Blood of my Brother

Scars Unsung

Trigger warnings: self-deprecation, panic attacks, mentions of previous violent injuries

------------------------------

Varian hadn't said more than five full sentences since his rescue.

That was a week ago.

And yes, Hector had counted.

Oh, the child gave plenty of monosyllabic responses when Hector tried to strike up a conversation. Yes, no, fine, eh, sure. The longest single word he got out of the kid was "whatever."

Something was drastically wrong.

Try as he might, Hector could get no conversation out of the boy. Varian was always silent and reserved, but never like this. Hector would have thought that rescuing him would help him come out of his shell a bit, not send him further into it. Even asking him if he wanted to hear more about the Brotherhood only got him a vague shrug and half-hearted attention. Mocking the Flynn Rider books got him a slight ghost of a smile that faded as fast as it came.

He tried asking Ruddiger what was wrong. The raccoon only shrugged helplessly.

Ruddiger was the only one who could get any proper response out of the boy. His antics at least brought a smile to his face. Sometimes he even got Varian to laugh.

And, of course, there was Ruddiger himself. The raccoon wouldn't stop glaring at Hector.

The day of the rescue, Ruddiger, Riki, and Artemis and raced into the clearing and saw the other three lying on the ground, covered in blood. Ruddiger had curled up next to Varian and started chittering angrily at Hector. When Varian had asked what was wrong—his first of five sentences to come in the next week—Hector had told him that all he did was leave the raccoon on a rock and told him not to move unless something big tried to eat him and he wasn't sure why the critter was looking at him like that. It occurred to him then that perhaps Ruddiger would have liked to fight for his human.

So now he had a silent child, a grumpy raccoon, and a wounded bearcat to try to deal with all at once. Kiki's injuries were not severe, but he didn't need to be carrying a child, no matter how small he was, so Hector managed to convince Varian to ride with him on Riki. Well, maybe not "convinced" as much as told. Varian didn't argue, despite his dislike of being touched and being near people, which was Hector's first clue that something was wrong.

Now it was a week later, and they were stopping to make camp in a small cave in a cliffside. It was small and secure, with a second opening towards the back so they wouldn't get penned in if there was an emergency. "I'm getting firewood," Hector stated bluntly. "Stay here and don't move."

"Yes, sir."

Hector raised an eyebrow. Not exactly monosyllabic, not exactly a full sentence. He glanced over at the boy, who sat curled up beside Kiki, Ruddiger curled up beside him. Dark circles under his eyes spoke of sleepless nights. At least something was speaking, because Varian wouldn't. No matter how many times he asked how he was, the answer was always "fine."

They were moving much too fast for Varian, at least in Hector's professional opinion. He was still weakened from his months in prison, and their breakneck speed, while great for getting away from Corona and outpacing the princess, was not at all beneficial to the child's health. Considering how far they had come, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to slow down a bit. Maybe they'd take a break for a day or two.

The mountain region they had entered was not as wooded as the areas they had left behind. Hector's cautious mind warned him to stay close to shelter, as being out in the open was a recipe for disaster. Then again, their last disaster had happened in the woods, so...