Dawnlark Plains hair of the dog

dauntless might have never stopped if he hadn't happened to be strolling by and noticed that quite a few scents were gathered and curiosity had him readjusting his course to see what was going on. it was like something in a movie ( if dauntless had known what a movie was ): his approach was slow and he caught the scents of catori's desperate gasps of air. at first his heart drops as his mind goes to one of the cubs. had something happened to one them? his lips part to speak but his tongue is thick and dry in his mouth and no sound comes out as he approaches the scene in what feels like extra slow motion. he catches a familiar glimpse of grey fur upon the grasses through the swarm of bodies that converge and feels a palpable relief for a fleeting moment before he sucks in a sharp, harsh breath as he realizes it's his father. he's hunted and killed enough prey to know a corpse when he sees one — tell-tale in the eerie stony and unnatural stillness. nothing moves: not a flutter of breath, not a twitch of a muscle.

"dad," he chokes, feeling like he might vomit up the word as his muscles pull taunt and his steps become stiff. reluctant. but catori is front and center, and his siblings are there with her. sunny begins to give a speech that dauntless only vaguely hears. he realizes that his older brother is saying words but they sound garbled as if dauntless is standing at the opposite end of a long tunnel. "mama." his voice trembles with unbidden and raw grief. he wants to push his way to her side but mirza knows that would be extremely rude of him and as it is she already has the others swarming about her. instead, he moves to the other side, taking in the familiar and yet foreign form of his father without the bodies of his packmates and family to block it. dauntless is glad, at least, that seeing grayday's corpse — while it effected him no less — is not like seeing burr's entrails strewn about in a lake of blood. though he does not know if it's true or not dauntless can easily soothe himself by saying his father passed peacefully.

his own grief could wait. he had a duty as a son and brother and he needed to be strong for them. he swallows thickly as he stares down at greyday's empty corpse, stiff and cold, his ears fluttering back to slick against his skull; his whiskers trembling as his heart feels heavy in his chest and another wave of grief swells within his breast and deigns to work it's way up his throat.