Its Hard to Say Goodbye

He heard the pounding of paws rushing toward them and he looked up to see her familiar form skidding to a stop beside them. He jumped to his paws, but before he could say anything he was being lifted and inspected and checked for injuries. He wiggled against her hold at first, getting a couple objections in and some insisting that she needs to take care of his father before he saw how she looked at him with these tears in her eyes and heard the sorrow in her voice as she spoke to Naiche. It made him stop and look up at her with wide, confused eyes, watching as she brushed his face with her paw. His brow creased and he looked between his mother and father with his ears pinned back against his skull. Death wasn't a foreign concept to him. He hunted and practiced hunting all the time. He knew if something living got gravely injured it would die. But connecting that concept to his father was more difficult even as he looked back to his dad and saw how much blood was everywhere and how the deep gashes along his sides and stomach were revealing parts of him that Arc had only ever seen when they were breaking down a prey animal. It was so hard for his mind to accept that it was too late, that the damage was done, and that's why his mother was was acting like this.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he leaned into his mother's chest with a grim realization settling in on him, looking down at his father with little hiccuping sobs while he spoke. His praise of his hunting skills and his bravery didn't lessen the guilt and sorrow that squeezed at his chest. He was completely helpless when it came to helping his dad with the bear and he hadn't even managed to get anyone here to help him before the worst possible outcome happened. He thought about Tira and how he had promised to protect her from anything, but if this was something that could happen even to someone like his dad what chance did he have in protecting any of them? His attempts to hold back his sobs failed when his dad looked at him and told him that he loved him, heavy tears rolling freely down his cheeks as he pulled away from his mother's embrace and sank down to the ground again, pressing his forehead to his dad's. "I love you too, dad," he managed between gasping sobs, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to pretend that none of this was actually happening and the smell of blood in the air wasn't actually there and his father wasn't actually dying.

"Arcturus Fatalis"