(Discontinued) Fallen Fantasies || Mha Fantasy AU || Dabihawks

Ch 1; runaway.

"What day is it?"

"No idea."

"You need to know these things, Hawks! You have a schedule!"

"I'll get a call when it's my shift." Keigo simply shrugged, pushing off the king's scornful tone.

"You are a griffin guard! You need to be professional– god, if you weren't the top guard, I'd kick you out right now!" Fumed the king, pacing around his number one guard.

"Jeez– you make it sound like I'm your wife." Keigo smirked teasingly. "And I'm not a griffin, I'm a shifter, remember?"

"Yes, you are." The king stated, clearly annoyed. "And you're lucky my wife convinced me to let you grow up here. You're an anomaly, Hawks, and you should be grateful to her, not insulting her." He scorned, pausing in his pacing as he stood face to face with Keigo, the fur on his head trembling with anger. He wasn't pleased with Keigo one fucking bit.

"Ah c'mon–" Keigo said calmly, shrugging his furred shoulders as he turned around, flicking his tail in the king's face. "I'm only young, aren't I? A stupid little kid, as you put it?" Keigo suggested. To be fair, he was 22, but he was definitely still childish, and everyone who knew Keigo knew that.
"And besides, why do I need to keep track of my schedule when you're nice enough to send someone to threaten me every time I'm late?" Keigo chuckled jokingly, twitching his wings as he sat down some way away from the king, giving him a cheeky look.

"Next time, they'll be more then just threats." Huffed the king, standing up as he trudged away annoyedly, flicking his tail to dismiss the young guard in his throne room.

Smiling, Keigo simply stood up, raising his wings and pushing them down again as he hoisted himself into the air. Keigo then proceeded to leave the throne room, gliding towards the nest he shared with his mother.

"Keigo– you're meant to be on guard, aren't you?" She scorned, stepping forwards to whack Keigo over the back of his head with a wing.

"Ma–" Keigo whined, chirping annoyedly as he flinched from the touch, his beak pouting. "I've had enough of guard work.." he huffed, "it feels like I'm trapped. I don't like it." He grumbled, trudging away and flopping down in his nest like an angry cat.

"Keigo, it's your job. And without it, you would've been murdered as a child– if you quit, the same will happen." Tomie, Keigo's mother, repremanded him. He was always like this, and she was used to it. It usually only took a few small reminders to get him back on his feet.. so why wasn't he now?

Sighing, Keigo stayed silent, not moving a muscle.

"Keigo– Keigo get up." Tomie urged, stepping forwards.

Silence.

"Keigo?"

Silence.

"Keigo."

Silence.

"Keigo Takami! Listen to your mother!"

Keigo flinched, lifting his gaze to stare warily at his mom, annoyed pout on his face. "Ma.. I'm serious. I've had enough of guards work.." he whined, sitting up with a bunch in his back.

"What are you planning to do, then? I'm sure the king would love an excuse to execute you." Tomie huffed, lowering her head and growling threateningly at her son.

"Maybe I'll leave then– they can't kill me if I'm gone." He huffed, smiling a little. Keigo was proud at the idea forming in his head.

Yeah! He'd run away– get away from this fucking mess of a kingdom, leave them behind for good. It's not like he needed him, and this place was relatively safe, they didn't need him either! It'd be perfect– everyone here could finally stop worrying about Keigo, and Keigo them. He wouldn't be trapped anymore.
Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? Damn.

"Keigo, you will not leave. There are people here who care about you!" Tomie defended, shocked at the idea her son would even consider leaving. She still cared about him, even if the rest of the kingdom didn't.

"No one cares about me, mom! Only you and the queen, and you guys will be fine with me gone! You're always sharing how I'm too reliant, so why not let me rely on myself for once?" Keigo defended himself, standing up and storming around his and his mother's large nest.

He didn't like the idea of her holding him down, keeping him trapped here in the kingdom. Everyone did that, they always caged him– he'd thought his mother was different.

As a child, she'd been caring to him– at least, as much as her broken self could offer. She'd had a curse inflicted on her to make her a human, when she met Keigo's father, and.. out popped Keigo.
His father was an abusive fuck, and Tomie had been to vague, only showing empathy when the curse wore off and she snuggled Keigo back into kingdom as a small child.

She'd helped free him. She'd cared for him. How could she be doing this now? Keeping him here, even though she knew it caused him more pain?

"Keigo, please– I don't want to lose you.." she mustered out a few dry sobs, lifting a front claw as she debated whether or not to follow her son, although deciding against it.

"Mom, I'm sorry.. I love you, I really do– but I can't stay here anymore." Keigo sighed, trudging over to his mother and nuzzling her side. "Staying in this form is painful, and being trapped here is worse." He explained, pulling away and giving her a saddened expression. "I promise, I'll come back one day, but I just need to be free, if only for a little while." He explained, forcing a pained smile to his beak.

Tomie stared at her son for a good minute, struggling on what she should or shouldn't say. Eventually, she sighed, leaning forwards and nuzzling Keigo, giving the tufts of fur on his forehead a quick lick.
"I love you, Keigo. Always remember that."

Keigo smiled at his mother, nodding as he returned the loving nuzzle. "I'll never forget." He said, before standing up, treading slowly towards the exit of their nest.
Pausing, Keigo glanced back at his mother, nodding as his stretched his wings out. "Bye mom, I love you." He said, before hoisting himself up into the air.

On his way out, Keigo ran into a small patrol in the forest, who'd stopped him to ask what he was doing.
"Hawks! There you are– I thought you're shift was to protect the borders?" Asked the eldest guard, gliding towards Keigo as he joined the younger male in the air.

Keigo glance at the older, nodding slightly. "Usually, yeah– but I thought I'd go hunting for my mum and I. I talked to the king, he said he didn't mind." Keigo lied, keeping his gaze forwards as he focused on where he might go beyond this.

The guard simply nodded, veering away from Keigo and back towards the other scouts, leaving the shifter in peace.

Sighing, Keigo stared at the group as they headed back towards the kingdom, realising he'd never go back there, at least not in the foreseeable future.

He'd never see his mom again.

He'd never see the guards again.

Bed never see the king again.

He was free. He'd broke out of his cage and oh boy did Keigo love it. He felt free! For the first time in his life, Keigo felt like he could do anything! Anything was possible when you left your cage!

At least.. he hoped.

***

// Hello! Merky here, with the rewrite for this lovely story! I hope you like it so far. This chapters a bit short to my usual chapter length, but they'll get longer soon, promise! It was sort of just.. a prologue type thing, y'know? Anygays, hope you enjoyed! <3 //

//1306 words.//