Stone Circle When the party is over

It hadn't taken Arlette much effort to convince him to go see the newest children of Easthollow. He needed a break from the constant weight that slumped across his once youthful shoulders, and made him feel far older than he had ever felt before. The days had been long, ever since Arlette had started showing signs of her pregnancy, and they had gone, together, to tell her parents what they had done. Long, and marred by stress, and pain. Valette did not talk to them. Kaito feared he had created a schism they would never be able to cross. Well -- maybe Arlette would, one day. And maybe their children. Heavens, he hoped Valette would speak to them. He prayed for it, every night. That something would change, no matter the cost. Inwardly, he had very little hope that he would ever reconcile that small tether of relationship he had broken with her, but he still hoped that this could be fixed between Arlette, and their offspring. Their children would carry the Matriarch's blood -- and maybe this would be enough to soften her heart towards them -- but he would always be an outsider.

An outsider to Easthollow, to everyone but Arlette. So Kaito stuck close to her, unwilling to abandon her, and comforted her in any ways he could while they patiently waited for the birth of their children, just as she provided comfort, strength, and peace of mind for him. He knew, without a doubt, that she loved him. He knew, without a doubt, that he loved her. And their children would know this love they shared, their children would feel their love, and they would know that they were not a mistake.

Kaito walked alongside her today, in the waning hues of the late spring evening. He shared soft words with her here and there, meant only for her to hear. The forest was oddly quiet this hour. Heat prickled beneath his skin. The air felt stale and hostile. He didn't think much of this, not at first. Easthollow never much felt like home anymore. But then he noticed that the birdsong had stopped. And he noticed that they were not alone.

Valette neared the entrance to the birthing den. Her presence did not surprise him - though at the sight of her, he wished to turn around, and save their visit for another time. Yet there was something else within the narrative that set him on edge. The Matriarch seemed odd in the way she held herself, staring into the undergrowth as thought something were not quite right. His fur lifted, and he drew closer to Arlette - protective, though he did not know what he needed to protect her from - 

Until the bushes rustled with a burst of tawny fur, and Kaito shot like a stone from a sling.

"Arlette, go!" he hurled his voice out to her on some heightened impulse, and the scene unfolded like a nightmare ripped from an exhausted mind. Arlette's warmth diminished from his side; not because she had run, but because he had peeled away, away from her safety, and into the warpath.

Kaito managed to outpace the cougar by a few short steps. He had never been a fighter. His paws knew the ways of medicine. How to help, how to heal, how to save. And that was his objective, when he flung himself into the narrow space between the beast and Valette. Hoping, that he might give her enough time to run. Fully knowing, that he would not have that chance himself. Fully knowing, and fully terrified, as sharp claws skimmed his face, and fangs closed down around his shoulders and rendered him as useless as a ragdoll.

He did not die in that moment, but he knew his death had begun. Chaos erupted in ways he could not discern. One moment he felt ground beneath his paws, and the next, nothing. The world dizzied around him, and somehow, he found himself flung off somewhere to the side, slid up against a tree, twitching in the warm blood that oozed around his broken body, and praying, even still, that everyone else would be okay.