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 Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:10 pm
 Lucius padded among the trees and occasional cave, his features gaunt and signs of starvation clear from his scraggly fur and protruding ribs. He and his twin brother, Lucifer, had gotten lost in the large forest days ago, and no matter how hard they tried, they had been unable to catch anything to eat ever since they entered the accursed place. Many of the prey they went after were capable of climbing trees, but they were not. They could barely walk straight, and they knew that, soon, they wouldn’t have enough energy to even attempt hunting, as they were doing now. Even the explosive amounts of enraged energy he often felt at thoughts of his abusive, violent father were feeble.
“We’ll get something soon,” he said reassuringly, turning to his brother and giving him an encouraging nuzzle. He felt desperate, not for himself, but for Lucifer, who was smaller and looked even more haggard than him. There were times, many times, when Lucius had to stop in the middle of chasing a potential meal to return to his brother, who had fallen or slowed from fatigue and hunger. Each time, he was consoled to see Lucifer rise again to his paws, but it was little comfort, for the main problem still remained: lack of food.
“Where should we search next?” he asked, his voice quiet for fear of alerting others of their presence. His question was, in truth, two questions: where should we look for food and the exit? At first, they had come into the forest to explore. Once they realized it was hard to sustain themselves in this strange place, they had spent the first day or so looking for the way out, but to no avail. They were still new to the outside, having only recently left their father’s grasp who kept them in a cave most of the time to conceal the world from them and them from the world, and as a result, it had never occurred to them to memorize how they had got in. And now they were stuck here. Eventually, they decided they would hunt, and hopefully land upon the exit while doing so. If not, then they could resume their search after eating. But that plan wasn’t working, and they had nothing else to rely on.
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:36 pm
 Lucifer padded along after Lucius, his eyes on the ground the majority of the time. For some reason unknown to him he had this amazing ability to trip over the forest floor even when nothing was protruding in his path. Roots that jutted about in their path only made it worse because they caused both visible and non-visible injuries. Maybe it was the fatigue and their general starvation, or maybe it was because of their father that brought about all this clumsiness. Not wanting to think about those thoughts at a time like this he shook his head, only to find himself more light-headed because of it. He was relatively good at holding all complaints and whimpers to himself because he knew that Lucius was already doing as best he could. As best he could for the both of them... It was unspoken, but Lucifer was sure that they both realized that he was hindering them on their quest for food more that he was helping.
Every time Lucius came close to a potential meal Lucifer'd just managed to screw up in some way to make his brother stop in his tracks and come back to help him. He let out a small, almost inaudible whimper as he stepped on a particularly sharp rock in their path. Not want to cause them to take yet another pause he bit his lower lip solemnly to not let out another cry. Hopefully Lucius didn't hear the first one in the first place. Pausing behind his brother he looked down at his paw pads, only to be dismayed as he discovered the cracked and bloody mess before him. So that's what tough rock did to untrained paw pads... Sucking it up he walked a little faster to catch up to his brother, making a mental note to avoid putting much more pressure on that paw in particular.
Lucifer blinked and looked around after the question was asked, asking his own silent one, 'W-Where haven't we looked in this forest?' The foliage in the forest all looked the same, and after a while it seemed like they were just padding in circles except... They probably weren't. "I-I don't know...", he whimpered quietly, catching on to why his brother would whisper the question in the first place.
The forest was like an endless maze, and sometimes, it wasn't always just three that'd make a crowd. Two could be one too many in some situations as well. As much as the idea horrified him, Lucifer knew that splitting up would be their best course of action at the moment. If they wanted to survive of course. With that exact mindset in mind he abruptly stopped walking and began to speak. With his head down, staring at the ground below him, his ears flat upon his skull, and his tail tucked between his hind-legs he began. "B-brother?", he whispered at first, before gaining the courage to continue. "I... I-I think we should split up!", he said, a little louder than before, but still not loud enough to start a ruckus. "I-I mean we really aren't getting anywhere with the both of us trying to hunt together like this and covering more ground would be...", and with that he trailed off, unsure of where to take the words next.
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:10 pm
Under normal circumstances, nothing Lucifer did escaped Lucius’ notice. The small whimper his brother made would have been a conspicuous sound in his ears, were they not weakened with hunger and straining up for signs of the little tree-dwellers. He and his brother had attempted to wait out their prey, but it caused a stiffness in their joints, and while it was manageable to him, his brother cried out in pain before any prey had dared to venture far enough to be a successful catch. He knew there was a slim chance to continue hunting that way unless they happened to be extremely lucky, but it was evident that their constrained living prior to this had made them much slower than the average creature, even when they had their strength, and it was extremely difficult to attempt it. But attempt it they did, along with their slow chases, and they had alwyas failed. But some chance was better than none at all.
He stopped immediately when his brother called, worry clear on his face. He trotted over to him quickly on his own bruised paws, looking over his small frame quickly. “What’s wrong?” he asked when he had been unable to find any new wounds.
When his brother spoke again, Lucius was so surprised that, at first, he was sure hunger was making him hallucinate. He tensed, ears flat, trying to shake it off, but it was obvious from his brother’s expression that he had said the words, the words none of them had ever wanted to hear. “But…” he started, trying to convince him otherwise. He knew it would be easy to do so – none of them had ever left the other, and they were always within watching distance. Ever since they had been born, they had never split. Sibling rivalries and bickering were foreign to them. They had been forced together, and kept that way, by their father’s wrath.
But he knew what his brother was trying to say. He felt it was his duty to stay with, and protect Lucifer. But that meant absolutely nothing when they were dead. There was no use for duty or promise or love if you were dead, and he feared the death of his brother more than he feared anything else in the world, and at this rate, death was indeed close. It was such a horrifying thought that it had never occurred to him until now – not when his father had beaten the small blue-black male until it seemed he was made of blood and bruises and wounds, instead of fur and flesh and warmth; not when they had stumbled into a river recently after their escape and almost met their ends as they were rushed towards a jutting rock; not even when they had come face to face with a large, intimidating stranger mad with a disease that made him foam at the mouth and scream garbled nonsense. Only now, when they had been stuck with the slow, clawing pain of hunger for days and days on end did it finally occur to him that death was a real possibility. And it was not a sudden death, where they couldn’t even comprehend what had happened. It would be a slow, agonizing one. If he didn’t get them any food soon, he knew it would be his fault, for it had been he who convinced his brother to leave their father and he who had been unable to save him from the numerous scars that decorated his back. And he knew having his brother die of starvation might as well be sentencing him to a torturous death by his own paws.
“We can—” he said, trying to suggest – no, plead – that the two stay together for just a bit longer, but his nose caught the sharp, metallic scent of blood, and he knew his brother had hurt his paw and would only trip that much more. He was at a loss, and he could only stare helplessly at the paw rimmed with a dulling red. His eyes traveled up, towards his brother’s face, and he recalled that he was the elder brother, the only one his brother depended on, and the only one who could help him now.
“Stay close to this spot,” he said, making an imprint with his claws in the dirt and stuffing it with rocks to make sure it held. His voice was a deep growl, almost threatening, but in truth it was the opposite. It pained him to say it, to agree to the idea that they should part ways, and his teeth were clenched tight as a result, making his voice a strange rumbling sound. “Don’t forget. We’ll meet up in an hour, when the sun is directly above us. Okay?” He leaned down, nosing Lucifer's injured paw and licking it quickly with his warm, dry tongue. And then he turned away, to spare his brother from being the first to do so. "Here. In an hour!" he repeated, before running off.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:07 am
Lucifer nodded as Lucius hadn't given him much of a chance to speak up at that point. One hour. That had to be enough for both of them to at least get somewhere with the food hunting. If meat didn't work they could always hunt for berries. In a forest this big there definitely had to be berries about. He stayed rooted to the spot as the last of Lucius's black and green pelt disappeared into the forest. He suddenly felt very cold the moment his brother left his field of vision. Never, in their whole lives had they ever been separated, not once. This was new to him, throughout everything in their lives he'd always had his brother, but now not even he was with him. This feeling of isolation... Fighting back tears - as it was his idea after all - he too turned and padded on deeper into the forest.
Five minutes passed and still, Lucifer had had no luck what-so-ever. Hopefully Lucius was doing better off than him, he hadn't even caught a trace of prey! He happened to notice the sky then. It wasn't its typical sky blue with white white clouds speckling about it. No, it was a darker blue with gray thunder clouds. This definitely wasn't a good sign, even he knew that this meant rain was soon approaching.
Green, green, green... It was all green. Everywhere he looked, it was like an endless maze in a sense. He'd ignored the ominous clouds for the time being as the priority now was to find food. It was the sole reason they'd split up after all. Lucifer sighed and was about to turn in another direction before he spotted a small tree with bright red dots spotted across various areas. Apples.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:00 pm
Lucius felt a strong stab of pain when he turned away, but he knew he had to be strong for his brother. So he continued to run, the weight of his responsibility keeping him going despite his pain and fatigue. He tripped over roots and rocks, and his paws were swollen by the time he stopped, be he didn’t look back even once until he had managed to catch his breath. And when he did, he was surprised to see his brother wasn’t there, but what else was he supposed to expect? He knew he had gone too far and too fast for his weaker brother to follow.
He had ended up in a deeper part of the forest, where even the sky was blocked from view. He felt a small tingling as the air above cracked, but the trees prevented the sound from reaching his ears, and the small trill of static he felt was disregarded as a side-effect of his state. He had seen and felt storms before, but always in the safety of his former home and prison. He had never quite learned how to sense storms, else he’d never have left his brother’s side, but even if much more obvious signs of what was to come were presented to him, he would not have noticed, for his full attention was on hunting, and hunting alone.
His attempts at hunting with brute strength were also signs of his inexperience. A fox was meant for stealth and speed, not displays of power. His previous confinement with its limited moving space had stunted his dexterity and agility, but keeping himself low and hidden shouldn’t have been such a problem. After all, he and Lucifer had practiced numerous times in order to avoid their father’s punishment. Unfortunately, he had never seen another hunt, and assumed that covertness was used only for hiding against a foe you had no wish to fight or, as he had done before, to wait for prey to come closer. It had yet to occur to him that he could stalk up to prey, and pounce when he was so close it was but a leap away, instead of revealing his location as soon as he could to try and chase it down.
Despite these disabilities, he had gotten lucky. The storm, although he was still unaware of it, was a large one, and it disoriented a rabbit so much it ran straight towards him. By the time it had realized its mistake, it was too late. With a dash quickened by starvation and a surge of adrenaline, Lucius was upon it. It gave a wild fight, kicking this way and that and hurting poor Lucius who had never been in a real hunt his whole life. He was able to hold his grip only because his fangs, although small, managed to puncture the rabbit’s skin. The taste of warm blood filled his mouth, and before he was even aware of it, he was eating the rabbit alive. Rarely did he or his brother receive warm food, much less a fresh one, and the rabbit was the best thing he had ever tasted. Even if it was cold and had started to rot, he knew it would still be delicious.
He realized his mistake when the rabbit suddenly stilled and stiffened with death. He dropped his prey, whose neck had been partially chewed off by that point, and licked the blood on his muzzle longingly. But his brother was his first priority, not himself, and the obvious sign that the rabbit had been partially devoured could help. He wanted to give it all to his brother, even though he knew Lucifer would object, and he could claim he had already eaten and had his fill. It wouldn’t be a complete lie, but one he would insist on, if only to strengthen Lucifer a little.
And his luck didn’t end there. As he dragged the large rabbit back to the meeting spot, he found a bush full of berries and stumbled upon the nest under it, as well, whose mother had been killed only a few hours before. After a few experimental tries, he knew it would be impossible to take it all to his brother, and his experience with the forest the last few days made him wary to leave things be. If he left now, how would he know it would remain safe until he could return with his brother? There was no way he could know for certain, and he wasn’t about to waste any morsel after what he and his brother had just gone through. So he tasted both the berries (by another stroke of luck, the berries weren’t poisonous, for he knew of no such thing and showed little caution) and an egg. Although they did wonders for his stomach, they weren’t quite as filling as the rabbit, and he decided he would save the rabbit for Lucifer. He ate all the bush and nest had to offer, with the rabbit tucked protectively behind a foreleg, and although he was not fully sated when the food ran out, he was well pleased. The food drove out most of his pain and exhaustion, and hunger no longer clawed at him.
It was then that he noticed how dull the light filtering through the leaves were. Surely he couldn’t have been that fast. A quick glance overhead did little to ease his troubles. He could barely see between the large trees, so he picked up the rabbit and continued on his way to the meeting spot where the trees thinned. Along the way, something flashed past his vision and landed on the rabbit. He looked up, furious at whatever had decided to soil his prey, but instead of seeing a bird, he saw nothing but the darkened clouds of a storm. Another drop fell, hitting him square on the nose, and it wasn’t long until many more followed. Panic filled him, and he hurried towards the gouged earth and its encrusted stones, his jaws clenched tight against the folds of flesh and fur of the rabbit and his eyes darting for signs of his brother.
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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 2:37 am
Lucifer's forced cheerful expression as he left his brother faded away immediately once his brother was out of sight. They'd never been apart before, and with this being the very first time, the feeling of loneliness clawed at his stomach. But this was his idea, so he couldn't break this easily. Lucius would only be worried if Lucifer returned to their meeting place with red eyes. His brother definitely didn't need more unnecessary stress added on to his current stress level. It wouldn't be good for him.
Refocusing on the apples, Luficer tried to ponder every plausible way to get the apples down from the tree. There was always ramming it, but he'd never been quite physically strong, and with his ever weakened state ramming the tree would only bring more injuries upon himself and more reasons for Lucius to worry. Ramming the tree was definitely not the solution to this problem.
But if he didn't ram the tree, the only way would be to climb it. When was the last time he tried to climb something though? When was the last time he actually succeeded in doing so? Here he was, just an inexperienced fox with a whole mountain of food in front of him, just out of his reach. He tried to think of what Lucies would do at a time like this, but he had already known the answer. This wouldn't be a problem for Lucius. Even in their weakened states Lucifer was sure that Lucius could clear the tree without breaking a sweat so that was what he'd have to do.
Taking a deep breath Lucifer prepared himself before springing off the ground, and clawing his way up the tree. Between being naturally small, and starving himself he was rather small, and with lighter weight the force of gravity acting upon him was easier to handle. But no matter how much he weighed falling down would still lead to critical injuries.
Despite all the negative thoughts along the way climbing up the tree hadn't been as bad as he'd anticipated. When he made it up the apples he tried his best to swat down as many of them as he could. All of them crashed into the ground with quiet thuds, and he only hoped that the apples were merely bruised. They'd be easier to handle that way.
With a pile of seven apples below him Lucifer concluded that it was enough, he wasn't even sure if he could carry that many of them back. But those problems aside there was always the trip down. The tree had seemed a lot smaller from underneath, but one couldn't understand its tallness until they'd reached the top. It was a scary prospect, but he still headed down. Careful with his climbing he waited until each foot had firm purchase before settling his weight on it. It wasn't long before he was about three feet from the ground. Things were going just as smoothly as he'd hoped, but then, with one miscalculated step he fell.
The fall had been bad. Worse than bad, it was terrible. He was positive he'd broken a bone even before he heard the sickening crunch in his right foreleg. Even before he saw the small puddle of scarlet blood forming underneath him. He knew the moment he made contact. Against his will his eyes watered involuntarily and before long there were small splats of salty tear water underneath his face. What was odd though, was the fact that soon there were more splats on the ground, but not from his tears. Before long the rain splattered from above. Slowly Lucifer looked up to see thunder clouds above him, above the whole forest. A thunder storm was beginning.
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:00 pm
Lucius sat at their appointed meeting space, his ears taut and straining for any signs of his brother. Lucifer was only late, he told himself, and that he was only being paranoid. He repeated it over and over in his head, like a mantra, and he almost believed it. Certainly, his brother was the type to lose his way, despite his efforts. But that didn’t stop the fear from leaking into him, making his heart hammer, or the great regret that settled on his shoulders. His tail twitched with worry and impatience, and the rabbit was still clamped in his jaws. He still expected his brother to come, any moment now.
But should it have taken so long? The rain was getting stronger, and although it had started off weak and small, especially with all the leaves above him, it didn’t stay that way. He was loathe to leave his spot (what if his brother came while he was gone, he asked himself. What if he thought it wasn’t the right place and just wandered off before he could get back?) but just as loathe to stay. He felt a desperate desire to go out and look for Lucifer, for certainly it would be more fruitful than just standing around, but his hope that Lucifer would come (and soon), still remained.
When the rain was so hard he could barely see, he knew that waiting would be hopeless. He was cold and stiff from standing (wishing to please his brother by offering him an at least somewhat warm meal, he had decided to stand over the rabbit to protect it from the rain), and he stumbled and shivered furiously with his first steps. Eventually, however, he got used to his gait, and when he wasn’t going around looking for signs of his brother, he was calling his name, the rabbit pressed securely between his forepaws. Even if the rabbit was tattered by the end of this, it would be better than nothing at all, and so he lugged it around, despite the weight from its soggy fur and the soreness from his jaws.
He knew his small scrape and stones in the floor would be lost in the rain. Still, he kept its location in his mind’s eye, using it as a central point for his search. There was a possibility – no, a certainty – that something had happened to his brother on his way to or from their agreed meeting point, and so what better way to search than to go around it, distancing himself from it with each full circle?
It was a good idea, but not when he considered other factors. The rain was heavy, and his soaked fur did little to defend him from its stabbing drops. He was freezing, and the thought of him dying from hypothermia and being unable to help his brother (especially when it was right after he had thought he had solved their hunger problems, at least for the moment) frightened him. He was all that was left to protect his brother. If he was gone, no one else would be there to take the role.
However, the same thought compelled him to search even harder. But he had to be realistic: no one could be found in this weather. All that could be seen was the glint of rain, at most up to a few inches in front of him, and nothing but. He would have better luck finding a needle in a haystack than his brother in a forest while it was dark and raining furiously like this. In the end, and with great reluctance, he settled himself in one of the many caves scattered throughout the forest, shaking violently from the cold and falling into a fitful sleep.
‘After,’ was his last thought. ‘After the rain stops, I’ll find Lucifer. I definitely will.’
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:26 am
Despite the pain stabbing up his paw with every step Lucifer still managed to stand up and wander away from the tree slowly. He was right with his suspicions of not being able to take all the apples with him so he'd eaten one before settting off, and was now prodding three apples forward along with him. That'd be enough to satiate their hunger for at least a little while, wouldn't it? When you were starved enough your stomach would eventually reject the food so bringing too many wouldn't be the best plan all things considered; and with all the rain pounding him and the ground, the less weight the better.
Panic rose in him like a sick bile as he realized that he could no longer recognize the path to their meeting place. Was he hallucinating due to the pain? Was it the rain? He wasn't certain, but he at least realized one thing. Finding that spot would be near impossible, but then again... If he didn't look for the spot he wouldn't be able to find Lucius, and he didn't want to make his brother worry any further about him. He was already a burden as it was.
Without realizing it he had passed the meeting spot, the rain had washed away all scents and all markers making the spot seem like another spot in the forest. Fear crept up his spine as the rain didn't begin to show signs off giving way. All his calls to his brother had also been drowned out by the furious pounding of the rain. The first strike of thunder had him so scared that he nearly jumped out of his skin, and lost all the apples as it rang. Luckily for him though, his skin was still atop of him, and he still had all the apples, despite their bruises.
He hated to admit it, but he knew that continuing the search for his brother or their meeting place would be suicidal at this point. Not only was the condition of his paw worsening, but the day was slowly dying as well, giving way to the night. He shivered at the thought of being alone in the forest at night, so he concluded that he'd have to search for shelter. For the night at least. "Lucius!", he called out one more time, hoping for results, before padding off in the direction of what looked to be a small burrow. Due to his small size he'd been able to fit, and the apples were relatively safe, hidden under his tail. Tomorrow was another day, and with another day was another ray of hope that he'd find Lucius, and they'd be able to find a way to escape this treacherous forest together.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:40 pm
Lucius woke, blinking blearily and looking around, confused, for the familiar feel of warm fur pressed against him that was his brother. But it was nowhere to be found.
With a suddenness that startled him, he remembered the day's events, the hunger and the pain that caused the loss of his brother. He stood hurriedly, an unintentional whimper creeping from his lips at the soreness of his muscles and the stiffness of his joints. But he was still alive, and that was all that mattered.
The rabbit was where he had left it, albeit a tad ruffled and just as cold and stiff as he was but there nonetheless, and he forced his tired jaws to cling to the small leg. The only good thing about his fatigue was that he was too tired to even subconsiously start chewing on the meat.
The harsh rain from the night before had by that point turned into a light drizzle. His body was reluctant to return to the cold rain so soon, as light as it was, but he forced himself to continue. His paws were heavy with weariness and they dragged against the sloppy dirt, which in turn made the mud cling to his legs, and even the rabbit, weighing them down even more.
"Lucifer!" he called, his voice hoarse. A series of angry coughs racked through his body from the force of his yell, and he was certain he had caught something. But rest was out of the question, and always would be, so long as he was well enough to search for his brother. This wouldn't be a repeat of last night -- he had already lost too much time during the rain. Today, he would find his brother and save him, even if he had to kill himself to do it.
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