A Wolf’s Last Song [Standalone, Death Post]

Come on skinny love just last the year,
Pour a little salt we were never here,
My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer.

She twisted her form, searching in the space over her shoulder as she made her way toward the old tunnel. The nagging thought that she shouldn't be here rippled through her mind in a momentary wave of self-doubt. Shrugging the feeling aside, she once more looked over her shoulder. It felt like someone, or something, was watching her. Then again, didn't everyone have that feeling when they were doing something they weren't supposed to? Shoving the thought aside, she crept closer. Her eyes flicked from side to side, searching for any sign that she wasn't alone. Seeing nothing, she stood up and moved, walking decidedly forward into the tunnel.

I tell my love to wreck it all,
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall,
My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...
Right in the moment this order's tall.

The inside of the tunnel was dank. Stale air met her as she entered the dark shadow that was the entrance to the old mine passage. She found it hard to breathe as she made her way down the dusty tunnel. The dust that rose from her steps, pitch in a way that could only make it coal, never seemed to settle. She knew right then that any small thing could kill her, an unexpected and very abrupt end. The acrid taste of the coal in her mouth left her throat parched; she became ever thirstier as she wandered her way down the dimly lit passage. Why had she come down here again? On the false presumption of riches, diamonds and sparkling stones that would hold no meaning to the dead. But there would be meaning for her, after all, despite the odd clicking of pebbles that skittered down from the ceiling and the faint groan whispered by the structural beams overhead, there was no sign that the tunnel was shifting, let alone about to collapse. And she had no fire around her, no source of a spark that would ignite the fine black powder that floated absently and turn it into a fireball, or worse, if you could say that, an explosion. Either way, she would be roasted.

Not very pleasant thoughts, but all of them entirely possible. A small plip sound came from just in front of her, and there it was again. Looking around, she held her breath. Had someone come down here, perhaps to get her out, or maybe they had been in here before she was. Good, maybe they can guide me out. She wasn't sure she wanted to be here anymore. Nevertheless, she didn't turn around. She had always been too stubborn for her own good. The only way she would leave is if she found something, or someone got her out first.

And I told you to be patient,
And I told you to be fine,
And I told you to be balanced,
And I told you to be kind,

Going on further, she halted as a loud creak reached her ears. She scanned everywhere, but nothing appeared to move, or even to have moved. There wasn't even the telltale trickle of rock dust that crumbled to the floor of the tunnel. Silence. Calming her fast-beating heart, she took a couple steps forward. When everything stayed the same, and no more groaning noises were heard, she trusted that it had been a temporary shift in the stone, and it had all settled out now. There was no need to worry, she wouldn't be crushed under who knew how many tons of rock. As she wandered even deeper down the tunnel, she kicked a rock, nearly tripping over it. It was getting so dark that even the most prominent things were starting to blend into the shadows. She would have hardly known her feet were still below her if she couldn't feel them. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea, perhaps she should go back and grab a light. It wouldn't be giving up, it would be modifying the exploration, and perhaps saving herself from falling into some pit or shaft, or tripping and breaking something.

And in the morning I'll be with you,
But it will be a different kind,
'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets,
And you'll be owning all the fines.

She slowed to a halt, thinking over her course of action. She really would need light if she wanted to continue any further. The lights that had been installed when the tunnel had first been built were either gone or broken, though the occasional one worked. It was how she had managed to get this far down here without having brought a light of her own. Foolish girl, not bringing a light, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. Why couldn't she just grab one of the hanging lights, one of the ones that actually were still lit. She decided to go back to the last lantern and grab it, much more useful than wandering on until she came across the next one. Her footsteps suddenly sounded like gunshots in the silence, until a sound much louder than one she could ever make split the air. A scream of rock against rock and a grinding sound that meant nothing but disaster. The last step she took brought her to stand below the lantern as it fell toward her, the entire ceiling at its back.

Come on skinny love, what happened here?
Suckle on the hope in light brassieres,
My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...
Sullen load is full, so slow on the split.

Everything happened at once, and yet her mind played it in slow motion. A large boulder knocked her down as the lantern struck her in the corner of her jaw. Another large rock came down on her, more behind it, and ended up crushing her entire lower half. She tried to lift her head, and was struck hard by a rock for her trouble. Her head smashed back, leaving her dazed, as blood trickled from what must be a broken nose. Another loud boom sounded, but it could have just as easily come from her own mind as from the collapsed tunnel. Her vision was fuzzy, and she could hardly see anything, but what she did see was... beautiful. It seemed the lantern, the glass broken, had managed to survive enough to give off some light. It must have been under some small pebbles because the shapes that the light made were odd, swirling almost.

And I told you to be patient,
And I told you to be fine,
And I told you to be balanced,
And I told you to be kind,

The odd lighting all around her gave the sense that she was somewhere far different. Here was not where she had been just moments ago, here was different. Here was magical. For a moment, she only noticed the light, the twirling and dancing flecks of brightness that was stone dust, and not coal. But then the coal dust came, black and heavy, swirling into the mix with an evil energy. As more coal dust gathered, she became more aware of her body. Even before the dust had completely blocked out the light, she gave a high scream of pain and fell silent, lost to the darkness of the unconscious and the coal dust.

••• --- ••• | ••• --- ••• | ••• --- ••• | ••• --- ••• | ••• --- •••

Blackness surrounded her, creeping into the places where light used to exist. The pooling blood around the base of her skull screamed trouble, but she was too far gone to realize the ruby liquid that soaked into her hair was pouring from the split in the back of her skull. Her crushed form lay under rocks, the upper half of her trapped in a smaller version of the mine she had gone into while her lower half was pinned under who knew how much rock and coal. Even if someone managed to find her, an unlikely event as no one knew she had been inside the mine when it collapsed, it would be wasted effort to remove her from rubble. Too much blood had escaped her body, now becoming a dribbling stream instead of the gushing river it had been before. Paler than anyone would think possible, it was a wonder she was even still alive, but thoughts kept entering her mind, demanding her attention before they would let her rest.

And now all your love is wasted,
Then who the hell was I?
'Cause now I'm breaking at the bridges,
And at the end of all your lines.

This was all so stupid, the reason she was here in this position was for nothing more than curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, or in this case, the girl. All she had wanted was to see if there was anything of interest in the mine, perhaps any diamonds that may randomly show up, or odd gems that could form in the hard black rock. Even a skeleton of an animal that hasn't existed since long before this land was called North America. What was the point of it? The reason she had wanted to find one of those things enough to disobey the rule they were taught to never break was beginning to fade from her already drifting mind. Remembered, and released. Pointless.

Life wasn't pointless, she knew that, but fighting for it now would be. As if she had anything left in her to fight. Without the ability, let alone the strength, to move her body or to call out she was as good as dead. No, she was dead. Even at that moment, her mind flickering on the edge of this life and whatever was beyond it, she was dead. There was no life left in her body, no spirit, merely her mind trying to solve the last traces of herself before vanishing into the nothing that so many people saw as the next life. How boring.

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
And who will fall far behind?

And then, like a breath of relief had knocked them over, the thoughts fell into place. The bitter irony that clung to her life seemed to point one final finger at her as she realized that, had she not gone back for the lantern, she wouldn't have been crushed. Not that it mattered anyway, had she continued she would have been trapped anyway. Trapped, but maybe still alive. How long would she have lasted, long enough to be rescued, or long enough to regret not being crushed. Did it make a difference now? She was dead, one way or another she would have died. Not grabbing the lantern would have just delayed the inevitable. As it was, her brain was delaying the inevitable. Couldn't she just die already? What tie did the world hold to her any longer, it wasn't as if there was much of anything that she could do anymore. But her stupid brain just wouldn't die. Life just wouldn't let her go. Not that this was much like life.

With that realization, that final acceptance, her mind faltered. The drumming pressure it had felt to keep her going was gone. It was time she was gone too. Finally, it was time she died. At peace with all that she could soothe, and cradled in the blackness by an unseen figure, Kiar Fero of District twelve finally faded into the realm that was death. A sigh, relief. Freedom.

Come on skinny love,
My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...
My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...