In My Time of Need - Chapter 10
#13 of In My Time of Need
Chapter 10! :D
Hey all you fuzzbutts! I'm here with the next chapter the secondary story on the page, In My Time of Need! We're unfortunately still stuck the the travelling aspect of the trip, but I found a way to spice things up a bit for you guys! I won't keep you up here for long, I want you all to read what I've wrote, so get moving! I'll see you all at the bottom of the page! :D
I let out a drawn out sigh as we trudged along, sun still hovering high above us indicating that it was only a couple hours into the oddly warm afternoon. Everyone had stripped from their heavy coats, stuffing them into bags or just simply slinging them over shoulders. I preferred to tie mine around my waist so I wouldn't have to hold it.
It's been an hour or two since we left the small, unaccepting town of Lyford, continuing our journey towards our destination that we'd come to know now as Norfolk. It was supposedly where my brother had been taken, although I still questioned whether or not I could trust the sheriff who just happened to find in his heart the ability to even speak to one of us like an actual person. I wasn't sure what his motives were, but it was the only lead we had leaving us little choice than to take his advice, shady as it may seem.
The plains just never seemed to end, an ocean of rolling, wavy green that could easily swallow someone in the taller grasses. I once again brought up the back of the group, Perry the otter just in front of me followed by Delilah, Jen, Roy, and Baron of course leading the way through the vegetation. I found myself missing the unforgiving town just for the sheer change of scenery, I could feel my mind going numb as I looked out over the endless grasses.
I forced myself to stare at the brown form in front of me just to keep myself from going crazy. The plains seemed to be having a similar effect on the group as well, as our pace had slowed considerably over the last 30 minutes or so.
This would prove to get the best of us as I heard a low growl just to my left before I was tackled to the ground, wind completely knocked from my lungs.
P.O.V. Change: Baron
I whipped around upon hearing the "oomph" come from the rear of the line, growling threateningly as I watched the coyote slam into Nathan, shaking everyone from their glazed over states.
"Baron, look out!" I heard Roy shout, and I ducked just in time for a mountain lion to soar over my head, claws extended. These were ferals, and they were out for blood.
"Delilah, Perry, help Nathan! Roy, Jen, you're with me!" I shouted the orders, unsheathing my hunting knife from my belt to slash at the big cat that lunged at me once again. Jen rushed forward and launched herself atop the lion, covering its eyes and effectively blinding the big cat. It retaliated by prying the much smaller panda from its back and launching her a few feet away, landing with a hard thud.
Roy took the opportunity while it was distracted by Jen to plow forward into its stomach, knocking it to the ground as well. They wrestled around for a bit, I could only wait for an opening to strike for fear of injuring my brown furred friend. Both animals growled viciously at each other, taking turns snapping and swatting with unsheathed claws and nails. One particularly nasty blow to the head caused Roy to yelp in pain and roll away.
Letting loose a fierce growl of my own I hurdled towards the mountain lion and plowed into it, causing us both to slide a few feet across the ground. With ferals like these there was only one way to subdue them, as much as it pained us to do so. They weren't much different than us, still anthropomorphic but rather than being able to think cognitively and make coherent thoughts, animal instinct ran rampant through their minds causing them to attack anything that entered their territory, just as a normal animal would.
I leaned my weight onto the cat thrashing beneath me, holding it down as I readjusted my positioning. I grabbed the jaw of the big cat and offered the best look of pity I could muster up before twisting its neck swiftly, ending it in the quickest and most painless way I knew.
Glancing to the other side of the battle I watched Delilah get thrown to the side by the coyote who set his eyes on Nathan once again. Perry had already been tossed aside, suffering a similar fate due to his size just as Jen had. The coyote stalked towards Nathan who could only shuffle backwards in fear, not having anything to protect himself.
There was no way I would reach him in time, so acting on protective instinct I pulled by bow from around my neck and loaded an arrow in the sights. I sucked in my breath to steady my shot before letting the arrow fly, closing my eyes afterwards so I didn't have to watch it bury into the back of the feral. The coyote fell limp immediately, the killing blow having been dealt.
I exhaled the breath that I was holding afterwards, glancing around to survey the scene. Roy was up already and moving to check on Jen, as was Delilah with Perry, so I hurried over to where Nathan sat a few yards away. He sat paralyzed staring at the coyote lying motionless a few feet away. His unfocused gaze rested on me as I approached, fear and confusion swimming in his piercing blue eyes.
"Are you alright?" I asked him quietly, offering a paw to help him up. He stared at my hand for a few moments before taking it, allowing me to pull him up.
"I'm okay, just a little shaken up. I can't believe they would just launch themselves at us like that." He replied, wringing his paws apprehensively. I nodded in agreement, acknowledging the others as they approached.
"Glad to hear. I'm surprised that ferals would make such a bold attempt at our group, with there being six of us. We were caught napping though, I'm just as guilty of it as everyone here." I exclaimed.
"These plains have a very strange effect on the brain. I just felt so... numb is the only word I can use to describe it." Delilah commented, a flurry of agreement rising up through the group at her statement. Upon seeing the exhaustion in everyone's eyes I sighed heavily.
"Let's rest for a while, give everyone some time to recover. I know you two took a couple nasty hits, how is everyone else?" I motioned to Roy and Jen before addressing the rest of the group.
"Just a little dizzy, got me on the back of the head with a dirty hit, but otherwise I'm fine." Delilah replied.
"Perry, give her a quick rundown please make sure she doesn't have any concussive symptoms." I relayed to the otter.
"Baron I'm fine really." She insisted.
"I believe you, I'm just being cautious." I replied before nodding to the otter who began running the lioness through a few questions to make sure she was really okay.
"Everyone else find a place to rest. We'll stay for a bit so everyone can get ready again." I instructed the rest of the troop, however I pulled Roy aside needing to discuss something with him.
"We were caught completely off guard, we have to do something to keep us alert and attentive." I told him once we were out of earshot of the others.
"I know, and even when I registered that Nathan was getting tackled I still had to shake the daze off to get myself moving. Not to mention those ferals were pretty strong." The wolf replied, rubbing the spot where the mountain lion's claws had raked across his face.
"I think we all just need a break to get our feet back under us, everyone's exhausted. It's been a long couple days and I think it's finally catching up with everybody." He continued, expression growing serious as he gave his two-cents. I mulled the thought over for a few moments before nodding in affirmation, although I knew one person in particular would be somewhat unhappy with my decision.
"I agree, we should take an hour or two to relax, unwind a bit. We've got plenty of daylight left." I suggested.
"Sounds good, should I let everyone know?" He asked.
"If you don't mind, but don't tell Nathan yet. I want to tell him privately, he's not going to be happy about sitting around." I pointed out.
"It's for the best, we all need the break whether we need it or not. We'll feel better in the long run." Roy assured me which seemed to lighten the mood a bit.
"You're right. Go let everyone know the plan, and send Nathan my way." I told him. He nodded in response and left in the direction where the rest of the group was staying. I sighed knowing this conversation was not going to be easy. I sat patiently waiting in the grass until my ears perked at the sound of light footfall approaching.
The orange furred fox sat down next to me, and that's how we stayed for a few minutes. The rustling grass was the only thing disturbing the silence until the vulpine cleared his throat at turned his head in my direction.
"You needed to talk to me?" He asked simply.
"Yeah, I just wanted to let you know we're going to be taking a break for a few hours. Just didn't want you getting anxious about leaving and then find out we weren't leaving for a while." I told him, gauging for a reaction. He seemed somewhat apprehensive but steadily met my amber gaze.
"But why did you call me out here to tell me? Why not let Roy tell me like he did everyone else? Why should I be treated differently, I'm just as part of this group as everyone else here." The flurry of questions didn't surprise me, I guessed he would be hot about my decision, but he was getting the wrong impression.
"Nathan, you're taking this the wrong way. I didn't know-"
"How I was going to react right? You thought I'd blow up in front of you and make you look like the bad guy right? Like I am now, this is how you thought I was going to react." He accused, standing up from his sitting position to stand over me. I could only sit speechless, everything he was accusing me of was true. This is how I thought he would react, although I didn't expect his anger to be directed towards me.
"Nathan..." I tried to find words to calm him down, but could only let my ears fall flat helplessly as he stared down at me.
"Well I hope you got what you were looking for." He said quietly before storming off in the direction he'd come. I wanted to get up and apologize, but I could only sigh and hang my head shamefully as he walked off.
P.O.V. Change: Nathan
I felt somewhat bad for yelling at Baron like that, but the amount of frustration running through my head was at an all-time high. My mind felt muddy and clouded, a storm of confusing emotions running rampant through me. Because of this it took me multiple seconds to realize that I'd walked myself right into the arms of the one person who seemed to know when I was going through something. I stood there and let Delilah stroke my back comfortingly, feeling the whirlwind of thoughts begin to slow.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked quietly. I nodded my head against her chest, letting out a shaky sigh.
"I'm just so confused." I started, sitting down on the ground. Delilah sat down across from me and nodded for me to continue.
"Why are we so different? Why am I so different? Why need Baron feel the need to separate me from the group just to tell me that we were going to take a break?" I spilled the same questions I'd asked the shepherd to the lioness, hoping that she would have an answer.
"Well, I'm not Baron so I can't tell you exactly why he did what he did. If I have to take my best guess I would say it has something to do with the wellbeing of the group. He may have had a feeling that you would be upset with him and make a scene. Were you upset with his decision to take a break?" She asked me. I let what she said to me sink in before I nodded my head.
"Yeah, I mean I didn't exactly like the idea." I admitted.
"Were you going to let him know that you weren't happy with it?" She continued.
"Not in front of everybody else, I didn't plan on blowing up on him." I defended myself.
"Then why did you blow up?" She pointed out. I thought about it for a moment, before coming to the realization that I was most definitely in the wrong here. I blew up on the person who was looking out for the best of the group. "You can't have what you want 100% of the time. Trust me, if there was a way for it to happen, he's the one who would make it happen. This was just one of those times where he had to make a decision that was best for the group. I understand you're worried about your brother, I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. Just know that we're doing everything we can to help you, but you have to help us too." She explained. I listened intently the entire time, nodding after she'd finished. "We're on your side Nathan." She exclaimed softly before rubbing my back supportively and standing up, leaving me to rejoin the group.
I thought about her words carefully, nodding to myself as I realized how right she was. I stayed where I was for a few more minutes to regather a few thoughts that had strayed away before rejoining the group myself. Everyone was seated in a small circle, a spot seemingly reserved for me between Delilah and Jen which I gladly took. I simply listened in to everyone's conversations until I was addressed.
"So Nathan, do you know why we turn into the animals that we do?" Roy asked me. I tried to think of a response but came up empty, so I shook my head in response.
"People say it's because of how you acted before you get inflicted with the virus. Why do you think you turned into a fox?" He questioned.
"Well, because of how poor we were, my brother and I were thieves." I admitted.
"We used to go out and steal from people's gardens, we never got caught. I can't really think of any other reason, but I know foxes are definitely not the only scavengers out there. Maybe it was just coincidental?" I suggested.
"Could be, none of us know for sure but we can always take guesses at it." Perry commented.
"Yeah I guess so. Does that mean you turned into an otter because you liked to swim or something?" I teased. My joke seemed to lighten dark mood that was hanging over everyone's head, even my own.
"No, I didn't like swimming. I loved swimming. I swam any time I could, even when it was storming outside." He shared. This seemed to spur on a sharing spree within everyone.
"I jogged almost every day, morning and night. Guess it kind of fits my transformation, and I love my claws dearly." Delilah exclaimed, supporting her point by flexing her paw-toes.
"I mean, I liked to climb trees but there are a ton of animals out there that do that. Although I guess it could have been worse, I could have been a monkey." Jen added with a shrug.
"I was your literal definition of a lone wolf, I tried to stay away from people in general, I just felt so much happier when I was by myself. Not much has changed since then, buuuut I guess you all are tolerable so it's not all bad." Roy teased, a cheeky grin crossing his face.
At that point we all turned to Baron who had stayed quiet until it was his turn, and even when we'd all taken turns sharing he sat there silently staring at the ground. Everyone seemed to shuffle uncomfortably as if try to get him to notice that his was his turn to share, but he was in a completely different world. Just then, an idea popped into my head.
"There are a few key defining characteristics of German Shepherds." I began. I watched the shepherd's ears flick to life as finally lifted his eyes from the ground to meet my gaze.
"German Shepherds are loyal, protective. Always making sure their friends are safe, even if they have to sacrifice themselves to meet that goal." I stated. Baron's posture seemed to lighten slightly as I spoke, spurring me on to continue. "German Shepherds are intelligent, brave. Passive and diplomatic, but never afraid to back down from a fight, but only when their friends are threatened. Shepherds are approachable and friendly, confident and kind-hearted. I continued. Everyone in the group at this point with the exception of the subject of the conversation was smiling. "Shepherds are willing to be your best friend, and if they share their darkest secrets with you, just know that you're important to them. I of course can't speak for him because I'm not him, but I feel confident in saying that this is the kind of person Baron was before his transformation." I concluded.
Everyone was silent, letting the anticipation of the shepherd's reaction draw out a bit. Then, the sound of the slightest rustling in the grass. Baron's small smirk widened into a full toothy smile, tail wagging madly behind him.
"Thanks Nathan, that really means a lot. I do feel like I should apologize for my behavior earlier, I shouldn't have singled you out like that. I should have trusted that you would handle the situation appropriately, you're not a child and shouldn't be treated like one, something I didn't realize until it was a little too late. For that, I'm sorry, and I hope we can still be friends." The shepherd exclaimed, eyeing me nervously.
"It's not completely you're fault Baron, I was is the wrong back there as well. I should have realized that what you were trying to do was for the best of the group, but I decided to be selfish, exactly how you predicted how I would react. I should have known better to act out like that, and I'll try to be a little more controlled next time. I shouldn't have called you out like that either, that was also pretty childish of me." I apologized as well.
"Well it would seem that both parties have pleaded guilty, and so the charges cancel out. You're free to go guys, but you have to shake to make it official." Roy chuckled, getting a laugh out of everyone.
"Hey, I take offense to that!" Baron cried upon realized the slightly racist joke hidden in the comment, getting a larger response out of everyone else. Finally once everyone had settled down again, the shepherd held his hand out across the circle towards me. "Friends?" He asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Hmm..." I mock pondered the question, making a show by tapping my lip a few times.
"Well, if you insist." I replied before grasping the shepherd's paw in my own, shaking to seal the deal.
Eyyyyy friends! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, lots of action and character and relationship development all in one chapter! It's a three in 1! And if you call now I'll throw in a little bit of cuteness too! Anways, I hope you all enjoyed this installment of In My Time of Need, I'll be see you guys sometime over the weekend for the next chapter of Stranded! Mysteries abound, lots of stuff to explore! Have a good night errbody! :D