Sky stared at Pai, devastated.
He couldn't believe it. He couldn't, and he blamed himself for actually thinking that this was the person who would accept him, finally.
But no. He had been wrong.
The pain it caused him was unbearable. It was like a creature howling and roaring and tearing him apart, piece by piece. It was like a hurricane of knives, striking and pummeling him with their sharp edges. It was like a tsunami, swallowing him whole, and drowning him in its cold, dark depths.
Sky couldn't think. He couldn't stand. He couldn't even breathe properly. Before he collapsed on the floor in a heap, he groped for the last, logical string of thought. And that though just happened to be "Run."
Sky felt like he'd rather die than see that look on Prapai's face again, so he turned around, and not even noticing the sheer strength with which he threw away the men holding him, ran to window, and smashed himself into it.
——————
Sky didn't remember much from the flight back home. Everything seemed too blurry and too painful. All he knew is that when he somehow found his way back to his condo, he slumped and fell on the cold terrace and started to pour his eyes out.
Sky didn't ever think there were enough tears in him before, but as he sobbed uncontrollably and pulled his knees up to his chest, he knew he was wrong. His heart was aching, and he felt like dying. Felt like drowning himself. Felt like cutting off his wings.
But Sky knew that he couldn't handle any more pain. He was weak, broken, smashed and shattered and thrown away like a piece of trash. He sensed that no matter how strong his will to get rid of the wretched feathers, he would not be able to. And so he streamed his heart and eyes out, crying and staining his clothes with salty hot tears. His whimpers were quiet, so no one heard the drops fall, but if Sky's heart had a voice, it would be screaming in agony and loss.
The weeks when Sky and Prapai were together were definitely the best weeks of Sky's life. He was treated and cared for, he was cherished and loved. And now the person who had made him so happy, who had brought him the comfort and warmth Sky never had, looked at him like a monster.
Once again, he had loved, and he had lost.
'Good for nothing monster.'
That's what he was.
'Inhuman scum'
Yeah...
'Things like you deserve to die in hell.'
Sure.
'How could I have ever loved you?'
I don't know.
'You horrible creature—'
Sky felt something tug on his consciousness. At first, he was too crushed to care, and couldn't decipher what he was feeling, but then the tugging came stronger, and Sky was able to feel it.
A scared, angry, and trapped feeling.
Primarily, Sky didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore. But the pulling strengthened, and the feeling was becoming overwhelming.
Sky thought that these were his own, strange thoughts, and that his mind was slowly going insane, but then, he felt something else. A different body, a different person.
"Prapai!" Sky thought with a gasp.
He could feel the other. And Sky knew that there was something wrong. Something terribly, terribly wrong.
He could feel panic cursing through Prapai's veins, even though he was nowhere in sight.
"What was happening?" Sky thought hurriedly, momentarily forgetting the pain he was in. If there was anything that could make him forget all his troubles, it would definitely Prapai. Pai, who was now....
Sky somehow managed to stretch out his senses, quickly trying to figure out what was wrong. Pai was in danger. He knew it as clearly as air.
Sky forgot about everything. Well, he didn't really forget, but he didn't care. He didn't care that Pai now hated him. Didn't care that Prapai didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Didn't care. All he knew, was that Pai was at risk.
Nobody could explain the connection between Sky and Prapai, but Sky knew where Pai was. He knew his location as well as his five fingers. And so, Sky, failing to recall what happened before, soared down for the second time that night, not caring about anything but the problem at hand.
——————
Prapai knew he was thoroughly f*cked.
He turned around in all directions, rapidly trying to find a way out of this situation.
He was surrounded by hooded and shadowed figures, who, just happened to be holding him at gunpoint.
"What do you want?" He hurriedly called out, still searching for a way out of this dark alleyway.
He didn't want the people to see his fear, but his insides were gurgling and churning with it.
Nobody answered him, the people just simply stepped forward, trapping him even worse in their well-made circle.
The six gun barrels pointed right at his chest didn't help either.
Prapai gazed everywhere, looking for an empty spot where he could escape. He even looked up, thinking that maybe he would be able to jump and grab onto a window ledge or something, but everything was too high and too far away.
Pai knew yelling was pointless as well because he somehow managed to get himself into a non-populated street.
"Well done Pai." He though, cursing himself for his stupidity.
His thoughts buzzing with adrenaline and alarm, he tried to talk himself out of it again.
"What do you want from me?!" He repeated, voice higher than normal. He was muscly, sure, but he doubted he could wrestle seven people at once. Not ones that were holding pistols at him anyway.
"We want you dead." Finally grumbled the man at the front, the one without a gun. He seemed to be in charge.
"Why?" Prapai demanded, collecting his thoughts.
"Never you mind." The voice replied harshly.
Then, without warning, the figure raised his arm in the air, and Prapai heard the clicks of six, identical, triggers being pulled.
Prapai pressed his eyes shut and ducked down, getting ready for everything to end. His life would end in a simple "pop!" of the bullet going through his skin and nobody would ever find his body in this dingy, dark,
alleyway.
Suddenly, with Prapai's death being only milliseconds away, Pai distinctly heard the giant swoosh of air, and the next thing he knew, he was engulfed by feathers from all sides.
Prapai heard the sound of bullets hitting skin, (and feathers, in this case) but it was not his own.
The person wrapped his arms and wings around Prapai more tightly, and let out small grunts as bullets pierced his body, but he didn't let go.
Prapai's mind couldn't really keep up with what was happening, so he was only fully able to recall exactly what happened later.
—
Sky's figure rose into the air in a swish from Pai, flying up when he was sure the people below stopped shooting, and not caring about the dozen of holes that were oozing blood from his feathers. He stayed a flight, looking beneath him.
—
The men, amazed and confused, watched as the feathered figure flew up and started, miraculously, to glow.
—
Sky didn't feel like himself. There was something in him that had taken charge, that had dominated him in a steel grip. Sky felt powerful. It was as though trillions of tiny zaps were going through his body, piercing every cell and every atom. It was as though his whole being was alive with power. As the zaps intensified, there was something bigger, something stronger that Sky couldn't explain. It was as though he himself was lightning. As though he was light and speed and power.
So much power.
—
The men below opened their mouths to exclaim in confusion at the scene above them. The boy had risen, and was now levitating in the air, not needing even a swoop of those giant wings. The boy looked as though he was the emperor of the world. He was glowing, and the glowing kept on increasing, till there were visible sparks flying off him in repeated bolts.
One of the men tried shooting up at the figure, but, unexplainably, the bullets just bounced off the raising zaps. The night sky was now alight with the bright glowing figure, and it was as though he was a star in the sea of black.
The men watched, horror struck, as actual lighting reflected around the boy. Many started running, afraid and unsure of what was happening, but they couldn't make more than three steps away from the circle of light.
They knew, as the boy opened his eyes, and they sparkled and beamed with an unearthly shine, that they were done for.
And so they were.
The figure smiled, moved its giant wings back in a swooping motion, and brought them back, cascading the hot, burning flames of lighting upon the men below. All of them were swept away a dozen of feet, and their bodies burned away as though they were simply paper.
All of them died, accept one.
—
Prapai couldn't believe what was happening when the people around him were washed away as though by tsunami, and he was left were he was, some sort of protective bubble around him.
Then, gazing up, he saw the winged figure fall, unconscious, to the ground.