leader growled. "Did you see her? Who know if something happened to her bird, I'd be the next one getting impaled!" The room went silent.
"…what did his majesty do to master Marcy?" one of them dared to ask.
"He has his plans. All that's known is that she was stabbed, and the next thing we know is she's…this. Now get back to work." Joe's eyes shot opened.
Marcy had been harmed. And he let it happen.
His beak moved up and down rapidly as he breathed heavily, gathering all the energy he had left, he jerked upwards and flapped his wings violently, letting out a loud tweet as he attempted to break free. More yells were heard while he continued struggling, not stopping till he ran out of energy and dropping on his belly. It couldn't be…he couldn't have let it happen. He had one purpose, to protect her, and he had failed. He let her safety be at risk, he couldn't save the one person who had been everything to him.
Joe had learned all the essential survival skills that were a must for worthy a knight guard, however, he could never really learn having to live without her.
Several months ago…
"Ohhh, my gosh!" Marcy gasped as she observed the flowered plant with her magnifying glass. "Epipogium aphyllum! What a rare catch, I knew I made the right choice coming over this area." She muttered to herself and jotted down the information in her journal. "And Andrias said it's a waste land, 'you'd never find anything worth your interest there, Marcy!'" She mimicked the king's words in a funny, deepened voice. "Frogspit. Everything is worth exploring if you'd ask me, especially in a world this cool." Marcy's self-rambling was interrupted when she heard a rustle in the woods and turned around, reloading her crossbow. The area wasn't habitat to any large predators as per her knowledge, however she still always made sure she was prepared for any possible danger.
The place went quiet again. Marcy caught a glimpse of the dense tree branch above her squirm, must be a predator. She shot her arrow above and a small bulk of mass fell down from the tree. Marcy didn't waste a moment and tackled the fallen creature, pinning it with her boot before it could attempt an attack, her crossbow aimed in defense.
"Why, would you look at that," She smiled, the sense of safety returning after a moment of observing the creature that stared up at her with its cute bright, wide golden eye, she looked up into her journal. "Let's see. Black fur with white stripes…six legs. You must be a Kill-a-pillar if I'm not wrong! A hybrid of cat and caterpillars that feeds on smaller preys. How thrilling to witness one of you in natural habitat!"
"Meow."
Ruffling its head affectionately, Marcy released the creature and it rush back into the woods. She hopped in excitement, Amphibia's wildlife never failed to amaze her. She heard another noise, a chirp to be specific, and looked over to the other creature on the ground. It was a bird, seeming to be barely a few weeks old. Sensing her approaching, it sprinted over to hide under the leaves.
"You can come out now. Don't be scared." Marcy knelt down and whistled soothingly, slowly uncovering the hatchling that looked cautiously up at her. "Well, look at that. Looks like we know what mister Kill-a-pillar was after." She observed the creature curiously with her magnifying glass. It was clearly a sparrow, suspiciously like ones found back on earth. "Brilliant. Well, good thing I just saved your life there, birb." The hatchling looked up at her and tilted its head with the same curiosity, taking a few steps closer hesitatingly before stumbling off its feet.
Marcy noticed the wound on the sparrow's leg, "Oh, frog! You're injured, I gotta get you to the castle for immediate medical assistance," she carefully took the scared bird in her hands, soothing it calm. It nudged against her thumb and chirped, she snickered. "Oh my gosh, he likes me. You're safe now, birb, you're gonna be okay."
"Andrias! Look at this, you gotta see this. Just stop doing what you're doing and look at this, Andrias!" Marcy exclaimed, almost in tears. Andrias looked over his shoulder at the bird, that now had tiny bandages on its leg, eating millet from the palm of Marcy's hand. "He's…he's…ARE YOU SEEING THIS?"
"Indeed am."
"He trusts me!" She squealed, barely keeping in the urge to jump around. "Oh, gosh. You have no idea, I've never had a been good with animals. I touched Anne's cat Domino's belly once, I barely survived that day." Andrias, although having no idea what she was talking about still nodded. "In my defense though, nowhere did it specifically mention that in any of the books I read. Strange." She shrugged before smiling at the eating bird. "At least he's nice. Wee baby, eat so you can heal quick." She rubbed the sparrow's neck with her thumb, not liking the disturbance in meal, the bird immediately bite it. "Ow! Oh, you-"
Andrias laughed. "You wouldn't be calling it that for too long. Amphibian Sparrows are known for growing…big." He informed. "And I mean really big. So gigantic they've been potentially used in wars."
"Pfft, don't kid with me, Andrias." Marcy huffed. "I wasn't born yesterday; Sparrows are like one of the smallest- wait, are you serious?"
Andrias shrugged, standing up. "Well, you always have the castle library opened to help your curiosity." He ruffled her hair with a smile. "I expect you take good care of him."
Marcy saluted. "Sir! Yes, sir. I sure will take good care of Joe."
"Hmm?" Andrias raised an eye.
"Joe Sparrow." She smiled at the bird. "That's his name. Duh."
Marcy was indeed surprised, the king wasn't kidding. It had been about a week and Joe had already grown about the size of a beach ball, it was marvelously fast. He had also bonded with her quicker than she thought. And Marcy had to admit, he indeed just kept getting smarter as he grew up.
Another thing Marcy did not know was how clinging the bird could be, to a whole different level. Even though she wouldn't exactly call Joe 'social' but she did notice the problems rising with leaving him unsupervised, she guessed the reason could've had something to do with being left alone in his nest when he was attacked, that might be triggering the said response. He was probably just afraid another Kill-a-pillar might pounce on him.
Marcy sat at her desk; face buried into the book she was reading. The room was dim, with a lamp on her table being the only source of light. Joe moved across the floor like a big fluffy ball of yarn rolling around, and mischievously sneaked under the desk.
"GAAAH-!" Marcy screamed in startle when she felt something rubbing against the plumage of her boots and immediately put her book away to look down, only to find Joe nuzzling against her. "Oh, it's just you. You scared me." the fledgling tweeted in response. "Gee, I can't play, Joe. I need to finish this book, it's…kinda important. Also, you should be asleep." He just stared up at her stubbornly. Marcy rolled her eyes, her foot gently jostled him away. "Shoo. Move over now, lil' guy."
Joe wasn't amused as Marcy had already zoned out in her book again. He hopped over to the armrest, when that didn't seem to catch the attention he sought, he began violently flapping his nascent brown wings; which smacked Marcy right in face. She jolted to look at him, the bird paused in place and tweeted slowly. Marcy pinched the bridge of her nose stressfully. "Ugh. Birb, I know you're excited about your developing wings, which is FAIR considering your growth stage, but can you please flap them somewhere else, that probably isn't my face?" the fledgling tilted his head in confusion before starting to flap again.
Marcy sighed and picked him up, marching over to his little bed that was designed specially to seem like a nest. "Wanna know a fun fact, birb? Your species ain't nocturnal, so sleep." She placed the sheets over him. Joe stared expectantly up at her, Marcy stared back cluelessly and scratched her head. "Um, yeah," her gloved hand stroked him. Now much relaxed, Joe sang and leaned into the touch, she smiled. "Good night, baby Joe."
Marcy got up and walked back to her desk. She sighed to herself, she was well aware of her awkwardness around people, but gosh, being awkward around a tiny bird was rather embarrassing.
She could barely ever watch her own step as Anne and Sasha always said, looking after a creature that always required her attention would be far beyond her capabilities, especially when she was known for having the attention-span of a goldfish. It made her nervous; responsibility wasn't Marcy's trait, that was Anne and Sasha's. Anne protected her, just like Sasha protected Anne. From what she figured, she was only helpful when it came to homework and passing tests.
Marcy picked the book she had been reading and stared at it emptily, she had spent the past whole week reading this collection of Avian Encyclopedia but was there even a point? She sucked as a caretaker, and Joe deserved better than whatever she was doing. "Note to self: appoint a qualified member to look after him ASAP." She muttered under her breath, tossing the pile of books over in the trash and making a quick note in her journal. She turned off the lights and jumped into her bed, staring out of the window at the reddish shining moon.
It was almost painful how much she missed Anne and Sasha. They'd surely be so helpful right now.
Soon the flapping noise begun again, Marcy groaned and buried her face in the pillow. What in the world was wrong with this bird? The flapping stopped and Marcy's heart almost skipped a beat when she felt something crawling on her belly, she jolted up and immediately turned on the lights. It was Joe, cuddled up on top of her, looking much relaxed than where she left him. "Joe?" the baby sparrow tweeted and tucked his head underneath his scapular feathers. Marcy rested a hand atop his back and smiled. "Pfft, fine. You can stay."
She proceeded to turn off the light but stopped when he tweeted at her. "Huh? Wait a sec. Joe, do you not like it dark?" he snuggled closer. Marcy shrugged with a snicker. "Ah sure, no problem. Works for me." she said, slightly impressed with her own understanding of him.
Perhaps getting someone else to look after him wasn't such a good idea; Joe was far too important and Marcy couldn't bring herself to trust anyone else with him, maybe it was better he'd stay with her. Pulling the sheets up and partially covering him, she closed her eyes, the feeling of the soft feathers brushing against her wiping all her loneliness away. "Good night, Joe Sparrow."
It was over midnight. Joe's feathers fluffed up in discomfort, the guards had left the room after their shift to nap, making sure he was tied securely beforehand and couldn't escape; despite that he was already too exhausted to try anymore.
He sipped some water from the bowl next to him. He hadn't been fed for hours, which was not a big issue considering he didn't have to fly; but it did a number on slowing down his effort on escaping. He did not know how long they were going to keep him here and what was going to happen to him. He looked around the big dark hall, the pin-drop silence was the only thing accompanying him. He hated it.
He remembered how insecure Marcy was when she was first told to put Joe in the stable because he was finally too big to fit her bedroom. She made sure he was surrounded by other castle steeds and not to feel alone at night, she even got mad and almost got Andrias to fire an employ for leaving the place completely dark when he was clearly ordered not to.
For the first few days since the incident, Joe figured Marcy had been unable to sleep considering she kept sneaking out of the castle to come sleep with him in the stables, despite being restricted from doing so. It wasn't super appropriate for a royal advisor to simply sleep in a barn, but Marcy couldn't care less.
A voice inside told him the door would soon open and his rider would be there, instead of the annoying newt guards. And then it will be all okay, he could at least hope.
Lady Olivia in the corridor cringed in annoyance as she heard Marcy's loud whistle again, followed by a noise of flapping as Joe flew unsteadily from some distance but making it to his owner. Marcy, beaming with pride let out a hand for him to land on. Unfortunately, he was too big for that and crashed his giant straight into her. Joe looked around and realized that she was suddenly nowhere to be seen and tweeted in confusion.
"You did it!" Marcy exclaimed from under his giant feathery belly, "Heh. Sorry, I keep forgetting you're too big for this now." He pecked her affectionately before letting her get up so she could reward him with his favorite treat. "Good boy," Marcy watched over with admiration while the devoured the meal he had earned, training always made him hungry. Ultimately, he nibbled the side of her neck, she giggled, "Stop, it tickles,"
"I see he can't be carried around anymore so much like before." Lady Olivia commented, a small curious smile on her face. Marcy snickered with a blush, ruffling the feathers on his head.
"Probably won't need to. He's able to fly, luckily. A bit unsteady but we'll work on that, right, Joe?" Joe responded with a chirp.
"Master Marcy." The lady addressed deeply, "We have been reported several pirate invasions at the costal bay. This is the fifth time this week, and exports are getting critically harder each day."
"Uh huh," Marcy said, slightly distracted as she shot her crossbow, Joe flew away to catch the arrow.
"As you might be aware, you are soon to be promoted to Head Chief in your Knight Guard crew."
"Oh, I know, right? It's nuts! It's like I just came here yesterday."
"Therefore the King trusts you, to assure this situation gets sorted out. General Yunan will be accompanying you since it's your first time out of Newtopia."
"No way!" She gasped. "Really? You mean a new mission- And with GENERAL YUNAN?" Marcy bounced in place with enthusiasm. "OH MY GOSH, when do we leave, when do we leave, Tomorrow? Tonight? Today?"
"We were supposing as soon as possible unless you need rest after-"
"SURE! I'm gonna go start packing right now!"
The lady smiled. "I'll pack you lunch."
Joe approached and dropped the arrow before her, tweeting slowly. Marcy smiled and pulled him into a tight snuggle. "I'll be back soon, Joe. You stay here and wait with Lady Olivia, mm-kay?" Marcy could see him pouting even though it wasn't practically possible for him to. "I'm sorry, I know I'm leaving suddenly. I promise I'll get you something when I come back. Besides, once you get your flight improved, I'm sure Andrias would let you join as a Knight Guard! You'd be so helpful and I'll make sure he could see that too." He chirped again, much hopefully this time. She ruffled his head feathers one last time before standing up and departing back to her room.
Joe Sparrow stood there, watching his keeper go. He frowned, she did say he'd get to join her on the missions someday. Until then, she had asked him to wait. So, he waited.
For one thing he trusted, in the end Marcy always came back for him.
The storm was harsh, the air was humid and the thunderclouds growled ferociously. Joe Sparrow, now the size of a fully grown Amphibian adult bird flapped his wet wings vigorously through the roughness of the storm, cutting through the wind like blade. His brand new golden engraved armor with a Newtopian flag carved on it shone brightly in the rinsing of the rain, along with his tough helmet. Marcy Wu stood upon him with a fully loaded crossbow in one hand and his reins in the other, soaked wet due to the rain, vision firmly fixed on what was ahead of them.
A giant heron that had been terrorizing the town for weeks now. Her Ranger troop had come with her, however the ability to fly and skillfully face the toughness of weather was possessed only by Joe.
"Joe," Marcy instructed, her look switching from the giant heron that flew way above them to her steed. "We must go higher to get closer to it for a better aim. You ready, birb?" Joe chirped loudly, never not ready to push himself further and all he ever needed was an encouraging call from his rider, and a good meal beforehand. "Good boy, charge!" She braced herself as the sparrow made an elegant spin, nailing straight up toward the bigger bird. The heron roared aggressively.
Marcy got back to her feet, she reloaded her crossbow, the rein clutched firmly in her hand. "Okay, Joe. There's a big river right over there," She point to a large water body at some distance. "I need you to trick the beast into flying above it. The moment it gets the closest to us, I will shoot for the eye. That will blind him, and send it driving straight down into the water. Clear?" he nodded in assent and did exactly as she plan. Marcy whistled loudly to catch the heron's attention, it begun the chase the sparrow through the cold air.
"Come on, Joe Sparrow, I believe in you!" Joe tweeted loudly and cut sharply through the clouds, he spent a moment circling around until they were right above the water. Getting up on one knee, Marcy prepared her crossbow and aimed right for the charging bird's eye. Joe maintained still, slightly anxious about the giant heron charging straight toward them; if Marcy missed the shot it'd strike them both, sending them straight down into the deep water hundred feet below.
But she wasn't going to, and Joe knew that, he could trust her. Just like she could trust him.
"Almost…" Marcy whispered, focusing, waiting to catch the exact moment to shoot until…
KRAKK-
There was a loud clap of thunder, Marcy got startled and her focus broke. "Woah!" the vibrations made her stumble, her heart skipped a beat when Joe's reins slipped out of her fingers, she lost her balance and tripped off the saddle. Joe let out a loud shrill, he almost got hit by the approaching heron but barely dodged. Wasting no time, he charged straight down to catch his rider, his claws clutched Marcy's shoulders, holding her in midair. She snapped open her eyes to glance up at him, holding a breath in terror. Joe gracefully flung her upon his back, Marcy panted heavily, trying to catch her breath after almost falling to her death. "T-Thanks, Joe. S-Sorry…I was…" she was interrupted by the sparrow's loud, painful shriek, the heron had clawed him in the face while he was distracted.
"JOE!" Marcy cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as a blinded Joe struggled to maintain his flight. Marcy gritted her teeth in rage and looked up at the heron, fists clenched. Without a second thought, she shot her roped-arrow at the beast and flung off Joe's back seconds before he collapsed, and. The heron roared and flapped around as she clutched it by the feathers and climbed over its back, and further up its long neck.
Marcy's eyes glowed a jade-majestic green hue, she reached for her belt to pull out a blade. With a furious snarl she dug it into the beast's neck. It shrieked in agony, blood spew through the air and all over her as the beast went crashing straight down, Marcy clutched tightly onto it to shield and led it crash straight into a ridge before tumbling down to its death, splashing right into the water body below.
Everything went silent, Marcy popped out of the water, gasping for air. She took a moment to turn and glance at the slayed heron, letting out a sigh of relief. She swam over to the shore, blood stains all over her clothes.
Some footsteps followed, her crew had arrived. "Master Marcy! Are you okay?" one of her newt teammates asked with concern at the sight of the giant dead bird behind. She winced when she felt a sharp pain in her ribs, "Are you hurt?"
Marcy frowned at the blade in her hand. "I'm okay, but…I gotta find Joe, he's probably hurt," Ignoring the sharp throbbing, she begun looking around for any trace of her ally. "Joe Sparrow!" She whistled, the crew spread around to look for him as well. Marcy heard a faint but familiar response and followed it into the woods, not stopping until she found her sparrow collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.
Marcy rushed to him, took his blood covered face in her hands and examined it, he was panting with his tongue hanging out; there was a big bleeding scar on his left eye where the heron has struck him, he also seemed to have broken a wing from the fall. Marcy's heart sank at the agonizing state of her beloved sparrow.
"Oh, Joe…I'm so sorry. I messed this up, it's…my fault." Tears rolled down her cheek as she hugged him, he had been hurt, all because she ignored her surroundings and put herself in danger, and failed to protect herself, again. She failed to protect him. "You saved my life, birb." Joe tweeted weakly and buried his face into her shoulder, slowly he begun to pass out. "You'll be okay. I-I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."
Joe cut through the air as soon he heard Marcy's whistle from the castle floating high above in the sky, catching her in midair. "It's Sprig, right there! Quick!" she pointed in the direction of the falling little frog, Joe flew right below him just in time, only for Marcy to catch him and hold him close securely. "Good boy."
Sprig's eyes shot open as he looked up at his rescuer. "Marcy?" He gasped. "Oh frog, are we both dead?"
"Nope," She smiled. "All okay, bud."
Sprig took a breath in relief as Joe made his way back up to the castle. He really thought it was over for him after Andrias tossed him out of the floating castle window. "Marcy…" She heard him whisper and turned to look at the little frog. "…It's not true, is it? You couldn't have been behind everything all this time…were you?" Marcy sighed, looking down in regret.
"I-I'm sorry, Sprig…I never thought it'd end like this, I really wish it didn't have to." Sprig said nothing, not knowing what to feel. Joe kick broke the castle wall and landed, Marcy unmounted him and helped Sprig down.
"Hey, uh…Thanks for saving my life." He muttered. A sad smile formed on Marcy's apologetic face as she knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks for always being a good friend to Anne, Sprig. I'm glad she met you, I really am."
Joe suddenly felt a strange sensation that something was gonna go wrong. He tucked the hem of Marcy's cape with his beak, pulling her back and shaking his head in denial. "Andrias is distracted, I'm gonna open the portal to earth. But don't worry, Joe, I'll come back for you. I promise." She ran a hand down the scar on his eye to his cheek softly before giving him a quick hug,. "I love you, birb. With all my heart."
He trusted. But little did he know that this time, she wouldn't come back like she always did.
Joe didn't sleep the whole night, and it wasn't even his first. He just laid limp on his belly, claws already numb from the shackles and it hurt to move even a bit.
There was a creak and the door opened, however something was different this time. Joe was too weak to flap his wings or protest or even respond as the person approached, their movements were strangely subhuman. The sound of metal boots clinking against the floor echoing through the hall. He was questioning if he was dead already when he started arguing whether or not those were antlers on the person's head, and an unnecessarily extra amount of glowing fiery orange eyes. About a dozen eyes. The last time he checked, the castle was occupied of newts, not…whatever this creature was.
The person ran a hand through his feathers, as if to check if he was even alive, which sent a rush of adrenaline through the Sparrow's body. He recognized that touch. He had experienced it a million times before.
Marcy.
The adrenaline filled him with energy, he flapped his wings, tweeting loudly once she undid his shackles. Joe stepped forward ready to tackle her under him, and show her how much he had missed her. She raised a hand to stop him in place, a smirk formed on her face which eventually turned into a creepy maniacal laugh, instead of the adorable squeaky one he knew his rider for.
"You belonged to her, didn't you?" That voice. Joe was startled by the creepy robotic voice mixed with Marcy's own, he took a few cautious steps back. "Aw. You sound like you miss her." her hand grasped the below of his beak, observing him with all her ten eyes before whispering. "Well, don't worry about her. She is in a much better place now, away from all the sufferings. As for you," the creature ran a hand down his feathery scarred cheek, and mounted him. "I think you and I will be great friends, little birdie."
A/N: Let me know what you think in the reviews!