Matthew and Alfred climbed up the hill that led back to the nest, freezing slightly when they heard shouting. They made a turn and found Francis and Arthur grappling with each other. "I WAS A BLOODY PIRATE! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY SWIMMING SKILLS!" shouted Arthur, pushing Francis's fists away.
"Onhonhon. What swiming skills? You sink like one of your scones. That is to say, a rock," said Francis, pushing back. "Excuse me, sir. You insult my cooking now? The nerve!" growled Arthur. "I believe it must be edible in order to be considered cooking mon cher," said Francis.
Alfred and Mattie glanced at each other. "Should we break them up?" asked Mattie quietly. Alfred looked at the fighting avians. "Um...everything alright guys?" he asked. Arthur and Francis freeze and immediately jump back from each other, looking flustered and a tad bit embarrassed.
"Everything's fine! We get into spats every once and a while but it's usually nothing to be worried about," said Francis cheerfully. Arthur scowled. "Don't tell them that. They'll think we're crazy. Besides, you always start them," he said. Francis opened his mouth, but Matthew quickly jumped in.
"Thank you for the clothes Francis. You mentioned you had a messenger bird we could use?" he asked. Francis nodded and smiled. "I knew you two would look cute in those outfits. They bring out the color of your eyes. I'll call Pierre number four for you," he said, quickly whistling. "I knew it," muttered Arthur.
"Do you guys have any paper or anything to write with?" asked Alfred. Arthur nodded and quickly flew over to ledge further up, returning with the writing materials. He handed them to Alfred and cleared his throat "As for you two staying here, Francis and I were hoping that you would stay for a bit. We would love to get to know you and teach you a bit about our kind," he said.
"Really?!" asked Alfred. "Are you sure it won't be a bother? We wouldn't want to burden you two in any way…" trailed Matthew. Arthur smiled at them. "We've been searching for you two for years. Let me assure you that it wouldn't be a problem in any sense of the word," he said.
Matthew and Alfred looked at each other excitedly, having another mental conversation. Both boys turned aroudn with a smile. "We'd love to," they said in unison. Arthur smiled while Francis beemed. "That is magnifique! I shall cook anything you two want," he said, starting to ramble on about all the things he planned to do with them.
A white bird flew in and landed on Francis's shoulder. "Remember Alfred and Mathieu? They need you to deliver a message for them. Could you do that please?" he asked. The bird peeped and fluttered onto Matthew's shoulder, looking down at his back. Francis frowned. "That's rude Pierre. You can't ask him that way," he scolded the bird.
Alfred's mouth curled up at the corners. "What is he asking?" he asked, looking up from his writing. Francis sighed. "Pierre can be a bit of a gossip.." Arthur snorted. "Takes one to know one I suppose," he said. Francis glared at him. "He was curius about your wings," said Francis.
Mattie's face got pink. Francis whistled at the bird. The bird lowered its head bashfully before nuzzling Mattie's cheek. "I-It's fine," said Mattie, petting the bird on its head. Alfred stood up. "Finished the letter...Do you think one of us should go back and grab some of our stuff?" he asked his brother.
"Back where exactly?" asked Arthur. "The village. The one down in the valley," said Alfred, gesturing in the direction of the village, smearing ink on his arm as he does so. Arthur and Francis's eyes widen. "It is dangerous to go to the village… or anywhere near the humans," said Francis.
"Humans aren't that bad dude. They took us in and gave us a place to stay," said Alfred. Mattie frowned a little but nodded. "They're not all bad people. Some of them just aren't...as kind as they should be," said Matthew quietly. Arthur frowned.
"Matthew, look at what they did to your wings. How can you still say that?" he asked, his voice tinged with anger. "They didn't know about avians. We didn't know about them until we bumped into Tino," said Mattie, fidgeting a little.
Francis frowned. "...You didn't know about avians? What do you mean?" he asked. "We kinda thought I was the only one…" said Alfred, holding out a finger to Pierre and attaching the message to his leg. "The only one…" breathed Arthur. Both boys nodded. Alfred raised his hand and Pierre jumped off his finger, flying off.
Arthur opened his mouth but a sudden chirping noise rang out, confusing the twins for a second. Gilbird then landed on Francis's head, continuing to chirp. Arthur sighed. "I should have known that bugger would have sent Gilbird over. Tell Gilbert to fuck off," he said.
"Don't swear infront of les enfants!" said Francis, sounding incredulous. Arthur blinked. "My apologies. Mind my french," he said. "What does it have to be French?" said Francis, frowning. Mattie smiled while Alfred crossed his arms. "We're not babies," he said. "What does Gilbird say?" asked Mattie quickly.
Francis sighs. "Gilbert says he's sorry and he wants to throw you two an 'awesome' party." Arthur scowled. "First of all, he should apologize in person. What he did was unacceptable. Second, it's been one day since the attack. We haven't even shown the boys around," he said.
Francis nodded. "I'll tell him so," he said, turning to the bird. Gilbird peeped and jumped up, flying around the boys. He nuzzled Alfred's good wing and Matthew's arm before flying off. "What do you mean by show us around?" asked Alfred curiously.
"Well, last night we were too exhausted to show you two to your sleeping areas. Your rooms. Some of your belongings are still there. Perhaps they'll help you remember something," said Arthur. The boys' eyes widen. "That would be great dude! Where are our rooms?" asked Alfred.
Francis gestured to the ledge higher up that Arthur had gone into to get paper. "Up there, but there are some ladders from when you were young you two can use to get up there," he said, leading to the cavern he had gotten them clothes from.
Alfred and Matthew followed, finding themselves in a rustic looking home. The cavern opened up revealing a sitting area with bookshelves a few tasteful chairs and a rug. Branching off the cavern was a rustic looking kitchen area, filled with shelves, a wooden stove, and vases of flowers.
There were two doors off to the side of the sitting area. "Those are our rooms," nodded Arthur before gesturing to an older ladder that led up to another cave. "Your rooms are up there. We'll let you get settled in. I'm going to put a kettle on the fire," said Arthur.
"How did you guys do this? The nordics lived in a giant cave. I don't think the villagers have figured out how to drill into stone like this! This is so cool!" said Alfred. "The naughty wizard boy here did it all with his magic. I of course helped with the interior decorating," said Francis.
Arthur scowled. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?" he said. "I thought avians prefered the outdoors. Usually I have to nag Alfred off of the roof of our house when it's dark," said Matthew. Alfred snorted. "Like you haven't camped out with me a few times," he said.
Arthru scoffed. "Just because we're part bird doesn't mean we have to degrate ourselves to sleeping in the dirt. We can enjoy nature in a more civil way," he said, crossing his arms. "That's why we have all that space outside. Eyebrows has managed to enchant that area," said Francis.
"Enchant? Dude, can we do magic too?" asked Alfred. Arthur blinked. "Y-You want to learn magic? ...Perhaps I can show you a few tricks some time. And yes, the outdoor area up to the other side of the creek has magical boundries. It keeps us hidden from hunters, turns back predators, and can protect us from the elements," said Arthur.
"You two go on up and make yourselves at home. I shall make lunch," said Francis. "I thought I said I was going to make lunch," said Arthur. "We just got the boys back. I don't want to lose them because you accidentally poisoned them," said Francis. Alfred and Matthew turned and climbed up the ladder while they were arguing.
The twins found themselves in a brightly light hallway with two pine doors marking two rooms. "Which room's which?" asked Matthew. Alfred shrugged, wincing at the movement. "I guess we just open the door and see which personality it seems to fit," he said.
Matthew nodded and opened a door, revealing a sunny cave filled with red, white, blue, and starry clothes with drawings of stars and planets decorating the walls. There was a stuffed eagle toy on the bed and a set of wooden soldiers on the dresser. "This one is yours," said Matthew without hesitating.
Alfred peeked his head in. "It does seem really familiar...Is that a stuffed eagle?! It's totally awesome!" he said. Matthe smiled. "C'mon. Let's go see my room," said Matthew. Alfred nodded and followed his brother.
Matthew opened the second door and looked around. There were drawings of a bird family decorating the walls along with some old maple leaves. There was a nest area with red and white covers along with some stuffed toys laying around it. Mattie smiled. It was cute.
"My room is better," said Alfred, sticking his tongue out. Mattie frowned. "It's not a contest Alfred. At least my room is tidier," he said. Al grinned. "I'm gonna go back to my room and look around. Holler if you need something," he said before racing back to his room. Matthew rolled his eyes.
Matthew started looking around his room, pausing at the drawings that were scattered on the walls. There were two older birds that looked like Francis and Arthur. Arthur was holding the hand of a blue-eyed boy with a hair sticking up. Francis was holding the hand of another boy with wings, this one with a curl and violet eyes.
Matthew swallowed. Both of the little boys had wings. One had brown wings streaked with different shades of russett and gold. The other, the one with the curl, had similar wings but instead of gold his wings were streaked with grey. There was a knock on the door. "May I come in Mathieu?" called a french accented voice.
"O-Oui," replied Matthew, quickly wiping his eyes. He hadn't been aware he had started teariing up until the knock. Francis let himself in, carying a tray with soup, crackers, and a sandwich. Francis froze a little when he saw Mattie's puffy eyes before realizing he was standing in front of a picture of them as a family, staring at the little boy with violet eyes and wings.
Francis quickly set the tray on the dresser and put his arms around Matthew. "Je suis un peu désolé. It must be horrible. I should have come quicker. I could have stopped it. Je suis tellement désolé," he said. To Francis's surprise, Matthew hugged him back. "I-I'm sorry...Je suis juste un gros bébé," he said.
Francis chuckled. "Non. You are not un gros bébé. You're taking this all a lot better than I would if I were in your shoes. It is a big shock, mon chou. I promise that we love you with or without your wings. It was hard to have you gone for so long," he said, squeezing the boy.
Matthew swallowed. "B-But I won't be able to do the things you guys can do. I-I'll always have to be carried or find another way to get to places. I-I'll just be something weighting you guys down," he said.
Francis shook his head. "We are une famille. You will not be holding us down. Families are meant to help each other and that's exactly what we will do. Matthew, you should never be ashamed of yourself for something you couldn't control," he said. Matthew hugged him tightly. "M-Merci…"
Francis smiled, waiting for the boy to pull away. When he did, Francis waved a hand to the food. "I brought you some lunch. I know it's not much, but I hope you enjoy it. Arthur is gong to be coming up with some tea and scones, so I thought you should have something edible before he ruins your appetite," he said.
Alfred was fingering the wooden soliders when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he said. Arthur came in carrying a tree with a cup of tea and some rocks on it. Alfred blinked. Why did he bring rocks with him? Arthur set the tray on a book shelf and smiled at the soldiers.
"I made them for you you know. They were for your birthday," said Arthur. Alfred smiled softly. "I kinda remember that...You broke your hand making them. You made each one with a different face," said Alfred, glancing at him to see if he remembered correctly. Arthur smiled warmly. "That's correct...Francis was away the day I broke my hand and wasn't around to heal it," he said.
Alfred grinned. "I suppose you're a bit of a klutz like me," he said. Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not that bad. Do you and your brother remember very much?" he asked. Alfred shrugged. "We remember your voices. I remember someone giving me piggy back rides and playing with me. Nothing that would have actually helped us track you down," he said.
"Did you remember our names or faces?" asked Arthur curiously. Alfred shook his head. "I remember green eyes and your bushy eyebrows and Francis's stubble from when he would kiss Mattie and I good night," he said. Arthur struggled to keep his eye from twitching at the mention of his eyebrows.
"I see. So you didn't remember us having feathers or anything? What was the village like? Avians typically have never been around humans for as long as you two have been," said Arthur. Alfred shifted, rubbing his injured wing.
"The villagers...Well, it's like Mattie said. Some of them were really nice. They treated us kindly and took us in. The village healer was willing to drop whatever she was doing if she wasn't with another patient to help me. The village elder was quick to make it clear that we shouldn't be harrased or anything," said Alfred.
"But the others weren't as kind. Tell me what happened lad," said Arthur, handing him a tea cup. Alfred took it and let Arthur lead him to the nest/bed. "Well, we aged slower than the others...We have had three generations of a family take care of us as we got older. It was hard to see them die. We were also stronger than the others and faster.
"Mattie was really shy and sometimes people would pick on him because of it. Don't worry though, I always got them to back off. The accepted us, but it was easy to tell we weren't like them. Some of them would give us a wide berth," said Alfred, sipping the tea.
"Try some of these. You used to love my scones as a child," said Arthur, passing him one of the 'rocks' with a smile. Alfred hesitantly took it and bit into it, doing his best not to make it look like he was about to puke. "T-They're great Arthur," he lied, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Arthur's face brightened.
"Thank you. I knew the frog was lying when he said they tasted like charcol," he said, accurately describing what the scone tasted like. Arthur's tone became serious. "I'm not sure if you remember, but when Mattie was trying to convince you to let us heal you, you said you were afraid we would be mean like the villagers are," said Arthur.
Al's face went a little red. "W-Well. Sometimes the villagers would throw things at me or try to pull feathers from my wings. The kids especially. B-But it's no big deal. Mattie always went with me to the market to help keep an eye out for anyone that tried to get a feather," he said. Arthur's face went red with anger.
"They did what?!" he asked, making Alfred jump and wince at the movement. "It's fine Arthur. Really. It doesn't even bug me. I'm used to it by now," said Alfred quickly, lying. Arthur frowned. "Alfred, wings are only meant to be touched by those you care deeply about. Having them pull your feathers out...Surely you know how terrible that is," he said.
"T-They normally just did it when I was molting. It's not like I was using those feathers anyways," lied Alfred, shifting his good wing in front of him. He wasn't expecting Arthur to get so angry. Arthur knitted his brows together, about to ask something when Francis came in.
"Mon cher, your food has upset the boy. I brought the main course!" he said, happily, placing the tray on the dresser and taking Arthur's tray off the shelf and handing it to him. In reality, Francis had felt Arthur become angry and Matthew said he thought Alfred was upset about something.
Arthur blinked as the tray of scones was thrusted into his arms. "But I-" Francis waved a hand. "Why don't you go talk to Mathieu? You haven't had much time with him since they got here," said Francis. Arthur scowled at him but turned and left.
When he was gone, Francis turned back to Alfred. "Are you alright mon chou? I'm sorry if he got upset with you. Arthur has a short fuse some times," he said. "I-I'm fine. Don't worry about it bro," said Alfred, forcing a grin. Francis raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Here. I'm sure you're hungry, that is if Arthur's scones haven't ruined your appetite," said Francis. Alfred smiled and thanked him, sitting down and starting to eat the soup. "How is your wing? Does it still hurt?" asked Francis. "It's fine considering. It does hurt a little time from time, but it's nothing unbearable," said Alfred.
Francis smiled, sitting next to him. "You're a good cook," said Alfred with his mouth full. Francis smirked. "Oui. Thank you mon cher. I gather you didn't tell Arthur that his scones were less then plesant, did you?" he asked. Alfred shook his head. Francis smiled.
"You two would never tell Arthur. When you boys were younger, you used to hide the scones in a napkin or pretend to love them to make Arthur happy. I, of course, would reward you boys for your bravery with some macroons," said Francis.
Alfred smiled before frowning a little. "You're French and Artie's English right? Mattie's Canadian and I'm American. Why is that?" he asked. Francis pet his head. "Well, it's a long story but you boys were found in seperate places. You had gotten separated somehow during some storm," he said.
Alfred's mind flashed back to a windy, snowy landscape. "I guess that make sense. Tino said something about how flocks would adopt fledglings if they were abandoned. So you and Artie aren't actually related to us then?" asked Alfred.
Francis shrugged. "Non, I never said that. We just happened to find you boys there. It could be that one of our parents are also your parents. It's too complicated. Don't worry about it. Many avians can't be a hundred percent sure unless you're Emil or Ludwig. Their parents made sure they had an older sibling nearby."
Alfred's face fell a little. He had been hoping to know for sure who their family was. Francis smiled and gave him a hug. "Mon lapin, don't look so down. You found us. We could be a family again," he said. Alfred leaned into the embrace. "How is Mattie?" he asked. Francis smiled. "Your brother is fine. He was admiring the maple leaves in his room when I left," he said.
Alfred smiled slightly. "He was worried about you too. You two are very close, non?" asked Francis. Alfred nodded. "We were the only thing we had. He was the only one in the village that could keep up with me and I didn't out live. We're kinda stuck with each other," he said.
Francis wrapped an arm around Alfred and hugged him. "Mon petite, it makes my heart glad to hear you two stuck together. You two have always been close. You were quite the rambunctious child. Anytime Mattie got in trouble it was usually because you convinced him to join you in your little plans," he said.
Alfred laughed. "That sounds about right. Mattie was the one who had to drag me to the healer everytime I tried a new trick," he said. Francis smiled. "Eat the rest of your food. I'm going to see about making some dessert," he said, giving Alfred a quick squeeze and leaving the room.
Arthur was leaning against the wall when Francis came out carrying the empty tray. Francis frowned slightly. "What happened with you two? The poor thing looked close to crying," he said. Arthur balled a fist. "He was telling me about the villagers. He told me that they used to pull feathers from his wings before claiming that it only happened when he was molting," he said.
Francis nearly dropped the tray. "Porquoi? Why would they do such a thing?" he asked. Arthur scowled. "I don't know, but I know he was trying to hide how bad they were to him. I intend to get him to tell me so I could go to that village and set some things straight," he said.
Francis put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't do anything too rash Angleterre. Let him tell you all the details before you pay a visit. And if you do pay a visit, don't forget to invite me along," he said. Arthur smirked. "Aye. I suppose you have a point or two. I'll go and talk to Matthew then. I bet he misses my scones," he said. Francis shuddered. "Those poor boys."
Thank you for all the reviews! You guys are so sweet! It's really nice to hear from you guys. Due to Spring Break, this story will be on hiatus for a week. DON'T WORRY, I'LL POST AGAIN NEXT WEEK!