Chapter 2: Tension

"Did he just tell us to go away?"

"No, that can't be. He's just tired, and you know. Delusional, from bleeding and such."

"He definitely said 'get away from me,' did he not?"

"Phillip, quickly, please."

The prince reached down to help Aurora, but Diaval flinched strongly and stood, and not without a strained shout. Flittle and Knotgrass hid behind each one of Maleficent's horns in alarm. He ignored all of them and limped around the tree, a long groan wheezing past his lips.

"Wait, where are you going?" Aurora asked gently. He coughed, then gave a grim look at the substance the action left on his hand.

"Away."

Aurora stepped forward adamantly, but Phillip caught her wrist and held her back. "Leave him be, 'rora. If he wants solitude, give it to him freely." She looked as if she were about to cry.

"Godmother, tell me he'll be alright. Tell me it's just a branch."

Maleficent frowned. "Of course it's just a branch, beastie. Don't let it bother you. Diaval has always healed quickly, it is only different this time since he changed forms before the process could begin. We will await for his return back in the center of the Moors." She rubbed her godchild's back and led the others through the heavier flora of the forests. Aurora glanced back, but Diaval was already out of sight.

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Breathe. Breathe, why didn't he know how to breathe? One step at a time, breathe, exhale. His forehead was littered with dots of sweat and his lungs ached for a proper amount of air, and he couldn't even say how much pain his shoulder was causing him. The branch protruding from his right shoulder was bent and crushed and, unfortunately, still embedded in his body. He felt every agonizing movement he accidentally caused when his arm twitched to steady himself.

Beneath the dense trees, he almost could not tell that night was falling upon him. He had been walking, or stumbling, for most of the day, if only to distance himself from his friends and his mistress. Diaval hoped that none of them made the mistake of following him.

Finally, after the aching in his heels became too much, Diaval knelt down next to a small stem of the many rivers. The fabric surrounding his knees became cool and heavy with water. The smell of his own blood was dimmed by the smell of flower buds and withered stone. His eyelids fell; he dipped his arm into the freezing current, allowing it to numb haphazardly before letting it up – then, he tugged on the accursed object still fighting to stay lodged so deep in his skin.

The scream he let out awoke many creatures who were previously sound asleep. He focused solely on what he pulled out, and to his relief, it was most of the length of branch. To rejoice, on his part, would still be a horrible idea, however. There was still something left of it and if he even dreamed of shifting to his bird form again, he had to get out sooner rather than later.

"This is my punishment, I know it," he groaned to himself. "Worse than being a dog." Diaval left humor aside and removed his coat, the drops of his blood drying with a brown sheen. He didn't bother to look at the state of his undershirt and removed that as well, wincing as the fabric clung to his wound. A flash of green sparkled in the waters and he knew that a guest had arrived to see what the commotion was.

A very tiny guest, it seemed, as a small emerald light approached faster than he took a breath.

"What in faeries' name are you doing out here screaming? Some of us are trying to – oh, no. Oh, oh my goodness I am so sorry, mister Maleficent's crow, I didn't mean to yell." If Diaval could remember correctly, the twinkling creature hovering so close to him was Thistletwit, the faery that he swore to help.

"You're fine. At least you're as harmless as creatures in the night can get."

"Thank you," she squeaked happily. "Sorry though, birdy-man, I heard your cry and came to, uhm, investigate, I sur'pose. Y'sounded like a banshee, I swear it scared the wings off of me." Her blonde hair bounced with every word she spoke. Suddenly, her face went quite red. "And I just noticed, I suppose, that you are sort of naked. A little. On the top."

He let out a breath of laughter. "You certainly caught me at an awkward moment. I was about to bathe in the mid of night."

"I – yes, ha, that is good. Haha!" She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, despite that, I see you're in need of a little magic on your shoulder, yes?"

"…Yes. That would be much appreciated, thank you." Her demeanor changed quite drastically then, he saw. A trickle of green dust trailed from her fingertips, however small compared to his own digits, and floated gracefully to his right shoulder.

Thistletwit sighed. "I suppose that this is all I can do for you, since you're the one doing this whole… wish-y, Aurora related thing for me. I've never been good with that whole process of, you know, giving gifts, especially to little Aurora herself. My old idea died out, so I have nothing else to go off of."

"Maleficent did say that you were pretty desperate, didn't she."

"She what?"

"No, I'm kidding. But I will do my best, if it means repaying you for…" he paused to observe her finished work and was met with not a scratch, "…for your excellent service. I am –"

Diaval snapped his head to the left, abruptly ceasing his speech. He heard it almost immediately; the furious cracking of twigs, a light, controlled breath, and the distinguished, definite steps of queen Aurora herself. He kept his eyes trained in the direction of the approaching queen but turned himself toward Thistletwit.

"I think I heard Flittle calling for you. She must be worried that you've been gone so long," he said monotonously.

"Really? Oh, well I suppose you do have that super bird hearing or whatever. Anyways, I suppose we'll talk more on Aurora's gift later. Good day! Er, night!" And with that, along with a sigh of relief from Diaval, Thistletwit twirled in the air and toward the middle of the faery kingdom.

Diaval grabbed his slightly wetted undershirt and slipped his arms through them. He was extremely grateful for the returned ability to rotate his arm without wanting to shout. As for his jacket, it was useless at this rate, but he hoisted it over his shoulder either way. It was then that Aurora appeared in the open ground, and his expression softened on seeing her light green eyes sparkling with the stars.

The wind died down and the moonlight could not have illuminated the river with brighter silver light than it had already. He unconsciously fixed his hair, then walked up to Aurora.

"Pretty late to have you out and about, is it not, my lady?"

Aurora jumped, gasped, and nearly fell into the river all in the same movement. "Diaval! Thank goodness, I've been looking for you everywhere."

"You have? I don't believe it." Belief or not, Diaval was still flattered.

"Well, you'd better, because I procured quite a collection of scratches from the brush trying to find you out here."

"Liar. Show me, or you get no credit in finding me," he teased. She lifted her chin, pulled up the sleeves of her flimsy yellow nightdress, and stepped incredibly close to Diaval to show him evidence. His eyebrows shot up at the few, shallow scratches that decorated the lengths of her arms. He rubbed his fingers over a few of them. One looked deeper than the rest, and he purposefully avoided it in case it hurt.

"Looks like this one here might scar. Pity, you had such perfect skin."

Aurora shook her head. "Scars are neat, I say. Like little stories. You have a few, don't you?"

"I think so. Maybe a couple, you know, everywhere."

Her laugh was pure music in his ears. "Just making sure." She observed the couple scars on his face and her gaze found itself on his chest. "Oh, I haven't seen this one before – how peculiar." Before Diaval could say anything, her cool fingers were already grazing his chest, tracing the outline of the claw-shaped mark adorning it. Human touch was something he rarely experienced, but Aurora was something else – a gentle caress, like the brushing of leaves against him or the rain rolling down his skin.

He was blushing. 'Crows don't blush,' he thought to himself, 'stop that.' It got worse when she looked up into his dark, wide eyes, and immediately withdrew her hand.

"Sorry, sorry, I got carried away. Very, yes, very peculiar indeed," she said, and it was her turn to blush, a brilliant pink with her fair complexion. His heart kicked at the sight and he smiled. Aurora playfully nudged his chest. "Making fun of me, are you? Silly bird." He stepped back with a smirk and feigned that she put him in a daze. Unfortunately, he did not realize how close he was to the bank of the river and his foot lost grip on the loose top soil.

He toppled backward and was engulfed by the chilling water. When he surfaced again, Aurora was covering her mouth, trying not to giggle.

"Come on, Aurora. Did you even attempt to catch me before I fell?" He stuck his hand out expectantly, little drips of water littering the ground where the sand just reached the currents. She let a strained noise or two slip from her lips, either laughter or denial toward his question.

When their hands met, Diaval immediately pulled her in with him, waking even more of the forest than before with his loud snickering and her splashes of protest. Once again, the moonlight created a display of pearly light on the river's surface. Diaval ignored it just this once, just in this moment so that he could glimpse at her before Aurora had to return to her prince and her royal duties.

But neither of them could ignore the unmistakable, resonant strain of a sword leaving its scabbard.

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A/N: This is. Amazing. The response that you guys have given me so far is absolutely wonderful.

As you can tell, our story here is definitely not done. Suffice to say, it is far, FAR from over. I mean, not super far. But far.

Thank you to those of you who wished me best in my graduating! I am very excited to move forward in my future (and completely plan on not doing anything but writing this summer because I'm a lazy thing). I am also glad so many of you are reviewing, as I am glad you all enjoy Diavora as much as I do. Criticism, as well, is openly welcome. Find any mistakes? Tell me! Find something 'bothersome' or 'repetitive' in my work? Let me know how I can do better. This is practice for me and I welcome any and all advice that you wish to give.

Once again, until next chapter.