Where'd you go? (Volk)

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It smelled weird here. Cailo had never been to a swamp before and the smells and sights and feel of the place was brand-new. Did he tell Volk where he was going? He didn't remember but oh well. His brother would figure it out eventually. Besides this was all too exciting to think about boring things like that. Cailo didn't dare go in the swamp, instead he stayed on the very outer edge of it where it was okay to walk on. The water looked gross and he swore he saw something move inside of it. That was so scarey! Cailo saw another on and his head swung to look at it. It was a massive scaly creature with creepy yellow eyes. Cailo had yellow eyes but these were different. They had the black part in a different shape. It had a long nose and a big thick tail. It was really hard to see. Cailo had to strain his eyes to even see it. He almost jumped in the swamp to see it up close but then he got distracted by something else.

There was a colorful bird sitting way up high in a tree. The young Chernobyl wolf jogged a few feet away from the edge of the swamp through some thick brush. Cailo wanted to be on a branch! The wolf attempted to climb the tree by wrapping his front legs around it but failed at each attempt. He got very frustrated and started yelling and screaming. Hot tears flowed out of his eyes as he sat at the bottom of the tree. Why couldn't he be on the branch like the bird! He wanted to be in the tree! He was breathing heavily and crying hysterically. Life was so unfair! By now the bird had long flown away but Cailo didn't notice. He was too preoccupied with why he couldn't climb the tree to sit on the branch.

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Looking around, Volk noticed that Cailo was gone. That should not have been a surprise to him as his younger brother would often simply wander off, oblivious to the dangers of the world. With a sigh, Volk picked up his scent and began to follow after him. Perhaps it was a good thing at times that Cailo did not sense dangers in the same way everyone else did, in that he would keep going without concern for his own well-being, let alone anyone else’s. Volk envied him that sense of invulnerability at times, especially when pursuing him meant facing some of his own fears.

His pursuit let him to the swamp. Volk distastefully eyed the murky water, and was disturbed to find eyes staring back up at him. Carefully, he stepped away from the water’s edge. Cailo had been here. He just hopped the younger wolf had made it safely past here. But he saw no signs of an attack, and his scent did continue on. Slightly fearful of finding his brother wounded at the very least, he continued after him, thankful that Cailo had stayed on the edge of the swamp, rather than go into it.

A short distance away, he could here movement. There was heavy breathing and excitement to the breathing. Then he heard hysterical crying, and knew instantly that it was Cailo. Was everything okay? Was he hurt? Instantly, he was bounding forward, leaping over low hanging vines and pulling low to the ground to go under branches. He found Cailo attempting to climb a tree, and crying out in frustration as each attempt failed. Why was he trying to get in the tree? Was something pursuing him?

Volk scanned the scenery with his grey eyes. He was bearing his teeth and his muscles were taunt, just in case he had to defend his brother. But he saw nothing. Looking up into the trees he saw a few brightly colored birds either moving from one branch to another, or taking to the sky. He regarded Cailo again, and shook his head, but had calmed and no longer was ready for a fight. He knew not to scold him as that would not help calm him any, so he calmly approached him.

“Hey, Cailo,” he said gently, slowly approaching his sobbing sibling. “Are the branches too high?” He was looking around at the heavily vined trees. “I don’t think I can even get up there. Should I try?” He sat beside his brother and waited to see if anything he had said had reached him.

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It wasn't long after he had tried to climb the tree that his brother Volk showed up. Bloodshot, burning eyes that were full of tears look at his brother as he spoke. Cailo sort of listened to what he was saying but not really. He was too upset by the fact that he couldn't get in the tree like the birds could. "I wanna get in the tree! I wanna get in the tree! I wanna get in the tree!" Cailo repeated over and over and over. There really was no need for the repetition but that was how Cailo spoke sometimes.

The young wolf craned his neck to try to see the top of the tree but he couldn't. It was too tall. He looked back over at his brother and then quickly to the ground. Volk had decided to sit next to him. Volk must have been tired after walking or running or whatever he had been doing before this. "It's too tall, Volk." Cailo whined, still very upset that he couldn't climb it. "Why is it so tall?" Cailo's voice sounded desperate and he was still crying heavily. Life was so unfair! The birds could get up there! Why couldn't he?

Cailo picked himself up and started to do small little circles out of being upset and a little anxiety. By this time Cailo's crying had stopped but the evidence that he had been crying was still very evident. He had gotten past being sad, now he was angry. It was a stupid tree! All trees were stupid! Birds were stupid! Cailo started growling at the thought of all of those things being stupid. He stopped his circling to stare directly at the tree. He was glaring at it with his dull yellow eyes. "You stupid tree! Why can't I climb you?!" Cailo screamed at the tree and then continued in his small circling.

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Patiently, Volk sat while Cailo circled and cried about the tree. He desperately wanted to get into the tree. Volk watched his brother’s attitude shift from sadness and anxiety to anger. He was angry at the tree.

Volk sighed and looked around. He knew there was no calming him when he was like this. All he could do was to try to either appease him or distract him. While he wanted to leave this place, he would not leave his sibling, and honestly, with all the noise he was making he was sure to attract unwanted attention to them. What could he do to make Cailo happy, or at least not so angry? How could he get him into the tree?

Standing, Volk paced around some himself, almost mimicking Cailo’s actions. He cocked his head when he noticed a small tree with partially broken trunk. It stood close to another tree with fairly low branches. It was a gamble, but he would try. He ambled over to the small tree and aiming it toward the low hanging branch, started to press on it with his front paws. The trunk swayed, but did not break. Volk let loose a low growl, backed up, and launched himself at it. With a loud snapping sound, the weakened trunk gave way and the small tree fell against the low hanging limb.

Well, at least it would give them access to the branch, if the small trunk would hold. At least it was a good try, he had to admit to himself. He looked over to Cailo. “We may not be able to fly, but we can climb,” Volk said. “You want to try first?” He was standing with his front paws on the bottom of the trunk, hoping that his weight would be enough to keep it steady. It would only take a few steps along the trunk to get up on the branch.

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As Cailo spun around and around, he started feeling a bit calmer. For some reason spinning helped with his frustration and anxiety. Of course these things didn’t go away but it helped. Soon, he stopped spinning and he fell on his rump and the world around him. Silly world. It always did that whenever he spun. He bet that it was showing him what it felt like when he spun around. Fair was fair he guessed but it still hurt his head to look at. He didn’t know where to look as his head moved back and forth while the world spun in front of him. He got up from his rump and tried to walk a step or two but ended up going head first into a tree. “OUCH!” Cailo yelled. Why did this tree hate him so badly? What had he ever done to it? Just when it seemed that Cailo was done crying, the hot wet tears flowed down his cheeks again. By now he was a sniffling mess. He had snot coming out of his nose and tears flowing from blood shot eyes. He hung his head low. He would never get to be a bird and be up in a tree. Life was so pitiful. He was pitiful. This wasn’t fair. He bet that all the other wolves could get into trees. He huffed as he looked over to see what Volk was doing.
He was standing over by a bent over tree. Great. Now Volk could climb too? Wait, he wanted him to climb it? Cool! Cailo instantly stopped crying and snuffed up some snot and jogged to where his brother stood. He didn’t say a word but he did put a cautious paw on the tree. He had to make sure that it wouldn’t break. After he was certain that the tree could keep his weight, he strutted up the tree and onto the branch that it connected to. This was a great view! He looked around as his four paws balanced on the branch. This would be his new favorite spot and no one would know about it. Speaking of not knowing where he was, now was a perfect time to play hide and go seek! “Say, “Where’s Cailo?” Volk!” He told his brother as if he truly believed that his brother had no idea that his brother knew exactly where he was. This was a game that Cailo liked to play with his brother along with a select few other games. Cailo could barely contain the laughter that wanted to burst out but he couldn’t do that because that would give away where he was hiding. “Say, “Where’s Cailo?” Volk!” He repeated as he dug his claws into the branch to keep him from falling out. This was such a fun game and Volk would never be able to find him in this new hiding spot. Cailo was giddy with glee.