Fear and Hate

"Caw-caw!!!"

The raven, as black as tar, playfully pecked at Frey. Frey chuckled, and nudged him off his arm. "No Shadow," he began. "I have work to do, and I want to go home already." Thinking the bird had gone, he gathered some wood and began to light up a fire. It was an excruciatingly cold evening, and Frey just couldn't wait to get all snuggled up and cozy right next to the blazing fire, after a long day's worth of hard work...

"Caw!!!!!!!!!"

"Ah!"

"Jesus! You scared me, silly! Now I'm busy right now, and really want to stay home, where it's nice and warm. We can't play now, maybe tomorrow. Shadow pecked at his Master affectionately, drawing blood this time. "Look, there's a whole flock of other ravens over there, just like you. Go play with them."

"CAW!!!" Frey shouted at the flock, which immediately flew away from them in fear.

Shadow cooed at his master, a very sorrowful coo that made tears brim from his Master's eyes.

"No, Shadow. We can't look for her now. For all we know, she could be dead, or worse, with someone else already. Sometimes, you just gotta let things go. When there's no hope left, give up and move on. Don't try anything new, and you'll never have anything to fear. Ever."

At this the raven seemed infuriated at his Master, now fiercely clawing at him in the stomach.

"Damn it, Shadow! Get off!" Shadow took off into the endless night sky.

After what seemed like ages, Frey waited patiently for his beloved bird companion. He mused to call and see if the ravens would fly out of the snow-covered trees at his horrid cries.

"CAW!!!"

Nothing but a pile of snow fell from the trees into his face.

Not wanting to break the silence with his gloomy thoughts, he slouched grumpily to the tent, this time, with no raven trailing playfully after him. Why did no one want to be his friend? Was it something he did or said, or did everyone just plain hate him? 

He shivered in the cold wind, which nearly blew out the fire he worked so hard to start. Maybe I should go back home and start things over again. The fire crackled loudly, interrupting his thoughts as if laughing at him. The wind blew out the fire. And tomorrow would be another day to ponder and grumble and complain about.

                                                       ~ ~ ~

They next day, Frey woke up to a horrible sound, and a horrible smell. Not wanting to open his eyes, he kept them shut, but an invisible force seemed to force them open. A great, ugly, bear-like monster, Ursa, stood a few millimeters away from his face, and was about to claw his eyes out...

Not thinking before doing any of this, Frey jabbed an arrow into the beast's eye and ran as fast as he could, not thinking anything except to get away from it. But faster and faster, the beast charged at a lighting fast speed. The monster caught up to him in no time. Knowing it was hopeless, he dropped to the snow-covered ground helplessly, waiting for the beast to kill him...

A thrash of light. Terrible screeches and screams pierced his ears. The blood oozed out from the wounds in the beast's hide like a waterfall. The monster roared, an earthshattering sound that echoed across the empty, lifeless field.

All is not lost, a voice seemed to whisper.

Wait, what? A sliver of hope seemed to linger from deep within. No, it's just me, he thought.