Drabble from Bryan’s Reincarnated Verse; ft. @foxofthe100

Bryan had never been so sure about the idea of reincarnation. Sure, the idea had been mentioned and class and he and his friends had joked about it; Riley had said Bryan would come back someday as a chicken, while Bryan was convinced it’d be as a squirrel. As much as he loved chickens, a squirrel just felt like it would be more his style. Miller had teased him about it, and there was more laughter from the group, because really, it was just a joke.

Never did he think that it would actually be something that would happen.

Flash forward to him going into the village with Monroe, Monty, Hannah, Bellamy… He hadn’t been fast enough. He’d walked in further with Monroe, and while Monty tried to save both of them, they’d both passed away. Bryan’s last thoughts had been about trying to choke out for Monty to save Monroe and forget about him, but he couldn’t manage it through the thick air that was choking him.

He’d woken up, not as a human, but as a squirrel; a tiny baby squirrel that had no memories of his previous life, and who was only focused on learning from his mother. There were things though, things that were weird. Smells that made him long for something he couldn’t describe, actions that made him feel homesick for something he didn’t understand.

Maybe it was because he was a different species now. Maybe it was because of how strongly he’d clung to the thoughts of his family and friends in those last few moments of struggle. Whatever it was, as he grew in the next few weeks, things began coming back to him. Flashes of a large ship on the ground, of people, objects that were familiar. 

Determined, he’d followed the scents, the paths feeling familiar, like he’d seen them before but couldn’t recall exactly. Then, there it was in the distance; Arkadia. The ship that he’d remembered, the gate that made him feel hopeful. So many humans were there; wasn’t he in danger? Although he felt worried, he couldn’t help but also feel eager to rush right into the gates.

Instead, he scrambled up a tree, watching as the people walked back and forth, the large items in their hands, what were they? Guns, that was the word that popped into his head, and he flicked his tail, sitting up a little straighter as he watched them march back and forth, looking like they were on guard duty. One in particular though, caught his attention.

The boy with the fox laying near his feet.

Tilting his head, the little squirrel scrambled further down the branch, watching as the fox yawned and stretched out, in wonder. The humans were letting the fox close? Maybe it would mean they would let him close as well! He’d started to scramble down the tree trunk, only to hear a yell and then something hit the tree right near him, nearly knocking him off as he scrambled to hold on.

He scrambled back up to hide instead, peeking out to see the fox had taken off into the woods, and the boy who’d been standing there was telling the other off for having made the shot. Curious, and not wanting to have something else shot at him, the squirrel made his way down the other side of the tree, rushing off after the fox.

He wasn’t sure why. He knew that the fox could rip him up if it wanted, but… something felt familiar about it. Something felt safe about it, and he needed to know why. Seeing the fox had taken up a perch on a tree stump nearby, he slowly got close and then chattered to get the fox’s attention. It had jumped, before slinking down off the stump towards him, sniffing carefully.

‘Fox’. The name popped into his head, and then suddenly he was chattering and bouncing a little, as if trying to communicate. It only made sense to him, after all; Fox turning into a fox? If he had managed to be reincarnated, what was to say that Fox hadn’t been as well? He couldn’t recall seeing her around when he was human, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be true, right?

The fox had jumped and tilted it’s head at him, as if trying to figure out what he was doing, and Bryan couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Maybe this was why memories shouldn’t be returned, even so few, he thought, if there was this communication barrier that they couldn’t break down.

They couldn’t break it down; but they could manage to work with it.

Fast forward again, this time to a few months later. Although neither one of them could fully understand the other, Fox and Bryan had managed to at least work out some sort of way to communicate through gestures and sounds. It had taken some time and effort, but they’d managed it; much to the chagrin of the camp.

After all; the two of them had become known to cause havoc and play pranks on their former mates. This including knocking over Jasper’s drinks, throwing things at Murphy when he didn’t listen to Bellamy, and scaring both Nate and Bellamy when they crawled into their beds and startled them when they woke up. Though, waking up to a squirrel near your face, or a fox next to you, probably would be a startling thing.

Add to that, that the duo had ended up under Abby’s care multiple times due to accidents and the delinquents bringing the two to the med bay and begging Abby to take care of them (because the two had become a staple around the camp, and they’d reminded everyone of the two so much, even if they didn’t know that reincarnation was real), and it was no surprise that they were loved.

The day was the day of Bryan’s birthday. 

Nate had remembered it, had even managed to find enough items that he’d made some sort of cupcake for Bryan in remembrance. Bryan had been crawling through the vents of Arkadia scoping things out when he’d caught the scent, and had gone to investigate. Seeing the cupcake sitting on the table, he’d gotten an idea, and then taken back off out of the vent and towards the outside.

Making it back to where he’d left Fox, he ran up, climbing onto the fox’s back and chattering away quickly, the little squirrel trying his best to make the motions that they’d come to understand for ‘food; and it’s something we want!’ to her. The way she perked up made him know she understood, and he motioned as best he could towards the ship again.

As she got up and made her way towards the door, he scrambled after her, chattering along the way, and leading down the hall. The squirrel stopped in the doorway of the room, frozen at seeing that not only was Nate in the room now, but so were Bellamy, Clarke, Monty, Jasper, and Harper. He was trying to think of something to do, some way they could get in there and get the cupcake without being stopped.

Fox seemed to know exactly what to do. The fox had stepped into the room, moving to the side and then letting out a noise that was almost a sound of being in pain, flopping to the floor on her side dramatically. The group had been startled and quickly moved to try and check on her, and the squirrel tried not to snicker; it was just the opening that he’d needed.

As they checked on the fox, the squirrel quickly scrambled in, rushing and jumping up onto the table, grabbing the cupcake that he’d smelled from before in his mouth as carefully as he could. Holding onto it, he jumped off the table, rushing out the door and down the hallway as fast as he could towards the exit. He’d done it! He had the cupcake!

Realizing that the squirrel had just gone out the door, Nate yelled in surprise, which was just what the fox needed to scramble up and away from the ones who were looking so worried about her, jumping away from their hands, out the door and down the hallway after the squirrel. Together, they’d been victorious, and none of their human friends had managed to catch them.

Regrouping in the woods, Bryan chattered happily to Fox, the little squirrel working to tear the cupcake into two halves, putting one in front of the fox and then keeping one for himself. The fox looked proud of them, bouncing a little and flicking her tail, and the squirrel mimicked the move of happiness. Sitting down, they both began to gobble down the spoils of their heist.

He could hear them yelling for them inside the gates; he was sure that was Bellamy calling them brats, and Nate calling them thieves, but he could also tell that they were laughing about it. After all, nothing said entertainment like getting out tricked by a fox and a squirrel, right? Maybe it hadn’t been too polite to steal it; because it sounded like they were going to be given it later anyway, but it kept their friends on their toes, right?

As they finished eating, Bryan began chattering again, bouncing back and forth in front of Fox, as if trying to re-enact in a way, the whole thing that had happened. The squirrel even went as far as to dramatically fall over to mimic what the fox had done to get their attention while he stole the cupcake off of the table. And, from the way the fox seemed to be laughing at him? It had all been worth it.

What could have been a sad day of remembering when he’d been human and his being missed, had turned into something entertaining and fun for all of them instead.

And that night, as the fox and the squirrel began to move to their usual spot to lay down and sleep, he decided to dramatically fall over again to mimic what the fox had done earlier; earning him a light ‘whap’ from the fox’s paw, telling him to behave and go to sleep.