Chapter 1: Jealously
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Denahi had never felt jealous.

Mostly because he'd never had any reason to be. Why would there be? He'd been fortunate to have everything he had wanted in life: a safe village, a good supply of food for winter and a family in the form of his brothers.

And even with the latest death of his eldest brother, he still had two brothers, Kenai and Koda.

But, as he watched his brother and the little bear play, he felt the emotion strike him deeply in the heart. Denahi knew it was jealously, though he loathed to admit it. He also knew that it wasn't likely to disappear, it had been happening repeatedly for the last few weeks, ever since he found out his brother had become a bear.

It was unfortunate for him, he didn't want to feel jealous and he admitted to himself that it was probably unreasonable. He even felt guilty for harbouring such feelings, though the feelings of guilt had no hope in crushing those of the jealously.

He frowned when they began wrestling with each other, it reminded him of the moment they had done so on the mountainside. He had been so naive then to think that everything one would be right from then on. After all the pain and hurt he had gone through he had jumped at the chance to be naïve, to think that there would be no more pain or hurt.

He had thought he wouldn't be alone anymore and that he would have his brother... but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.

No, he had been replaced by a small bear.

He looked away and began his trek to his shelter, kicking anything in his way as he walked. They would eventually return to the village, though Denahi knew they would soon be leaving. They wouldn't stay here, Denahi was sure of it.

Because why would they stay here?

It wouldn't be for him. The language barrier had made it impossible for him to convey anything, except basic things he could mime.

They had drifted further and further apart and Kenai spent most of his days with the small bear than with him. He felt annoyed at that and the basic, and stupid, reasoning that it wasn't fair because he had been a brother to him first entered his mind.

However, Denahi stopped his trail of thought. He knew he was being unfair. The small bear, he corrected himself that he should be referring to him as Koda, was really friendly and seemed like great fun to be around. Denahi even considered him a brother, despite their lack of blood relations and hoped he would do the same. Though, it was reasonable that he didn't because they hadn't spent very much time together and the lack of understanding between them meant they were stuck as strangers to each other.

At times when the small bear tried to mimic a conservation, his small paws failing as he did so, Denahi wished he could understand him. There was no doubt the small bear tried, but Denahi couldn't understand anything more than him conveying eating, sleeping and travelling. Denahi supposed he was lucky that Kenai was able to convey things better, although, there was still misunderstandings and lack of flowing conversation between the two.

At times like that, or when the bears were engaged in their own conversations, Denahi couldn't help be jealous. It just didn't seem fair to him. Why hadn't he been able to be given the ability to communicate with them properly?

And that led to the crux of the matter.

Denahi felt left out. He was human, he couldn't understand their language and he couldn't interact with them in the same way.

He was jealous that he had been separated from them because he wasn't a bear. Why was it that the Great Spirits wanted this?

If only he was a bear, then this whole matter would be sorted out and Denahi could be a brother once more. But, this wasn't the case. Instead, he was to stay as a human.

He sighed and entered his shelter, only taking a moment to remove his muddy boots before he lay down on the pile of furs that made up his bed.

He glared at the ceiling, glaring up at the Great Spirits. They had done this. They were at fault. How could they do this to his brothers? How could they do this to him?

Line-Break

Denahi didn't even spare a second glance at his brother, before he was storming off into the forest. He lashed out at the branches in his way as he tore through, the destination of the stream the main focus of his mind.

He ignored the roaring from behind him and as he reached the stream he let himself collapse to the ground and tossed the spear in hand beside him. There was no use for it at this moment, the hunting trip was certainly over now.

He thought back to hunting trip, to the disastrous end it had had.

*Start of flashback*

"Ready, Kenai?" Denahi asked, trying to remove his spear from where he had driven it into the ground. He received a roar and a nod from his brother, and once the spear was free, they moved into the forest.

Denahi and Kenai had been planning it for a day or two and had been excited for it. It was the first time that they were doing something with just themselves as Koda had been left in the village (or at least they had thought he was). So when today came they had started off at dawn, Kenai with his sharpened claws and Denahi with his spear at the ready.

They moved through the forest quietly together, like they had done as humans, and using small hand signals for directions. It wasn't long before they came across animal tracks. They were quite large, though it was hard to tell if it was a moose or a dear because they seemed to merge together. Denahi couldn't tell if it was even one moose or several, the tracks were just so unclear.

Nevertheless, he and Kenai followed the tracks, which winded in all sorts of directions. Even heading sideways at several points.

"What on earth?" Denahi had gasped at the sight of the tracks. Kenai had shrugged, just as clueless as Denahi was.

Unfortunately, then in a spectacular fashion Koda arrived, covered head-to-toe in berry juice. Dehani suspected he had fallen into one of the pans of berry juice some of the women had for making the sweet berry paste and wondered if Koda had been chased away by them for being a nuisance. It was certainly probable. Denahi had been at the brunt of many incidents with Koda to know that.

This therefore, had been the first problem because Koda had refused to be quiet and now his time alone with Kenai was now over. Denahi, however, agreed silently to himself to keep going with the hunt.

An hour or so later, with the trail hot and the sound of the animal in the distance, Denahi had been about to charge when all of a sudden Koda had pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.

Denahi had swiftly hit the ground and when the dizziness in his eyesight had cleared he shouted at Koda in confusion.

However, with the lack of ability for him to understand the bear he didn't know what he was replying with, though Koda seemed to be equally angry with him. Eventually, Denahi ignored the small bear moving his paws around wildly, attempting to talk to him, to Kenai who looked equally as annoyed.

Getting irritated with the language barrier Denahi raised his hands up to signal his confusion. Kenai pointed at the animal, the moose, and then brushed down at his fur.

Denahi could only shrug.

Kenai tried again, but this time Denahi had had enough. They couldn't even enjoy a simple hunting trip anymore. His temper rose with the thoughts and then he snapped.

"We can't do this Kenai. It's not like before. I wish it would work… but it doesn't," he yelled, his eyes glaring into Kenai's, "I'm leaving now."

Kenai nodded, his eyes sad as he pointed at himself, then Koda and then the mountain.

And this time Denahi understood what Kenai was saying.

"Fine," he said gruffly, masking his real emotions beneath the anger, before he cast a quick and angry glance to Koda and then stormed away.

*End of flashback*

The news his brother was leaving wasn't even a surprise. Denahi had predicted, he had known it was coming, but for it to be proven to be true enraged him.

His brother was abandoning him, leaving him for the other bear.

He launched a pebble into the stream, relishing when it skimmed across the water. Unfortunately, it also brought the memories of him and his brothers doing just this when they were little and together.

But, now with Sitka with the Great Spirits and Kenai travelling with Koda, it meant he was left alone.

What would he even do now that they were gone?

He was so used to doing everything with his brothers and though the idea of canoeing or fishing or hunting seemed fun, the concept of doing it alone just made it seem unbearable for Denahi.

He supposed he could do something else… though he couldn't think of quite what, but maybe some other activity or new friend would take his mind of his brothers.

He sighed, his anger leaving him. He knew Kenai was making the right decision, at least for Koda's sake. They really needed to go to other places and meet other bears, rather than stay cooped up in this village and get into trouble.

Plus, Kenai seemed to be upset in the village.

Denahi would occasionally catch his brother looking mournfully at their shelter or at the people in the village. He knew it must be hurting his brother to see that he wouldn't be able to return to his old life, that he would never be able to talk to anybody in the village again or that he wouldn't be able to do any 'human activities'. So, maybe leaving here would help his brother as well.

He looked over and glanced at the river water which was rippling wildly with all the salmon swimming in it. Denahi grabbed his spear: hunting the salmon would provide a nice distraction and a nice meal for him tonight.

And, of course a tasty snack for bears.

So this is the first part of a two-chapter story. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave any questions, constructive criticism and feedback.

A note about this chapter is that the moose was in fact Tuke or Rutt and this was reason Koda intervened and Kenai got annoyed. The footprints were also side-ways because they wanted to be different in how they walked. Just thought this might need clarifying in case.

Thanks very much for reading, the second part should be up in less than a week.