Cute guess! Kinda the opposite of Brothers Asunder, but with a fluttering Bowman. He’s only five in the story, so they’d have their hands full with a wee little sprite that likes to just run off when he gets excited.
This isn’t the AU, but it’s a fun idea to muse on!
There was no mistaking this car for some camping trip family car, despite its size. It was gleaming in the dark even before Jacob’s flashlight beam swept over it, black-and-chrome finish reflecting the moon and stars from above. Jacob let out an appreciative breath at the sight of the huge car. It wasn’t more than a foot or two longer than his own, but somehow it conveyed a lot more size and ferocity regardless. It looked like it could practically rear up and fight as much as Dean did.
Bowman had his own appreciation for the car, but his eyes were wide for entirely different reasons. He also looked behind them at the other vehicles, the arrangement of tents, everything about the human campsite that he could see. “This is what a car looks like?” he muttered, barely refraining from swooping off Dean’s shoulder to circle the big, shiny black beast. “And you’re sure it’s safe?”
Bowman smirked. “He’s the only one around without wings in the way so he introduced us all to piggyback rides, as he calls them.”
That brought a smile to Dean’s face as he remembered the years growing up with Sam. “He did?” He laughed slightly. “Man, when he was little he always used to ask for piggyback rides. He was such a scrawny kid when he was growing up.”
Dean held out his hand to approximate how tall Sam used to be before the curse, then hesitated. “Well, I guess he’s smaller now,” Dean admitted mulishly, remembering just how light Sam was in his hand.
Once the lantern light was behind them and Jacob’s flashlight was their only guide, Bowman hovered even closer to him. He glanced back and saw Dean’s wavering walk, and meandered through the air towards him. “Don’t fall asleep out here. Squirrels will steal from your pockets,” he quipped. Pockets that would fit a sprite, he realized belatedly.
It brought the memory of pointing excitedly at Sam’s various pockets, wanting to know what they contained. The very first day Sam came to the forest, Bowman had been intrigued by him. He’d had no idea the boy with no wings would become his family.
Jacob opted to take up the rear of their little group, since he carried the flashlight. He noticed that Bowman flew relatively low, and paused to look back often. His shape nearly disappeared in the dark at times.
The closer they came to the village, the easier their travels went. Up ahead, small, gently glowing lights guided them unerringly to the cottonwood at the very edge.
Bowman was unable to halt his flight, slamming right into the shadowed shape. He felt his wings go numb as the impact dazed him. Then, he started to fall. A quiet yelp of fear slipped out of his mouth as he twisted in confusion, trying to get his wings to respond and catch him.
A solid surface materialized beneath his fall, and he crashed onto ground that was warm and pliant, the texture sickeningly familiar. There was a surprised sound up above as the giant that had caught him reacted to the impact, and then the surface underneath the sprite moved.
Before the dazed sprite could even try and flutter off of the hand he’d landed on, fingers curled inwards and sealed around his slim body. Each finger was the size of his body, and there was no chance of resisting them as they closed. Even Sam couldn’t fight back against that, and he was far stronger than any sprite in the Wellwood.
I drew @neonthewrite’s character Bowman Leafwing when he defends Sam from a wolf in the story “A Lich of Sense”, which is written by both @neonthewrite & @nightmares06. I just love the story so much! 😍
Brothers Apart 