King Elk Forest see my heart; I decorate it like a grave

For @Delight but AW

 

Concussed still, ribs aching, the ex-soldier had wandered a little past the borders. He hadn't been prepared for Burke's death-- but then, would he ever have been? Perhaps a past version of himself might have, if only because he surely would have felt the old man's life bleeding out between his own clenched jaws. But things were different, now... painfully so.
Nathaniel had lost everything, only to find something more to lose. He snorted at this thought, suddenly wondering if this meant he was to be the Rochester patriarch now. Not that he'd know for sure; Nat had never paid attention to trivial things like who of his littermates was born first. If it was based on strength, on experience, surely it would be a yes.
It didn't matter anyway.

Nat hadn't bothered, yet, to deeply clean the blood that stained his fur in certain areas. He had gone over it so he didn't reek of blood, but the ex-soldier was still clearly wounded. Visually, the worst of his wounds decorated his thigh; the flesh was mangled there and he held it awkwardly. But he thought very little of it now, in the face of his father's passing.