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Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:02:13 No.68498296 Report

Hello, snootfrends! Promises made, promises kept. Please enjoy.

>It’s quiet out in the mountains.
>It’s the lonely kind of quiet where it seems like the world has gone missing. Where you have to pause and check around you just to be sure that you are not the only thing left in existence.
>These thoughts fill the young ptero’s mind as he stares off into the distance of the Cascade Mountains. A world of rising and falling hills. An ocean of green conifers and red cedars, dotted with the grays and browns of cliff sides. A brilliant blue sky painted above it.
>A peaceful world as far as the eye can see.
>Greene sits alone, his legs dangling off of the edge of one of these cliffs. Staring off into a world that seems to have forgotten him. Or at least he hopes that it has.
>He fits into the solitude of these mountains as if he were cast from its very mold. His tired eyes sweeping over the gently swaying treetops. His wings tighten against his back to protect him from the chill of the breeze.
>It’s so silent that the crackle from the cherry of his cigarette seems to echo as he takes a shallow drag. His exhausted gaze aimed towards some unnamed place just beyond those hills.
>It’s so beautiful out here. So peaceful. So disconnected from the noise and bustle of everything he’d ever know. A slice of time forever frozen. Greene loves it.
>He hates his love for it.
>Out here, he’s fallen off the face of the planet. No one will come looking for you. No one cares.
>Adjusting himself on his stone seat, the shotgun leaning against the crook of Greene’s shoulder slides towards his chest.
>Without thinking about it, the exhausted teen catches the barrel and rights its position. His palm quickly chilling from the cold metal, Greene absentmindedly wipes his hand against his jeans, his fingers habitually tapping against the holster at his waist to assure himself it was still there.

Cont.
>Verification not required

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:03:45 No.68498341 Report

Quoted By: >>68498365

>>68498296

>He wishes they didn’t have to come out here. Didn’t have to flee the life they’d had. Wake up, school, chores, hang out with friends, dinner with the family, bed. Rote and boring. Greene would give anything to go back.
>“I wish I’d never introduced you to those.” Amber’s soft voice intruds on Greene’s thoughts, tugging him out of his reverie.
>“Yeah. Me too.” he solemnly responds, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder at his sister.
>The younger ptero is huddling her shoulders against the cold; her hands tucked deeply into the pockets of her dirty jacket. Her face is smudged with dirt and small bits of debris litter her unkempt hair. When was the last time they’d had the chance to clean up?
>Amber stares at her twin brother with a sad, tired expression that hasn’t left her since the Mous family fled north into the Cascade Mountains. Her once vibrant and mischievous eyes now drained of vitality and ringed with the results of too many restless nights.
>She rocks back on her heels while leaning forward, “You know Mom doesn’t like it when you’re away from camp for too long.”
>“Yeah. I know,” Greene tiredly responds, turning his back to her and mashing out the half-finished cigarette before flicking it into the expanse beneath him. “I just…I just needed some time alone is all.”
>The silence that falls between them isn’t a comfortable one. But neither of them has anything to say. They just watch the mist of their breath dissipate upon the cold air for minutes that feel like hours.
>“How’s dad doing?” He asks, trying to cut through the suffocating silence.
>“Not good. His cough is getting worse and he won’t eat anything. Mom’s really scared.” Amber’s pauses for a moment, her words catching in her throat. “I am too.”
>Greene just stares off into the distance, hoping that somewhere out there he could hide from the icy fingers that gripped at his own heart.

Cont.

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:04:50 No.68498365 Report

Quoted By: >>68498393

>>68498341

>“He’ll be alright. He always pulls through.” As the words fall flatly from his mouth, he knows he doesn’t believe them, but he has to keep up the illusion. For Amber’s sake or his own, he’s not sure.
>“Maybe we can go home. It could be safe now. We can get dad medicine, he’ll get better and everything can be like it used to.”
>Grenne closed his eyes and tried to block out the naive words. It pained him that she wouldn’t just give it up. There was no going back. They had chased them out of Volcadera Bluffs; out of Dinofornia. Their own friends and neighbors. Even if everything blew over tomorrow and they could go home, there was no returning to normal.
>But he can’t bring himself to say it. He can’t step on that last ember of hope that she keeps alive. She needed it. Hell, he needs it.
>“Maybe,” he cautiously replies, “but until we know for certain, we need to…”
>The snapping of a twig is as loud as the blast of a firecracker. Whatever Greene was going to say is instantly forgotten as he scrambles to his feet. He can hear dislodged pebbles clatter against the cliff-face behind him as he spins around.
>Staring into the thick brush of the woods, his eyes flick left and right. He tenses his grip on the slide of the shotgun. The sheer drop behind them is a distracting weight on his thoughts.
>“Where’s your gun?” The words leave him as a quiet hiss.
>“I forgot it at camp. I’m sorry.” Amber whimpers, clutching his arm. “Mom asked me to come get you and…”
>Just as he was about to tell her to grab his side-arm, there was another loud snap and rustling in the bushes. Greene sees it and he immediately snaps the barrel of the gun up to point towards the shaking foliage.
>“I know you’re there! S-Show yourself!” Greene calls, kicking himself over the obvious terror in his voice.

Cont.
>Verification not required

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:06:00 No.68498393 Report

Quoted By: >>68498421

>>68498365

>A beat of silence. The nervous teen racks the slide and tucks it against his shoulder. “Come out now, or I’ll start firing.” Another lie. He hopes it's just a deer or a stray dog. Something that would be smart enough to ignore his warning.
>Another beat of silence. Amber’s grip tightens around her brother’s arm. His finger shakes against the trigger-guard.
>Greene’s worst fears are realized as a man steps out of the brush. The cryolophosaurus stares at the twins, his hands held up by his head. His eyes flicking back and forth between the brother and sister as sweat rolls down his forehead.
>Greene tucks the butt of the shotgun tightly against his shoulder, scanning over the stranger. He has the look of a man who’s spent time in the woods, but he’s clean. Much too clean.
>Doing his best to steady his shaking hands, the nervous ptero sterns his expression. “What are you doing out here?”
>The terrified man’s mouth opens and closes several times, his words choking in his throat.
>Greene jabs the barrel at him, “Come on! What the fuck are you doing out here?!” The force behind his own words startles him. Where had that come from?
>The man cringes at the shout, but his feet refuse to let him move. “I-I-I dunno, man. We figured it would be cool to come up hiking here and…”
>Greene twitches. “‘We’? Who’s ‘we’?!”
>“Just some me and some buddies! Oh Christ I-I got separated from them on the trail and-and-and fuck, man, don’t shoot me!” His eyes are locked on to the muzzle of the gun and his knees are threatening to give out from under him.
>The teenager’s heart is beating so fast that it’s threatening to explode from his chest. The guy looks like he’s about to pass out from fear. But…
>Amber’s fingers are vice-like on his arm. “I-I don’t think he looks dangerous. Maybe he’s telling the truth.”

Cont.
>Verification not required

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:07:06 No.68498421 Report

Quoted By: >>68498458

>>68498393

>He wishes he could see the expression on her face, but he can’t afford to look away. There’s no telling who’s safe and who’s out hybrid-hunting.
>“He knows we’re here,” Greene hisses back. “That makes him dangerous.”
>“I didn’t see anything. I swear I’ll keep my mouth shut, man. Just let me go. Fucking christ point that thing somewhere else. Please!”
>“Greene, he says he won’t tell anyone we’re here.”
>“I’ve got a girlfriend, man. She’s pregnant. I’ll never get to see my kid. Fuck, man, please don’t fucking hurt me, I swear I never saw you!” Tears stream down his face as his voice chokes with terror.
>The ringing in his ears is back. Sweat is soaking his forehead, plastering his hair to his scales. Raptor Christ why was it suddenly so hot? “Everyone shut the fuck up! Let me think!”
>The yawning chasm behind him means they can’t run. He doesn’t know this guy. He could be telling the truth but is the risk worth it? He has to protect them. He can’t let them get hurt.
>“Come on, man please don’t fucking shoot me. My friends are probably looking for me.”
>Fuck that’s right there are more.
>“Greene, we should listen to him. He’s not dangerous.”
>“She’ll freak out if I go missing. She’s only a couple of months along. Listen to me, man!”
>“We can just move camp; we don’t have to worry about him. I won’t tell mom.”
>“Christ listen to her, man. I don’t even fucking know you! Please don’t. I wanna be there for my kid, man, I beg you! Let me be there for my kid!
>They can’t move camp. Not with dad so sick. The ringing is only getting louder. He can’t think. Why won’t they just let him fucking think?

Cont.
>Verification not required

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:08:15 No.68498458 Report

Quoted By: >>68498515

>>68498421
>“Put the gun down!”
>“You don’t have to do this!”
>“Think about it!”
>“Don’t…!”
>The butt-stock slams into Greene’s shoulder as the gun barks a deafening explosion. He doesn’t remember pulling the trigger.
>The screeching ring is quieter now. It's still there, but it's been replaced. It's less piercing. Only hurting his ears, not burrowing into his thoughts. The only sound accompanying it is the heavy pulse of his heart. The pressure rapidly beating against his eardrums.
>The smell of sulfur is thick in the air. Amber is crouched down next to him, her eyes shut tightly, her teeth clenched in fear, her hands clamped over her ears.
>Sound is returning to the world. Greene’s ragged breathing is the first one to register to him. The young ptero blinks the sweat from his eyes, his thin arms trembling from adrenaline. The shotgun dropping from his grip to clatter against the cold stone.
>He’s slumped to the ground in front of them. Lying on his stomach, his cheek pressed against the earth, arms tucked beneath him, facing away from the twins. Greene sees his body spasm one, two, three times before falling still. He hears the final bloody cough.
>Crimson drips from the leaves behind where he once stood. Bits and pieces of skin and cloth stained and clinging onto the edges of branches. One tree’s bark is now painted in a deep red.
>Amber’s whole body is quaking as she slowly rises, her hands still pressed against the sides of her head. Amber starts to turn towards the unnamed man lying on the ground, “Is…is he…”
>Greene whips around and grabs his sister by the shoulders, pinning her arms to her sides. “Look away!” he snaps, staring down into her terror-filled eyes. He can see tears forming in them as her lips tremble.

Cont.

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:09:58 No.68498515 Report

Quoted By: >>68498571

>>68498458

>His fingers tighten around her biceps. Anger and fear cause him to grip more tightly than he intends. This was his fault. He caused this. He should’ve been more aware. He shouldn’t have wandered from camp.
>He’s so fucking useless.
>“Greene, you’re hurting me…” The barely audible whisper slips from Amber’s mouth. She’s scared. Scared of him.
>It takes an effort of will to bottle up the dread filling his chest. He draws in a deep breath and forces his fingers loose.
>Amber pulls away from him and backs up half a step. She keeps her eyes on her brother. She’s terrified. She can hardly recognize him. She doesn’t know what might happen if she looks away.
>Greene stares back. Words struggling to form on his tongue. He has to tell her something, anything, to calm her down. He hates the way she’s looking at him. It’s his fault.
>“Look…Look away,” is all he manages to force out as he bends down to pick up the gun at his feet.
>Cautiously, he approaches the body. The longest thirteen feet he’s ever walked.
>Greene keeps the gun aimed at the prone form. Any moment now he’ll see movement. The back rising and falling or a finger twitching. Something. Anything.
>Blood has spread across the fabric on the man’s back. An ugly black stain, slowly deepening in color and growing wider. The smell of iron is quickly overwhelming the dissipating scent of sulfur. Greene tries not to gag.
>Amber watches as her sibling crouches and begins to pat down the body. She can’t see exactly what he’s doing with his back to her.
>“Look away.” The words whisper in the back of her mind and she decides to heed their advice. Shutting her eyes against the gruesome sight. An eternity passes behind the darkness of her eyelids.
>“See, Amber?”
>She cracks open an eye. Still crouched beside the body, Greene is holding up a pistol between two fingers. “Found this on him. It was tucked into the back of his pants.”

Cont.

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:11:42 No.68498571 Report

Quoted By: >>68498613

>>68498515
>The younger twin processes what this means. Her tension abates the slightest bit, but fear still gnashes at her mind.
>“So he was here for us?” she asks with a tremulous voice.
>Greene stands, his eyes still on the dead man, refusing to come up and meet hers. “Yeah.”
>“We should tell mom…”
>“NO!” He interrupts her before she can go any further. “We can’t. If we do, dad will want us to move. But he can’t make it very far right now. We have to wait for him to get better.”
>“But he said he was here with friends. They might come looking.”
>Greene stands quietly for a moment before walking back to Amber and placing his hands gently on her shoulders. “It’s a risk we have to take. Dad won’t make it if we have to move.” His eyes meet her terrified gaze. He wishes she wouldn’t look at him like that.
>“You have to go back to camp. I’ll..I’ll take care of…him.”
>“But what if…”
>“If mom heard the shot and asks about it, tell her I was just scaring off a bear or mountain lion or something.” He looks at her with the sternest expression he can muster. “She can’t know about this. She can’t handle it right now.”
>Amber looks up at him. Words unable to form on her lips. All she can do is nod.
>He pulls her into a cold hug that fails to reassure either of them. “We keep this between us. Okay?” She can feel the side of the pistol pressing against her back. He lets her go.
>Amber gives one final nod before walking away. She has to pass the rapidly cooling body. She closes her eyes and turns her head away, unable to even breathe until she’s passed it.
>Greene watches her departure, waiting until he can no longer hear her pushing through the foliage.
>When he’s finally sure that he’s alone, he turns and vomits over the edge of the cliff. His roiling stomach finally able to relieve itself now that it’s just him.

Cont. One more to go
>Verification not required

Anonymous Fri 23 Aug 2024 00:13:30 No.68498613 Report

Quoted By: >>68498710 >>68498767 >>68498896 >>68498996 >>68499064

>>68498571
>Once the bile has cleared itself from his system, he takes a painful shuddering breath and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. He tells himself it’s just sweat in his eyes blurring his vision.
>Returning the handgun to the holster at his side he sniffs and blinks away the tears. He has to get a grip of himself. He has work to do.
>Grabbing the limp wrists, Greene begins to drag the dead weight towards the cliff. The going is slow and there’s a smear of red left behind in its wake. He grunts and curses quietly to himself, trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes.
>He fights desperately to not think about the photo that he found on his body. Tries not to think about how happy their faces had been. How bright the sky had been and how golden the sand looked on the beach.
The expression of pure love that she had been giving him as he pointed to the camera.
>As he works, every bird call seems like it’s laughing at him. The sound of his boots grinding into the ground feels as if it’s going to echo forever. Even the wind seems to be betraying him and carrying his secret down the mountain for the world to hear. It shouldn’t be this loud out here.
>However, when he’s finally dragged the body to the edge the world grew quiet once more. But it’s a new silence. A suffocating silence. As quiet and still as the grave.
>Greene stands over him, sweat pouring from his forehead. A single eye stares up at him. It’s empty depths accusing him. Hating him.
>“I’m sorry,” is all Greene can manage to croak out before bracing himself and shoving as hard as he can, sending the man to the canopy a million miles below him.
>The crashing sounds last for only a couple of seconds, but Greene flinches with each one that echoes up to him.
>Then the mountain settles back to its deathly quiet. And the world has forgotten him once again.

Fin.

Hope you all enjoyed. Greene is a good boy.

>Verification not required