Post by Anik on Jan 3, 2019 16:35:54 GMT -10
Yakone could still remember the day he lost Suluk like it was yesterday. He was currently away from his packmates, taking some time to think and roaming the territory without a care in the world about where he was going. His head was lowered, gaze downcast and trained on the leaves crunching underneath his paws. With a painful expression, his mind involuntarily travels to the day he lost his mate; the first and last female he’d allowed himself to be with while he was relatively young.
——————
The Iberian male, nearly eight years old at the time, had been off with his mate on a hunt to find food for their most recent litter. Their older pups, or what was left of those that had decided not to disperse, had been left watching their younger siblings. Panting and chasing after the faster dame, he slid to a halt as a moose caught their attention. It was the only prey they could find in the area, what with the nearing summer and all, and they exchanged anxious glances. “Is it worth the risk?” Yakone inquired nervously, paws shuffling beneath his frame as he looks over to his more determined partner. “Absolutely. We’ve a pack at home, my love,” Suluk responds, tail lashing to and fro and ears shoved forward.
With a reluctant nod, Yakone follows the damsel as she advances toward the moose. It was relatively weak; a lonesome cow with a limp in her right foreleg.
Suluk acts first. She lunges forward, a snarl sounding as she sinks her nails into the haunch of the towering mammal, canines searching for a decent place to catch on. Yakone dashes forward to assist, but scrambles back in an instant as their prey stomps, attempting to crush the pursuing male.
He doesn’t remember much about what’d happened after that. He remembers a loud yelp piercing the air, followed by silence. He remembers the moose limping away at a rapid pace.
He remembers the way his heart had broken; a pained noise sounding from himself. But that’s all. He doesn’t remember how it happened, or what Suluk did wrong to meet that fate.
“Suluk!” The desperate cry splits the air, his eyes dull with grief as he rushes to his fallen mate’s side. He lies at her side, head nuzzling in her neck and loud whines slipping as he raises his head a moment later. He licks desperately at her face and ears in attempt to wake her, a single forepaw prodding determinedly at her haunch.
After several moments of no response, not even a breathy chuckle, he stops. The male’s head tips back, a howl piercing the air as he does so. He serenades the surrounding forest with a song of mourning; the gorgeous sound of a frightening predator laced with a sadness like no other. This specific song had a clear meaning to it; a clear pain. Someone dear to this wolf had gone, joining their ancestors in the beyond.
He’d heard the distant responses of his eldest pups - now about four or five years old - but made no effort to respond. It was almost as if he was numb to his surroundings. He rises to his paws, body suddenly heavier with the grief weighing upon his shoulders. Leaving one final lick upon his deceased mate’s forehead, the now bachelor turns away from the body. “Goodbye, my sweet Suluk,” he almost whispers, padding away from her reluctantly. His head is hung, tail drooping and gaze trained on the terra beneath his paws.
He trudges back to his den; without a meal for his growing family and without a mother for his young. ‘I’ve failed them,’ he repeats mentally, the three words acting as a mantra within his mind. ‘I’ve failed Suluk.’
——————
The Iberian male, nearly eight years old at the time, had been off with his mate on a hunt to find food for their most recent litter. Their older pups, or what was left of those that had decided not to disperse, had been left watching their younger siblings. Panting and chasing after the faster dame, he slid to a halt as a moose caught their attention. It was the only prey they could find in the area, what with the nearing summer and all, and they exchanged anxious glances. “Is it worth the risk?” Yakone inquired nervously, paws shuffling beneath his frame as he looks over to his more determined partner. “Absolutely. We’ve a pack at home, my love,” Suluk responds, tail lashing to and fro and ears shoved forward.
With a reluctant nod, Yakone follows the damsel as she advances toward the moose. It was relatively weak; a lonesome cow with a limp in her right foreleg.
Suluk acts first. She lunges forward, a snarl sounding as she sinks her nails into the haunch of the towering mammal, canines searching for a decent place to catch on. Yakone dashes forward to assist, but scrambles back in an instant as their prey stomps, attempting to crush the pursuing male.
He doesn’t remember much about what’d happened after that. He remembers a loud yelp piercing the air, followed by silence. He remembers the moose limping away at a rapid pace.
He remembers the way his heart had broken; a pained noise sounding from himself. But that’s all. He doesn’t remember how it happened, or what Suluk did wrong to meet that fate.
“Suluk!” The desperate cry splits the air, his eyes dull with grief as he rushes to his fallen mate’s side. He lies at her side, head nuzzling in her neck and loud whines slipping as he raises his head a moment later. He licks desperately at her face and ears in attempt to wake her, a single forepaw prodding determinedly at her haunch.
After several moments of no response, not even a breathy chuckle, he stops. The male’s head tips back, a howl piercing the air as he does so. He serenades the surrounding forest with a song of mourning; the gorgeous sound of a frightening predator laced with a sadness like no other. This specific song had a clear meaning to it; a clear pain. Someone dear to this wolf had gone, joining their ancestors in the beyond.
He’d heard the distant responses of his eldest pups - now about four or five years old - but made no effort to respond. It was almost as if he was numb to his surroundings. He rises to his paws, body suddenly heavier with the grief weighing upon his shoulders. Leaving one final lick upon his deceased mate’s forehead, the now bachelor turns away from the body. “Goodbye, my sweet Suluk,” he almost whispers, padding away from her reluctantly. His head is hung, tail drooping and gaze trained on the terra beneath his paws.
He trudges back to his den; without a meal for his growing family and without a mother for his young. ‘I’ve failed them,’ he repeats mentally, the three words acting as a mantra within his mind. ‘I’ve failed Suluk.’
