Redhawk Caldera sunshine on your toes

While Fox began to shiver and quake, Peregrine shot forward, touching his nose against the little one known only as "Derp." He was limp and unresponsive. His body was cool to the touch. He looked strangely ashen. Without a doubt, he was dead, though there was not a mark upon his body.

Feeling stunned and numb, the Alpha male looked at Fox. She was trembling. He instinctively moved nearer, touching his nose to her temple. His legs felt suddenly weak and he sank down beside her, careful not to squash little "Derp" or his three siblings. With a jolt, Peregrine turned and nudged each one of them. They all appeared as loud and wriggly as usual.

What happened? the look on his face asked, though he couldn't find his words. He pressed himself against Fox, staring at their dead son. He had experienced the loss of a child once, though it hadn't been like this; there hadn't been a corpse. This was... incontrovertible.

Touching the dead boy really drove that point home, yet Peregrine did it anyway. Tenderly, he reached out a broad paw and gently, very gently, pulled "Derp" to his chest. He cradled his baby's small, sandy body and bent over him, licking and nuzzling that soft, fuzzy crown and the tiny face that would never grow up or grow old.