Until We Meet Again
01-04-2015, 12:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-04-2015, 12:22 AM by Anais.)
Walk | Talk | Think
Ever since Espirit had come into the world, Anais had felt her concern for her mother shift to the poor neglected babe. Hard as it was to admit to herself or to her siblings, the girl could see Tahlia had no interest in the child. Whether Espirit stayed within her den or was taken away, whether he cried to fed, to be loved, or was quiet either with contentedness or resignation, she did not seem to take notice. To Anais it was like she lived apart from them within some hazy world all her own that was too far away for any of them to reach her, and not for lack of trying. And poor Espirit, she hated to think that he might believe their mother, who had always been so attentive to her earlier litters, might possibly care less for him, but more importantly she knew he needed someone to care for him as Tahlia should have. And with Tahlia showing less concern for anything by the day, Anais let her attention refocus on her baby brother.
She tried to make up for whatever deficiencies were present in his life by stepping up and acting as a motherly figure. Lebrah was good practice, but he proved to be nothing like the freshly weaned pup that she had taken to caring for. It was a learning process for all involved, and she hoped she was doing at least a halfway decent job of it. She wished more with each day that Destruction might still have been around to speak with, to gauge from her what she was doing right, what she needed to improve upon. It was awkward and tiring and full of uncertainties, and without knowing how well she was doing it was stressful on top of it, but she continued to do it. Her lean legs brought her, as always, through the woods and towards her mother's den, intending to peek in and see whether her mother might be curious to sit with her and watch their sons play, but scents beyond the den's entrance warned her before she got too close that it was going to be empty. And she knew without needing to second guess it just where that den's occupant had gotten herself.
With only a sigh, Anais altered course, drifting away from the den and further up the rise toward the tree her father was buried under. She found the tracks in the snow easily, noticed the second set that was her brother's, and followed with quiet and slow obedience, intending to help her sibling cajole their mother back into her den where she could be warm and safe. It was such a familiar routine for her that she thought nothing about it, and continued not to even as she reached the peak of the rise and found her brother there beside the tree, beside their mother.
Only something was wrong. He was digging. She feared for half a second that he might have been possessed by some wild idea to uncover their father, that maybe even Tahlia might have put him up to it in her desperation to see her husband again, but in the next moment she realized the placement was off. Bane was not where Nako was digging, his grave was beside the spot the feathered wolf was digging at. A second...? It took only one look over toward her mother's still, thin, weak figure to understand. Her vision blurred upon a blink, the emotions striking her even more strongly this time around. Gone. They were both gone now. It was hardly imaginable that she could lose the both of them so quickly, that she and her siblings would never see them again in this lifetime. Though Nako possessed the strength to move, to act, Anais, in that moment, could not. While he worked, she cried quietly to herself as she sat within the snow and closed her eyes against the realities she could not change.
She listened to the sounds of her brother as he moved snow, dirt, and eventually settled their mother's body into place before reversing the process. Only when she was sure her mother was buried, that it was all done, did she open her eyes and look toward Nako. Getting her paws beneath her, she walked toward him and pressed her face against his shoulder, sharing a moment of communal loss with him to comfort as well as be comforted in return. It was not fair, their losses, but it was what they had been dealt, as just as Nako had managed to keep moving she knew the same was going to be expected of her too. She took the needed moment to simply be with her grief before she tried to speak, her voice still compromised and breaking through her pain. "We need to tell the others," she stated needlessly, just needing something to say in order to get herself back to thinking again. It had been on her mind for a while, but now it seemed there was no more delay in the matter. "I'll move Espirit to my den with me and Lebrah." He would do well there, she hoped, under her watchful eye and with Lebrah's enthusiasm to remind them both what happy was.
Satisfied with the decisions that had been made and with the important things tended to, Anais nuzzled Nako before drawing away from him and beginning to walk with him down the slope toward the fjord and their dens so that the unfortunate news could be delivered to the rest of their family.
Ever since Espirit had come into the world, Anais had felt her concern for her mother shift to the poor neglected babe. Hard as it was to admit to herself or to her siblings, the girl could see Tahlia had no interest in the child. Whether Espirit stayed within her den or was taken away, whether he cried to fed, to be loved, or was quiet either with contentedness or resignation, she did not seem to take notice. To Anais it was like she lived apart from them within some hazy world all her own that was too far away for any of them to reach her, and not for lack of trying. And poor Espirit, she hated to think that he might believe their mother, who had always been so attentive to her earlier litters, might possibly care less for him, but more importantly she knew he needed someone to care for him as Tahlia should have. And with Tahlia showing less concern for anything by the day, Anais let her attention refocus on her baby brother.
She tried to make up for whatever deficiencies were present in his life by stepping up and acting as a motherly figure. Lebrah was good practice, but he proved to be nothing like the freshly weaned pup that she had taken to caring for. It was a learning process for all involved, and she hoped she was doing at least a halfway decent job of it. She wished more with each day that Destruction might still have been around to speak with, to gauge from her what she was doing right, what she needed to improve upon. It was awkward and tiring and full of uncertainties, and without knowing how well she was doing it was stressful on top of it, but she continued to do it. Her lean legs brought her, as always, through the woods and towards her mother's den, intending to peek in and see whether her mother might be curious to sit with her and watch their sons play, but scents beyond the den's entrance warned her before she got too close that it was going to be empty. And she knew without needing to second guess it just where that den's occupant had gotten herself.
With only a sigh, Anais altered course, drifting away from the den and further up the rise toward the tree her father was buried under. She found the tracks in the snow easily, noticed the second set that was her brother's, and followed with quiet and slow obedience, intending to help her sibling cajole their mother back into her den where she could be warm and safe. It was such a familiar routine for her that she thought nothing about it, and continued not to even as she reached the peak of the rise and found her brother there beside the tree, beside their mother.
Only something was wrong. He was digging. She feared for half a second that he might have been possessed by some wild idea to uncover their father, that maybe even Tahlia might have put him up to it in her desperation to see her husband again, but in the next moment she realized the placement was off. Bane was not where Nako was digging, his grave was beside the spot the feathered wolf was digging at. A second...? It took only one look over toward her mother's still, thin, weak figure to understand. Her vision blurred upon a blink, the emotions striking her even more strongly this time around. Gone. They were both gone now. It was hardly imaginable that she could lose the both of them so quickly, that she and her siblings would never see them again in this lifetime. Though Nako possessed the strength to move, to act, Anais, in that moment, could not. While he worked, she cried quietly to herself as she sat within the snow and closed her eyes against the realities she could not change.
She listened to the sounds of her brother as he moved snow, dirt, and eventually settled their mother's body into place before reversing the process. Only when she was sure her mother was buried, that it was all done, did she open her eyes and look toward Nako. Getting her paws beneath her, she walked toward him and pressed her face against his shoulder, sharing a moment of communal loss with him to comfort as well as be comforted in return. It was not fair, their losses, but it was what they had been dealt, as just as Nako had managed to keep moving she knew the same was going to be expected of her too. She took the needed moment to simply be with her grief before she tried to speak, her voice still compromised and breaking through her pain. "We need to tell the others," she stated needlessly, just needing something to say in order to get herself back to thinking again. It had been on her mind for a while, but now it seemed there was no more delay in the matter. "I'll move Espirit to my den with me and Lebrah." He would do well there, she hoped, under her watchful eye and with Lebrah's enthusiasm to remind them both what happy was.
Satisfied with the decisions that had been made and with the important things tended to, Anais nuzzled Nako before drawing away from him and beginning to walk with him down the slope toward the fjord and their dens so that the unfortunate news could be delivered to the rest of their family.
-Exit Anais and Nako and end thread-
* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
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