Fallen trudged through the dark forest, his bright blue neckerchief and tail lighting the way. He stayed very aware of the surrounding area, knowing that at night he was in danger of attack; especially due to his bright and shiny scarf. He heard small rumblings in the nearby grass and instinctively began running faster. He looked behind him, noticing an orange glow. A thought rung in his mind, the thought that this was a predator of some sort. In his run, he accidentally tripped, quickly turning around to fight whatever was chasing him. Another glittertail stumbled out of the grass. Fallen breathed a silent sigh of relief. It's just Ember, he said to himself. He knew that Ember wouldn't be a problem at all. He simply turned around and continued on his walk. Ember followed behind, asking questions.
"Heya! Where ya goin? Can I come too? Why were you running?" Ember asks many questions. Fallen ignores him, not wanting to get caught up in the youngster's questions. Ember persisted, re- asking Fallen over and over again. Eventually, Fallen snaps and turns to Ember.
"Shut the fuck up! Leave me alone!"
"O-oh..."
Fallen, in a bout of embarrassment, turns around and runs away. Ember thinks about following. On one hand, he was really curious, but on the other, he had made Fallen really angry. Eventually he started following, managing to get enough speed to start flying. Ember ended up crashing in front of Fallen. He stood there, looking at the injured body of the child. Lifting up his wing, Fallen noticed the crookedness of Ember's wing. He shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to fly anymore for a few days- maybe even weeks. He picked up Ember by the scruff of his neck to where he was going anyway. Ember groaned from pain.
Once Fallen had reached to where he was going, a lake with a rock island in the middle, he carefully tried reaching the middle. He knew he wouldn't be able to fly, and considering that these waters were the cause of his death long ago, he couldn't risk letting another life to be lost in it, let alone a life as young as Ember. He carefully set down the body of Ember, flying to the center rock. He looked at Ember from the corner of his eye while looking at the large, full moon high in the sky. He looked again at the dark waters surrounding him. He shivered at the memory of cold waters trapping him, as he struggled to break the surface, and he slowly lost consciousness. The sound of Ember snapped him out of it. He looked at Fallen, his eyes clearly giving away how disoriented he was. Fallen flew over to him. "Wh... where am I?" Croaked Ember. He looked around, and then back at Fallen. "Why are you here?" Fallen sighed, not wanting to ruin Ember's world by teaching him his cruel it can be. He simply stated, "...Its a comfort place of mine... It makes me feel safe, in a way." Ember looked confused, but didn't pester Fallen, most likely due to what he said earlier to him. Ember got up, and attempted to stretch his wings.
"Ow!" He yelped, clearly unaware how much his fall had hurt him. Without speaking, Fallen found some twigs scattered across the forest floor and attempted to set up a cast, of sorts. Once he had gathered enough wood, Fallen straightened Ember's wing, ignoring his obvious pain. He then wrapped the cast around it using vines and woven grass. Once done, Ember looked at his wing. It still hurt pretty badly. Fallen turned away and started cleaning up the surrounding area, pulling out any weeds and taking care of any twigs.
"...What are you doing?" Asked Ember. Fallen simply said, "I'm cleaning the clearing..." Ember, still confused, asked, "But... why?" Fallen simply shrugged, still refusing to bring up why this place was so special to him. Ember looked away and fell over due to the weight of the cast. Instead of trying to get up, he simply lay there, looking at the stars. Fallen continued to clean up the area.
Ember rushed behind him, scaring him. Fallen jumped into the brush, clearly startled. When he got up, he sent Ember a look of scorn, and he promptly stopped laughing at him. "Ember... Please go back to wherever you were. Leave. Please...?" Asked Fallen, trying to not seem mean. Ember protested, not wanting to leave. "Pleeeease can I stay?"
"No. Leave. Now." Fallen's voice was demanding and impatient. Ember started pouting, slowly walking away. Upset, Fallen simply grabbed Ember by the scruff and flew away with him, having trouble staying off the ground. "HEY! Let me go!!!" Yelled Ember, disliking being carried like a kit. Fallen dropped Ember in a clearing, and flew away into the forest so the he couldn't follow him anymore. Ember looked at where Fallen had disappeared, however had no choice but to turn around. He carefully walked through the clearing, scared that he was alone in an unfamiliar place. He stepped on a twig, which made him jump. He seemed like a completely different person, that once prominent energetic personality replaced by a much more timid one. Ember absolutely hated being alone, especially in the dark like this. He called out for someone, anyone. No one answered.
Meanwhile, Fallen had reached the lake again. He carefully got in the rock again, sprawling his legs out. He ended up dozing off. The light breeze ruffled his fur, the moon reflecting off of his lamp - like hat. After an hour or two, Fallen was sprung awake by the shriek of a familiar voice.
Ember.
He rushed to where he had left Ember last. Strung across the floor was bits of his fur and feathers. In a rush, Fallen followed the scent of fear that Ember had left behind. At the end of the trail was Ember, surrounded by a small pool of blood. In a panic, Fallen ripped off his own bandage and wrapped it around Ember's wound. He sat there, waiting for Ember to gain conscious again so he could ask him what had happened. After what seemed to be eternity, Ember got up weakly. He was breathing heavily and his eyes look disoriented, but he was alive. He looked at Fallen, who was already busy collecting herbs. Fallen noticed that Ember had gotten up, so he turned around and looked at him. "...What happened to you?" He asked. Ember looked at him, trying to remember. "S-something attacked me. It was big... And scary... But I think it's gone now?" His voice was shaky but he was still trying to put on a brave face. Fallen continued gathering herbs. "So... You're not gonna say anything?" Continued Ember. Fallen once again said nothing. Ember looked upset at how Fallen was treating him. It was his fault that he was attacked in the first place. Ember turned away and simply licked off the dry blood on his fur. Fallen looked at Ember. "I... I'm sorry..." His voice was hollow, clearly lying to make Ember feel better. Ember simply snorted, still upset. At this point, the sun was low in the sky, painting the horizon a bright orange-y pink. Fallen picked up all of his collected herbs and walked away. Ember turned around, trying to get Fallen to come back. Eventually he gave up and walked further in the forest, trying to find any kind of safety. He was still shaken by the encounter but physically he was no longer bleeding.
Fallen reached his den. He propped up his collected herbs against the wall, a long with the others. Fallen sat down, thinking about what had happened that day. Deep down, he was slightly worried about Ember, but he did nothing and simply sat there, thinking about what couldv'e happened to him. After a long time of overthinking, Fallen passed out. He was tired from everything that had happened. His body soon disappeared from the corporeal plane, as he had run out of energy to stay any longer.
He blinked awake, confronted by the familiar white nothing. "Ah, I must have run out of energy then..." Fallen had a deep resentment to the world. Why wouldn't he die? Why was he trapped in this void instead of being able to move on? At least he was able to get enough power to visit the mortal world every once and awhile. He sat there, a slow ticking sound manifesting in his mind. In the reality, the only things was the slow passage of time and a bright, never ending void.
