Beasts of the American West

Chapter 1: Brothers
It was a hot day in mid summer. It was July of 1873 to be exact. The young bison made his way through the tall grass and towards a small clump of trees along the river. He seemed like nothing more than a large, brown speck amidst the vast sea of dry grass. It was extremely hot and uncomfortable for a beast with really thick fur. The sun beat down from the azure sky, baking the earth below. The buffalo paused briefly and surveyed his surroundings. All vegetation was brown and dried up with the exception of a few trees by the river. In the west loomed the high, rugged, snowcapped peaks of the Rockies. Tall, jagged mountains towered above the Great Plains like majestic guardians, silently watching over the endless prairies below. To the east was a seemingly endless sea of dry prairie grass that stretched as far as the eye could see over waves of gently rolling hills. A light, hot breeze blew across the open landscape causing the dry grass to sway back and fourth. The hot breeze just made the buffalo even more miserable.

I’m not doing this again, thought the shaggy beast as he walked through the grass towards the river. Blaze was very tired and thirsty after having spent the day looking for a better place to graze where the grass wasn’t so dry and crispy. He had found no such place and was returning home rather disappointed. A few clouds filled the deep blue sky overhead. The thirsty buffalo snorted and resumed his walk to the river. The dry, brown grass crunched beneath the bison’s hoofs as he made his way to the river and began lapping at the cool, refreshing water. The water made him feel better and cooled him off. Blaze lifted his head, letting the drops of water drip from his bearded chin and fall back into the river. He was beginning to wonder where his overly protective brother was. As a matter of fact, Rhen was kind of late today. He wanted to ask Rhen if he could accompany him to his grazing spot since Rhen claimed his grazing spot was so great. Blaze’s ears perked up at the thundering of hooves on the dry, hard ground behind him but before the buffalo had time to react, something rammed into him. With a cry of surprise, Blaze fell headfirst into the river. As he rose up out of the water, he saw another, older, and larger bison.

There stood Rhen, laughing and shaking his massive, shaggy head. He was a proud creature, standing 6½ feet tall. He had a thick mane of umber colored fur that covered his head and front legs and ended about halfway down his back. The rest of his fur was short and was a dark, chocolate color. His black, upturned horns were about a two feet long each, razor-sharp, and much longer than Blaze’s stubby horns.
Blaze sat there in the river with water dripping off of his long fur and said irritably, “Very funny, Rhen!”
Rhen, replied smugly, “Hey, did it cool you off, Blaze?”
Blaze climbed out of the water and shook the water out of his dripping hair, showering the ground with sparkling droplets of water which clung to the dry grass.

He snapped, “Why do you do these things to me, Rhen? If I had wanted to get wet, I would have gone for a swim on my own. I’m going to take forever to dry off!”
Blaze shook the water off of his head and tail and walked into the grove of trees, still dripping wet. He really wasn’t in the mood for Rhen’s pranks right now. The bison flopped down on the ground, sending up a cloud of dust from the dry, worn earth under the trees. This was his home. This is where Blaze and Rhen would take shelter from the burning sun in the afternoon and where they would go in the bitter winter to keep out of the icy wind.

Rhen walked up beside him and asked, “What’s wrong? You seem a little depressed.”
Blaze replied sadly, “I still miss mom.” Rhen sighed and said sympathetically, “I do too. But you don’t have to worry about being alone. I’m here for you.”
He nuzzled Blaze gently with his big nose and said, “You know I love you very much, Blaze. You are all I have left.”
Blaze said, “Thanks. I guess I just got upset about nothing.”
Rhen laughed, “Hey, what are brothers for.”
Back when Blaze was still only a calf, his mother died. She was very old when she gave birth and died of natural causes. It wouldn't have made any difference if she had been gunned down by a human hunter though because she still left behind a calf too young to fend for himself. Blaze was old enough to survive without her milk but not old enough to be without anyone to watch over him. Blaze probably would have not survived had Rhen not looked after him. Since then, Rhen had been very protective of his younger brother even now that Blaze was all grown up. Most of it was because Blaze was the only family Rhen had left now. The rest of their herd had been killed by humans. Humans were responsible for the fact that now Rhen and Blaze were the only two buffalo remaining in the area. There was a small herd further to the north but its leader wouldn’t allow any bulls to join because he wanted to limit competition during the mating season.

Blaze asked, “Are you going back out again?”

Rhen said to Blaze, “Nope. I think I’ll stay here. It’s getting late.”
Blaze tried to say it as nicely as he could, “Rhen, please don’t come check up on me anymore. I can take care of myself. I am an adult now, not a calf.”
Rhen sighed and said, “I know. I’m just worried. You are the only family I have.”
Blaze answered back to his brother, “I know. It’s just embarrassing.” He didn’t quite care much for all these checkups. He was an adult now. Rhen was just being overly protective. Blaze loved his brother very much but he just didn’t like to be treated like a baby. He had no friends and it could get very lonely during the day. He wished more than anything that he had a friend. It was so boring with nobody to talk to. Rhen would spend most of the day on the other side of the river. There was a really good grazing spot there. Blaze just thought about how nice it would be to have someone to talk to and spend time with so he wouldn’t be alone.

Rhen lied down next to Blaze and declared, “Blaze, I met an old friend today. Someone who I haven’t seen for at least two years.”

Blaze looked up curiously. “Who was it?”

Rhen replied, “You probably don’t remember James do you?”

Blaze thought for a second and exclaimed, “The bear? I remember him... vaguely.”

Rhen chuckled, “He asked how you’ve ben doing. It’s been a while and he wants to see you. That is if you want to go.”

Blaze pondered for a second. Why not? He had nothing else to do.

“Sure, Rhen. Why now?”

His brother said, “Good. We’ll go later when it cools off. It is just too hot to do much right now.”

Blaze and Rhen rested for a few hours, letting the hottest hours of the day pass by. Blaze rested his shaggy head on the dry ground and drifted in and out of sleep. Even in the shade, the heat was utterly miserable. Finally, in the late afternoon, things began to cool down. Rhen yawned and stood up. He walked lethargically out of the grove of trees. Blaze stretched out on the ground, digging his hooves into the dust. He rolled over and began to stand up. His fur was no longer wet from the river but dirt clung to his right side, which he was laying on when he was wet. The young bison followed his brother out of the trees and down to the river where Rhen was lapping up the cold water. Then, Rhen launched himself into the water causing a huge splash. The bison swam out into the middle of the river where the water was over his head. The current there was weak and the large buffalo had no trouble swimming through it. Rhen kicked his feet until his hooves could touch the rocky bottom of the river. Rhen thrust himself through the water until he reached the opposite bank.

As he climbed out of the water, Blaze shouted after him, “Where are you going?”

Rhen chuckled and replied, “I’m going to see James! Coming?”

Blaze took a deep breath and leaped into the river. The water, which flowed down from the mountains, felt icy and cold, yet refreshing at the same time. Blaze was shorter than Rhen and wasn’t able to swim as fast. It took him about ten minutes to cross the river.

When the young buffalo finally reached the other side, Rhen said, “Alright, lets go.” Rhen dashed off across the flat landscape.

Blaze panted as he tried to catch up, “Slow down, Rhen! What’s the big hurry?”

Rhen replied laughingly, “I want to get there before dark!”

Blaze wondered where they were going. Rhen seemed to be keeping it a surprise. Blaze pursued Rhen, his hooves pounding the dry earth and sending up a cloud of dust. He ran alongside his brother and the two bison raced along the riverbank as the sun hung low in the western sky, just above the mountain peaks, flooding the landscape with an orange light.

Blaze panted, “Getting tired yet?”

Rhen replied as he thundered along, “Nope. I’m just getting warmed up!”

Blaze was panting and struggling to keep up with Rhen. The dust that the powerful bison kicked up made Blaze cough and gag. The cloud of dust stung his eyes, bringing tears to them to wash away the particles. The young buffalo skidded to a halt, panting and choking on the dust. Rhen abruptly stopped, sending gravel flying as he slid across the rocky ground.

Rhen trotted over to Blaze and asked concerned, “Are you alright, Blaze?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” croaked Blaze in reply.”

“Good”, was Rhen’s reply as he dashed ahead again.

Blaze shouted after him, “I’ll get you for that, Rhen!”

The buffalo had by now caught his breath and bolted off after his brother toward the setting sun. The colossal shadow of the majestic mountains blanketed the vast prairies as the sun sank below their peaks. The bright rays of light reflected off the snowcapped peaks in hues of orange and pink. Blaze was quickly catching up to his brother and overtaking him. He was a very fast runner and was not about to let Rhen beat him. All he had to do was outrun him. Every muscle in Blaze’s body flexed and relaxed with each thrust of his powerful legs. His hooves thundered on the hard, dry ground. It would have been certain death for any creature unlucky enough to be caught beneath the bison’s hooves right now. A mouse or prairie dog would have been crushed and flattened instantly. Rhen was exerting all his energy and was wearing out. His tongue was dangling from his mouth and his heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of his chest.

He slowed to a trot and gasped, “Alright... I give up. You win, Blaze. We’re almost... there... anyway.”

Rhen was exhausted from the run. He slogged along with his tongue hanging out and his tail hung low.

Blaze paused and allowed Rhen to catch his breath and the two bison continued on their way.

Night was setting in and the land was cooling off rapidly. The big moon hung low in the sky as the last rays of light glowed in the west. Finally, Rhen and Blaze arrived at a rocky hill with a cave in the side of it.

Rhen announced, “This is it, Blaze. We’re here.”