Dawnlark Plains hair of the dog

lately, he'd been spending a lot of time near the den, playing with the pups. he adored kitten's spunk, river's kindness, eventide's brawn. they were all so different and yet all his, all family. he had so enjoyed watching them grow over the past few weeks, and who knew what life had in store for them. the sky was the limit.

when he saw little kasatka and river follow their mother from the den, he, too, followed at a distance, curious. she had gone to check on grayday, who'd been under the weather and was sleeping nearby. aditya watched her stand over him, smiling. it was only when she made a dreadful sound did his smile fade, and he realized that something was wrong. feeling as if someone had taken the wind right out of him, adi padded over, steps growing faster until he came onto the scene. he wasn't the only one there.

shale was on the ground, voice desperate. catori was a statue, eyes wide with shock. kitten shook silently; river cried. and before them all, the lifeless body of grayday--the only father he'd ever known.

"paaji," aditya whispered, throat clenched tight in sorrow. he swallowed thickly, taking a deep, shuddering breath. his eyes were closed; he must have passed in his sleep. he looked at peace--he was no longer here, but--

he'd told grayday once that they were reborn again and again, into different lives and circumstances. perhaps they'd known each other in several existences before. and he'd theorized that upon death, you slipped into another life. from the grave to the womb. grayday as they knew him was dead, but his spirit was gone, ready to be born again. that, at least, gave him a small glimmer of joy among the sadness.

adi pressed his nose against catori's shoulder in a silent show of comfort, murmuring wordless endearments to her. not knowing what else to do, he lowered himself to the ground, posed like the sphinx. he ran his tongue along kitten's trembling ears, smoothing the downy hair on her head. "i'm here," he whispered to her. "river, i'm here," he said softly, stretching his muzzle out to encourage the boy to come closer. he knew what it was like to lose a parent as a child. he didn't want them to go it alone, as he had done.

and he owed it to grayday to look after his children. the man had done so much for him--had literally given him a new start in life. everything good in his life over the past several moons was because grayday had given him a home here. aditya would see to it, in any way possible, that he would never be forgotten.
___________________________________________________

"do you ever think that all this is meant to be? perhaps we're all on paths that lead to higher places. it's as though the writers of our lives got together and planned this. otherwise, how could we all find each other in such a big world?"

--grayday, december 9, 2017

thank you for all the beauty and legacy you gave to this website through Grayday, mixed. <3