The still, calm waters of the lake taunt the small donkey. It is picturesque here… except for the three grieving animals. Everything is difficult, eating, drinking… even breathing. Sorrow tightens his chest and threatens to make him crumple at any moment and become a puddle of tears. His world has shattered, the one motherly figure in his life is gone and he feels like the orphaned colt that Mrs. B had found all those years ago. His heart feels hollow, as if all the joy in the world lays alongside the dead body of Beru. When he had awoken next to her, finding her body cold and lifeless, Oscar had kept it together. As the others woke, he had offered them comfort, freely giving hugs and a listening ear to the two while he silently held in his own grief. They are both young and, in their small circle Oscar is the oldest. The years have left scars on the donkey’s heart but Oscar feels an overwhelming need to take care of them now.

So, he made them leave her to go eat breakfast, reminding them to drink the cool water of the lake before offering them encouraging smiles as they hesitantly walk away, refusing to wander too far from the lifeless body. Even as he instructs them to leave, the donkey could not go, instead standing as a guard to keep any predators that might wander by at bay. Still, he forces himself to eat, teeth cropping at the grass of the meadow that overlooks the lake and Oscar realizes this is an idyllic place to rest. Mrs. B had asked to bed here for the night, wishing to watch the sunrise on the still surface of the lake. As they had all curled up together, she had told them stories of her family and the donkey felt a sense of dread filling him. At the time, he didn’t know why but, as the sun risen and Beru had not, it quickly became clear why.

A sigh escapes as Oscar lifts his head, unable to pretend to eat anymore and he moves the short distance back to Mrs. B’s side. Kyren spots him and alerts Rannoch, the pair moving to rejoin him by the lifeless husk of Beru. The donkey offers them a small smile before telling them of his plan, “Mrs. B deserves a burial.” His cyan gaze falls to her hulking form and he offers a sad smile before looking back to the other two. Clearing his throat, the small donkey continues, “I think we should build a mound of rocks around her. We can mark her grave so that those who pass by may know who rests here.” Looking between the pair, Oscar asks, “Would you both be willing to go collect rocks? I… I will stay with Mrs. B.” The words falter a moment he finishes. Taking a deep breath, he waits to see what the others think, part of him wondering if this is the right thing to do.

"Oscar" | "Nugget"

Rannoch hadn’t been with this strange herd for very long but he almost felt like he belonged here with these grazers almost as well as as he did with his own kind. By now he had realized, like mrs. B he was the last of his kind. She gave him a gentle comfort he hadn’t felt since he was at his mother’s side. She radiated a sense of safety that the young stag hadn’t felt since he was a very young calf. However short his time with her, Beru would remain a shining memory within him.

That was why the sad realization that morning hit him rather hard. Oscar was insistent that he and Kyren go and graze, though Rannoch did far more thinking than he did picking at the grasses around his hooves. He thought about their last night with the warm grandmotherly rhino. He wouldn’t forget her stories, he wouldn’t forget her name, the last of the wooly rhinos would never be forgotten. Or, he hoped he would be able to preserve her memory because he would want someone to remember him. The last of the great elk.

The young deer struggled with his own mortality, something he often thought about when he was alone. No one was promised tomorrow, and Beru had seen her last sunrise. She lived a long and fulfilling life, her death hurt him personally but he felt the loss keenly in the broader sense. The rhinos were gone.

Eventually Rannoch returned to their camp, they should have already been gone from her, but none of them were eager to leave their old friend behind. Oscar was the first to speak up, offering his suggestion. Now, Rannoch was a young deer but he knew better than most the way of nature. "She deserves a monument none of us are capable of delivering.” The yearling elk started, however young his deep voice whispered the wisdom of the forest. "Covering her in rocks feels unnatural.” Maybe it was just his youth, or maybe his deeper instincts.

When one of the herd was taken by the wolf you didn’t stop and ask the predator to give your loved one a respectable burial. You honored them by fleeing, by living, by escaping to run another day. Rannoch had never witnessed a death by old age, but he would want Beru to have the same honor. That her body might keep the predators at bay so her herd would live on to keep running.

"Rannoch"