Sicklehorn...
"I assume he knows, now," growled Greyfang in a gnarly voice; the defeated raptor's tail was still trapped well beneath the foot of the long-neck, Rumble. He snarled quietly as I wandered on by, wrinkling his brow and curling his lips. Though my attempts to ignore him were feeble, it wasn't meant to pester his emotions, but simply to calm myself from the solemn gazes of my three friends near the cavern's entrance. A figure suddenly stepped forth -- Rockhorn -- hoping to pass on some good words of the wise. But he halted just after I locked eyes with him. Just that one fierce stare, and a shake of my horned head, was enough to tell the worried herbivore of my intentions, and waver his offer away with a voiceless request.
"Y-You s-sure?" he asked.
I snorted. My heart quaked over the fear of upsetting one of my good friends, let alone spilling him the truth. Above all else, I didn't hope to scare him. Both nostrils flared and my tail twirling low in thought, before a soft nod came from me. And, so, Rockhorn swallowed, taking a step back to respect my space. He knew just as well as I did that any three-horn's anger was meant to be avoided at all costs. Just a little tampering could cause hellfire. Alas, he didn't wish to worsen it like the others had.
Though some decided otherwise.
"Doesn't it hurt, three-horn?" Greyfang sneered from a distance. "All of those memories, all of that emotion, rushing full speed into your pitiful head like a comet..."
He tilted his head, noticing my head beginning to bow in shame, and rasped in pure pleasure. "You can't even look at me... can you?"
Rockhorn turned to me. "Is he-"
I nodded. Yes, he's talking to me.
"S-Stop it..." Rockhorn suddenly snarled at the raptor. "H-He's gone t-through e-enough-"
"I consider your incompetence to apologize is too much to handle," Greyfang continued leisurely, "knowing there's nothing in the world you can say or do... to reprimand what you've done-"
"S-Stop t-talking, you s-stupid b-bird!" Rockhorn spat, stepping between my body and his defensively. The raptor's nares widened.
"Or w-what?" he mocked, puffing his feathers out in amusement. "You'll t-t-talk me down? I can understand you, rockhead!"
Before Rockhorn could commit to something reckless, I stomped my foot on the ground, sending a tremor through the cavern floor, and ceasing their movements. My eyes looked between the two, then gazed up at the silent long-necks, still looking down at me with sorrow. There's so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to apologize for. All of my efforts have doomed them, broken them, humiliated them. And worse, endangered them from my mistakes. I had nothing noble to say, nothing more pleasant to do other than walk away.
And that's exactly what I did.
"Sweet nightmares, Sicklehorn," Greyfang called after me, slurring out my name before the cavern echoed off his dark, sinister cackle.
Just as a cold, angry tear rolled down my snout.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I should've known that it'd be even worse at night.
I couldn't find the courage to sleep; the fear of the past still haunted me long after the moon drifted over the stars. With all those disturbing memories now fused to my brain, I was left to ponder the past, instead of ignoring it. I sighed, thumping my tail to the floor, wishing away the dust and the sands just to rest my eyes.
If only that were possible.
Dreamcatcher was right, I started to think, slowly drawing little circles in the sand with a single claw, the past isn't kind to those whose hearts have turned. I may have played victim throughout the weeks I spent running past hell, but this oblivious nature of mine blinded me from the truth. Everyone's word stands more justifiable than my own.
And now, I don't think I can even trust myself with anything anymore.
I drew another large squiggly line into the dust, exhaling yet again.
Now that I know... is it even worth it going on? This is what I wanted, right? To learn... to believe... to see what happened. What else is left for me to find?
I know I've asked this question before, but I haven't found any answer to it. Or anything for that matter. Nobody is looking for me, nobody's left for me, my whole herd is long gone, and-
I stopped drawing.
My herd... I gasped. D-Dreamcatcher said I was from the Blue Mountains... he knows where I live. He knows they're alive. And it's almost winter, so I could catch them early during their migration. Maybe... maybe that's where I'm meant to go! Maybe there, I can learn more about myself!
If there is anything left to learn-
All of a sudden, a sound gave way in the darkness, followed by the thud of a bone. My head perked up in warning, eyes bulging beneath the shade of both horns, and focused upon the darkness.
But there was nothing to see, at least from afar. There wasn't a scent either. For a moment I figured the noise and the shadows were just a simple trick of the mind, or a figment of my imagination. But my instincts saw otherwise: dictating the shadows as something to fear. Something beyond control, and worth every bit of my concern.
And then the sound spoke again: a growling of sorts. Rumbling like the voice of the earth, deep and pitiful, enraged and unhinged. And here, beneath the soft glow of the crescent moon, came the image of a figure. A small one.
A raptor.
Greyfang.
"I've waited..." he growled, stalking toward me with blood smeared on his snout, "and I've watched..."
I slowly stood up, eying the grizzly raptor in horror. The blood wasn't from a friend -- the tip of his tail had been bitten off, the scars synced to his glistening fangs. He freed himself from the clutches of a foot, and now his freedom will be rewarded... with my head.
"I cannot allow you... to breathe in my presence anymore. I've waited for far too long... just to be held back by a long-neck!"
I shook my head, mouthing his name through a frail hiss.
"It ends tonight, three-horn. Now you DIE!" he roared, pouncing onto my back and stabbing his talons into my flesh. A shriek left my beak before I crashed into the wall adjacent to us, too stunned to fight. I scrambled up to my feet before he found my skull, jerking my head down to detach the bloodthirsty carnivore and watch his body slam into the earth below. But he didn't care for his injuries, he lusted for mine. So despite the massive tear in his abdomen, Greyfang readied himself, lurking around my body for a moment, before pouncing at another blind spot.
Like a spider to a web, Greyfang crawled across my body, wounding my skin no matter what I tried to do. I struggled to crush him at first -- let it be a wall, a rock, the floor, or otherwise. But any second I spared was granted by a slow rip dragging down deep within my hide. Biting became feasible, too -- his feathers would slip out of my beak with ease. After a minute, my blood clogged the air, staining the soil and blurring my vision. And after two, my attempts to stop him turned on me, in the form of a massive rock. Just one slam to the wall forced a boulder to give way, slamming down on my tail and pinning me down.
"Karma," the raptor sneered, watching me struggle. "How neat..."
Rounding my head, his massive weight pinned my snout to the earth below while two jaws squeezed tight around both of my nostrils. I didn't know what he was doing at first, until I felt my lungs suddenly constrict, writhing for air. I struggled to take a breath, to open my jaws wide and taste the stilled air, but Greyfang absorbed everything I exhaled.
And I began to suffocate.
"That's it..." the raptor churned, his blood-red eyes locked on mine. "Breathe it all in..."
MMPH!
My eyes bulged, a redness beginning to grow as the oxygen left my system. I bucked and choked in his motion, his weight continuing to keep my beak shut from any other breath. The pain only grew worse and worse, a fire soon erupting from within. I gagged, and I whimpered, fighting helplessly over his untamed strength... but I was too weak to win. Just before my vision could blur... the pressure suddenly released.
And I coughed out my first breath.
Part of me believed the raptor spared my life. Or, if anything, he felt guilty. Fantasy thoughts, but they felt true to me. But, as sight regained strength, my two eyes were filled by the image of a raptor being held into mid-air where he thrashed in fright.
"Maybe I should do the same for you!" snarled a theropod above, tightening his bite deep into Greyfang's spine and lavishing in the poor raptor's scream. Seeing Tooth brought me a wealth of thanks, but of fear as well. The harder he bit, the more blood he drew, and just that unclear force of strength wasn't clear to the sharptooth.
And I couldn't warn him of it, either.
"You stay away from my friend, you understand," Tooth snarled. "He's my prey, not yours."
"You think I'll just move on and let go?" Greyfang snapped back. "What fool do you take me for, sharptooth? He is mine to avenge, my legacy leads here. There is nothing left for me after what he did!"
"You have a pack-"
"They're only a responsibility to make me feel special," he rasped at Tooth. "My final chance is lost. The last thing I want now is his head! Now let me go!"
The raptor jolted and jerked in his bite, tearing more into his flesh no matter how hard Tooth tried to subdue him. I grumbled in pain, slowly adjusting to the earth, and looked up as the two struggled above me. And the harder Greyfang fought, the more he dug.
Deeper and deeper...
Tooth, stop...
Tearing into his muscles with every fang he owned.
Tooh, stop! Stop it!
"He's mine!" Greyfang roared, holding back his painful cries. "I'll kill that wretched three-horn, I swear! He's... M-MINE!"
With a twist of his upper body, the raptor managed to score a strike to the theropod, tearing three lines right across his eyelid. The rip turned his vision bright red, blurring everything by a wave of blood. In two seconds, Tooth snapped.
And his jawline followed.
Greyfang's jaws suddenly opened up in a silent scream. His eyes bulged, listening to the subtle crunch of his poor body being severed by the theropod. Thickened blood soon followed, pumping to his jaws and spilling over his trembling chin. He managed a wheeze, eying me for a moment as Death poisoned the air. His head dropped lifelessly to the ground.
And Greyfang went limp.
Tooth and I went frozen on the spot. Too unsure of what happened, Tooth lowered the raptor to the floor, curious to see if he was faking it.
He wasn't. Greyfang laid still upon the soil, motionless without a voice or a breath to garner. His blood continued to pulse, leaking from the rips that Tooth gave him. But nothing else stirred. Nothing at all. And the longer we stood there, eying the silent raptor, the faster our hearts began to beat.
And the more we began to shake.
"No, no, no..." Tooth nudged the raptor, already starting to whimper. "No, no! No, I didn't mean to, I-!"
"I know you both didn't mean to," a voice suddenly called from above, unveiling the massive flyer hanging above the cavern wall. "But fate said otherwise."
"You... watched us?" Tooth suddenly growled as the flyer floated down. "And you didn't think to help?!"
"I've watched him ever since he cut off his tail," said Dreamcatcher, hobbling over to me to tend to my wounds. "He was being led away by grief, drugging his blood with hate and anger. All of this dragged him right to the grave. But I... I pitied him. I warned him of his obsession not long before, I did. And I failed. He... never once changed his mind."
My eyes lowered, eying the limp body of the raptor. He was trying to help him after all.
"I still killed him..." Tooth hissed, shaking his head. "I... I didn't want to."
"That's no reason to blame yourself, sharptooth," said the flyer, licking over my splintered flesh. Tooth whimpered, looking toward me then back at him.
"This proves nothing. All it does is show more of the monster that I am. More of a reason that I kill without regret! That I don't deserve to-!"
"No. If anything, tonight proves your worth to your friend. In plenty more ways than one."
Tooth met my eyes once more. He faltered on a single breath, struggling to speak on behalf of my silence, before turning his head away in complete and utter shame.
"Worth? He and I both know we're not friends," he whimpered suddenly, lowering his tail. "There's no way a sharptooth and a three-horn could... be happy together. Or trusted. All our friendship did... was lead us to the life we swore not to fall under."
Tooth swallowed. "Maybe I'm not like my kin, Dreamcatcher. Maybe I'm not like Greyfang, either -- too obsessed with finding one way out, but I'm not like you either. I don't just accept every possible wrong just to feel right! I hurt him... too much. I know he feels the same."
"Tooth, I'm not asking you to be like someone-"
"Well, I can't be like myself, can I?!" he snarled. "Because then I'll become the same, bloodthirsty monster I'm meant to be! And... nothing else..."
My heart skipped a beat. I knew what he meant by this, even without the shuddering breaths and warm tears brimming each eye. The carnivore felt guilty of himself, too much to even contradict the bad Dreamcatcher saw (and the good). His promises were broken, just like mine, and his anger wasn't just for what I've done, but for him as well. Our friendship tore in half by our will to be ourselves, to fall under the wing of who we were meant to be, instead of who we wanted to be. And, like Greyfang, we were lost in obsession.
No wonder we were so close to Death, and so far from joy. We were all drowning in guilt... and nothing has yet to fix that.
"Greyfang's pack will know sooner or later," Tooth grunted, motioning to the dead raptor. "The blood... Its stench is easy to track. Even if I eat him, the scent will stay. Once they find out... they'll kill whomever is in sight of it as retribution."
"That's no problem for me," Dreamcatcher squawked, flapping his wings. "This is my father's cave, and his father's cave. I'll stay, and fend them off. My hatchlings will direct you out of the mountains, safely. All of you."
My eyes widened, and I shook my head quickly in horror. If he stayed, he'd die. And, given how much he's helped, I couldn't afford another friend to die from my mistake.
"I know you worry, three-horn," grunted the flyer. "But I'll be okay. I've had worse odds before..."
Tooth redirected his eyes back to the two of us, then down to Greyfang's body. The carnivore stared for a good long minute, eying the oozing blood leaving the body, and exhaled. For a moment I figured he'd eat the body, just as a precaution, but something else crossed his mind. Something that forced the sharptooth to lower down, pick up his body, and take a step back. Dreamcatcher's attention was swoon away by his efforts, and the creature only gasped when Tooth began to back away.
"What are you doing?"
"Repaying my mistakes," said Tooth. "I'll bring the body elsewhere, and redirect the smell. They'll follow me, and keep you safe."
"No-"
"I'm not willing to cause any more unnecessary deaths."
"And yours?!" the flyer growled. "You have much life inside you, do not throw it away to make a point!"
Tooth sighed. "I'm overdue for one."
I scrambled to my feet to retort against it, only for another hoarse groan to leave my throat. Whimpering, I offered to draw out my intentions, but Tooth stopped me with a stomp of his foot.
"I know... and I'm sorry old friend," he rumbled. "But I have to do this."
No... I shook my head harder. Tooth, don't...
"Fix his throat," Tooth said to the flyer. "So he can speak."
"I will."
"And get him to the Blue Mountains," Tooth grunted, lowering the body and approaching my snout. "His herd is there. Win them back... if you must, Sicklehorn. So the past can be fixed. For me, okay?"
"T-Tooth..." I strained out. The carnivore sighed, pressing his snout between my eyes, and gave me a somber lick of sorrow. I blinked, reeling in the warm touch of his tongue, a similar sense that one happened with Wrecker. Tooth took a step away, gathering the body of the fallen raptor, and began to wander away. I started to pace after him, but after a turn of a corner, his stench vanished. The earth stopped shaking.
And Tooth was gone.
--------------- A Week Later ---------------
"Do you think they'll fear me? Or hate me?"
"That is for you to determine," Dreamcatcher muttered, landing on my back between the foliage, "And for me to watch. This isn't my story, it's yours."
I sighed. Part of what he said was true, despite my denial. But, alas, this was the moment we were both waiting for, so why prolong it? Staring across the patches of green, we managed to find a three-horn bearing a close-to-similar stench as mine, idly wandering on by with a branch in his beak. I looked behind me for a moment, back at the mountain pass where my friends were, then bowed my head.
"I mean, after seeing everything I've done... every wrong I've committed... I'm afraid they'll kill me again..." I trailed before I reached the outer shell of the green forest, fear suddenly overwhelming me. And unlike my expectation to take the strong step forward, I froze.
"I don't know if I could do this..."
"What holds you back?"
"The past..." I swallowed hard, noticing the arrival of a three-horn's silhouette ahead of me. "The past still holds me back."
"Three-horn," Dreamcatcher lowered down my back, moving before my misty eyes and bobbing his beak, "Remember what I told you. Alas, this is what you wanted, isn't it? And Tooth?"
I stiffened at the mentioning of his name. "Yes."
"Then take your future by the horns," he clacked, expanding his wing out to the nearby trike. "You know what to do. And I'll be here to watch."
I stared out, beginning to tremble for a moment before tensing all my muscles. I was scared to take the first step. To uncover everything all at once. And, more importantly, to face my past for the first time ever. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply, then stepped out into the light. As if instinct got the both of us, the three-horn ahead spun around with a wild grunt, taking a stance and lowered his horned frill defensively.
"Who goes there? Speak!"
"I..." I began, unsure what else to say, "I um..."
The three-horn drew a bit closer, sniffing my scent from a distance before beginning his approach. His tinted blue-ish scales, speckled by an array of offset white and tanish spots glowed indefinitely under the morning star, and even his eyes were swarmed with similar hues. His stench was like mine, too, much more strengthened by his bond to the herd unlike my faded aroma. But after a simple stare, deep into my visage, the trike gasped in surprise, and froze.
"What is it?"
"No..." the three-horn looked as if he had seen a ghost. He stammered over words, trying to find the strength to talk, but my mere appearance seemingly got the better of him. He slightly shook his frill, lifting one paw up from the sheer shock of this, and could only croak out one name.
"Sicklehorn?"