"Are you insane??" Mitya's voice was hoarse with disbelief as he stared at where the raptor had led him. The tiny kit was nestled in between the bird's huge wings and seemed to have slept most of the trip. The grasses had quickly grown fewer and fewer until the came to a place where only a shrub here and there dotted the drying earth before them. Farther out, the land was even more cracked and dry, leading out to sands no doubt. The crazed bird had brought them to a desert, with the intention of leaving a kit out here with some stranger."I've wondered that before, but no, I don't think so." Mitya's gaze snapped from the landscape to his "guide" and he continued to blink dumbly.
"We can't leave it here. How in the gods' names will it survive?"
"I told you, it'll be taken care of."
"By your friend. What in the gods' names is he even doing in a place like this? Is he out of his mind?"
Hermes looked off, a lance of pain burying in his heart. Yes, one could easily say that Styxx was insane. To live out here in this wasteland, on purpose... Even the leopard, Hermes couldn't remember his name, even he lived in an oasis at least. Styxx didn't even do that. Since they'd found him, Tari had asked Hermes to keep an eye on her son from time to time. He'd been doing just that when the leopard had revealed who Styxx's mother really was. The pain his goddess had gone through echoed within him. The guilt she felt, he felt. Not just because she was in pain and he'd always been sympathetic, but it had hurt him, too, to see what had been done to Styxx.
That the young lion seemed to at least have some measure of control over his life now made Hermes just a little bit proud. And perhaps even a little relieved.
"No, he's not insane, he just likes the solitude," Hermes finally sighed with a shake of his head and moved towards one of the ragged scrubs. He turned his head to see the hare had followed him.
"Sounds crazy to me," he said, but Hermes ignored the mumbled comment. He reached back, carefully lifted the kit off of his back, and set it among the branches. Its eyes blinked opened for a moment, closed again when he gave it a small smile.
"Keep your thoughts to yourself or I'll reconsider my decision not to eat you," the raptor snapped, his beak clacking in annoyance. Mitya took a step, maybe two, back away from the irritated bird. He wasn't sure how serious the other male was.
"Okay, okay. I just... I don't want to damn it, you know?" There was a quiet moment as both seemed to consider the statement. Mitya really did feel the cold dread run down his spine when the huge bird finally turned his attention back on him. There didn't even need to be a hungry look on the raptor's face for him to want to run.
"I understand. It'll be fine. I know this place looks bad, but... It'll be safe here, I swear." Somehow he managed to meet the bird eye to eye and hold it. He stared death in the face, all for a kit he didn't have to care about."Fine." There was nothing more to be said.
"Hide yourself, then. And don't overact, I'm not going to hurt it."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that..." Mitya replied, but moved away to another bush anyway. A thicker one where he'd be hidden.
Hermes turned back to the bush and moved the branches aside.
"Little one?" The baby hare looked up at him with wide brown eyes. "Are you afraid of me?"
The poor thing shook its head slowly after a moment's hesitation.
"You kee'me safe," it, she whispered, and Hermes smiled. Sweet little thing.
"I might poke at the bush, you don't have to be afraid." She nodded and he leaned down, rubbing the side of his beak against her cheek. "That's a good girl. I'll be right back."
Styxx yawned and rolled his shoulders. It was hot under the sun, but it was worth it. His head was feeling clearer than it had in... well, a while. Much of it made sense now. The visions, his differences, everything. He had someone who cared about him, deeply, he had family somewhere.
Still, he didn't feel like going home just yet.
He glanced up at the sky, judging how much time he had before night fell. Hunting would be difficult until then. Unless... In the sky, something caught his eye, a large bird circling above- It suddenly dove down and didn't rise back up over the hill it had disappeared behind. Scavenging wasn't really his thing, but if he'd learned anything as a cub, it was to take any and every opportunity presented.
He loped over the dune and saw in the distance the bird was pecking into a dry bush. There had to be something in there for it to go after so determinedly. It didn't take long for him to eat the distance across the hard earth. The raptor must have heard him coming, for it took off before he got there.
Styxx padded up to the hearty plant and pushed his bad paw against the branches, peering down. A small black ball of fur was curled up among the branches, safe for the moment. It uncurled a little and huge brown eyes looked up at him from under lopsided ears. A baby hare. s**t.
He glanced around before looking back down."Are you... Where are your mama and papa?" Styxx asked. The kit just stared at him and shook its head. Double-s**t. If he left it here, something else would just come along and eat it. Or worse, it would starve to death. Having known the pains of starvation all too well, he couldn't leave it to that.
"I won't hurt you. Come on out and we'll get you something to eat and drink." He wasn't exactly sure where, since it was still a ways into better lands, but he'd find something. It seemed to hesitate for a moment before it slowly crawled onto his paw. It was an effort keeping it there since he couldn't really curl his toes around it, but he managed to somehow get the kit out of the bush.
He set the kit down on the ground and put his good paw to his maw with the intent of drawing down the cloth that he covered his nose with. But wind to his shoulder and a twinge he'd been ignoring finally turned his attention away from the hare. A cloud had settled in the distance, and not a good sun-blocking one, either. They needed to find shelter. Now.
"Don't be afraid." The words rushed out of him as he bent down, grabbed the kit as best he could in his maw to carry it, and took off at as fast a pace as he could manage towards rocky outcroppings that he remembered not too far from here. Hopefully they'd reach them before the storm did.
Mitya watched as the lion, gods a lion? made off with the baby hare. Had he really done the right thing, trusting two predators? But then, the lion hadn't immediately gobbled up the kit, hadn't even looked like he was intending to eat it. Maybe the bird had been right.
There was a flutter and a thump and he turned to see the bird had landed beside him.
"Satisfied?" Mitya couldn't stop the small nod.
"Best I can be," he replied with a shrug.
"Good," the bird said and spread his wings again. "You should probably run, too. I've heard sandstorms can be vicious."
Mitya's eyes went wide as the raptor took off. That's what that cloud was?? He turned back the way the bird had brought him from and took off at a fast as his legs could take him.
(WC: 1,351)