Arrow Lake relict

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Violent Death

stigmata had worn himself thin as of late. this much was recognizable to almost everyone; except for the too-proud sandraudiga himself, who often shook off his exhaustion like a bothersome fly and soldiered on, as he had been bred.

he didn't notice when he forgot to eat every now and again.

and he certainly didn't notice that, more often than not, his name would need to be called twice before he answered.

he almost didn't notice that he was hunting...

the wolf focused on a dark blur ahead of him, and was dreadfully slow to react when it occurred to him that it was one of his own children rushing headlong into danger. careening determinedly towards the moose they had been studying. he wasn't surprised that it was his most disobedient child, his most reckless son, that had sprinted from the bushes with audacious intent; the one who liked to show his teeth most and throw his weight around - generally being far rougher than any situation called for; the boy that consistently needed to be pulled sharply by the ruff before he would heed words.

how many times did he have to tell @Ego not to rush out?

at least once more.

one last time.

"EGO!"

the general surged forward to catch his son. he did not have a chance to explain that moose were not like their frightened deer cousins. he hadn't yet told him that they wouldn't always flee. its antlers were turned on ego before stigmata could catch up, and his mind went completely blank as the rest of him reacted to the sight of his son in immediate danger.

the basilisk was moving on pure instinct when he rounded the great beast, and attacked its tree-thick ankles to incentivize a rebuttal. he tasted sweet blood. and out of the corner of his rapier gaze, he saw ego's hindside, fleeing for safety.

relief flooded him.

and then pain.

the iron warden felt a sudden weightlessness, and an eerie sort of awe as a part of him realized that he was flying. the world spun into an incomprehensible blur before coming abruptly to a hard, skidding halt. under the ringing of a severe concussion, he mistook the moose's plodding gait, growing more and more distant, as the sound of his own heartbeat - and the sound of it becoming fainter and fainter, started to frighten him.

get up.

stigmata lurched to his feet, staggering and intensely aware that he hurt down to his skeleton, but feeling very much alive as he shook his head, trying not to see stars. he looked down to orient himself, pausing as he noticed the red bib forming across his chest...

then he felt it.

a slimy warmth dribbling along his down-turned muzzle.

followed by the sight of shiny red globs falling to the ground, splitting open like horrific water balloons upon impact. his eyes widened as he realized how wet he was. stained crimson from the jaw down. punctured fatally at the neck. he stumbled forward a few feet before collapsing, gurgling a blood-slicked protest as he felt his very life source bubble and drain away.

he dragged himself forward on the legs he could still feel, but the crawl was short lived, as he soberly came to the conclusion that it would do him no better to move than lie still. ever pragmatic of choice, even in death, the general let the weight of his body settle heavily into sodden dirt, and tried to accept what had become of him.

exhausted from reaping what he sown, then pierced and flung to his death. like poetry.

stigmata rolled onto his side then, coughing as blood unnaturally filled his lungs and mouth. his dull eye rolled to meet the face of ego, who stood nearby looking terrified and sick. he tried to reassure his son, but could manage nothing but a choked, sputtering whine, that served only to send the boy fleeing indefinitely from diaspora - chased by a grisly image he surely considered himself the cause of.

the warhound's breathing slowed, while he thought bitterly of his other children - @Stag, @Mesa, and @Monarch - fear gripping him as he realized how much of their life he would miss. how desperately he wanted to see them again... it kept his eyes open.

he felt a crushing guilt as he thought of @Mahler, and then @Takiyok in the moment after, and how he had shouldered them with so much - too much of himself. yet even still! he wanted their help. he wanted to cry out to them. ask even more of them than he already had. couldn't they save him? if anyone could, it would be them. certainly. he just needed to call out to them... it kept his mouth open.

the sorrow of it all hurt more than anything else he could feel, leaving him to feel a sudden sense of urgency as fear and regret began to overcome his acceptance of the situation. he knew one day he would die. he had prepared for it young and expected it since... it kept his mind open.

but as he thought of the ones he had just begun to love: @Argent, @Trench, and @River, and their mother - who he had searched for his entire life - he knew he wanted to live. he felt no honor in having provided for them previously because he wanted to provide for them again. for all time... it kept his heart open.

stigmata reached out and dug his claws into the bloody earth, straining to pull himself forward one last time.

he managed to spin almost entirely around and point himself in the direction of @Ketzia's den before passing away.

I have so many feelings, but it was fun guys <3 Thanks for everything & until next time!