Past the tribulation

The winged boy gasped softly, some emotion flitting across his face as he clenched his paw. She had been hurt. Many times, in fact. She told him that she was a slave, like that was some kind of justification. He itched with the need to wrap his wings around her. This soft, abused girl with eyes that were somehow still kind despite everything she had gone through. He wasn’t a fool, however. If just him standing near her had made her flinch, enclosing her in his wings was likely to send her into a panic.

How wings sagged lightly at his side, he hadn’t even realised he had begun to raise them. “I-I’m sorry Iris. I didn’t know.” he shuffled his free paw awkwardly, making sure he didn’t crush the herbs she had deposited into his other. “Sirius… isn’t really a slave keeper” he said naively. “But he’s the boss, and we are all his people. Whatever his faults, he’ll protect you, and I will too, Iris.” He promised. “If anybody hurts you, or you feel threatened, you can come to me. I’ll protect you.” He didn’t have much heart when it came to fighting to prove his strength, but he was all heart when it came to protecting.

"Mortis Fatalis"