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 Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:54 pm
Everything was becoming nothing but a blur for the small feathered child, as much as she tried she could barely remember the venture down to the beach; it hurt. Everything hurt. Although not long in the world she'd known to much love through the trials and errors of her two very young parents, she didn't see them as youth though...they were mom and dad. Age mattered little as she experienced so much with them...that Phoenix wasn't even sure what to fathom of the situation, of her future without one of the two most important souls in her world.
How would daddy even be without mommy? While still too young to truly gather the full picture of her parents, she knew they were very inseparable as parents should be...and as Voda had come out of the downpour, out of the blur; Phoenix looked up hollowly as he shielded her from the rain.
How could she even come out to say such a thing - when it took everything in her power to not throw herself onto the ground and keep crying as she had all day.
"Daddy..." Her small voice croaked out, if he hadn't been so close he would have missed it all together. His warmth was so inviting, as she'd spent her time with Meridah's, and of course her family back home.
It wasn't daddy's warmth though...and definitely wasn't her mothers but it seemed she wouldn't be able to feel that any longer.
Then, like a bolt of lightning the little bird's eyes went vacant and wide as the hammer came down to hit the nail on the head. Immediately her eyes started to tear up as her breathing hitched again and again; her little wings curling up to touch at her beak.
"M...mama..." She stuttered, barely getting in a decent breath. "We...got called home....bad guy...enemy of her family's was...a-around..." Another breath.
She had to do it. Daddy needed to know. He had to know.
"Thought we'd...be safe at home. She was playing nearby after I went to sleep and......and......and...." Phoenix was still just a child, much like her beloved parents, after all. It was then she broke, wailing out like a sorrowed siren in the storm. "He got m-m-m-mommy....they can't find her and grandma and grandpa said she's...sshe's DEAD!" It was a miracle she'd managed to get it out; leaning against Voda as she cried hard for what seemed like the millionth time since she woke.
"Mama...mama....mama wouldn't break a p-promise....ever...." Phoenix sobbed, at first not wanting to believe what she was hearing from her grandparents but came to the horrible truth when she realized Meridah would have never broken something so important as a promise....so it left the dawning realization that she had to be gone.
Or she would have been here...been here for both of them.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 11:16 pm
Voda listened patiently as the bird croaked and stuttered and breathed and wailed.
He listened, his body growing heavier with every word, though he stayed strong and sheltering- never squishing- above the little form. He held perfectly still, rain pouring down his fins and puddling around them even as he created a little sheltered area for her.
He breathed mechanically, his lungs pumping as his blood circulated oxygen to his brain, a steady stream that forced him to process words he had never wished- never wanted- never thought he'd have to endure.
His voice dead in his throat, he absently nosed the little bird, all he could manage of a nuzzle.
Meridah...
The thought held a flicker of hope, swirling up and sinking and fighting against the cascade of nothingness that threatened to slam down around him- on him. In him.
D....
Denial fought loose and tore wildly about every ounce of his being, raging and screaming and denying everything about that word and utterly refusing to let it be true.
His mind began to race, jumping through every possibility, but no matter how he approached it a simple fact remained: those she loved, those who loved her, who cared for her, her own parents... thought.... she was....
Voda curled a little tighter around the bird.
Pain shattered him, an actual physical dread that seemed to involve his glands and every little cell on his body, rushing down from his head in waves as the word rolled off and around him.
Dead.
A single, ringing, word... that changed.... everything.
He stared down in confusion, denial and shock and horror and pain and sadness washing over his face in waves.
His jaw clenched, then unclenched, as if the muscle refused to let anything happen now that.... his world was over.
A little protective instinct poked gently at him, prodding him back into sanity as he felt the little bird's sobs against his skin.
No... not over... just... life.
The world hadn't been kind to him, until a little filly saw fit to go questing onto a rock amidst the sea. And then it had given him... love.
He gazed down at Phoenix in a daze.
"I'm here." he said, brokenly.
The tears kept falling, too much moisture for his skin to take in amidst the tumultuous storm that waged around them and inside their hearts.
"I'm here."
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:14 am
Through her father's comfort the small bird continued to weep, knowing a semblance of the shattered emotions. His voice reached her ears, as her body was now pressing firmly against the remaining member of her close family she had left. It was a reality she'd never come to even think about in her time, days filled with joy and light was in abundance; the words forever and always offered in a daily ritual.
Well, It seemed there was no such notion of forever and always when a life had been snuffed out before it could truly begin.
Had she struggled till the end?
Has the filly they adored so much suffered?
Images threatened to fill her mind as she gave her head a quick shake, no...she couldn't think like that. All she wanted to prevail was the good times, her strong, bold and resolved mother; the loving, tender and caring friend. Her little beak clicked gently with the sharp inhales to try and finally stop crying, but who could truly blame someone who lost a parent so early in life.
She could still feel and hear the pounding of his heart as she nuzzled closer, her bloodshot eyes drooping gently as today had drained everything out of her. The heartache, the distance, the weather...it took everything for her to just keep on her feet. A warm droplet rolled and hit her on the wing, one from her father - but Phoenix was already fading fast.
It wasn't before long that her soul clung to the comfort of his words. "I'm never leaving..." She chirruped, feeling strange to offer such a infinite word in a situation like this. Yet she couldn't go back, Voda needed her as much as she needed him now.
They would have to figure it out for now on, but for the time being her little body slumped against him as she gave in to exhaustion; sleep overcoming her.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:16 am
Voda remained still, his heart aching.
He nuzzled Phoenix again gently, trying to fluff her feathers a little bit to keep her warm. His body, naturally of a cooler temperature, could only do so much.
Her shaky promise was one that he needed to hear. It gave him something to hold on to, a lifeline as he struggled with the too-deserved emotions that shook him to the his core.
Never never ever ...
Never, ever and always were not supposed to come with an expiration date.
He sniffled, swallowing the high-pitched wailing that wanted to burst forth from his mouth. He didn't want to scare Phoenix, not now... he watched as she gave in to exhausted and her little eyes closed in sleep.
He watched as her breathing seemed to regulate, her body taking over control, emotion draining her until only the basics of survival were left... and he knew that in the morning, the emotions would still be there. They'd always be there.
Always.
He turned his face skywards, staring at the torrent of rain that washed over them in cascading blankets, not really caring that the pinpricks stung his eyes and threatened to flood his nostrils.
Nothing could hurt as much as that word. As that simple, little, phrase applied to... her.
He had gone to bed early and slept more than enough, still waking before dawn. He had been preparing for today, for the next adventure, but he hadn't known what he'd be using his strength for....
A silent sentinel, watching over the last piece of his soul.
Turning his head away, he leaned over to shake off as much water as he could before turning his head back to become once more a living shelter for his... daughter.
He breathed shakily.
He could be strong, for her.
He was allowed to grieve- he knew that much- but... but...
He paused, wondering if perhaps grief had come over them all too soon. In the ocean, all predators left behind a trail, a trace, fins or remains or even just a whisper of blood in the water. He knew that predators didn't work quite like that on land, but her family...'He got m-m-m-mommy... ' Voda swallowed, not quite daring to hope. '... they can't find her and-'
Hope soared.
Can't find her.
Can't find her.
Can't... find... her.
His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he burrowed close, keeping the messenger covered even as he remained awake.
Meridah.
They couldn't find her, not even a trace, and some bad (BAD!) guy had taken her away... snatched up, without leaving any trail to follow, without leaving anything... behind?
He started to smile, a wild and delirious expression that was as involuntary as the shocked emotions playing over his face upon hearing the news.
"Can't find her." he repeated, so softly that the storm stole his words before they could reach the ears of the one he was protecting, though they made the flame of the little candle in his core that could never ever be extinguished blaze ever brighter.
"Meridah... i'll find you." he whispered, making just one more vow.
They'd promised.
Eventually, sleep claimed him too.
They'd all need their strength for what was to come.
-Fin-!
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