to be loved is to be changed

Art & Code © Skelle 2023

"Speech!"
Her health was failing her.

Her health was failing her, yet she still wanted to go outside. To surround herself with light, to let the sun soothe her flaring joints and aching bones. She was going to do that, no matter how difficult it would be for her. Laeta had just managed to pull through the winter, but her decline was apparent; the woman's ribs were visible again, her shoulder and hip bones pulled taut over a sagging frame of tufted charcoal fur. She looked as if a coat hanger was propping up her body, her limbs thin and trembling violently just standing. It was not Mel's fault she was emaciated -- her appetite was dwindling. Mel had to gently ease her off her bed; he even went so far as to scrounge some wood planks to make a staircase as she couldn't jump down anymore.

She was seven, now. Seven years old in a decades' old body, tired and worn. What seemed to all the Hallows' wolves to be a miraculous turnaround from her bout of paralysis was really just a delay in the inevitable; granted a few more years of travel and wandering and seeing the new generations of Hallows' children born and grow, granted more time to be with her close companion and aide, Mel, granted more time to just be with her beloved packmates. As her fate would have it, Audra was back. Her dear, dear friend, one she would never forget. Oh, she had to see her. Talk to her, again. Because it was really the shift in seasons these past few months that made Lae realize she would not make it to 10.

Mel practically had to grab the loose clothing-like folds of fur off her wiry frame to keep her walking, which at this point is more of a stiff-legged shuffle than a smooth gait she'd had just the past fall. Every step from the third floor was an excruciating effort, and she nearly lost her step more times than she could count. But gods, she must go outside. Must see the sun, and feel it too. A window did not suffice.

By the time they painstakingly reached the ground floor, Laeta had to catch her breath, her limbs shaking. With a slow inhale, she rises gingerly off her haunches, stepping carefully towards the courtyard, her favorite place in all of the castle. "Thank you so much, Mel. I so miss the outdoors." She said to her badger companion, noticing the worry clear on his striped face. Mel turned his head to briefly rub at his beady eyes, masking his sniffling through his forepaw. He turned back to face her as she struggled to lean back into a sitting position, every creak of her bones eliciting a fiery pain that the pain-killing herbs could only touch. It hurt him to see her like this, hurt to see the plummet in her physical body when her spirit was still so vibrant, so happy, so whole. Mel leaned against her, not for guidance, but comfort as she waited for a friend to come by.

Laeta lifted her head to meet the sun's rays, the warm glow like a gentle pat on the head. She closed her eyes, smiling widely. Happy. Just..happy.