Blacktail Deer Plateau I don't wanna hate you

excuse me while i crash your thread. single post only.

She was tired. So very tired. There was no more fat on her bones. The fur that was once dark on her face was all but stark white now. Her gait was stiff, and her eyes cloudy as she trekked toward a home she had once known. If she noticed the stark smell of piss warning away others on the borders, Tytonidae did not blink as she walked over them. Her mind had gone elsewhere in the past year, and now it was only her body that drove her toward the place where she had taken her first breath.

The old woman did not acknowledge the couple who stood, speaking to one another. But she had found what she was looking for. It was where she had taken her first nap. Today, it would be where she took her last. She curled up, sighed, and her last exhale stilled her body.

---

Though she did not know it, her beloved Waxwing had accompanied her right up to the pack's borders, watching her wistfully as she disappeared where he dared not follow. His heart twisted as he turned away, knowing it would be the last time he would ever see his mother.