Helpless

For Comfort

  (This Chapter is from Louis' Eyes)

"If i could fly..."
I finished the last lyrics, my arms wrapped around my knees. I gazed out at the forest before me, draped in a thick blanket of fog. Only my voice echoed after me, and I heard a huff behind me. I turned, seeing Jake with a plump rabbit in his jaws. "Great catch!" I congratulated the cougar and patted him on the head, gratefully taking the kill from his teeth and splitting it in half, giving him the bigger piece.
I wiped dried tears from my cheeks; today, I know it, our anniversary. If none of this would've happened, we'd be in our room, candles lit, kissing each other carefully, curled up under the covers, just happy to have each other. And yet right now I still don't know if he's alive or not. Jake sensed my sadness, and butted me in the side with his muzzle. Yes, my mutated side was almost fully healed; only scars remained. I gave the cat a weak smile, but not enough to satisfy him.
He butted me harder, making me fall over and to the edge of the mountain. I chuckled and at up, ruffling Jake's head fur and saying, "You little fart." He clawed the ground cheerfully, almost snickering at my reaction. I chewed a chunk of the rabbit meat, and gave another piece to Jake, who chomped it up in seconds.
A few drops of rain pattered the ground softly next to me and Jake, signaling there would be a storm soon. Since I've been living up in the mountains with Jake for almost a month now, I was used to common storms and occasional tornados. It scared me the first time, but Jake calmed me in and instant with a flick of his tail.
"Time to go in," I grumbled, gathering the rabbit meat and following Jake's curvy tail through the boulders, on the narrowest ledges of the mountains, the piles of tiny pebbles and homes of other animals. Soon we came to our cave, Jake's home from birth, I supposed, and my home since he saved me. Jake sniffed my shoulder and left the cave, which was 'I'm going to look for shiny things,' in our language. I should explain; Jake knows I am attracted to anything glam, so he goes out and looks for any necklaces, bracelets or rings for me. There was a pile in the back of the cave of various jewelry found by my curious cougar.
Jake pounded back into the cave in what felt like seconds with necklaces and bracelets dangling off of every knife-sharp tooth. His mouth was shining with gold and silver glam, and I laughed at the sight. "I owe you so much!" I gasped and took the glittery objects from his strong jaws. I grinned, inspecting each one carefully and with plenty of awe. They were all equally shiny and great replacements for the ones at home. Thinking of home made me think of Storm and Kubo and how they were doing under Niall and Liam, Zayn's wife. And no, not Lisa as in our old keyboardist, but Lisa Pittman. The last I heard was that Lisa was pregnant. I wonder if they had their kids yet or if they were still expecting...
"Thanks!" I smiled at my giant pet. "You deserve petting time," I chuckled and rubbed the cougar all over; everywhere he wanted me to pet. He flopped over to his side and onto his back, making me massage his white belly. He purred like a house kitten, making my smile widen even more. Even though he was a vicious cougar on the outside, he was really just a soft little kitten under the fur.
After a good 20 minutes of petting, I sat up, seeing Jake drifted off into the classic cat nap. Smiling, I went to my pile of glam. While sorting through the sparkling pile of things I adore, I picked up a small, golden ring. While furrowing my eyebrows, I tried peeling away the dirt that hid an engraving in the side. Finally scratching away the dirt and mud, I blew on the ring to see a cloud of dust fly off. As soon as the dust cleared, my breath was caught in my throat.
On the side, the engraving read...
...Hazza.