---- woke up.  The buzzing nearby told him that he needed to move soon, but the comfortable blanket told him he should stay a while longer.  Finally choosing to accept the call of the buzz over the call of the fuzz, he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes awake.  He could feel the carpet under him, and saw his bed next to his shoulder, still mostly made.  Seems he fell asleep on the floor again, which might make him angry if ----got caught. 

Thanking the buzzer for sparing him from a bunch of yelling first thing in the morning, he decided it was time to fully get up.  After all, who knew which exact buzzer it was, and without getting up and checking it there was no way to find out.  If it was the last buzzer, he might even already be late for school (whatever that was).  He stretched his left arm out to grab the bed and pull himself up.

PAIN!

Everything went dark.

Marik woke up in pain.  Lots of pain, everywhere, but mostly in his left arm, left leg, and head.  There was a bit of golden light trickling through the ceiling above, but whatever hole he fell through was somehow closed back up to the point where he couldn't tell exactly where the light came from much less where the hole had been.  There was just enough light to look around a little.  He wasn't sure what time of day it was or how long he had been here or even where exactly here was.  It was a cave tunnel of some sort, long and dark enough in either direction that he couldn't see any end, and tall enough that even his father wouldn't be able to jump and reach the ceiling.

Luckily the wall was nearby, so he carefully rolled over just enough to where he could ease himself to a sitting position against the wall using his right hand.  Taking a few deep breaths he began to feel more pain.  Besides the obvious hurts with the obvious causes, there was also a duller burning kind of pain throughout his body.  His mouth was also dry and motes of light swam before his eyes here and there.  The good news was that he could at least sit and think for a moment.  Supposedly someone should come to his rescue if he just stayed and waited.  Supposedly.

So how did everything end up like this, anyway?  He was fairly certain he'd been a fairly good son and brother to his family.  He'd learned all a good little wolfkin should learn before their first night-hunt, and had been looking forward to it for the last month.  The little tussles, fights, and wrestling matches had increased between the siblings during that month to the point where it was happening multiple times a day.  However, Marik couldn't remember any time in his entire life where he'd lost a fight against either of siblings, physically at least.  He'd had plenty of draws, probably as many as wins, and either time he'd fought both at once, he was sure he'd lost.  Except that one time.  Arguments were mostly won by his sister, sure, and maybe occasionally by his brother, but when it came to grappling with a few punches and kicks thrown in it had always ended in his win or a draw.

Yet somehow Beta had chosen his sister as the strongest cub, possibly even in comparison to all the other cubs of Goron.  Now he was finally starting to even wonder when and how that happened.  He couldn't remember any chance any of them had had to talk to Beta privately or personally.  That said, for as long as any of them could remember they had been told that lying about or to Alpha and Beta would result in punishment much worse than both of their parents in angry mode combined.  He was fairly certain then that his sister had indeed received some sort of instructions from Beta, but since she also tended to be short on words he was also fairly certain that she had been told more than to just take his weapon.

Both he and Sara had made a sort of secret agreement about their brother, Daren.  He had never won a fight, and rarely won an argument, so the tended to secretly and subtly dote on him.  The best or biggest meats always magically ended up closest to his reach, and the best or most desired presents typically went to him first.  The only real problem of his brother grabbing the spear first was how he had practically jumped on it.  

Thinking back, the children of both Alpha and Beta had also said something about his father seeing him unworthy of the night-hunt along with Beta.  When his sister had grandly announced an order from Beta in front of their parents, his mother had seemed surprised but his father less so.  It was often hard to tell with his father, though, but now he was starting to really wonder.  His father had also told him something along the lines of this night-hunt being his chance and doing well.  Obviously he had failed at the actual hunting part, but if surviving his own pack turning on him was some kind of test set up by Beta and his father, then maybe he had done enough.

It was beginning to feel like nobody would come to find him anymore.  Part of that feeling was because it already felt like hours since he'd managed to wake, and part of it was because the light was growing dim again.  There was a powerful desire for something to drink which grew stronger by the second as well.  Finally deciding that part of this test was probably him getting back home as well, he decided to try and stand.  Kind of.

Some wind was coming from one direction, and some part of his mind said that it meant that way was out.  Moving very slowly and pushing through all the random surges of pain as best he could, he put his right on the wall for support and hopped with his right foot towards what he hoped was the exit. Entrance. Whatever.

He had to stop multiple times due to aching muscles and random pain surges too strong to ignore, but just as the sky turned dark he saw the way out. Keeping his pace, regardless of his excitement and because it already hurt too mush going as slowly as he was, he hopped forward to meet the sky once again.  He noticed as he looked back that the entrance he came out of was actually quite well hidden.  It was in the side of  what could essentially be called a miniature cliffside with a giant vine-covered mossy tree right above it draping the vines and roots enough to make it very hard to spot from outside.

Using pure intuition, Marik turned left to begin his hobble home.  Unfortunately it meant that his pace was now even slower since what little there was for support was all on the left, and trying brace himself with his right and across his body proved more detrimental than helpful. Still, with growing bright white spots all over his vision, loud ringing in his ears, a dizziness that felt like he been spinning and somersaulting for hours, the taste of dry blood and gravel in his mouth, and pain of all sorts that he hoped to never feel again all over his body, he hopped forward.  Even when his vision had finally turned white, and places felt numb and tingly when he was sure they shouldn't, he hopped.

Then he hopped again.

Then he hopped...

Everything went dark.

There was dull pain everywhere, and sharp little pains in a few places.  He had that odd feeling that he'd slept so long that it made him tired.  There was a kind of hushed murmuring sound somewhere that sounded both really close and really far away.  Curiosity about the murmurs finally overrode everything else and he slowly opened his eyes to try and look around.  Immediately upon opening his eyes and before he could actually recognize anything happening there was a gasp and his mother's face filled his entire vision as if she had magically teleported there.  That said, he wasn't entirely sure what magically teleported actually meant, but it seemed to fit the occasion.

He wanted to call out to his mother to try and let her know he was at least okay enough that she didn't have to show so much worry on her face, but unfortunately his throat was dry so the word "mom" came out as something closer to a cracked whisper.  It hurt a little too much to try and say more, and the worry on his mother's face only increased because of it, so he closed his mouth after licking his lips.  Luckily that seemed to be just the right amount of sign language because his mother backed off enough to bring a cup of water his lips that she had gotten from the same magical place she was hiding in as he opened his eyes.

Once the water was gone and it felt like there were less thorns stabbing his throat from the inside he tried saying a short and quiet "hi" again.  Although he managed to actually say it this time, it brought the throat thorns back immediately and it still sounded scratchy and weird, almost like he was using 2 voices at the same time.  He finally decided it was best to just not talk until his throat no longer hurt at all.  Instead he turned his head to the side, and saw something that almost made him piss himself, which he probably would have done except there was nothing there to come out.

His father stood by the wall with arms crossed and so little movement that if it hadn't been for his fathers eyes he might have thought someone sculpted a statue.  It was his father's face, and mostly the eyes, which frightened him so much, though.  He had seen his father in terrible throes of anger before, and he along with his siblings had always been made aware of just how terrible the consequences of bringing him to that rare yet terrifying point could be.  The calm, quiet, yet terrible and seething anger emanating from his eyes with the typical stern face only hinting at an angry scowl made him somehow more terrified than anything else ever had.

His mother turned around after seeing his frightened face and finally noticed the look on her mate's face.  As she rushed over and practically yanked him out of the room, Marik was left alone once more.  Tiredness assaulted his body once again, dragging his eyes closed.  Just before his conscious thoughts flew off, he saw the noren being pulled to the side, but couldn't see by whom before he drifted into the void.

There was that alarm clock buzzing again, signaling yet another hateful morning.  Luckily he managed to open his eyes before he sat up, since he could see the underside of his bed.  At least now his morning wouldn't be filled with physical pain.  The light was on, though.  That meant it was likely another one of those nights that had somehow blurred together to become the norm.  He had come in and shaken him awake only to start yelling about how and why he was awake.  He always turned the light on to do that, and the switch was by the door, providing all the evidence needed for his current situation.  Every time it happened, he always found himself crawling out of bed and then under it to finish his sleep.

He could technically get up, walk over, turn out the light, then walk back and crawl into bed again.  However, after a couple of years learning had occurred.  Turning the light off somehow acted as a strange signal that it was okay for him to repeat the process.  Of course he had also tried using this modicum of knowledge to try and prevent the whole thing, but if the light was on from the beginning then somehow it resulted in louder yelling for a longer time.  It was hard to sleep through yelling.

The darkness was also very nice.  It seemed like the darker everything was, the quieter everything was.  Sight was needed less, and hearing helped more, allowing him to hear the movements and happenings through and around obstacles that would normally block sight.  Like walls.  And doors.  People always told him that there were scary things in the darkness of the night like the dead people who drank your blood to kill you or people who turned into crazy wolves and went on killing sprees, but not only had he never been particularly bothered by any of those things, he felt more peaceful in the dark.  If it was still dark then he was still safe from him and the with feeling that every other sense besides his sight felt stronger at night, he was pretty sure that scary things like that were actually even less scary.

Maybe there was a way he could someday be one of those scary things himself?  He was still really young and little if he thought about it, so someday he could surely find a way to a scary thing that enjoyed the dark nights as much as he did.  Until then, though, he should start getting ready.  From now on he would try to find time to sleep in the day.  Maybe in the morning, since morning always felt bad.  Smart older people always told him he would need a life goal.  From now on his goal was to sleep in the morning, enjoy the night, and maybe one day be one of those scary things that actually sounded nicer than the real scary thing he already knew about.

Another weird dream.  Strangely fuzzy yet realistic at the same time.  They were a little hard to remember, but what he could remember always seemed so weird.  Nothing in those dreams were what they looked like, but while he was there they felt so normal.  Even the things that looked like wood weren't really wood.  Too shiny.

Anyways, it was probably time to try and really wake up now.  That feeling of having slept too long again was there, but there was a lot less pain.  Except in his throat, where he thought that maybe someone planted a thorn bush as a horrible prank.  As he opened his eyes, he noticed he was alone.  It definitely looked like his room, but there was nobody around as far as he could see or hear.  He lifted his head slightly to examine his body and heard an audible pop.  There was the briefest sensation of pain, quickly followed by a much more relaxed feeling in his neck than when he'd awoken.  

Both his arm and leg had little sticks attached to them by having a bunch of cloth strips wrapped around them.  He remembered his father saying something about bandages like these, but they were rarely used since wolfkin usually healed fast enough to not need them.  The prickly pain under the bandages was only slightly prickly, like the times when his sister's claws would into his back at night.  The dull pain everywhere else was also much less, similar to when he got temporarily stuck under his brother when grappling.  It was all still hurting, but it was at the level of annoying more than anything now.

Realizing that, Marik slowly sat up.  The ringing, dizziness, and white spots were all gone.  There were a lot of popping noises come from various places on his body, as he slowly moved to ease the dull sensations.  Every minorly painful pop noise was quickly followed by a lot of good feeling and even less of the dull pain, though, so he kept slowly moving until he couldn't make anything else pop.  In a way, he kind of enjoyed that.  If he could do all that popping thing again without having to feel all the pain first, he would be quite happy to do it.

Marik was still moving slowly just in case, but we wanted to finally get up and move around again.  The bandaged arm and leg sent more of the sharp pain as he pushed himself out of bed and stood up, but it was still much better than when he had last been awake with his father's angry eyes watching him.  His stomach made a noise, so he started to slowly make his way to where the food usually was.  He was definitely a little wobbly as he walked, but not because of dizziness.  His whole body felt stiff and weird, and he felt like he was learning how to use it for the first time.

Just as he made it to the dining room, his mother walked in and nearly dropped the food she was carrying.  Marik's stomach made noise again and this time it was pretty loud.  So loud that the briefest of smiles flickered across his mother's face.  Unfortunately, she seemed to be stuck in her own thoughts because other than a wide variety of facial movements and a swishy tail she was standing as still as possible.  The throat thorns were still there, but the stomach needed what the stomach wanted.

"Food," Marik finally managed to croak out just before a recurrence of stomach noises.  He also swore in his mind to talk as little as possible until the throat thorns were actually gone.