Moonsong Glacier kinunguur'uk ›‹

The cry, she had heard it—

@Dirge, the children, came her fretful voice, gaze turning to him. Not them, they were all accounted for—but what if, what if? He seemed to understand her without speaking further; he turned from her, likely to find and gather them and ensure they were living, breathing. What could have caused such a tormented sound? Sialuk, Saviguk—and their children, all their children, each one—

Running. How had she gotten here? Her nose, sweeping against the Glens grasses.

AntaresAtlasOsirisVega, theretheretherethere. Track left by them as she ran; living. No blood. No harm. 

Who? Who then? 

Too long it took her to arrive. But she had not stopped, not for a minute, and not soon enough did she see Kukutux. Kukutux in blood—a catch of silver, as she ascended, her heart in her throat as she croaked Jarilo! For the scent of it had not yet come to her, and panic, panic—why had she never considered him? 

The one that stayed! The one that had never left, the one that would always remain. The one that spoke with her in their mothers tongue and shared her proverbs—how had this happened, how had he gotten here, who had done this to him—

Pushing herself over a boulder, Hydra saw then not Jarilo prone and lifeless. Revui. 

She froze where she stood, hackles lifted all along her nape. Her own voice within her head then—Our enemies are far more predictable than an object thrown about by our mountain, she had told him once. So too were her brothers, it would seem. She had seen this end for him, but had not ever wished or desired it. No, she had dreaded it. 

How? she asked, voice dark and heavy, thick with feeling. Her eyes turned to Kukutux, not fully hearing her song. The truth of it was she could hear nothing else but for the pounding of her heart, and the roaring of her blood. Even her own voice she could not hear, and she took a step forward and demanded, an octave louder than before: why? 

Why had this happened? Why could she not have stopped it? Why had he left Moonspear again, and again, and again? Why, when she knew this was to be his inevitable end, why must she endure the bitter ache of it all? Why must she die with him? Why could he not have taken the feeling of it from her if not when he turned his back on her for the final time, then when his soul his body?