I should'a listened to my mother.Mitya set his tiny burden down and glanced around himself, ears standing high. Hell, he never should have left his dear, loving mother. She would have known exactly what to do in this situation. She was the one with parenting experience, after all. Of course, with how he'd grown up... Nah, she wasn't at fault for him being a certified idiot, that was all a fault of his own making. At least he was smart enough to realize and accept this sad fact.
Well, mostly accept.
Back to his current dilemma, it wouldn't have been an issue if he'd stayed with his mother. It wasn't like this kit was his, it'd just been shoved onto him when the hunted doe begged him and gave her life to keep the wild dog from finding him or her baby. He wouldn't have even been in this area at all.
Mitya looked back down at the shivering ball of fluff and his heart ached. He felt sorry for the little thing, but he'd feel even more sorry if he was the only chance it had to live. The gods knew he had a time of it keeping his own fur in the clear half the time.
"It's okay, we'll find you a new mama and it'll be all better. You'll see," he said, trying to get the kit to stop shaking like that. They had just been through an ordeal, but it wasn't like they couldn't get through it. And surely it wasn't afraid of him, right? It wasn't like he could hurt it.
Brown eyes that reminded him of his mother's looked up at him, wide and full of tears.
"Hey now," Mitya tried his best to sound soothing when he knew he was making a complete bungle of this. He crouched back down and put one paw on the kit's back. It flinched and he drew his paw away for a moment, before thinking better of it and returning it to the near-black fur. His paw rubbed in a slow, stroking motion down the baby hare's back. "Come on, no tears now. I can never figure out what to do with tears. Keep your chin up, everything will be okay, I promise."
If listening to his mother had been on the (probably LONG) list of things Mitya should learn to do, keeping his mouth shut was most definitely there as well. The kit cringed lower to the ground as a shadow tore away all traces of the sun from his back. Mitya turned in time to see a giant bird land not even a full hop away, the hooked beak and talons telling the unlucky hare exactly what kind of bird this was.
Damn this day, there was nothing he could do. The grasses were too flat here and he had no idea if there were any safe holes to hide in. Besides, there was no way he could outrun this bird and carry the kit.
And coward he may be, Mitya wasn't about to leave this baby to a raptor, not when its mother had just so recently sacrificed her life for it.
Mustering his courage and puffing out his chest, Mitya stood to his full height and spread his paws wide, placing himself between the bird and the kit. The raptor's long neck craned a bit, no doubt to see what was behind him.
"Yours?"
"Does it matter?"
"Mmm, not particularly. Suppose I was just curious," the raptor replied, his tone far too relaxed for the current situation.
"No, its mother asked me to keep it safe, then gave her life so we could get away. I was going to find it a new mother." And here he was, about to let both of them get eaten by a bird of prey. Why he elaborated on what he had been planning to do with the kit, he had no idea. Maybe he was trying to appeal to some level of compassion in the bird. Perhaps if he leveled the guilt on hard enough, the raptor would let them live.
The bird bent down slightly, studying him. If he thought it would have done any good, Mitya might have fallen back and kicked the predator square in the beak. But he didn't think it would save them.
"I know someone who could take care of it." The words were completely unexpected. So much so, that Mitya wasn't even sure he'd heard correctly.
"Pardon?"
"He's another predator, but he makes a rule not to eat hares. Not really sure why. It'd be far more protected in his care than another hare's."
"I-... It needs a mother!" Mitya exclaimed in disbelief, his paws falling to his sides. He couldn't believe this. He, they weren't going to be eaten? And this raptor was even suggesting someone to raise the kit? And another predator to say the least?? This was a picture out of an insane beast's mind!
"Do you know any female hares around here?"
"... No... But I'm sure I could find one."
"Suit yourself," the bird replied and tucked his wings against his sides. It was a superior, haughty gesture and it raised Mitya's ire a few degrees. "Can't say I didn't make the offer of a safe, good home."
Mitya glanced over his shoulder at the kit, his resistance faltering. Would it be safer with a predator? That seemed a pretty good protection. But wouldn't it be happier with hares? It looked up with those wide eyes again and tilted its head. It looked like a shrug, as if the kit didn't know or perhaps even care what was best for it. He sighed and turned back to the bird.
"Is your friend far from here?"
"Not really. It'd be easier if I flew it, though." "I'm not leaving you alone with it," the hare snapped back and Hermes chuckled. This male had pluck for a hare, he'd have to give him that. Very well, then, if that's what the boy wanted to do, Hermes had no qualms about walking. He just hoped the two of them could keep up.
"No feathers off my back," he replied with a shrug and started heading towards the thinning grasses, the hares, and an ever-watchful goddess, following close behind.
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