[ SOLO ] A Time of Decay [ Mirage ] <GAIA REPOST>

[Blinded By Silence]

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... linded.gif[/imgleft]It had been a beautiful spring day when her life had been broken. Shattered apart like a bone under-hoof. She had known from the moment she saw her mate's body on the earth, heard the thick snap of his neck as her son-- their son --put as much weight as he could onto his father's throat.

His own father...

Her own son...

Nothing would be right again, she knew that. But she had to try. She had banished the murderous buck that claimed to be her son. She had disbanded the tribe that he had tried to claim.

She had buried her lover under they Prayer Tree and stood vigilance, sturdy in body but not in mind, weeping soundlessly for three days. She prayed to a god she didn't believe in, begging them to take care of him, to keep him safe.

She begged them to forgive her for what she had done. For what she planned to do.

Spring became Summer, but little else changed. Mirage went about her day, hunting, visiting, being visited, receiving condolences. She insisted that she was fine. A lie, of course, but no-kin could know that. Every night, she slept next to where her mate was buried, trying her hardest to ignore the dreams that crept in during the dead of night.

The leaves began to turn, Autumn had arrived. The scent of plant death haunted the remains of what was their home. Less and less kin stopped by to check on her. She only left to hunt. And the dreams... They were getting harder and harder to ignore.

When death became silence and the cold crept into her bones, the doe knew that Winter had arrived. She was alone, not even her children for company. She would not leave, could not, in fear of them taking her love away from her. So, there, on the frozen ground, she waited for the thaw.

As the cold began to fade and the earth became moveable once more, the doe-- that's all she was now, Mirage was gone-- began her work. All through the night, she dug. And as the sun rose, the white doe clawed her way out of the grave, her life-mate's skull held in her teeth by one of his horns. Away from the hole, she lay with it, her brilliant coat smudged and faded with dust and dirt.

"I won't let the spirits take you. I'll keep you with me always. Promise."

She kept the large skull safe under her hooves and, exhausted, she slept.

The dreams disturbed her sleep no more.