Garen's Loss
#1 of Choices
Just as a general warning, this is not a happy story. Nor is it yiffy. This is just drama, and whatever darkness my mind comes up with.
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A gentle breeze stirred the remains of a fire, swirling through the campsite. A young fox named Garen stood outside of his makeshift tent, watching the dying embers flare in the wind. This was his third day out in the wilderness, on a hunting trip to bring food home for his family.
Raised as a farmer, he found it hard to hunt, but it was a necessary task. Armed with only a old bow, a dozen arrows, and a small knife, it was more difficult still to hunt. A plague had struck his family's crops, causing a shortage of food. With his brother too young to hunt, and his father weakened in his old age, it was up to the adolescent fox to find food. His mother outright refused to help, insisting that hunting was a male's job.
Dressed in simple, handmade clothes, the fox was used to a lifestyle of near-poverty. He had learned to live on his own from an early age, and welcomed a chance to escape his family and see a part of the world that wasn't the farm.
Just when he had begun to consider going home empty-pawed, he spotted a feral rabbit just outside of his camp. Quickly and quietly pulling out his bow, he aimed as well as he knew how. He closed his eyes when he let go so he wouldn't have to watch on the off chance it actually hit.
After a few moments he opened his eyes, only to immediately close them again. The arrow had struck true, and the sight made him almost sick to his stomach. He loathed the thought of taking another creature's life, but he had done it. Slowly, feeling nauseous, he made his way to the rabbit and picked it up.
Garen took the rabbit back into his tent, where he removed the arrow and put it in a sack. Gathering up what little possessions he had, he made sure the fire was out and started the trek back home. Garen was, for the most part, giving up on hunting, but he was glad he had at least something for his family.
It was several hours after he had killed the rabbit, and he was anxious to be home quickly, before it got too late. Garen made his way through the dark forests surrounding his home, glad to be back in an area that he was familiar with. Pushing his way forward, through the last line of trees, Garen took a deep breath and looked at his home. Fire. The small farmhouse was ablaze, tongues of flame reaching for the sky. The meager and sickly crops were burning as well. There was no sign of his family.
Throwing down everything, his rushed toward the blazing heat, calling out for his father, his mother, anyone. In the darkness, Garen tripped over something small. He froze with a strangled scream, seeing his younger brother below him. The kit was dead, an arrow protruding from his back; he had been running away when he was hit.
Hugging the little fox to his chest, Garen stood up unsteadily. Staggering forward toward the flames, he searched for the rest of his family. Garen came to the conclusion that they must have been inside the same instant the ground came up to meet him, darkness overtaking him.
***
Garen was floating. Around him there was nothing but a cold, black void. Then, several feet in front of him, he saw a light. The fox saw his brother Kiri smiling and waving at him, his parents a few feet beyond. Grinning, Garen took off running, wanting to get to his family.
That is when everything changed. He couldn't get any closer to them, no matter how fast he ran. Then, as he watched, his brother's fur became matted down with blood. Soon there was nothing left but a rotting corpse, still smiling at him with its deathly visage. Behind him, his parents burst into flame, the fire roaring higher and higher until they were nothing more than ash. The corpse that was once his brother came to him, pulling him down and wrapping him in its cold embrace.
Garen woke up screaming, thrashing against the arms that still pinned him down. He opened his wild eyes as the dream slipped away, seeing nothing but darkness. That is when he realized that someone was on top of him, holding him.
"Gari! Gari, please! Calm down!"
He opened his eyes wider and the darkness formed into a shape he recognized. He stopped moving, panting from his exertion, and stared at the dark fur on top of him. It was a pantheress, one that he knew well.
"Celena?"
"Yes Gari, it's me... I was so worried about you," Celena replied, getting up and instead crouching next to the shaken fox. Garen sat up slowly, seeing that he was on a pallet made of a few blankets. They were in a clearing in the woods, the pantheress' husband Tyre standing a few feet away. The large cat looked upset, staring off into the distance at nothing.
"Wh-where are we? Where's my... my family?"
Celena looked away, closing her eyes.
"We saw the fire and just managed to escape before they got to our home. They were barbaric, they just destroyed everything then set it on fire. It was only because of our color that they didn't see us hiding. We went to your farm, and... found you. We searched, but we never found your parents. We took you, and brought you out into the woods with us."
Garen looked up at Celena, tensing up as he asked his next question.
"And Kiri?"
Celena turned away from him, looking out towards a small mound of stones at the edge of the clearing.
"Th-there he is... He's at peace now, Gari."
Garen stood up quickly, stumbling in his haste to get to the cairn. He fell to his knees, placing both paws on the stones and simply staring. This was all that was left of Kiri, his brother was gone. With a shudder of emotion he realized the last thing he did was to angrily insult the young fox when he had begged Garen to take him hunting as well. With a further blow that left him breathless, he realized that if he had, Kiri would be alive. The next instant he shattered, all the emotions breaking their way out of him. With a wordless cry he fell down onto the stones, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry Kiri... I'm sorry..."
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This is my first posted story, and I think I feel appropriately nervous. :3
This of course isn't the end, just the beginning of Garen's journey. I'd love to hear any advice, criticism, or ( hopefully ) praise, so throw it at me!