Semananti Whurshire Slowly she had made her way back from exploring, but to her fear it had been a little too late. The night was dark; the moon was being her guiding light lest the stars disappear. She used the stars to track her way home, call it a navigation test, or perhaps a test of skill. She would have been ready for challenge against the hunter who was above if it hadn't been for the hunger, the cold and everything else wrong with her. One of her wounds had reopened. She had thought little of it even after it had become infected. She should have been worried though, for it would seal her fate. She had kept her promise and Artemis saw it time to take her to the heavens where she would remain eternally a huntress of Artemis and servant of the Ridge. Her body was cold, too cold as she had not bothered to attempt to keep warm for the scouting expedition. She lay curled up on the borders, her breathing slowing, further a bit more and then it finally stopped and things went black. She was gone; the servant of Artemis and Elettra was gone, never to return to the mortal world. Her last hope, wish, was that Elettra saw her as doing her job. She only hoped that she had not looked like a failure. -EXIT-DEATH- Lest the stars disappear |
The scent of death hung on the borders of her pack lands like a plague and she followed the scent with wonder and worry. She knew the scent of death, a dead wolf to be exact. She knew the scent of Semananti, as well. The two mingled together like blood and gore, like a mated pair twisted amongst each other for warmth in this bitter winter. Her steps into the direction of the scent was swift yet cautious and in time she would find what she was looking for. Bright pale eyes of grey looked over her fallen comrade, circled at the borders in what seemed a last determination for scouting out the lands. Her scars and battered body had not treated her well this winter and the festering wound of something past had been obviously unattended too. Why had she not come to her? Why had she left herself fall so low without telling anyone? Elettra was hurt, hurt that yet another member of her pack was lost and this was, for good... Her body quivers with a deep, chilly breeze which kicked up the snows around them, determined to hide Semananti away from the world. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:11px; color:#ffffff;">"May you flourish in divinity or may you suffer in Inferno." Elettra whispers the words of her brethren from where she had been born. Her head then lifted, her maw parting to call out. Her song, her howl, ever so mournful for the death of her comrade so that all of Willow Ridge would know and so that Semananti would not be forgotten. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:11px; color:#ffffff;"> |
Darkness.
That was all he could understand of death. That all that was felt was darkness, perhaps something else, but he couldn't be sure what. For him, it meant fear and grief, but was death was not something for the living; the living could see and feel it, but could never truly understand it until they'd experienced it themselves, and it wasn't the sort of thing which allowed for reflection afterwards. None returned from death. It was a king above all of them.
So when he heard his mother's voice call out in a mournful dirge once again, he felt his ears fall back. Semananti. It had not been long ago that he, Guiness and Skana had talked about the starless night, and what it meant. She had felt that it meant something dark and frightening was coming- and she'd been right. The words of the advisor shook the young man, who made his way toward his mother, once again trying not to look at the body of the deceased wolf- but it was getting harder and harder to do so. He took some comfort in the fact that she'd curled up and looked peaceful, serene. But it did not make it any easier for Asriel to accept. This was the second death in a very short period of time.
He lifted his voice to bid adieu to the warm and motherly woman, before he looked to his mother. This wasn't something he spoke about easily, and it took him a few moments before he could even manage the words. "You won't leave us, will you, mother?"
Senka Flint allow me this moment of bliss so I may begin to miss the torment When the howl greeted her ears, Senka shivered not because of the cold but due to the emotions that were heard. The message was as clear as crystal; a pack member of theirs had perished. Semananti , the girl she had encountered during the hunt. Though she had never gotten to know the female, Senka felt the old ache of loss strike her. Senka liked to think that friends could be made by anyone, and Sema had appeared nice enough when she meet her. Senka was farmilir with death. Had seen her father persih years ago aand her heart ached at the thought of him. The sturdy dame went towards the howl with grim determination, feeling as if there should a proper farewell given to the dead wolf she barely knew. Vaguely, Senka was reminded of the death of her father when she came across her leader and son standing over the broken body of their pack member. Standing a few feet away and trying not to grimace at the sight of the heavily wounded and thin body of the girl, Senka turned her attention to Elettra and her son, Asriel if she remembered his name correctly. The russet wolf had caught her last few words, and couldn’t help but agree. ”Unfortunely, death is one of those inevitable things, young prince. None can escape its grasp once its claws have you.” Senka found herself rumbling quietly to the boy, assuming from the way Elettra spoke to him that he had made a question about death. And why wouldn’t one so young ask, what with a wolf dead before his very eyes? Her own were resting just before the snow at her paws, grief not only for Sema but at the memories of standing over her own father’s still body. If Elettra had felt that her comment was out of line, then Senka was ready to accept whatever consequence that would come from it. She would make no illusion to death and thought that Elettra had a similar way of thinking. <b style="font-family:georgia; color:#fefefe;"> |
table by mimi |
Asriel was not made content by his mother's words. Instead, his lips pulled into a fine line, almost a pout on his thin black lips. He did not like the idea of anything harming his mother. He did not want nature to take her, or age- and he certainly would not stand by whilst someone else injured or killed her. His eyes lifted slightly to look at Senka when she confirmed what his mother had spoken before they returned to his mother's warm gaze. He sank into her nuzzle appreciatively and uttered a soft, affectionate rumble. Oddly, he took comfort in the fact that his mother had accepted the fact that death would one day claim them all...If his mother accepted it, then he would too...Eventually.
In the mean time, he felt fiercely obliged to make sure that nothing harmed her. He nodded silently to Senka to show his appreciation of her words; his mother trusted her, and she had the same acceptance that his mother had...So she earned herself a bit more of Asriel's hard-to-win respect by standing by her alpha. "Nothing will harm you, mother," The boy said quietly, lifting his gaze and setting his jaw. "Not while I'm around." He said. Though he would have to accept, one day, that his mother would eventually grow old and frail, he would be her guardian. Not only did he want to serve the pack as a sentry at the borders, but he fully intended to see that his mother wanted for nothing. He was a growing lad, and had a great deal of faith that he would be able to do everything within his power to protect the pack, but most of all, defend his mother.
Her son's words broke a smile over her features then, her muzzle touching to her young child's cheek. For much a time now she had been his everything. She had birthed him, nursed him and protected him through the harsh winter. She would keep him warm at night and protect him from any danger that crossed their paths. Though as the boy aged, he would turn into a man. His words made it all the more clear that he would grow and with it, he would be the one then protecting and defending her. She liked the idea of her boys growing, becoming strong and powerful Archer man that would see to it that their mother and sister had anything and everything they ever desired. "Come, my son." She speaks, nudging him once more and then turning, making way back towards the pack den and out of the chill of this bitter winter. She would be damned if he fell to death's grip this day too.
Senka Flint allow me this moment of bliss so I may begin to miss the torment Senka dipped her head as her leader turned to leave, gently nudging her son as she went along and bidding him to follow her. Senka’s orange-gold eyes swept back towards the limp body of a once lively packmate. There was little reason for her to stay as well, little reason to continue looking down at the freezing body and have shivers wind their way down her spine the longer she stared. The female was dead and there was nothing more Senka could do for her. Expect, perhaps... No, the ground was still too cold and hard to make any attempt to give any semblance of a proper burial. If it had been spring or even a less cruel winter, it would have been easy to dig up the cool ground and give any scavengers trouble getting to the body at least. Better if the huntress left with Elettra and her son and get out of this desolate waste that was called winter. But as she turned, her eyes were turned to a small pile of rocks nearby. Maybe, just maybe...Stepping towards the pile, started to nudge a small rock towards the body. It would have to do, in this situation after all. Even if she was considered mad by the only two pairs of eyes that were anywhere nearby. Even if Semanti deserved far better than a stone memorial to her name, Senka prefered that her body was at least given something. She might not have known her long but to die in such a way, in such a time was not a glorious way to go. Even if it was one of the more common ways. <b style="font-family:georgia; color:#fefefe;"> |
table by mimi |
He did not like the idea of dying, nor did he like the idea that one day his mother too would leave him. He could not imagine a world without her, especially a world which had taken his mother away from him by some cruel force, long before her time had come. He was still too young to accept the fact that death would come for them all whether they liked it or not. He did not like the fact that he too would die one day, and that it would come however it pleased. He liked to think that he was immortal, and that the touch of the gods could not reach him. No, he was Asriel Archer, he was a prince. He could not be harmed by those he did not even know...At his mother's bidding, Asriel finally lifted his gaze and refused to look at Semananti's resting place again. He moved to his mother's side and felt appreciative of the warmth that came from her fur- how he took comfort and delight in it! He walked close to her side as they left the place of Semananti's demise and headed toward their own futures, leaving behind one whose future had simply come to an end. He would think about this and dwell on it for some time to come, but no matter how much time passed, it would not make the acceptance of death all that much easier for the prince. If only he could be immortal, if only he could be untouchable...