Great Bear Wilderness A Disheartening Reunion

For Itsy. Also serves as a character change to Hiraku

Apprehensiveness gripped Hiraku as he made his way towards the glen ahead. His brother has been through here, but he could also smell a lot of stale blood. He feared for his brother, for he was never the best fighter. So he was calling himself Scratch. He felt a bit ashamed that he couldn't remember his real name, which grew as he remembered just leaving Kit at the vale. He moved it at the back of his mind as he continued into the glen. He didn't worry too much of a lingering attacker as he had the bird with him. She should be able to see any attackers, and he thought of the two of them on reasonably-good terms.

As he entered the glen, the smell of blood started to mess with his nose. He kept hoping that his brother would be alive, kept wishing that it would be true. Yes, he thought to himself, he survived this long, he should still be alive. With a forced grin, he kept telling himself his brother was fine. Oh, how wrong one could be.

Itsy flied close to her companion, staying a bit behind and only a couple of wingbeats from the ground, almost skimming it as she did. Inside, she was truly worried. But she didn't show any of it. Not until the worry increased on the fox as they entered the glen.

"I'll fly ahead...I'm sure we will find him" she assured before flying ahead. If she could follow the faint scent of blood, she would have found the truth behind Scratch's disappearance.

As the bird flew ahead, Hiraku felt his stomach twist on itself. The smell of blood was strong now, so much so that it almost made him gag. Something was having a bit of fun, he thought in disgust. He never thought well of those who took joy in ripping others apart. Even with those thoughts in mind, it still shocked him when he arrived to the victim, or what was left of it.

The fox felt sympathy for the mess of the animal he had encountered. However, he still had to find his brother. As he turned, he smelled him. He turned back to the corpse mess and felt himself slowly go into shock. Steadily, he made his way one of the fragments and sniffed it carefully. His eyes began to tear up as he stumbled away and froze in place. It was his brother.

Itsy stopped and looked back to see the fox had stopped. There was something on his face. It was shock, followed by sadness. She fluttered back to perch on a branch above him, and her eyes moved to what his eyes stayed at. It didn't make sense, since all that was there was just a few pieces. Pieces of an animal, that had a rusty red pelt.

A gasp escaped her beak, and there was a sick feeling inside. She had seen much death, but nothing like this. All she could manage to say was a name.

"Scratch?" she asked, although she knew the answer.

The fox's trance broke when hearing his brother's name. Tears already streaked his face as he slowly turned to the poor bird. His old personality was shattered, and he would've likely died on the spot if it wasn't for her. He made a weary and sad smile towards her before turning to his brother. "Too late, eh brother?" he weakly walked to a nearby tree, starting to dig into the ground. It would be the twelfth grave he was going to dig, and likely the best he'll make. Pulling the dirt away, he knew that it was a tradition only humans did (to his knowledge), but his old friendships made him into something of one. He turned towards the bird. "I know you were friends with...Scratch...so can you help me bury him?" He turned back to the will-be grave, choking back his cries. "You...you probably can't dig the hole...or carry the larger bits of him, but...you can look for...the rest of him. It's fine that you...you don't help, but I thought...you might like to help." he resumed his digging, silently sobbing with the occasional hic. 

With all of his mixed emotions, he started to develop a cold anger for two people. The first was for himself, as he could've gotten to his brother if he didn't make the mistake at the lake. The second was for a certain wolf out there, one he could faintly smell on his brother's remains. While it didn't show too much right now (if it could be seen), he knew it would spark up eventually.

Itsy couldn't help but feel sad. She had never regretted leaving her family, so why did she regret this, seeing her first friend here dead? Did she feel guilty for not going with him, even though he insisted on her not doing so? Perhaps it would have been different, or perhaps not. But whatever did this, she swore they would pay. But she was just a small bird, so what could she do. For once in her life, she felt small and insignificant, helpless.

The little wren didn't answer to Hiraku, but did do what he asked. She scoured the surrounding area, and found little pieces. What she couldn't carry, she pointed out. This was nothing like she had ever seen. It may have been a predator that did this, but it did not kill him for food. No, this was for something else. Sport, or perhaps some kind of personal matter. Or maybe he was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

With Scratch's remains in the grave and covered with dirt, the fox looked at the tree for a few seconds. With his canine tooth, he started to scratch in his brother's latest name. He would've wrote in his original name, but as the rest of those who knew him was dead, and he forgot it, Scratch would be more appropriate. He winced as part of his tooth chipped, forcing him to finish the rest of the word with his the other one.

With the name written, Hiraku slowly turned towards the bird, struggling to make eye contact. He never heard her name in their haste to find Scratch. Or maybe she did, and he merely forgot over his excitement. What mattered was that she was the only friend his brother likely made. So, he asked for her name. After a few minutes of silence, he stated his demand. It likely came off more menacing than he wanted to, but he had little care for it.

"You better not die."

This post is making me so sad

Itsy stood in a moment of silence as the fox scratched a name into the tree. She recognized the name, and just seeing it made her feel a sudden sadness. Scratch.

When the fox asked her name, she answered right away, but quietly at the same time. "Itsy."

There was a moment of silence, and the small wren bowed her head in sadness. But she lifted when the fox said something. 'You better not die' She looked him right in the eyes as she responded.

"I won't anytime soon. You can be sure of that."

I think I'm going to wrap this up

He remained silent in front of the grave, thinking to himself. He managed to stop crying, though the guilt still stuck with him. For some reason though, he felt it was more than usual. It was then it dawned on him; he forgot about Kit. He felt his breath shaken and he turned to Itsy. "I think I'll be leaving soon. Thanks for being here." He smiled before hearing something. He turned towards the woods, then disregarded the noise as a falling tree. Taking one last look at the grave, he slowly turned away and headed for the mountains.

Gotcha. Last post here, then.

Itsy smiled back and bowed her body instead of her head, then the fox ran off. At that moment, she recalled that she never learnt his name, but it was too late. She could always remember him as Scratch's brother. She turned to the grave and hopped to the ground, at the foot of the grave.

"Goodbye, Scratch." With that, she took off into the sky, leaving to continue on her original purpose for coming here. Finding a new home.