Stone Circle teach us how to say goodbye

A day had passed since the earth had shaken, and had in turn shaken and overturned his life. Merrit had not left Stone Circle since the mother stone had fallen. There had been no burial, nobody to uncover. Mother would rest beneath the stone she had worshipped, and they would carry on, as always --

Carry on, as always. That was what mother would have done, and had always done, after father, after Nanook, after Clay, after Greyback. But as he rose from his position beside the stone, as his gaze fell upon the stones, the earth, the snow-dusted fields, he felt the weight that had nestled between the crook of his shoulders the moment he had watched the stone crush her.

Wait till you do something wrong, Arlette had said, venom of the dove's kind mouth, you will see mother's real face.

They could not carry on, not as always. Their Matriarch was dead, and that was not a wound that could be solved with a bandaid and a kiss.

The first rays of dawn tried to peek through the horizon. But today was a cloudy day, overcast, and the light only scattered in a subdued haze. He cast his gaze to Kallik, who had stayed by his side and given warmth through the night — Kallik, he realized, who had lost a mother as much as he had — and sought his eyes, before he lifted in his head to summon the rest. No doubt they would understand his purpose.

And he was tired.

So, so tired.

@Kove @Xan @Laurel @Ikiaq @Kallik

Laurel came. Like when Greyback had died, it was clear from the summons that something was wrong. Very wrong. Laurel stayed near the back like she had that day, but this time there was no Valette to nod acknowledging towards her. There weren't many wolves at all, a thing Laurel only realised just now. Where had they gone? They'd never been a large pack, but now... She looked at the circle of stones, disheveled and wrong as it was, and then looked at Merrit, waiting for his news.

He was numb. He had cried all the tears he had and was left feeling absolutely nothing. Maybe it was his mind's way of protecting him from all the pain he knew he should be feeling. Or maybe he just had nothing left. Whatever it was, he hadn't wasted much time on figuring it out. He hadn't slept, but he stayed close to Merrit, not speaking a single word all night. His mind wandered here and there, the memory of the stone snuffing out Valette's life intruding on his thoughts more than once. But each time, he would quickly push it away, afraid it would break the safe shell of numbness that had formed.

When morning finally came, he felt like even moving was too much. He met his cousin's gaze, his own far away. Then Merrit called for the remainder of the pack because whether or not he wanted it to, life would continue to move on around him. He could resist all he wanted, but it was a force beyond the control of anyone.