December 20, 2023, 10:34 PM
@Keiko for reference (making the length of her absence ambiguous but longer than the initial week mentioned in PM. I Hope that's ok with you) Also, @Ameline, @Ancelin, @Athalia, @Amneris for visibility/reference :)
She left with a smile, accompanied by the sweet tune of melodies only he heard her speak. And he returned her favor. A smile that routinely overtook his face in her presence. The reflection of which glistened in her dark eyes.
A moon passed, then a sun…
days…
a lunar phase…
perhaps a fortnight…
And she did not return…
Meals were caught and saved. Eaten only for the fact that their freshness began to vacate.
Their beds withered and flattened without proper upkeep and… her scent began to fade…
Had he misunderstood? She had meant to return… hadn't she? Last he had been with her their parting felt… temporary. But as time apart grew his uncertainty rose.
Had she meant to be away this long? Had something befell her keeping her from home?
Or had he fooled himself…
Thinking that she had been different. That this… was different. That he was anything more than a thing to stare at. To glower upon. To keep clear of.
Had she come to her senses and realized… what everyone before her had… that he was a frightful monstrosity.
His thoughts swirled in his mind. Like parasites eating away at their host. Piling up upon one another before they overtook him.
He beared down and let out a thunderous roar at the foot of the shrine. Huffing and chuffing ensued and further bellowing as his frustration boiled up and fumed. With a great swipe of his paw, he struck the shrine and scratched at the earth. Displacing the once deliberately and methodically placed trinkets as they rolled and scattered upon the lightly frosted soil. Among them… the amulet.
His gaze locked onto it. The plumes of hot air escaping his nostrils. Strong and heavy at first… then slow… and deep. Filled with remorse.
He sunk his head down and approached the amulet.
Gently lifting it in his muzzle and bringing it back to the shrine. Nudging it with his nose little by little in a forlorn attempt to return it as it once had been.
Gathering up the other tokens he returned them to the shrine. A good intended effort, but botched recreation of her work.
Padding around the shrine he smoothed out the earth and created a makeshift border on the ground.
He laid down and curled up at the foot of the shrine. His nose barely an inch from the amulet. Shutting his eyes tight… praying he was wrong… as snow began to slowly cover him.