CW: blood, gore, animal death, human death, sexist behavior, panic (this is probably one of the most intense chapters I've written in a while)
Virgil listened to the sound of running water with a smile as he drew a nearby bird that was pecking at the ground for bugs. It was pretty early in the morning, so he didn't know when Roman would arrive, but he didn't mind. That just gave him some time to himself to do whatever he would like.
So he was filling the pages in his sketchbook with whatever he found around him. Leaves, branches, animals, he already had a page full of all of it. He smiled when the bird looked up at him, only for it to drop in disappointment when it flew away. He hadn't finished drawing it yet!
Then he caught the scent of gunpowder. He looked behind him and strained his ears, managing to hear what sounded like leaves crunching from far away. He caught his breath, realizing it was getting louder, only to jump when he heard a gunshot.
He dropped his sketchbook, scrambling to his feet as he looked for somewhere to hide. Virgil's mind worked fast as it sounded like something galloping towards him, it was a deer. Oh stars, it could lead the hunters to him.
Glamour. He had to use his glamour, he would run too slow. But he can't cover that much space for long. What should he do?
The moment he heard barking, his hands worked before he knew what he was doing. He took off his cloak and ran to the nearest tree, putting the cloak over himself and using his glamour on it to make it look like it was part of the tree.
Footsteps came closer and through the glamour Virgil could see the deer. Dogs were chasing it and it took everything in the fairy to whimper in fear. He remembered the hunting dogs chasing him and his father through the dark woods.
One of the dogs bit onto the deer's leg, another jumped in front of it. The deer tripped and fell, the third and last dog jumping on it's back. There was a whistle and the dogs got out of the way as the deer tried to get up and run, but it was too slow.
Virgil closed his eyes as a gunshot from nearby, and he heard something big and heavy fall to the floor. There were four sets of boots, and the smell of gunpowder and blood filled the air. The fairy could feel his heart beating fast and sweat bead on his forehead. Please leave, go away, don't find him.
"Good job you three," one of the hunters said. Virgil heard clicking and assumed the dogs were put on leashes, which was almost relieving if it weren't for the fact that they were all still there. At least it sounded like they were on the other side of the tree he was hiding behind.
"Alright, who wants to carry this guy?" another hunter asked, making the others laugh. "I carried the last one, one of you three get to carry this one."
"Jake shot it, he should carry it!" one argued.
"Nuh uh, I ain't carrying shit. I killed it, someone else carries, and someone else skins," the other, presumably Jake, told them.
A dog barked and Virgil heard one of them say. "Quit it, what are you sniffing for?"
"Hey look at that, it looks like someone's book!" The fairy heard footsteps leading toward where he was last sitting. "It doesn't look like it was here long. Maybe someone's nearby?"
"Probably someone from that rotten village, Matela."
A man laughed, "Didn't Eric embarrass himself a while ago by getting in a fight there?"
"Shut your mouth, you wouldn't have won a fight with that guy by yourself either!" Eric shouted. Virgil had to hold his breath to keep himself from making a sound, tears forming in his eyes from fear.
"It looks like someone's drawing book. Maybe it's a girl's, these don't look half bad. Didn't you say you were back in the dating game, Jake?"
"Ha! I would shoot my own foot before I date a girl from Matela!"
"Still, maybe we should return it to her, we might get something out of it." Papers rustled as the book was picked up. "Here boys, find her scent for us."
Virgil bit his lip as he heard the sound of the dogs sniffing. This was it, he was going to die, they're going to find him and then find out he's a fairy and kill him. Without his cloak on, his wings were in full view since he wasn't wearing the leather straps or his vest. Why couldn't he just have waited to leave a little longer before going to Roman's home?
"What are you four doing here?" Virgil heard the witch's voice shout. Oh no... He's here. Roman's going to get into another fight.
"Hey! You're the asshole that stole my knife!" Eric shouted.
"And you're the assholes that aren't supposed to be hunting here. This part of the forest belongs to Matela!" Run Roman run! Why wasn't he running?!
Virgil didn't know what to do, should he show himself to help Roman? Should he stay hidden? How long has it been? How much longer can he hold his glamour?
"You might have been able to beat me in a fight before, but I bet you can't beat all of us!" The sound of a gun's trigger being pulled back echoed in Virgil's ears.
The fairy looked over to see Roman standing opposite of the hunters. Behind a tree he could see Darrell peaking out. Both Roman and the hunters stood on the other side of the tree of Virgil, almost forming a triangle.
"Why not drop the guns if you're so confident you can beat me?" Roman teased, putting up his fists.
"Hmm, nah." A hunter said. Virgil's eyes widened when he heard a gunshot. Luckily he saw Roman move to the side, and the witch didn't make any sign of pain so it was a good guess that he wasn't hit.
The dogs started barking and Darrell ducked behind the tree. There were three clicks and Virgil saw the dogs run towards Roman. There were more clicks as the gun triggers were pulled back. Fuck it.
Virgil dropped his arms, tying his cloak loosely around himself again. He ran out from behind the tree and grabbed a nearby stick. He could feel shock coming from Roman, he probably knew the fairy was there but was just as surprised as Virgil when he came out from hiding.
The fairy jumped on Roman, pushing him down as gunshots filled the air. He raised the stick just as a dog tried to bite him, instead getting a mouthful of splinters. Well, there goes that weapon.
"Hey, that's the other guy!" They both heard one of the hunters shout.
"Where the fuck did he come from?!"
Roman picked Virgil up off the ground as the fairy kicked one of the dogs back. Now that they were both standing, Virgil used one of the broken pieces of his branch to wack another dog that was about to bite him.
"Look out!" Roman grabbed Virgil's arm and pulled him out of the way as a gunshot sounded, the bullet whistling past them where the fairy was just standing. Right, they wanted them dead, guns were the bigger issue.
A dog bit into Roman's leg, making him shout in pain and fall down. Virgil grabbed the dog's collar and yanked it back, making it let go of Roman's leg. Something solid hit him in the ribs hard, making him fall. He looked up to see Eric holding the barrel of his rifle, having hit him with the butt of it.
Eric raised his gun to hit Virgil with it again, the fairy raising his arm to defend himself. But the gun never came down to hit him since Roman jumped at the hunter, pushing him down. The witch kept him pinned down and two other hunters ran in to pull Roman off of him.
Virgil got up to help him but the other hunter aimed his gun towards him. The fairy only saw it for a split second, moving out of the way on instinct. He yelped when the gun fired and the bullet grazed his shoulder.
He felt teeth bite into his legs and he managed to kick the dog before falling. The other two dogs jumped on him, pushing him onto the ground and making him hit his head on something hard, his vision going black out for a moment becoming fuzzy.
The fairy threw his arms over his face to protect himself, the dogs biting into them. He squinted his eyes open to see the hunter reload and aim his gun back at him. Looking over he saw Roman being thrown to the ground, Eric pointing his own rifle at the witch. Before Virgil knew it, he was throwing his hand out towards Eric and a tree bent, wrapping around the hunter and stopping him from shooting Roman.
"What the fuck!" a hunter shouted, backing away from them.
Roman stood up with wide eyes, Virgil could feel the panic coming from him as he himself realized what he did. The witch cursed under his breath before using his own magic, roots tearing from the ground and grabbing the dogs that let go of Virgil from being startled. Two of the hunters moved out of the way of them, but the third hunter was caught in the roots as well.
"Shoot him!" Eric shouted. "Shoot them!"
Virgil pushed himself off of the ground, looking up just in time to see one of the hunters shoot at Roman. The witch moved too slow, and Virgil's eyes widened when he saw the blood spray from his shoulder as he shouted in pain.
"Roman!" he screamed. He ran at the hunter who shot the witch, tackling them to the ground. He struggled with them, trying to keep him down and pull the rifle from his grip, feeling his hand burn from the iron of the barrel. He felt someone grab the back of his cloak and pull. The loose knot quickly came undone and Virgil's stomach dropped when his wings were revealed.
"Holy shit!" the hunter behind him cried.
Virgil's grip on the hunter under him loosened just enough for the hunter to push him off. The fairy felt weak as he tried to push himself up again, but the two hunters pushed him down. One of his arms was trapped under him, the other being held down by one of the hunters. He felt a hand grab one of his wings and screamed in panic.
"Don't!" he shouted, trying and failing to squirm out of their grip as tears formed in his eyes. They were going to pull out his feathers, or worse, cut off his wings.
Luckily before anything happened, something pushed the hunters off of him, both screaming in fear. He looked up, expecting to see Roman but instead he found a giant fox, fur made of gold and silver. It took him a moment to realize that it was Darrell, pinning the two hunters down with his giant paws.
Virgil looked over to see Roman still on the ground, holding his shoulder as he sobbed in pain. The fairy quickly got up and ran over to him, falling on his knees in front of him as he tried to ignore the screaming and tearing sounds behind him.
"What-what do I do?" he asked, his hands hovering over Roman uselessly.
"B-bag!" Roman shouted through his tears, holding his shoulder tighter. "Grab it!"
Virgil quickly did so, opening it as he ignored the pain in his hand. Inside he found several things, though the first thing he noticed was the pink vials that glowed red. He grabbed one out, remembering how Roman said he carried healing potions with him.
"Okay, hold on." The fairy moved Roman so he was laying on his back, earning a sobbing moan. "How do I- how do I use this?!"
The witch struggled to remove his bloody hand from the wound. "P-pour!" was all he was able to get out.
Virgil winced as he opened the vial, grabbing Roman's hand and moving it out of the way. The witch clung onto him as he poured some of the potion onto the wound. Roman let out another sob as he squeezed the fairy's hand, but he seemed to start calming down.
Virgil could see him force his breath steady, letting out pained moans, albeit quieter. He loosened his grip on the fairy's hand, and Virgil relaxed for a moment.
"What are you freaks?!" one of the remaining hunters shouted. "You killed them!"
The fairy frowned, glaring at the hunter that spoke. He let go of Roman's hand and stood up, his wings opening a bit in a defensive stance. Should he let them live and be able to tell others what they saw? Or should he kill them?
Well... there was a third option. He could practice his mind magic, see if he can manipulate memories. He didn't want to erase them completely, he just wanted to keep them from remembering him and Roman. And possibly keep them from returning.