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Rain.
The sound of splashing footsteps echoed in the forest, they were moving frantically, hearts racing, breathing shallow. Wifies carried him towards an inconspicuous cave with Dean following behind them. The sound of pickaxes hitting the stones resonated on the naturally generated stone walls.
Cold.
He was dimming. His hair lost its glow, his eyes were closed, his feather-like cloak was losing every single wedge he gathered from getting too close to a singular light source that can handle his body's greed. He was losing them, losing his ability to fly, losing his freedom, losing his light.
One more light - one more wedge, and he is gone. He had gone completely dim. He couldn't feel the warmth of Wifies' back, he couldn't hear the fear in both Dean and Wifies' voices. He tried opening his eyes, yet he sees nothing, just black static, as if his eyes were still closed.
He felt himself move. And, his cold hands became warmer, but it was not enough. His eyes regained their ability to see, yet everything was blurry. He saw a silhouette and a light source- a torch. He felt a hand on his arm, guiding his hand to the fire.
It was Wifies.
Dean was holding the torch for him, careful not to burn him despite his immunity to the flame.
It took Parrot a while to realize he was leaning against Wifies for support. It took him a while to realize Wifies was holding him, trying to keep his ice cold body from further deficiency. He guided his own hand further, touching the light in its entirety.
The muffled voices of Dean and Wifies could be heard amidst the crackling of the fire and the sound of water droplets from dripstone. He was guided to lean on the cold, wet walls while Dean handed him his light before they disappeared in the dark.
Parrot looks away, his eyes closing again as he hugged the torch to his face as his core regained its glow, the tear shaped crystal illuminating the caves along with the torch that lit up his face.
It was warm. But it wasn't enough to replenish his lost light.
Two years before all this happened, he was in the same situation. He just fell from the sky with barely any light, his wings acted like a parachute, keeping him from splatting to the ground, killing himself. Parrot had no idea how he ended up in this world. A world still flourishing, a world filled with light instead of darkness, a world where sky children weren't needed.
Wemmbu was his first encounter, unlucky for him, Wemmbu had the same suffocating energy dark dragons possess. Parrot was naturally afraid of him at first, and Wemmbu did nothing to prove that he wasn't of the dark kin.
The moment Wemmbu touched his light, he was met with a heavy feeling on his chest. Wemmbu's core almost devoured his own, but at the same time, his core was acting as a cure, subconsciously removing a winged light, as if Wemmbu was a crystalized being that was trapped in Eden.
The second encounter was when Spoke spawned in. A voidling, something similar in nature to Wemmbu, but at the same time, something different. Thankfully Wemmbu was somewhat decent, and didn't hate him, so he was okay. But Spoke.
Spoke was pure void. His body could materialize, glitch out of existence, or disappear like a puff of dark clouds every shattering season. The moment Spoke touched him, it wasn't like when how Wemmbu almost devoured his core, no. It was something like he was being repelled, as if they were enemies by nature.
The darkness of the void, and the sky's light. it was such a contrast that he made a friend because Spoke thinks he was weirdly cool.
Spoke was something Parrot could never begin to comprehend.
The sound of thunder woke Parrot from his past. Dean and Wifies hadn't come back yet, it was still raining outside, and the torch they left him was almost losing their light.
His body was turning cold again. This time, without the warmth of his light, without Wifies, without Dean. He was completely alone. The cave was dimming as Parrot's core went to survival mode, eating away at every light source it could find to replace the missing wedges on his wings.
It's not enough.
He was cold.
He was tired.
He...
He closes his eyes as his body fell on the side, the torch loose on his hands. His breathing shallowed, his core flickered, his hair losing its glow once more.
...
The scent of firewood assaulted his lungs as he felt his temperature rising. His chest was pressed against someone else's, his chin resting on their shoulder. A hand was placed on his wedges as they immediately lit up, filling all eleven slots. His arms instinctively flew around the light, his light. The hand on his hair was petting him gently, as if he was a scared little animal who just survived a predator's gaze.
Parrot blinked his eyes open. Finally, finally he was glowing again.
The light poured into every piece of his core, flooding his every being with the light. The cold vanished in the light's presence, his face was warm, his body was warm, everything was warm.
Light surrounded them, finally illuminating the dark cave.
Parrot took a closer look.
Invisibility Particles.
Something the Mafia is known for. Something that instilled fear into everyone in this world. The man was donned in netherite armor in diamond eye trims.
Parrot's eyes immediately flew open, this time, the light immediately became too much, became something he shouldn't crave for if the light was now the enemy who was chasing after them under that glitch's orders, trying to convert them-
"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled at him, though he seemed to regret it the moment he did. "You're okay, you're okay." His voice softened.
The sound of a bucket being thrown unto the stone floors echoed inside the cave, snapping him out of his stupor. Warm, firm hands were gripping on his shoulders, grounding him, forcing Parrot to look at the helmet.
The figure finally revealing themselves as the effects of the invisibility potion wore off.
Oh...
Flamefrags.
It was really his light, and not anyone possessing the same effects Flame had on him.
His shoulders relaxed as he saw Flame's face, his ear wings folded unto his face, completely unguarded, his feather-like cloak rested on his back, now content with the light flooding its wedges.
Parrot's demeanor immediately shifted the moment he was reminded that Flame was the same person wearing the diamond trims the Mafia gives their higher ranks.
"Why..." Parrot muttered, his head hung low as his voice was clearer than before. "You're a diamond trim. Why did you suddenly-!"
Flame immediately wrapped his arms around Parrot once more, engulfing Parrot in his light that only he could see. "Diamond trims are extremely valuable to Ashswag." He said. "He's not gonna pull our pearl willy nilly."
Parrot's breath hitched. His hand made its way to Flame's waist, gripping on his armor like his life depended on it. He breaths on the crook of Flame's neck, basking in his light.
It was quiet for a moment. Only the echoing sound of the water droplets hitting stone was heard, resonating with the cave's stone walls.
Parrot felt flame pull away. The excessive warmth still there, only radiating on him instead of being consistently fed to him.
"They should be back here by n-"
Flame immediately flinched the moment Parrot leaned into him again, pressing his cheek on Flame's hard chest plate. For other people, it was cold and uncomfortable. But for Parrot, it was the warmth of his light.
Parrot closed his eyes, as if he was resting on a pillow instead of a chest plate. He was basically draped over him. One arm around Flame's waist, his wings covering them like a blanket, his ear wings drooped against his cheeks.
"Stay."
He doesn't mean it.
"Don't leave."
Please leave.
Parrot was delirious, intoxicated, drunk on Flame's light. An overdose of light on Parrot's body that could barely contain all of Flame, yet he lies there on his light. He could feel Flame slowly melt into the hug, he could feel his arms rewrapping around Parrot, petting his hair, a hand on his glowing wedges.
Parrot wanted to lose himself on Flame's light, wanted to indulge himself, keep him high, feed off his light. He knew he should move. He knew how harmful it was to just lie there on Flame's chest before Dean and Wifies comes back.
Their efforts of finding light would be in vain, Parrot could see his entire being glow from the overdose, yet his grip tightened.
"Parrot." He could hear Flame call out to him, his voice unusually soothing.
His core greedily absorbed the traces of light leaking through Flame's entire being.
"Until I fall asleep."
"Bu-"
"Please, my light."
Parrot felt Flame's body relax as the tension between them disappeared. Flame was already playing with Parrot' hair, each stroke sending waves of warmth through his body as Parrot's grip loosened. Parrot heard Flame mutter something under his breath, something akin to grumbling.
All he could do was let out a strained laugh as he willingly drank Flame's light.
Unfortunately for both Parrot and Flame, they were on opposing sides. One wants to be free from the mafia, the other fights for it. But right now, none of that mattered to a dying child of light, none of it mattered to the living winged light.
And until Dean and Wifies returns, Parrot won't be letting go of his light any time soon.