Single post.
@Olive @Delight please remove her from the ranks. Anyone is welcome to find her, and do what you wish with the body.
The sun had already set when Aviana found her way to her den. Her spirits were high as she entered it and curled herself up against her daughter, Faye. A sudden thump in her chest had her shifting slightly, but it went away, and she settled herself in for the night. She laid her head on the floor of the den, taking in the scents of Faye. It always calmed her to know she was safe. Aviana fell into sleep peacefully, but sometime in the night, her heart began to decelerate. It happened slow and all at once, until it beat for the final time.
The sun would rise in the morning, but Aviana would forever sleep. She joined Sebastian in the afterlife, and left the living behind.
He had been sleeping, a strange and abnormal thing for the Morningsider who was normally up and moving before the sun had a chance to warm the earth. He had been dreaming of Dawn, they were hunting a sheep together and just as they were about to bring it down it opened it's mouth and howled a mournful sound. Shaken Sunny opened his eyes and peered around trying to sleepily figure it out when it clicked into place all at once. Faye. Aviana. He gasped and stood up immediately awake and rushed for the den of his Beta shivering though not from the cold. He stopped at the entrance to their den and saw a lifeless Aviana, frozen in sleep and Lily holding Faye who was now parentless. Slowly he walked inside the den and sat down by Aviana's body, she looked so peaceful that Sunny immediately knew she passed in her sleep. He slowly released a shaky breath and swallowed thickly trying not to cry in front of Faye and Lily. Instead he buried his nose into his friend's fur "Thank you for being there for my father and for me. I hope wherever you go that you are happy. I hope to see you again Aviana" he whispered to her, believing just like his father that she too could hear his words. He took a moment to allow a few tears to slip free and drip into her fur before sitting up.
"She will...um....She will be buried..." he had no idea where to bury her. Should he bring her to where Chaska and his father were buried? Would she want to be buried here where Faye could visit her all the time? Would she want to be buried back at the Maplewoods where Morningside was? She always thought of Faye, so he went with that. "Do you have...a special place anywhere around here that she could be buried at? I think she would want to stay close to Faye even now" he asked this in a shaking voice, hating that even now he had to be a leader. So much loss. Why was there so much loss in his life? He then remembered Faye was right there and slowly moved to her. Aviana would want her to be looked after. "Faye....Do you want to pick a place? somewhere special?" he asked her gently his eyes filled with sadness. Maybe asking her where to bury her mother wasn't a good idea but honestly he thought teaching children death wasn't to be feared was a good thing. His father had taught him that and it was the sole reason he probably hadn't lost his head after everyone kept dying.
Sunny held it together beautifully; she had a lot of respect for that. She nodded at his decision of burial, face growing pensive as she tried to think of the best place. Olive arrived, and she gave the pale woman a soft look, listening quietly as the Shakti spoke. Finally, silence had fallen upon them once more, and Lily cleared her throat before speaking.
We don't. . .have to decide right this instant,
she said, a little awkwardly. It's, erm, cold, anyway. The ground will be too hard for burial. But perhaps. . .
Her firelight eyes drifted, scanning through the trees. Perhaps the field of roses,
she murmured, her mind's eye there. It is very beautiful.
Lily dipped her muzzle to touch the crown of Faye's head, giving her a brief but affectionate kiss there before looking up and waiting for Sunny's response. Where do you think she would have liked to have been buried?
she asked Morningside's former leader, head tilted slightly.
Sunny turned his head to look at Olive as she spoke, he found her voice to be soothing there was such a gentle nurturing sound to it that he nodded his head slowly before he had even processed her words. Then he did process her words and he felt comforted. It was possible that if they had still been fighting for Morningside to stay alive that her death would have been less peaceful. She wouldn't have wanted to leave Faye like that. He looked to Lily as Olive began to comfort Faye
"Roses....is the field close to us?" he asked.
"I think she'd like that. Staying close to Faye was important to her" he said. He also hoped that being able to visit a grave would help Faye mourn but he didn't mention this, instead he kept those thoughts quiet for now.
I'm sorry for the awful post