Chapter Text
Hinata had always stuck out like a sore thumb. Between his brightly coloured hair and his abnormally large wings, it was pretty easy to target him.
Normally, Hinata stood proud and acknowledged his differences, however, now he was cursing it.
His breath came in short pants as he desperately stumbled through the densely packed forest, agony shooting through his body with every step. His wings hung limply behind him, slowing down his pace as they dragged along the ground behind him.
A whimper escaped him as he tried to pick up the pace, the sound of wings cutting through the air growing closer with every minute. He had been running for a long time now, as the sun was starting to set in the distance and he knew that he had limited time to get somewhere safe before the real danger began to emerge.
“Where are you little crow…” A voice crooned from above him.
Hinata ducked into some nearby bushes, a strangled cry erupting from him as the sharp movement caused his legs to buckle underneath him and it sent shooting pains through the wings that he once took so much pride in. His hands grappled at the loose dirt as he clawed his way deeper into the bushes, the sharp thorns cutting further into his already battered form. Hinata managed to find a small hole in the ground that he rolled into, biting his fist to help contain the scream of agony that he let out as his whole body was further bashed around and the deep gashes in his wings were pressed into the floor. He stayed like that for a while, taking shallow breaths and desperately listening for any signs that his hiding spot had been found by his attackers.
If he really strained his hearing, he could hear their faint caws and signals to each other growing further into the distance. This allowed Hinata to let his guard down enough to let the sobs escape his lips. He curled into a ball as best as he could despite the pain and let himself break down in the small hideout that he was fortunate enough to stumble upon.
He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes and began to recount the earlier events.
Hinata’s day had been going well, with so far only minor scuffles with the other species.
He hummed happily as he soared high above the trees, on the hunt for small rodents to bring back to his sister. His worn-down satchel was already halfway full with his previous catches. Due to his larger than average wingspan, Hinata was able to fly a lot faster and higher than the other crows, so even if he couldn’t avoid conflicts with bigger species like eagles then at least he was able to avoid other crows, and while he wasn’t ashamed of his own species, his mother had warned him plenty as a child to avoid other crows like the plague because they are all thieves and killers.
After a few smaller catches Hinata deemed that it was enough and began to head back. His journey back to his nest was suspiciously quiet, especially due to the fact that he had to avoid many predator species when he first set off. Chills ran down his spine and Hinata picked up the pace, straining his wings to go just that little bit faster. As he approached his small territory, it became clear why the whole place was deserted.
Thick smoke gathered above the tree line as a vicious fire raged below, consuming everything in its path. Hinata’s breath stuttered in his chest as he saw the fire rapidly approaching his nest.
His nest with his baby sister.
His nest with his sister who was only a fledgling.
His sister couldn’t fly.
His sister couldn’t fend for herself.
A sharp cry built up in his throat as he sped towards the nest, uncaring of his wings getting singed.
“Natsu!”
He landed heavily in his nest, head whipping in every direction for any sign of his sister.
“Natsu please!”
His hands started to gain blistering burns as he ripped apart his former home, clothes and personal belongings discarded without a second thought in his search for his sister. He coughed heavily but continued to search for his sister.
“Natsu I’m here! Your big brother is here! It’s going to be alright!”
He screeched in pain as the fire began to lick along his back, starting to burn his primary feathers away. After a few more seconds of anguished searching, he spotted a large lump lying still among the wreckage. He flung himself towards it without hesitation, sobbing in relief as his bleeding hands came into contact with his sister's gorgeous red hair. He hugged her tight to his body, trying his best to cover her nose and mouth so she didn’t inhale too much smoke as he took off running and propelled himself into the air.
Flying turned out to be harder than he thought. Although Hinata was faster than a lot of other avians, he was still pretty weak. Combined with the fact that his wings had sustained heavy burns and the smoke had left him lightheaded, all he could manage was to glide safely to an area that wasn’t so consumed by the flames.
He landed heavily on the ground but he knew that he wasn’t safe yet. He hoisted his sister further onto his shoulder and took off running. Hinata lost track of how long he had been running but eventually, they got to an area where not even the smoke was visible to them anywhere. He made sure that he was on high alert, especially while he was carrying precious cargo. In an unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar birds, Hinata’s anxiety was through the roof but he had to prioritise his sister. He gently placed her down on a soft pile of leaves and gently prodded her.
“Ugh… Shoyo…” She grumbled.
Hinata could have sobbed in relief. His baby sister was okay. She was alive.
“Hey, Natsu. Can you open your eyes for me?”
She slowly complied, blinking up at him and just as she began to reach out for him, her eyes widened in horror. It was almost as if Hinata watched in slow motion. For that split second that he had been distracted, somebody had taken advantage of it.
Hinata was too slow.
He couldn’t catch her.
He had let her down again.
Failed.
Again.
A large man had swooped down and stolen his sister right from his grasp.
Hinata reacted almost immediately. Uncaring of the strain he was putting on his body. Uncaring of the damage done to his wings. The only thing carrying him at the moment was pure adrenaline. He took off after them like a rocket, quickly following them higher into the sky, his heart cracking as he could hear his sister’s terrified screams for help, coughs wracking her small frame. His eyes were laser-focused on the kidnapper; his only goal was to get his sister back.
Too much had happened.
Too much pain was caused.
He needed to save her.
Something significantly larger than himself rammed into him, causing him to go wildly off course and temporarily lose focus on his target, his sister's screams growing farther. He spared one second to glance at what hit him. Another bird looked to be some sort of raptor. He didn’t have time to analyse them right now. Baring his teeth quickly to the other, he quickly turned and began to follow his sister's cries again.
Only to realise her calls were coming from below him. And only going further.
With the feeling of horror creeping upon him, he blocked out the mocking laughter and looked down.
She was falling.
Natsu was falling.
With an anguished cry, he put everything he had into diving. The wind rushing into his ears blocked out all noise as he fell into a free fall, desperate to catch his sister.
It’s why he didn’t hear the crack until it was too late.
“NATSU!” He screamed, in a way that only people who have lost everything can.
His wings fanned out harshly behind him as he slowed his descent, his wing joints screaming at him for release. He landed with a heavy thud, pain shooting through his legs. He collapsed next to her body, knees digging harshly into the slowly growing river of red.
He reached out with a shaking hand, grasping hers lightly.
“Natsu…” He whispered, wishing and hoping that by any miracle she had survived. Praying to anybody who would listen that she had survived. That this was just some kind of sick joke.
Her eyes fluttered open and for a brief second, he could see how much pain she was in, how much she was suffering. She spluttered out wet coughs and her mouth opened in a silent scream as he curled over her body and did anything he could to ease her suffering. Everything else was blocked out as he sobbed over her.
“ I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I failed. I didn’t protect you. It should be me. I’m so sorry Natsu-“
His stuttering was caught off by a hiss from Natsu. “Sho… I lo-love you. Don’t blame…yourself. Keep living… f-for me… for mama…”
Hinata sobbed harder, grasping at his sister and hugging her tight as her little heart finally gave out and her lungs took their final breath. When he felt her final puff of air against his neck, Hinata screamed. He let go of everything that he had bottled up over the year.
His papa.
His mama.
His hatch mates.
His sister.
Everybody gone.
“WHY!” He asked the universe, screaming and sobbing his pain and suffering into the earth. The universe could not even allow him one moment to mourn.
He grabbed his sister's ring. The ring that he had spent weeks searching for the right gemstone. Spent weeks painstakingly handcrafting just to see her smile light up his world.
A thump behind him had him tensing up, however, he no longer cared enough to turn around.
“Can I at least bury her?”
He got his answer. Rough hands grabbed at his shoulders and lifted him as he hung limply and stared them dead in the eye.
“Dirty little crows,” The leader spat, his chest puffing up, “If you weren’t so damn fast then I would have killed you first and left her,” He kicked Natsu’s body, “to starve. I’ve been following you for weeks and the only way I could drag you out is to hurt her.”
The new knowledge sunk into his brain. It turned quickly into anger, swirling around and settling deep into his lungs until it felt like he was breathing fire. He spat straight into the leader’s face.
“She was a child!” He growled.
The man got right into Hinata’s face and slowly wiped the spit off. “It doesn’t matter. She was a crow.”
Before Hinata could retort to that, hands began pulling at his feathers, grabbing and pulling everything they could. He howled in pain and thrashed in their grip, flapping his wings to try and dislodge them. They just laughed and began sinking their claws deep and their leader began to make deep gouges elsewhere on his body. His own blood dripped down and mixed with the cooling pool that belonged to Natsu.
Seeing the body and memory of his only family dishonoured, Hinata went into a quiet rage. He stopped thrashing, stopped reacting and stop crying.
“What are you up to now you little brat?”
The leader raised his hand to grasp at Hinata’s face and he took his chance. He dug his fangs deep into the meat of the others hand and didn’t let go until he felt some bone crack. Regardless of what his mama used to say, revenge does taste good. The man yelled in shock and pulled back, causing his two thugs to loosen their grip as they lost focus. Hinata used what little strength he had left in his arms to elbow them in the stomach and get them to drop him. He took his chance while they were distracted, taking off in a dead sprint and only looking back once.
He grasped the ring in his clutch and allowed himself one moment.
“I’m so sorry Natsu. I hope wherever you ended up now is better than here. I love you.”
Coming back to himself in the ditch, Hinata sobbed quietly to himself. “Why her. Take me! TAKE ME INSTEAD!” He cried out, grasping at the dirt to get any sort of feeling of stability back.
Sometimes the Gods were cruel. Sometimes they made you live instead.