Gilrack's dream-like heaven came crashing down the moment he drifted down from the nest after two weeks of not stepping out once. He had in his mind to get out into the sky, fly a bit, find something extra meaty for his mate, all pleasant, sweet thoughts, soured when his green brood brother opened his mouth.
"Rikek returned ten days ago. Mother and Father didn't tell you to not disrupt your instincts after the hatching of your young."
Gilrack stared at Hochak, waiting for him to drop the most important information, even though he could already read the answer in his shrunken pupils and still tail.
"He has wings."
Gilrack didn't move for some moments, tasting the knowledge slowly in his mind. He knew this could likely happen. It was either this or death. While he had always had an unwanted rivalry with Rikek and had begrudged him for a good deal of his miseries growing up, he hadn't wanted him dead. Before Jolene, he'd even wanted for his success, because it meant Gilrack would be left alone on the edges of the cavern like he wanted. But now...
It was either him or Rikek. As Rikek had always intended.
Hochak's ears were low.
"I think I should stay with you from now on," he said quietly. "Just in case."
The chill plain of his mind thawed slightly. He made a low, thankful rumble.
"You would prefer me as chief over Rikek?"
"You are my brood brother."
"He is your brother too."
"I like you better."
Gilrack chuckled.
"You've taken care of tunnel duty?" he asked.
Hochak nodded. "I was overdue for a break anyway."
An understatement, as Hochak hogged all the entrance shifts to himself. He had a love for the fresh air that bordered on need that many of their people did not.
"Well, you're in luck. I need to hunt." He gave his brother a crooked smile before remembering this wasn't Jolene. He didn't need to pull up the corners of his mouth. "Would you like to fly?"
Both Hochak's tail and ears perked up, even as he tittered that no male could suffer their dignity by being carried by another like a youngling.
Even so, he all by vibrated the moment they were outside and climbed up to a high cliff point without asking.
Yes, any of his other brothers, and even a good number of sisters, would have been too embarrassed to be lifted into the sky by Gilrack, no matter how curious they were about flight. But this was Hochak. Hochak, the lover of sky and trees.
The grim reality of Rikek's return was pushed to the back of his mind as he took hold of his brood brother and kicked off into the air. His brother was heavier than Jolene, but not by much. It was enough that he started off high enough to glide over the forest.
Hochak yipped and yelled in delight, spreading his arms out like they were wings themselves.
"This is amazing! I need some of THIS! I'm gonna climb the mountain next!"
"Please don't."
"I'm gonna climb and jump and get me some WINGS!"
"You'll die."
"I'm gonna FLLLLYYYYY!!!!"
Yeah. There was a reason Hochak was his favorite.
Hochak, despite being the best in the woods, turned out to be useless in finding any prey. He was too busy scaring everything off with his whooping and hollering to even look. So Gilrack eventually had to return him to the entrance, pouting like a child, so that he could go off on his own to find something.
"But Rikek can fly too," said Hochak petulantly. "I got to watch your back."
"Rikek's only been flying for, at most, a month? How did he look?"
"Like he wanted to sleep for a week. But it's been that week."
"Well, I can't be afraid of him forever. I have more experience than him. I'll just find something quick and be back."
"If you just asked me I'd hunt for you."
"No, this is my mate who needs meat, not yours. I've already depended on charity for two weeks, I'm going to go mad at this rate."
"Better mad than dead."
"Just watch the entrance like you usually do, okay?"
"There are other entrances."
Gilrack sighed. He got his brother's point. It was valid. But his instincts were also thrashing against his skin to lay something bloody before his new family.
Once again, he found himself seeing the benefit of the divine being's quiet instincts. Hopefully his children would inherit that.
Hochak reluctantly let him go, getting comfortable on an overhang near the entrance so he could both watch it and keep an eye over the forest and skies for Gilrack, though he wouldn't be able to do much if he saw Rikek flying out. Disputes for chiefdom between those of royal visage were strictly between them. Whether through agreement or death, only one of them could become chief, and they both knew Rikek would demand Jolene if he became chief. The only one who could get directly involved was their mother, and she could only give support to who she wished. She couldn't order anyone to go out of their way to protect Gilrack or punish Rikek for killing him.
It was only then, flying in the sky, senses peeled in too many directions, that Gilrack began to think that his mother may have had a point in keeping herself distant. He thought of his own young, all three of royal purple, killing one or the other and it made his soul curdle. If he couldn't stop it, he'd very much not want to be close enough to feel the pain.
Unfortunately, due to Hochak's racket, he had to fly out further than he had hoped to find prey. When he finally returned to Hochak, he felt worn from being wired for so long and was already itching to curl around his mate.
"Sorry," Hochak said, without being told for what.
Gilrack just patted his back. He had offered to take him flying. It wasn't all his fault.
The smell of his kill became more potent in the tunnels. He could barely make out the old leaf smell of his brother who walked right beside him. Having one of his senses compromised unnerved him.
"Can you smell past the kill?" he asked his brother hopefully.
"I can barely smell past you," Hochak said petulantly. "When was the last time you bathed?"
"...I've been busy." Self-care had not been on his mind at all.
"Yeah yeah, I get it, new younglings and all," his brother's tail brushed against his own in reassurance even as Hochak glanced over his shoulder. "I heard the good news. Two females and a male, all purple."
"I wouldn't call their coloring good news."
"Ah, yeah, well, you can always change things. It isn't like they only have our culture to live. They are half divine being."
"With no divine beings to rule over."
"But perhaps they'll be more inclined to reason with one another rather than kill. You said divine beings weren't intelligent with, like, nonexistent instincts, right?"
Violence was half instinct. Maybe his brother had a point.
"They still have wars and murders," said Gilrack. "I don't know..."
"Well, maybe you can send them back to the other divine beings?"
"NO!"
The clicked refusal echoed down the tunnel, much louder than Gilrack had been intending.
Gilrack lowered his ears and spines. "No," he said much more quietly.
Horack let out a questioning mindwave, but Gilrack didn't answer. The deeper they'd gotten into the tunnel the higher the hairs on his tail rose. He wanted to be able to hear should someone approach.
"Later," he told his brother.
Horack flicked his ears in understanding and looked about as well.
Gilrack let his mind linger on what he'd tell his brother when they got to said 'later.' About the suffering he'd gone through trying to quell his instincts to get along with the divine beings, about the aggression of the dead-eyed male, or about Jolene's experience of being unwanted and ugly. If he sent his young back to the divine beings, who rejected even their own when born looking slightly different, who's to say what would happen to them? Would his daughters come to hate their beautiful legs and lavender skin? Would his son try to chop off his own tail like an attention hungry female? Or worse, would the divine beings kill them outright?
It had been a worry in his mind when Jolene had told him some of the history of her people.
Yes, his people did pay attention to each other's looks. There were traits they looked for in a mate that made some more desirable than others and your coloring told your lineage. Some were even born malformed and lacking. But that would be no reason to fear or hate. It could only be the actions that call for that, and it didn't make sense to Gilrack to kill someone because of how they looked or by what family they were from. Perhaps he needed to speak with his parents about this, who had lived long enough to see war, unlike Gilrack.
The divine beings were supposed to be people of reason, not instinct. Could it be that their instinct just showed in a different way?
After living and working together with his Jolene and watching her react on unknown rules, Gilrack had a feeling that was the case.
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In case you didn't know, I am not a sensitive noob when it comes to writing criticism. How to handle criticism and, more importantly, how to use it is something they teach you in college as well as something you figure out when you're studying writing. So, if you lot have anything to point out, such as plot holes or 'this loser's character makes no sense, destroy him,' please let me know. I appreciate your feedback.