Waning Unity

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lume, now freed with slight hesitation by Milkweed, lifted into a sitting position, hanging her head as tears rolled down her face. "I'm so sorry," she wept, unable to lift her gaze and meet Fraser's eye. He was at her side in an instant and leaning into her. His tail swished over her back in a comforting motion.

"It's alright," he whispered to her, the soft smile still on his face. "You're back now. That's all that matters."

Milkweed cleared her voice quietly. "There is still something else to take care of," she murmured, tossing her head in the direction of a bloodied shape in the distance. New tears welled in Lume's eyes at the evidence of what she had done to Fawn. "I'm so sorry," she repeated with a shuddering breath, screwing her eyes closed. "Lume," Fraser said calmly, "It's going to be alright." She opened her eyes again and looked down at the wolf smiling up at her. He stood to his feet, touching his forehead to hers before padding towards Fawn's corpse with Milkweed.

Boa, now with Harrier and Mushroom awake but groggy, led the other two to the spot Fawn's body lay. There was a somber, silent moment before Mushroom tilted her head back and released a high, mellow note. The others joined in one by one singing a chord of grief and loss. Lume sat at a distance, watching with drooped ears and a bowed head. She did this; she was unworthy to sing Fawn's essence to the ancestors.

The once-red essence that had filled the young wolf's body lightened to blue before threading off and crawling into the sky. She expected it to keep climbing higher until Fawn's essence rested in the Forever Grounds, but it only hovered in the sky a moment before drifting back down again, the swirling wisps making out the frame of Fawn, standing and watching his pack mates send him off.

None of the other wolves reacted, none except Fraser, so both he and Lume watched Fawn's spirit pad until it stopped and sat next to the spirit of Wildflower. When the howling had ended, and Fawn had been buried, the remaining wolves looked at one another, forming a semi-circle around Fraser.

"... You aren't staying, are you?" he asked quietly. Milkweed sighed, touching her forehead to Fraser. "There's so much going on with our pack right now, and we need to tell them about Fawn's death."

Fraser nodded slowly, likely realizing this was yet another goodbye. "I understand," he said, dipping his head as Milkweed and Mushroom started to walk away. "Fraser," Milkweed called over her shoulder. Fraser looked up and his sister held a sad look. "Stay safe, alright?" Fraser half-smiled and nodded before Milkweed and Mushroom vanished over the hill.

He let out a sigh before turning towards Boa and Harrier. "And you?"

The siblings exchanged a glance. "Nothing personal Fraser, but I don't think we'd be comfortable enough to stay here... with her," Boa murmured with a narrow glare at Lume. Harrier nodded. "We're going with the others. I hear their pack needs some help rebuilding." Fraser nodded. "Well then, be safe."

"You too," Harrier said with a curt nod. "And if you're ever in trouble," Boa added with a wink, "You know where to find us." Fraser chuckled softly as they trotted over the hill in the same direction as the other two. With the last of his living pack mates gone, Fraser turned his head to the spirits of Wildflower and Fawn. The two stared at him for a moment, as if locked in a silent conversation with the living wolf before blinking and dipping their heads. Then they turned, and Wildflower began bounding into the sky before unraveling into ascending threads of essence once again, leading Fawn to his new home.

Then Fraser looked at Lume. "I guess I did reunite the pack, in a way..."

Lume tilted her head to the ground. "I'm sorry you couldn't have it the way you wanted."

Fraser shook his head with a grin on his face. "It's alright. I found my pack." Then his face dropped to the look of worry he was often wearing. "Unless... are you leaving me too... again?" His voice held a note of hope, but his eyes betrayed his doubt.

Lume stared at Fraser, blinking at him as all the times she had wounded him or nearly killed him rushed into her head. She waited, waited for a voice to tell her she couldn't stay, but there was no voice. There was nothing but Fraser's question.

For a moment longer she stared, and then a smile slowly filled her face. "I'm not going anywhere."

~CL1 thinks this is probably her favorite ending to any story she's written...

(P.S. Epilogue time?)