hawthorne blood

Hawthorne was born in the countryside of texas, right in the middle of nowhere. During his birth, there came complications which resulted in the death of his mother. It was now up to his older brother, Badger, and his father, Ocotillo, to raise him.

His father had always struggled with his health. Before his birth, Hawthorne’s mother was there to take care of him. Now that she was gone, Badger found himself having to tend to Ocotillo’s needs, and eventually so did Hawthorne - the moment he was capable of doing so, but his strength was declining by the day. Alongside that, the brothers were also responsible for taking care of the ranch that their family owned. This hindered his ability to get an education or socialise.

It didn’t help that the person he would spend most of his days with, Badger, was usually quite hostile and threatening towards him. One wrong move and things didn’t end well. hawthorne figured that his brother had always blamed him for their mother’s death; he eventually ended up believing so, too. He spent all of what little free time he had exploring the wilderness, and occasionally went out for days on end simply to unwind. This led to him discovering the little, abandoned mustang filly who he soon dubbed Cinnamon, after deciding to secretly take her in and nurse her. The boy saw himself in the horse, a scared animal with nobody to turn to, and gave her the love he wished he received. His father was too weak to spend time with him, and Badger didn’t have any love left in him.

while Cinnamon helped him cope, Hawthorne became more and more frustrated with his brother’s behaviour as he grew. They got into physical fights nearly every day, especially when Hawthorne would come back from his long disappearances. He suppressed his hurt from Badger; wishing his brother could offer him solace, and wishing they could rely on each other.

Their father’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Ocotillo had succumbed to his lifelong illness, but Badger had placed the blame on Hawthorne, his negligence of their remaining parent being the cause of Ocotillo’s demise in his book. They got into another fight, an even more violent one than usual. Blinded by rage, Hawthorne eventually found himself sitting over Badger’s dead body. That night, he left. A lone traveller with only his horse to keep him company. Years passed by and Hawthorne's pain and guilt gradually settled.