Background Voices [CoR chronicle]

Brandon Scotths

Taking place before the CoR saga, this is the main part of Brandon's story, one of Nicole's worst past enemies.

TW: this segment contains violence and character death.

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It's a sunny day when Brandon stares out of the window in the back of his mother's car. The seven-year-old is on his way to Elmore's zoo with his mother, to have a nice little weekend trip together and to visit his father who works there. Brandon always loved the zoo with his whole little heart, how mesmerized he always is by the large animalistic creatures surrounding him in those parks. However today is an exciting one, as he will be witnessing his father performing the first ever tiger show he's ever seen. He holds his deer plushie tightly as he can't contain his excitement. It's a drive of only a few minutes as the zoo is near where he lives, thus why he's able to visit it so often with his family. The young boy smiles when his mother gives him a cheerful glare in her rearview mirror as she parks the car. He happily jumps out of the car once his mother opens the door for him and he has to resist the urge not to sprint away to the entrance of the zoo already. He keeps his posture and holds his stuffy by its hoof, taking his mother's hand with the other. The two walk into the gate which is accompanied by two stone statues of lions, one at each side, with leaves growing all over the place. "I'm a bit sad Ryan couldn't come along, mom," says Brandon as he keeps walking. "Aw, sweetheart. You know he's still very ill at home, but he'll be okay. Besides, this tiger show is once in a very long while and you absolutely didn't want to miss out on it, remember?" responds his mother with a reassuring smile. "That's true... But I hope he can come along next time," he says with a whimper in his voice. "He will, dear, he will," says his mother, giving him a soft ruffle through his hair. Ryan is Brandon's older brother, at twelve years old in this moment, who Brandon cares about a lot.

The two brothers always had a special bond, which resolved in barely any fights at all but rather a caring brother-to-brother relationship in between them. So it's noticeable that Brandon was upset that he couldn't come along on this trip, no matter how well he knows they can visit the zoo many times. But now his mother reassured him a bit and he walks across the enclosures of birds while still holding his mother's hand. He looks around and sees the birds flying over to the other side of the enclosure, with their magically colorful feathers and powerful wing flaps. They then walk past the hoofed enclosure, with antelopes, tapirs and zebra's. Brandon had always been specifically fascinated by hooved animals. Ungulates, if you will. They somehow always carry a spark, according to Brandon, and the ungulate that caught his attention the most were deer. Thus why his favorite plush was a deer as well. "Wanna go see the tigers now, sweetie?" asks his mother once they left the next area. Brandon nods a bit nervously but with some excitement at the same time as well, and the two make their way to the feline enclosures. They both sit down on the front row of seats in front of the enclosure and it doesn't take long until there's a crowd filling the space. Everyone watches in awe when Brandon's father comes forth with a tiger following him around. The creature looks strong and fierce and almost identical to one that spent time in the wild. Usually there's acknowledgeable differences between a tiger in captivity and one in the wild, but this one's beating the odds. Kaishun, how the tiger is called, spent his entire life at Elmore Zoo since the moment he was born. Yet he managed to grow up so strongly. Many people would either be impressed or terrified at the sight of the humongous feline, but Aren, Brandon's father, always managed to have him in control just fine. He trained Kaishun since he was a cub and formed a strong bond with the creature. And now's the time Brandon will witness his father and Kaishun in action for the show. The seven-year-old tightly holds his mother's hand as it commences...

A scream, followed by many in the audience. A roar and the sound of slashing claws against the concrete. Brandon is soon left alone in his seat as his mother runs towards the scene of the show which turned into one of an accident. Kaishun turned out to be provoked by an unknown reason and snapped, attacking Aren in the process. Lots of blood marks the scene where the tiger just mauled his trainer on the spot and the young Brandon struggles to look. It's like he cannot look away though; a part of him wants to check if his father is alright, whilst the other doesn't want to see the gory display and rather runs away. Brandon holds his head tightly as he no longer knows what to do, especially with his mother not around. He whimpers and starts crying when the sound of a gunshot, putting Kaishun down, turns into the last straw for his breakdown. He curls up and hides under the benches, wishing not to be found by anyone now. He covers his face with his deer stuffy and sobs into it, feeling helpless and unsafe despite the rogue feline already having been put down.