Wheeling Gull Isle if you look away, the stars will know, and they will not be able to help you.

Stockholm remains at his self-appointed post; a silent guardian. The Gampr remains unaware of the details of what transpired between Komodo and his mate, but even if he had known, he wouldn’t have felt threatened or put-off in any way by the interaction between them that he observes. The only thing that concerns him is Coelacanth’s reaction, there is something very uncharacteristic in the way she avoids the Vedmak’s gaze and extracts herself from the situation to turn her attention to the puppies. His brows furrow, and he files it away in his mind to be addressed later.

There is other business to attend to first. His short-cropped ears twitch forward at Komodo’s words, and when their gaze meets he gives a solemn nod of understanding and rises to his paws, approaching the scene closer for the first time. He dips his head down, briefly touching his nose to Poppy’s cheek though he knows he will get no response. “I’m sorry.” Sorry they could not save her, do more for her. His amber gaze flits up to Seelie, knowing she will be torn between staying with the puppies and wanting to follow them when they remove Poppy’s body. “We’ll take care of her,” he reassures, hoping it is enough, for now.

Stockholm is not a spiritual man by most standards, but he knows the Vedmak is, and he knows he will know the right spot to bury Poppy, the right words to say. It will be up to the medicine-man to do the spiritual heavy lifting, so to speak. So the least the Gampr can do is volunteer to carry the body. With the other man’s help, they move Poppy so she is draped across his shoulders, an ironic sort of pantomime of how had helped pull the Border Collie out of the ocean not so long ago. He then allows Komodo to lead the way to where they will dig her grave together.