Snowforest Taiga righteous children

wc;1081. damn this is a heavy post my apologies lol. [lil tag for ref]

she crouches wordlessly by the minute figure laying lifelessly by pale furred toes. it's body consisting of such intricate delicacy that the whistle of the breeze stirring at downy feathers is enough to make you gasp a second guess that perhaps life did still course through that tiny vessel, powering not only its ability to fly and soar and sing but to discover and wonder and love. but then the sprightly air abandons them and the stillness slinks back in like a hungering scavenger, laying itself greedily across the dead. she does not know why it lays in the grass' gentle caress, the body seeming in perfect condition to the confused eye and if it were not for that deathly quiet, you would not believe that death could have a place here. it simply does not make sense, and that in itself sparks rage within her. it is one thing for the loss of life to come as a result of something, the ridiculous 'circle of life', old age, injury...but this? for a young bird, probably only just after leaving the confines of its nest to see the world that gleamend and enthralled, to just die?

the world had no right to claim this life, just like it had no right to still the beat of her papa's heart and the longer she spends blinking upon the chilled body, the more and more her mind reels at the sheer audacity of it. this child, born to die. "why?" she demands, glaring upon the pastel skies, dotted with lazy clouds shifting languidly by without a care for the soul that had been snuffed out like a mere candle. thoughts and dreams..moods and feelings all just squashed from existence with that final beat of a tiny heart. what had its last moments been like? had it known it was gonna die? was it scared or perhaps oblivious to the darkness that prowled after it. its last moments spent blissfully admiring the winsome essence of the very world that was about to betray it and wipe it from existence. 

it is with a start that the dove realises a wet drop has fallen upon the ruffle of a feathered belly. she is crying and for a moment a startled fear sparks through her....that she is able to cry over a bird and yet not her papa? but it settles somewhat, an aching acceptance unfurling within her like a serene lake top. she cries for death and the lives it snatches into greedy hands for no reason at all, for to die was one thing but when it was completely unnecessary. wrapping her tail around the tremble of her lithe figure, the marbled girl would crouch there and weep over the fallen bird for quite some time. 

for despite being exposed to death from a very young age, she did not understand it any better now than she did the day she'd quietly asked kavik about its nature. the ability to snatch the lives from prey and simply shrug it off as the natural order of things..oh how her soul rebelled so fruitlessly! and therefore she was doomed to the cruel clutch of relentless empathy, to feel that resounding ache everytime she ate to keep herself alive. why must wolves be so monstrous? even alsek with his little flowers would one day have to kill if he wanted to live...some seen it as superiority but polaris, she seen it as a curse. they were not better than the animals they fed on, those beings that could live without needing to cause the suffering of others. in their stories the wolves were the villains and in polaris' opinion, rightfully so.

she thinks ruefully of papa as the tears continue to slide down saturated cheek fur. the world had preyed on him just like they did to animals like this very bird at her paws and she wishes to cry out WHY HIM. a being of such kindness, such strength and honour...so filled with love and yet what a hypocritical question when they never questioned their meals as to whether they are a hero or a villain? why should she have rights to scorn the world for its pick when they themselves did the same thing each and every day. what deer had her very own papa killed to keep them alive and therefore shatter an entire family of gentle eyed clement. 

"oh papa...." she exhales to the fallen bird
 
"i do wonder are you simply gone? do you simply linger in an eternal sleep, belonging to the darkness or is there somewhere else? can you see us? are you happy? do you forgive me for my selfishness, for not going to see you just because you'd found happiness while i mourned? it does seem as if the world has punished me for such actions and yet perhaps thinking that in itself is selfish, for your death is much more than a punishment..it is part of this world's awfully cruel game" 

a soft sob hitches in her thorat as she pushes to a shaky stand. "goodbye papa- @RIP Kavik, maybe we will meet again or maybe the darkness will simply embrace us both" and blinking rapidly, she would get to work tearing at the soft earth until a decently sized hole lay before her. by the time she'd gently placed the fledgelings body within and covered it so that the scavengers could not pick at it from above and it would remain embraced by the earth forever, the tears had dried. 

as she rambled back to where she'd left alsek marvelling at the little creatures, she felt strangely lighter.

frowning at the abandoned stream, she sniffed nervously at the ground and picked her way hurriedly after the scent. she really shouldn't have left him alone for such a long time even if she herself had been making various trips past the borders at such an age. perhaps he too was kissed by 'wanderlust', recalling the memory of the moonspearian wolf handing her such a beautiful word distantly as she followed the blackbird's scent to a cave. frowning, she stepped into the gloom beginning to form a loud "alse-" yet eyes widened at the familiar figure before her and a spark of intense panic shot at her tender heart as she moved to slip closer to the ink blot staining the dark, bicoloured eyes fixed carefully on the earthen woman of whitebark stream as she murmured a wary "hello"