A Bounty to Fight

by NightSugar pone

chapter 9

The day after Windbreaker had found out that she could use magic, she had been escorted to her cell and spent her time thinking.

Should I have waited to heal in my cell? no, the guards would just tell the gryphon that brought me here, even so, it would have been better to hide it.
She thought to herself in her head as she laid back on her hard cot, staring up at the ceiling as she was lost in her own mind. Soon she had grown bored of just lying there and got up to write another letter, grabbing her plucked feather and the small ink bottle she was given. And like before, she was quickly writing away and had finished almost as quickly as she had started. The letter was just to check in on things at home and it wasn’t very long at all but it was still very important, so she got up and handed it to the guard, making him grunt in annoyance as he had to leave again. And as she settled back on her cot as the familiar clicking of claws on the cobblestone floor began to approach her cell once again, but she didn’t bother to move from her spot until she was sure that he wanted her close.

“Sent another letter?”
Windbreaker said with a cold tone, it made her want to stay silent but responded to him to answer his question.

“Y-yes, I did send a letter home, I have family to take care of and watch over, even though I’m here and can't be with them I still need to keep things in line,”
At hearing her voice seem so distant he looked back at her through the bars of her cell, seeing that she was staring at the ceiling of her cell, she seemed relaxed but could feel the cold feeling of regret floating around her.

“You really must know that I’m sorry for not telling you about me earlier, but I had to be sure that I could trust you and I couldn’t risk dying here, not without my family knowing where I was,”
She laid still before furrowing her brow and looking at him, and to her surprise, she met his eyes, and he looked away so fast that she almost missed the worried expression and blush. But it was unfortunate, she was really expecting him to hold his gaze, but seeing him look away made her suddenly think about why.

Why did he look away? is he afraid of me now? does he feel weaker around me now that he knows what I did?
Her mind was racing, but she eventually stopped herself from thinking about the questions as she got up and went over to the bars to get closer to him, but the closer she got the more noticeable his discomfort was with just being there.

“How about you ask me anything you want me to know and I’ll tell you the truth, but only if you’ll promise to keep what I tell you a secret, it should be between us and only us. I figure you deserve it after dragging me back to my room yesterday,”
she smiled nervously as she looked away, trying not to think too hard about his helpful act.

“Uh ok..hmm, the accident, how did it happen?”
he asked, turning his head to her but not fully turning to face her.

“I was friends with a young gryphon that I had run into a couple times in town so of course, we hung out together, but after a while, his older brother found out and tried to separate us and I got so mad that I attacked him. apparently, I had torn his face apart and burned what was left of him, and during the attack, I unknowingly hurt my friend,”
Her voice began to be choked by her tears as she went on, even though she was trying her hardest to hold back her tears.

“I remember being so scared seeing him so hurt and broken, blood was everywhere and I was too scared to try to help him or even touch him, but he knew that I was there enough to ask me why I had attacked him before he was gone. after that had happened I ran away, I didn’t know that he and his brother were heirs to the throne until I had started working far far away from the gryphon Kingdom.”
By now tears had filled her eyes completely and she let them roll down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“We could have ruled together and I messed everything up, he didn’t deserve to die, his kind, loving heart should have gotten to live,”
Windbreaker hastily opened the cell door and ran in to hug her, holding her close as she let the tears flow and allowing her to bury her face in his feathers.

“I didn’t know that you cared so much, you must have been really close be crying like this,”
He said, and she nodded silently as she rested her head on the breastplate of his armour.

“He would have liked you, you're such a caring guard and you seem to really respect the morals of honour bound bounty hunters, even the ones like me,”
He gently rubbed her back as they sat there together, and he thought deeply about her words.

“What are you like, though?”
He asked, curious about what she meant, and as she traced a hoof over his breastplate, she softly said,

“Broken and secretive, even to those I could trust with the honesty of my words, even with others like you,”
She looked up at him with a small smile and half-lidded eyes, and it took him a second to know what was going on before he abruptly cleared his throat and looked away.

“Well I should be getting back to my post before anyone notices that I’m not there, but thank you for telling me about that unfortunate accident, it didn't look easy to say,”
He said as he got up and helped her to her hooves before she gave him one last warm hug.

“That you for being so sympathetic, I couldn't have trusted a better guard or gryphon with my emotional wounds,”
As she let go they both smiled and she was first to go back to where she was before he had exited her cell, locking the door as he let out a sigh and stood up straight beside the door.