the world without

Fortunately for her, when she stepped in the path of the ivory queen, the blow of teeth she had been half expecting never came. The silver female meant no offense. Nor was she trying to prevent the distraught mother from getting to her son. Zia was only doing what her gut instinct told her to do. To prevent unnecessary injury to an innocent bystander and to soothe frayed nerves. She knew of course, that it would be of no use. No words of comfort or sympathy could fix a broken heart. From the very beginning...that day when she had first been introduced to the pups...Zia's heart strings had been tugged. She may not have had much interaction with them, but she had always been there. Watching silently in the background, like the dutiful guardian she was. Her ears fell...was she really cut out to be a protector? First Inkheart and now Kyros. Maybe if she had been more diligent, keeping a hawks eye on the boy, this wouldn't have happened. But no...she couldn't think like that. She couldn't place the blame on herself all the time. Catching the appreciative glance from Halgen, she bumped her shoulder against his while she moved out of the way for Borlla to approach her fallen son. Somberly, her eyes fell on the pristine, frozen body of the boy, who in death, was hardly recognizable to her. Once, he had been so full of live, so lively, so determined despite his handicap. And now, he was lost to them forever. His memory would live on though, and the time he had been with his family was cherished. Still, that didn't ease the twisting of her heart deep in her chest. Her ears slicked back against her skull, eyes clenching shut as a pained, pitiful whine escaped her lips. He...all of them were like family to her. And there was no greater pain like that of losing one of your own. Allowing Borlla and Phineas to lead the way home in silence, she followed behind them, a saddened look adrift in her eyes. They were returning with Kyros...but only his body. His spirit, was elsewhere. Somewhere in the distant heavens, high above the clouds.-Zia exits-

Table by Pann, Image by Jolee

The world simply felt as if it had stopped. The ivory beast could barely watch the unfolding scene, his eyes would only remain locked to his boy. And yet Borlla came from her grief, if only momentarily, his words seeming to pull her from it. Without saying another word, he watched as his mate bent down, shifting the snow from his frozen body.

He would have moved forward to help had he been able to move. But he found he couldn’t.

Before he grasped what was happening, the boy was being carried by her, away. He blinked, watching Borlla slide away, guilt pressing at him for his mate having to act the role of protector when it should have been him. He who had failed to keep his own progeny alive.

He did not speak to Zia or Halgen – finally, his paws seemed to move and he propelled forward, maneuvering his way to her side, though his eyes now avoided staring at the blank depth of his own son’s gaze. Instead, he walked by her side, hoping to aid when needed should Borlla require a break or to rebalance. The horror of entering Magnolia Glen with their son dead upon his mother’s back rather than bouncing at their side was far more than he could handle, and the moment they placed him to rest, the Argyris male would slink away to bring forth the sadness and tears he was not yet ready to share with anyone else.. not even the love of his life.