forum Are You An Angel..? / OxO / closed! Pm if interested!

Started August 06, 2020 by @ElderGodSwimwithGamers group

tune

"Good. Looks like we're all set." Fluff wound his way between Matthew's legs, chirping up at them.
"Ah, look's like the griffin's ready too! We can head out, then."

"Sounds good to me." Rowan replied, huddling a bit closer to Matthew so he'd feel more secure. "Let's get going."

With one final nod, Matthew started off to lead their group out of the city.

"How long do you think it'll take us to get back on foot?" Rowan asked after a few minutes.

"Well…" Matthew thought for a moment.
"It might be a few weeks," he admitted. "With no horses, and no flying."

Rowan nodded a bit. "Hopefully I'll be allowed to walk by myself before we get there, yeah?"

"As long as you're not unsteady on your feet, yeah!" Matthew offered a gentle smile.

"Hmph…" Rowan huddled a bit closer, obviously pouting. He felt pretty useless at this point, honestly, but he didn't want to delay the journey much longer.

"I'm sure it'll be soon," Matthew promised. "I won't be carrying you around all the time, promise."

"Yeah…" Rowan fell silent, figuring he might as well just keep quiet for a while.

Matthew fell silent as well, keeping Rowan close to himself as he walked with the man's mother.

After a couple of days, Rowan insisted adamantly that he was feeling better so that he could convince Matthew to let him walk by himself. He didn't want to be a burden, after all. He gathered up his things and got to his feet, ignoring the lingering head rush. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Matthew gathered his own things up, moving to stand next to Rowan. He'd finally been convinced, skeptically, that this was going to be okay for Rowan.

Rowan started up walking beside Matthew, holding the nest carefully in his arms. He started off alright, but he was growing fatigued a lot quicker then he expected. Regardless, he did a pretty good job of hiding it and pushed on.

Matthew would glance at Rowan occasionally to check him. He didn't say a word, tricked into thinking Rowan really was doing okay. It looked like he was wrong, then…

After a while, Rowan couldn't hide his exhaustion anymore. His eyelids fluttered and he paused, the color draining out of his cheeks. He managed to quickly pass the nest off to Matthew before he staggered and collapsed, struggling to stay conscious. "Nngh…"

Matthew let out a loud gasp when Rowan finally collapsed. He held the nest close, kneeling down quickly.
"Rowan!"

Rowan closed his eyes, breathing heavily to try and feel less hazy. "I'm fine, I-I'm fine…" He whispered. His mother knelt beside him, looking worried. "You're not fine, Ro. Just let Matthew carry you, okay? It's not safe for you to be walking so much right now." Rowan hit the ground with his fist, defeated and frustrated.

"Rowan…" Matthew held back a worried breath. "Please. I, I get that it's frustrating. But this isn't something we can control- we couldn't stop the snake from biting you, and now we have to deal with the after effects of it…"

"I just feel so useless…" Rowan whispered. "I-I can't even walk by myself…" He tried to push himself up onto his hands and knees, wobbling dangerously.

"You're protecting the chicks," Matthew said, voice so soft. He moved forward, hugging Rowan.