literature

Running with the Night

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Spring, Year 768 of the New Age
Haven, Glenmore


The moon was slowly setting over Haven, the sky around it gradually lightening and casting the Valley in long, dark shadows. It had just turned Spring; life was slowly stirring after long Winter months of slumber, and most of the snow had melted from the mountaintops, filling the river to bursting. Though the pale fingers of dawn were stretching across the horizon, the herd was still asleep and the valley was silent, save for the quiet rustle of nocturnal creatures scuttling about in the trees. Aytan's family slumbered in the den the stag had made for them many years earlier, curled together in an attempt to stay warm, covered by blankets of dried moss and leaves.

The weeks since Aytan's death had left the family he had left behind in ruins. Ru spent many of his days alone, refusing to talk with anyone. Aspen knew her brother blamed himself for his death, but didn't know which words would sooth and which would cause him more harm. So instead she followed him from a distance, not knowing what else to do; without her father she was lost, and Ru was all she had left. Atiya and Ros clung to their mother for support, and Elsy helped as best she could. Even Gilly and Danzig tried to offer their support, but nothing could be done. Rosalie was steadily shrinking away from the world, curling in on her own grief. No-one in the family wanted to stay where their loss was at it most raw, but they had nowhere else to go; though the family splintered during the day they all came back together at night, curling up in their den spaces as if Aytan were still alive. They even left the centre-most space empty, as though his ghost might come and settle down with them.

Aspen would not have stirred from her deep sleep were it not for the sudden pain of a glancing blow to her knee. Her gangly legs sprawled across the den floor, too long to curl up daintily like her sister's, and someone had inadvertently kicked them as they moved. Aspen assumed that it was one of her siblings shifting in their sleep until she sensed a presence moving past her, out of the den. It took the young doe a moment to realise that it was Ruben; thin and haggard after a Winter of mourning. She almost called out to him, but something kept her quiet, and so she simply watched instead.

A sliver of sun appeared over the trees, suddenly illuminating Ru and the clearing he and his family called home. The young stag shoved aside a boulder a short distance from the den, revealing a small pit filled with something. Pulling a bundle from the shadowed pit, Ru ducked his head through a loop of vine and shrugged it down his neck; a pouch, larger than those that herbalists would use to carry their plants and potions. Next came a pelt, which he slung across his back to keep out the cold. Aspen's ears fluttered backwards in concern; why did he need a bag that large, or a travelling pelt? Where was he going that would call for such equipment?

The boulder grated back across the pit, the noise loud enough to send a bird scattering from the tree Aspen lay under. Glancing anxiously back at the den, Ru's gaze lingered on his family for a moment, and Aspen saw him exhale in a juddering sigh. Then, hesitantly, the stag turned away from his family, and trotted off into the dark trees.

Aspen remained still. She didn't know why she stayed put, rather than running after the brother she had clung to over the past weeks, but something forced her to remain. Perhaps she was worried over nothing; maybe he and Esmae had something planned for the day that meant they had to leave at dawn. Perhaps they were headed out of Haven for a few days, and all he carried was supplies for the journey. Dozens of possible explanations hurried through her anxious mind, but her gut instinct told her she was wrong. She wanted to trust that Ru would come back, but something in the pit of her stomach told her she was wrong.

Ru had to come back; if he didn't the family wouldn't just splinter, it would burst apart irreparably. Rosalie wouldn't be able to take it if he left - he was too much like Aytan to lose. A small seed planted itself in Aspen's stomach, rooting quickly and blossoming into an idea. Maybe she would be able to talk him into coming back. If not, then she could go with him and make sure that he was alright, and bring him back to Rosalie in a season or two.

Aspen grasped the idea firmly, her mind made up. As quietly as she could, Aspen bundled her spindly legs beneath her and heaved herself upright. She would be two years old this spring, and yet she was already a hair taller than her mother and Elysia, despite being many years their junior. Flinching at the rustle and crack of the den floor as she stepped on it, she ducked out of the den and into the pale morning sunlight, her skin shivering in the cold. She glanced back into the darkness of the den, and resisted the part of her that wanted to return to the warmth of her family. Instead, she gritted her teeth, nodded reassuringly to herself, and stole after her brother.
Spring, Year 768 of the New Age
Haven, Glenmore
Featuring Aspen, mentioning Ruben (and the rest of the family)

:plotting:

Next: Interrupted Flight

Words, Aspen, Ru, Elsy (c) MelonHeadGirl
All other characters mentioned (c) their respective owners

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