Stone Circle heliotrope

Oh, no!

Kristjan’s face crumpled as he looked up at his father. It is dead? He knew what dead was, superficially. He’d never been on a hunt before or been able to catch more than an insect yet, but he knew that their food had to die in order to be eaten, that prey must be killed during hunts for the survival of the pack.

He would know, too, not long from now, what it meant when a wolf died as well.

I didn’t mean to… The boy trailed off, flopping down into a sit and sighing deeply. This was sad, but Kristjan was no whiner. Is there… can we make it not dead?

Instead, he was hopeful.