*Discontinued* Nightingale

13

"Nightingale?" Roman slowly pushed his way through the bushes, his small fingers brushing through the leaves as he went. "Nightingale? Where did you go?" The tiny 11-year-old prince tensed at the sounds around him. "Nightingale! Please, come out. It's not safe." Roman could feel himself panicking as he frantically looked around for his best friend. "Nightin-..." He stopped short seeing the sight before him. He found himself outside the brush seeing a bunch of human's cackling as they brandished their silver and iron weapons. Hunters..."NO!" They jumped back revealing the small body of his friend on the ground making Roman's blood boil. His wings fluttered angrily as the hunters all shared a look. "Don't hurt him!"

"Looks like we found another one." One of the men said as he stalked closer.

"P-Poppy?" Roman's eyes shot up as his friend whined and panted. "R-Run, poppy."

"Either you let him go... o-o-or else." Roman stood his ground, his bright red fiery wings flaring as he glared the adults down. He could see them coming closer. He could see the pure malice in their eyes. 

"P-P-Poppy..." His friend cried out making Roman snap only just enough for one of the men to grab him. "Poppy no..."

"Nightingale! Go!" Roman flared making his wings send out a bright blinding light. His friend seemed to melt into the night air turning invisible but the man that held Roman never let go. He ended up against the ground with Iron against his wrists making him scream out. 

"You cost us a good penny there kid." The main man leered as he glanced over the prince's wings. "You've got quite the pair for such a small child. Must be so hard to care for for someone of your age." Roman felt this pit in his gut as the man smirked with his blade, bringing it right to his chin. "Why don't we help you out with that... we can take them off your hands." 

Pain coursed through the poor child as he screamed out. He knew this was it. Hunters took what they wanted and killed their kind for sport. He was in so much pain his vision went black. He fell limp against the dirt, iron chains burning into him as everything crashed in him and the darkness took over.

"ROMULUS!" 

Roman's eyes snapped open to find himself in a hospital bed. He whimpered at the pain in his back as he looked around anxiety burning through him until... He spotted his father standing there with a very sad look in his eyes.

"You're awake." Roman smiled tiredly as he nodded, not wanting to speak when in so much pain. "Romulus..."

"Nightingale?" His father paled as Roman panted and whined. "H-How... How is..."

"He's not important right now, Romulus." Roman frowned as he father took his hand. "Roman... A gaurd found you in a cave... Your friend... he had led them to you but... We were to late. The hunters who had attacked... they were long gone." Roman could see the tears in his fathers eyes as he tried to sit up only to cry out. His back hurt so much. Why did his back hurt? Why... "Romulus... son, they..." Roman's eyes shot wide as the memories of what had happened filled his mind. He couldn't stop himself from crying. "They took your wings."

"N-Nightin... Nightingale..." His father sighed as he leaned back. Roman couldn't stop the tears that streamed down his face. "Please? He's ok... right? He's ok."

"Romulus..."

"Tell me he's ok!" Roman yelled out making his father frown. "I have to know. Please, Father..."

"Your friend is ok, Romulus. He had some iron burns but other then that he was stable." Roman relaxed into the bed his pain a constant thrum, but the relief he felt was way stronger. 

"I'm glad." 

"Romulus, you can't possibly care more about..."

"He's my best friend."  His father's eyes widdened as Roman snappened back, not even letting him finish his sentance. "So yes... I care more about him then my stupid wings."

"ROMULUS!"

"I would give them up again if it ment he wasn't hurt." His father's eyes narrowed as Roman glared challengingly at him.

"Do you not understand the importance of this? You... Romulus Ember... PRINCE OF FAIRIES... lost his wings." Roman flinched as his father raised his voice. "You lost your wings... for what. A peasent boy?"

"I care about him, Father."

"He's a danger." The king retorted as making Roman's eyes fill with shock. "You got hurt because of him... because of your friendship."

"They were going to kill him!"

"They were going to kill you. Romulus! You are a prince..."

"Yes, I am. Aren't I suposed to help my people? You're always saying my duty is to them." The King's wings fluttered making Roman tense up feeling his pain that much stronger.

"Your duty is to your kingdom. You cannot be a prince... if you are dead." Roman didn't have a response to that. His Fathers glare sent him reeling as he tried really hard not to fall back into his pain. "You need to think about what is best for ALL your people. Not just one. Your survival takes precedence over everyone elses."

"I'm sorry, Father..." The king nodded as started to leave only to stop seeing the look his son had. "I'm sorry... I cannot do that."

"Romulus..."

"I swore to protect him." The king frowned as Roman smiled softly at nothing. "I gave my word to protect and care for him. He's my best friend, Father. He's my nightingale. Please... Please understand. I can't... I have to protect him."

"I'm sorry too. The safety of my family and my kingdom... matters more to me... than the survival of a race." Roman's jumped up ignoring the pain in his back as his father started to leave.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!" Roman yelled after as his father's eyes darkened. "You can't do anything to him. He's the last of his kind. Father... please don't do anything. He means everything to me."

"And that right there, Romulus, is the very problem I'm trying to solve."

"NO!" Roman jumped up in bed crying out at the intense pain that soared through his back, the phantom pain of his wings bring his attention back to everything he had lost. Tears streamed down his face, dripping onto his blankets, as his struggled just to breathe. "Damn it... not again." Roman trembled as he curled up into himself, trying not to fall back into his nightmare. He's been having it for several weeks. 

He heard the door creak open and knew exactly who it was without even looking. Ever since he's had the first one, they've always come to help him, everytime he's heard him. Roman just held his hand out not wanting to talk. He felt his small fingers wrap around his and everything broke as he fell into Virgil's chest, the younger smiling softly as he trailed his fingers through Roman's hair. They never talked about it. They never brought it up. They just stayed together through the night. Virgil's learned Roman doesn't like talking about it. Talking about it made him think about it more and thinking about it only ended up hurting him. If he wanted to help Roman... he just had to be there.

"W-W-What are y-you doing u-up?" Virgil chuckled a bit as he rolled his eyes. This was another thing Roman did a lot. He'd turn the focus right onto him instead of himself. Virgil knew it wasn't on purpose. Roman's need to care and protect him made Virgil's wellbeing more important to the other then is own. So knowing Virgil was up instead of sleeping worried the man.

"I couldn't sleep." Virgil whispered softly as he just held Roman close to help calm him down. "I was staring up at the stars... like I do every night."

"You should sleep. You... you need to... to sleep, Virgil." Virgil just nodded as he gently laid Roman down, who instantly latched onto the smaller with a whimper. Virgil rolled his eyes as he laid down with him letting Roman curled up against his chest.

"You should sleep to, Ro. It's ok... I'm not going anywhere tonight."