Work Text:
All things considered, Tommy had had a good day.
He got a letter from his dad and brothers. The tall Ender guy he has been seeing in the gardens for a month now finally waved back when Tommy did.
Tommy had just finished his first molt, and more pin-feathers were growing in. He might even be big enough to fly by the time dad got back.
It was a tiring day, a good day
But tiring none the less.
That being said… Tommy didn’t want to be asleep right now, because everything felt wrong. Magic stuck under his skin, clogging his throat fluffing up his pin-feathers. But he was so tired.
Something had to be wrong. Big kind of wrong, Tommy had to get out of his room, Tommy had to get away from the shrinking walls, Tommy had to get out of here. But he felt like he was frozen in place, his body wouldn’t let him move, so he stayed there, stuck.
Candles and oil lamps slowly going out one by one outside, his room was already dark. He put out his own candle hours ago, he was going to go to sleep hours ago. Even if he would really rather stay awake.
Because the air itself felt weird. It crackled with magic. But he couldn’t do anything about it, so he sat there, Stuck.
Stuck until a servant walked in, handing him a potion, telling him to drink.
that was weird, usually they stayed out of his room if he was there.
The potion was weird too, all cold and slimy, but he didn’t have to think anymore after he drank it. It went all quiet in his head, and all the wrongness went away.
He was tired after all.
----------------------------
Somehow, they had lost him. They were operating that the group would want to ransom the prince. This wasn’t good.
Edward did feel bad for the boy, he couldn’t hold the crimes of the father to the child. They would aid in the effort to find him. They had learned what they needed from the king and the two elder princes.
(“What did you do with the boy, we assumed you would Ransom him,”
“Now why would we do that when we can stir up a fuss as big as this?”)
Coming forward with sources and information would be a tricky thing to do without suspicion, but it wouldn’t be too hard if they play the correct cards.
Maybe this situation – and the kidnappers apparent love of traveling by sea- would force the empire to reinforce their own naval fleet. That would be helpful in the preparations for the rising tensions in the south.
This may be good in the end, no matter how unfortunate the situation.
---------------------
Tommy would have loved to say that he knew what he was doing. He would have loved to say that he was a big man, and he wasn't scared, that he was calm, and nothing could bother strong Man like him, but he couldn't say that, no he couldn't say that at all.
They had bound his wings even though he can’t fly, his hand were chained together. his clothes were swapped to fit in with the hubbub of the port, they kept giving him a weakness potion, weakness and fatigue. at this point he wasn't sure they were ever gonna let him go.
He was tired and couldn't fight. This felt like it was more of that diplomacy shit that his dad had to deal with. Shit that he wasn't really allowed to deal with, or even look at usually. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all.
They boarded a ship, Tommy's chains hidden in his clothing. A confusing woman with bright blue wings, pretending to be his sister, gently pulling him along with a not so gentle grip.
They went through four port cites before they stopped.
“alright kid, heres the thing,” the man crouched down barring his disgusting teeth in a smile. “we don’t really care much for the ransom money, and we also don’t really want to get on the wrong end of your dear ol dads ire, so this is how were gonna do things,” words laced with magic, eyes sparking orange.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder holding him in place.
“You’re not gonna tell people who me an ma friends are, your not gonna try and make your way back to ya home, and you’re not gonna get caught by the people who wanna try and bring you home, ok? Got all that boy?”
Tommy twitched, head barely bobbing in a nod.
There they left him. 10 years old, drugged out of his mind barely able to stand; not a practical skill to his name.
Hes lucky he even survived the first night.
---------------------------
He managed a week before he bit down on his pride and offered work to a baker woman in exchange for food. They hadn’t given him much since They had taken him. She gave him a loaf of bread for free “the only payment I need is for you to come back tomorrow, ok?” that was nice, she was nice.
He ate his food, curled around it like a starving dog, pin feathers fluffing up whenever anyone got too close. He nearly died three times in that first week, all because he was an idiot. He didn’t have the finely tuned sense for danger that his brother or his dad did. He was just an idiot with no skills worth paying for.
The woman from the bakery kept giving him food. Eventually letting him help keep the store up. He didn’t do much- You cant exactly have a dirty little ten year old wing-folk sell people food- but she paid him in bread, he was lucky enough not to go hungry. Like some of the other kids he saw did.
But there is only so long you can stay in the same port city. Almost a year after Tommy was left there, he found posters with his face drawn on them, it was expected, he was the missing prince after all. But he had to leave, no matter how much he wants to go home. He couldn't do that, he had to leave.
So he smiled, told the nice woman he was gonna offer work on the dock, said goodbye to her since it was much too far away from her bakery. Went up and offered his service for any ship that would take him. not that he expected much, he was still a kid with no practical skill, but he could hope.
It wasn’t easy, No one wants to hire a kid that doesn’t know how to do anything, and a wing-folk who is too young to fly.
He’s barely lucky enough to be allowed on a ship. Tommy was so close to letting go of any pride he had and begging the captain to let him on. It wasn’t necessary, the captain took pity on him before he got truly desperate enough to beg.
The Captain wasn’t a particularly intimidating on his own. He was all of 5’7 and his name was literally Sparklez, and he so looked so kind, so much kinder than some of the people Tommy had trusted so far.
But Sparklez had a sword on each hip, and he looks well enough that he knows what he’s doing with them. His crew respected him, and Tommy saw how people gave him a wide berth in port.
One of the higher ranked crewmen was watch him, “kid, do you know how to sail at all?”, she asked
“I- no, no I don’t, I don’t know anything about ships…” Gods Tommy hoped that wasn’t a deal braker he was so close. The Captain hummed, looking him up and down.
“Well everyone starts somewhere, it be easy enough to teach you,” Tommy grinned, he was a fast learner he could help! “One more question, you’re not old enough to fly yet are you?” Tommy shook his head.
“No, I’m not yet” He was close though! He was almost old enough; his dad probably would have been teaching him the basics by now. He opened his mouth again to say as much.
“You look really close though,” Tommy jumped, nodding his head quickly as one of the ships wing-folk pitched in from somewhere behind them “Look bout’ ready for your pin molt, and then you’ll be good to start learning.” The man’s own beautiful iridescent orange black wings held high and proud.
“In that case,” the captain smiled, “welcome aboard, I’ll be proud to teach you what there is to know.
They took a few more days in port before the ship was ready to leave, Tommy would be lying if he said he didn’t love it on open sea.
Hanging off the side of the ship, wings spread to the side of him, eyes wide, hair already crusted with salt from the small storm they went through first day. He could feel the crew as they watched him while he stood there, he could hear the smile in their voice as they passed by him.
It was nice,
The ships two wing folk were determined to get Tommy ready to fly as soon as his pin feathers unfurled. Even if that’s usually something done by your parents…. But its not like he was complaining. Branching is Hard when your alone, its so much easier to have someone hold your hand.
By now most of the ship had held his hand as he hung of the side letting the wind try and drag him around, they had needed to drag him onto back onto the ship so many times
His pin feather started to fan out about a week out on the sea. The ships resident two wing-folk spent the entire day fretting and cooing over him, if the rest of the ship hadn’t spent the entire time laughing at them Tommy might have actually apricated it instead of being embarrassed.
They gain their color as they unfurl, a bright fiery swirl.
-------
“hay kid, now that you got your wings. wanna try jumping off the crow’s nest?”
“NO, HES A CHILD, DON’T YOU EVEN FUCKING SUGGEST THAT-”
------
By the time he had made landfall, Tommy doesn’t even think he wants to go back home.
Home was land locked, and he didn’t want to leave. It took dad a 4 days flight to get to the closest port city and Tommy wasn’t near as fast as he was.
“Were going to one of the Hermits lands next, if you want to join us again” Tommy wanted too, gods how he wanted too. But a two of the hermits shared a border with The Empire, and the hermits lands were very well interconnected. They would have been the first outside nation to know of Tommys disappearance.
“I think I have to find something else,”
The captain smiled, “Good luck then,”
Tommy smiled back, taking a step back onto the pier.
“captain! Look at this!,”'
“oh Mianite's grace, please tell me in not on wanted posters again,”
“No! captain its Tommy, this poster is for Tommy,”
“oh don’t be silly, that poster says prince Theseus, not Tommy! Let the boy run from his demons in peace,”.