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Left in His Wake

Chapter 1

It had been two months already... Kurt still hadn't gotten out of bed, every moment of every day the image was burned into his mind... If he and Clay had gotten there just a few minutes earlier then Brett would still be alive... Walking into the slaughter house and seeing that was just... Wrong... The sweet little human Kurt had just got back in his life was best described as "table scraps" by the time they showed up. Mark was sent to prison, so at least he didn't get away with it... But Kurt was empty, any time he didn't spend in bed was spent throwing up, he didn't want to believe it, but there was no way not to... It was true, Brett was gone, and Kurt wasn't sure how to keep going, after all, it was his fault wasn't it? Vi moved to the city with her dad permanently after that, she just couldn't stand to be there after the funeral, she took some of the human's ashes though, they all did. Clay was just gone, he flew off that day and nobody had seen him since. Jackson came to see Kurt every day and he's the one who set up the memorial with the urn in Kurt's room.

"You think you're ready to come back to school today?" Jackson asked Kurt, who just stared at his wall blankly. "Yeah... I figured not... He really was special wasn't he...? Look... maybe you should consider leaving town?" The tiger sat up and looked at the lion, his eyes void of any expression.

"You think so too? Mom and Dad suggested it, they think I should go stay at my grandparents' place in the country... I think I'm gonna go, transfer schools for the semester, clear my head..." The large tiger placed his head into his hands. "As much as possible anyway..."

"Well... you want me to help you pack or anything?"

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Kurt drove down the rough gravel road as he approached the aged house his grandparents lived in. It wasn't a bad place, the area was full of farmland, and woods, all pretty natural, most of the farms were small and didn't even use much machinery. The house itself sat in a clearing at the edge of a wooded area surrounding a medium sized pond, the tiger saw a few ducks swimming happily in the pond. It was old and well built, though it had recently had new siding and roofing done. Kurt got out and grabbed his bags from the back, being extra careful with the one containing the ashes of his lost human. He walked up to the screen door and was met by an elderly tiger couple.

Kurt and his grandparents didn't speak much when he arrived, they knew what had happened and wanted to give him time to settle in before causing him any unnecessary stress. To cause even less stress Kurt had been signed up for online at-your-own-pace school. Once the big tiger had unpacked and rebuilt his memorial, he decided to wander around the field for a little while, maybe go check out the pond. He got to the water's edge and noticed the pond was bigger than he expected, and there were quite a few more creatures living in it than he expected. There was a large family of ducks, a pair of swans, and more than a few fish could be seen from the surface, a fallen log seemed to be the home of some small turtles. Kurt noticed a small bench near the pond and sat down, laying his head in his hands.

"Hey... you ok?" an unfamiliar but sweet sounding voice asked the large tiger.

"No... I'm really not..." Kurt replied without looking up, feeling someone sit down beside him.

"Well... I don't really know what's wrong ... But I'll sit here with you." Kurt lifted his gaze towards the source of the voice. A small black haired human boy, around his age, he had a few small flowers in his hair, he had a gentle smile all too familiar to the tiger... the same smile Brett had shown him so many times before. "You look like you've seen a ghost..." The small human laughed nervously.

"I... I think I might have..." Kurt said, failing to fight back tears as he broke down crying. "You make me think of him... Gods I shouldn't have been dumb enough to think I could escape it... I just... I don't know how to keep going without him... I... I wish I could have saved him..." The tiger felt a gentle hand placed upon his back.

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault though... whatever happened I mean..." The human's voice calming the tiger much the same way Brett's had... He had a point... Mark killed Brett... Kurt just couldn't save him... and he would have to learn to live with it, he was sure Brett would want it that way.

"I... I couldn't save him... and he was murdered because of it... I just miss him so much... I think I loved him... I KNOW I loved him... and now he's gone..." Kurt cried on the small human's shoulder letting out two months of grief. "I just got him back... and now he's gone forever..."

"I know it must hurt... It must hurt a lot... But he would want you to be happy right?" The human asked, concern clear in his tone.

"Y-yeah... he would... I think he loved me... I hope he did... I hope he knew how much I cared about him..."

"Well then... take the time to grieve, but then try to be happy... I'm sure he'll appreciate it... And someday you'll see him again... or at least... I believe you will... Oh um... my name is Scott by the way..." The young human said meekly

"I'm... Kurt, I'm gonna be staying here with my grandparents for a while..." Kurt replied

"Oh? So you're Vick and Tara's grandson? I guess I shoulda known that... My family and I live down the road... I spend most of my time here though..." Scott said, still comforting the large feline.

"Well then... maybe we can spend some time together..."

TO BE CONTINUED...