Northstar Vale Pénthos

Too much had happened in a short time.

Arsenio went to the rocks where his skins were left stretched over stone to dry. Their furs were crisp in the winter air. He sniffed at the largest ones, thinking that they would suit Towhee and her family well. He would carry them to Wraen’s Nest and would build them a place where they could stay warm and comforted with their daughter who slumbered in eternal rest.

Gripping the first skin in his mouth, he swung it over his shoulder and it blanketed on his back. As he trekked to the woodland area where Leona had been buried, he diverted his path to see if @Tamar might assist him.

deep inside herself, tamar felt towhee's agony.

a pall had fallen over epoch, not one that anyone had brought to them, but which had happened to she and theirs all the same.

snow softly fell. she took her vigil beside the grave. now she came quietly to follow arsenio back to the place, silent in her musings.

new life had quickened in her. she knew it now. and yet her lips were numb, anguish for maxim and towhee stilling her joy for now.

Tamar’s presence soothed him, calmed him. Arsenio drew close to her and nuzzled into the plush hairs behind her ear. He breathed her scent in and it reminded him of their children. Then the unfathomable reminder of Leona’s death tightened his jaw.

My love, he breathed into her pelt.

I am not good at these things. Enduring death? Consoling the wounded?

The fur on his back was pulled down and placed in a spot where rocks would provide natural shelter from the elements. The trees stretched overhead, holding armfuls of snow in their boughs.

They have gone to seek peace. I told Maxim that I would- I would prepare a place for them here, he looked to the disturbed earth where the young girl was buried. Where they can be near her.

"yes you are."

she looked around at the place where leona would rest, at her husband working with all his focus and strength on building a respite for her grieving family.

her breath shook. she could not imagine others here, creating a place of healing and rest while one of their children lay beneath the earth.

tamar's throat tightened. "it is a great thing you have done, arsenio." quietly she began to sweep snow from the edges of the grave, lying down stones to mark the perimeter of the entire site which they would dedicate to leona and her family.

she spread brush over top of the rocks, creating a domed thatch of pine and oak and laurel branches beneath which they might sit.

all in quiet for a long while.

"we should ask how she should be remembered. in the oasis, we had a day of remembering. stories. a meal. time shared, to honor the one who was lost."

Life is a circle, Zulema's mother had said. Things would come and go, but it had never struck the girl until now. The following days after Leona had gone to rest, her mother's words echoed louder than her own thoughts. Things would continue to move, even without her, had something happened. What happened to Leona would happen to others. Her family would go someday, others would follow after. She didn't like that, it made her sick, regardless if she would need to come to terms with it eventually. Her belly felt full with fear, though she did not mean to be so centered on herself in the midst of the grieving family.

She could not silence her mind of these thoughts. Anxiety never followed her like it did now. Zulema wished to feel as she did before it had happened. She wished to be playing with her sister or nose her way into whatever Antigone was doing at the time, but it was hard to put herself at ease. Surely the others felt the same? Curled up tightly, her blank stare was interrupted as she'd decided her mother or father's presence would calm her. She sought them out, heading towards Leona's grave.

Zulema had nothing to say as she approached the two, her expression heavy with worry. She looked between where Leona lay and her mother.

❝It's pretty.❞ What a grim thing to say, she thought.

I am worried they will leave.

Arsenio confessed this to his wife, hoping that she would understand. He didn’t wish to be selfish. He didn’t intend to erect a monument for the sake of keeping them. The man didn’t know what else he might do with himself. There was nothing that might help. The thought of losing their children filled him with sickness. He couldn’t imagine, couldn’t see how Towhee and Maxim could return with peace.

But he and Tamar worked for a short while. He toted furs from his drying place and arranged them until it looked like a place even the Pharaoh might see as comfortable. Arsenio’s eyes found the stones that Tamar had arranged. His features softened on them, pleased that she had thought so thoroughly.

At her suggestion, the Arche brightened.

That is a great idea.

The words were warm and heartfelt. He hoped that Towhee might be open to something like that. He was certain that his children would have stories they could share of young Leona. Arsenio did not need to guess that Towhee and Maxim’s son would have a few things he would like to say. The boy always seemed to be jabbering.

As if conjured by his thoughts, Zulema appeared, and she left a quiet remark on the beauty of the resting place.

Arsenio looked to her with love. He approached the young girl and nudged his nose into her head.

Do you think you could help us make it more beautiful? Your mother has done a fine job, look at this work, he motioned to what Tamar had accomplished with a smile.

"i am as well."

it was not wrong to speak it. this was not a matter of numbers but of family, as they had become.

zulema, now. she turned a sad smile to their daughter as her redstone husband spoke, inviting her to join them in the beautification.

"everyone deserves a pretty place to sleep forever," tamar said softly, raising her paw to welcome zulema. "your father and i were speaking of how best to remember leona. maybe you can also help us with that."

sorry for the late reply ^^

Her worries had eased as Arsenio pressed his nose to Zulema's head. Glancing between the two she nodded in response, voice failing her in the moment. The way her mother had said it, a pretty place to sleep forever, further contributed to calming her anxious thoughts.

She wished there were flowers to line the grave with. While she hadn't been very close with Leona, she had made an internal note to come back with the return of flowers and further decorate. For now, the girl would try to aid her parents in whatever they had planned. Zulema wasn't sure how to respond on the topic of remembering the girl. Leona seemed quiet, stoic almost to Zulema. She hadn't failed to notice the competitiveness Leona had around her brother, the confidence.

A faint sadness had registered in her as she thought of Jack and Leona. She wasn't sure how she would handle her siblings absence, it was difficult to think about. Zulema wished Jack would return in the moment, perhaps he could spend time among her siblings, drown out the longing for Leona, the grief.

❝She was pretty quiet around us, but I know that she was always messing around with Jack. They were always wrestling or teasing each other.❞ Zulema's eyes trained back on her mother after wandering around the grave.

There was a feeling of regret, she wished she had known the girl more.

No need to apologize! My own reply is pretty late… ;w; We can fade this out if you want to throw some wrapping replies on here. <3

The man thought it difficult to share such sadness with his daughter. The reminder of their mortality was never a kind subject. Zulema was still young, too. She had not yet experienced the world and seen all its wonder. Arsenio did not like to know that this impression of Leona might stick with his daughter. He did not want to think about sharing the subject with his other children, either.

I am sure Jack could use a friend, now that Leona is gone, Arsenio rumbled to Zulema. His nose brushed at the soft hairs atop her head. If she could do anything, he believed she would be able to draw some life from the boy. The redstone wolf had seen the young Redhawks bounding through the vale. They had been close, and this loss would not be kind on the boy.

It was time to put himself back to work. There were more things he could gather to make Leona’s grave a more beautiful place.

Come with me, Zulema. Let’s go find some gifts to leave on top, he suggested. The blue of his eyes lifted to Tamar. Maybe she would join them, as well.

im good to fade! last for me i think <3

zulema took these things in stride.

she spoke through her sorrow. tamar thought a good thing this must be, for their daughter to speak so clearly.

"leona will always be remembered here, and as part of the vale," the morphe assured. at arsenio's words, she nodded to husband and daughter, rising. "we will make it lovely here."

the rest of the time would be devoted to petal-gathering and the soothing of zulema.

Zulema took each word with great consideration. The ache within her eased as her father pressed his nose to her. Jack would have a friend, and the girl would make sure of that. She then took a deep breath as her mother rose, offering more words that comforted the girl. It seemed like they knew exactly how to quiet the worries in her mind. The things she felt now surely we're things the both her parents had felt.

❝Okay.❞ Her tail stirred faintly.

Turning to them when she was troubled would not be something Zulema thought twice about.