Blacktail Deer Plateau coming for to carry you home

The two Alphas sat in silence for several moments when Fireblaze's appearance on the scene caused Peregrine to jerk his head in her direction. He watched almost vacantly as she ascertained the situation, then began to deny that the remains belonged to his daughter. Although Peregrine wanted to hold out hope that they were wrong, deep down he knew the evidence was irrefutable. He would recognize those ears anywhere. How many times had he kissed the soft, fuzzy spot between them, after all?

His eyes squeezed shut as a fresh wave of pain wrenched through him. He wanted to tell Fireblaze to shut her yapping, though he couldn't quite force the words. When she began to howl, he took a deep breath. It bothered him that she seemed so deliriously hopeful about Osprey's fate with her corpse lying right there at her feet. Though her song was objectively beautiful, it began to grate on his raw nerves and he almost snapped at her to hush when her voice trailed away naturally.

Taking another breath, Peregrine turned and met Lasher's gaze. "Taltos, can you please find Hawkeye? She needs to know and she needs to be there when we put our little girl in the ground." He rose slowly as he spoke, feeling like he was a thousand years old. His body didn't seem to work right anymore. Peregrine knew he was broken. He wondered if he would be that way forever.

"Willow, thanks for carrying her this far. I'll carry her now," Peregrine said gently before ducking down and clasping the bundle with his teeth. Careful not to swing it, he began to walk toward the rear of the territory, his slow, shuffling gait making for a perfect funeral march. As he hobbled toward Pied's grave, he closed his eyes and could almost imagine he was carrying baby Osprey by her scruff and taking her home to bed, rather than taking her home to be laid permanently to rest.