Obsidian

She lay under a peach tree, its branches heavy with late fruit. She had searched. High, low, far, wide. Rikku was gone. Ryuk was gone. Cormalin was dead. A long, low sigh hissed out through her nostrils, turning into a soft snort toward the end. She didn?t think she had ever felt like this; as though she would never kick up her heels again, or be happy again. Black hide, dulled by the beginnings of the cold weather coat, twitched under the feet of a stubborn fly that hadn?t been nipped off by the cooler weather. It truly felt like she was the last of her kind. She hadn?t run across another horse since Rikku and Ryuk. For a short, short couple of seasons, she had been happier than she had been in a long time. Now she felt empty. Perhaps she?d seek out Erani and Surreal, and the family that would be with them. Her muscles twitched, but she didn?t rise.

Misery loved company, did it not? The child was wandering away from the den, aware that something seemed to be amiss. Something foreboding seemed to hang in the air, something he could not put his paw on but it was there. Maybe it was because he felt ignored by his father, especially with his sisters wanting to spend so much time with him. He enjoyed time with his mother, however. She was beautiful, and kind. The only female in his family he liked. He was a bitter boy, though truly more lonely than anything. He wanted to have attention, to be babied a little, but his jealousy lead to distance.

He would wander off, and not too far beyond where his parents designated him to be able to play he would see the most bizarre of creatures. His father had told him of Zanire, of the bear he had been a companion with. But he said she had left... but this lady was big. Was this Zanire? Maybe she was waiting for his dad so they could make amends?

The boy would pad up to her, speaking in a quiet tone. "'scuse me. Are you a bear?"