Monster

Cry Wolf

"Midion, what are you doing?"

Startled by the voice, Midion yelped and tumbled out of his perch in a tree, landing unceremoniously on his belly. Luckily he had only managed to climb a few feet before being discovered, but still...that had hurt.

Groaning, he rolled onto his back and blinked at his brother. "Chasing squirrels."

This earned him another sidelong look. "Are you well? You've been acting strangely since Father...since this morning."

Midion flinched and looked away, not saying anything because he knew his brother would give him that sympathetic look and an unwelcome shoulder to cry on and-

"Oh."

Damn it all. Why did such a small word hold so much meaning? With one small sound, he showed that he understood Midion's silence was for a different reason.

"Meu irmán, you might have been wrong. It couldn't have been her. Not in this region." Here came the sympathy, full blast.

Midion glared sulkily. "I'm not. It's her this time." He pushed himself up and began to march down the path, childishly ignoring the discomfort of pine needles wriggling down his trousers as his brother followed.

Kiere slung an arm over his shoulder and Midion shrugged it off in annoyance. "That's the fifth time you've claimed you were correct. What if-"

"I'm not wrong! Earlier, when I was near the border, I saw her. I'm not wrong. I can't be."

His elder brother said nothing to that, but his heavy sigh showed his doubt. "What were you doing in the tree?"

Midion relaxed slightly. "I wanted to see if I could see her in that village of the Others."

A disbelieving snort. "See her? You're no Hawk-kind."

"No, no. She had this cloak, red as blood, like a beacon. I thought I had caught sight of her when you found me."

"Hm. You know, there's no need to claim her if she is the one-"

"She is."

A sigh. "-Because not all the males are themselves bonded within the clan. There is no pressure to claim your partner for two other reasons as well. One, a new Primary is to be named before the end of this day. Bringing a Companion during this time would likely be a fatal mistake for her since the clan has not had time to know her. The second is that she is Other." Kiere stopped his speech long enough to give Midion a shrewd look. "Humans do not belong in our world, you understand that, right? If she did accept you for what you were, would the clan?"

This stopped Midion short.

Kiere winced at the agonized expression on the younger man's face.

"It's just-it's not-," Midion broke off to glare miserably at the forest floor, his fingers curling and stretching unconsciously. He had been alone for too much of his life, couldn't he have this one chance?

His brother seemed to hear the silent plea. "After the ceremony, if you happen to see her in the village, I suppose it would do no harm to meet her. Just...don't do anything rash. Act human."

Midion couldn't suppress his hope at the prospect, and managed a soft laugh. "Act human? I'll try."

The older man smirked. "You had better. It'd be a shame to see you be run out of a town again for trying to smell a girl."

Midion's face reddened at the memory and he furiously chased after his cackling sibling. "That was only once! And you said you wouldn't mention that ever again!"

Kiere only laughed harder and sprinted away through the trees.