Tapping the Barrel of a Steel Blue .38
The storm raged on, raining pouring down endless, thunder cracking the sky. And even as mother nature forced her wrath pun them, she would steadily grow weaker. She was so weak that she had been unable to answer her brothers call at the beginning of the storm. Her boys were out and about, there was very little that could confine them to the den, even though both were not to pleased with the move. Amarant had voiced his displeasure, his attitude had changed, and Koray spent much of his time asleep or wandering. She would sigh, but it quickly turned into a hacking cough. Her frail body would rattle helplessly as her cough subsided to a wheeze. She had known for a long time that she was ill. Sick and slowly dying. Unknown to her, she had cancer.
Curled within the confines of her den, her sides would rise and fall with shaky breaths. A doom fell around her and she knew what needed to be done. With great care she would begin to groom her pelt. She would wash away the dust a debris, carefully placing each hair in its place. She would bathe herself from head to toe. Rising, she would move to the mouth of her den, her steps slow and weary. Sticking her head out, she would let loose a weary call for her family. Backing up, she would lay down in her designated place, limbs folding beneath her delicately. She had lost weight, the only thing that had kept her from looking like a skeleton was the fact that she had forced herself to eat regularly for her boys sake. Her crown would lower to her paws, a cough raking her body again.
Eyes would flutter close, consciousness ebbing. A peaceful death, it wasn't that bad of a way to go. Part of her felt weak for leaving her children orphaned. Their father was gone, and now she was living her last few moments. How would they fair? Would they be okay without her? She had taught them as much as possible, but they were still so young. A sigh would lift her sides, her breath whooshing out softly. Peace would surround her, the world slowly slipping away. But she needed to hang on. She needed to say goodbye to her boys. She needed to tell them she loved them.
"Speech"
The massive beast took up almost half her den on his own, he couldn't take his eyes away from her as she trembled and fought to remain conscious. He should have been there for her, should have supported her more but he had blamed all his children for what their mother had done. For what she had done to him. He had never really taken into consideration his children's feeling. Not until Basanti. Since her? He understood now, understood everything he had done wrong. He wouldn't blame her if she hated him, wouldn't blame her if she wanted to be with anyone but him in her last moments. But as he watched she would smile, weakly, and whisper a single word he had never heard from her lips since she was a child. A lump would gather in his throat and for a moment he would swallow and choke on that lump, closing his eyes against the sting that was beginning behind his eyes. When he finally opened his eyes again his vision was blurred, barely able to make out anything about her other then the darkness of her fur and the green eyes she had inherited from him. 'I love you." The words hit him like a brick to the head and for a moment his head would snap up and his eyes would widen. His lower jaw unhinged, opening and closing as he gasped like a fish out of water looking for words. He couldn't find them, a torrent of things he always wanted to tell his kids flooding over him. All he could do was slowly lift himself and move, stepping over his daughter to lay behind her and drape his head over her shoulders in an attempt to share some of his warmth with her. She spoke again and again his eyes would snap wide. She was a mother? "You're a mother?"His words were coked, raw. Wetness dripped onto her back and for a moment he would stare at where it fell. Tears? He cleared his throat, trying to chase the rawness away as he closed his eyes and tried to force the tears to go. But that just made them fall faster, wetting her shoulder until her lowered his head to wrap her in a sort of hug. "I'll keep them safe? Find your mother, I will see you in my dreams just as they will see you in theirs..." He was trying to be comforting but even as the words came from his lips he realized that he must sound like a madman. Had her mother ever visited her in her dreams?
Speech!