Lake Rodney dream lover, come rescue me

discovering devit's body.

the blanket of snow illuminated the lakeshore, lighting the landscape against the evening dusk. snowflakes continued to drift on the breeze, spinning in small whirlwinds as they fell. the oak tree watched in silence.

he'd only been dead long enough for the gasses to build and release. the cold had preserved much of his remains; the scent of death was hardly discernible from beneath his cloak of white, likely keeping him safe from scavengers. were this body a part of her, she might have approached but was instead resigned to a seat some feet away. 

close enough to see, but too far to touch.

there were wounds lining the throat of the corpse, just below where his head should have been. he'd struggled in his final moments, fighting against his assailant. had moriah arrived earlier, she might have seen the remnants of an intact erection. you must be cold, she whispered.

well, he's dead. he probably doesn't care.

Chip took a little excursion outside of the SPOOKY FOREST. She wasn't looking for anything in particular; she just wanted to get out of the oppressive canopy that place had. It would be good for her, she thought, to meet some folks who weren't quite so serious and drab. She only planned to be gone for the day, so she didn't bother telling anybody.

Only a few hours into it did she happen upon somebody standing over a corpse talking to it. Yep, totally normal stuff. Chip couldn't help but approach, sauntering up casually and saying, Sorry, honey, he's dead.

this is.. so short.

the living didn't understand. there was no respect for silence, no acknowledgement of the dead. moriah frowned, her gaze holding steady on the body. the harbinger hesitated, but managed to stutter a reply. i.. know, she called back.

Oh, cool. Chip stopped where she was, just a few feet away. I wasn't sure because... y'know, you were talking to a dead body there. Chip blinked at the corpse on the ground, half-expecting it to hop up and announce that it was not in fact dead, thank you very much. Nothing of the sort happened.

Did ya know him? I mean, when he was alive? she asked. Everybody dealt with grief in their own way. Maybe this lady did it by acting like they were "just sleeping."

did the dead not deserve company? moriah thought so, as did the wolves she'd been raised with. the wolves of these lands were different, though; they chose to quiet their own fear of death by disrespecting and ignoring those who had already been taken into its embrace. it was how they coped, supposedly.

i found him, the harbinger replied, then turning away from the stranger. it might not have been her job to love him in life, but someone had. did you know him? she didn't think so, but thought it was important to be sure.

Chip gave the strange wolf an "uh-huh" nod with her head to the first comment. She asked if Chip knew him, and the small wolf took a step forward to give him a better look. Wow, he was hella dead. Nope, can't say that I did. So, two wolves this poor guy didn't even know were just chatting over his grave. Surely his ghost wouldn't come stalking her in her dreams, right?

What're you gonna do with him? she asked. Back home, her family tended to bury the dead, but Chip was worldly enough to know that not everybody did that. Maybe she could help out somehow, even though that wasn't really her style.

The stranger then mumbled something Chip couldn't make out and, figuring that whatever weird ritual she wanted to do didn't involve a self-centered Chipmunk, the striped wolf removed herself quietly from the scene.