It was a sensation he was unused to, this raw coldness inside him. An emotion so unfamiliar he was unsure how to process it, but it brought him back to that night - that night Mapleface had - when
Bumba had -
he thought he'd lost her, for good. And she came back. But Redhawk would not. She had no second chance, no lives at her disposal. Bumba didn't have enough to bring her back, too - (could she even, if it worked for Violet? would she even, if she could?)
It didn't matter, in the end. Time's arrow marched forward and with it came the burial. Willow's Rise had never felt so far away.
It reminded him of those trees, so long ago. A lifetime even. They spiraled to the sky and they conquered them, the old claw marks of her sister beneath them.
Of how she was who he spoke his ambition to, and whom he would have continued to do so - but the world was cruel, and kept her away.
Of a leg, mangled to save a traitor. Of sorrow, a twisted sense of grief and worthlessness transformed into the hope of a better future. She didn't have to settle. They could fix this.
... of Death, a mistress that stalked everything and nothing. Of a sickness that burned his lungs and tainted his heart, his very being corrupted by an invisible enemy.
The movement across the makeshift camp wouldn't have normally caught his attention, head sunk toward the ground. If Wolfhive had looked skeletal before Redhawk's passing, he looked decrepit even further - what little appetite he had before lost to the void. If not for recognizing Mudhound's form, he might've ignored it altogether.
The Tripod was gawking past the entrance, seemingly lost in ...Wolfhive wasn't sure, but he took it as a sign they wanted Out.
Getting to his paws was an ordeal in of itself. In the last moon or so he'd hardly moved, wasting away under this disease - and he nearly buckled before he managed to catch his footing. His paws were shaking, his legs trembled, and he was breathing hard in between fits of cough.
But he still pushed on, unshaky steps leading him forward until he met Mudhound near the camp entrance.
"Come... on..." there was no point in just standing around, and some time away from Sunkissed Creek might do them some good.
[ @
Rani ]