05-12-2018, 05:56 AM
Do I belong?
Do I belong?
Again the question resonated in his head. He was a gray speck in an ocean of stark white. Even the darkest of boulders around him felt at home in this land. As the taiga was unfamiliar to Kodiak, so Kodiak was to the taiga.
The air was nearly silent. Kodiak felt nothing but discomfort.
The snow crunched under his paws rhythmically as he tread the land, and the freezing wind glided past his ears, chilling him to the bone. Any smell he would be able to pick up in his residential biome was masked by the blankets of cold around him. Even the most obvious of snowshoe hares that dashed in front of him would go unseen, unscented, incognito in the dense white.
He almost regretted leaving the Sanctuary, where he was kept warm and fed, but he immediately dismissed the thought. The need for answers, fueled by his bloodline's fiery pride, kept him moving through the land.
The snowflakes continued to drift and glide off of Kodiak's soft gray fur. The coldness of the sky's fragments continued to give him a grim reminder of his past.
Do I belong?
The soft crunching of snow under him gave way to a loud crackling noise. As the rest of the taiga was nearly silent, the sound of the twig cracking beneath his stone-grey paws was deafening. Shocking the young hyena, he paused dead in his tracks. He caught a quick look at his surroundings.
It was an ocean of white and a cluster of dark, deadened trees that engulfed the gray feliform. The sight was dizzying to him.
A loud voice cut the air like a knife through silk. It seemed to have been calling out to someone.
A raw emotion struck his nerves. It was similar to the emotion he felt many years ago after he had been captured, one that had been rather unfamiliar to him and his bloodline prior.
Fear.
Although frozen in terror, the young, naive hyena had no choice but to return the call.
Softly his weakened voice called out...
"...Hello?"
This was a question all too familiar to young Kodiak. The nerve-biting chill of the taiga air met the thin pelt of the hyena relentlessly, sending his whole body into an earth-quaking shiver. He should be used to this by now.
Unfortunately, it wasn't so.
It's been several, several long years since he was separated from his clan, his home, his family. The pelt-clad two-legged monsters that robbed the young scout of his heritage caused him to abandon all hope of trusting anyone in this strange new land.
Including his rescuers.
Kodiak. Why was that name given to him? He was not native to the land of which he treads his paws. His clan halfway across the world might not have approved of such a moniker, especially since it reflects none of the pride that was bestowed upon his bloodline. It reflected the new, strange, white-covered land that met him with each passing day. Day after day he searched for answers.
Unfortunately, it wasn't so.
It's been several, several long years since he was separated from his clan, his home, his family. The pelt-clad two-legged monsters that robbed the young scout of his heritage caused him to abandon all hope of trusting anyone in this strange new land.
Including his rescuers.
Kodiak. Why was that name given to him? He was not native to the land of which he treads his paws. His clan halfway across the world might not have approved of such a moniker, especially since it reflects none of the pride that was bestowed upon his bloodline. It reflected the new, strange, white-covered land that met him with each passing day. Day after day he searched for answers.
Do I belong?
Again the question resonated in his head. He was a gray speck in an ocean of stark white. Even the darkest of boulders around him felt at home in this land. As the taiga was unfamiliar to Kodiak, so Kodiak was to the taiga.
The air was nearly silent. Kodiak felt nothing but discomfort.
The snow crunched under his paws rhythmically as he tread the land, and the freezing wind glided past his ears, chilling him to the bone. Any smell he would be able to pick up in his residential biome was masked by the blankets of cold around him. Even the most obvious of snowshoe hares that dashed in front of him would go unseen, unscented, incognito in the dense white.
He almost regretted leaving the Sanctuary, where he was kept warm and fed, but he immediately dismissed the thought. The need for answers, fueled by his bloodline's fiery pride, kept him moving through the land.
The snowflakes continued to drift and glide off of Kodiak's soft gray fur. The coldness of the sky's fragments continued to give him a grim reminder of his past.
Do I belong?
The soft crunching of snow under him gave way to a loud crackling noise. As the rest of the taiga was nearly silent, the sound of the twig cracking beneath his stone-grey paws was deafening. Shocking the young hyena, he paused dead in his tracks. He caught a quick look at his surroundings.
It was an ocean of white and a cluster of dark, deadened trees that engulfed the gray feliform. The sight was dizzying to him.
A loud voice cut the air like a knife through silk. It seemed to have been calling out to someone.
A raw emotion struck his nerves. It was similar to the emotion he felt many years ago after he had been captured, one that had been rather unfamiliar to him and his bloodline prior.
Fear.
Although frozen in terror, the young, naive hyena had no choice but to return the call.
Softly his weakened voice called out...
"...Hello?"