Mountain of Dire When Stars May Fall

Finally, everything was starting to look up. Only slightly. Spring was here and soon wolves all throughout Relic Lore would become proud mothers and fathers. But not her. Nor Iopah, or even Nova in Broken Timber Pines as they had been so blessed last season. It saddened the silver female to know that the pack would not see the arrival of new life this year. But...maybe it was all for the best. Iopah was still distant, and Koda was still missing. Their once trusted Lead male would not be welcomed back openly, she knew. With new wolves seeking entry into the pack and the un-familiar male Eirian leading beside Iopah, all order seemed to be lost. The pack was in no state to bear pups. Not with the instability it was currently in.

She sighed in acceptance as sapphire blue eyes flicked skywards momentarily. Her lips pulled up, slightly. At least she had smoothed things over with her son, as best as she could. Weeks ago, she had pulled Arion to the side, for a heart to heart talk. She explained to him the feelings she harbored towards Inkheart, his missing father, and her lost mate. That the ebony brute had always been the wanderlust sort of type, that his disappearance had not been the first in her life. Be it by choice, or by fate out of their hands, Zia had made sure that her only son had promised, never to allow the same thing to happen to him. She wanted her midnight child to be better than his father.

Away from the pack again, and busying herself as always, this time the platinum colored woman was out on a trip scouting for prey. The children were old enough to begin hunting on their own, participating in pack hunts. They needed variety...deer and moose would not be the only animals they hunted all their lives. She wanted them to be prepared for that. If she could track down and catch a young Pronghorn...a newborn, ideally, she might have a chance of bringing the live catch back home for the growing pups to practice on. It was an ambitious goal, and one Zia had never attempted before, but she was feeling up to the challenge. The weather though, was not being cooperative. More than halfway up the steep, craggy mountainside, the sky opened up in a chilling downpour. Ears flattening, Zia shook out her fur to try and stay dry. The rain was persistent, and at this elevation, some of the ground was still frozen over with patches of ice, making travelling dangerous.

Zia was an experienced wolf, familiar and at home with mountain terrain. A little rain and ice were nothing to worry about. Wise enough to know when to call it quits, she looped around to head back. But one misplaced paw was all it took. Her hind foot grazed against an ice layered edge, which crumbled into shards beneath her footing. With the added slipperiness of the rainwater, it was a recipe for disaster. Eyes going wide, wild with shock, she scrambled frantically as her body buckled, slender forelegs outstretched to desperately try and grapple onto any surface she could. But the icy ground was her enemy, as her claws scraped helplessly along the surface. Down the she wolf tumbled, along the rocky, slick surface of the ice coated mountain. As she fell, a terrified yelp escaped her maw, echoing into the air, begging for anyone at all, to come save her. But as the ground rushed up to meet her, Zia already knew her fate was sealed. Just before her battered body collided with the earth, she only had one last thought. Her life with her son, and what it could have been. Even in death, with her spine twisted and deep blue eyes glazed over and hollow, the once beautiful silver and charcoal wolf would live on in him.

”Speech”

Chunga-Stock @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

:( set a few hours after she fell
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Something had lured the smudge to the mountains. A weight formed in the pit of his stomach, expanding until it consumed him and drove him forward — to what, he did not know. It had been some time since he had seen his mother and it worried him. She had just returned from her previous absence and promised him she would not leave him again; they only had each other. His father was long gone, nothing but a faint memory in the darkest corners of his mind. Truthfully, he could not remember what Inkheart had been like. Zia had told him how caring and doting his father had been, but he had still left. He had abandoned the two of them, and for what? What had been more important than his family? Arion no longer missed his father — in fact, he hoped to never see the shadow again. As far as he was concerned, he had no father; never did, never would.

His movement was precise and persistent as he snaked through the terrain, his green-blue gaze focused on something in the distance. The mountain. He had never gone this far before — would he remember how to get back? It did not matter, not now. Something was luring him here, but what? What called for the smudge, lulling him out of his slumber?

Rain fell from the sky, the air somber as he pulled himself up the rocks, his brows furrowed as he studied the strange scenery. There was nothing particularly special about this place — just a bunch of ugly rock — so why was he here? A frown creased his maw as he stumbled forward, his paws sore from the journey that led him here. The ground was slick and he manoeuvred over the stone slowly, taking his time so he would not slip. The last thing he needed was to return to the Pines with some kind of injury for his mother to fuss over. She was probably back home, waiting among the trees, ready to scold him for going so far. He snorted at the thought, a faint smile working it's way onto his lips as he sniffed around, unsure of what he was looking for.

A strange, metallic smell pulled him away from his thoughts, causing his head to snap up as his nostrils flared, unsure of what the scent belonged to. His face contorted as he struggled to put a name to the peculiar smell.

Suddenly, realization washed over him. His stomach lurched and his mouth went dry. Without further hesitation, Arion bolted forward, his paws sliding over the wet mountain. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest as the scent grew more and more familiar the closer he got. Water dripped into his eyes as he stumbled toward the broken shape on the ground, his legs giving out on him as he collapsed at her side.

Mom.

He couldn’t speak, the word hovering on the tip of his tongue as he buried his face into her cold, damp fur. There was no warmth left; nothing to say she was still there. Just like his father, she was gone — but a different kind of gone. This was the permanent kind; the kind that could not be reversed. Sobs choked him as he curled his body into, his face pressed to the spot where her heartbeat should have been. There was so much they still needed to do together; so much he needed to learn from her…

Just like his mother’s body, he was broken. His entire world had been shattered and Arion had never felt so alone.

He would stay here for the night; he could not leave, not yet. He needed to spend more time with her… she couldn’t be gone, not yet. Why had she left too? Why had she gone to the mountain? For a moment, he was angry. For a moment, he hated that she had been out here in such treacherous weather conditions. But the anger quickly subsided, and the sorrow returned with a vengeance. His body rattled with more sobs as he clung to her, not wanting to leave. He could not leave her out here alone.

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