NOTE: AS OF NOVEMBER 4TH 2022, BEAR TRAP IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Nate always felt anxious every time he stepped out of his den into the world beyond. He knew he had a destiny, and it wasn't a destiny to look forward to.
When he was just a very young cub, a Porcupine Witch had come to his mother and bestowed this curse on her, "From this day forward, each and every one of sons will someday get hurt where it hurts the most, so bad that they will wish that they were dead. But with this curse also comes a blessing, for no matter how they get hurt, no matter how bad, no injury they receive will result in permanent damage."
Well, needless to say, Nate's mother had been horrified. At first, Nate wasn't sure what she'd meant by "where it hurts the most," but he didn't like the sound of "they will wish that they were dead."
Now that he was older, he thought he got it now, and somehow that hadn't made it any more comforting.
He'd remembered hearing the screams of his brothers bursting through the trees as one by one they had come face to face with their fate. He didn't even want to know.
Sitting down, he looked around the woods cautiously, nobody in sight, he lowered his front paws to feel himself. He flinched, his paw coming in a little too hard. He couldn't imagine what it must feel like to be hit down there, it was just so sensitive and... exposed, right there in the open where anything could get him.
He clinched his legs together, but that didn't help really, just made him feel weirder. He just felt so sensitive there, he didn't want to think about what it'd be like when he faced his "Big Moment."
"What'cha doing?"
Suddenly, Nate shot to attention as a cute girl bear, same age as him, stepped out from behind the trees. She'd just seen him, hadn't she?
"I, uh, nothing." Nate quickly announced.
"It's okay, I understand," she said, "males are weird. I'd feel weird if I was a male too, I think."
Nate didn't know how to respond, so instead, he just got to his paws, "I, uh got to go. It was nice talking to you." And he turned to go.
"We didn't really talk," the girl called after him.
As he left the area behind, little did he know that he would be joining his brothers in a world of pain in just a few days.
A few days later, Nate was walking through the forest when he came upon a quiet clearing. It looked nice and peaceful so he decided to step out and soke in the warm Sun.
He was only a few steps in when he saw something glinting in the sunlight hidden in the grass. A sinking feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach. Cautiously, he kicked a stick toward the glint...
SNAP!
Nate's heart quickened, his suspicions were correct, it was a bear trap.
And as he saw a bunch more glints of sunlight in the grass, he realized he'd stepped into a whole field of them.
Nate had heard how painful it could be to get trapped in a bear trap and he wanted no part of it.
So cautiously, he backed out of the clearing.
Once back at the edge of the woods, he began to relax, he was out of the woods, or more accurately, he was back in them, but that was more comforting.
Exhausted from his panic, he sat down, back to a tree.
SNAP!
At first, he didn't know what happened, his whole body just jerked. And then he looked down at his lap.
