Their children lay sleeping in the den with Rhythm to watch them. She intended to visit Vail as soon as she was done here. She had taken several herbs from her collection and had them in her satchel at her side. In her maw was Darlinor. She had cleaned him and taken a rabbit's pelt and bound it around him. A traditional thing in her homeland. She had decide it best to bury him at the rock that both her and Rhyme favored, where he had been conceived. That was the direction she hobbled. The snow was falling gently and she could feel as the world was quiet. It was like the world mourned with them. Rhyme had not been there when she woke up but she had told Rhythm where she was going, cryptically mind you, but Rhyme would know. She would dig the grave before he got there and wait for him to make it there. As she arrived she gently placed him down in his bundle. She felt for the edge of the rock then with her right forepaw, and began digging there. He'd have a grave by the river then, not far from their den, and when spring would come his body would be what gave the herbs she brought the nourishment to bloom. It would mark his grave with herbs of a warrior. She couldn't provide him everything that warriors were buried with in her homeland but he would at least have the herbs. When she finished she sat with him at her paws. She wasn't sure she was ready to say goodbye to her third dead child. If she could cry she knew her cheeks would be soaked by now. Her breaths were harsh enough though for one to know she was crying, even if there were no tears. speech action

Rhyme felt the exhaustion of the day heavily upon him. Begrudgingly he left Shaye and their pups as he still had responsibilities with Tana. He really felt the weight of loss, not realizing this was the pain she had lived through for so long. Tana's previous experiences were so much more real to him now, and made him that much more proud of her progress. She was a different wolf from when he had found her. Still, loss was not easy and though he could have lost her and the other three pups he mourned for Darilnor. He'd not even taken his first breath. Rhyme felt precisely how unfair life really was in those moments. He'd never get to know the dark furred little pup, his whole future had been stolen away. And Rhyme had no one to blame for it. His pace was slow as he neared the maple tree, the scent of birth strong in the air. He was surprised to find his mother with the newborns instead of Tana, but as Rhythm passed on the message he knew where to find her. He assumed the old healer had seen to Tana's needs before she allowed her to go out. He sighed heavily, finding the trail towards his rocky perch that looked out over the rapids. Tana already had taken her place, and Rhyme could see the distress in her pose. He felt a pang in his chest as his eyes skimmed over the bundle at her paws. He still felt responsible for the pain. If he had just thought a little harder about what he'd been doing that night.. He shook away the thought and slowly came to sit close behind Tana. He nuzzled the fur behind her tattered ears, offering what support he could. The whole was already dug, impressive considering how hard the ground likely was. He hoped she hadn't bloodied her paws. A soft sigh fell from his lips as he blinked back a few erring tears. Knowing this is where Darilnor would rest, away from them in the icy cold wrenched Rhyme's gut. He felt like he'd been run over by a moose. Words evaded him as nothing seemed appropriate. So he lingered silently behind, sharing in Tana's body heat. ""

Rhyme arrived in his own time and Tana had taken the time in the silence to let her emotions go. She had to be a rock for Rhyme, who had never experienced the loss of a child like she had. It felt weird to even think about, her being a woman anyone leaned on for strength. It was not exactly how she saw herself. In her version of herself she was a weak little girl who wasn't even able to help herself.  Rhyme came silently aside from the crunch of the snow to sit behind her. She knew it was him so she didnt worry. No one else walked with his steps or came to be so close to her. She didnt even deserve this from him though. She was no alphess, no pretty little thing to warm his bed at night. She could smell shaye and birth on him. Her ears pressed back. She pulled the herbs from her bag and laid them in the tiny grave carefully. Lambs ear, horsetail, marigold, and meadow sweet arranged with her own favorites, lilacs and lavender. She had arranged and tied them in a circle to lay Darlinor on the stems and the flowers would sprout in a circle next spring. All the herbs she knew were for wounds, mostly wounds one could obtain in combat. Rhyme might recognize them if he had ever needed any.  She sat back then, leaning into his chest with a paw on the bundle that was their son, hovering ever so carefully and gently. She had bloodied her paws, opening the scars from her servitude under Elias, but it didnt matter to her. She had grown so used to pain that this was barely noticed. She'd bind them later honestly. A breath was let out. Her aides still moved in a way that gave way to her silent crying. She couldn't cry tears anymore but she still couldn't help but let the reaction take hold of her. "I... don't know if... I can.... say goodbye." she spoke between her quiet sobs.  He hadn't even had the chance to be allowed to be alive. Yet she loved him already before he was alive. A mother's love was certainly unconditional and unable to be understood completely. She wished so bad that it had been her and not him. That she didn't have to bury him, that the only life lost from this had been her own. She would give anything to be the one in his place. speech action

The snow continued to fall, soft and silent as the sky cried frozen tears. The drops produced by his eyes fell and froze to the fur on his cheeks. Tana's body hiccuped with silent sobs as she got to work. With grace she drew the little wreath from her pack, setting it gently in the grave. He recognized the plants as ones often used to bind injuries and prevent infection. Herbs any good fighter should know, she'd send him off a warrior. Rhyme hadn't thought to bring it with him, but later he'd place the antler he sharpened to decorate the grave. He'd be sent off well into the next life. Tana leaned into his chest, her body still racked with tearless sobs. He tried to keep his breathing even and his mind clear as he offered his support to her freely. He could see the blood on her paws now, but he didn't say anything. He hoped she might let him or Rhythm see to them when they returned to the maple. "I wish we didn't have to." He replied quietly just as loathe to go through with the burial. He leaned his head down, pressing his cheek into her neck as he closed his eyes and wallowed in their shared sorrow. "We have to be strong for his brother and sisters." He told her, reaching his own paw down to caress the rabbit skin gently. ""

She knew this needed to be done, that their other infants would not survive for more than an hour without her milk. If that happened there would be more graves made too small to need made around the rock. She couldn't let it happen but here she was actually able to bury her third dead child. The first two had never been buried, no their limp bodies were devoured and what was left burned to ashes. She could remember the smell of burning flesh and remembered how horrible the sounds of Hera eating her young were. 


Her ears disappeared into her scruff from just the memory of it. Darilnor would never be subjected to the horrible fate of her first two. "I never got to bury Heracles or Diones. I'm glad he doesn't have to face their fate." she bent her neck and gently picked up the bundle that was their son. This needed to be done with. She reluctantly placed him in the tiny hole that would be his grave. Graves this small should never exist if you asked her. She took her time to place her head against Darilnor's bundle,silently crying as she bid him to the next life. 


It took several minutes before she finally placed a kiss on where his head should be and sat back to let Rhyme do what he felt he must to say good bye to the boy they would never get to know.

Tana quietly mentioned how her first two were never awarded the luxury of burial. Rhyme tried not to picture the demise of two innocent little newborns. He focused on Tana's actions as she revealed her thankfulness that Darilnor didn't suffer their fate. He nodded, tears bouncing loose from his eyes as he did so. She gently took the bundle from its resting place and lowered him into the grave.

He stood vigil over the pair as Tana bid her silent goodbye's. He looked out over the rapids to give her privacy before she eventually stepped back. He took in a deep breath and touched his nose to the fur wrapped around his body. It all felt so unfair. He closed his eyes for a moment, grieving silently but not fearlessly. The drops soaked into the rabbit fur before he lifted his dark head.

"Go well into the next life." He whispered softly into the wind. The same thing he had said before his final goodbye to Ryden, the boy he'd fought with as a slave. Rhyme sat back, offering his support to Tana before beginning to fill the hole back with dirt.