Matthew looked up worriedly when he felt a jolt of pain coming from his brother. He looked up in time to see his brother dip as he came off the ledge. A few minutes, Francis positioned himself beneath Alfred, ready to catch him if anything. Matthew bit his lip. His brother shouldn't be so stubborn.
"Est Alfred fait bien?" he asked Francis hesitantly. (Is Alfred doing alright?) He could spy Francis glance down at him as Kuma followed the shadows they casted below. "Il est un peu mal, mais il va bien. Que faites-vous deux cachette?" he asked. (He's doing alright. What are you two hiding?) "Maple...They already figured it out," muttered Matthew to himself. Kuma titled his head. "Figured what out?" Matthew sighed.
"Alfred a une déchirure musculaire dans le dos. Il est trop têtu pour demander de l'aide," said Matthew. (Alfred has a torn muscle in his back. He's too stubborn to ask for help.) From his spot in the sky, Francis frowned at the white speck that was Kuma and Matthew. "Pourquoi vous étiez deux si secret à ce sujet?" he asked. (Why would you two be so secretive about it?)
Matthew sighed. If he concentrated enough, he could feel how much Alfred's back burned from having to keep himself up in the air. "Alfred a une chose à propos de laisser les gens touchent le dos ... Il est quelque chose qu'il est très sensible à ..." (Alfred has a thing about letting people touch his back...It's something he's very sensitive about...) said Matthew, knowning how angry Alfred was going to be when he found out Matthew told Francis.
Francis glanced up to where Alfred was flying above him, a sweat covering his forehead from straining himself. "S'il vous plaît ... Il va être fou si je savais rien dit …( Please...He'll be mad if knew I said anything…)," said Matthew. Francis sighed. "Je ne dirai rien à ce sujet, mais l'un d'entre nous ont pour le guérir (I won't say anything about it, but one of us will have to heal him. )" he replied. Matthew let out a relieved sigh.
After about twenty minutes, Alfred could feel the strain on his musles and his wings become too much. Just before he could dip too low, Francis and Arthur closed in. Each of them put an arm around Alfred and positioned themselves so they could fly easier. Alfred let his wings go limp on his back.
"Git, you should have told us you were pushing yourself so much," said Arthur, sending Alfred a jolt of energy through their bond. "I'm fine guys," said Alfred, spotting Matthew glanced up at the worriedly. "We don't mind helping you Alfred. If you have a problem, you should tell us," said Francis, giving him a kind smile.
Alfred sighed and let them carry him. After about ten more minutes, he could spy a flat plateu jetting off a mountain below them, filled with booths and people. Alfred perked up. "Is that it?" he asked. Arthur and Francis nodded. "We're going to land in the woods over there, alright?" said Arthur. Alfred and Francis nodded and angled themselves for a landing.
When they landed, Alfred looked around for Matthew. "Where's Mattie?" he asked. "It takes a few minutes longer to come by foot, er, bear. He'll be here in about ten more minutes," said Francis. Alfred nodded. Arthur looked through the bag he brought with him. "I got all the potions set. I think I'm going to go distribute them before Matthew gets here if that's okay," he said. When the other two nodded, he walked away.
Alfred could hear Kuma asking Mattie for food a few minutes later. "I'm gonna go try to sneak up on Mattie," Alfred lied to Francis raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I'll be waiting for you two here. Don't take too long," he said. Alfred nodded and ran over to where he heard the bear talking.
Alfred ran over to Matthew, who jumped off the bear the second he saw his twin. "Are you alright? I saw that Arthur and Francis had to carry you part of the way," said Matthew. Alfred frowned. "You saw that? I guess I got a bit tired…" he trailed off. Matthew sighed. "Come here. Let me see if I can make it feel any better," he said.
Alfred perked up, walking over to his brother. "Thanks dude," he said. Matthew huffed, sticking a hand under Alfred's shirt so he could rest his hand against the muscle in his back. "You need to take care of yourself better. I'm not going to be here to put you back together all the time," he said.
"Aw Mattie, we're hooked at the hip. You know how much it hurts me to hear you say that," teased Alfred. Matthew rolled his eyes, concentrating on healing the muscle enough that Alfred didn't have to put so much of an effort into keeping his wings up. After a few seconds, Alfred relaxed while Mattie broke out in a sweat.
He took his hand away, shaking it out. "That's as much as I can do for now. I'll do more later when we don't have Francis and Artie waiting for us," said Matthew. Alfred gave his brother a hug. "You're the best dude. If I see any maple cookies, I'm gonna get you a whole box of them," he said.
Matthew had to smile. "You don't have to Alfred. C'mon. Let's go find the others," he said. Alfred nodded, grabbed his brother's wrist, and ran toward where he kept Francis waiting. Matthew gave him an apologetic smile. "Désolé A propos de ça. Je devais guérir son dos un peu. (Sorry about that, I had to heal his wing a little)," said Mattie. Francis gave him a smile. "C'est d'accord (It's alright)," said Francis.
They started walking over to the booths with Kuma on their heels. "Is it okay if Kuma tags along? I'm not sure how well people would take to having a bear ocme with us," said Matthew. Francis waved a hand. "It's fine. Everyone brings animasl with them. Perhaps you can find a ribbon or something for him, hmm?" he said.
Though they knew the market was for avians, both of the boys' jaws dropped when they saw the spaced filled with them. "T-There's so many avains," said Alfred, eyes wide and his wings unfurling a little from their spot on his back. Mattie gave him a smirk. "I told you that we couldn't have been the only ones," he said.
Alfred rolled his eyes. "You're going to be holding that over my head for awhile aren't you? C'mon. Let's go look at the booths!" With that, Alfred grabbed his brother and started pulling him toward a booth. Francis had to shake his head, smiling. He and Arthur were wrong to worry about the boys being completely different than when they remembered.
Francis ran over to them, knowing from experience that if they were left on their own for too long Alfred had the tendency to drag the two of them into trouble. He found them at the Asian's booth, ran by Wang Yao and his flock. A bored looking Leon was maning the booth, head in one hand as he gazed at the crowd looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.
"Bonjour Leon. How are you today?" asked Francis, to be polite as the boys looked through the different products. "Yao pulled something in his back and I have to watch the booth while Kiku and Mei give him acupuncture. We sent Yong to go pick up some baked goods from Roderich to keep from bugging him," sighed Leon.
"What is all this stuff?" asked Alfred, pointing to different herbs. "They're different herbs aru. Did you need any medicine?" asked a Chinese man with a ponytail, entering the booth from some curtains at the back. "Do you have any for sore muscles?" asked Matthew before Alfred could say anything. Yao raised an eyebrow. "More westeners? Do you people just reproducee like bunnies?" he said.
"Non non. Yao, this is Matthew and Alfred. They're the fledglings that we had go missing a while ago," said Francis. Leon blinked, actually looking slightly interested. "These are the two Arthur kept moaning about when he took care of me?" he asked. Francis nodded. Yao looked them over, his face softening a bit when he saw Mattie's lack of wings.
"Aiya, I see. Well, this medicine should take care of sore muscles. I forget what's in it but it works well. Here you go," said Yao, handing Matthew a pouch. "How much do you want for it?" asked Francis, pulling out some coins. Yao waved his hand. "Think of it as welcome back present. But don't expect it to happen again," he said. "T-Thank you," said Matthew.
Two more people came out of the back. "Ah, Kiku, Mei. This is Alfred and Matthew. They're a part of Arthur and Francis's flock," said Yao. Kiku bowed. "Konichiwa. I'm Kiku. It is very nice to meet you," he said, standing up. Alfred waved. "I'm Alfred and this is Mattie. It's cool to meet you too," he said.
Francis looked around the market while the twins spoke to Kiku and Mei. He spotted Arthur arguing with Antonio from across the way. "I found Arthur boys. Let's go before he picks a fight," he sighed. "Bye Kiku! We should totally hang out sometime!" said Alfred, turning to follow Francis.
"For the last time Antonio, I do not have a potion to turn people into tomatoes nor do I intend on creating one! You can bugger off if you think I'm going to waste my time doing that," said Arthur. "But Arthur, it would be so cute!" said the happy Spainiard, manning a booth full of different fruits and vegetables.
"Bonjour Antonio. How are you this beautiful day?" asked Francis, quickly jumping in and greeting his friend before Arthur could have the chance to throttle him. Antonio turned and gave Francis a wide grin. "Hola Francis. Are these your two boys? Gilbert told me they came back. My, aren't they big? Last time I saw them, they were tan pequeño (so small)", he said.
Arthur nodded, relaxing a little, introducing the two. "I'm so sorry about your wings mijo! (my son) Gilbert feels awful for what he said," gushed Antonio, about ready to hug Matthew from across the stall. Luckily, a man with auburn hair came over. "What the hell tomato bastard? You can't keep scaring customers away! I leave for one minute and you're all over the wingless wonder!" he said.
"Lovi! You should apologize!" said Antonio, pulling back from Matthew. "Che cosa! I do what I want and you're not going to stop me you bastard. I already have to make sure Feli doesn't make himself sick from eating sweets. Now I have to make sure you're not getting touchy with the customers?" said the Italian.
Antonio sighed. "I apologize for my friend. He isn't very good with people," he said. "Bastard," said Lovino, turning to us. "So are you going to buy something or not? I don't have forever," he said. Arthur huffed. "I think we're fine. How is your brother Lovino?" he said, trying to be polite. Lovino gestured to a booth selling pasta and pizza. "Why don't you go ask the idiot? Can't you see I'm busy working two booths?" he huffed.
As they neared the pasta booth, an orange blur tackled the twins. They froze, finding themselves being hugged by what the assumed was Lovino's brother. "Are you Matthew and Alfred? Big Brother Francis was telling me all about you two! I'm so happy that you two came back! Would you like some pasta?" he asked.
Before they could respond, a tall blonde with dusty brown wings had walked over to them from a booth selling cuckoo clocks and mead and pried the Italian off the North American twins. "Feli, you can't hug people you just met. I am sorry about that," he said in a rough German accent. "I-It's fine," said Mattie. "It's totally cool dude. Francis, you two are related?" asked Alfred.
Francis nodded. "We have the same grandfather. And yes Feliciano, this is Alfred and the other one is Matthew," he said, introducing the twins. "Ve, I'm sorry about your wings Matthew. Does it hurt? I would think it hurts a lot. I bet some pasta would help!" he said. The blonde sighed. "I'm Ludwig. I understood you met my brother the other day," he said.
"Your brother?" asked Alfred. "Gilbert...that idiot. I'm sorry that he offended you. I have him on cuckoo clock duty as punishment," said Ludwig. "It's fine. You're his older brother?" asked Mattie. Ludwig scowled. "No. I'm that dummkopf's younger brother. I apologize again," he said. With that, he picked up the Itallian and hauled him back to his booth.
"Come along boys. Do either of you want a sweet or two? There's a booth here that sells them," said Arthur. Francis smiled. "Oui! I enjoy visiting Roderich's booth...though Miss Elizabeta is a bit terrifying sometimes," he said. Alfred grinned, glancing at his brother. "That sounds good, right Mattie?" Mattie smiled back.
"Are you doing alright bro? If you want me to fly you back-" started Alfred. Mattie flicked his brother's wing. "You can barely keep yourself in the air. I don't want you to drop me. I'm fine. No one's being mean about it. They all seem pretty nice," he responded. Alfred grinned. "They do. I think the Italian brothers must be a riot to be around," he said. Matthew chuckled at that.
"Francis, Arthur are those the boys!" said a woman with dark brown wings, streaked with black. She rushed out from the booth they were walking to, forgetting about the frying pan she had in her hand. "Oui Mademoiselle ElizaBeta," said Francis happily. She squealed a little, pinching each twin's cheek. "They're as cute as I remember. I used to babysit you boys," said the Hungarian.
"Miss Héderváry, please control yourself," sighed a man with a cowlick and glasses. "Hello Roderich. What do you have for sale today?" asked Arthur. "I'm glad you asked. I have Kaiserschmarren, which is like a pancake but better. I also have some strudels," said the aristocratic looking man. "I'll have the Kaiserschmarren if that's alright," said Matthew, digging in a pocket for the gold coins he and Alfred sent Sammy to retrieve for them.
Arthur quickly paid for it before Matthew could. "And you Alfred?" "Um, one of those apple strudels," said Alfred. Roderich nodded and handed them their food. "By the way Arthur, I heard that Gilbert is planning on throwing the boys a party," said Roderich. Arthur scowled. "We told him to bugger off. The stubborn prat," he said. "He feels bad for what he said," said Elizabeta.
The twins had wandered off, looking around at more booths as Arthur and Francis spoke with different people they knew. At one point in time, Alfred had to come up with an excuse to separate him from a Belgian girl when the two somehow managed to get into a fight over whether pancakes or waffles were better.
"Dude, I've never seen you get so worked up around someone who isn't me before," said Alfred with a smirk. Matthew frowned. "Waffles don't let the syrup sink in properly! Even if they do have pockets for them!" he said, throwing his hands up. Francis walked over to them, cocking an eyebrow when he saw Mattie looking so flustered.
"Oh mon ami, is your brother picking on you again? Or was it someone else who got you so flustered?" he asked. "He and Emma, the lady at the waffle stand, got into a fight over breakfast food. Or at least got close to being in a fight," said Alfred with a chuckle. "Oh Emma? She makes some of the most wonderful waffles. Nothing as good as I make but still," said Francis.
"Pancakes are better, maple!" shouted Mattie. Arthur walked over and put an arm around the Candian. "Perhaps when we get back to the cave you can make us some. How does that sound? We better get going. The market is going to get crazy in a few minutes as everyone packs up to get home before it gets dark," said Arthur.
Matthew perked up and walked over to Kuma, getting onto his back. "I'll see you guys back at the ledge then?" he asked. "Oui. We'll see you there," said Francis before turning to Alfred. "You think you can make it home on your own or do you want us to carry you?" he asked. Alfred stretched his wings out. "I think I can make it on my own. I'll let you know if I'm having trouble again," he said.
Francis nodded while Arthur gave Alfred a skeptical look. "Alright but I'm flying below you just in case," he said, jumping off a nearby ledge with grey wings out. Alfred sighed. "Is he usually this prickly?" he asked. "Non. You caught him on a good day mon cher," he chuckled, following Arthur off the cliff.
Alfred smirked, better able to hide the wince as he he jumped off the cliff. Arthur gave him an approving nodded as the three of them got into formation above Matthew.
Arthur frowned as they got near the cave. Something was off. "What is it les sourcils? (eyebrows) Is there something wrong?" called Francis from above. Arthur focused on the boundries around the nest. They haven't been breached. In fact, they felt just fine….but something was off about it.
"Probably nothing. I thought there was something wrong with the boundries but they appear to be intact. Nothing has disturbed them. I suppose I just need some tea to relax when we get in," said Arthur. They landed on the ledge, Alfred stumbling a little from his landing. Arthur was about to remark on that when something large landed on him.
"Oof. What the bloody hell?" asked Arthur from underneath a redheaded man with matching red wings. "'Ello Artie. Thought we'd drop in for a visit," said the man in an Irish accent. "Reiley you git! You could have sprained one of my wings!" said Arthur as Alfred started cracking up.
Another man with lighter red hair and brown wings jumped down from the rocks above. "Ye were supposed to wait for the signal ye git," he said. A man with titian hair jumped down behind what the twins assumed was his brother. "Honestly Reiley. I suppose these are the twins?" asked the second man in a Scotish accent.
Arthur squirmed out from underneath Reiley, looking incredibly flustered. He brushed off his wings and glared at the three men. "The bloody hell are you doing here? I told you not to show up!" he said. The taller redhead took a puff of his cigarette and put an elbow on Arthur's shoulder.
"Honestly Arthur, you should be used to it by now. Anytime you tell us not to do something, that means we have to do it," said the other one with black streaked white wings. "Aye. Besides, you think you can really convince us not to come and see boys after they've been missing all this time, did you?" said the one leaning on Arthur.
Arthur grumbled before Francis jumped up. "It is good to see you all again. How have you been doing Allistair?" he asked the one with brown wings. Allistair crushed the cigarette he was smoking under foot and gave the Frenchman a grin. "Much better now that we've made our way over here. Though, trust Reiley to have to constantly stop to pee," he said.
"Is this them?" asked the quieter avian, waving a hand in the twins' direction. "Yes you idiot, that's them. The one with the curl is Matthew and the one with the cowlick is Alfred," muttered Arthur with crossed arms. Reiley jumped up and looked the twins over. "Blimey, you two have gotten big. Where have been all this time? Don't tell me Arthur stashed you somewhere to keep you safe from us," he said.
"Kind of a long story," said Alfred with a grin. Reiley froze when he got behind Mattie, realizing he didn't have wings. "Oh no…." he said. "Reiley!" snapped all three of his brothers. Reiley teared up a little and hugged the twins. Matthew and Alfred squirmed. "Aw I'm sorry! I forgot! I thought you made it up to keep us away!" he said.
"Now I know where Alfred gets it," muttered Arthur. Reiley let go so his brothers could inspect the twins. Allistair looked them over before ruffling both of their hair. "It's good to see you boys. I was sure my brother had botched things up with you but it looks like you've managed to stay in one piece since he's brought you back into the nest. What do you think Rhys?" he said.
The other one silently looked them over before nodding, giving each of the boys a small hug. "It's good to have you two back. Arthur was practically out of his mind with grief when he thought he had lost you two for good," he said. Allistair rolled his eyes. "Aye. The bloody git would get all choked up if you two were hinted at in any way," he said.
"I'd say you would too if I didn't know you were so bloody heartless," protested Arthur. "You'd be heartless too after having to raise your arse up from being wee thing to the git you are today," said Allistair. "You raised Artie?" asked Alfred. Reiley put his arms around both boys. "Allistair raised all three of us. It was a bloody riot," he said cheerfully.
Rhys nodded. "I remember when he was teaching us to fly. He dangled us over the ledge by the foot before throwing us over. Arthur still can't stand to be around Allistair anywhere near a ledge," he said. "Oi, it taught you three to be self-sufficient. And you're all good fliers so don't complain," said Allistar from where he had Arthur in a headlock.
Reiley slapped the boys' backs. Alfred blanched and both Francis and Mattie had to wince. "Now that you two blokes are back, we can show you some tricks! The ones that Artie will probably ban you from doing in his sight," he said. Arthur frowned, noting Alfred going pale when Reiley hit his back.
Alfred forcibly grinned. "That sounds like an awesome idea," he said. Reiley put an arm around him. "I like this one. He's got moxie," he said. Matthew frowned. "I don't know Alfred...You have a lot of trouble landing…" he said, not wanting to sound too mean. Allistair ruffled his hair. "Don't worry mate. We'll help him smooth out any problems he's having with his flying. A week with us ought to do the trick," he said.
"They just got back Allistair. Could you at least wait a month before you try to corrupt them?" said Arthur flatly, arms crossed. Rhys sighed. "We missed them too you know," he said. "Besides, when did we say we were going to take them back with us to our mountain?" asked Allistair with a devious grin.
Arthur gave him a blank stare. "Wot?" "Ay, that's right Arthur. We're going to be staying here for a few days," said Reiley, grinning. "You can't just walk in and expect me to play the bloody host whenever you want!" said Arthur, throwing his hands in the air. Rhys chuckled. "We're planning to visit a month from now. They just enjoy watching you squirm," he said.
"Oh come now Arthur, don't look so relieved," said Reiley, grinning as he ruffled his brother's hair. "Whatever. I suppose you all want something to eat...or, more likely, drink," said Arthur. "Aye. You got that right. I want to hear all about how you got the boys back," said Allistair, following Arthur to the main outside space.
"Do you know how long Arthur has been looking for you two? Ever since you left," said Reiley, sitting in between the twins. Allistair rolled his eyes as Arthur came back with bottles of various alcohol. "Aye. He had us come here once a month for about then years, after that it was once a year, to see if we can divine your location," he said, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"You all have magic?" asked Matthew. All four brothers nodded. "Though Arthur's is the strongest. You two might have it too…though I don't know how being away from our kind for so long affected your connection…" said Rhys, trailing off as he pondered the idea. Allistair nodded. "It is a possibility."
"Because the world needs someone like Alfred running around with magic powers," muttered Matthew. Alfred rolled his eyes. "Anyways, we never could find you two. We all thought you were dead...that's one of the only reasons why the spell wouldn't work," said Reiley. Both Francis and Arthur frowned.
"But now it's obvious why the spell didn't work. We were tracking you two by your wings. More specifically, Matthew's wings. We never considered the possibility of him losing his wings. We assumed that the hunters would want them dead or alive," said Alistair. Matthew frowned. "Why my wings?" he asked.
"Because you were molting at the time mon ami. You were the only one at the time that had left feathers in their room. It was the only thing we could have tracked you with," said Francis softly. Mattie's eyes widen. "Y-You have one of my feathers?" he asked. Arthur jumped up. "It's in my office. I'll go get it," he said, flying off.
Alistair glanced over his shoulder as Arthur left. When he was gone, he turned back to the others. "So you two were captured by hunters and raised by humans?" he asked. The twins nodded. Alistair took a long sip of whiskey, looking each one of them over. "The hunters took your wings...but he did something to your brother too, didn't he?" he asked.
The twins froze. Francis frowned at their reaction, turning to Allistair. "What do you mean? Why would you think that?" he asked. "It wouldn't make sense for them to take one twin's wing and leave the other intact, even if Francis had scared him off. He still had time to do something….even if it was a rough job," said Allistair, watching the twins carefully.
Back from hiatus, which turned out to be a good thing because I thought of new ways to torture the characters and come up with an evil villain. *Cue Evil Laugh and Lightening* You guys are going to hate me so much...but that's a few chapters away yet.