Horns ✖

Broken Dreams

"Thanks..."

"How...how long have you-"

"A couple months now," I muttered, unable to hold back the smile curling on my beak, "It happened so fast, but in the end I'm grateful it did. She's... amazing. Fun and... special in every way imaginable. I wouldn't trade her for the world..."

"I respect that," he grunted, then tilted his head with a sly grin showing in the darkness, "Then...are...you expecting yet?"

My face went pale for a bit and I chuckled, curling my tail between my legs, "Isn't that an odd question, Tooth?"

"Not really..." He grunted, "We're all adults here, aren't we?"

"Well, yes," I curled in a claw and chuckled, "But no, not yet. We're...waiting for the right time. Spring just ended so..."

"Why wait?"

I snorted with amusement, "It's not mating season yet..."

"But isn't she in-"

"Yes, but can we change the subject?" I laughed fearfully, "What about you? How...how's everything on your side of the forest?"

His smile suddenly began to fade, his tail going stiff for a second, and all that joy and energy suddenly dried up in an instant. Rather than saying anything, the swarm of darkness that coated his flesh had spoken enough words than the simple growl he gave from outside.

I gaped my beak a bit, noticing his eyes lowering and swallowed, "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Mother's dead."

My whole body suddenly rippled, and for a moment I felt as though the words themselves had struck me hard. I lowered my eyes to the ground, dazed and confused, and shook my head.

"No...S-She was fine last I saw her, and healthy-"

"Me and my mate found her three nights ago," Tooth swallowed, shaking his head, "At the empty nest we built together. When we left we told her to keep building it while we went hunting. But when we returned Mother...Mother was curled around it, frozen in her own blood and so...so still. So...still..."

He turned his head away a bit more, staring into the darkness of the green forest and growled lowly, his whole body trembling as the memories began to overwhelm him, darkening his heart, and those glowing green eyes of purity.

"There was a footprint in the middle of it," He rasped, curling his lips in a snarl, "Two stab wounds in her neck. And a scent that I....can never forget."

His eyes flashed in the darkened night, fangs bared and nostrils widened as he turned to me, blood dripping down his jaws as if held there by his own accord. I took a whiff of the bloody drool oozing down his snout and flinched, knowing deep down who it belonged to.

Three-horn.

"I found the fleeing bastard in the meadows," Tooth hissed at me, watching my eyes begin to water with horror, "Whimpering and whining about his vicious orders to kill off the three sharptooth in the forest. Holding the scent of your herd."

My beak began to quake when I heard this, both nostrils widening as I struggled to hold back my rising fear.

"And you know what I did?"

"Tooth-"

"I freed his murderous skull from that lying corpse of his and watched him bleed. And I enjoyed every second of it. The reason I'm telling you this is because we've been friends for as long as I could remember. But now I need a reason. I need to know. I want to know why your family sent someone to kill my family."