forum Cinderella AU // OxO // Closed

Started April 17, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

A couple days later, Lloyd went out again. He'd decided that it was time to go get himself some new books from the market, as he had already given the old ones to Ellis. He walked around in search of the book store and turned the corner. When he did so, he first felt a sharp, white hot pain in his shoulder, and then in his leg. He fell the the ground, dazed and blinded by pain. He was vaguely aware of his blood spreading across the pavement.

Ellis was out, having to do some shopping for Anton, who wanted some very specific items. He was just walking, a basket tucked under his arm, a few items already inside of it.

Lloyd looked around from the ground to try and see who'd shot him, but he couldn't see much. He groaned softly in pain as he struggled to push himself up. Deep crimson pooled on the cold stones around him, a pool that he soon collapsed into when he could no longer try to pull himself up. He was breathing heavily and his wings were fluttering a bit in distress.

Ellis saw a bit of commotion up ahead. Someone was on the ground. They looked…familiar? He hurried over, eyes widening when he spotted Lloyd. "Shit." he breathed, dropping the basket and crouching by Lloyd. "Your highness?"

Lloyd turned his gaze up to Ellis, his eyes glassy and distant from the pain. "…Ellis?" He asked weakly. He tried to push himself up again, but his injured arm quickly gave out. He couldn't stand on his leg either, and while his wings weren't injured, he was far too weak in this state to fly.

Ellis bit his lip slightly, gently putting his hands on Lloyd's shoulders, steadying him. "Stop trying to get up." he said quickly. "I'll, uhm…" he looked around for anything he could use to try and get Lloyd back to the palace.

Lloyd nodded and closed his eyes, drawing in a few shaky, labored breaths. The feathers in his wings were fluffed up from his distress and he was clearly incredibly uncomfortable, both from the pain and his faint awareness of the people around him staring at him in this weakened state.

Ellis searched around. Sure, he could probably lift the prince, but that could mean exposing himself as half-human, and he didn't know what would happen then. "Shit." he muttered, biting his lip.

Considering Lloyd had hollow bones, he actually weighed considerably less than a human. A little less than half what a human his size would weigh, actually. Unfortunately, that did make him more fragile.

Finally, he gave up. He had to get Lloyd back to the palace before he bled out on the street. If that meant exposing what he was…so be it. "Don't move too much." he murmured to the prince, bending and gently scooping him up.

Lloyd nodded weakly, keeping his eyes closed as Ellis lifted him. He tried his best to keep his wings folded so they weren't in the way, but they eventually began dragging on the ground.

Ellis sighed, trying to gather up the prince's wings, too, to keep them from getting damaged. He was well aware that he really shouldn't be able to lift Lloyd so easily, but he was already walking towards the palace.

Lloyd wasn't too concerned about the fact that Ellis was able to carry him. He was only around seventy pounds, after all, due to his hollow bones. Nathaniel weighed next to nothing for the same reason. Lloyd also wasn't concerned because he wasn't thinking particularly clearly.

Still. Ellis was rather small for a human, and most humans his size weren't able to carry seventy pounds, unless they were extraordinarily muscled, which Ellis was most certainly not.

A couple other servants looked up when Ellis walked in with Lloyd and gasped. They started flitting around the two worriedly, pulling Ellis along and trying their best to help however they could.

Ellis followed their directions, hoping no one asked how the fuck he was able to carry the prince for so long.

At some point in the chaos, Lloyd ended up in the infirmary and was being quickly treated by the local medic. Everyone was asked to leave the room while this was happening, and no one was allowed in until about an hour later when everything was done. Lloyd was flitting between phases of consciousness by now and wasn't fully there, but he was stable.

Ellis was waiting a bit anxiously, hoping that Lloyd was going to be okay. He didn't know what would happen if Lloyd wasn't.

Eventually, visitors were allowed in. Nathaniel was naturally the first in. He climbed onto the cot with Lloyd and huddled up in his arms. Lloyd still wasn't fully there, but he became vaguely aware enough to wrap his arms around Nathaniel before drifting back into unconsciousness.

Ellis continued to wait, knowing that he would need to explain how he had gotten Lloyd back here. He was reading one of the textbooks the prince had given him, sitting in a chair in the waiting room.

Eventually, the nurse called Ellis in. It had been a while and Lloyd still wasn't present enough to explain what had happened, so they needed Ellis. "How did this happen?" They asked.

Ellis bit his lip a little bit. "I don't…I don't know. I found him. I don't know how he got hurt." he replied slowly, holding the textbook carefully.

The nurse nodded. "Well, he had two gunshot wounds. One in his shoulder and the other in his leg. Did you happen to see any shady looking people around? Anyone who might have shot him?"

"I didn't…I wasn't paying attention." he shifted from foot to foot. "I was a little busy trying to help him." he chewed on his lip slightly.

She nodded again. "Alright. Well, you may visit with him if you'd like. I don't expect him to be very conscious for a while. We had to give him anesthetics and a fair bit of pain medication."

He nodded. "Right. Alright." he ran a hand through his hair, anxious. "Thanks."

"No problem." She went off to do something on her computer. Nathaniel looked up when he noticed Ellis. He was still huddled up in Lloyd's arms.

Ellis sat down, looking at Nathaniel. "Hi." he greeted softly, rubbing the back of his neck a little bit.