It was dawn when Bane woke. His pale pelt barely being disturbed from the chilly breeze that came down the entrance to the den. Winter had come again by the smell of things. His faded muzzle resting on Tahlia's side just above her slightly bulging stomach. They had been blessed with young again. He gently nosed the russet fur of her stomach just enough to feel her sides expand when she breathed before drawing back. The fjord was being rather quiet. Drowned out by the wind and flakes swirling in the air outside. The snow... Bane's unseeing eye looking down but remaining sightless in it's gaze. The warm and complete sensation he got from Tahlia's smooth pelt against his cheek faded as he slowly brought himself out of the den.

Snow. A rather thin and hardly frozen layer of it was felt between his wriggling toes as he inhaled and stared to trek away from the slopes of the fjord. The world was painted in scents for him to navigate through with a swelling inhalation. And as he edged closer and closer to what had become a favorite spot these past few weeks Bane couldn't help but reflect on his life for a moment.

He edged closer to the mimosa. A strange place for the tree to be growing amidst all the pines on the slopes of the fjord. But this was a secluded place in the back slopes away from the angled riverside of the fjord. Bane inhaled deeply again, a cough surfacing as well as a sensation of lightheadedness. He sat down, a misting of crimson tainting the pure white of the snow at the base of the bare tree, Bane tasting the coppery flavor of blood with a sniff. Perhaps it was resignation that didn't cause the old wolf to be concerned with what he felt deep within him. Sadness at not being able to feel and teach his new litter. To still touch and love his mate as tenderly as she deserved. Hearing the antics of his pups from one another who he had all prepared as well as he could for life's joys and misgivings. Bane leaned against the trunk of the tree as he thought. Talutah scar exposed to the waning moon as the morning grew older. Something definitely didn't feel right within him.

Death had finally come to claim him. Already he could feel the fleeting edge of it's alien sensation growing in his chest as he laid down. Soon he would be with all the others from the northern ash lands who didn't make it. The Talutah tribe would soon have it's last member. Rancor. Alarice. All the young he'd never known. Dillinger. A quick pant left him that ended with a low howl, sides expanding quickly in the melting snow as the dying wolf's exhaustive summon rolled over the rise. Blind gaze held still for a moment as his ears pinned back. A slight welling of tears falling from the corner of his eyes with a somber blink as the snow continued to fall.

Walk | Talk | Think Inside the den, Tahlia slept on. She lay curled upon her side, her growing belly testament to the belief she held firmly to even in the face of her husband's doubt. They were going to have more children, another litter to care for and raise alongside their others. Their family would grow once more, given more lives and more love for them to share. It was everything that she had asked for, everything she had dreamed of all these years. It was such a perfect picture, she had been denying herself the truths that had been plainly becoming more evident, the truths that she knew would alter and warp her vision of the future forever. They were far from her mind even as her husband's tired call entered their den and stirred her from sleep. Stretching, she uncoiled and yawned briefly, lifting her head from the earthen floor of their den as she blinked toward the opening. As her vision came into focus over her single functioning eye, the right scarred and cloudy and useless, she noticed the faint traces of white flakes that fell outside, gently beginning to coat the earth in their cold and chilly blanket. Only after a second did its significance sink in. Snow. Winter was here. Another year had passed for her mate, another year that he had managed to stay with her despite his advanced age. Last year had been difficult enough, realizing how old he was and how little time she had left with him. This year... It felt as if time was finally ticking down. Suddenly anxious, chilled though a second ago she had been perfectly warm and cozy, Tahlia dragged herself to her paws, carefully mindful of the litter she carried, and stepped from the den, pausing only long enough to get her bearings. Bane's call had been from above, beyond their den and away from the fjord's edge. With haste, she set off after him, eventually running across his scent and tracking it the rest of the way until she found him propped against the base of the out-of-place tree. Seeing him there, solid and standing even if only because the tree refused to buckle under him weight, made her wonder how it could be that everything would end. He had always been there, even when they had been apart. She could not imagine life without him. Still not comprehending, still refusing to comprehend, she called gently to him from a short distance, her voice hesitant and unsteady and her ears laid back because deep down she ultimately knew something was wrong. "Bane?"

Ooc:: As I mentioned to Mouse, changing up backstory with Lior and Des. Lior was never gone, but Des got hurt and stayed with Deviant for a while outside of the Fjord. Sorry for the confusion. >< She was hurting, injured in a scuffle outside of the Fjord, but luckily she had been the one to intercept the three strangers that had been trailing into the land the family had come to call their new home. They were large... of the Kedieo bloodline they had said. Their biggest mistake was trying to go after this family, because Destruction would be damned if she let anyone ever hurt them. But... in ensuring they didn't get to her loved ones she herself had gotten injured... and if it were not for Deviant she might not have recovered as well as she had. Now, giving him a short goodbye to speak with the family alone, she was heading to Bane and Tahlia's den, ignorant of what had gone on in her absence. She was close when she heard Bane and the dark woman would, at first, freeze. What...? Destruction would frown, her good eye shining with worry. Something... wasn't right. Bane was getting older... but surely... no... he was strong. He wouldn't be beaten by age... not yet! The woman would limp, a lumbering gait that was a bit awkward. With her scarred shoulder and hip it was no easy task moving anywhere fast, but the stubborn fae refused to alter her life style. Besides... now was not the time to give up... to run away from the ones who were kind enough to call her family. Des pushed through the snow, frosty breath expelling from her mouth as her breathing became more labored. When the two came into view, and it was by no means a straight shot to them, she could see Tahlia near Bane, the elder facing away from them. Des would slow, hear ears flicking back. She too could feel something was amiss. Something... was so horribly wrong. "Bane... Tahlia..." She would whimper, their names barely audible. "Hear Me Talk," 'Read My Thoughts.'

Table by:: Dione

Wandering just around the Fjord had been the only things she found to keep herself entertained. It wasn't the most entertaining thing to do with her life but hey, it was something at least. Lior found her wanderlust killed since the talk with her father, the news he gave her and her sister after the event with Pyrros still within her mind. She was worried... worried about what would become of her should she run into some big and strong male who would try to overpower her. She... didn't want to fight. Didn't want to resort to violence. The thought of it scared her... and she felt as if she was just sitting there in her life, unsure of what path she was going to take. It made the girl seem almost depressed. She would lounge around a lot when not walking around, just bored with no motivation to do much else. A sigh left her, watching the flakes as they fell. Much like she was doing now, even though it was cold and the snow fell around her. Their godmother had disappeared a short while, though she didn't know why. She was worried for her, but she didn't dare leave the Fjord... the safety of her family. Lior would give a sigh, just as the call of her father reached her. "Father...?" There was something about that call that didn't sit right. The girl would get to ebony paws, ears lowering as she raced to find her family. Her heart started to sink in her chest, even if she didn't know why. She knew... something was wrong. Something was so very, very wrong. A whine left her, and soon she would find the scene of her father, mother, and godmother. Seeing them both having the same sense... just filled her with dread. She'd stop, giving a loud whine, praying that things were okay... they had to be okay... ""

Bane flicked his ears and gave a sniff. He didn't know what to do. His maw tasted of copper, nose slightly runny with the scent and trickling sensation of blood. Chest having the strange ache with each beat of his heart. How did one die peacefully? Still propped up against the tree. Still strong of mind. Limbs rapidly giving up. And right as he heard her words the old wolf let himself slide down against the mimosa tree's trunk. Tahlia. Oh his Tahlia. She had come and now was seeing him like this, the one who'd been so strong in her life now wasting away moment by moment. A wheezing breath trailed off with a sharp whine, his side leaning against the base of snow swept tree trunk. A hacking cough misted the snow with a sprinkling of red as Bane lifted his sightless gaze to stare in the direction of where he knew Tahlia stood. It was a mixed blessing that he couldn't see her gaze. The concern and hurt. The grief and the sorrow.

"Tahlia..." Bane croaked and tried to raise his head. So tired, no longer thirsty or hungry. He scented the ground and let his tongue flick at the white powder. The snow was rather cool, at least he could still feel. Left cheek brushing against the snow as he gave up and let his head settle. "Tahlia..." Bane repeated, trying not to choke up as he fought to sense within himself a way to last a few more moments to stay with his wife. She didn't deserve to see him like this. Always so strong during their life they'd lived and loved together. "I don't want..." The old wolf started with a gulp. "I love so so much Tahlia." Bane wheezed out. "I love you and you did me honor for being my mate." There was defeat in his tone, sides expanding slowly now. Tail tip giving a twitch. If only he could see her one last time, to return a touch and match a smile again would've been enough. But he could still say goodbye, and that would simply have to do.

Walk | Talk | Think It felt like it happened simultaneously. Just as soon as she said his name, Bane slipped, slid, and very quietly deposited himself there at the base of the tree on the snowy ground. "Bane!" Instantly frantic - was he gone already, just like that? - Tahlia rushed to his side, her heart beat erratic and her sightless and seeing eyes wide as they searched his face. No, there was life in him yet. He still breathed, even if harshly, his cloudy eye still roved as if searching for her there beside him, and she could see the strain of his head as it moved minutely against the snow. He was still here, though only just. She folded her legs and lay beside him, curling her side against his as he coughed. The red upon the snow drew her gaze in a double take, seeing then the proof of the worry, the fear, that had plagued her the moment she heard him call for her. It had all been valid. There was something immeasurably wrong here, and there was nothing she could do. Her eyes filled with tears and her expression pinched painfully, understanding then what she had been trying so hard not to acknowledge. Bane's time was nearly over now. He was dying. He spoke to her, said her name, and though her voice was beyond her control, shaky and unsteady and full of her desperate sadness, Tahlia still answered him. "I'm here, I'm right here," she assured him brokenly as she blinked through her tears, a few already rolling away. Possessively, protectively, she coiled more tightly against him, wishing it was possible for her to shield him from his fate, to keep him longer. She was not ready for this. She was not ready to face life without him. He was her rock, her world. Everything revolved around him and their family, but without him...she could not imagine it. Tears flowed freely, unbidden, as he went on, stumbling through his words as he attempted to say his goodbyes. No, no, it was all happening too fast! He could barely speak, was too weak to move. Pitifully she whined, nudging a paw beneath his head to cradle it above the snow as she curled hers across his neck. "Please, Bane," she begged though she hardly knew why. There was nothing he could do about his condition, and he had every right to say what he did at a time like this. Yet selfishly she wished for him to stop, for everything to freeze so that she would not have to endure it yet. She needed more time! "I love you," she whispered unsteadily, holding him against her as she clenched her teary eyes shut and pressed her cheek against the side of his forehead, "I love you so much, Bane, I love you." She could not say it enough. Even if she had hours yet to fill up with the phrase, she doubted it would have satisfied her. Gently she kissed his cheek, his face, anywhere she could reach without unfurling from her position. He was her friend, her mate, her life. She needed him to know how much she cared, now more than ever.

Even as Tahlia rushed to him Bane hardly shifted from where he lay, feeling his mate when she lay beside him. He felt the warmth of her pelt press against his side, listening to the compounding sorrow as realization sunk in. The old wolf was finding some comfort by her words as she lay against him. "So warm..." Bane mumbled, feeling one of her forepaws work it's way underneath his head for support and the other over the back of his neck. "It claws inside of me. I can feel it." The old wolf could only gasp out a few words at a time, chest rising and falling rapidly before slowing when not speaking "I'm scared." Bane let out in the faintest of whispers. Others were nearby watching. Pinned ears picking up muffled words. Des. Lior. His sons. Where were his sons at? Anais? A grey set of jaws weakly licked up some snowfall.

Tahlia was returning his words as she held him, his love as best she could with the time they had left together. To die in her embrace... he wouldn't have it any other way. Always he thought he would be alone when the inevitable came. Or at the very least in his sleep. "I'm sorry. Tahlia." Bane's voiced trailed off, head twisting with all his remaining strength to trail his muzzle against her jaw. A kiss was placed against the tip of her muzzle, Bane's head giving a shudder as he lay back down. The whines and keens of his sons standing by their parents faintly intruded in his ears was replaced by the dull thudding of his heart. "Take care of her. I'm sorry Tahlia. That I can't provide for you. And the young. Stay safe out there. By the moon we met. By the moon we'll meet again Tahlia." The dying wolf spoke rapidly though some words were slurred. So tired. And so he settled in for the final journey to finish. The one that awaited all of them in time. Though only traveled alone.

There was no doubt, as she watched the two lovers what was going on. Bane was dying. Destruction squeezed her good eye closed, her breath catching in her throat. The wind seemed all the colder now. So harsh and biting... The mood around them... She felt something in her break. This was her family. Her kin. She had not loved Bane as Tahlia had, but the femme had strong feelings for him sure enough. They had a child together. A child who would soon get to see his father again.

Each thought brought more and more pain to her heart. Destruction hadn’t even noticed the boys arrive... Couldn’t bring herself to call for Anais. She couldn’t stand to stay here anymore. As much as she cared for them... Part of her still felt that it was wrong to be with Bane and Tahlia’s family now. An intruder. She would spin away, eye opening just slightly as the tears fell. She couldn’t stay here any longer. She could not drag her grieving friend down further with her own emotions. Her own unsaid words.

So Destruction fled, a limping, frantic motion that sent flurries behind her. She would grieve where none of them would see... And... Perhaps pay a certain grave a visit as well.

-Exit Destruction-

She began to understand. Her father was dying, her mother holding him close as his life was fading. Lior shook heavily, a pitiful whine leaving her as the tears started to form within her eyes. She took a hesitant step forward, lifting her gaze to Destruction as the woman turned, running off. There was pain written on her features too... Pain all of them knew. She could feel it around her. Her mother... Her brothers... She looked again and, not seeing Anais, would let out a short howl, cracking partway through, to summon her sister. Then paws would carry her to her parent’s sides.

This wasn’t meant to happen. Her heart felt so heavy, fit to break from her chest. Her limbs trembled. She was helpless. She couldn’t do anything to save him. Her father was dying... Would be gone... And there was nothing she could do. “I love you daddy...” She would whine. Legs no longer willing to support her Lior fell to the earth, squeezing her eyes tightly closed. She wanted this to be a nightmare. Wanted this so badly to be but a dream. Yet... It was not. This was nothing but the harsh reality of life where things were cruel... Where loved ones could be stolen from you. No one lasted forever... and it was that realization that came to the girl now.

Walk | Talk | Think
 
Heart racing, Anais ran swiftly through the wood beside the fjord toward the call her father had sent up. Back at the den, Lebrah remained. She had thought he would try to follow her since he had such a strong preference to stay beside her, but in her growing panic she had been very firm and adamant about him staying behind. Something was wrong in the call Bane had issued, something that had carried in the sound of his howl and had since settled sickeningly within her gut. She needed to get to him fast, she needed to find out what was wrong. 
 
Her legs were quick but still she was late. As she neared, she saw the retreating figure of her godmother pass through the trees and for a second she faltered, sensing more amiss than she had originally thought. What had sent Destruction racing off like that? She had not even noticed Anais nearby though both were in clear view of each other even across the short distance. The girl's stomach twisted uncomfortably, her legs itching to move again. Something was really, very wrong. 
 
New panic lent her more speed as she hurried to close the last of the distance and with a skidding stop she finally came upon her father, though as she should have expected he was not alone. He lay sprawled beside the tree he had begun to frequent here, her mother pressed close and holding him, Lior crumbled on the ground, distraught, beside them. Her ears folded, her lower lip wobbling as it finally began to sink in. She had seen the increasing deterioration of her father these past months, had inherently known he was getting worse and worse, but in a feeble attempt to make it not real she had given it less credit than she should have. Here, faced with the effects of time and her father's mortality, Anais knew she had been wrong to avoid accepting it. She was not ready to lose him now. 
 
She whined, a quiet, broken noise, as she slowly, hesitantly padded forward, ears tucked. Her yellow-gold eyes, already bleary with tears, scanned from her mother to her sister and finally rested on her father, feeling her heart constrict with pain. He really was fading fast. Her throat felt so tight she was not sure how she was even breathing and words felt as if they were stuck there, unable to be spoken. What really could she say at a time like this anyway to do justice to how she felt? She crept around her fallen sister to brush her muzzle against her father's, a small gesture but one that held all the love that she had for him, everything she would have said, every kiss and nuzzle she would have offered otherwise had there been more time. I love you, Dad. 

Walk | Talk | Think   She wished she was senseless. She wished she did not have to see his current state, could not hear his painful admissions, could not feel how weak he felt beside her. It was so incredibly overwhelming and she felt at such a loss. What could she say, what could she do, to comfort, to ease, her mate where he lay upon his deathbed? What could she say when the mere sight of him like this frightened her so terribly that she felt the need to beg him to stay, to fight, to live beyond his time? Tahlia was not ready to lose him, the husband who had grown to mean so much to her, the one who had convinced her heart to love another more than the vain creature loved herself. He had changed so much in her life, she could not bear the possibility of him no longer being a part of it.    The tears continued to run down into the fur of her cheeks as she cradled her weakening husband against her, still nuzzling and kissing him between short intervals of sniffling and crying as he spoke in a frail voice so unlike his usual tone. "Please, Bane, don't," she begged in a voice barely above a whisper, broken as the bevy of emotions made it difficult to speak. She wished he would stop saying things that hinted of what was to come, the inevitable outcome both innately knew would soon take him away from her. To speak of it was to lend it credit, to offer it strength in their reality, and she wished to push it off as long as possible.  It was harder to do as the others began to arrive. She did not see Destruction when she approached, nor did she hear her whispered words before she made a hasty retreat. Lior, though quiet upon arrival, crept closer, and the sight of her so distraught, so broken by what she could see and understand was taking place to the point that she could not even stand, only fueled Tahlia's desperation to want Bane to stay longer. Around her fallen daughter, her elder sister appeared, creeping close and offering Bane a soft touch upon his muzzle. Within her chest, Tahlia felt the defiant urge to order her away, to tell both girls to pull themselves together and stop acting how they were, but not even her own denial was strong enough to warrant it.  Still faced with the unaccepted possibility that she might lose him, that her time with him might be limited despite her desperate want of it not to be, she continued to hold him close, to try to come to terms with what was out of her control.

Bane weakly shifted against Tahlia, a muted sigh leaving his muzzle at the comforting weight her pup heavy form supplied. "I wish I could be the one. Holding you now. By the rivers. By ourselves." Bane murmured to try and distract her, forelegs being tucked closer against his chest to retain some modicum of warmth. Both of his daughters had come up to him, receiving their licks against his muzzle with a relieved rumble. Everyone. Everyone was here with him. He felt as if he could go now, no more regrets as the winding path finally ended for him. The old wolf's breathing slowing even more as the moments passed while letting himself go limp against his mate's embrace.

There was a long sigh that gradually released until all was quiet save for Tahlia's weeping, the snow still gently continuing to fall upon the land. Winter had come. But Bane could not see anymore. Not the teary gaze of his departing friend or offspring surrounding him. Just an encroaching blackness different from what failed vision he'd experienced these past few months. The hoarse breathing had petered off after a dozen or so moments, and for what seemed like a long time nothing happened after. Just the silence. The somber faces. The wolf on the edge of nothingness even as Tahlia held him. Then, as if some unbidden muscle tensed, Bane took in a great gasp of air. A last desperate attempt at life. His worn white forepaws twitched as they scrapped against the dirt and grazed Tahlia's stomach before ominously falling still. Born amidst the snowfall of winter and was when the old wolf finally passed on in the company of his family. The tiniest hint of a smile on the corner of his muzzle. Unseeing eye widening for a moment before it's gaze relaxed but remained open. And with a final drawn out exhale the old wolf's chest slowly fell and stilled for a final time. It did not rise again.

-Bane is dead-

Everything snapped back after a moment of silence. But no longer was he amidst the falling snow surrounded by his family. Bane rose from where he lay in the tall grass with a start, chest heaving. Two hazel eyes observed his surroundings. Where he lay a few dozen yards away from a hill. The terrain awash with the rich colors of autumn leaves from the dozen or so trees on it's slopes and the gurgling of the river just past the thinning grass. Bane stepped over to look at his reflection, seeing a handsome muzzle, scarred but left eye intact. His pelt had darkened somewhat to be what it was in the middle of his life. The feathers he'd given Nako twisting by their tips from where they were attached in his short mane by the warm breeze that rose from behind. Bane looked back at the hill, already visualizing the marks of Talutah on each of the trunks and the dens he would scrape out. There was an optimistic but hopeful spring in his step as Bane slowly made his way to the hill, a joyful aroo being voiced as he ventured towards the top. A place to wait for his family to join him. A place of peace.

Walk | Talk | Think Tears clouded her eyes as she peered down at her husband, seeing him only through one of them, and softly she kissed his cheek while he rambled about wishing things were different. "Hush, hush," Tahlia mumbled through her crying, only realizing after what it was that he was alluding to. A time in the past, a moment stolen between them, one that should have made her blush but under the circumstances only made her more disconsolate. "There will be more," she assured him falsely, trying to convince herself in the same breath that the lie she told could and would happen. He would be well and they could continue living their lives together, stolen moments included. Everything would be fine.  But the truth was unavoidable, bearing down on her the longer she held her dying mate. She could feel his body transition, growing still, growing weak, failing beneath her as she clung to him. Tahlia refused to let go, to accept, but only after he made one last feeble attempt at living did she realize that she had no say. The spirits had claimed him and he was hers no more.  "No," she whispered, her voice full of disbelief, of refusal, of desperation, "no, no, no. No, no!" She spoke his name, and again, kissed and nipped against his cheeks, anything to bring him back, to hear him speak to her one last time. She could hardly see him through her good eye though she could feel him still within her grasp, unresponsive and not moving though she was by now anything but still. Hysterical, she cried, screamed, as she was drawn away from her dead husband's body by one of her children - she was not aware enough to realize who - and with her legs feeling as heavy as her heart did she crumbled away from Bane, alone, sobbing inconsolably. Only vaguely was she aware of the sounds of scraping at the earth, the sounds of a burial, but she was not aware enough to piece everything together. Bane was gone. Her life, her love, her everything, was taken from her. She did not know what to do with herself.  And because she could not make that choice herself, she was guided, still sobbing, by her children away from the tree and back toward her den, half of a trek that would eventually wear itself into her mind as it would be worn into the earth.  -Exit Tahlia and end thread-