The only language I am fluent in
There would be no peace for her.
It had started as a whisper on the breeze, familiar, yet foreign. She had swum to Ibis Island, nothing to be found. If her family couldn’t be found there, then perhaps they had been scattered to the wind, just as she had. It seemed fitting, she supposed and so the darkness had swallowed her up once again, a wraith haunting the Island where her family once lived until one day she threw herself back into the ocean. She was skin and bone and unkempt fur. The distance and the currents very well could have killed her, but in a cruel twist of fate they failed to, the waves dumping her on the shore, rejecting her offer of sacrifice again. The Gods were cruel.
She had hidden when others approached, and when she had thought to make her presence known, her long disused voice had failed her, until she thought better of it and just stayed hidden. What would the living want with a ghost like her anyway? A curse. She’d only bring destruction to any who took pity on her, she knew. That was until…
The scent curled toward her like a beckoning finger, wrapping around her throat and dragging her closer like a chain. Her body leaned back, but her legs walked forward and the closer she cringed into the ground, wishing it would just swallow her up, the tighter her throat felt. Tears threatened to well in the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t dared to hope… But here it was. A wall of scent that told her, not all had been lost. Maybe she could be saved too?
She tipped back her head, a strangled sound leaving her throat, more a scream than a howl, her throat hoarse from disuse. I’m alive. I’m alive. I’m alive.
"speech".
He was quiet as he moved across the plains and paused when he finally saw her. Where were his siblings? He was like a panicked deer caught in headlights, frozen once he was within distance of her and searching for somewhere to flee, or someone to flee to. Even from a distance he could tell she looked unwell, alive but not truly thriving. He'd seen her like that once before and he couldn't bear to take in the sight again. Another slow step forward caused him to close his eyes, shutting them tight as he waited for someone else to come. He couldn't do this on his own and he truly feared she'd be gone if he looked again.
Huge paws carried him forward, beaten only by Spirit as he approached what he had believed so long a ghost. How she had survived on her own, how she had avoided their searching for even longer. He could scarcely believe she was real either as he approached slowly, in disbelief. ”Mother?” He questioned softly, moving to Spirit’s side to encourage and comfort him as they moved forward together.
Eulogy’s sense of direction had always been legendary. For a moment she almost remembered once thinking that if she ever found her mother and brother again she would never stray from the den. It was all crashing down on her, heart caught in her throat, breath coming in short, sharp gasps as she trembled, wishing the earth would just swallow her up. Forgive yourself, her mother had said, but now, with her children manifesting in front of her, one with eyes squeezed shut an the other, so clearly the pillar she should have been able to be for them… Eulogy knew in the marrow of her bones that she could not, would not ever be able to forgive herself for leaving them. After all, she had pulled a disappearing act more than once. Why not save them the pain? Why had she come here?
The mocha tinted woman tried to meet those eyes so like her own, but she flinched instead, unworthy - settling her gaze somewhere between the approaching paws, her whole body leaning away from the confirmation she had sought for so long. Just as she had always suspected, they were better off without her. Her face turned to the side, ears folding back, flinching away from the title. Her mouth opened to answer, and then closed again, her throat hoarse from disuse. Tears stung her eyes and she struggled to not fold in on herself, to stop herself from going belly up in front of her children who had always deserved so much more than she had given them.
Eulogy was paralysed as she willed herself to take that first step towards her sons, but her paws simply wouldn’t move.
"speech".