Sun Spark woke in the middle of the night, his breath coming in gasps and a pain in his chest. He couldn't move at first, his left side felt numb and as he struggled to stand he stumbled a bit. Tonight was the night that he would depart, and he wasn't frightened. He anticipated seeing his beautiful Spring Flower in all her glory. With wheezing gasps he got to his feet and tripped and stumbled towards the edge of the plateau. He would not mar this beautiful place with such dark things as death. He struggled with every step he took, his breath coming in and out on a wheeze, the pain in his chest building to a crescendo. He fought against the bright light that wanted to take him, and instead he followed the gentle light of the moon, it was the brightest he had ever seen it and he was going to die looking up at her beautiful face Diana/Artemis countless other names that she could and would be called.
A shiver ran it's way the length of his back, as he finally stepped forward from the plateau. Finding an overlooking hillock, with the moon shining down he sat down heavily. His breath came in whistles and he panted so hard, he thought he was going to die before he got to look at the moon or even lay down, as his heart beat rapidly against his chest. It felt as if it was going to rip out of chest cavity and lay beating at his feet. He lay down then and rolled ot his side, his rib cage heaving and rising with every breathy gasp. Saliva grew heavy at the folds of his lips and with one last blink of his eye, he saw her standing there. Spring Flower the love of his life, the day he met her.
Youthful and virile she stood looking at him with green eyes of beautiful hues. She blinked and he realized there was no pain and he stood. Looking down at himself, he was no longer old and infirm, but rather young and full of life as he had been all those years ago. come with me my cajin man. She smiled then and he did not look back, as his soul followed behind the one woman who could call him home. And Sun Spark left the earth forever more.
When arrived to stand over Sun Spark, he knew he was dead. Peregrine bowed his head respectfully, then lifted his muzzle toward the enormous moon and unleashed a howl of respect and mourning. "Sun Spark has passed. I promised him we'd bury him beside Pied. I could use some pallbearers." In the wake of his call, the night seemed to grow preternaturally silent and still. And though Peregrine didn't really believe in ghosts, he swore he saw two silhouettes walking away into the distance, following a path of moonlight before fading from view.
She hadn't been prepared. Even if she had known that it would happen any day now, she hadn't been prepared for it to come. She hadn't been, and honestly she didn't think she would've ever been. The girl had never experienced the death of a close one, Junior'd death had been the nearest thing she had ever felt and that had ended up being fake. When Junior fake-died, a wave of awareness hit her in the face. She had learned to be conscious of the value of life and how volatile it could be.
She had learned to appreciate the days she had, to thank the world for every morning she woke up; because now she knew there was a very real chance of her simply not opening her eyes one day. That was why she enjoyed the simple things, the flowers, the ocean, the clouds and the celestial bodies specially.
Like the Alpha, Amelie had been silently coiled up against the trunk of a tree her eyes glued to the moon. It was then that she heard Peregrine's lament rise through the Plateu. His voice was painfully calm and sent rippling waves of impotence and sadness flow through her veins.
She got up, her knees shaking a bit, and wobbled her way onto the place Perry's call had come from. Her eyes fell on the figure of her grandfather laying still against the floor, which slowly seeped away every remaining heat from his body. She repressed a whine and crawled to him, barely acknowledging Peregrine in the midst of her grief. When she reached him, she simply pressed her nose against him, feeling the cold of this dead body and the stiffness of his skin.
"Bye", she breathed softly as she finally allowed the river of tears to sprout from her face.
The moon did not go unnoticed to the Blackthorn, as she knew it likely didn't for the other creatures of this land. It was a strange sight, eerie and beautiful. She wasn't one to spend much time admiring nature, but this was something that sparked her imagination, and so she sat, daydreams dancing through her mind.
The call that sounded out over the trees was one that shook Finley down to her bones. Was it fortuitous that Sun Spark and Blue Willow had been on her mind as she watched the sky? In her thoughts, she had wondered what stories they might have to tell about a moon such as this. Was this a creation of Coyote's as well? The howl tore her from her thoughts like a bucket of ice water being dumped on her head
Sun Spark? Passed? A sadness she had never experienced before swept through her, and before she knew it, she too was howling mournfully into the night. Fin gathered herself and headed off across the Plateau, numbness spreading through her that broke only when she had arrived and set her eyes upon the great wolf's abandoned body.
Fin stared for a moment, unaware of anything around her besides the sight of Sun Spark upon the ground with his crying grandchild pressed against him. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she was finally able to tear her gaze away to Peregrine, to whom she approached with a sad whine. She pressed her face against his neck as her tears began to fall, like a little girl reaching out for her big brother after scraping a knee. She looked back at the old man after a moment and sat beside her alpha, focusing now on getting her legs to stop shaking and the tears to stop falling. Sun Spark would not have liked for her to fall apart over his passing, and so she wanted to do her best not to for him.
She made it to the hill overlooking the plateau and smiled sadly. Her father had always told her, It's bad luck ta die in a pack lan' chile, always leave it be. She walked past Peregrine and Finely giving them both a soft nudge to each of their respected shoulders and she stood beside Amelie and sighed. Think on me an' smile chile. She repeated the words her father had always spoke to her, before he went on a journey without her and her mother. They would follow him always, but this time she couldn't follow him. This was his last grand adventure. She touched her nose to his down fur, and inhaled his scent one last time, and with tears streaking down her face, she lifted her muzzle to the sky and let a mournful howl break out across the land.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Willow," he said quietly, hugging his chest against her and running his tongue lightly over her cheek. He tasted tears. "I told him I'd bury him near Pied, on that little slope at the back of the plateau. He said he wanted to be buried on a hillside."
When the Beta female threw back her head to lament her loss, he stepped respectfully aside, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Finley. "He didn't live here long," he murmured to her, "but he was a great guy. Were you close?" He recalled the day the three of them had shared bear meat with Kaihra but, judging by the crumbled look on her face, she had spent significantly more time with the old timer.
Amelie could hear more wolves, though she didn't even bother to turn and look at them she could her their painful whines and mournful sighs. She remained with her eyes shut for some minutes more, warm threads of salty water flowing down her cheeks.
It was only when her mother pronounced the words he had told her that other day that she realized he was really far gone. Her sobbing stopped and the last tears fell from her eyes. She opened her eyes slowly, resting her tired gaze on the man's ruffled hairs before looking at her mother. "I miss him already" she croaked, with a feeble smile that tried to follow the man's instructions and at the same time soothe her mother's pain.
Peregrine stepped forth, murmuring a quiet lament and then discussing the funeral arrangements. Amelie tuned off, she swiveled her ears back and pinned them to her skull in order to shut them from hearing their words. She craned her neck and touched her nose to Sun Spark's cheek, a weak smile poised on her face during the whole time. Wherever he was, she hoped he could continued to smile too because she surely would.
Fin said nothing as Blue joined the mourning party, only shut her eyes against the painful twinge that came with hearing her say the word 'chile', just like Sun Spark always had. Her heart went out to the woman, and to the young wolf at the old man's side. A soft whine escaped from her when Peregrine shared the words of condolence that the Blackthorn couldn't muster. It was the best she could do, having never experienced a loss like this herself and having no idea what even to do or say.
The silver mockingbird's gaze drifted slowly to Sun Spark's closed eyes and there they stayed for a while. She was unaware when her alpha returned to her side, only becoming so when he spoke softly to her. She heard the question, but wasn't certain how to answer. Fin had liked the old wolf very much, but in truth, she had known very little about him. Was simple admiration or affection enough of a reason to say you were close to someone? A small shrug and nod combo was the only response she could come up with, followed by only a few words, "He was a kind wolf, and he had a good, long life."
I miss him already too Amelie, now come grab some fur to push him onto our backs. We shall bury him and allow his soul to visit the stars whilst we carry him. Her father had always told her as a warrior his soul yearned to be part of the stars and she would do her best by him allow him to look up at them as they walked if his spirit was still in there.
"Willow," he said softly, "I'm the largest and strongest here. I'm going to crouch, then you three drape him over my shoulders. I can carry him. It won't work any other way." Rigor mortis wouldn't set in for another hour or so, so as long as they did it now, Sun Spark would rest like dead weight and Peregrine would happily bear his sacred burden to the back of the plateau.
Amelie's yellow eyes glistened in the dark of the night, not because of their natural brightness but because of the tears that welled up in them. She looked only at her mother, smiling softly as she spoke. The pain palpable in every syllable she pronounced.With a low whine, she reached out her muzzle to touch her mother's side, still not awknowledging the presence of the third female.
Both Peregrine and Blue began to speak about the funerary arrangements, thing to which Amelie didn't pay much attention. She was still focused on the man's cold body, she had never been around a dead wolf before and the fact that he was close to her made it even worse.Still when orders were issues, the girl silenced her whimpers and got to her paws, inmidiately positioning herself to help Peregrine as required.
Fin watched Peregrine step forward to take the burden of the old wolf's body on his own. She was a petite woman, but if he thought that meant she didn't have strength, he was vastly mistaken (and she'd kick his ass to prove it). But, given the circumstances, she didn't argue. Simply moved like Amelie to position herself to be at the ready to assist the others in lifting the body onto their alpha and take him to his final resting place.
Perhaps an hour later, the party of five four reached the small pack burial site. Peregrine gently lowered himself and rolled slightly so that Sun Spark slid onto the grass. He then caught his breath and stretched his muscles before seeking a patch of ground and beginning to dig. By the time he finished excavating a small grave, Peregrine's entire body ached but he didn't utter a single complaint.
With the other three's help, he placed Sun Spark in the plot and carefully arranged him so that he looked like he was comfortably asleep. Peregrine then stepped back, panting slightly, and regarded Blue Willow by the light of the super moon. Her eyes appeared to be glistening, yet it seemed her tears were drying. He moved closer to her, licking her cheek, and then faced the grave. He bowed, touching his nose to the ground as a show of respect.
Pushing the elder's body onto Peregrine's back was not the hardest part. It was seeing his motionless body coiled up in the ditch the Alpha had dug for him. Though the muscles of his face were relaxed and he seemed tranquil as his last breath esxited his body, Amelie still worried for the man. Having to lay beneath the dirt for the rest of eternity.
Soon after Peregrine arranged his limbs and poised him for his eternal slumber, wet rivers of salty tears began to stream down her face, soaking her cheeks with liquid sadness. She looked at him and smiled weakly, thinking that what he would want the most is to see them rejoice rather than suffer.
After Perry stepped back and settled next to her mother, Amelie crouched down and craned her neck so that her head hung close to his. "I'll come visit you grandpa, I promise she breathed while a single tear rolled down the bridge of her nose and into the man's grave.
The deed was done. Fin sat silently, staring at the old man in the grave while tears that would not be shed welled up again in her eyes. She gulped down her emotions and glanced at Peregrine while he moved to comfort Blue. She was the one with true pain in her heart, as was the young black wolf shedding tears upon her grandfather's form. Fin's pain was no less real, but far less important she knew than that of theirs.
Though she didn't know the girl very well, they had been pack long enough that Fin didn't hesitate to place a few comforting licks upon Amelie's head and a soft nuzzle against the back of her ear. She found some semblence of peace in those motions; to comfort someone else seemed to comfort her, so that when she lifted her head, she felt a wall form up against those tears that had threatened her so. With this she found her ability to say good-bye.
Blue stared down at her father sadness in her every movement. Today she would be sad, tomorrow she would begin to heal and rejoice in his memory. Blue licked her muzzle and with tears streaming and drying in her fur, she bent to the task of burying her father and best friend. With great gulping gasps of air, she began to shower dirt gently down on him, it was a sad affair and one she would not get through easily, but she would do her best. If the others joined her in her task and it would not take long for her father to be cradled beneath the ground.