11-10-2021, 11:24 PM
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:- death
Liutheri
"If I gave you the truth would it keep you alive?"
"If I gave you the truth would it keep you alive?"
@Ira and any other vander wolf. Also feel free to make assumptions/say or think whatever of npc mama wolf
The small puppy waited in his shrub, night had fallen and it was starting to get very cold. He waited for mother. She had sniffed the air and told him bad guys were afoot and that, again, it was time for him to hide until his super hero of a mom chased the bad guys away. Sometimes he could hear her, other times she skulked off. The latter was this current situation. She had been gone for so long he almost got up to look for her...almost.
The sound of something caused his fluffy ears to perk and the low woof of his mother telling him to come out could be heard. Wiggly out of the pokey shrub he saw his mother. A long pale wolf with pinks eye and pads and nose. He always thought it was funny. She said she was an albino, more like an excuse for looking so silly. Tail wagging, he wobbled over to his mom and then froze. "Ma-mah?" Liutheri squeaked out. There was so much red on her fur, it was getting all over the ground. Unbeknownst to him, his mother had led a cougar away from his hiding spot and paid an awful price. The strong smell and the oddity of the situation, the discomfort on his mother's gentle face. It told him something was amiss and so he looked up at her for guidance.
She returned a gentle smile. "Mommie is sorry for taking so long Luey." She said and gently nuzzled him. Her warmth and smell brought a comfort he had been lucky to know since his birth. All too soon she lifted her head away, looking sad. "And I hate to say this but we need to keep moving. I know we've been walking a lot. But...we're almost there now it seems." She explained and waited for the usual antics. Of Liutheri protesting and whining. Since they been here they've been walking around nonstop. He hated it and just wanted them to go back and get his brother. It was boring without him.
Yet seeing his mother look so sad and tired...he could not find it in him to be a hindrance. Instead he nodded his head and started to walk forward. He wouldn't even ask her to be carried this time. He was trying to be cool and reliable in this moment, just like his mother. This action a premonition of the kind of character he wanted to be. Empathy and consideration was beginning to develop and install itself upon his brain. However, on his own paws he was not the fastest and often just stumbled as he tried to waddle. A smile broke upon his mother's lips before she picked him up and begun to carry him. Well, he tried at least.
~~
It was the evening of the next day now. He had fallen asleep while being carried and was surprised to wake up and realize he was still being carried. Mother was walking slower than usual too. Normally they would have had more breaks, be more cautious, but his mother seemed to be in a hurry, lifting her head up to sniff the air frequently. Where was the rush? She was moving slower than usual too. "Ma-mah...why no break?" He asked, but was ignored. His mother seemed focus on a distant point, but there was nothing but hills as far as he could see.
It was now that an eerie sense of dread would begin to creep through Liutheri. Mother was moving slower and slower, her breathing getting odd. Something was seriously not right. And in a few minutes of thinking that, his mother fell upon the ground like a blanket of snow, dropping a very surprised Liutheri in the process who tumbled unceremoniously onto the ground. "Ma-mah!" He yelled as he rushed over to her grounded figure. He put his small paws on her, trying to risen his mother. She was hot to the touch. He proceeded to wrap his body around her. She must just need a nap.
He didn't know how long he was there for, but his mother never rose again, the intense heat being replaced with an intense chill. He would later learn that this was the chill of death. That she became rigid because and started to smell of spoils because she was no longer alive. Birds cawed ominously around him as he rose and again tried to help his mom get up. Tears were beginning to fill his eyes as the world began to look like a scary place without his mother's presence, without her comfort. Suddenly a large bird landed on his mother, causing him to jump back. It took Liutheri a moment to realize it was pecking at his mom's wounds/red areas. The disrespectful act caused the pup to boil inside. With an adorable yap that was suppose to be a snarl, he leapt at the bird who flew off, having not expected the sudden fluffball to run into it like that. The pup proceeded to snarl (bark), at the birds. She just needed rest, they needed to leave her alone. Needed to leave them alone. Unbeknownst to Liutheri, his mother with the last of her strength had tried to get him as close to a pack as possible. A last ditch effort to save her last remaining pup. Someday he would realize his mother's diligence to him.
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