I feel bad for not doing this sooner. And that's hard to do considering all that's been happening. I really don't like this chapter, and no matter what I did (from procrastinating to rewriting over and over again) I could not get this to sound good to me. I really dislike this chapter, intensely.
'Thoughts' "Dialogue" F Flashbacks F
Chapter 1: Reminiscence
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Looking up, Blu (as he was known to some) was almost happy to see the canopy above his head, sheltering the dry ground beneath shadows of the trees.
After escaping the hares and badger, the rain vanished almost instantly, the powerful downpour that had been battering the landscape for hours finally giving way to a dark sky, and stars.
Finding a small cave-like place in the hollow of a tree, he decided to rest. Taking a multi-hued green and brown blanket he had stolen to match the scenery of the forest he was supposed to find, he draped it over himself, and shut his eyes, wary to any unusual sounds.
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Just a bitbeyond the trees Blu was resting in, over to the west a point, a cloud scuttling across the sky revealed the tiny sliver of the moon, its dim light reflecting off a pond within red sandstone walls. In the orchard near the pond, containing trees baring all kinds of different fruits, two creatures walked slowly towards the pond, on their usual after-sunset stroll.
The shorter of the two, a young female squirrel, suddenly jumped into a nearby apple tree, russet fur shining in the faint light. Her eyes, a beautiful amber color, roved down to the taller, yet obviously stronger and older creature below her as she settled into her usual spot above the pond, laying down comfortably on the bough.
The other creature waded carefully into the pond, happy to be back in the water again. As the water reached his waist, he dived down, hardly making a splash, and came back up, just as silent. Blowing water from his whiskers, he looked up at his closest friend since entering the abbey. He smiled, the bluish tinted scar on his cheek, the one that just didn't heal properly, very visible.
"You happy now Blu?" Asked the squirrel, feigning boredom.
The otter frowned, deep brown eyes flashing anger then sadness before going placid again.
"You know I don't go by 'Blu,' Amset."
"Fine. Are you happy NOW, Bluskar?"
A melancholy smile flashed on his features, remembering the one reason he refused to be called Blu.
"Yeah."
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"Kill 'im Blu! 'E's no real father! A real father wouldn't let 'is youngest son be exiled!" Whispered a burly-looking fox about 15 seasons.
"I know." Blu whispered back, staring at the elder otter lying on the ground at his feet.
"You're goin' soft on me."
"I ain't!"
"Then kill him."
"…."
"Why?"
"I just… can't."
"Don't ye worry, Blulightnin." Came another voice, a bit louder, though able to make your skin crawl and make you want to attack whoever owned it. "Ye all shall meet in good time, or my name isn't…"
Blu gasped, wide-awake now. He sat up, looking around, unable to remember his surroundings for a moment. He sighed, remembering the conversation with Kilna, and his mom…
That vixen.
Blulightnin remembered her clearly. Her eye patch and cloth covering the half of her face that was nearly burned off in a mysterious fire. Her strange way of speaking in riddles and rhymes. Her ability to know everything about you and your past by just looking at you with that all-seeing (or un-seeing) eye beneath the patch.
He didn't remember the day they met near as clearly. Though he did remember what happened to get him to her cave.
F
"By 'ellgates, 'e's dead!"
"You killed him!"
"It was Blu! That boy was always after Ridgo!"
A 14 season old Blu stood, head high, in front of the tribe's leader, and others of importance, without his father beside him. The strong older otter sat, head down, outside the cave along the rocky northeast. "Blulightnin." The leader said to the others seated in driftwood chairs in front of the bound young otter. "They said he killed his older brother, and wounded his friends."
"How many friends?"
"3."
"The three we had to see earlier? Did you see those wounds? Those slashes across their bodies, what caused them?"
"A dirk."
"Have they found it?"
"I have the dirk."
All eyes went to the young otter, eyes blazing and smiling at them. "I killed him, yes. Would've killed them all. Lemme see 'em and I will!"
"Blu, what happened? You used to be so good."
The insane-looking otter's face blanked. All insanity, and all hope, and all emotion left him that moment. His eyes hardened like a captured prisoner, accepting the horrors that awaited him like a doll, unsmiling, but impassive.
"Good? Ha! You never knew me! You lot always thought I was such an innocent young creature. Idiots! I set fire to your seaweed beds, not Shepine! I near drowned Wissa, 'twas no accident! I set that fox free, after you locked him up. My only matey, he was. He saw what you don't... I'm not like you."
"But you're not like him! He's a vermin!"
"Maybe I am too."
Silence. And more silence. Then, "He's worst than a traitor. Worst than vermin. Kill him."
Shouts from a crowd outside echoed throughout the cave.
"Tie him to a rock an' drop 'im off the cliffs!"
"Git our strongest swimmersto drown him like 'e almost did Wissa!"
"Strap the menace to his bed and set it on fire!"
"Make 'im row until his arms fall off, and then chuck 'em overboard!"
"Send him to hellgates where he belongs!"
A wild cheer followed the last statement, before the otters in the cave slapped their tails on the ground in unity.
"All those are not enough for such deeds." Called the eldest of the otters on the 'jury.' "He no longer has a place with goodbeasts. Let him walk the earth, knowing he belongs to neither the vermin kind nor our kind. Let him roam this land until his lonely death."
Another cheer.
F
He growled. 'Should've killed the other three. Well, got my revenge.' He smirked, remembering two seasons after being 'banished' from there. The flames, and screams, the smell of smoke, and the taste of ash. Those that managed to escape that night dealt with his blade.
Instinctively, he reached into his pack and took out the dirk. The same dirk that killed his 'mates.' He frowned at it. It had let one go, let one survive. The only one he couldn't kill, even with the one-eyed vixens son, Kilna.
His father. Bluskar.
He clutched the handle tighter. 'Damn him. I killed mum, that old hag, like nothing. She loved Ridgo,'
He snorted at himself. What was he saying? Everyone loved Ridgo. 'S'not like she thought twice about letting me leave after I killed him.' Blu smirked.
No one even knew why he had killed Ridgo. Except he himself, and his brother….
F
"What's wrong with you?" Yelled a furious, not to even mention brawny, looking otter, about the same size as his 2-and-a-half-seasons younger brother (Who was still going through growth spurts). They stood face to face, 5 paw steps between them.
"You knew I liked her! You knew it!" Blu yelled, turning around, walking away from his brother and turning around. "And she pro'aly liked me too, before you t'go over there with yore 'Y'know my li'l brother…' stories! Now she knows everythin' 'bout me, when I was supposed t'tell her!"
"She needed to know! You're not goin' t'tell her 'bout the time you nearly drowned Wissa at the beach! Or the time I had to catch that Killika, or wha'ever, fox you let free!" The brother yelled back, as Blu stepped closer, lowering his voice as he grasped the dirk he concealed under his tunic.
"Yore right. I wouldnt've told her. And y'know what? I would have killed Wissa too, an' made it look like an accident. She was never of any use anyway. Always whinin' 'bout something or another. And KILNA is the best friend I ever had. A better friend than any of the ones you have! Huh, they couldn't help you if we ever went to war or nothin'. Hope we do have war! Then I'd join the other side and get outta here. Not like anyone could care, eh?"
Ridgo, 16 going on 25, stared at his younger brother, and probably would have cried if he hadn't been so shocked. "Yore a monster." He finally managed. "Never let you near Dalana again. You don't deserve her. Pro'aly kill her, wouldn't you?"
Not believing what he was hearing, Blu stared at his brother. 'Kill Dalana? Don't he know that I practically stalk her when I can? Doesn't he know that he could never give her what I can? She hates this village, and I can get her out of here, and raise kids safely. He needs this dump!' He glared, his rain-cloud gray eyes meeting his brother's honey-brown orbs that normally looked so bright and golden, though now they were dark.
"I knew it. You were right when ya said you weren't supposed to be an otter. No. You should've been a fox, sly, evil, and deceitful. Like Killya. Or maybe a ferret, considering you're so skinny and stupid looking. A vermin in disguise, that's what you are. A no-good, murdering, lying little…."
"SHUT UP! I've had enough of you! You wanna settle this here and now? Then come on! I'm right here." He stood up straight, barely even 20 paw steps from his brother, his dirk hidden behind his back.
His brother charged, and…
And the rest, they say, is history.
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Okay, first off… reviews!
Vanilla Breeze: Yaaaay! My first review! –dances around- Yes, somehow I left out the 'fur' on that sentence. And on a par with Brian Jacques? You're making my head go big. Very encouraging, thank you so much!
Eroket: Thanks, here's more!
Okay, I know, its short. But do you want it or not? Yes, I know someone other than Vanilla and Eroket had to read the first chapter. You non-reviewers, I know you're out there, 'cause I can see you. Yes you! 'Cause the more you review, the better I feel, and the faster this gets out! So review!
Please?