Sun Mote Copse This is the thread that never ends.

<3

Penn hadn't been by to see the newcomer to their ranks. He'd been mildly intrigued to catch a glimpse of the pup, but only because he was fascinated to see just what sort of creature a woman like Towhee would birth. Other than that, he didn't really care much about the kid. I mean, it was cool and all that she had one when she didn't think she could or whatever, but it was one of those things that was cool for like a minute, but there were way better things to be interested in.

Truth be told, when he came across Towhee that day, it hadn't been to come see the pup. He hadn't actually meant to come to her at all. He knew somewhere vaguely in his mind that he was looking for @Wraen, but thoughts like that fell easily out of his mind at that moment. Just like when he looked at Towhee lying in the mouth of her den, he couldn't completely see her or the little miracle baby. He could only see one thing.

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Finley didn't know what had roused her that night. She'd awoken just past midnight, blinking at her surroundings in a few moments of confusion before recollection slid back to her. It was not necessarily an unusual thing to happen to her--more and more lately, it took her a moment to figure out just where she was and how she'd arrived there. Not where she was in the Copse, but where she was in the world. How she had gotten to this forest when she felt as though she were supposed to be somewhere else. Somewhere... she didn't really know where.

She pulled it together quickly though, as usual. All it took was a look to her side at Elwood, sleeping soundly right where he belonged. He centered her, brought her back into herself and into her life in just the way he always had from the moment they'd first met. She wondered vaguely if she'd ever told him she'd had a huge crush on him from the first moments they'd ever spent together. Probably. They'd had a beautiful lifetime together. He had to know it had started with the very first smile he'd given her.

Smiling to herself, Finley had stood and slipped away, not totally sure where she was headed. She'd passed by @Avery and Penn and nuzzled them both softly, paused to plant a kiss on @Eljay's crown where he slept with @Weejay tucked against him. She sent a smile and a wag of her tail over at @Niamh and @Nellie, wondered briefly where @Bronco was off to and let a little chuckle trip from her chest to drift affectionately to wherever he was as well.

Fin had gone by Towhee's then, stealing another glance at their sweet little miracle deep in the dark of their den. She'd lingered there a long while, trying not to wake @Phox and his pair. She thought maybe @Fennec had spotted her as she slipped away, but then she remembered her sassy little niece was blind and she'd had to stifle a laugh at herself. As Fin trotted off into the darkness, she wondered to herself for the umpteenth time if Meerkat belonged to @Pippin (his and Towhee's excessive boning had not gone unnoticed, sorry kids). That guy was a handsome young rascal--whoever his mother was had to be hella proud of her creation.

Before long, Finley had found herself at the borders. She'd paused, breathing in the mix of scents that littered the area and letting the warmth of family wrap around her and hug her tight. She hadn't seen Maia or Wraen on her way, but she assumed they'd been there somewhere too. She was an old woman now, and old women were allowed to be senile from time to time. It was a well-earned right. Still, she paused to look behind her into the trees and send a smile their way as well. Maia with her sunshine, and Wraen with her bad assness, the one who had held them together when it felt like the world was collapsing.

It was only a moment and Finley was off again. Her bones creaked, but she felt oddly alive as she trotted away from the borders. She broke into a canter after a few minutes and ran, ran like she hadn't in years. She used to do this every day, she recalled. She'd run a full lap around the borders just for the fun of it, and then she'd run off into the Wilds to find some sort of trouble to get herself into. Bears, rattlesnakes, bull moose. High mountain cliffs and deep, black caves. Whatever she came across first that seemed likely to sate that constant itch she used to feel that had insisted life was meant to be spent running from death, but not before laughing fearlessly in its stupid face.

But, Finley couldn't run forever. When she eventually found herself in a clearing beneath the stars, she had slipped dreamily onto her belly to rest for a while. Dawn wouldn't be upon her for a few hours, so she knew she had all the time in the world to catch her breath before heading back home. She spent a few minutes gazing upwards, watching the skies for shooting stars. She saw one and felt that old compulsion to chase it. Maybe this time, there really would be a treasure at the end. But she knew that was silly. Her treasures, her children, were all around the world now. She couldn't possibly chase them all down and she trusted that she didn't need to; she'd raised them well. And as for her greatest treasure, that was back at the Copse. She didn't need shooting stars to lead her back to him.

Finley hadn't meant to fall asleep, but.. oops. She'd been dreaming a pleasant dream, though it hadn't been terribly interesting. Just her and Elwood feasting upon a bear (okay, so the part where she'd killed it maybe had been interesting). They had eventually been joined by their loved ones--Peregrine and Fox first, and then Lasher, Dante, Kaihra, Sun Spark, Fitz, Sebastian and all of the rest. One by one, everyone she'd ever known and loved, everyone that had ever shaped her in some way. Her children were there, all of them, safe, happy and whole--Blackthorn and Redhawk alike (had there ever really been a difference?). And they were just eating. Sharing a meal, smiling, feeling content and happy. Her community. Her pack. Her family.

The sun was barely creeping upon her when Finley woke hours later. She was so tired, tired deep down into her bones, but also comfortable and warm. That feeling clouded her head again, that she didn't know where she was or how she'd gotten there. But it didn't linger long, because there he was. Elwood, lying soundly at her side. Fin smiled at him, love of the most complete, the most consuming and indescribable kind filling her to the brim. Her Elwood. Her Bear. Her Twig. Of course he was here. There simply wasn't a reality in which Elwood wasn't there, not even this one.

"You jerkface..." Fin said softly, her voice tired, slow, but full of affection, "We agreed that I would go first..."

Sometimes death is sudden. Sometimes it's unexpected. It comes too soon, too cruelly, too unforgivingly. Finley Blackthorn had spent her life running from death, treating it as though it were the greatest thing there was to fear and building herself up by rolling her eyes at it, saying something sarcastic about its mother and leaving it in the dust at the very moment it looked as though it was going to swallow her whole. All the while knowing that there were far, far greater things in life to fear, and fear them she did. Death had been a distraction. An excuse. If she wasn't afraid of death, then who could accuse her of fearing anything? And so she proved her bravery, over and over and over again.

When death came this time, it wasn't so sudden. It wasn't unexpected. It wasn't early or cruel, and it certainly wasn't unforgiving. If anything, Finley and death forgave each other when it came--Finley for using death as her scapegoat, and death for taking her away from the world. But that was an easy thing to forgive. Her children were well. Eljay was a father, Towhee was a mother. They all had families, they had friends. Even if Finley didn't know, she knew. They were alright, and they would be alright. Everything was going to be just fine.

Sometimes death comes softly and warmly. It wraps you in its arms and you slip contentedly away with it, no regrets, no bitterness. Just satisfaction over a life well lived.

And so Finley went, making death wait only for a few seconds longer as she tapped her nose lightly against her mate's in an old, familiar gesture that had said "I love you" long before she'd figured out how. Her Elwood, who was the first wolf to ever have shown her she didn't have to run. The first wolf who'd ever made her want to stop running. The one she'd now spend the afterlife with, laughing at the dumb ass things their kids did, swooning over how adorable their grandbabies and great grandbabies and great great grandbabies would be, and loving the crap out of each other because that is just what Finwood does.

And with that thought, Finley Blackthorn closed her eyes and left the world with one last smile on her face.

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He could only see them.

Penn, of course, couldn't have known any of what had transpired at the end. He had thought nothing of it when he'd woken and didn't see either of his parents. He'd thought it was just another day--another day in which he could pester Avery into hunting with him and he could fantasize about bringing an entire moose to Fenn's paws and make her finally admit that she totally was in love with him (not that he cared). In truth, it had started out that way. They had hunted, he had fantasized, but they hadn't found a moose. Instead, they had found their parents. Finley and Elwood, lying side by side on a little hill just outside of the territory.

He looked at Towhee brokenly, his voice shaking, his eyes lost in despair as he finally said, "Mom and Dad... They're gone."