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It all started with what was supposed to be a simple data collecting mission. That’s how Grian would start the story years from now when everything was said and done so it seems like a good place to start it now.
Grian had been sent by the higher-ups and he was being honest…they had barely told him anything before sending him off. As such, he was currently talking to X over coms, trying to get a better idea of the situation so he wasn’t going in blind.
He knew the higher ups didn’t really like him that much, and while they wouldn’t outright say it, because doing so would cause them to lose the support of Xisuma, or X as the group affectionately called him, and the support of nearly the entire base in the process. However that didn’t stop them from doing things like this, sending him on missions that supposedly only needed one person with as little information as they could get away with.
Grian supposed they assumed that the others wouldn’t get mad at them if something happened to him while off on a mission. He knew that was wrong, but who knows why the higher-ups thought what they did.
“I still can’t believe they didn’t tell you anything about what was going on,” X’s voice crackled through the com, breaking him out of his thoughts as Grian flew to the destination given to him. Well Grian said destination, but really it was a vague gesture to a map and a vague description of an area that made it so Grian had to hope he got lucky and guessed right. “Surely they would want you to have some idea of what you’re walking into?”
“Who knows why they do what they’re doing half the time. Can you tell me what you know at least,” Grian asked, keeping an eye on his surroundings. Thank void for X, he wasn’t sure if he’d make it back from half these missions without the information he had gotten from him over coms.
“There’s been this…figure going around collecting artifacts. We don’t know too much about them besides the fact that they’re always wearing a cloak and seem to have red eyes. We know nothing else, not even what species they might be. There was a sighting of them near where they’re sending you. My best guess is they want to try to figure out more about them. Try to figure out why they’re collecting these artifacts and whether we really need to worry about them or not. Like I said we don’t know too much about them so any information you might be able to figure out will help Gri,” X explained, Grian nodding in response before remembering X couldn’t see him.
“Thanks X,” he responded verbally, hoping X wouldn’t notice his pause. “I’ll do my best to get some information out to you. But..what if I don’t run into them? Is there something else they want me to do instead?”
Grian hoped bringing up other possibilities would distract X, but X being the observant guy he was, who took any opportunity to bully Grian he could, noticed.
But of course, because it was X, he noticed. “You just nodded didn’t you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about X,” Grian lied through his teeth, he should have known X would call him out but still-
“Uh huh, sure you don’t Gri.”
“Anyways,” Grian quickly interrupted, “If I don’t run into them?”
Grian could practically sense the head shake over coms. “I’m not sure. My best guess is try to grab the artifacts from where they’re being kept. Maybe if we analyze what they’re supposed to do and if they have any magical properties we can piece together what their plan is even without running into them.”
“Alright, I’ll be sure to,” Grian paused as he flew over an area, he couldn’t be sure but, “Oh-”
“Oh? Why’d you say oh? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah everything’s fine, I’m just pretty sure I found the area that they told me to investigate,” Grian spoke as he flew down to the ground and landed softly on his feet, bringing his wings in just in case anything bad happened. “I obviously can’t be certain until I get a closer look especially with the extremely vague description that was given to me, but I’m pretty sure this is the area they were talking about.”
A quick glance around the field showed a cave sitting nearby that he couldn’t see into yet surrounded by some flowering trees. And it did look like what had been described to him when he was given the mission in the first place. Either there were multiple fields like this nearby or they had actually given him a somewhat decent description of the area for once. Guess he’d find out as he looked around
“Be careful going in Gri, I want you to come back in one piece okay,” X asked. Grian would normally tease him for acting like a dad again, but he could hear the worry in X’s voice so he decided not to. He was unsure why the man was worried over a simple data mission when he had been on these alone many times before, but he wasn’t going to make his worry worse.
X didn’t deserve that, not with everything he had to deal with between the higher-ups and everything else that was going on at the base.
“I’ll be careful, I promise, I’ll be back at base before you even know I’m gone.”
Grian could hear a bit of an exasperated sigh from the end of the line before X spoke up again. “You better. Call in if anything goes wrong.”
“Will do,” Grian practically chirped out, “Talk to you later.”
With that the other line went quiet. Grian knew X was most likely still on coms just in case, in fact Grian could still hear small noises from the com as X made enough noises to be picked up, but Grian knew from experience that X wouldn’t say anything unless Grian responded back to him or sounded like he was in trouble.
Taking a breath, Grian prepared himself before heading towards the cave. He figured that if this figure they were looking for was anywhere they would most likely be somewhere hidden in the cave. At least he knew that’s what he would do if he was trying to hide. Plus it made more sense for the artifacts to be in the cave then just randomly out in the open. He’d check the area around after a quick look but it felt like..something was drawing him towards the cave. He couldn’t place what it was or why he felt he needed to go there…but it wouldn’t hurt to check the cave first.
Upon entering the cave Grian blinked for a second, trying to give his eyes time to adjust. It was times like these he wished he was some sort of owl hybrid so he didn’t have to wait for his vision to adjust. Unfortunately, as his multicolored wings showed, that was not the case, being a simple parrot hybrid instead.
But once it finally did, he could see a figure standing in front of him. He couldn’t see any details with the cloak shrouding them, especially with how dark the cave was. But their glowing red eyes stood out more than anything.
This was the person that he was looking for, that he was more certain than anything.
Right as he was about to use his com to call to X, to let him know what had happened, A glint caught his eye, making him look away from the red-eyed figure and making him see the crystals sitting across the way.
While he wasn’t sure exactly what these crystals were, something told him that these were the artifacts that kept being missioned during the mission briefing.
Glancing between the figure and the crystals, knowing he had no idea what the figure wanted with these crystals, Grian realized what he needed to do. Pushing himself off the ground and launching himself across the cave, using his wings as a bit of a speed boost, Grian launched himself at the crystals, trying to grab them before this mysterious figure.
What Grian was expecting was for the figure to try to attack him or stop him as he tried to reach the crystals. He was prepared for that, he may not be the best in combat, but he was proficient enough that he’d be able to defend himself if he was attacked.
What Grian wasn’t expecting was for the second he started running for the crystals for the floor to give out from under him. As much as Grian might want to, he couldn’t fight back against a cave-in.
Grian tried to catch himself with his wings once he regained composure from the surprise, and to continue flying back up like he normally would have in basically any other situation like this…but Grian forgot about one important detail.
The debris falling from the cave in.While Grian caught had himself with his wings and was about to catch the figure too as no one deserved to get hurt like this, no matter what they were planning, when something heavy hit his wing and he heard multiple cracks ring out as his wing shot up in pain and he fell to the ground, barely able to keep his wing, which was now throbbing in pain and dragging on the ground, from getting buried under something.
Taking a few shaking breaths, Grian tried to avoid the pain in his wing as he glanced over towards the figure. They still seemed fine, which Grian was in a bit of disbelief of even as he was glad that the figure hadn’t gotten hurt. Although…as they looked over at him, Grian almost thought the figure’s eyes, the one thing that he could see clearly under that dark cloak of theirs, flickered from the red they had been this entire time to a dark green.
But as it stopped a second later, Grian was almost positive it was a trick from his vision darkening from the pain. Void he could not pass out now. Not in front of a complete stranger, and especially when he still hadn’t had a change to gauge this stranger’s intentions.
Right before either him or the figure could say anything, try to fight or anything like that, they heard a rumbling sound.
“..Did you hear that,” Grian asked the figure.
“..Yeah,” the figure spoke, allowing Grian to hear their voice for the first time. For some one so terrifying his voice sounded rather…nice. “It almost sounded like-”
As the duo could see rocks starting to fall from above they glanced at each other for one second and then to the tunnels behind them before running as fast as they could, Grian fighting against the pain of his most likely broken wing as he ran.
As the tunnels were blocked off as they ran, Grian prayed to most anyone who would listen that this stranger wouldn’t take this opportunity to hurt him.
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Grian didn’t remember much of running from the cave-in, beyond making sure he didn’t get crushed. Granted, between the adrenaline running through his system and his most likely broken wing, it was a wonder that he was still functioning. And that he had even made it to safety.
All he really remembered from the run was trying to keep himself safe, pushing through the pain that he was currently feeling, and a flash of green next to him. …No that wasn’t right it didn’t flash green, more like he saw some green.
He wasn’t exactly sure how long he had run, but what he was now sure of was that he was leaning against the wall, trying to keep his wing from brushing against anything. That unfortunately didn’t stop the pain that was pulsing from his wing, but it at least kept it from getting worse.
Grian took a few breaths, trying to keep himself conscious, not sure how the figure in front of him would react if he passed out from his broken wing. He still hadn’t been able to gauge exactly the type of person they were while running from the cave-in.
Although, speaking of the figure in front of him, Grian glanced over to him, finally able to get a clear look now that they finally were able to rest, having gotten to a safe place. A part of Grian was glad that this entire tunnel system hadn’t caved in, as he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to find an exit that easily.
The first thing Grian realized upon looking over at them was that the flash of green that Grian had assumed he imagined was actually the figures traveling clothes.
Grian may only really get out for missions and to help gather supplies from time to time when needed but he still recognized that green tunic with white sleeves and strange designs Grian was never able to place and brown pants that seemed easy to move in, even if this figures outfit had tears and stains from his travels, it was clear they were elve’s traveling clothes. So that meant that the figure everyone had been so concerned about was an elf?
This was only confirmed for Grian as he glanced up and could see the pointed ears and long hair that most elves had. Even if Grian had never seen an elf with hair that was so tangled, as most elves made sure to take good care of their hair. It was honestly a bit surprising, Grian may have not known much about elves, but part of the little he did know was that hair was practically sacred to them.
But the thing that most caught Grian’s attention were the scars. He tried not to stare too much, but the elf in front of him was covered in them. They covered his face and neck, and Grian had a feeling there were more that he couldn’t see.
….Although Grian wasn’t really one to talk when it came to scars, his mind flickering to the ones he had hidden underneath his sweater.
As Grian looked over the figure, who Grian was now sure was an elf, in front of him, a part of him wondered what this elf had been through that both their traveling clothes and their hair were in such a sorry state. Not even mentioning where all the elf’s scars had come from. Sure Grian had been wary of the elf even just a few minutes before but…no one deserved to be hurt that badly.
Noticing the elf started to grow uncomfortable by his stares, Grian looked away, wincing a bit. E had gotten so caught up in looking over he hadn’t even thought about what they must be thinking. Or how rude he was being by staring at their scars instead of talking to them like a normal person.
Just when he thought his people skills were finally somewhat decent, something came along to prove him wrong.
Scooting back to try to try to give the elf a bit of space, Grian forgot to account for his broken wing, which he had been trying to keep from brushing against anything. However when he scooted back, his wing brushed against the cave wall, causing him to yelp as a sharp pain spread through his wing, letting him feel exactly how broken it was, and his vision darkened. Grian quickly glanced back towards it, trying to keep it in the air to help with the pain a little bit as his vision cleared again
Distracted with his wing, Grian didn’t notice the elf’s eyes flashing between red and dark green.
Grian did however, hear the quiet muttering that he clearly was not supposed to hear.
“I know what you’re thinking, dumbass. What, do you think healing some random Avian is going to go better then healing your so-called friends? You’re just going to get yourself hurt again. And this time you’ll get yourself trapped down here until I’m able to get us out while this Avian leaves you high and dry.”
“I’m not just going to leave him hurt! That yelp of pain sounded bad. And besides, wouldn’t leaving him like this be just as bad as what they did?”
“Don’t come crying to me when they find out what your powers are and he tries to use you. Just like every single other person who knew you had healing powers. This Avian won’t be any different.”
He recognized one of the voices from right before the cave-in when the elf had spoken up which made Grian sure he wasn’t completely hallucinating them…but the other voice sounded…wrong almost. Grian wasn’t sure how a voice could sound corrupted, but the second voice he heard talking to the elf definitely was.
The elf was quiet after that, but when Grian looked up, trying to figure out why both the elf and the other voice had gone quiet, he saw the elf, hand glowing a light green reaching towards his broken wing.
On instinct Grian flinched back, flashes of purple and pain entering his head, flashbacks of a time Grian would do anything to forget, which of course only caused the pain to flare up again as his broken wing hit the wall again, making Grian bite down on his tongue hard enough to for the metallic taste of blood to fill his mouth for a second, though fortunately not hard enough to bite off his tongue, and close his eyes to keep himself from crying out in pain.
So imagine Grian’s surprise as the pain from his wing slowly faded and then disappeared completely. Opening his eyes in surprise, Grian looked over at his wing. It wasn’t drooping anymore and it no longer looked wrong. Grian gave his wing an experimental flap, trying to make sure that there wasn’t anything wrong with it.
The pain was gone. And while he wouldn’t be able to fly in this enclosed space, something told him he’d be able to fly just fine once they got out of here.
Grian looked up at the elf, who looked nervous, their eyes flickering between red and dark green. They had been against each other and they still healed his wing? That…shaking his head, pushing the words of those who hurt him oh so long ago out of his head. Grian spoke up. “Thank you for healing me.”
“Well I couldn’t exactly leave you like that,” the elf said, not looking at Grian. His eyes flickering to the dark green color before settling on red again.
For a minute, Grian remembered how he originally thought this figure must be doing something bad. How X had told him that he was collecting the artifacts for something and Grian had…just assumed that whatever they were doing was bad.
And while Grian could still tell something was going on, he knew he didn’t imagine those voices, there was one thing that Grian was sure of.
Whoever this elf was, he wasn’t as evil as everyone thought he was.
“My name’s Grian,” Grian spoke up, deciding that he could give this elf, who had healed him without needing to, considering they had barely even talked to each other, a little bit of trust.
The elf stared at him for a second at that, clearly not expecting that. “Uh,Scar…my name’s Scar.”
Grian smiled at Scar a bit. “Well it’s nice to meet you properly, Scar, despite the circumstances.” Grian knew they’d have to look for a way out and X- oh no X, he hadn’t talked to him since the cave-in.
Quickly getting up, knowing he probably shouldn’t talk to X in front of Scar, if his com even worked down here, Grian spoke up. “I need to check something really quick, I’ll be right back.”
“Riiiight and that doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” the voice Grian heard earlier spoke up. It wasn’t Scar’s voice but…Grian glanced around the room real quick, not seeing anything. …Strange.
Nodding at Scar as he headed off Grian tried to activate his com. “This is Grian to base, there was a cave-in, I’m okay but something happened. Can anyone hear me? Cub? X?”
No response but the sound of static. Not even any of the sounds that he had heard when X had gone quiet. Void, Grian could only imagine how much that X panicked when the connection got cut off, however long ago that had been.
Right. Okay. He’d have to get out of the cave first. Void, he hoped the others wouldn’t worry about him too much. Wait no, this was X he was talking about, not even mentioning Gem and Impulse and everyone else at the base. They were going to worry once they realized they couldn’t get in contact with him.
He’d need to get out of the cave quickly before they did something that might get them or someone else hurt in the name of trying to find out where he had gone.
Turning back to Scar, Grian saw him arguing with…someone who wasn’t there for a second, Grian thought he saw a flash of red right next to Scar before it was gone again. …That was strange. Probably something to look into later when he had the time. He’d be spending a lot of time with him anyways until they could go free.
Well…this sure was one way to figure out what was going on with the mysterious figure. Even if getting trapped in some sort of..tunnel system it looked like hadn’t been in Grian’s plans.
Glancing between Scar and the tunnels around them, Grian figured he’d explore a bit. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of chalk Mumbo had given him for an experiment that he had forgotten to get rid off, Grian set off to explore the tunnels, marking the first one that he headed down so he wouldn’t get lost.
Here’s hoping they wouldn’t be trapped down here for too long.
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Hey guys, I got the new work for Eyes of Red started! Just a bit of Worldbuilding to start but hope you guys enjoy! https://archiveofourown.org/works/63597730/chapters/162997027 I'll delete this one in a bit once i think enough people have seen it.