The Howler (Bruce Banner/Hulk Fanfiction)

Chapter 21: What to Do?

Eventually, Fingo's eyes drifted open as pain flashed through him. He curled into almost a fetal position as the pain seemed to engulf him. His ears were pinned against his head. He moaned as he rolled over.

Suddenly, something was plopped right down in front of his muzzle. He blinked his eyes a little wider as he glanced up to see his brother standing in front of him. Fanggo pushed a shrew in front of his brother's face. "Eat up," he pressed as he sat across from him.

"I'm not hungry," Fingo groaned as he turned away from the prey. "I think I might vomit if I try to eat it."

Fanggo wasn't about to take no for an answer. "You have to eat. You've been asleep for almost a day. I think that you broke your paw," Fanggo confessed as he flicked his ear toward his brother's foreleg.

Fingo glanced down and immediately felt sick. His paw was slightly sprawled at a strange angle and it was slightly numb. Nausea rose inside of him as he tipped his head to his brother. "I need you to do me a favor. You have to snap it back in."

"What? Me? I can't do that," Fanggo argued with a harsh shake of his head. He wrinkled his nose a bit as he drew away. "I'm not a healer or anything close. What if I hurt you?"

Fingo rolled his eyes. "You can't hurt me anymore than I've already been hurt. I promise you that you can't mess me up anymore," he confessed as he flicked his well paw. "If not it's going to get a lot worse. I'll be lame for the rest of my life."

If that hadn't started Fanggo before, it sure did now. He hung his head as he pressed over to his brother. "You're going to have to guide me thought it. I-I don't want to make it worse," he stammered fearfully.

"You can't make it worse," Fingo repeated. He rolled onto his good side with his bad paw stretched out as much as he could manage. "Now, you need to easily turn it and place it back in one move, okay? As smoothly as possible if you can help it."

Fanggo stretched out his paw and grasped his brother's leg with his teeth. "I really don't want to hurt you," he mumbled through his brother's foreleg.

"It's going to hurt. There's no way around it," Fingo started as he closed his eyes. "Just do it quickly, alright? This won't be pleasant."

Fanggo was tempted to close his own eyes. However, he thought better of it. His brother needed him to see. He looked up and then pulled at his foreleg harshly. He heard it snap back, bone against bone, and wailed in surprise at what he had just done. Fingo let out a tiny moan with his eyes scrunched.

"Don't ever make me do something like that again," Fanggo snapped as he laid down next to his brother with horror showing in his gaze.

Fingo grunted heavily. He lifted a paw and brushed it against his face. He was beginning to feel feeling back in his paw once more. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt, but it was better than nothing. "Yes, like it wasn't painful for me," he muttered.

"Sorry, sorry." Fanggo shifted a bit and pulled the shrew close to his brother. "It would make me feel better if you ate something, please? It would make me feel a little bit better."

He saw the fear in his little brother's eyes. He stifled a sigh as he shook his head heavily. "Alright, fine. I'll blame you if I'm sick later," he grumbled. He brought the shrew closer to his muzzle and started to gnaw at it. The taste was vile and he had to struggle not to choke on any of the prey as it rolled down his throat. He took a few more swift bites before he pushed it away from himself. "You can have the rest. I'm full."

"You should have more. You're very skinny," Fanggo pointed out. His stomach rumbled loudly, but he tried to force it down. He had to let his brother eat as much as he could. They might not be able to always have prey this plentiful.

Fingo turned so that his head was pressed against his brother's thick fur. He shuddered heavily as he managed to shift into his brother. "You're warm," he mumbled distractedly. "And I'm cold."

Fanggo was sure that that was some of the fever that he felt wafting from him in waves. He wanted to ask his brother what it was about, but he guessed it had something to do with his injury. He recalled Fingo telling him that he had had a fever when he had been injured by the bear. It was just scarier when it dealt with his brother. He just willed that everything would be good throughout the night.

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Fingo groaned as he felt someone prod his shoulder with a paw. He went to roll over, but his muzzle splashed into a pool of water. He grimaced as he coughed on the water and lifted his head quickly. He gave it a much needed shake as his shoulders lifted as well as his eyes lifting.

"Look what we have here. I was beginning to think you'd never come back here," a voice scoffed.

Fingo would recognize that voice anywhere. He lifted a paw and thrust it over his eyes. "Olar, I've been kind of busy, you know that. Besides, I didn't think that I have a connection anymore. The packs are no more."

Olar didn't seem surprised. She leaned forward and touched her nose to Fingo's ear. "I know, little one. That doesn't mean that Starbound suddenly disappears. We're always going to be here for you, no matter what you feel or no matter what you need."

"That doesn't answer any of the questions that I have for you, Olar. Nor did it ever answer any of the questions that I had for you. I was always worried about finding the truth and now it's all that I need. We have nowhere to go and I have no idea what to do. How am I supposed to make sense of this to Fanggo?"

Olar lowered down so that her muzzle was almost touching Fingo's. Fingo went to pull back, but Olar wouldn't allow it. "Then do something that does make sense."

Fingo turned up his lips in disgust for a moment as he tried to make sense of what Olar was saying. "What," he pressed.

"What makes sense as to what you should do now? I think that it would be wise to figure out more about your brother and you, don't think? Maybe find why you are the way that you are," she suggested with a flick of her tail tip to and fro.

Fingo didn't want to admit that he didn't know much about what Olar was saying. He tipped his head a bit before he rested his head back on his paws. "And how would you suggest that I do this?"

"Follow what your heart tells you, no matter how impossible. You know what to do, Fingo. Your brother is counting on you. You only have each other now. Might as well make the most of it," Olar told him as she turned and lashed her tail against the ground as she walked away.

    Fingo rose to his paws and favored his broken one. He hobbled after her with his ears shoved forward. "Olar, please. Olar!"

    He suddenly gasped as he stumbled forward. His muzzle pressed against the dirt as he noticed the mist starting to grow up. His paws turned suddenly transparent as everything went black.