We, who Survived

I stood on the deck, skinning the two rabbits I had shot when a large bird with brown feathers tipped with a deep blue landed on the railing in front of me. It tilted its head twice, waiting for me to approach. It took me a second to recognize the predatory bird before a smile broke out on my face. It was Hawk’s falcon. Stretching my arm out, the falcon jumped onto my arm as I reached for the silver tube containing a letter tied to his leg.

“Been a long time, hasn’t it Parish?” The falcon dipped his head at the mention of his name, violet eyes seeming to focus even more on me. “Fly inside and I’ll bring you some meat.” Parish, if birds could, grinned at the suggestion with his beak opening before unfurling his wings and eagerly taking off into the cabin. Storing the steel tube into my tunic’s pocket, I took the two rabbits inside.

Nathan was still asleep in the bedroll, his dreams causing him to have a fitful rest. I didn’t want to wake him, he still needed it, so I did not linger and carried on to the stone table. I placed both rabbits onto its top before taking out my knife to cut slithers of meat off mine and piled them on the edge where Parish stood. As soon as I backed away, he gobbled down the morsels. Taking out the silver tube, I carefully undid the stopper and released the letter inside. As I read, I leaned against the table.

Fern,

Will be coming to Black Reach tomorrow afternoon.

Look after Parish for me until then.

Hawk

The words were written in Hawk’s scratchy writing, nothing near as neat and clean as Nathan’s cursive. A grin made my cheeks burn. Nathan would be able to meet my older brother soon and I felt giddy until a thought dawned on me. Would Nathan be able to sleep with a total stranger being in the cave? Maybe it was time for us to move into one of the other rooms with a door...

When Nathan woke up it was with an unhappy groan and yelp when Parish decided to greet him by flying for his head.

“Fern!” He yelled, pulling the fur blanket over his head just as Parish landed by his side. “Get it away!”

Chuckling, I sat down at the foot of the bed, offering Parish my arm. He hopped his way to me before jumping up and walking to rest on my shoulder, claws softly digging into my skin.

“You can come out of hiding now,” I teased, amusement clear in my voice. Nathan grumbled as he hesitantly lowered the blanket to glare at the falcon. Parish tilted his head, unfurling his wings and leaned forward in mock flight.

“What is it doing?” Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes and leaning back, bringing the blanket to his chest.

“He’s saying hi. Don’t be rude,” I chided, stroking Parish’s head feathers. Nathan mumbled a greeting to the falcon to which Parish just jumped from my shoulder to glide softly to Nathan’s lap where he promptly studied him before lifting his wings again but now accompanied with an open beak and his swaying from side to side. He was, in the way Hawk taught him, making fun of Nathan for his lack of manners.

“He’s mocking me, isn’t he?” His question was more like a statement. He glared at Parish once more before pushing him away as he got out of the bed. Nathan still was not wearing his leggings, giving me the desire to whistle lowly, which I did. His cheeks reddened and he found the floor at his feet interesting. Standing up, I went to stand in front of him, feeling the pull to kiss him. It must have been the same feeling for Nathan because his lips were there to meet mine as I leaned down to them.

It was not like our other kisses, this one was soft, slow yet passionate and deep. Though it did not last long as Nathan pulled away and asked to be embraced. I held him close, pressing a kiss to his temple. I held him until I could feel his entire weight flush against me, his breathing slow.

“Don’t tell me you’re falling asleep,” I mumbled, amused as he fisted my tunic and shook his head.

“I was just enjoying the moment,” Nathan mumbled back, squeezing me before letting go. “Join me for a bath?”

“Sure.” I held back my joy.

We ate our rabbit while sitting in front of the fire, our shoulders and thighs touching. After our shared bath, we sat in only our leggings, deciding it was just too hot for the extra material while a fire was perfect. Though I did suspect Nathan had another agenda for it, mostly being to show me how comfortable he was around me to show his scars on both his back and torso.

“Hawk is coming tomorrow, that’s why Parish showed up,” I said breaking the silence. Nathan stopped chewing his food before carrying on, his knuckles turning white as he held his stone plate. “We will be moving into one of the rooms so you have the privacy you need.” At that, he sighed, leaning into me.

“I was about to say that I was not going to continue sleeping in here,” He commented, finishing the remainder of his food and placing the plate by his feet. “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Hand to hand. After I’m done with your bow, you’ll start working on drawing the string back.”

“Yay...”

Nathan leaned back until he was flat against the floor and I was looking down at him.

“What is he like? Hawk I mean. I don’t feel comfortable with him coming here without me knowing something about him.”

“Well, he’s almost like me but not as predatory as you so kindly put on our first day together. So, what you can expect is a very protective older brother who is willing to castrate Spark if needed. He also doesn’t really talk much but when he does, he generally is funny,” I tried to explain. Hawk’s personality made me similar to him but I used my intimidating height and aura to mess with people while he just shrunk back.

“I guess I can deal with that. Just, if I don’t feel comfortable, I’m gonna sit in your lap and get your arms around me,” Nathan responded dryly, poking me in my ribs. Shying away, I placed my plate next to his before smirking and running my hand up his stomach. He instantly froze before gripping my wrist.

“If you start, we won’t be able to sit here and relax,” He managed to say, squeezing my wrist.

“Who said I wanted to relax?” I teased, turning my body so I could lean down and peck his lips. Pulling away, Nathan was gazing up at me, well not me but my lips. He unconsciously licked his before meeting my eyes. I slowly climbed on top of him, resting just between his legs as I began to litter his neck with more of my marks. When I brushed past a particularly swollen mark, he would moan and press himself against me. At one point his legs were wrapped around my hips while we were kissing, our tongues locked in dance.

When I did pull away for air, Nathan was pouting, his eyes glassy and filled with desire. I waited this time, wanting to see what he would do.

A blush formed on his cheeks as his arms came to my shoulders, pulling himself forward to connect our lips. Eventually, I flipped us around, allowing him full reign over my body. His hands knotted my hair before moving to my chest. My own twisted his hair and kept him close. When he did finally pull away, it was to lie on top of me, his head resting under my jaw as his hand went to hold mine.

“I love you,” He whispered, nuzzling against me. I wrapped my arms around him, vaguely asking when he had become so confident.

“I love you too.”