He set his paw on the rodent King that was in front of Sharp's Bishop, moving it over his King, taking the cat Bishop off of the board.
"Exactly" Sharp and Burrow simultaneously agreed. Having forgotten about the tension between them, both of them shared a quick glance while they laughed, the charm lingering for a second before it wore off. As soon as Cheesy noticed he eyed them with a smile on his face, them both realizing that they were being amicable and tearing the looks away from each other's glance, continuing to focus on the game at hand.
A few more minutes into the game and before they knew it, three brothers were playing with each other to an almost harmonious level.
"Opp! Got your Queen. "Burrow said, taking the feathered one and picking up Sharp's Cat Queen off of the dashboard.
"Ohh do you now??" Sharp retorted, taking his Cat Bishop and taking down Burrows Rodent King off of the board.
"Ouuuchhh oohh okay I see what's going on here. It's time for the big boys to step in" Just as Burrow said that he decided to draw his Rodent Bishop forward, which was right behind his Rodent King. Cheesy looked on enthusiastically from Sharp to Burrow, glad to see that they were finally, slowly slipping into responding with each other.
This is the first they've talked to each other for days!! I don't even know If this was going to work but it did!! Finally. Now it's time I fall back and give them some space he thought to himself, looking over to the water cap and realizing that 'suddenly" it needed more water.
"Oh would you look at that! The water cup needs some more water in it. Guess I'll just have to take a trip to the bathroom and go get it filled! I'll be right back fellas keep the game hot without me" with that Cheesy picked the water cap and headed through the peephole, going straight to the bathroom, making sure the coast was clear. He skimmed across the hallway and went to the bathroom with the water cup firmly in his mouth.
"I'll take as much time as I need. That'll give them more than enough time to talk things over!!!' He smirked to himself, a warm feeling of relief radiating in his heart. There was hope yet to glue what was left of his family back together.
Back at the holdings Sharp and Burrow sat there in awkward silence, both of them looking down and away from each other as they sat at the table. Sharp was playing around with his Queen cat and Burrow was looking at his claws, glancing up at Sharp from time to time.
Burrow sighed and began to look into himself, realizing how stupid and nonsensical this whole situation was.
''Hey...Sharp? There's something I want to talk to you about...just for a minute? "Burrow asked quite timidly. Sharp stopped playing with the soldier on the board and began looking at Burrow, clearing his throat.
"Okay..shoot" he said, giving Burrow the right of way.
...........................................................................
"Well um.. for starters. I just wanted to say that uhhh'' I kept looking down, intertwining my fingers, trying my best to figure out how I was going to say what I wanted.
I closed my eyes to inhale, attempting to shake out of this cowardice.
Rotating my vision directly to Sharp, a gulp the size of a stone went down my throat. I knew what needed to be done.
"I- I'm..sorry for.... calling you....a coward....." I muttered, low enough for him to hear.
"You're the bravest person I know Sharp, and the quickest. I know there was nothing else you could've done in that situation, and I had no right to blame Mother's death on you."
Having said that I noted a change in Sharp's eyes. They transitioned from being rigid, inflexible eyebrows, softening as he lowered his gaze.
It only lasted for a minute though. Immediately he switched back to his "tough guy " expression, folding his arms and continuing to look unbothered.
"Mmmm...go on" he mumbled.
" I'm sorry for acting so ignorant and snobby of how Mother treated me. Sometimes she could be a bit.. biased when it comes on to me and how she treated you, and she does undermine your efforts, as do I. I really appreciate how you saved me from the cat's grip Sharp, and I never truly thanked you for that. So...thank you, very much" I mentioned. Sharp looked up at me cautiously, still staying silent.
Sharp rubbed the space in between his ears, sighing he bowed his head.
"You have nothing to apologize for Burrow. I can be a prick sometimes. Well, most times honestly..." He looked up at me, choosing his words carefully.
"Looking at everything I sat down and realized that..... you have a point. I do some pretty..reckless things without thinking of anyone else. And um...I was a lil jealous of you and Mother's relationship. I'm sorry Burrs" I nodded at his apology.
"Yeah. I'm sorry about everything. It's all my fault Burrow, I don't care what you say. That day when the cat cornered me and Mother in that cage, I was so afraid. So scared, so frightened cause I knew what would happen. I thought I had everything in control, but I froze up as soon as our backs were against the wall in that cage. I was like a rock, just tough and unmoving. I didn't want to leave Mother behind, but I did, and I spend every minute thinking about how differently everything could've gone" as Sharp said this his voice began to crack. Bending his head down, he began to sniffle. Tears began to drop out onto his lap.
Sharp covered his face with his arm, hurriedly whipping the tears from his eyes.
"It's my fault she's gone Burrow. All my fault. If I had just stayed inside and not have picked a fight with you and her, she would be right here with us today, in this room. But she's gone. And I just left her there. I told her I would come back, and I told her that I wouldn't leave without her, but she told me to leave!!! To go. And I did, like a huge coward" Sharp bent down on his knees, whimpering as he huffed and heaved, holding his chest in sorrow.
I never saw Sharp cry before. I always got it from Cheesy, but never from Sharp. Not the fighting, warmonger, spit fire spirit that he posed himself to be, at all times. Seeing this reaction from him was a bit off guard, but it was more heartbreaking than it was surprising.
"Ohhh Sharp.." I went over to the next side and sat beside him, throwing my arms around his neck and giving him a hug. Gently I rubbed his back while he shivered under muffled, strangled cries.
"Sharp here, look at me'' dressing back and holding his shoulders, I wiped the tears gently from his face, trying desperately to hold back my own.
"It's not your fault okay???None of this is. You're not a coward for being frightened to death in a situation where you could've gotten killed, we're newly adulted bucks after all. We haven't even plucked our first Does yet!" Sharp chuckled a little at that one, I in turn laughing with him.
"We're just rodents trying to survive in this big, huge, confusing world Sharp. We have huge birds that swoop out of the sky to pick at our flesh. Dogs tackle with us, birds try to kill us, the Giants view us as pests, I swear everything under the Sun is bigger than us. But they don't stop to think that we are living creatures, with souls, just like them. You don't think that that vicious cat once had a mother like we did? Or those birds outside have fathers and brother and sisters like we do?" Sharp nodded his head at my question, sniffling as he listened.
"Exactly. They don't stop to think that we are just like them. That we aren't just food on the food chain. That makes them selfish Sharp. That makes them monsters, demons. They don't have souls like me and you, they don't care. So, its them Sharp, it's always been them and their savagery. It's not my fault, it's not your fault, it's no one's fault that they take and take and kill the way they do" I affectionately rubbed Sharp's shoulder as he nodded his head. He wiped the tears from his eyes, sitting up and bobbing his head back and forth, exhaling loudly.
"Your right Burrow. It's always been us against them hasn't it?? "
"Always has been Sharpo. Always will be" I smirked, nudging him in his side.
''I outta smack that damned cat silly before we leave this house" he grumbled.
Now Sharp was beginning to sound like himself again. He went on to curse them all, the Giants, the dogs, the cats, everything that was bigger than us. I sat down and listened to him get a load off, happy that he was feeling better. Happy that we squashed this animosity between us.
The atmosphere felt lighter now. The air smelt better; my joints felt great. I felt great, because I had something that I thought I lost.
My brother.
No matter how annoying I found him, he was a part of me that I would never forget.
After finishing his rant, he got up and went to Mother Mince's bed looming over it, standing there for a while.
''I miss her so much Burrs. Every night I'd dream that she's right there with me, and then I'd wake up and she's not there" Sharp retorted. He turned his head to me, and they were nothing but watery pools of sadness. That heaviness in my chest returned. Bowing my head I wiped my eyes, not being able to brush off the emptiness that came within me, whenever I looked at how baren her bed was.
"I know Sharp. I miss her too" With that the tears started flooding. I walked over to Sharp, embracing him once more.
..............................................................................
The two brothers held each other, both of them crying like they had never before. The animosity dissolved, and the only thing left was sadness. The most important things in their lives had perished, and now, all they had was each other. All they had was to honor Mother Mince in their waking lives, in whatever way they could.
Just as they stood in the room holding each other, Cheesy came in through the peephole, with the water cup filled.
"Awwwwww, guuuyyysss!! Cheesy wants love too!!" he shouted, dropping the water cup to the side and running to them, joining in their hug.
The three of them stood there in the middle of the room, engulfed in an embrace. Cheesy felt warmth inside of him, his heart doing leaps for joy now that his brothers were united. Maybe he could glue his family back together after all.
That night they held an unofficial funeral for Mother Mince (minus the body because of circumstances) placing all her things beside her bed, in her corner. Everyone came up and spoke a few words in her memory, fixing her things and praying, giving reverence to the loving and caring Doe that raised them to be the Bucks that they were today. The smart Burrow, the brave Sharp, and the caring Cheesy. They held hands and prayed around her space, knowing that they were proud rodents, and if they stuck together, they could overcome anything that life threw at them.