Fenrir's Story - Chapter II [by eirinym]

[eirinym]

Chapter II: To the City

Previous Chapter: Chapter I

A couple of days have passed since Fenrir and his sister foal met the unfortunate fate of being attacked by a coyote. Carrying her on his back, Fenrir tried to find a safe location to weather the aftermath of that encounter. His sister still in dire need of medical care, she is still unable to walk and in a lot of pain. Having managed to find a cluster of bushes in a park near a stream, the fluffies have set up camp, with Fenrir hoping his sister would get better.

‘Am sissy feew betta nao? Bwudda bwing nummies fwum twashies, am gud nummies.’ Fenrir placed the discarded bits of food he could manage to drag with him, or hold in his mouth, in front of his sister.

'Sissy am nu feew pwetty, buh wiww twy eat fo bwudda. Wuv bwudda, tank ‘ou fo nummies bwudda’ his sister mumbled, struggling to move towards the morsels.

She tried to eat a little, but each bite seemed like a struggle. Fenrir was losing hope that she would get better and so decided to try what he could think of to help. ‘Bwudda gib sissy huggies! Huggies make feew betta!’ he exclaimed, forgetting her injuries for a moment, somehow seized by the notion that hugs would cure her.

‘Eep! Huu huu… bwudda! Huwties! Huuu… am sowwie, wuv bwudda huggies, buh sissy nu feew pwetty, huggies gib wowstest owwies.’ She cried in frustration and despair, longing for the comfort of huggies but being completely unable.

Fenrir had no idea what to do. He began to cry, finally resolving himself to somehow find a way to help. 'Huu huu, am sowwie sissy, bwudda wuv 'ou. Bwudda wiww sweep next to sissy and keep wawm. Wiww wook fo munstah so nu huwt sissy ‘gin.’

They began cooing, taking what comfort they could and fell asleep. But Fenrir couldn’t sleep well, and kept waking up to watch for the monster, also with the feeling that he needed to see that his sister was still awake, and didn’t have forever sleepies. When morning came, he ventured once again to find more food from the trash and the sides of the paths where the humans would walk during the day. He observed them carefully, as he’d never seen humans before. His mummah had mentioned them before, but he didn’t know anything about them.

This time, on his way to where he found the trash previously, he was surprised to see his mummah again. What was she doing here? He thought he would never see her again.

‘Stawwion, wan be soon mummah, nee’ babbehs. Gib speshul huggies nao! Nee babbehs!’ His mother was talking to someone, then he saw a stallion come from behind a bush next to his mother.

‘Mawe am wan speshul huggies? Me gun be daddeh? Wuv babbehs’ said the stallion. He proceeded to move behind her and jump partially on top of her before moving oddly, from Fenrir’s perspective. ‘Enf enf enf’ he could hear him grunting.

‘Fwuffy am nu caew, just nee’ babbehs, nee’ bestest babbehs. Stoopie dummeh babbehs aww weav mummah back bwight times. Am gud mummah, smawty mummah… mummah… gud feews!’ his mother was rambling before getting lost in the moment.

Fenrir couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She gave bad hoofsies to two of his siblings! She abandoned all of them. This made Fenrir have heart hurties, and much saddies. Why was his mummah like this? Why didn’t she care unless it was about her?

‘Gud feeeeews!’ the stallion shouted. He lie panting for a few seconds, and then got off Fenrir’s mother. She started singing after. ‘Soon mummah wuv babbehs, babbehs wuv mummah. Make bestes’ miwkies’ fo bestes’ babbehs’~

The stallion then started to try and talk with Fenrir’s mother. ‘Am gun be nyu daddeh, Cowt so essited. Wiww soon mummah fwuffy be nyu speshul fwen? Speshul fwen wiww get nummies fo make gud miwkies!’

‘Nu caew, nu wan speshul fwen, jus wan babbehs, dummeh fwuffy, go wai, nu wanchu’ his mother snapped back at him. ‘Fwuffy nu need dummeh fwuffies, am smawty, bestes’ mummah can du aww fo babbehs, bestest babbehs wiww wuuuuv bestes’ mummah!’
‘Buh… buh… speshul fwen…’ the stallion started to tear up. Fenrir’s mother walked away from the stallion quickly, and out of Fenrir’s sight.

It was then that Fenrir heard a voice calling from the distance. ‘Colt? Colt~ Where have you gone boy?’ It was then a lady human came and walked towards the stallion. Finally, Fenrir also noticed the thing on the stallion he had been too distracted to notice before. It was a harness, with a loop for a leash, but of course something unlike anything Fenrir had ever seen.

‘There you are, Colt. I’ve been looking for you. Did you have a nice walk, did you make good poopies?’ the lady enquired.

‘Mummah, Cowt am saddies’ he started to sob. ‘Cowt gib speshul higgues fo mawe buh seh am dummeh fwuffy, nu can see soon babbehs… huu huu…’

‘Aww, I’m sorry sweetie. Don’t worry, Colt, you can have sketties at home, and you can get a nice bath and watch Fluff TV with me all night. Don’t you want sketties and huggies with momma?’ the lady tried to distract and console the stallion, named Colt, by appearances.

‘Weewy mummah? Sketties, Fwuff tee bee? An gib huggies an spwashies? Hee hee, wuv mummah!~’

With that, they walked away, the stallion being easily distracted. Fluffies being inherently low in attention capabilities, the good ones were easy to console and easy to manipulate. Of course, Fenrir had trouble understanding everything that was going on. But the stallion seemed to be very happy to be with a human. He even called her ‘mummah’, making Fenrir wonder whether having a human for a mummah would have been much better than the mummah he had. She’d never given any but her bestest babbeh anything, and threatened them constantly. It was no wonder Fenrir found it difficult to trust anyone but his siblings, the whole world seeming to be against them.

He continued onward, knowing he must get back to his sister. And with some minor success, he wound up back by his sister, food carried from his mouth. ‘Sissy, find mowe nummies. Du sissy nee wawas too? Bwudda can bwing’ he asked.

‘Nu, am otay bwudda, sissy am sweepie. Wiww eat nummies befow dawk time.’ His sister looked very tired. She still couldn’t move, and Fenrir felt the knot in his stomach grow with each passing bright time. Even he was starting to have tummy hurties from this, and it did not feel pretty.

Suddenly, he heard talking. It sounded like a human, a mister human walking far from the usual path.

‘No, I told you yesterday, we can’t make that deadline.—What? No, I’m not home right now. I’m at the park, I’m walking home now.—What do you mean, what am I doing here? I walked in for a meeting today and I’m walking home.—Hey, can I call you back, I think I heard something.—Yeah, talk to you later.’ The human put down the thing he was holding by his ear.

Fenrir realised he might have heard his sister rustling and crying a bit nearby. That gave Fenrir an extremely anxious feeling. The mister started walking towards their hidey place and Fenrir rushed to shield his sister. He didn’t want the human coming between them, and though he knew he had little hope of fending the man off, he had to try. As the human discovered them, Fenrir began to speak.

‘Don huwt sissy mistah hooman pweeeeease, pwease, sissy am huwties, nee wuv an huggies fo feew betta!’

The man was taken aback. ‘Hey little guy, I’m sorry I startled you. I’m not going to hurt you, are you okay? Why are you all alone?’ the man asked.

Fenrir didn’t know what to say. He just started trying to explain as best he could. ‘Bwudda an sissy was babbehs, wid mummah, buh mummah nu wan dummeh babbehs, said bwudda an sissy was dummeh babbehs. Buh monstah come, an mummah made stompies on sum babbehs, gib foweva sweepies, an monstah too. Onwy sissy an bwudda weft, buh sissy am sickies, nu can wawk. Weggies am su huwties, an hab tummeh huwties… and…’ Fenrir kept talking but the human understood and finally interrupted.

‘Okay little guy, I think I get the picture.’ He thought as he decided what to do. He didn’t really see the appeal of fluffies, but he wasn’t an asshole. He couldn’t leave tiny animals on the street like this who obviously needed help. From the sound of it, they were neglected and abused, only to be attacked and nearly killed. He knew people in his own family who neglected their children, and even worse, he knew of abuse from his cousins. After giving it some consideration, the man knew what to say. ‘Alright, listen. I’m not here to hurt you. I want to help, and I’ll take you and your sister to a fluffy vet/shelter I know of, and they’re good people. They’ll help both of you and get your sister all better. Does that sound good?’

Fenrir was unsure. It made him feel very good, and his body began reacting in ways his mind was telling him not to, that he should be wary, but his body wouldn’t listen. Unsure of which way to embrace, he felt the instinct overwhelming him. ‘Weewy, mistah, wiww be nyu daddeh? Fwuffy wuv nyu daddeh… err… uhh… nu, mean, mistah, wiww hewp sissy? If nice mistah wiww hewp sissy, bwudda wiww go wid nice mistah.’

The man was slightly confused, but he knew these fluffies had really mediocre communication skills. If anything it was quite weird they were essentially like talking to small toddlers. Dogs and cats couldn’t talk, but they sure acted more mature than these things. Nonetheless, he felt too much compassion to ignore their plight. ‘Sure little guy, I’ll definitely help her. I promise.’

With that he went to pick them up, but Fenrir took his sister on his back first. ‘Nee be caewfuw wid sissy nice mistah. Hab much huwties.’

The man was slightly surprised at this behaviour from a fluffy, but something about it made him feel good about his choice. He picked up Fenrir and his sister and placed them carefully on one of his arms near his chest, then they walked to his house, and got in his car to drive to the FluffCare Centre.

Upon arrival, the man entered with both fluffies in a basket, Fenrir trying to keep his shivering sister warm. The lady at the counter greeted him and asked, ‘Hello sir, what’s going on here, what can we do for you?’

‘Hi, yeah, I’m Mark. I found these two fluffy foals in a park, and it looks like one of them is injured. Two of her legs look pretty bad, and I noticed bruising on her stomach too. I think she needs urgent care.’

‘Oh, yes, let me take a look. Wow, we do need to get her into the doctor right away. Do you want us to take in the other foal, too, while she’s with the doctor? She will probably have to go into the OR, so it might be a couple of days of recovery.’

‘Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. He’ll be okay here, though?’ Mark asked. ‘Of course, sir. I’ll just need your name and contact information, and theirs as well, so we can interact with them better’ she replied.

‘Oh, my name is Mark Silvan. I don’t really know if they have names. Little guy, do you and your sister have names?’ he turned to Fenrir.

‘Namesies? Bwudda am bwudda and sissy am sissy…’ Mark knew he didn’t understand, and that meant they probably never were given names by their mother. ‘I don’t really know, I’d have to think about the names. They don’t seem to have any. What about Eurydice for the pink filly (Fenrir’s sister)?’ Mark said as he turned to the nurse.

‘That’s an interesting choice’ the nurse replied. It seemed she didn’t get the reference, but Mark spent a number of years working for a publisher of mythological nonfiction from academic authors, so for him, he was betting on his own deal for a decent outcome. ‘What about the colt?’ nurse continued. Mark took a moment to think. ‘I’m still not quite sure, I think I’ll have to think about it a bit more.’

‘Well, he’s got a really pretty bright blue mane and tail. I’ve never seen one quite like it. It really contrasts against his pure black coat. What about Blue for now?’ she asked. ‘I suppose that will do’ Mark replied, before turning to Fenrir. ‘Hey buddy, this nice lady is going to take you and your sister back with her. I’m going to have to leave for now, but I will be back I promise. We even gave both of you names, and I chose Eurydice for your sister.’ As an aside, almost to himself, he mumbled the words ‘we need to bring her back, don’t we?’

Turning back to Fenrir, he sighed. ‘I don’t know what I’ll call you yet, but you’ll both be coming home with me when you’re better. For now, you can be “Blue”.’

Fenrir was feeling a mix of emotions—worry, sadness, happiness, but he had to trust in this nice mister. Hopefully he could help Eurydice. 'O-otay nice mistah, wiww teww W-wuhdiss wen am wakies 'bout nyu daddeh and namsies. Bwuu am happies, tank ‘ou nice mistah.’

Mark could tell Fenrir was trying to not feel worried and sad. But there was little anyone could do in this situation, when a loved one is badly hurt or sick. ‘Be strong little guy, they’ll fix her and make her feel better, I’m sure of it.’ With that, the nurse took the basket and left Mark with a form to complete. ‘Blue’ and his sister Eurydice went through the waiting room door back to the veterinary wing of the centre.

‘Blue, you can wait here in this cubby while we are making your sister better. When she’s feeling better, we’ll bring her here to sleep with you, and once she’s all better both of you will go home with your new daddy’ the Nurse said to him as she opened the cage door to the cubby where he would sleep, eat and play if he were to feel up to it. ‘Bwuu am stay hewe an wait fo Oowuhdiss?’ he asked as he looked around at the toys and the box, and the fluffy bed. There was food and a water bowl in another corner.

‘That’s right’ the nurse said. ‘And this room has things for you to play with. There is food and water, and over in the corner there, that box is a litter box. That’s where good fluffies make good poopies, do you understand?’

‘Otay gud wady, Bwuu unnstan. Pwease hewp sissy Wuhdiss.’

‘We will, don’t you worry. She’s going to be alright, little guy. Just hold on, and she’ll be back soon.’ She gently picked up the basket with Eurydice in it, taking one last look at Fenrir, sullen and exhausted, and walked out of the room to see the doctor and get an assessment on her condition.

‘Hmm’ the doctor said, as she gave a physical inspection on the fluffy. ‘It looks like we’ll need to take x-rays. I think the legs are broken, and we’ll need to see what’s going on internally with the abdomen.’

‘Owwies, huu huu… hab wowstest huwties.’ Eurydice was softly murmuring out as she struggled to stay conscious. They got an IV in her with fluids and she started to stablise as they took x-rays of her two legs and her abdomen. After they developed, the doctor saw the breaks immediately.

‘Yep, looks like both legs are broken. They seem to be clean breaks though, so we can set those. The rib is the tricky one. All we can really do is bandage her up and try to let her heal by not moving for a week or two. Her blood pressure is quite low though, I think she might have had some internal bleeding based on the bruising. We should probably get her on blood infusion as well as fluids.’

‘That means we’ll have to take a look with a scope too, and see if the bleed is bad. She’s survived a while in this condition, though. If there’s a bleed it’s probably not big. We can probably cauterise it’ the nurse said, lifting the fluffy onto the operating table.

‘That’s right. But I think we’ve got to her in time’ the doctor replied as she got the operating kit. ‘Let’s get the legs set and then do the operation.’

A couple of hours later, with a successful operation and flush with fluids and supplemental blood, Eurydice was brought to Fenrir who was eagerly waiting in his cubby. ‘Look little guy, she’s doing so much better, here’s your sissy Eurydice.’

'Sissy, sissy! Wuhdiss, oh Bwuu suuu happies. Tank ‘ou nice wady.’ Fenrir danced around, his sister being placed in the bed in the cubby.

‘B… bwudda, am ‘ou? Sissy am… sweepies. Nu huwties nu more, buh nee’ sweepies… mm… wuv bwudda’ his sister drowsily tried to talk to Fenrir but the sedatives were still working on her.

‘Blue, your sister is going to need to rest, and she’ll need to stay off her legs, so you’ll have to help her eat and drink. If you play, don’t play rough with her. But she’s going to be all well soon’ the nurse said, giving Fenrir his instructions.

'Yay, tank 'ou nice wady. Suu happies, wiww hewp Wuhdiss. Wiww teww ‘bout nyu daddeh an namesies.’

‘Okay little guy, you guys get some rest, someone will be here if you need help later, okay?’ The nurse gave each of them a pat and walked out of the room back to the front of the centre.

Fenrir was ecstatic, his sister would be all well soon, and they had a daddy—and namesies! The room was warm, there was more food and water than they had ever seen before. He really couldn’t believe any of this. And, perhaps, it was too good to be true. Unbeknownst to the doctor, nurse, or Fenrir, a ticking time bomb had developed from Eurydice’s break in her leg. A clot.

Fenrir awoke, and saw his sister still sleeping. 'Bwuu su happies. Sissy, sissy, wakies. Nee teww ‘bout nice mistah, an namesies!’

He waited for a moment. ‘Sissy?’

He proceeded to touch her gently, then feeling her back and neck. She was… cold? ‘Sissy? Sissy? Wakies pwease? Dun pway bad sweepies game… Nu…’

‘Nuuuuuu… NUUUUUU… Wuhdiss!’

Fenrir knew. His sister had forever sleepies. She wouldn’t wake up. The clot had travelled from her leg while they were asleep, and stopped her heart.

'Huu huu… sissy. Wub ‘ou, sissy.’

Next Chapter: Chapter III

[Aurix]

Love reading through this series again.

Even though it breaks my heart at some parts.