A figure leaps from one branch to another, darting between the drapes of sunlight that pierce through the bundled together leaves. The figure faded into the shadows when they were still, and a blur of natural colors when they moved. The grace they exhibited was that of a dancer on the stage, and there was an ease to their limbs in that particular environment like they were an animal raised within the thick forestry. It was purely instinctual how the figure found their footing on a thin branch that miraculously held up their weight. The figure squatted down with their eyes pivoting around the forest floor. When the figure saw their prey, he pulled out an arrow from their quiver, placing it inside a finely crafted crossbow. The figure jumped down from the branches, gliding towards the leaf covered grass. The figure raised their crossbow up, aiming the arrow point at the boys who had dared to enter the forest. One of the boys fell to the ground, tripping over a root with a sweaty brow and bloodied shirt. The figure stalks forwards, a tremble running down from his shoulders to his fingertips.

"P-please... don't hurt us," The other boy whimpered, trying to drag his nearly unconscious friend away from the scene. The figure stared at them with widening eyes, his breathing picking up. The figure tried to pull the trigger, but his fingers wouldn't follow his command. There was something different about chasing 'prey' and actually killing it. The figure knew that he was a Hunter that was supposed to kill any hybrid he saw, but he didn't have the heart to murder anyone. No, the truth of the matter is that even after all the conditioning he experienced to fight against his instincts, he still had sympathy for hybrids. He was a hybrid, technically, and it didn't feel right to murder other hybrids in cold blood for simply existing. He was lucky enough to be considered a weak hybrid that the most notorious Hunter took pity on.

"I- I can't," The figure whispered, looking away from the boys like that would make the whole situation go away. With hands that had long since began shaking, he lowered the crossbow to be aimed at the ground. He bit his lip to keep that from trembling the same way his entire body was. He had his wings up to appear more intimidating, but his wings drooped down without the strength to keep themselves raised. Vaguely, he was aware that he wanted to release a comforting shrill to the boys like the bird he was crossed with genetically, but he had never given into those instincts before. "You both better fucking run before I change my mind... or before Dream comes."

At the mention of his master's name, the one hybrid boy who was standing (an Enderman Origin, the figure recognized) stiffened with a tighter grip around his friend's (a bee Origin) shoulders. The Enderman hybrid heaved the other into his lanky arms to carry him the rest of the way out of the forest. The figure waited several minutes before he silently followed, his clawed feet barely sinking into the dampened ground. He continued until he came to the edge of the tree line. The Enderman was full on running with the bee boy in his arms, and the figure watched them become pinpricks in the distance. He looked up to see the floating building, the Pub, that had thick protection enchantments around it to keep humans from entering. The figure wondered if he would be able to enter considering he was a hybrid. He wouldn't take that risk since he wouldn't be able to fight all the citizens of the Pub by himself. Especially since rumor had it that one of the last Elytrian Origin holders called the Pub his home. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he went. Would they welcome someone as weak as him? Would they care that he was trained as Hunter, even if he had never actually killed anyone? The figure straightened out, turning away from the Pub. There wasn't any point in dwelling on unrealistic fantasies that would never happen.

The figure raced across the forest floor, kicking up dirt as he shot past the trunks of centuries old trees. At some points, he would leap into the air to get some wind beneath his wings, but he would always coming hurtling back down. Avians had lost the ability to fly generations before he hatched from his egg. Any hope of flying was a nightmare that haunted his waking moments when he was allowed to look towards the sky. Most instincts had been punished out of him, but experiencing the winds from the mid-atmosphere region was one instinct that survived to that day.

Night had fallen by the time he came to the base of his master and some fellow Hunters who worked independently from the main branch of the Hunter organization. He walked inside, placing the crossbow with the other weapons and hanging his cloak on one of the hooks. He went in further, footsteps near silent while he huddled close to the walls. The damp air filled his nose and mouth, choking the breath out of his lungs. He hated the base. The subterranean feel of the dank atmosphere and stone built walls messed with his sense of perception. He was in his element out in the wild at the tops of trees at higher elevations. Ground level and below forced a sickness to awaken in his bones, a heaviness to chug through his veins and arteries. His lungs became compactors that squeezed the air out instead of letting a cyclical rhythm to occur. When he was a hatchling, he would be paralyzed by the pain with silent tears falling past his cheeks, but his body learned to efficiently work under the pressure, lest he be beat into action.

"Avian! Come here!" A voice called. The figure kept his face from contorting with sadness. If he could have one thing in his lifetime, he would ask for a real name. The other Hunters merely called him Avian or other slurs if they were particularly cross with him. He had once tried to give himself a name, but after a nasty beating, he couldn't remember what he had chosen for himself. He would have wallowed in the pain of forgetting something so important to him, but he had been given chores to immediately do so he couldn't dwell on it.

He peered into the room where the voice came from. All of the Hunters gathered into the room with the pool table and fireplace that blazed during the autumn nights and winter nights. He remained at the doorway, awaiting for further instructions. As his gaze swept the room, he noticed that there was someone he didn't recognize. George and SapNap were playing a game at the pool table, Bad was in his chair with a book spread out across his lap, Ant was laid out on the couch, and Dream was standing by the fireplace with a pink haired brute who wore a skull mask over his face. When Dream's face tilted towards the doorway, his hand raised up to beckon the figure towards him. "Avian! There you are. I was about to go out to find you, even though it's supposed to be extra cold tonight. Did you find any hybrids lurking in our woods?"

The figure had to keep himself from swallowing thickly as he felt the room's attention shift onto him. He had two options before him. He could tell the truth that two hybrids had escaped him which would entail a harsh punishment later. Or he could lie to Dream that he hadn't seen anything, which would present no problems unless Dream discovered he was lying. Neither option was more compelling, but he had a decent chance at bluffing his way through this if Dream's attention was focused more on the stranger than him. "I found some footprints that looked human enough. I tracked them all the way to the forest edge. I didn't see who the footprints had belonged to."

"Hmm... I haven't heard of any Hunters coming through this way. It was either some stupidly reckless hybrids or uninformed humans," Dream spat out the terms like they were slurs. To Dream, a human who tolerated the existence of hybrids was almost as bad as the hybrids themselves, and he loathed the inhuman creatures that masqueraded around as 'peaceful'. Dream was only disgusted with the figure when he showed off his hybrid traits like his wings, ear feathers, or some of his instincts that Dream couldn't get rid of. "We'll investigate tomorrow. Thank you for your service, Avian. You can go to your room for the night. I left you some steak if you're hungry. I'll come get you at sunrise for morning patrol."

Avian- he resigned himself to the title- nodded, even when his stomach flared at the mention of steak. His body couldn't handle meat at all, but it was his only form of sustenance. If Avian didn't eat it, he wouldn't have any energy for the patrols he was forced on. He could bear the vile that would climb up his throat even when he would rather puke his own stomach out. It was all for the greater good of exterminating the world of hybrids (like himself). He couldn't be a picky eater, Dream taught him. His mind was stronger than his body. If he wanted to eat meat, his body could stomach it. At least, that's what Avian was meant to believe.

As Avian left the room, he felt a pair of eyes still on him. He looked back as he rounded the doorframe into the hallway. The pinkette was staring at him, the man's reddish brown eyes glowing beneath the shadows of the skull mask. Something about the gaze didn't settle right with Avian. It wasn't an expression he was familiar with. It was fear, disgust, or anger, what he knew. If he had to put a name to it, he would have called it sadness. But it ran deeper than 'sadness'. It was much more sullen. Avian looked away before he was swept up in the emotions of a man he would never see again.

——

Avian was woken up two days later. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of his underground cell, he felt a terrible pain ricochet across each of his nerves. Using the ache, he could tell it was nighttime, several hours before sunrise. Another strange thing was that the person waking him up had near glowing eyes and pink hair. It was the stranger with sad eyes Dream had been talking with two days prior. Avian blinked warily, wondering why he was dreaming or hallucinating of that man.

"Get up. I'm taking you somewhere safe," The man said in a low voice. Avian did what he was told even when all he wanted to do was question why. The man stared at Avian for a long moment, a sort of surprise rooted in sorrow washing over his eyes. Avian didn't get a chance to pick apart the expression as the man grabbed onto his hand. Avian was gently pulled to the first floor, and he was guided towards the door. He rubbed his eyes, getting the last of sleep out of his vision. When the man opened the front door, Avian pulled back slightly. The man audibly sighed  before he looked at Avian. "Dream told me to train you at night since I'm also a Hunter. He thinks you need extra help."

With those words, Avian followed behind without a trace of disobedience in his stride. The man looked away from Avian as they continued through the forest. Avian shivered despite himself, the tremble reaching the tips of his mangled wings that were in a desperate need of a preening. Avian tried to calm his breathing, forcing his body to remain at a constant speed without letting the cold bother him. He wished he had brought his cloak, but the man hadn't told Avian to grab it. If Dream put this man in charge, he had as much authority as Dream did. That meant Avian should only do exactly what he is told. Dream made that rule to keep Avian from rustling his wings or letting out a chirp when he was excited. It was the same rule that initially forced Avian's instincts into submission.

When they reached the edge of the forest, the man plowed right across the territory line towards the Pub. Avian's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He had been lied to. This man wasn't working under Dream's directions, he was kidnapping Avian. By the looks of it, the man was taking Avian to the Pub where the hybrids would torture him for threatening the lives of the Enderman and Bee hybrid boys. Avian's throat clamped shut when he wanted to release a frightened shrill, and he turned around to run back to the base. He didn't get very far when a strong hand snaked around his waist. Avian was hoisted off his feet by the man. He kicked and punched with his hybrid formed claws, but the man didn't hesitate on his way towards the Pub. Screams bubbled in his gullet, but he couldn't force them out. He dreaded the thought of what would happen to him. If being with the Hunters was bad, facing the wrath of hybrids would surely kill him slowly. The hybrids would probably make him the scapegoat for their vendetta against Hunters.

Avian didn't know he had stopped fighting until he was placed back onto the ground. His feet immediately began running, but the muscled arms were holding him in place. Avian didn't stop until the hopelessness of the situation paralyzed him. He fell limp in the human's arms, looking to find that he was at the ladder that went up to the Pub. Someone was standing at the ladder with a torch in their hands, the firelight reflecting in their dark, brilliant blue eyes. Avian felt the cold claws of terror tear at his heart as he recognized the person waiting was an Elytrian.

"Is this..." The Elytrian began as Avian was shoved into his arms by the human. Avian tried to keep completely still. He couldn't piss off the hybrid holding him any more than he already was. Elytrians were powerful, ancient hybrids of the Aether that were as feared as the dragons of the End and phoenixes of the Nether. Avian was in the hands of a man who could place him in lots of pain without letting him die. This was a species that could torture a weak hybrid like an avian without any effort. "Thank you, Techno. We'll do our best."

Avian had to hold back whatever noise his bird brain wanted to make when he heard that. The human (Techno) shrugged his shoulders before walking away. Avian felt tears prick his eyes as the Elytrian literally picked him up like he was a baby. And to be honest, it was a fair comparison to call Avian a baby and the Elytrian hybrid a giant. The Elytrian's feet rose above the ground with his wings flapping, carrying him into the sky. Even though Avian was terrified of the man holding him, the sickness that followed him when he was below ground dissipated until he was feeling healthier than ever. Avian wondered if that was the trap. If they wanted to give him a moment of feeling better before dragging him into hellish pain.

Avian closed his eyes tightly as he was brought into the Pub. He kept himself from moving any part of him as the Elytrian hybrid walked forwards. After a moment, he felt a hand brush through his hair. His eyes startled open as he waited for the pulling to begin. Instead, the hand continued to scratch his scalp, and a sleepiness began to tug over his consciousness. Worse still, the Elytrian hybrid was making bird noises, and it took everything Avian had not to warble back. It was unfair how much work he had put in to push down his instincts just for all that to be undone by a few seconds of comfort and achingly familiar sounds.

"Is that him, Phil?" Someone whispered nearby. Avian peeked up from where he had buried his face into the Elytrian hybrid's shoulder. It was the bee hybrid with the Enderman looming over him from behind. Avian's mouth parted slightly. This was what it was about. Those two ratted him out. They must have asked the Elytrian hybrid to hunt Avian down and kill him for hurting them. He guessed it didn't matter that Avian had spared their lives and lied to Dream for them. Avian began to regret ever hatching. He wished a serpentine creature would have ate his egg. He wished that his mother had accidentally smashed him egg when she went disappeared. He wished that one of his parents would have been sterile. Not existing at all would have been better than whatever the Elytrian hybrid was going to do to him.

"It is. We finally found him," Phil replied looking at Avian. The boy pressed his lips together to cover whatever emotion he had been showing. Avian watched Phil's face contort with grief, and Avian wasn't entirely sure why. It couldn't have been anything good. Avian looked down. He wondered if Phil was an abuser that liked or hated eye contact. Dream thought eye contact was defiance, but SapNap wanted to see Avian's panic as the fire was held to his wings. "I'm taking him to the infirmary to look him over. Remember what we discussed about overwhelming him."

Avian didn't know what an infirmary was, but he assumed it was like a torture chamber. With what Avian said, all the hybrids must be taking turns torturing him. Avian wanted to scream at the thought of it. He would need to keep track of so many different people's "rules" to keep them happy and put him in less pain. Plus, with Origin abilities, Avian would suffer through different kinds of agony. Avian was back to wishing horrible things would have befallen his egg.

Avian was placed in a room with white beds and wooden walls. There were metal contraptions all around him, and Phil was hooking him up to some of them. He could smell redstone in the air, and he wondered what craftsman had built torture devices into the room. Phil continued to chirp even when Avian wouldn't respond. He was vaguely aware that the chirping meant that it was okay for him to relax and that Phil meant no harm, but he couldn't trust the bird part of his brain. That was the animal side ruled by instinct, Dream had warned, and it would turn him into a monster if he let it. Phil left the room after a minute, muttering something about getting potions.

Avian went absolutely still, looking around for an exit. If he could find a window to squeeze through, he would orient himself to find the Hunter's base. Dream would be upset he got caught, but he would also be proud that Avian escaped and came back without getting hurt. All Avian wanted to do was make Dream proud of him.

"Oh, hello!" A voice called out that spooked Avian. His eyes searched the room for the source. He didn't find the speaker until he looked towards the ground. A face was staring up at him from inside the wood. Avian watched as the face floated up from the floor into a full body. A pale, gray skinned man with glowing blue pinpricks in his empty eye sockets stared at Avian wearing a yellow sweater and black pants. Wings made from bones and a navy blue supple, hairless, elastic skin stretched in between each finger sprouted from his back. He had brown hair covered by a maroon beanie, and a lopsided grin on his face. "My name's Wilbur! What's your name?"

"Avian," The boy whispered back. It was better not to make anyone angry. Phantom hybrids were about medium on the danger level, with their powers more attuned to espionage and retreating than frontal assault. Avian couldn't risk making anyone more angry than they already were. He had to deal with an elytrian, enderman, and bee hybrid, he didn't want to give the phantom a reason to draw blood.

"No, no, not your Origin. What's your name?" The phantom chuckled, the sound almost melodic. Avian wanted to comment on it. He had never heard a laugh that wasn't malicious before. He supposed there was something uniquely special about laughter that wasn't followed by brutalizing a defenseless innocent.

"Avian," He repeated. What was Wilbur not understanding? That was all Avian had ever been called. He didn't have a proper name, not like Wilbur did.

"Do you not... wait, you don't have a name?" Wilbur said, his happiness falling off his face as understanding took its place. Avian cowered at the emotional shift. He should have lied. He should have said something that didn't piss the phantom off. Avian flinched as Wilbur sat down beside him. He waited for the hit, but all the came was Wilbur pulling him into a hug. Avian blinked as the phantom's bat-like wings folded over him like a blanket. "Well, we'll just have to give you name! That shouldn't be too hard. I'll start thinking of a good one immediately!"

Avian wasn't really paying attention anymore. He knew he should have, but the exhaustion that had been hanging over his head for awhile finally descended upon him. Avian blamed it on Wilbur's comforting hold. If Wilbur didn't want him to sleep, he should have started abusing him as soon as they first interacted. With how Wilbur was humming, running a hand through Avian's hair (seriously, why did people like doing that?), it wasn't any surprise that Avian was asleep before Phil came back with a medicinal potion in hand.