Wilderness

Chapter 8

  Raven woke up and yawned as he stretched. He hadn’t slept that good in a while. Being leader of the pack he’s always having to be on the lookout, so it took a lot out of him. He sat up and yawned again before looking around. He was confused. Where was River and Rain?

  He got up and looked around, River?

  He transformed into his human form and looked around as he stood up and started walking around the small clearing. “River? Rain?”

  He got no answer for a few moments. When he turned around, though, River was standing behind him. He jumped and put a hand to his chest as he tried to even his breathing again. “You were looking for me?”

  Raven nodded, “Yeah, I was.”

  River looked at his best friend and nodded, he had a feeling he knew what Raven wanted him for. He was still slightly limping but it didn’t hurt him much anymore. “What’s up?”

  Raven looked around, “Where’s Rain?”

  River fidgeted a bit before he looked down. He didn’t know whether or not he should tell him what happened. In the end, he knew he had to, “She left.”

  Raven looked at him confused, “What do you mean she left? She left to go find shelter for the night?”

  “Something like that.”
  “Alright, then we need to go get her so we can get her out of here.”

  River shook his head and took a deep breath, “No, Raven, she left. Rain went to the town already.”

  Raven shook his head, still unsure what he was being told, “What do you mean? When did she leave?”

  “Not long after you fell asleep last night. She wouldn’t have survived another night, Raven. She had to go.”

  Raven shook his head, anger burning up inside of him. She left? She left without saying goodbye? But…why? “Why did you let her go?”

  “I had no choice, Raven, she was going whether or not I allowed it. She wouldn’t have survived another night out here, Raven. She was going to die.”

  “You should have stopped her! You should have woke me up! I could have gone with her! For all you know she could be dead!” Raven started pacing as he ran his hands through his hair.

  “Raven, she wanted to go.” River watched his best friend nervously. He knew Raven would react like this, but he knew this was when Raven was less violent.

  “I should have been awake. She didn’t even say goodbye.”

  “She said goodbye. You were just asleep.”

  “I should have been awake,” Raven repeated in a whisper. He put his hands to his face and dropped to his knees as he legs gave out. He never felt this way. He never felt like he had lost something important. More like he lost a part of himself. All his life he felt he had everything he could need. When he met River he felt like he had become whole again after losing his father. Now he felt like a part of him, a part that he didn’t even knew was there, was missing. How was he going to survive this?

  “She wanted me to tell you something, Raven.”

  “What?”

  “She wanted me to tell you that she never hated you.”

  Raven looked up at River who was now sitting in front of him, “She didn’t?”

  River shook his head, “No, she loved you. She loved both of us.”

  Raven gave a humorless laugh, “Yeah that makes me feel loads better.”

  River bit his lip as he watched his best friend, “I know how you feel. I feel the same way.”

  Raven shook his head and stood up, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  River watched his best friend and sighed, Raven was back to acting like a pack leader again. River stood up as well and winced, “Now what?”

  “We go back to the pack. You need to get your leg rested.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” River looked at his friend concerned.

  “I’m fine, River, we need to take care of you.”

  Both boys stared at each other before Raven turned back into a wolf and started walking off. River sighed and did the same thing following after his leader. Before they left the clearing both boys stopped and turned back, looking at the clearing, the place they had both last seen Rain before she walked out of the lives for good. This time, she wasn’t coming back, and they both knew that.

  Raven closed his eyes as he remembered the girl he had met here in the woods. The girl that broke every wall he had and touched a place in his heart he didn’t know existed.

  River remembered the girl that ran away from them when they exposed their secret to her. The girl that brightened up his world when he didn’t think it could get brighter.

  Both boys knew they were going to miss this girl, as she was the one for both of them. They needed her, but now she was gone. And they had to move on.