Duskfire Glacier may you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead

There was no need to howl; all the pack already knew when the funeral was to take place, and today had been a rather somber day in preparation for it. 

Once the sun dipped behind the peaks bordering the moraine, Lane made her way to the site of Wintersbane and Tzila's burial. The underground den where their bodies lay had been filled in with fresh taiga soil, gathered mere weeks before the weather turned for the worse and the ground became a mixture of slush and permafrost. 

Over the entrance to the den, dirt had been piled and packed into a great mound, rising to a height just over Lane's head. Stones of various sizes had been placed in a ring around the mound. Lane bent to place a final stone: a chunck of quartz so large it stretched Lane's jaw to hold it. A vein of blue cut through the center of the stone, and the color reminded Lane of Wintersbane's eyes. Of her son's eyes, too. 

The moon was rising over the glacier, and as the sky darkened, the polar lights began to dance. Lane was reminded of her lost friend Imaq, who had loved to dance along to the aurora's silent song. 

The moon hung bright and cold over the gathering at the burial mound, casting a a shadow over the semi-circle of mourners. Once her packmates were all accounted for, Lane spoke to address them. 

"We're here tonight to honor Wintersbane and Tzila Duskfire, founding members and leaders of Duskfire Glacier." A mere year after they established the pack, there were so few of their founders left: just Lane and Rye. "They were my friends. Parents to my children." Lane paused, her eyes finding Veteran and Wayfarer. "It was their greatest desire for this pack to grow and thrive, and for their children to grow up among family in this home that was built for them. The seed of this dream has sprouted already." Lane nodded to Arius and Ensio. "In the spirit of our fallen alphas, we will continue to cultivate and nurture this dream." 

Lane concluded by dipping her muzzle in finality. "This is your time to speak, for anyone who wishes to do so. When all have spoken, Issorartuyok will conclude our ceremony by leading us into the time of songs. After Wintersbane and Tzila have been sung into the lights, we will join with our allies in the valley, and all the Taiga will sing together." Lane would fall silent then, and she would listen intently to any who wished to speak. She would nod to Issorartuyok when it was time for him to initiate the song. 

We'll just do one round for this thread (assuming no drama arises) and Teo can write a fade when we've all posted once. The post-funeral feast in the valley will be posted soon, so be on the lookout for that. @Issorartuyok @Rye @Meerkat @Eldritch @Askari @Calida @Tuuluuwaq @Wayfarer @Arius @Ensio

Meerkat breathed in and out quietly as Lane spoke. She was doing her best to put aside her personal feelings tonight and focus on the pack, particularly its youngest members. When Lane spoke about seeds sprouting and looked to Arius and Ensio, the young Gamma couldn't help but remember her conversation with Issorartuyok. She felt her stomach clench but she refused to look his way, instead following the Alpha female's gaze and focusing on the pain the Duskfires' sons must be feeling.

She didn't have anything profound to say, especially not when the enunciation of the Alpha male's name made her heart do a confusing little dance in her chest. Despite herself, Meerkat sneaked a glance at him, only to look away quickly. She breathed in and out again, her eyes falling closed. If anyone were to look at her, perhaps they would assume she was taking a moment of personal, silent remembrance. And maybe Meerkat would do just that, once she managed to get her feelings under control.

Eldritch stood beside @Meerkat as Lane spoke to them all. 
The Seer's white eyes moved briefly to Isso, to Meerkat, to everyone else who has gathered with them. 

With a small breath, Eldritch decided to speak, once the room was given to do so. 
"I did not know them well...But Wintersbane and Tzila were good wolves, compassionate, caring for all their members. They have started something here that I do not think will perish as easily or as soon as some other dreams seem to." She mused in her quiet way, looking to the gravesite with fondness.

Wayfarer was barely listening as her mother took charge of the funeral procession, and not once did she raise her gaze to look upon a face that her own had come to resemble so closely. Instead, the girl fixed her stare to the mound of frozen earth that'd sealed the underground hollow where Duskfire's previous leading pair lay in eternal slumber.

It was the first time she'd visited, and she absolutely did not want to be there.

Though she leaned her flank lightly against Veteran's and drew comfort from the closeness of him, her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking fondly of simpler times, when she as a tiny thing with oversized paws would stumble after a towering Wintersbane in effort to match his proud stride. She was recalling the warmth of Tzila's smile and the effort made to mother her when her own had been absent. As she grew, bitterness and yearning for independence had distanced her from her family, and those more carefree days seemed so very distant to her.

She grieved - of course she did. Though her relationship with her father had never been as strong as she'd wished, Wayfarer mourned for the potential of it.

The sound of her name on her mother's lips distracted her from reflection, but still she did not glance her way. Wayfarer felt a muscle tightening in her jaw and she furrowed her brow; the last thing she wanted was recognition of any sort. Through flared nostrils she drew in a breath and, with teeth gritted, she pressed her tongue to the roof if her mouth to contain the teenage frustration that tempted her to give voice.

She would join her voice with those of her pack-mates on that night. She would not feast with them in the lowlands following. Wayfarer knew that she would linger only for as long as she had to, until she could slip away alone and unnoticed to nurse the re-opening of wounds unseen.

What was there to say? What was there to do but sit away from everyone else and reflect on the time he had with the former alphas. The man wasn't sure what to think, their deaths were so swift and happened at an awful time but since when did death justly arrive? Ryes gaze floated from wolf to wolf, watching as some grieved more than others, understandably so. It made the male wonder, who would show up to his funeral? Or worse, the seemingly inevitable funeral for his family.

Calida still had not met with any other wolves from the glacier - she'd spent nearly all of her time in the medicine den, recovering. Her head was sore and still very much healing; she no longer had blurred vision, but she was sensitive to light and noise, and she was still finding it difficult to concentrate, and on top of that, she was now plagued by daily headaches. 

Calida did leave the den to pay her respects to the recently deceased, though she didn't know them. She didn't feel comfortable speaking, but she hung back, looking at all of the wolves who had gathered. Having had her own close brush with death only recently, Calida shifted uncomfortably. It pained her to know that, unlike those who had passed, Calida had no friends or loved ones that would attend her own funeral. But... there was time to change that.

Tuulu battled with himself over whether or not to come. He hadn't known the alpha or his mate at all and for some reason, it almost felt disrespectful to attend a funeral for them. 

But in the end, he decided it would be more disrespectful to not show up. 

When he arrived, there was already a small group forming. The Tatkret was glad to see Calida up and around, at least. 

Tuulu hung towards the back, his eyes glued to Lane as she spoke. She was so poised, and her words were so comforting, even though he knew how much she grieved. He might have gone and sat next to her, comforted her, but right now it seemed inappropriate. 

So he paid his respects by remaining silent, offering his presence to anyone who needed it.

Veteran leaned lightly into Wayfarer when he felt her flank brush against his own. He glanced quickly to her face when Lane mentioned them in her eulogy, but Wayfarer was looking determinedly away from their mother, as if she refused to hear anything Lane had to say. Veteran's heart ached to know that the two women he loved most had such a strained relationship, but he struggled to know how to intervene. Lane had mended the behavior that had offended Wayfarer: she had exchanging her scouting and ranging job for position of leadership in the pack, and she hadn't left home since. However, this olive branch seemed to be too little too late to be of any comfort Wayfarer, who refused to see Lane as anything other than an absent mother who had let her down irreparably. 

Veteran thought that losing one parent would inspire Wayfarer to mend the relationship with the one she had, but it had apparently only driven his sister further away. Lately, even Veteran himself struggled to connect with the embittered, foul-mouthed rogue his sister was becoming. He was taking after his mentor Issorartuyok, developing into a proud and responsible pack-wolf with respectful and formal speech, and Wayfarer... well, she clearly had other influences, although she had so far refused to speak meaningfully of any of her experiences outside of Duskfire Glacier.  

It was time for the rest of the attendants to speak, and so Veteran dutifully piped up. "Tzila was a second Mom to me. When I needed her, she treated me just like her own." Veteran's eyes got a little misty as he recalled the hazy memory of snuggling up to Tzila in a pile with the rest of his half-siblings. He realized with a start that Wayfarer would hear these words very differently, because she had experienced these events very differently. She would not think fondly of the days she'd spent tumbling around as part of Tzila's brood; she would remember that time as a long period of confusion, chaos, and abandonment. While Veteran had hardly noticed the absence of his mother, treating her trips out of the territory as opportunities to connect with his other packmates, Wayfarer had remained stubbornly lonely and brooding. 

"And Dad.. he made me a better man." Veteran looked around at his packmates, keenly aware that his eyes would remind them of the departed Wintersbane. He had his father's icy-blue eyes, he had been told. "Every time I spoke with him, I came away with new knowledge. He taught me how to think outside myself. I.. miss him." He fell quiet, refusing to speak further and risk getting choked up in front of the whole pack. He swallowed heavily, trying to force down the burning emotion that clawed its way up his throat and stung his eyes.

Ensio sat, gathered with his age mates. He kept closest to Arius, for both security and emotional support on this day of sadness and celebration. He stared at the mound, the filled in den that was the final resting spot of his parents. He would never see them again. Hear their voices. Get the chance to grow up as a child should, under their guidance. His eyes fell, downcast. There were no tears. He had ran out of those a long time ago.

When Lane spoke, the glacial boy glanced up. He nodded softly, not interjecting. When he found Issorartuyok, the bitterness and spite that once so often riddled his features was nowhere to be found. Just a quiet acceptance. Room for hope. For trust. Veteran spoke up, echoing many of his own thoughts and feelings. When he was finished, Ensio cleared his throat, sitting up a little taller.

He said his piece. "My mom and dad...they were everything to me." He glanced meaningfully at Arius, Wayfarer and Veteran. "To us." He breathed shakily. "I dreamed of growing up with them, here. Thriving. When they died...I was angry. Maybe I still am. I didn't know how to handle it." Another long look at the faces around him. "But now...I know that is not what my mother and father would want. This here, as we are now, keeping their dream alive for Duskfire is the best honor we can give."

Although she had steeled herself in order to get through the ceremony, Lane felt her heart swelling as her son spoke up. Eyes were on Veteran, so Lane stole a swipe at her eyes with her paw. None of this was fair-- not for her kids, and not for herself. When she had arrived in Duskfire Glacier seven months ago, all she had wanted was to study medicine with Iana for a few weeks and move on. Now here she sat, mother to the dead alpha's children and the master of ceremonies for his funeral. When she thought of how quickly her life had turned upside-down, she still got a little whiplash. 

When all had spoken and a long silence had drawn out between the packmates, Lane nodded to @Issorartuyok. It was time for him to speak his piece and begin their song.