Atonement
By Misterebony
"Mommy, I'm hungry!" The little wolf cub pouted. He was terribly thin, as was his sister. Their mother, a rather sly wolf, was having some bad luck lately. Hunters were on the job to starve out or skin every wolf, so that the prey furs would multiply.
Damn hunters. The prey knew the reason was simply so their furs, more desireable in the Earth dimension, could be harvested en masse. And the predators knew that too. But it didn't help much. Any prey who was trying to find preds to feed was tracked and the preds they found were killed.
The mother wolf sobbed. Why were the hunters so cruel? What had they to gain from it? What had they to gain from killing unarmed fursons, who had come to this forest just to live a life back to the old ways of nature?
Then she remembered: Each fur is one less to them.
"I'll find food my children." She told her cubs, hugging them. She went out, crying. She knew if she failed her cubs would starve.
She was not about to let that happen.
************
Tommy had had enough. He saw furs being killed for no reason by his older brothers, and his parents saw that as a good thing for an ungodly reason. Worse, they hated it as much as he did, but when they expressed their detest, they vanished.
Damnit! He knew they did not vanish! It was like Darek's parents, the hunter who killed those involved in the Foresta Massacre: They were low down killers. Darek at least was able to vanish, along with those other furs.
But now the hunters are on the warpath, going to all these dimensions, establishing small footholds. They hunt awhile, then when rebellion appears they vanish, only to appear again at a later time. Well, TOmmy had it. He dropped his crossbow and removed the chain mail, and started to run.
The was running for the predator area, where he knew some wolves were. He would not give the satisfaction of death to his murdering parents.
He would let the predators decide how to do him in.
Sure enough, he saw a wolf not to far from him. It was a female grey wolf from the look of it, and she looked desperate.
Well, he thought, at least my death will have meaning.
With that he shouted and charged at her. She turned, like he knew she would. He kept running, wanting her to pounce him, to rip him apart.
But that did not happen. A bolt came out of the nearby woods, smashing into her leg. He turned and saw a hunter, smiling and laughing evilly.
"NO!" TOmmy screamed. He picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the hunter. His aim was better than he thought, as the stone hit the hunter firmly in the forehead. He collapsed, either unconscious or dead. TOmmy did not care. He looked to the wolf, who growled at him.
"You tricked me, you damn hunter. I should rip you apart." She bared her teeth. His tears started to flow, and he removed his shirt.
"Do it then! I've had enough of thisd killing!" He came close enough so she could reach him without worry, and bore his neck. She stared, confused.
"What... what are you doing?" She asked.
"Kill me!" He pleaded. "Kill me to avenge those I had to kill." His tears flowed and he collapsed to the forest floor. "Oh God, why was I cursed to be a murderer?!"
The wolf saw this and took pity on the boy, but remembered her cubs. If he wanted it so bad...
"Then come with me. Help me home. I will let you have your fate, but not by me. I have two hungry cubs in need of meat."
The boy nodded. He offered his shoulder for the wolf to lean on, his tears still falling. The wolf stroked his cheek.
"Don't cry. It will be alright now." She whispered. She saw into hs eyes and saw not trickery, but sorrow. He was no murderer. But he had killed furs before.
She knew what had to be done.
***************
Back at her den, the two cubs came over and cheered at the sight of the boy. He saw them and fell in love with the little cubs.
"These," the mother said, sitting on a nearby chair made from pinewood, "are my children, Deno and Cora."
The boy came over and cried again. He was reminded of a killing he did of cubs this size not too long ago. And he wept. The cubs tilted their heads.
"What's wrong, dindin?" Cora asked.
"Yeah, you okay?"
The boy shook his head. "No... no I am not. And I never will be." He looked to the mother. "You know hunters as murderers. This is true. Ever since the day of blood, when we destroyed our own way of life, we have searched dimensions, to hunt down furs. Especially those who escaped the purification."
The mother was wide eyed. "How awful!"
The hunter-no-more covered his face with his hands. "Yes, for three years we have searched for them. we are always beaten back, so I thought our cause was just. But now, here in the forest world of Zara, I see our cause is evil. I won't be a hunter!"
He looked to the cubs. How hungry they looked. He knew he would be a nice meal for them, the least he owed them. The mother came over, limping some, and patted her cubs.
"He seems sad mommy." Deno said.
"He is son." The mother said. "He's come to be your dinner."
Cora came over and looked at him. "Really? We can eat you?"
He nodded. "Yes. I have nothing left."
Deno tilted his head. "But mommy... he's so sad. Maybe we can make him happy?"
Cora nodded. "Yeah! I'm not too hungry."
The boy shook his head, but the mother nodded. "Of course."
They cheered and hugged him, snuggling. The boy started to feel a little better now, holding the cubs.
**************
The three man hunt party looked at the fallen hunter. They were holding torn clothes, and carried with them three foxes, a family, tied up.
"He's dead." The leader said. "Clearly the work of TOmmy."
"Then we will hunt him down like the dog he is." He said, drawing his knife to kill the foxes. They looked at him with fear.
"No." The thirs said. "That is what he wants. To die. No, he will live. As a slave. And he will see those he may now be with die because of him."
The hunterlooked tot he foxes. "And these three?"
They stared the little fox holding a doll close, praying for a miracle. The hunter looked at them all. "Well... we cannot carry more pelts than we have. Release them."
The three start to look relieved, until they see just what release means. The little fox begs for mercy as the three hunters raise their crossbows. She holds her doll tight.
The bolts are fired, and her parents collapse on both sides of her. But her bolt peirces the doll, not her.
The hunter looks at her. "Two skins are enough." They tell the fox cub, starting to skin her parents. She looks away tearfully. They laugh and put the skins in their packs.
"We will head north." They turned away, going by the fallen man. She falls to her knees in tears, her parents gone. But then she smells something nearby.
Wolves! She followed the smell south, leaving the bodies of her parents behind.
********************
The boy smiled as he was laid out on a platter, the mother laying veggies around him. The cubs looked at him.
"He looks happy now mommy." Cora said. Deno nodded.
"I am now. You two are very cute." Tommy said. the kids giggled some as their mother sprinkled on some pepper.
"Now for the final touch. Thank you again." The mother told him. She raised a bright red apple to his mouth, when she heard someone come in.
It was Xena, a young fox. She was still holding the rag doll her mother made her. She looked at the mother.
"Hunters!" She cried. "Ma and da... they..."
The cubs looked at their mother, and the boy looked up. "I think I have an answer. I meant to give you this just as I went in the oven, but now may be a better time. The legends say Darek used this to allow him and the other furs in my world to escape. Where to I do not know. But I know that he may have the answers." He handed the mother a small device he had set nearby. It looked somewhat like a remote control, but had archaic symbols on it. On a small viewscreen was the world 'Alchemist'.
The mother looked to him. "They are coming then." She said. He nodded.
"They will take us all if they find us." He said, getting up from the platter. The kids giggled some. The mother was about to shush them when she realized they needed to be brave, not afriad.
"Gather your things kids." She told them. She then looked to the fox. "You can come with us. It is not safe here." The fox nodded. She then looked to the boy, who was getting dressed.
"I can stall them so you can get away. I owe your race that much." He started for the door, but the wolf stopped him. She looked to her cubs and smiled.
"My cubs still need to eat. Come with us." She said, smiling and holding his hand. He sighed some and looked to them.
"I do not deserve to be saved you know. I am a murderer."
The mother shook her head. "No. You are just a child. One who still has time to live and make things right." She activated the device, opening a portal not far from her. But as she did, the door to her cave was broken open.
"Found you!" The harsh voice said. The hunters! They had found them! Tommy broke away from the wolf and charged the leader, knocking him into the other two. He looked to the wolf and the cubs.
"Get them out of here!" He screamed. The mother wolf almost refused, but then began to push her cubs through the portal. Tommy, meanwhile, was fighting for his life against three hunters. He was outnumbered and clearly outmatched. But he knew that. He was buying them the time they needed.
"Enough of this!" The leader said, aiming a small crossbow at TOmmy's chest. He fired, the bolt shotting through the boy, coming out red on the other side. Behind him, the wolf was coming to carry him through the portal, the hunters charging to pull him off of her.
"You....lose...." The boy whimpered, as they went through the portal. The hunters tried to folow, but it was already too late. As they reached it the portal closed.
They had failed.
*****************
The group emerged in a vast clearing, the boy very weak, the cubs looking at him with tears in their eyes. The mother wolf looked to the boy. "You saved our family." She said.
The boy smiled softly. "I'm glad I did... I guess... I guess I am not a murderer.... after all." He coughed, his vision getting foggy.
"Don't die mister....please." Cora said. The boy smiled.
"It's okay. You're safe now... I'll be fine... I just need... to... to rest...." He smiled and shut his eyes. To the unknowing it looked like he went to sleep.
But the mother knew that was not the case.
"Go on kids. We have to find this Darek." She said. She held the lifeless child in her arms, crying. "He just wanted to atone for his crimes. Why did he have to..."
She held him close, tears starting to fall. It did not seem right at all.
Not at all.
(Not what you expected is it? Well, hunters have a way of ruining the lovely moments we want, and destroying instead of bringing to light what is good. I wrote this to ask people a very sincere question: why to those with evil heart seemed to live, and those who live with love and goodness perish or suffer?)
By Misterebony
"Mommy, I'm hungry!" The little wolf cub pouted. He was terribly thin, as was his sister. Their mother, a rather sly wolf, was having some bad luck lately. Hunters were on the job to starve out or skin every wolf, so that the prey furs would multiply.
Damn hunters. The prey knew the reason was simply so their furs, more desireable in the Earth dimension, could be harvested en masse. And the predators knew that too. But it didn't help much. Any prey who was trying to find preds to feed was tracked and the preds they found were killed.
The mother wolf sobbed. Why were the hunters so cruel? What had they to gain from it? What had they to gain from killing unarmed fursons, who had come to this forest just to live a life back to the old ways of nature?
Then she remembered: Each fur is one less to them.
"I'll find food my children." She told her cubs, hugging them. She went out, crying. She knew if she failed her cubs would starve.
She was not about to let that happen.
************
Tommy had had enough. He saw furs being killed for no reason by his older brothers, and his parents saw that as a good thing for an ungodly reason. Worse, they hated it as much as he did, but when they expressed their detest, they vanished.
Damnit! He knew they did not vanish! It was like Darek's parents, the hunter who killed those involved in the Foresta Massacre: They were low down killers. Darek at least was able to vanish, along with those other furs.
But now the hunters are on the warpath, going to all these dimensions, establishing small footholds. They hunt awhile, then when rebellion appears they vanish, only to appear again at a later time. Well, TOmmy had it. He dropped his crossbow and removed the chain mail, and started to run.
The was running for the predator area, where he knew some wolves were. He would not give the satisfaction of death to his murdering parents.
He would let the predators decide how to do him in.
Sure enough, he saw a wolf not to far from him. It was a female grey wolf from the look of it, and she looked desperate.
Well, he thought, at least my death will have meaning.
With that he shouted and charged at her. She turned, like he knew she would. He kept running, wanting her to pounce him, to rip him apart.
But that did not happen. A bolt came out of the nearby woods, smashing into her leg. He turned and saw a hunter, smiling and laughing evilly.
"NO!" TOmmy screamed. He picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the hunter. His aim was better than he thought, as the stone hit the hunter firmly in the forehead. He collapsed, either unconscious or dead. TOmmy did not care. He looked to the wolf, who growled at him.
"You tricked me, you damn hunter. I should rip you apart." She bared her teeth. His tears started to flow, and he removed his shirt.
"Do it then! I've had enough of thisd killing!" He came close enough so she could reach him without worry, and bore his neck. She stared, confused.
"What... what are you doing?" She asked.
"Kill me!" He pleaded. "Kill me to avenge those I had to kill." His tears flowed and he collapsed to the forest floor. "Oh God, why was I cursed to be a murderer?!"
The wolf saw this and took pity on the boy, but remembered her cubs. If he wanted it so bad...
"Then come with me. Help me home. I will let you have your fate, but not by me. I have two hungry cubs in need of meat."
The boy nodded. He offered his shoulder for the wolf to lean on, his tears still falling. The wolf stroked his cheek.
"Don't cry. It will be alright now." She whispered. She saw into hs eyes and saw not trickery, but sorrow. He was no murderer. But he had killed furs before.
She knew what had to be done.
***************
Back at her den, the two cubs came over and cheered at the sight of the boy. He saw them and fell in love with the little cubs.
"These," the mother said, sitting on a nearby chair made from pinewood, "are my children, Deno and Cora."
The boy came over and cried again. He was reminded of a killing he did of cubs this size not too long ago. And he wept. The cubs tilted their heads.
"What's wrong, dindin?" Cora asked.
"Yeah, you okay?"
The boy shook his head. "No... no I am not. And I never will be." He looked to the mother. "You know hunters as murderers. This is true. Ever since the day of blood, when we destroyed our own way of life, we have searched dimensions, to hunt down furs. Especially those who escaped the purification."
The mother was wide eyed. "How awful!"
The hunter-no-more covered his face with his hands. "Yes, for three years we have searched for them. we are always beaten back, so I thought our cause was just. But now, here in the forest world of Zara, I see our cause is evil. I won't be a hunter!"
He looked to the cubs. How hungry they looked. He knew he would be a nice meal for them, the least he owed them. The mother came over, limping some, and patted her cubs.
"He seems sad mommy." Deno said.
"He is son." The mother said. "He's come to be your dinner."
Cora came over and looked at him. "Really? We can eat you?"
He nodded. "Yes. I have nothing left."
Deno tilted his head. "But mommy... he's so sad. Maybe we can make him happy?"
Cora nodded. "Yeah! I'm not too hungry."
The boy shook his head, but the mother nodded. "Of course."
They cheered and hugged him, snuggling. The boy started to feel a little better now, holding the cubs.
**************
The three man hunt party looked at the fallen hunter. They were holding torn clothes, and carried with them three foxes, a family, tied up.
"He's dead." The leader said. "Clearly the work of TOmmy."
"Then we will hunt him down like the dog he is." He said, drawing his knife to kill the foxes. They looked at him with fear.
"No." The thirs said. "That is what he wants. To die. No, he will live. As a slave. And he will see those he may now be with die because of him."
The hunterlooked tot he foxes. "And these three?"
They stared the little fox holding a doll close, praying for a miracle. The hunter looked at them all. "Well... we cannot carry more pelts than we have. Release them."
The three start to look relieved, until they see just what release means. The little fox begs for mercy as the three hunters raise their crossbows. She holds her doll tight.
The bolts are fired, and her parents collapse on both sides of her. But her bolt peirces the doll, not her.
The hunter looks at her. "Two skins are enough." They tell the fox cub, starting to skin her parents. She looks away tearfully. They laugh and put the skins in their packs.
"We will head north." They turned away, going by the fallen man. She falls to her knees in tears, her parents gone. But then she smells something nearby.
Wolves! She followed the smell south, leaving the bodies of her parents behind.
********************
The boy smiled as he was laid out on a platter, the mother laying veggies around him. The cubs looked at him.
"He looks happy now mommy." Cora said. Deno nodded.
"I am now. You two are very cute." Tommy said. the kids giggled some as their mother sprinkled on some pepper.
"Now for the final touch. Thank you again." The mother told him. She raised a bright red apple to his mouth, when she heard someone come in.
It was Xena, a young fox. She was still holding the rag doll her mother made her. She looked at the mother.
"Hunters!" She cried. "Ma and da... they..."
The cubs looked at their mother, and the boy looked up. "I think I have an answer. I meant to give you this just as I went in the oven, but now may be a better time. The legends say Darek used this to allow him and the other furs in my world to escape. Where to I do not know. But I know that he may have the answers." He handed the mother a small device he had set nearby. It looked somewhat like a remote control, but had archaic symbols on it. On a small viewscreen was the world 'Alchemist'.
The mother looked to him. "They are coming then." She said. He nodded.
"They will take us all if they find us." He said, getting up from the platter. The kids giggled some. The mother was about to shush them when she realized they needed to be brave, not afriad.
"Gather your things kids." She told them. She then looked to the fox. "You can come with us. It is not safe here." The fox nodded. She then looked to the boy, who was getting dressed.
"I can stall them so you can get away. I owe your race that much." He started for the door, but the wolf stopped him. She looked to her cubs and smiled.
"My cubs still need to eat. Come with us." She said, smiling and holding his hand. He sighed some and looked to them.
"I do not deserve to be saved you know. I am a murderer."
The mother shook her head. "No. You are just a child. One who still has time to live and make things right." She activated the device, opening a portal not far from her. But as she did, the door to her cave was broken open.
"Found you!" The harsh voice said. The hunters! They had found them! Tommy broke away from the wolf and charged the leader, knocking him into the other two. He looked to the wolf and the cubs.
"Get them out of here!" He screamed. The mother wolf almost refused, but then began to push her cubs through the portal. Tommy, meanwhile, was fighting for his life against three hunters. He was outnumbered and clearly outmatched. But he knew that. He was buying them the time they needed.
"Enough of this!" The leader said, aiming a small crossbow at TOmmy's chest. He fired, the bolt shotting through the boy, coming out red on the other side. Behind him, the wolf was coming to carry him through the portal, the hunters charging to pull him off of her.
"You....lose...." The boy whimpered, as they went through the portal. The hunters tried to folow, but it was already too late. As they reached it the portal closed.
They had failed.
*****************
The group emerged in a vast clearing, the boy very weak, the cubs looking at him with tears in their eyes. The mother wolf looked to the boy. "You saved our family." She said.
The boy smiled softly. "I'm glad I did... I guess... I guess I am not a murderer.... after all." He coughed, his vision getting foggy.
"Don't die mister....please." Cora said. The boy smiled.
"It's okay. You're safe now... I'll be fine... I just need... to... to rest...." He smiled and shut his eyes. To the unknowing it looked like he went to sleep.
But the mother knew that was not the case.
"Go on kids. We have to find this Darek." She said. She held the lifeless child in her arms, crying. "He just wanted to atone for his crimes. Why did he have to..."
She held him close, tears starting to fall. It did not seem right at all.
Not at all.
(Not what you expected is it? Well, hunters have a way of ruining the lovely moments we want, and destroying instead of bringing to light what is good. I wrote this to ask people a very sincere question: why to those with evil heart seemed to live, and those who live with love and goodness perish or suffer?)
Atonement
By MisterEbony -- Report
Non-vore, and very violent. YOU BEEN WARNED!
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