The Heartbeat of a Rabbit (and a wolf) ¡ soothalo

3. It's You

Green orbs stared intensely at the wolf cross, his white ears twitching as they pointed straight up. The wolf seem unnerved as Bad watched his every move. Wilbur's brown eyes occasionally switching back and forth from his book to Bad to his book again and to Bad. Again.

One gray-brown ear turning down as the other attentively twirled.

"Uhm," Wilbur lowered his book as he looked at the staring rabbit, "Do you need anything? Is your leg hurting?"

Bad blinked before averting his eyes away, "No. I'm fine."

Wilbur placed his book on the floor. "You really don't like me, do you?" He joked.

The rabbit didn't disagree as he looked at the wolf, "I just can't trust a predator. They're all the same, for all I know, you're probably planning on skinning my skin and cooking me for rabbit stew."

Wilbur averted his eyes awkwardly, "Besides from instincts, why do you hate predators so much?"

"You're a meat-eater as well, why should I tell you?"

"Not all meat-eaters are predators, you know? Like crows or vultures, they don't hunt. They eat already dead things."

Bad's cheeks reddened, "I know that. Most meat-eaters are predators anyways, doesn't change the cycle at all."

"Why do you hate predators so much?" Wilbur repeated his question.

Bad didn't answer. His eyes avoiding the question as his mind wondered as if he was trying to find the right words.

The harsh winds from the outside scratched onto the cabin's walls as the fire tried its damn hardest to create a warmth that the conversation burned.

Cracks of wood-burning were the only soothing thing that was minimally lessening a tension.

"My family was killed," Bad paused, "They were all killed by a predator league."

Wilbur's ears perked forward, listening with an intent that Bad was unsure of.

Bad took a shaky breath before continuing, "We were resting inside a cave. It was dark and the fire had been put out for the night so we wouldn't get noticed."

"It was quiet. Nothing was out of the ordinary of the winter winds. You could hear the river streams if you listened close enough,"

One of Bad's ears swiveled before coming back to its position,

"My were eyes closed as I snuggled next to my family for warmth. My sister and I huddled together while my dad was behind me and my mom behind my sister."

"It wasn't until I heard a noise. It wasn't the wind or the river streams, but a large crunch of snow next to the sound of metal and wood. My family and I immediately went on alert as we looked around the outside that we could see."

"At first, I saw nothing. Just the dark blue foggy sky with the shadows of trees, the snow fading as it entered the cave, and the falling of white specks."

"My heart was pounding like crazy," Bad ran his fingers through his hair, "I could never forget the fear I had felt."

"I didn't know what to do when I saw a figure within the fog, I'm sure my family didn't know either. They had a furred parka coat that had stopped below their knees."

"She was a wolf cross," Bad looked at Wilbur, watching the wolf seem guilty of a crime he didn't do.

Bad continued while he averted his eyes, "She had a crossbow in her hand, wolf ears nestled in her blonde hair, a furred tail, and was wearing furred boots."