Desolate

Desolate
Co-Writ by Infinity, Amelie, & Fancy

Thunder raged, and rain pelted down on the deserted, dead canopy of the forest. A single, albinistic eagle grumbled as he was dragged down by his soaked feathers. He dove through leaves, and found himself hovering above the forest floor. With a gentle swerve, he landed onto a rough patch of leaves. The bird scanned the shadows of the forest for any signs of corpses to feed off of. A terrible stench filled his nostrils, and he began to search for it. Flying between trees and boulders, he found himself above the trees once more, and aparrently on top of the scent. He plunged through the leaves, and found himself about to dive into a lit firepit. He quickly spread his wings, saving him and sending dozens of embers flying around him and into the air, with his red markings adding onto the mystical sight.A young arctic fox stared in awe, with a singed rat halfway in her mouth. The eagle sighed. "You're lucky.. You have food.. And you seem to have it plentiful.." He grumbled in a grim tone as he spotted a tile of tree bark, holding several rat skeletons, and two uneaten ones. -Infinity

The eagle swooped down and scarfed down the two rats that weren't already eaten. He then flew back into the air, above the trees, looking for more food. The arctic fox snapped out of the daze, and ran to a little cave with a medium, but slightly closer to scarce, supply of food. She ate a small portion of food."I wonder if that eagle will ever come back... If he had stayed around long enough, I could've offered him some food..." The arctic fox said to herself. She looked outside her cave at the pouring rain. The rain started to pour even harder, and lightning became much more frequent. The arctic fox worried about the eagle, wondering if he had a place to wait out the storm. -Amelie

The now full Matthew was soaring above the tree canopy once more, ignoring the rain buffeting his wings. As lightning struck visibly aways in the distance, he grew nervous, but with his stubborn nature, he refused to quiet flying. Rain soon turned into hail, and lightning strikes grew to about six every minute. Matthew couldn't take it, but as soon as he tried to retreat back into the forest, white flashed before his eyes and his body stung with pain, and he began falling. Matthew couldn't move. He was frozen by fear and electricity surging through his body. He let out a shriek of suprise, and before he could let out another screech, he blacked out.

In the distance, the cry was faintly heard, but with the arctic fox's ears, it was easy to hear. Quickly, the fox began to hurry and search the forest. She had walked far from her cave den, and was getting worried for herself and the eagle. The arctic fox grew more and more worried about herself and the eagle. But, she kept going. She was determined to find and help the eagle. Suddenly, the arctic fox could see a silhouette on the ground a bit further. She dashed over to it. When she got up close with it, she could tell it was the eagle. She noticed a spot where he was obviously struck by lightning, The arctic fox panicked, and tried to figure out how to help him. She noticed an herb that could be used as a bandage. She gathered some of it, and wrapped it around the wound on the eagle.Then, in a very slow and subtle manner, the rain subsided. The sky grew brighter as the clouds started to vanish. The sudden boost in light slowly woke up the eagle. He opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. He then noticed the arctic fox sitting a few feet away, with her back facing him. She did not notice that the eagle had woken up.

The bird immediatally tried to move and get up, but was stopped by a burning pain in his wing and back. He let out a loud hissing as he did so, which alerted Timber. She turned around and rushed over, "Don't move.. You know better." Matthew huffed. "What happened?.." He looked around, and regained vision. "I think you were struck by lightning. Oh, what's your name?" The eagle preferred keeping his name a secret, but this arctic fox seemed too nice to do any harm. "I'm.. Matthew..." It had been so long, he almost didn't remember his own name. "Nice. I'm Timber, nice to meet you." Matthew stayed quiet, and looked back at his wing's feathers. A large spot was burnt charcoal black. "Why did you.. Help me?" "Well, it would be the kindest thing to do.." The arctic fox replied. "But.. I stole your food?.. Why would you help me when I stole from you?" The answer was simple for Timber. "Well, when I saw you fly by, I noticed how thin you were. It looked like you had only a few meals in a few weeks... I don't have a bunch of food, and I know I have to be careful with how much I eat, but I have enough to feed myself, and that's the only person I need to feed. Plus, I had no idea if you had a family to feed or not.And, how could I let you just lay here and die? That'd be horrible." Timber replied. Matthew wasn't sure how to respond, this is all he could think of to say. "Erhm.. Thank you... I could've died if you hadn't helped me.." Matthew said quietly with hesitation. "It's really the least I could do." Timber said, with a smile on her face.

"Oh, are you hungry? I found an old coyote carcass, but, um, I only dragged it halfway here.. Wait! I'll go and drag it all the way here! Don't move!" "Oh, yeah, I won't move! I actually can't even!" He grumbled sarcastically in his head. Why was this fox being so nice? What was she planning? Was she going to kill him? Matthew shook the thoughts out of his head. He should rest. What else was he going to do while he healed? Sooner than he thought, he fell into a light slumber. About half an hour later, he felt something very gently prodding his side. Opening his eyes, he realized Timber had returned, and with a not-too-rotten coyote corpse, too. He finally managed to get on his feet, and stumbled over to devour it. When he was finished, he spoke up. "I'm no vulture, but my way of living has been enforced to this.. It disgusts me, but i'm afraid it's all I have.."

Timber didn't respond, for she didn't really have the social skills to. So, she tried to change the subject. "Anyways, do you remember what exactly happened and how you ended up on the ground over here..?" Timber asked. "I don't remember much but, I do remember that I was flying, and thinking about landing and waiting out the storm, but then everything went white, and then black. The next thing I know I'm laying on the ground in the middle of nowhere with some random person.." Matthew responded. "But still, really, thank you." "You're welcome, anyways, I'm going to look for some more food, you should continue to rest." Timber said. Timber went off into the forest. Matthew mostly rested, and got a bit better. He was able to walk around, but it hurt. Also, he still couldn't move his wings at all without a terrible pain shooting through him.

As Matthew ate the coyote carcass, a creature was padding slowly toward them, his head lowered. As he got closer, the sound of the branches he treaded on's cracking grew louder, at least from Timber's perspective. She started to growl, which alerted Matthew. He faced what she was growling at to see a shadowy figure peering at them with glowing red eyes. He shifted his talons threateningly. As the figure became more clear, he wasn't as...menacing. He was a grey wolf, but he had angel wings.

"What is this?" Matthew thought. "Hey...I'm Angel!" the figure said briskly trotting over to them before coming to an abrupt stop. When he stopped, he crashed to the ground, scunching his face against the mud. He got up and smiled. "What are you?" Matthew said pointing one of his talons at Angel. "I'm an angel arctic wolf hybrid. I came here from a place known as Mt. Shiveer. I was a guard in a war before I was driven out for reasons I would...rather not explain." "Whoa, hold up.." said Matt, "I didn't ask to hear your life story." Matthew turned to Timber and whispered "This...THING isn't real...It can't be."

"What was that, sir?" said Angel with a surprisingly giddy tone in his voice. "Oh, nothing." said Timber. Angel wagged his tail, and decided to take a look at his surroundings. It was barren. Dead trees from a distance, it looked terrible. His tail dropped, thwocking the ground. His smile turned to a worried frown as he asked quietly "What happened...?"

"What happened? It's been like this for months! Heck, maybe even a year!" Matthew laughed. "Hey, at least we have each other, right?" Timber spoke up cheerfully. "Oh, yeah, it's all pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows! Everything will be O-K!" He huffed sarcastically. "Well.. I guess it's nice to be around other animals.." Matt had been alone for so long, he forgot others even existed.

Angel started to become angry and depressed. What happened to his mom? What happened to Captain? He tried to hold back the tears, but he couldn't. He started to cry, his tears hot from anger and singeing his face. "Wh-who did this to everyone? Why?" "Wh-who did this to everyone? Why?" While the eagle brushed the wolf off as a dumb vision from blood loss, Timber rushed to his aid. "It's okay.. We don't know what happened, but we have each other, and that's what matters. I'm sorry all your friends are gone, we lost alot of friends too.. Right, Matthew?" He huffed. He was a lone eagle even when this wasn't a desolate wasteland. He stole from many, and in some places, was a known criminal. Though, there was one animal. "Uhh.. I.. I used to have a brother.. His name was Apollo. The kid was so young.. So.. Bright. He was such a comedian, too. He had  his life laid out, and he was ready for anything.. But when the air turned toxic, he was stuck in the canyons, and he's dead as a ladybeetle beside a bugzapper." Soon, his eyes turned grim. "Why am I telling a hallucination about my family?.. I'm such an idiot.." Matthew growled, and stumbled away. "It's all going to be ok, you got that, Angel? We're your new friends, and we'll do anything to help you!"

As Angel stopped sobbing, he smiled and rubbed his nose against Timber as a sign of appreciation for her care. "It's nice to know that even in a desolate wasteland, I have people that care about me." Then he thought about what Matthew had said. "Ehm...heh heh...excuse me," Angel remarked "I am not a hallucination. I am absolutely real." He reached out his paw and lightly touched Matthew's wing. "See? Real as can be." "About as real as cheetah dragon hybrids." The eagle grumbled as he shuffled away and neatly sat beside a tree trunk. Once more, it began to rain. Matt had spent his time beside the tree, and Angel was pondering what could of happened to his beloved Jamaa. Timber was sitting in the middle of the clearing, but she suddenly got up, and walked up beside Matt. "What do you want.." "Nothing." She replied. He stared at her big, blue eyes, but looked away before she noticed. He attempted to reposition his wet, soggy wings, but found himself sheltering Timber from the rain. He was very big, especially for a eagle, and with a near 14-foot wingspan, if he really, really tried. Timber inched closer to him, and suprisingly, Matt didn't move his wing. "What.. do.. You.. Want." He growled. "I don't want anything, Matthew.. It's.. Uhm, cold. In the rain. Alone." Timber didn't exactly have an explanation. Once more, Timber began to warm up next to his fluffy bird torso.

Angel squealed, breaking a short silence between the three of them. Timber and Matthew turned to him, and Angel was smiling a wide, excited smile and bouncing up and down like a Mexican jumping bean. "God dang it, what the heck are you doing Angel!" shouted Matthew, his ears pounding. Timber didn't say a thing, she merely looked up at Matthew in silence. "Oh, nothing," replied Angel, "It's just that you two are the most adorable thing together!" Matthew blushed and quickly lifted his wing, looking away. Timber looked the other way, shifting her paws. Angel smirked and continued to eye his surroundings.

Angel was out hunting, when he saw a carcass up ahead. When got up to it, he noticed, it was a live wolf. The wolf noticed him and started to growl at Angel. The wolf tried to take a bite at Angel's ankle, but he just barely dodged the attack. Then, out of nowhere, a smoke-like substance filled the air around Angel and the wolf. Angel quickly flew out of it, he didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't smoke. Then, he could tell it was a tear gas of sorts, because the wolf fainted, or possibly died. The tear gas cleared out, and a cheetah jumped down from a nearby tree. Angel thought she looked nice enough, and if she wasn't, he could just fly away. So, he decided to talk to her. "Who.. are you?" Angel asked the cheetah. "A cheetah who does witchcraft.. Why exactly do you ask?" The cheetah responded. "Well, I just wanna know, and I was looking for a name." Angel replied. "Melissa is the name, oh, and, by the way, I threw a short-range tear gas potion, in case you were wondering what that was. So, who are you..?" Melissa explained. "My name is Angel.. I'm and angel wolf hybrid." Angel said. "Well, Angel, I'll be off now, have to find more food.." Melissa said, slightly glumly. "Wait! I can help. I have two friends a bit back in the forest, you could join us if you wish." Angel supposed. "Well.. I'll come to meet your.. 'friends'.. then I'll decide if I wanna stay with you guys." Melissa responded.

As they padded back to where Matthew and Timber where, Melissa looked around at her barren surroundings. "It's terrible what he did to this place." she calmly remarked "He?" said Angel questioningly, "Who's he?" "Eh, just blow it off. I didn't say a thing." she said looking away from him. "Why did you save me anyways?" commented Angel. "That guy was being a dingus." she explained simply. Angel turned away and continued marching back to the camp. As he got closer to Timber and Matthew, Timber started to smell an unfamiliar scent; Melissa. She snarled, yipping in alarm. Matthew didn't get as anxious this time. "Calm down toots," said Matthew "It's probably another one of my hallucinations." "No," she growled "I can smell cheetah blood." Then she recognized the scent of Angel. "It's Angel, I can smell Angel!" she exclaimed worriedly. "Angel?" asked Matthew "But he's just a hallucination, don't worry about him." She yipped louder, curling her lip back even more. Finally, Angel walked in with Melissa at his side.