Fallen Tree Cove cut deeper than a knife

Backdated to 6/2, two days after this thread.

Chan had proven for the umpteenth time in his life to be lucky as hell. The fall itself, the blood loss, the time left vulnerable all could have killed, and instead he was still here, recuperating from relatively mild injuries within the pack's infirmary. Some deep bruising, a fractured forelimb and a few broken ribs were all he would have to live with; temporary ailments to what could have been a permanent impact. That wasn't to say he was not in pain, however; the bites from the coyotes were like bee stings compared to the soreness that plagued his body now. @Kajika had taken good care of him, but there was only so much that herbs and salves could do for him.

Still, his mood was not so dour as it might have been. He was thankful to be alive, to be with his pack, to have his parents and godfather to care for him. The only thing to really be sad about was the time he was missing with his new siblings; they were growing so fast, it was certain that he would miss something. Such was life, however.

He attempted to lay on his side, the one which he had not landed upon, and stretch out his limbs best he could. The injured one gave him some strife, and he couldn't fully pull the angle out of it. A heavy sigh escaped his lungs. More than anything? He was bored.

Patience would one day be Roland's forte, as he was being forced so often to exhibit it, often beyond what he thought to be his capacity for it. He had hoped the fall would kill his rival, but plan B wasn't so horrible. It could still all work out, but oh how it fucking burned him up to watch them all coddle poor injured Chan. He feigned care himself, pretended to be a concerned friend, to feel bad about what had happened, guilty that he'd ever asked Chan to check out the nest with him in the first place. No one suspected him, as far as he could tell, certainly not the victim himself; he conveniently couldn't remember the moments leading up to his plummet. Anyways, the teen was so stupidly naive Roland probably could have convinced him he tripped even if he'd watched the other boy push him.

No, the worry was if they'd ever leave Chan alone, or if he just sealed his fate completely by giving the pack the scare of their lives. Maybe they would just baby him til the end of their days now, too afraid to take their eyes off him lest they lose their precious baby boy.

Then the moment finally came. Roland slipped into the infirmary, head down and yellow eyes glowing. Not another soul was around them, not within earshot and certainly not within sight.

"How you feelin', buddy?"

His voice did not carry kindness.

Chan had been hoping for a visitor, unable to stave off the boredom by himself, and was rewarded with his age-mate Roland. Chan twisted his neck without lifting his head, looking at the other teen nearly upside down and greeting him with a toothy smile. Perhaps it was this distorted view that caused him to miss the menacing look in the other's eyes, but he did pick up on the change in his voice.

"Been better. You okay? You sound down."

He'd already forgiven Roland several times over, didn't feel like the kid was to blame at all. From what he could remember and what Ro had told him, it had been his own dumb fault for thinking he could balance that far out while pissing off an eagle of all birds. He rolled back onto his stomach, despite the pain it brought him, to give his friend his full attention. What would he have to do to help the other wolf with his self-prescribed guilt?

Roland couldn't help but scowl. The mask was gone and still Chan was fooled; rather than concern for himself he was worried about the Whitebark youth, who was intact and unhurt and clearly had the upper paw. It was fucking irritating. Just another reason why the boy had to leave completely. He was too much of a damned golden child, all simple and shallow while Roland possessed complexity and depth that wasn't always so appealing on the surface like Chan's innocence.

"More so annoyed than anything," he answered as he drew closer, predatory in his movements.

"You keep complicating everything, and its really starting to piss me off."

With Roland's sneering words, the truth began to finally dawn upon Chan, slowly but surely. His brows drew together and his muscles tensed, prepared to stand and move away from the other boy if need be. He was not yet able to fathom all that the orphan was up to, much less the crime he'd already committed, but he could now recognize something dangerous in his dripping voice and glinting eyes.

"What are you talking about?" he asked steadily, a frown cutting deeply into his muzzle. Who was this stranger with Roland's face? Chan had never seen so much as a glimmer of this wolf before within the bastard child's features.

(This post was last modified: Jun 09, 2018, 09:26 AM by Chan.)

There he was, finally piecing it together, but still all too slowly for Roland's taste. That patience that he had been cultivating had run out completely, the last few drops now gone and leaving the glass bone-dry. His perceptive gaze recognize that Chan was ready to bolt, and so he acted first. A heavy paw slammed down on the other boy's injured limb, and he felt the fractured bone roll and give beneath his pads. It gave him sick enjoyment as he pressed harder, putting all of his weight on the leg and causing Moonshadow's son to cry out in pain.

"I want you fucking gone, okay? That's what I'm talking about, you precious little shit. You left, and I took your place. There's no room now just because you've decided to waltz back in like nothing happened, like you didn't fucking break their hearts on a damned whim because golden Chan wanted a grand adventure."

At this point, it was all or nothing, and so Roland played every card he had short of slaughtering the kid right then and there. He felt Chan gathering his strength and so gave a twist, grinding his paw down upon the fractured bone, breaking it further.

"I sat with your mom and comforted her while she cried, worried sick over you. Missing her husband while he risked his life to go out and find you. She thought she was going to lose it all but I was there for her. You think you deserve to just slip back in after you did that to her? To not be punished for your bullshit? Not happening."

Chan wanted to be tough, to fight back, to get into Roland's face and shout him down but the more pressure was applied to his injured leg, the more pain surged up through the limb and weakened the rest of him. At first he gasped, and then he wailed, unable to take the torture. Tears sprung to his eyes, and a part of him hated himself for it. His father wouldn't have cried.

Then came the verbal barrage, at first all raving nonsense but then, it started to make sense. Roland was insane, he could see that clear as day now, but damned if he didn't have a point. Chan had hurt the wolves he loved, and with no good reason. He hadn't done it on purpose, hadn't realized the impact his choices would have, but did that really excuse them? Did he truly deserve the unconditional forgiveness the pack had gifted him with?

"Get off!" he demanded shrilly, attempting to pull his limb out from under Roland's paw. A mistake for sure. He only caused himself more pain, and his voice wavered further. He could have struck back, bit and snapped, but it simply didn't occur to him; he was far too kind to want to hurt the boy even as he tormented him.

"Why should I go? Why shouldn't I make it up to them instead?" he tried to reason, mismatched eyes looking up into the merciless depths of Roland's twin suns.

The other boy was breaking easily, all attempts at fighting back just as pitiful as was expected. Roland would have grinned if he didn't still have a good deal of frustration to take out on his age-mate. He did, however, ease up on the broken limb, allowing his words to deliver the final blows.

"Because you don't. Deserve. That chance," he spoke in a voice as hard as ebony. Just buckle, he wanted to say. Make this easier for us all. He wouldn't be so kind, however, as to try and reason with the snot-nosed whelp.

"I'll do what I have to to protect her from you. If you try to stay, I will raise hell itself, and everything I do to chase you out will be on your shoulders."

Even Chan couldn't be so thick as not to see that by pissing off Roland, he would just bring more pain to everyone he loved, not only himself. Because Roland would scorch the whole god damned earth to get his way. After all, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Your parents aren't the only ones that'll be protected, you know. You want your adorable little brother and sister to make it, don't you?"

Chan felt the other teen ease up, and he might have made a run for it then, had Roland's next set of words not frozen his blood solid. For once, the boy was persuaded to look at the darker intentions behind another's words, and he was horrified by what he saw. He didn't want to believe it, but could he risk not to? If Roland really was willing to kill his siblings...

"Yes. Yes."

He wanted all of it to stop, the pain and the accusations and the threats. He wanted his parents or Kajika or any of the adults to walk in and see what was being done to him, to stop it and protect him, protect them all from the monster Roland had turned out to be. A distant memory flickered back to life within the projector of his mind, playing the dark woman's voice as she warned him, 'there's nasty people out here, people who'd wanna hurt you if they got the chance. So you be smart and don't give them that chance.'

Too late.

Finally. His anger at last began to ebb as the boy gave in, allowing a cruel smile to curl his grey lips. A sense of triumph swelled within his chest, but he wouldn't get heady with it. In a pointed motion, he lifted his paw, releasing Chan's injured limb which the teen immediately began to cradle, a sob escaping him.

"I'm a fair guy. I'll let you heal up. But soon as you can walk, you better high-tail it out of here. We won't have this conversation again, got it?"

He felt confident that Chan would do as told; the boy was pathetic, spineless. Would rather play nice than fight back. Still, he was already prepared for what would have to be done if the prodigal son was stupid enough to decide to stay returned.

Enough time had been spent there, and when Chan had nothing left to say, only crying quietly with his eyes downcast, Roland slipped away, his departure unnoticed as his arrival had been.

(This post was last modified: Dec 01, 2023, 04:28 AM by Chan.)