The Howler (Bruce Banner/Hulk Fanfiction)

Chapter 22: Wandering

Fingo awoke with a start and jolted Fanggo awake beside him. Fanggo moaned as he stretched out a paw and rested it against his brother's shoulder. "Fingo, go back to sleep. It's dawn," he complained loudly.

A growl rolled in Fingo's throat as he pushed his brother's paw away. "Fanggo, stop! This is important!" He tried to rush to his paws, but he forgot about his broken paw. He yelped as he fell heavily on his side and rolled onto his back with his teeth grit together in agony.

Fanggo was on his paws in a moment and pressed against his brother. He rolled him onto his side and licked him between the ears. "Alright, easy. What do you think you're doing, rushing to your paws like that?"

"Sorry," Fingo muttered once the pain stopped flowing in uncontrollable succession. "I just saw a sign from Starbound. They want us to find the human that cursed us to live like this? The human that caused you to turn into The. Howler."

Fanggo's blood went cold as the fur along his spine spiked. He gave his head a powerful shake. "I don't know that this is such a good idea. We should just stay here and-"

The healer's eyes hardened as he sunk his claws into the earth and tried to rush back to his paws. He was certainly slower, but he managed to stand and not jar his leg. "We can't just stay here! We need to figure this out if you ever want to start a family," he interrupted.

"Family," echoed Fanggo with a twitch of his right ear in shock. He lowered his head so that his cheek was pressed against his brother's. "Fingo, what are you talking about?"

Fingo pulled away from his brother. Fire burned in his belly intensely and he was forced to look at his paws before the feeling overwhelmed him. "Fanggo, you can't have pups and neither can I. There's a chance that any pups that we have will potentially have the power that floods through your veins. The pain that you feel and the fear could be in any one of your pups that you will ever have."

"Then, I can't ever have a mate either," croaked Fanggo. The realization seemed to dawn on him slowly. He massive wolf crumpled to the ground and rested his head on his paws as his tail curled around his haunches. "Briar and I could've never been happy if I couldn't have given her pups."

"I shouldn't have been mates with Shuriken. I didn't know then what I know now about it. I'm sorry, Fanggo," Fingo told him. He then shook his head and straightened even more. "Okay, we need to make sense of this and the only way is to speak to the human who we have been cursed after. Please, Fanggo. We can stop this. We just have to work together. Just like we always have." Fingo rested his lame paw over his brother's paw.

Fanggo's head tilted up as he looked to his brother. Tears sparked in his eyes as he looked down. "I loved Briar, just like you loved Shuriken."

"I know, I know," chided Fingo softly. He pressed against him and touched his nose to his ear. "That means we have to try this so that when you fall in love with another she-wolf, you can give her the pups that she wants. I need to do the same."

"We'll stay together. No surprise. We need to keep The Howler contained as much as possible," Fanggo rested as he skirted forward slowly and out of the makeshift den that he had found and stuffed him and his brother in. It was slightly smaller than he would've liked, but Fingo had been unconscious and he hadn't had time to be overly picky about it.

Fingo scrambled after his brother. He struggled a little more than he would've liked. His broken leg was extremely tender and still swollen, not to mention painful. He gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up and struggled not to use his front paw as much as possible. He lumbered himself up onto the hill beside his brother so that their fur was brushing. He pulled his front paw up to almost his chest and sighed heavily.

"Do you have any clue where we are going," questioned Fanggo when he noticed his brother hesitating.

"No, but we can't just stand here and think about which way to go. We have to start somewhere, don't we?" Fingo twitched his tail tip behind him almost in frustration before he bounded forward. He tried desperately to favor his front paw, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. The sooner that they started off, the more he could walk before it would really be a struggle.

Fanggo kept close to his brother as he led them through the forest. He had absolutely no idea where they were going. He could smell the scents of the forest, but that didn't help them determine where to roam. He kept close to him and gave him a little nudge when he needed so. They didn't speak for the time being as Fingo huffed loudly when he walked. Fanggo didn't like to wave from his brother's side even when Fingo growled in annoyance.

They suddenly halted when they came up to a swift moving river that intercepted their path. Fanggo walked in opposite directions along the river both ways before realizing that there was no way for him to fix it. He huffed angrily as his tail kinked over his back. "We're going to have to swim across if we want to get across."

Fingo's eyes widened. "I can't swim."

"I said wade. There's a different. Wading just means you walk through it. There is no swimming," Fanggo explained when he saw the panicked look in his brother's eye. "I'll be right beside you the entire time. I won't let you drown, I promise."

Fingo tensed his body as he nodded slowly. He took a few steps forward and slipped on the back. Fanggo lunged forward and sunk his teeth into his brother's shoulder, hauling him to his paws and allowing him to press against him. Fanggo helped his brother slid forward with his tail wrapped around his haunches so that he wouldn't fall forward. He couldn't have him disappearing into the murky depths and drowning. He easily continued down the embankment just as their paws touched the tips of the water.

"You'll be fine," reassured Fanggo gently. "Just take in a breath, alright? Focus. I'm right here."

"I used to reassure you, you know," Fingo puffed. He didn't like the way that Fanggo appeared to be helping him just now. While he appreciated his brother, he needed to be the one offering console. "You're still my little brother, you know that."

They slipped deeper into the water. It was cool and caused Fanggo to flinch. "I'm well aware, big brother. That doesn't mean that you don't need help sometimes. Besides, you'll continue to look out for me. I know that to be an absolute fact!"

"Sure, sure, Fanggo. Whatever you say," mumbled Fingo as a wave lapped up at his neck and chest. He gasped in surprise at the chill as he continued forward. The water rushed over his back and threatened to pull at his body. Fanggo kept him upright as the two of them fought against the churning water. He grumbled to himself as he finally made it to the bank.

The two of them hauled their way out and were left slightly matted and shivering masses on the side of the bank. Fanggo gave his pelt an unceremonious shake. It splashed Fingo on the muzzle and into the eyes. "Thanks a lot, Fanggo," he growled harshly as he flicked a paw over his eyes. "Now I'm soaking wet for both of our goods."

"We had better get somewhere warmer. We don't want either one of us to get sick," muttered Fanggo as he lowered his head into his shoulders. "Need some help walking? You can lean on me."

Fingo would've liked to argue, but his muscles were already exhausted. As a healer, he didn't remember walking this much at all. Now his body was clearly protesting it. "Fine," he muttered.

Fanggo pressed against Fingo as the two hobbled forward slowly. They made their way back into the forest. Fanggo easily found another shaded patch of trees that offered some peace and quiet as well as protection. Fingo was positively shaking as he slumped down with his eyes almost closed as he did so. Fanggo lowered down beside him and started to lap at his brother's fur in an attempt to warm him.

"Maybe in the morning we'll figure out a different direction to go in," Fanggo suggested with a small yawn as he snuggled into he heavy ground. "Maybe one of us will be given a dream from Starbound."

    "Yeah, maybe," agreed Fingo as his shoulders fell backwards and consciousness started to fade.