Page 40 of The Buck Stops Hare

Gross.

Beyond the small run, I caught sight of a paddock, a few old horses milling about, grazing. They appeared to be the stockier sort, wild looking in their own way. Amid them, a strange horse pawed at the earth, its coat the color of stormy skies with markings like ripples of water in concentric circles that moved every time I blinked. And in that same space stood my brother, and beneath that a six-legged horselike creature with a wild, whipping mane like lightning flowed through it, stormy as the horse I could see and as dangerous as anything I knew.

“What the fuck is this sort of shit, dude?” I gestured at him, earning a snort of derision as the monstrous horselike creature pawed the earth with front legs less like a horse’s and more opposable, tipped in gripping hands, ready to claw and rend sod.

“You can come here and hang out with me, or I can go home, get my ass pounded by Buck, and call River for a hangout sesh.” I folded my arms, fighting the burning sensation pricking at my temples. I had to hold it out, needed to keep my shame from showing.

A snarl of teeth that went from flat to sharp in a jarring transition almost made me flinch if it weren’t for the shimmering center of him where part of my brain still saw Rayne.

I glared back and dusted myself off before flopping onto the ground, lying back, and staring up at the clear sky. The odd cloud had drifted in, casting wandering shadows over the earth. “Fine. I’ll just lay out here shouting at a fucking creepy horse caterpillar thing. What the fuck, man? Six legs? Horsebug…”

He stamped one of his hooved feet and the clouds above me darkened, spreading out like frost on a windshield.

“Sky piss. Okay. Bring it on.” I crossed my legs and tensed as Rayne loped forward, head hung down as his expression remained menacing.

“Don’t care what you threaten or look like, bro. It’s you in there, or you’d have already chomped me or pissed Buck off enough to come out here and do his own angry stamping and growling.” I kept my breaths steady as I tried not to focus on Rayne’s terrifying form, the spreading clouds, and threatening aura. It was Rayne in there, my older brother.By ten months…I knew it had to be.

“Like…I get that you don’t know if you’re you or not. But I can look at you and tell what you are. I see a horse and that six-leggy thing. I see a long-legged bird with ridiculously peacocky head feathers. I see a sharp-toothed, lanky thing with fiery eyes and a whiplike tail. Beyond that, I see you. I see my brother. I feel you, Rayne. Do you see all the mirages? When you look at me, what do you see?”

Rayne paced around me once then twice before snorting and laying in the dying grass. His chest rose and fell, the many beasts within him sighing in sync with his mortal self. In his voice that was also the cry of the strange bird, a growl of a wolf, and the snarl of his many-legged beast, he agreed. “I do. I see you. I see fuzzy shapes of things you’ve not chosen yet.”

“See, that’s kinda cool. I want to try turning into things, I think. Ever get stuck or forget how to change back?” I glancedover, watching his stormy expression shift to something more curious.

“No.” His voice came in stereo, as if from several mouths at the same time, but at the heart of it was my brother. Rayne.

“Knowing me, I’d get stuck as something awful. Probably a hedgehog or emu…” I shrugged and Rayne didn’t laugh, but the soft huff of breath wasn’t annoyance.

“Idiot.”

I reached for him as he settled. “C’mon man. I’m so new to all this. You’ve got a head start on me, big bro. I need support.”

“As if I really know all the answers.” Rayne didn’t shy away from my touch as I rested a hand on the back of his neck, fingers scruffing in his mane.

I had half an idea as I sat there. I had a chance. I had to take it. “Rayne?”

“What?” Rayne’s eerie equine face turned to me, eyes full of lightning and fire.

“Why the long face?”

“I died. That’s a lot to han—” He paused. “Oh, fuck you.”

I snorted and scooted away as he leaned over, teeth bared and nipped at my arm. “Ow!”

“This is serious!”

“I know! But I’m also serious when I tell you that you’re my brother.”

“Am I, though? Really?” Rayne slid back onto his feet and bared his enormous form over me, sharp teeth lining an alligator-like mouth that split his ungulate face with a wet hiss. “Because I’m different, now. I’m so many new things, powerful things, old things and new. I don’t even bleed right any more!”

I braced my shoulder and ran at him, shoving as hard as I could. The ground beneath my feet shifted and Rayne went tumbling, kicking sod as he went. As he scrambled to stand, the sky darkened, clouds multiplying with the threat of rain.“You’re my fucking brother. You’re just as stupid as he ever was. Pigheaded. Sitting here keeping secrets. We all thought you’d die or disappear one day doing all the secretive shit you do.”

“Oh please, like anyone ever cared.” Rayne climbed onto his feet, hooved back legs digging into earth as the first tiny spits of rain fell.

“I care. I’d have cared a lot more if you called. I care even more so that there’s a baby in there that you absolutely have no business trying to raise on your own. Jeez, dude! I can’t let my niece grow up surrounded by—” I gestured at him. “You burned salad, once!”

“I can cook, now. I learned.”

“That’s the only point I’ve seen so far that tells me you’re not the same person, jackoff.” I rubbed my shoulder and rolled my head, letting my neck crack. There was so much power flowing about, like the air tingled around me.

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