FicWad

She was standing over a limp form, clawed and covered with blood. Tufts of fur and pools of red surrounded the scene. Her paws shook with fear and confusion. Her claws dug hard into the ground.
Why? Why did this happen? She thought, closing her eyes and wishing it to all end. Why did she have to die? She didn’t know what had happened, who had done this. She didn’t know why anyone would do such terrible things.
The scene began to blur, and Blank was back in her soft moss nest. Her eyes blinked open. She knew it had happened, she knew it was real, because if her mother was still alive, she would be here, comforting her, telling her everything would be okay. But no. Nothing was okay. She was alone.
Her father had disappeared several years before, after her mother’s death. Blank suspected that he could not bear any longer the truth that his mate had died, and had tried to find new happiness by traveling away from their den. But that didn’t explain why he didn’t want Blank to come with him. Wasn’t she the last piece and reminder of her mother? Wasn’t she important to him? Didn’t he care?
Blank shook these thoughts from her mind, determined to forget the horrific memory of her mother’s mysterious death. She didn’t want it to be reality. But she had to face the truth. Her mother was dead, and there was no way to get her back.
She stood up, stretching her back into a long arch, yawning. She stepped out from her nest and padded over to the pile of prey in the den. She hooked the tail of a mouse and dropped it onto the cold, hard floor. She sank her teeth into its fur and ate the mouse in a few swift bites.
She licked her lips, stood up once more, and exited the makeshift den. As the moonlight sapped onto her pelt, turning it to sleek silver, she stopped, staring at an uneven piece of earth.
Blank froze.
It was the grave of her mother. She stared down at it, unable to move. Grief washed over her like a tsunami. Her legs buckled from underneath her, and she sat down at the rumpled ground, her eyes glazed over with her pain.
Why did she have to see this every time she left the den? She never wanted to be reminded of the day of her mother’s death. She wanted it to all be a dream.
“Hello!” A voice behind her said. Blank jumped up, her fur along her spine beginning to bristle. She whirled around and spotted a strange creature.
The thing was small, black, and looked like a puddle of black goo. Its eyes were like slits and glowed brightly yellow, and its mouth took the shape of a star. As Blank examined the creature, she tried to find out if it was going to attack her or not. She didn’t exactly trust anyone who went up to her and loudly announced their presence. Then again, she wouldn’t trust anyone who tried to sneak up on her and hurt her, either.
Blank snarled at the creature with aggression. “What do you want?” She growled.
The creature didn’t seem to hear her. “Oh, what’s this?” It said, staring down at the place where her mother was buried.
Blank drew herself forward towards the thing, baring her teeth. “None of your business,” She replied, unsheathing her claws. “What even are you, anyway?”
“ ‘None of your business,’ ” The creature copied her phrase and laughed loudly. “Ha ha ha!”
“This isn’t a game,” Blank growled, raising her paw. “And that isn’t funny.”
“Yes, it is!” The creature dared, smiling.
“Fine, then if you can’t answer that question, who are you?”
“Nothing!” The creature responded, cracking up again.
“This isn’t a game,” She repeated, advancing on the thing once more. “And that was very rude.”
The creature frowned and looked down at the ground, closing its eyes. “But… That’s my name.”
Blank was shocked by this. “R-really? Your name is Nothing?”
“So?” The creature said, looking depressed. “What does it matter to you?”
“So? So?” Blank scoffed. “You have terrible parents!”
“What are parents?” Nothing asked, tilting his head.
Blank was baffled. How can a living creature be this stupid? She thought. Then again, I don’t even know what this thing is, living or not.
“They're the ones who gave birth to you, who take care of you,” She said, sick of explaining these things to the black puddle.
“Oh!” Nothing said. “You mean the floating dark splotch with an eye in the middle?”
“You mean that thing?” Blank said, pointing to a blob of darkness floating in the sky. She shuddered.
Nothing approached it. “Hi, Mom!” He said, smiling. To Blank’s utter amazement, it looked happy and even made a cute squeaking noise.
“Anyway, why are you bothering me?” Blank asked as Nothing came back over.
“Because it’s fun!” Nothing replied, giggling. “Since I told you my name, you tell me yours!”
Blank sighed. The thing couldn’t stop talking, would it? “My name’s Blank,” She whispered.
“Wow! We have such similar names! Blank and Nothing!” Nothing looked thoughtful. “We should be friends!”
“I don’t want to be your friend, and I don’t care!” Blank yowled, baring her teeth. “And haven’t got time for ‘friends’.”
Nothing stared at her stupidly. “Why?” He asked.
“Because I have to go on a journey, and I have to do it alone.”
“Why can’t we go together?” The creature pushed. He stared at her with big, shining eyes. “I can be helpful. I promise!”
Blank was silent for a moment before replying. “Fine…” She said, looking away. “You can come with me. But you can’t get in my way, or I’m sending you right back here.”
“Yes!” Nothing whispered happily. “That face always works! But why are we going on a journey? Are you looking for something?”
“I’m trying to find my dad,” Blank said. “He’s been missing for several years now.”
“Oh,” Nothing said. “I don’t have a dad either!”
“That’s not what I meant!” Blank said, angry. “I do have a dad, he’s just missing.”
“Is your mom also missing?” Nothing asked, looking curious.
Blank’s face took on a dark look, and she remained silent for several moments. Nothing looked uncomfortable.
“No,” Blank finally said, looking away. “My mom is dead.” She glared at Nothing, daggers in her eyes.
Nothing looked sympathetically and Blank. He then looked up, thinking. He looked back at Blank, realization shining in his bright yellow eyes. “I know!” He said. “You can share my mom with me!”
Blank looked at the black blob in the sky. “No thanks,” She said, backing away.
“I also have some siblings,” Nothing said, pointing to a cluster of the goo that Nothing seemed to be made of. “This is Nobody, No one, Someone, Anyone, Anything, Something, Somebody, Anybody…,”
The rest of the list was lost as Blank’s world lost focus. What’s happening? She thought. Why is this happening? The world then slowly came back to her, and she continued to hear Nothing listing off the depressing names of his siblings.
“Nothing, I don’t want to learn one hundred sad names,” She said, rolling her eyes.
Nothing looked at the ground. “Oh. Okay.” Then he quickly recovered. “When are we going to leave?”
Blank shrugged. “I don’t know, tomorrow or something?”
“Okay!” He said. “How long will it take to find him?”
Blank glared at Nothing. “Stop asking stupid questions that no one knows the answer to!” She yelled. “I don’t know where he is! So how am I supposed to know how long this will take? That’s the whole point of finding something!”
Nothing grabbed one of his siblings and pulled him close to him. “But we already know where Something is! He’s right here!” The black blob that was considerably larger than Nothing, and shot his brother a dirty look. But Nothing continued blabbing on, not noticing it. Suddenly, Something opened its mouth to reveal thousands of sharp teeth and started trying to devour Nothing. “He’s an amazing brother!” Nothing said as he was sucked into the sharp hole of his brother’s jaws.
Blank froze. What was wrong with these creatures? She didn’t want Nothing to be devoured into an endless pit of sharp teeth. She lifted her paw slowly and slammed it against Something’s face, knocking him over and sending Nothing flying out of his mouth. Nothing spent a few moments trying to get up from where he lay on the grass, dizzy and confused.
Blank brought her paw down onto Something and pinned him to the ground, claws extended if he tried to do something else.
After Nothing got back up, he looked at Blank, blinking away his confusion. He laughed lightly. “Something always does that! It’s so funny!”
Blank stared at Nothing, speechless. “Are you telling me that your kind is cannibalistic?” She asked, her voice rough with anger.
“What’s that?” Nothing asked, pulling on a dumb face. Blank rolled her eyes.
“Nothing…” She said, sighing. “Did you used to have more siblings?”
Nothing stared at her. “Um… I don’t exactly remember that much… But I think I had… One thousand? Lots of my brothers and sisters disappeared overnight, and mom just told me they went on their own…” Nothing tilted his head to one side. “Why do you ask?”
Blank looked away. “Just curious,” She said. “Also, have you ever done the things Something has done to you?”
Nothing paused, thinking. “Uh. I don’t think so… Why are you asking me these weird questions, anyway?”
Blank let out a sigh of relief. “Checking some things.” She replied. Something stirred beneath her paws.
“I want you dead.” He said, glaring at Nothing intensely.
“Why?” Nothing asked stupidly.
“Because you’re so annoying.” Something said plainly. “Why are you so different from the rest of us?”
Blank looked at Something, then back at Nothing again. He has a point, Blank thought, irritation spiking underneath her pelt. But that’s not a reason to want to kill your own brother. “Something, you have two choices.” She said, tightening her grip on his back. “One, you promise not to hurt Nothing, and I let you go, no problem.” Blank’s stare hardened. “Two, I keep you pinned here if you don’t decide on something. And if you hurt Nothing, I’ll have to attack you to prevent you from trying to eat him again.” Blank sank her claws into the thick goop on Something’s back. “So. What is your decision?”
Something hesitated, freezing under Blank’s grip. After a few moments, he spoke up. “Fine. I won’t hurt him. Just let me go already.”
Blank loosened her grip on Something and leaped off of him. Immediately, Something heaved off the ground and lunged at Nothing, swallowing him whole. In a moment, a dark lump slumped down his throat, and Nothing was gone.