The Silence Between

*Kassander* · 04-27-2015, 03:22 PM

He was dead. He was dead and there was no way out, and all because he'd been so, so stupid, so naive. He was going to die alone in this dank, smelly hole in the ground and it was all his own fault. He stared into the grinning, shrieking faces of the half-grown pups and knew this was the end.

The expressions changed, shifted just the slightest bit and he braced himself for the teeth he knew would tear into him. But there were no teeth, and as he whipped his head around the sudden stench of fresh blood struck him even as the form of his brother skidded to a halt beside him. "Sigmarr!" he gasped. His brother had a fierce look to him that Kassander had never seen, a wildness. Some indefinably feral quality. "I... I'm all right."

He swallowed dryly as a shocked silence fell for a moment over the group before a shrieking cry of anger and grief rose and both of the adults leaped forward. Kassander flinched, but both males dove for Sigmarr. Sigmarr cried out for him to run even as the pups leaped into the fray. Kass' legs coiled under him not to run, but to disobey, intending to jump in and pull the closest wolf off his brother... but his legs froze as his gaze met the face of a wolf barely older than a child. He couldn't force himself to move, couldn't will his fangs to sink into that young boy's flesh even to simply pull him away. He could not bring himself to harm a child, and as he froze he panicked. His breathing came in short, choppy pants. Black crept in on the edges of his vision, stained red with the blood that flowed from the wolves grappling in front of him.

And he broke.

Unthinkingly, he bolted for the exit like the coward he knew he was. He sprinted away from the hole for a few strides before he regained control and skidded to a halt to turn and face the entrance once more.

But he couldn't make himself return to the fight.

Until Sigmarr dragged his broken body from the crypt and Kassander sprang forward with a cry. "Sigmarr!" Sigmarr's faint words rang in his ears as Kassander threw himself into trying to stem the flow of blood. A distant part of him, the experienced healer, whispered that he was too far gone, that it was too late. But Sigmarr was his brother and Kassander was desperate. "No, Sigmarr," he sobbed, trying despairingly to put pressure on dozens of wounds when he had so few paws to do so. "You'll pull through this, you always do, you're the strongest of all of us. You're the best and the bravest and... Sigmarr!" The younger boy had fallen silent and motionless. No breath moved his chest, and Kassander felt his own chest constrict. "Sigmarr! Don't leave me!" A sharp howl of despair tore from his throat.

Kassander clung to his brother's motionless body, pained keening barely audible as he pressed his face against Sigmarr's blood soaked pelt.

""

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