Before The Morning
07-02-2013, 05:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2013, 05:22 PM by Gael.)
He was back now, finally back in Valhalla, in his true home. He was done with his days of wandering, done being away from his family, from his parents and siblings. Valhalla was where he belonged or at least where he thought he belonged. He wasn't too sure how well he would be received back into the ranks. Would he be given a position or would he just be another member? He was happy either way, just wanting to be accepted back into his family. The young Adravendi had spent the weeks after his return re-exploring his home, familiarizing himself again with the land he'd grown up with. This day was unlike any other, or at least that's what he'd thought. He was out for the day, a very rainy and dreary day at that, but still the young man didn't turn away the chance to explore his home. It was actually rather refreshing to be out in the rain, feel his paws splash in the mud with each step he took, feel the cold water pelt against his back and head, soaking him to the bone. Spring was here and the shower was breathing life back into Alacrits. While at the same time returning the creatures of the land back into the earth. A sharp howl pierced the rainy atmosphere, catching Gael's attention. That voice. He had heard that voice before. Cairo, his adopted grandfather, but a grandfather to him nonetheless. He had met the russet man back in his puphood, but after his extended absence, he hadn't taken a moment to revisit the old man. The call from his grandfather was weak in its pitch, setting off alarms in the yearling's head. Was something wrong with his grandfather? The conversation he'd had with his uncle Syrinx reverberated in his mind. Cairo's days were numbered. Was this the day that the earth decided to reclaim the Adravendi Patriarch? With his heart in his throat the young man spurred himself into action, ivory tipped paws, now brown with mud, beat against the wet landscape, carrying him swiftly towards the origin of the call. No...not his grandfather. His grandfather couldn't be dying...He just couldn't. He was strong. He was the leader. He was supposed to take care of everyone. How would his father Collision react if he found out his father had died? Praying that his grandfather had merely gotten hurt the boy sped on, determined to get there in time. Cerulean gaze fell across the fallen figure of his grandfather, the once great man now reduced to a shell of what he once was, lying in the mud before his den, his amber eyes closed off from the world, an ivory woman curled up beside him, holding. Grandfather! But obviously there was no response from the elder man as the young Adravendi came to his body, gaze roaming over his body, temporarily ignoring the porcelain woman who was curled up around his body. There was no movement, no rise and fall of his shoulders that would tell him he was breathing, no twitching of the eyelids, no flick of a tail or even an ear. He was completely still. Gone. Cairo was gone and he was never coming back. He was truly and permanently gone. And Gael hadn't had the chance to say goodbye. He had come too late. Haunches folded beneath the young man, splashing in the mud that had accumulated, shoulders hunched as he stared at his now dead grandfather, silent tears trickling down his earthen face, undetected as they mixed with the rain that pelted him. I'm so sorry grandfather... He murmured, throwing his crown up, earthen lips coming together as a mournful howl erupted into the thundering atmosphere, audits lying flat against his skull, his song choking in his throat as the flow of tears poured relentlessly down his face. Valhalla would never be the same. Talk like this |