The Howler (Bruce Banner/Hulk Fanfiction)

Chapter 16: Guidance Lost

Fanggo awoke and realized that he wasn't in the cave that he had fallen asleep in. Grass wafted around him and the scent of moisture was replaced by the sweet breeze of open air and maple trees. He immediately rushed to his paws with his fur fluffed out in terror.

He suddenly gasped when he looked down and saw the dark brown fur beginning to show on his foreleg. Fanggo gritted his teeth together as he lifted a paw to smother it down. He growled to himself before he lashed his tail as he felt the usual pain that started to accompany him.

"Fanggo."

Fanggo turned and let out a choked growl. His eyes finally landed on a dark gray male wolf with thick, black markings on his face and blue eyes. His has large paws and thick, corse fur. His eyes were gentle, yet firm at the same time. He carried himself with dignity and a lack of fear as he lumbered forward. He stood across from Fanggo as a low rumble rolled in the back of his throat.

"Fanggo. Look at how you've grown. You've even bigger than me now. Who would've thought," he chuckled lightly with his tail slightly wagging.

Fanggo groaned, still trying to control that fight within. He looked up to the wolf as one eye flickered yellow and the other flickered green. "Who are you," he managed to spat out through clenched teeth.

The wolf seemed hurt for a moment. The disappointment flickered and was replaced by joy. "I'd say that I'm surprised that you don't remember me, but I died before you were even born. It broke my heart to leave you and your brother when I knew that you mother was expecting you. That being said, I wouldn't have done things differently. I needed to protect my pack."

The words seemed to ring true as to what his mother had said. He blinked his eyes as he looked up. "You're....."

"My name is Trodar. I am your father," he explained as he took another step toward. That just caused Fanggo to growl with his back arching and fur bristling along his spine. Trodar took a step back with his head lowered into his shoulders. "Alright, calm down. There's no need to get yourself riled up."

Fanggo clenched his teeth tougher. "Get back!" Pain seared through him as he spat on the ground. "Get back!" He sunk his claws into his foreleg as blood spurted out.

Trodar's eyes widened in surprise. He crept closer to his son and touched his nose to his forehead. Immediately, Fanggo felt a spark of something corse through his entire body. His teeth gritted together before he let out a deep sigh and collapsed backwards. His entire body felt exhausted and he breathed heavily.

"You must learn to control that," Trodar rumbled as he flicked his paw against the ground harshly as if the jolt had impacted him too.

Fanggo was more than surprised. The horrible Howler feeling that had risen inside of him seemed to disappear. He let out an uneasy breath as he faced Trodar. "How did you know how to do that?"

Trodar snored in amusement as he waltzed over to his son with triumph showing in his gaze. "It's a trick that I was gifted with. I'm just sad that it was never put to use," he confessed with a tip of his head.

Fanggo's mouth went try as he struggled to answer. "Do you know why this has happened to me?"

"I'm not all knowing, Fanggo. Not even close really," he confessed as he he kinked his tail over his back. "I just know that I have gifts and so do you."

"Gift," scoffed Fanggo as he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "This is far from a gift. I can assure you of that! This is far from fair."

A growl rolled in Trodar's throat. "What about your brother? Does he have gifts?"

"He's smarter than any other wolf that I've ever met. They sat that that's a gift, but he doesn't really connect with other wolves very well. I'm not sure if that is the same," confessed Fanggo as he lifted a paw and scratched it over his ear. "Either way, it's not right."

A look of loss washed over Trodar's face. He let out a heavy sigh as he shook his flank. "I'm afraid that thins aren't going to get better for a while."

"What?!"

"It's time for you to go," snapped Trodar.

Fanggo shook on his paws. "You can't just say something like that and then let me go," he yowled with his claws spiked against the ground.

"You must go! We will see each other soon," reassured Trodar as he looked away from his son and walked in the opposite direction.

Fanggo felt the tug at his fur and his eyes hardened. He let out a yowl before he felt the entire world go black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No!"

Fanggo sprang to his paws and tumbled over Fingo's body. Fingo let out a squeal of shock as Fanggo fell face first as his muzzle smashed against the ground. Blood spurted from his nose and the scent caused Jolt to stir. He rolled onto his underbelly with his ears folded against his head.

Fingo padded over to his brother and rested his paw on his shoulder as Fanggo rested a paw against his nose. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Sorry. Just a nightmare," he lied as he let out a small snort that caused his nose to bleed even more. "I'm alright. Just shook up is all."

Fingo nodded slowly as he drew away from his brother and looked over to Jolt. The young pup shook his head sleepily as Fingo nudged him to his paws. "I didn't receive any sign from our ancestors. Clearly they're going to leave us to suffer. Anyone else shown anything?"

Jolt shook his head just as Fanggo did the same. Fingo narrowed his eyes as he let out a long sigh. "I think that it's about time we expand."

"Expand," Fanggo pressed.

Fingo rolled his eyes. "I think that I made a mistake with Shuriken. I need to ask her advice. She's the last one that I think can help us."

"Is there a rush," inquired Jolt as he tilted his head in fear.

Fanggo immediately extended a paw and wrapped it around Jolt's body protectively. He touched his nose to the pup's ear. "It's alright. We just want to protect ourselves. The more that want to help us the better. We'll take it," he pointed out.

Jolt tilted his head up to his mentor. "Does this mean I really can't tell anyone? Not even Ginger," he pressed with squinted eyes.

Fingo took a step forward and sighed. "Yes, Jolt. You really can't tell anyone and I mean that," he growled firmly.

The pup seemed a bit taken aback. He shook out his pelt as he pressed against Fanggo's paw and yawned. "Okay, okay. I won't. I promise," he mumbled softly with his head lolled to the side, his jaws stretched in another yawn once the other one finished.

"We should get him back," Fanggo told his brother. This was all so much for this tiny pup. He suddenly wished that he hadn't told Jolt everything, or really showed him. He pinned his ears once more against his head and sighed heavily. "It's been a long day and tomorrow I have to show him the territory. I can't have his training suffer for this."

Fingo glanced down at him. He suddenly realized how young he was and nodded. "I know, I know. I'll try hard to make sure that it doesn't. I'm just concerned for you is all."

Fanggo recalled his father's words ringing in his ears. He shook his head as he nudged Jolt's shoulder gingerly. "You don't have to be worried about me. You should be worried about Jolt. I can manage with this. I don't know if he can," he confessed

    Fingo pressed against his brother and rested his tail across his shoulders. "He's a pup. He'll bounce back, I promise." His voice was hot on Fanggo's ear. "Let's just talk about this more in the morning."

    Fanggo sniffed, pleased to find that his nose had stopped bleeding. He sunk his teeth into Jolt's scruff and set him on his shoulders. Jolt snuggled down and Fanggo felt himself relax. He was actually protecting Jolt for once instead of causing him pain.

    "Come on, Jolt. Let's go home."