Ander - Part 2: Subchapter 5
5
Hezzi was in no hurry to go outside. It would take a while for all the Wolves to gather, and he still had some thinking to do.
He looked down at the broken carving still clutched in his hand, the sharp splinters of wood sticking out like arrows. So many arrows...
Why? Why did this have to happen? Hezzi has asked himself that question so many times over the last few hours, and he suspected he would ask it of himself for many hours yet to come, if not his whole life.
Without even realizing he was doing it, he scraped the jagged points of the broken carving across his palm, leaving ghostly trails of stinging pain in their wake that slowly faded away from one end to the other.
Hezzi would be the first to admit that he might be a bit naïve, or even too trusting for his own good, but he was by no means stupid. There had to have been a reason for what happened at the river, and it didn't take a genius to figure it out.
There was only one possible reason for Banno to have gone after Ander like that.
The Fox.
Banno longed to sink his teeth into that Fox. After all the things he had said on the day of his death that was all too clear. He must have seen the empty cage and came to the same conclusion he did: Ander had stolen her.
This is where things started to get painful. Hezzi pushed the broken teeth of the carving into his palm until the thinner splinters started to bend and crack. The thicker ones were already on the verge of breaking his skin, poking divots into his open hand.
That Fox. Hezzi didn't want her to die. He didn't want her to die then, and he didn't want her to die now, but Banno did.
The whole tribe did.
Does that make him a bad Wolf? Does that make him a traitor?
Hezzi didn't know.
But there is one thing he did know. Even though Ander was doing what he believed was right, he was also going against the tribe, and Banno set out to stop him.
There were only two ways Hezzi could think of for Banno to accomplish that. Either make Ander take the Fox back to be sacrificed, or kill her himself.
Both of those would be enough to make his mouth water, but knowing Banno, he would prefer to do the deed himself rather than watch flames do it for him. That would explain why he didn't wake Father or alert any of the guards, so that made sense.
Deep in thought, Hezzi started to twist the jagged wooden spike back and forth, drilling the tip into his hand.
He barely felt it.
There's no way Ander would simply hand the Fox over, so there would have been a confrontation. Although Ander was physically big enough to stand up to Banno, he didn't have any of his older brother's viciousness or ferocity. In a one on one fight, there's no way Banno would have lost.
But Ander was clever. He used his surroundings to his advantage. Banno might be big, and Banno might be strong, and Banno might be a ruthless warrior, but all of that amounted to nothing compared to the raw power of the river.
Someone had to die, and the choice was Ander's to make. Either save Banno and doom the Fox to death, or kill his own brother to save a perfect stranger.
A warm pool of blood started to form in Hezzi's palm, with the sharp sliver of wood at its centre.
Hezzi remembered the look in that Fox's eye when it was up to him to decide her fate. He remembered how he had felt. Even so, he would sacrifice her a thousand times over if it meant he could bring his brother back, because she was a stranger and Banno was blood.
Didn't that count for something? Didn't the bonds of blood Ander had forged with his family over his entire life count for more than whatever he felt for a stranger? Doesn't family come first? Doesn't family always come first!?
Ander chose the Fox.
Hezzi watched the small pool in the palm of his hand grow bigger and bigger, watched as the splinter sucked it up, becoming soft around the edges, and he tried to figure out why Ander would choose a Fox over his own family.
He knew Ander hated this tribe. Even though he tried to hide it, most of the Wolves knew. It was in the way he acted, the things he said, the things he made, the way he was always trying to change those around him. Maybe he saw his opportunity to escape this life, and he took it. Simple as that.
But maybe there was something else, something Hezzi didn't know about. The things he said...
I had no choice! I did what I had to do!He was the one that killed Vallah! He tried to kill Kiana and me! He threatened to kill you_, Hezzi!_
Vallah...
Hezzi was still very young when she went missing, so he couldn't remember much of what had happened, only that she was there one day and gone the next.
And she never came back.
Would Ander lie about something like that? He lied every time he went out hunting, every time he couldn't get out of a warrior's sparring challenge, every time he participated in one of Mother's ritual sacrifices. In many ways, Ander's whole life was a lie. He lied to everyone, even himself, every day.
But has he ever lied to his little brother? Hezzi didn't think so. But that would mean -
He threatened to kill you_, Hezzi!_
No. That's the one thing he would never believe. Banno loved him. Hezzi was his runty little brother and for every smack upside the head there would be a pat on the back to balance things out. They loved each other because they were family. They were blood.
But what if Ander was telling the truth? What then?
Hezzi tipped his hand over and watched his blood pour onto the ground like a tiny red waterfall.
Whether Ander was telling the truth or not didn't make any difference. Either way, one of his brothers was a monster, hiding behind a mask of false brotherhood for years. There's no way to know which one because he couldn't ask Ander himself.
But... maybe...
Hezzi got up and left his tent, stepping out into the harsh sunlight of his second day as an only son.
Maybe he would get the opportunity to ask him soon.
*
"You all know what happened the night before last," Father said. He was standing underneath the great Cora statue, exactly where the Fox's cage had stood before everything went to hell. The whole tribe was gathered here today, from the youngest pups to the oldest gray-furs, all perfectly silent, a sharp contrast to the boisterous atmosphere of the last time they were together like this. "My firstborn son, Banno, was cruelly taken from us by his own brother, my second son, Ander."
Whispers broke out all over the crowd. To Hezzi, standing in the thick of it, it was like the sound of the rain, still falling, even in the sunshine. It would always fall.
He could hear some of the Wolves debating amongst themselves. Some were clearly sceptical, stating that Ander was the one Wolf of the tribe who would never kill his own blood. By the Cora, he never even killed any of the bees he sometimes took honey from.
Others weren't surprised at all, claiming that Ander was always different, always going against the tribe. Everyone knew those two couldn't stand each other. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Only surprising thing was that Ander was the one who wound up the victor. Must have used some very sly tactics indeed to get the better of Banno.
Hezzi didn't give a damn about any of that. He saw what had happened with his own eyes. He still didn't know exactly what led to it, or why it happened that way, but hopefully he would get a chance to ask Ander those questions directly before too long. If Father gave the answer he was hoping for. That's what he cared about right now.
"I have been in palaver with the wisest Wolves of the tribe, and I have made my decision."
Hezzi leaned forward, eager to hear what his father had to say.
"We have no real quarrel with the Foxes, and neither do we intend to start one."
"What?" Hezzi breathed, digging his fingernails into his palms. If it weren't for the Foxes, none of this would have happened, and now Father was just going to let it go? This is unacceptable! If he -
"However, what Ander did cannot be forgiven. He must be brought before us to explain his actions. He will be judged by our custom, and he will be punished by our custom."
Knowing that Father intended to go after Ander calmed Hezzi a little, but he wanted something to be done about the Foxes as well. Or at least about the one particular Fox that sparked all this. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to find out what could make Ander choose a stranger above his own family.
"We believe Ander is either hiding somewhere in the woods, or has taken refuge with the Foxes. That is why we will send our best scouts and trackers to search for him."
"But Chieftain," Danado spoke up. He was one of the hunters of the tribe. "If the Foxes are indeed harbouring Ander, what then?"
Yes! This is exactly what Hezzi wanted to hear.
Father regarded Danado for a long moment before answering. "We can be sure of nothing before our scouts have properly explored what lies beyond the Cora. Then, and only then, will I decide if action must be taken against the Foxes."
Most of the Wolves seemed satisfied with this answer - no sense in jumping into the unknown - but it only made Hezzi's blood boil. He didn't want to sit around doing nothing for weeks while the scouts skirted around the edges of whatever the Foxes called home. It was the doing he was good at, and it was the doing he would insist upon, consequences be damned.
"You're dodging the question, Father!" he shouted, killing what little whispers remained within the crowd. Banno might have gotten away with yelling an accusation like that, but certainly not his puny little brother.
Kadai looked at Hezzi with wide eyes and said, "What did you just say to me, boy?"
"I said you're dodging Danado's question! What, are you going deaf now!?"
Danado backed up, raising his hands and shaking his head. "Whoa now! Don't drag me into this! My question was answered!"
"Then I'll take your question as my own," Hezzi said. "Father, if the Foxes are protecting Ander, what are you going to do about it?"
"What has gotten into you, Hezzi!?" Father roared, spittle flying from his chops. "You've never disrespected me like this!"
Mother looked worried, something he never would have thought possible. All the other Wolves were starting to back away from him, just like they did when Ander decided to speak up on the Fox's behalf. By the Cora, can't he go a single hour without being reminded of that accursed day? He wasn't going against the tribe like Ander. Quite the opposite. This was for the tribe. This was what Banno would have wanted. He wouldn't just sit around doing nothing, that's for sure.
"What's gotten into me? I should be asking what's gotten into you! The murderer of your son is just on the other side of that mountain! Right now! And you're too cowardly to send our warriors to go get him! Don't you want answers!? Don't you want to know why your firstborn is dead!?"
"Hezzi, please be quiet!" Mother said. It was odd, seeing her trying to protect him when he has been terrified of her his whole life. Funny how much life can change in the span of a few days.
Father had his fists balled up at his sides, shaking with anger. "Let me explain something to you, Hezzi. The murderer of my son is also my son! The murderer of my son is also your brother! Have you forgotten that?"
Hezzi looked at his father and said, "I don't have brothers anymore."
With that, he turned around and limped back to his tent, unmindful of the stares he was getting from the Wolves around him.
*
Back in the gloom of his tent, Hezzi felt like he could finally think again. The broken carving was still lying on the ground, staring up at him with its eyeless face, indifferent to the world around it, unaware of the giant looking down on it with disgust.
Hezzi took deep breaths, hoping it would help calm him down, but it only made him feel restless. Father would probably barge in here any minute, and then there would be hell to pay. Interestingly enough, this thought didn't fill Hezzi with dread like it would have only a week ago. No... it made him angry. His father was mad at him for pointing out his inaction? Mad at him for suggesting he actually do something? If Banno or even Ander had said the exact same thing Father would have at least given it some serious thought before shooting it down as 'disrespectful'. And now he had the gall to be mad?
Hezzi heard the flap of his tent lift behind him, could see the sheet of light fall across the animal skins, lower than before. He spun around, ready to tell his Father the exact words that had been floating around in his head for the past few minutes, ready to tell him that he had no right to be angry, that the very fact that he was angry is what made him angry, but his father wasn't there.
"Mother? What do you want?"
"Have you gone mad, Hezzi!?" she hissed, letting the flap fall shut behind her, bathing them both in shadow. There was a time Hezzi would have been terrified by the idea of being stuck in the dark with his mother, especially with the way the whites of her eyes seemed to ignore the darkness, as if they emitted a ghostly light of their own. But that Hezzi was dead. This Hezzi, standing here right now, knew what true terror was. And an old blind Wolf wasn't it.
"Is Father mad?"
"Seething. He says you made him look weak in front of the entire tribe."
"He made himself look weak."
Mother reached out and slapped him across the cheek, not nearly as hard a blow as Father would have managed, but his wounds from that night were still fresh.
"Don't you ever speak that way about your father again!" she said. "He is a great Wolf!"
"And what if I do?" Hezzi said. "Is he going to come in here and beat me again? Because I've been beaten time and time again over the years, and you know what? I'm not afraid of that anymore. Let him come! Let him do his worst! I've been through it all already!"
Mother looked at him. Or at least, he thought she was looking at him. Her eyes were like twin spots of pale light floating in the shadows. "You've changed, Hezzi."
"A lot of things have changed, Mother."
"And yet you fail to realize the biggest change of all, you fool!"
"And what would that be?"
"With Banno dead and Ander gone, you are next in line to become our Chieftain!"
Her words struck him like icy chains, rooting him to the spot. Succession was something he had never even considered. He never had any reason to. It has always been a foregone conclusion that Father's role as Chieftain would one day pass on to Banno, or in the event of the unforeseen, to Ander. But now, with both of them gone, he alone was the sole heir.
The thought made him feel dizzy.
"You have not been raised to carry this weight, Hezzi. I know that. But from now on, things will be very different. Are you listening to me!?"
"Different, you say?" Hezzi said, looking down at his broken carving.
"Yes! Very different!"
Different...
You've changed, Hezzi...
Different...
Ander...
Hezzi stomped down on what remained of his brother's gift, crunching it beneath his foot, relishing the feel of the sharp wooden splinters digging into his pads.
"Good."
Special thanks go out to Coffee Wolf. This update would have been much shorter (only a third of what it is now), but his comment on the previous subchapter gave me a lot to think about. I realized that maybe Hezzi was being a bit too ignorant, so I sat down and really got inside his head. I realized that although he is young and inexperienced, he isn't stupid, and he isn't the type of Wolf to just blindly come to the conclusion that "Ander killed Banno, therefore I now hate Ander, end of story." He would at least try and figure out a plausible scenario for what had happened. He would give the situation serious thought and come to the conclusion that they needed to capture Ander and bring him back to the tribe as soon as possible. I don't think Coffee Wolf intended to spark such a train of thought in my mind, but I think he helped me to improve my story and make Hezzi's character a little deeper. Thanks CW! And I'm sorry if my earlier reply made me sound like a defensive ass. :P
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