It was tradition, in Grayday's family, to wait a full moon's cycle before consigning the bones of the dead to the earth. He wished he could do that for Chaska, but there were living wolves to think about. Besides, his bones had been picked clean of all the tendons and gristle. Enough time had passed for his spirit to depart, and now it was time for the Morningsiders to depart. Before they could do that, Chaska's bones needed to be carried to their final resting place.
Grayday laid the last bone down at the base of Silvertip Mountain, wishing he could see it one last time before he left. It didn't smell the same without the pack there. Felt malicious and alien without Adeline standing beside him. He wondered if she was still with the valley pack - if she was happy now or if his memory haunted her still. She haunted him - Grayday kept her like a talisman worn close to the heart, only remembered when he shed all his armor and stood bare and vulnerable. And he was vulnerable then, laying his dear friend to rest.
"He was a good wolf," said Grayday, his voice heavy with sorrow.
"I wish I'd done more for him while he was alive. But we've done this for him, and now he can rest."
He'd been quiet for most of the journey, musing over the body they carried with them. He hadn't known Chaska nor heard stories of him that he could recall but he felt his father's pain. He could tell his dad had been close to the wolf and that this was causing him pain.
Sunny remembered what he had been told when he was seriously ill and everyone believed he was dying, so he stepped forward and gently touched his nose to Chaska's bone with respect before lifting his head and giving his dad a soft nudge to the shoulder. "Perhaps...in the next life, you'll see him again somehow. Maybe not like Adi said...but I do think there's something after death waiting. Maybe...he's waiting for you." he tried to be comforting and nuzzled his father before falling silent and still.
The procession was a somber one, and Shale, weighed down further by the recent loss of Burr, trudged nobly along, keeping close to Pema as they traveled. The wolves made it to the base of the mountain, where his brother placed the bones of Chaska--a wolf Shale didn't know but knew. The way Grayday spoke of him, treated his remains, Shale knew he was a man of honor, and that was all that needed to be known.
His brother looked at the mountain like Shale probably looked at Sameth: fondly, but with a touch of longing. This had once been Day's home. The events that had transpired here had marked his heart for life, and Shale would never know of all the scars endured. The man standing before him was different from the boy who'd left Sameth.
Shale dipped his muzzle, murmured a generic statement of mourning to the bones, and lifted his eyes once more, gaze first landing on Grayday, then Catori. His eyes lingered on her a bit longer. There was something infinitesimally different about her; if Shale had to venture a guess, he'd say she was pregnant. His mouth curving in the ghost of a smile, he looked over at Pema, and touched his tail-tip to her shoulder in a small, comforting gesture.
Grayday said a quiet prayer, thanking the Authors for throwing he and Chaska together when they did. He'd been a dear friend, and although Grayday could not claim that he would miss him - he had spent far too much time out of Chaska's company for that - he had been impacted by having had Chaska in his life, and he was sorry that the male would not be there for others down the road. The world had lost much with Chaska's death.
Then he straightened and nuzzled his wife, thankful for her steady support.
"Let's go home and hunt," he suggested, a sad smile crossing his face. Life, after all, did not stop to pay respect to the dead. The best the could do was celebrate that their stories had not yet ended.