#noall

It’s raining. Not uncommon for the Jade Forest, but it felt unwelcome this time.

With slow, quiet steps, he headed outside into the downpour. It was a bit muddy, and he had no shoes on, but he didn’t stop. His blue bird companion lifted her head in concern and followed him out.

It didn’t feel right. Normally, his hair would be covering his face by now, but it wasn’t. It couldn’t. He cut it off.

Ika gently grabbed his pants leg with her beak, trying to pull back. But he just wouldn’t stop. The curled path ahead led down to the shore, and his destination. She didn’t like this- she didn’t like any of it lately. He wasn’t himself. And she hadn’t been able to save him.

With worried eyes, the crane watched her partner, her best friend, as he approached the shoreline. There was an underlying source of unease, and her head screamed this. If he went too far in that water, she had to get him.

But he didn’t. When he finally got there, the red-haired ranger stood silently for just a second, then lowered himself to the ground. He laid on his side, in the cold, wet sand, and started to cry.

This wasn’t what she thought would happen. Ika’s head feathers fell flat, and she approached him slowly. With one more failed attempt to pull him back, she only had one more idea. So, she walked up in front of him and sat to cuddle against him.

After a few minutes, the front door of the house slid open to the nose of one more creature- Noall, his wolf. Her tail wagged in the light of the open door, then stopped when she didn’t get the usual excited greeting she was used to. So, with a ‘boof,’ she signaled for the other animals that something was wrong. Loud enough for their sensitive ears, quiet enough not to wake the rest of the house. 

When she arrived down, her tail wagged again and she decided it was her time to cheer him up. Before she could deliver this soaking lick to his face, the sad stare from Ika stopped her. This wasn’t a cheer up situation.

So, against his back, she curled up and laid.

The hulking Pandaren tiger was next, and was already close by. He stared with half-closed eyes, not confused in the slightest but not wholly awake. Without hesitation, he pushed himself into the pile to slide his shoulder under Lyrelark’s arm. No need resting your head on wet sand.

Following was the loud, splashing leaps of Thunder. This giant white direhorn child was usually rowdy, and currently was no different; but when he saw the pile, and the stares from the other animals, he managed to catch on. Dad was sad. So, he walked up to his feet slowly and looked down, then flopped on the sand and rested his chin on his legs. 

The final beast came, with a white glow in the darkness of the forest. Wishflurry emerged, the massive moose looking down with confusion at all of the others. Being the newest, he wasn’t used to group piles like this. But it didn’t take long for him to understand. He disappeared at first, before returning with his sleeping blanket draped over his antlers. With a small scooch to Dhara, he held his head over Lyrelark’s to keep the rain from his face.