Running was going to be futile, and Thornton already knew it. As natural as his movements were before, galloping on four legs was awkward and uncomfortable, both to him and the rest of his family. He and Reece were getting along the best, but his parents and sister were starting to fall behind, and the gap between the gigantic tree wolves was beginning to close. All five were panicked, and he could tell Denver was crying as she moved even without having to taste her emotions right that second. It was only a faint trickle though compared to what was behind them. The wolves took up the entirety of Thornton’s senses.
“I don’t wanna die out here!” she yelled, desperately trying to quicken her pace. “I just wanna go home! I don’t wanna die!” He knew they all felt the same way. Being right next to Reece, the black horse-bug could tell that even he was fearful now. Who wouldn’t be?
Not Barney, apparently. The dog was at the head of the group, running with them, but not too far ahead. He turned and looked at them as he ran, and tried to use his head to indicate something. What, no one knew. Then he did it again, more urgently this time, with a bark at them to go with it. What was he saying?
His father was the one to pick it up, and communicated the plan. “On my signal,” he said, “everyone needs to split into three groups. I’ll keep running forward, Carey, take Denver and go right, and Thornton and Reece go left. Ready?”
There was no time to argue with the logic, although there was no telling if the plan would work. In theory, the wolves could be smart and have at least one member of the pack chase after each group. He was fairly certain that one wolf would kill them just the same as three would.
But a plan was a plan, and a second later, his father was yelling the signal to split up. He watched Barney and his father run forward as Denver and his mother instinctively jump to the right and he and Reece went left. He hated that one group would continue to be chased, but he hoped at least that the pack wouldn’t split up. That would be bad.
The pack didn’t split up, which was good news, but the bad news was that they all turned left after Thornton and Reece.
“Fuck! We can’t run that fast!” the alien bug said out of breath. “What the heck are we gonna do now?”
“Just keep running! They’re not following Mom and Dad and Denver anymore, so once we lose them, we can circle back!”
“We’re not gonna be able to lose them! I feel like I’m gonna trip over my own limbs!”
These limbs were so awkward. As easy as walking was, galloping was impossible. If he was a human at least, Thornton would be able to run much faster. Why did he have to be this stupid bug?
He didn’t even notice that his body changed until he was outpacing Reece, the moose-horse definitely smaller than him now. He blinked in surprise to find he was in a body he could say was his own again. In fact, he had on everything he went to bed in last night. Was he about to wake up? Was this all a terrible nightmare?
No, because he could still taste the emotions of the wolves that chased them, and the confusion and anger his brother now had. Not for him, he could tell, but for the impossible situation. But at least he was a human again. That was a good way to start getting out of a difficult situation.
“How did you change like that?”
“I don’t know! I was just running and it happened! This might really be all just a dream!”
Why that was what set Reece over the edge, Thornton didn’t know. What he did know was that his brother changed, too, except not in the same way. The dark brown moose now had a jet black coat and bluish-red flames for hair, as well as eyes that shined like the sun. Ones filled with extreme anger. Or actually, frustration was the best word to describe the state he was in. His brother had reached his maximum level of frustration, and he was going to take it out on something.
Thornton had to admit, he was slightly afraid, but the ones who were more afraid were the wolves. They stopped right where they were and shrieked in fear, their loud crying the opposite of their fierce growls from moments before. What was certain death for Thornton and Reece was now– so long as his brother wasn’t burning to death– exactly that for the wooden wolves.
Before the beasts could blink, Reece was turned around to face them, paralyzing the animals with fear and freezing them in place. It took no time at all for the burning moose to gallop up to the creatures and set them ablaze, loud, terrible cries and awful emotions coming to Thorton’s senses in response. The moose’s flames extinguished themselves and his coat turned back to normal a few seconds after it was over, and Reece was left to stand fuming over a few piles of ashes at the end of it. A bit gruesome, but not so bad since they were wooden, thankfully.
“That… that was a close one,” Thornton breathed, sighing in relief as he bent over with his hands on his knees. A second later, he flopped down onto his back and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.
“How did you do that?” he asked, his brother’s frustration still there but the flavor of such being overtaken by the sweet taste of relief. “Is it just because of how angry you got? Cause I saw a little smoke coming out of your ears earlier when you were angry.”
“I dunno. How did you turn back into a human?”
“I don’t know either.” Thornton didn’t open his eyes as he continued, “I guess this means we need to circle back around to the rest of them somehow? How far away do you think they are?”
“I have no idea, but going back the way we came should be a pretty good idea… um, you having clothes is making me self conscious about my lack.”
“Well, I’m not taking mine off now that I have them, especially not around you. But beyond that, we have bigger issues. Look.”
He pointed behind his brother to the fire he started, one that was very quickly growing and already was beyond the realm of what they could control. The two of them had to keep moving, because the likelihood of death or serious injury was still very high.
Thornton didn’t waste any time getting back up, Reece following right behind him. He could feel his older brother’s eyes on him, eyeing him up with mostly interest, along with a little bit of jealousy. He could tell what the moose was thinking, and wanted to say something about how he truly didn’t know why he turned back into a human after he wished for it. Was there something about being a bug that gave him that perk?
He didn’t know, and didn’t consider it yet, the fire being of utmost concern right now. Or rather, the fire’s byproduct of smoke. Getting away from the fire was relatively easy, but thick, black smoke was quickly filling the air and working its way into Thornton’s lungs. He was already wheezing, something that Reece wasn’t doing just based on a quick glance at his brother. He seemed to be moving just fine, but that made sense with a little bit of thinking. The moose was the one who started the fire after his body was engulfed in flames without issue. Why shouldn’t he be able to breathe in a little smoke?
A little smoke turned into a lot after just a few minutes. Thornton found it hard to move– hard to even think with how thick the air felt. Visually, it looked similar to a thin fog, but this fog made his eyes sting and his lungs burn. He almost wished they were still being chased, despite the disgusting mildew that those wooden wolves brought. The two only traded one problem for another the way it seemed.
Thornton wondered if there was a way to change into whatever creature his brother was now. If he could change just based on a wish, then right now it would do him well to be something that was smoke and fire resistant. Not that he knew how to do such a thing outside of trying to will himself to become something like that. It made no more sense than tasting emotions did.
But that was no reason not to try. He thought hard about it, trying to get his body to change again as he continued moving forward, almost straining as he tried to do so. What was he thinking about when he turned human? About how it’d be so much faster to move if he was one? Well, it’d be so much easier to resist fire and smoke if he was a moose like his brother, and wanted to be that now. If only his body would respond…
It did not, and another minute later, he fell to the ground coughing hard enough to bring up a lung. Reece was right beside him a moment later, bending down next to him and tapping his back with a hoof to help him as best he could.
“Come on, Thorn,” his brother urged him. “We have to keep going. We can’t stay here.”
“I’m getting– Ack! Ack!– give me a second.”
A second turned into another couple of moments as Thornton tried to breathe. By the time he started to stand, he could barely push himself up to get going. Reece moved his head under his stomach to help him, but Thornton was still wobbly once he got to a fully upright position.
“Just keep moving,” his older brother instructed without prompting. “Once we get out of here, you can lay back down, but not until then. Although if you weren’t so big, I might be able to carry you on my back.”
No words were spoken on the bug-turned-human’s part, but no movement forward was made either, at least not immediately. He spent another minute coughing, practically choking, before his brother finally urged him forward with a hoof. He started forward with that, but only made it a few more steps before he put his hands on his knees and bent over to cough again.
“You have to keep going,” Reece said forcefully. “We can’t stay here– well, you can’t, unless you can change into whatever I am. But keep moving before you try that.”
“I already did try, and it didn’t work,” he said weakly. “I just need to rest for one second. Gimme a moment.”
“No moment. Keep going. Like I said, once we get to safety, you can stop to rest. Not before. Now let’s get moving.”
Thornton didn’t keep going. Instead, he fell onto his back, wheezing from the smoke and closing his eyes. Who knew breathing in forest fire smoke was bad for you? It made his lungs and nose burn, and his breathing was strained from the stuff. He would’ve felt confused, too, if not for the fact that he could tell he was losing consciousness. But maybe that was a good thing? A minute of rest, then he’d get back up and get going, good as new. Just for a minute.
“I’ve got you, Thornton,” his older brother said, reaching under him to try and lift him up before he passed out. “I’ll get you out of here.”