The gunshots resonated on and on in Zack's ears as he made his way out of the desolate field. He could feel a headache coming up behind his eyes, right where the Unseens' mental grip had been.

Several hours later, a grand desperation had taken over his soul. Snow had covered up the entire land, making it near impossible to recognize any of the paths. His feet, left unprotected, kept bumping into the tiny protection crystals the locals had left on the sides of the road. The blinding reflection of the sun on the snow mingled with the thumping pain at the back of his eyes. Zack was left near blind, wandering through Queen Zendaya's country with no hope of finding a home.

Nevertheless, he kept on walking.

You shall fall down to the ground and remain lying there until another of the folk tumbles into you -like you ran into me, which, might I say, might be fatal to you. How sad.

The man fell hard. It must have been a tree he hit, judging from that old and somewhat godly voice. He wanted to cry, but even that was made impossible by the blatant dehydration he went through. Tears would only waste more water.

Dear reader, I must admit; after days and days without any help, I thought he might be dead. I flew away, with the intention of telling you another story. A hopeful one, maybe.

But then, I noticed a house. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, except for the smoke escaping out of a tiny chimney.

Adrenaline pulsed through my body when I managed to capture the attention of a human. Thank Zendaya: in this country, they actually listened to birds! I brought them to his body, chirping too fast, in a haze.

Zack flinched when their soft hands tilted them back up, screaming for their family to help them bring the warrior inside. Except the two men coming up didn't resemble the human the tiniest bit. Surely, "uncle" wasn't used in the same situations here.

Look, I'll be honest: the week following this event was really boring for me. If it wasn't for Zack I would not remember it.

The house -or the "palace," as the group calls it- was filled with a dozen people, from all different parts of the kingdom.

There was River (they/them), the one who found Zack. They cared for him most, apparently having lived in a hospital for years before it got taken down by a tornado. River was what I would call a "marshmallow soul". Do I need to elaborate on the term?

The leaders (also known as the Twins) mostly talked about the Unseen. If it wasn't a terrifying monster, you'd think they were in love with it. Besides that, they seemed to be filled with sarcasm. One of them (don't ask for me to differentiate them) still loved his estranged girlfriend, but ironically. If I ever heard about coping mechanisms, that one is the best. Stepping around your feelings ironically.

There were more people but Zack isn't watching me so I'll just move on. My ink isn't infinite.

Everyday, the group concocted new extremely dumb plans to win the war, not much to Zack's liking. Every mention of the Unseen made him shiver, even though Darla kept on entertaining an everlasting fire. He says it's not about temperature, but what does he know? I am a wise bird.

As for me, I mostly hovered near my beloved warrior and witnessed his recovery. He got to know the folks in the shack, laughed at their jokes and confessed to a lot of painful memories when they held their "Talk Time". (A therapeutic event for them to stay sane. I'm not sure it helps them, they mostly cry while hugging each other.)

The end of the winter came around, and Zack was the happiest I'd ever seen him. His lasting blindness didn't seem to bother him as much as it used to. He easily walked around up to a kilometer away from his home.

On the official beginning of the spring, the Twins announced it was time for them to fight against the Unseen, better than ever before. A shadow passed across Zack's eyes.

Later, I overheard him talking with River, working further on a wooden bench he had been embellishing for months.

- I can't stay with you. The Unseen knows me, River... A few tears slipped from his eyes. He would defeat me too easily, I would slow you down.
- Are you sure, my love?

The nickname, as sappy as it was, had become a recurrent pattern when they were alone. They were not exactly in love, but I wouldn't call them friends either. It would be hard for them to stay apart, that much was clear.

He nodded, not trusting his voice to work, before pressing a red jewel into River's hands.

- You keep my ring. I... I will find you again, to get it back, believe me?

Him giving away the ruby thing was a surprise for me. He had spent, like, half his life never ever taking it off. Why would he now? Was his affection really that big?

Oh, he is saying I'm just an insensitive bird. Well, that's not something I can deny.

After a day of packing, all of them got together for their last meal. The rich red meat before them was a wonder to the tongue, it seems. The new ointment on Zack's eyes seemed to melt away when he got a taste of the food. Odd.

Then came the time of goodbyes.

- We will see you back when we conquer him, Zackie boy. Don't be sad, surely Queen Zendaya will make it known to the entire country we freed the land. You'll hear about it and find us, Twin number one roughly declared.

His hand on Zack's shoulder proved he cared more than he dared show.

A kid named Selim stepped forward and handed Zack a card, filled with little dots. His small voice resonated proudly when he stated he had described everyone's appearance in braille.

Lastly, River came forward and hugged him tight. It was quite boring, those goodbyes. Such sentimental discourses.

Zack finally stepped away, an improvised bag on his shoulder. I heard him mumble about looking back, arguing with himself that he was blind anyway. He ended up doing it, for the meaning of it.

The ointment did it's work, right in time.

There, before his eyes, he saw them. Ragged, but united. His family.