A Tall and Small Collection | Soren

When Luck Runs Out

It had been just over a week since their last borrowing trip. Soren had taken his brothers out one other time, but only to help him gather and bring back a few building supplies from the older woman's apartment. He let them wander about under the cabinets even though the door was closed. If the door had been open, Soren wouldn't have let them come out. The cat was probably still angry at him after all.

It was at the end of that week when Soren noticed he wasn't quite feeling himself. His head ached after a few hours of him working. His limbs responded sluggishly and he couldn't shake the chill from the other morning. To compensate, Soren tried drinking more water and resting, but there were just so many things to do.

Soren hadn't felt alert enough to go borrowing for food. There were enough rations in their storage space for about three weeks if they rationed carefully. Another influx of mice had made a horrible draft in the walls. Soren, Dorian, and Rey managed to find the hole, but could only place some thick cloth over the area until they could find better building materials.

Because of the hole and the dangers associated with sleeping on the ground floor, Soren wanted to scout around and find a better place to call home. He considered finding a place near the ceiling and in between multiple apartments but hadn't had the chance to check. Another move wasn't optimal, but the argument to stay weakened by the hour.

Plus, Soren had committed to lining the walls with thread to help his brothers get from place to place. Unfortunately, the halls were more than the thread he currently possessed; and his pounding head wasn't helping. He had only managed to thread from camp to all of the entrances that were safe in the older human's apartment.

Dorian and Rey were obviously worried about their oldest brother. They asked him frequently if they could help in any way or if he wanted them to do a task instead. They even asked if they could go borrowing again in the apartment they went to first with the bags of chips scattered about. Soren, with a weak but thoughtful smile, would always respond the same way.

"Focus on your training. Work on sprints and your climbing. Braid this thread so you have a strong borrowing line for rappelling. Think about the things we need. We'll go borrowing together soon."

Soren knew Rey and Dorian were safe and the confidence they were gaining from two simple borrowing trips was astounding. Still, Soren didn't want them to go on their own. They were too young. They didn't have enough experience. They hadn't been placed in a dangerous situation and didn't know how to respond to an emergency.

Soren knew he couldn't protect his brothers from the world forever, but he couldn't bring himself to send them into the world without knowing he had done everything to prepare them.

~~~~~

It was just over a week now, and Soren hadn't gone borrowing for food in that time. Not only had he not gone borrowing, but he was still feeling poorly. Today seemed to be worse than before. His body visibly shook if he wasn't concentrating and he had to squint so the light wouldn't hurt his eyes. Mind slightly foggy, Soren decided he would finish laying the last line to the older human's apartment and try to sleep off whatever was plaguing him.

He ruffled his brothers' hair before setting out, noting the concerned look in their eyes before they began working on their own thread lines for their hooks. This interaction took place a few hours ago. Soren was forced to take a few moments to shrug off the shaking and to keep his head from swirling.

He was walking back, his feet carrying his aching body reluctantly back to camp. The mouse pelt on his shoulders was keeping him warm, but only barely. Soren saw the corner of the wall, knowing their camp was mere feet away. He was looking forward to a nice long rest when something pricked him as odd.