Broken Arrows

Avicii- Broken Arrows

Several rabbits crowded around a large mattress made of straw and covered in thick linens. The old doe in the bed took a deep breath as she opened her eyes, smiling lightly at the rabbits standing around her bed. "No long faces today. This day will be of celebration."

The doe closest to her took a seat shaking her head. "What death warrants a celebration, Mother?"

The older doe chuckled as the glasses on her nose slipped. "You do not mourn death, you celebrate the life death created."

When the young doe frowned and turned her brow down the older doe tried to push herself up and sighed when her strength failed her. "This is just a pattern. That is all the world is. Some people see it as a circle, some people see it as an end. The Divine is always waiting for us to return."

The younger doe looked up as her siblings and cringed. "Mother Violet, no one believes the things you say."

The older doe smirked as she nodded. "No one believed in the Christian or Catholic God either, yet, he seems to be everywhere does he not?" The doe frowned as her mother raised a brow. Violet shook her head and sighed as she reached behind her neck and undid the twine that held a pendant. The younger doe shook her head as she passed it to her.

"Mother, I can't ta-

"You are my oldest child. You are the one with purple eyes. Pass it to your daughter, your first born, or the one who has purple eyes. It makes no difference. Tell them off my stories." The younger doe looked back and saw her siblings shifting uncomfortably and the older doe chuckled again. "I am aware that they all think I am a witch. That my stories may seem insane and that they believe me to be….a soothsayer."

"You are a soothsayer, Mother."

The older doe looked at the amulet and shook her head. "I was nothing without that pendant. My mother and father saw it as a blessing. I suppose in a way to them it was. They brought mammals from town to see me, took me to see other mammals. I could see what they asked for if they let me touch them, but it has never worked for anyone but me. It is a pretty stone, but I am grateful none of my children had the gift of sight. It made life difficult for all of you."

The doe looked back at her siblings and nodded. "I will tell them, Mother."

"Good." The older doe sighed as she shifted her eyes. The doe sitting on the bed turned as her mother's eyes stared out the window. Her ears rose and her back straightened as all her siblings turned, several of them stepping back as a large black bird sat on a branch looking into the room. The older doe chuckled as her daughter turned back to her. "Do you know what a Raven is?" The young doe looked at her siblings and nodded with a curious expression on her face while she tried not to look concerned. Violet chuckled as she shook her head. "A bird yes, but they are said to be omens of death. Ravens. Very Graceful creatures." The younger doe cringed as her mother snickered. "I dreamt of a….. I can't remember what species he was. Ugh, no matter. He was a miserable soul. I looked into his future and saw nothing but death and grief, sorrow more unbearable than any one life should live. He asked me for advice on how to change it and I looked again. There was no action he could take that would change it, not one life he would live would be any different. So, he asked me to do something for him, to tell his story."

"Mother, I don't think that is really..."

She put her paw up shaking her head. "I do not need to tell his story. He will write it himself in one of his lives, it will be well known long after we are gone. It shall be called The Raven. It was a horrible thing the way he grew in that life. His mother was…a working lady. He had an older brother and a small sister when she became ill with a common disease. His father left them and they found him dead of the same illness within a few days of their mothers death." She sighed as she laid her paws over her chest. "In the future there will be a treatment for it like there are so many that kill us now. He watched his mother dying. They came to check on her but…no one is sure how long they had been there with her body after she died. It had a rather profound effect on the way he thought. His family wanted his Brother and sister but no one wanted him. What will his name be…"

"Mother, it isn't really-

"Edgar. His name will be Edgar." The rabbits twisted their heads as the old doe pulled something from under her pillow. "Everyone will see his story. You must make sure this part of it is saved so it is not lost to our family."

The doe shook her head as her mother pulled some old paper out and passed it to her. "Why would we need to know this for anything, Mother?"

Violet shook her head and frowned. "I am not sure. I just know that it is important."

"It is?" She shook her head with curled brows as her mother sighed.

"It will be. It is my writing. Keep them together, somewhere our family will always be able to find them. My father said the day I was born he went to fetch my mother water after he had brought me back to her. There was a raven in the tree above the well. He said he swore the thing smiled at him before it flew away." The younger doe nodded as she unrolled them and looked them over.

"A poem? And these are…" the doe gasped and nearly dropped them as her mother snickered again.

"It is the part of the poem he did not write in his life in the many dreams I had of him. A part that I saw only in my mind. The rest is something I only know will be important to our family at some point. They will be given to the ones who will truly change this world. He said a raven knocked upon his door, the shadow carries nevermore."

The younger doe held it up and ticked her cheek as she read what her mother had written.

"The Valkyries will fall from heaven, for two more six, and one more seven,

For naming that which had no name, for branding an Eternal flame

For Lenore is thy bit of sorrow, the thing that causes all the morrows

Upon Pan's door the stone shall stay and Peter shall be lost in way

Stones of sand and clay will wear, a solid rock all sorrow bares

Lenore hides in ever shadow, Grace will be her broken arrow

They shall bring forth time again, new life in death that never ends

Neverland be lost in lore, if the tail is never born.

Wonderland will be no more, hope for future all forlorn.

Death will find each mortal face, if firstborn son determines Fate

His bride be all but angel true, their children of all darkness knew

Peter will find hope anew, with Fate decided by her few

Yet once he has been cast in stone, Lenore shall be left alone

Grace shall have no timely fame, all be lost in unheard names

If a curse is not dispelled, no difference lies in heaven/hell

Neverland will be no more, if no hope found, for poor Lenore,

And Darkness shall be ever more, if raven says it; Nevermore."

The older doe took another breath and looked up at her oldest daughter smiling. "The last two verses don't look like they belong here mother. Who is Loki and why is the one named Judy referred to as-

"SHUSH. Never read that aloud. They will be revealed after they are needed." The younger doe sighed a rolled them up as her mother laid her paws down again. "When your eldest daughter is born. Give it to her, tell her it must go to those who save our family. It must be given to them as a payment for all they do, along with the other things I have given you. You will bloom much later in life, but you will have children. Your first daughter's name will be Sissy."

"Mother, I am too old, you know that is…" she sniffled as her siblings lowered their ears.

"You will. I named you Hope, for a reason. The moment you were in my arms I saw your daughter. I saw her wearing a crown. I saw every daughter first born in that same crown, wearing that pendant. Until there was a darkness that crept into the light and I lost sight of the path. As if it were…no longer there, it was not difficult to see, it was as if…time stopped. You will have children, in fifteen years' time she will be born, because I said it will be so." Violet closed her eyes and her head fell to the side in a content expression.

"Goodbye, Mother. Until we meet again in the Divine."

"HEEEEEY!" Hope and her siblings turned as the door flew open. "The midwife!" Hope stood and raised her brow. The doe, her siblings, and the young bear who had crashed through the door all ducked and scrambled when the raven that had been outside the window cawed as it flew around the room. Hope stood, steadying her heart as the bird landed on her mother's chest. All the rabbits in the room gaped and stepped away as it shot its wings out wide.

The bird ticked its head and the young bear in the door as he backed away. "Death is upon your door."

"Nevermore, Nevermore." The bird yelled before it shot out the window.

They all stood trying to catch their breath as the young bear shook his head. "The witch has died. Maybe I should fetch the Steward."

Hope shook her paws and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. "You came for a reason, little John. A midwife? I am the only one here for miles." The young bear squirmed nervously as she shook her head. "There is no such thing as magic, curses, ghosts, bad omens, witches and whatever else you may be thinking. I can only help someone who needs me if I know where I am to be going?"

He looked at the door and twisted a foot in the ground as he dipped his head. "Mrs. Whood."

Hope nodded and went back inside, leaving the door open. "Let me gather my things." The doe grabbed a basket and shot her siblings a stern glare. "Make the preparations." She handed the basket to the little bear and told him to wait before she closed the door. "She was your mother too. The least you could do is help me with her final rights. I do not care what everyone thinks and if you cannot show the decency to help with this, you did not deserve any mother at all. I have to go. I should be back by morning light." She stepped out the door, faking a smile as the little bear held her basket up. "Such a responsible little boy, John. They sent you all the way to fetch me?" The bear smiled and nodded. She giggled as he took hold of her paw. "How old will you be this year?"

"I will be eight!" The doe laughed at his excitement as they made their way.

He kept hold of her paw as they reached a little cottage. The little bear's ears tipped back as screaming rang through the air. The doe rushed inside telling him to stay where he was. Entering the little Den, her eyes adjusted to the low lighting and she caught sight of the father rocking back and forth as his mate screamed again. "Mr. Whood, please go out and keep little John company." The fox looked at her and back to his mate as she ground her teeth together and howled. "This is no place for a gentleman Mr. Whood. It is inappropriate for you to stay." The tod nodded sharply before he stepped out the door and closed it behind himself. Hope stepped to the bed as the vixen cried out again. "Sylvia I want you to breath like I showed you."

"I can't- something is wrong!"

"This is normal, Sylvia." The doe did a quick examination and turned her head slightly as the vixen groaned again.

"I knew something was wrong!"

Hope nodded as she looked back to the door. "I am sorry Sylvia, but I am going to need your mates help."

She opened the door and stepped out as the tod shot up. "I am afraid you are going to have to help, or they will all be lost." The tod cringed and stepped back in with her, nervously biting his cheek as she instructed him on where he needed to be and what he needed to do. Hope stood at the end of the bed as the tod cradled his mate against his chest. "Turn away if you cannot look, but do not let go of her under any circumstance." He nodded as the vixen looked between them. "Sylvia, your first baby is turned the wrong way. I have to turn him, he is not positioned correctly." The doe handed her mate a small piece of wood before she rolled up her sleeves. "Bite down on it. Do not let go of her." The tod winced as she rolled up her sleeves…

The little bear outside cringed and had his ears flipping up and down as the vixen inside screamed. After a harsh hissing and groaning all the noise stopped as the bear tipped his head and stood up, curiously opening the door. The rabbit seated at the end of the bed had something small in her arms and appeared to be moving around in a frantic motion as the vixen's head hung. Her mate looked her over and shook his head. "Sylvia?"

A whip sounded through the air as the doe smacked the little fox on the rear after clearing all his airways. The little bear jerked as something caught his eye and he turned shaking his head as a raven sat on the arm of the chair he'd once been in. "CAW!" He jumped as it took off into the air and watched it circling above the little home.

Hope flipped the kit up and cringed as his head fell to one side. The tod still seated behind his mate was looking between them shaking his head. Hope looked back at him trying to bite back her tears. The doe swallowed as the tod closed his eyes and turned his head. She returned her attention to the little tod in her arms and held him close as her arms curled around him. "I am so sorry, Mr. Whood." The fox leaned into his mate jostling as Hope looked back at the little bundle and sighed. She sat with her head hanging as she covered the infant and laid him on the bed with his mother, both of them lost in childbirth.

The little bear outside stepped back with wide eyes as the Raven seemed to dive bomb towards the little den. He looked around shaking his head as it disappeared into the Earth above the roof.

Hope curled her brow and jumped as a large bird dove through the straw above forming a roof over the open part of the den. She shook her head as it flew back out as quickly as it had appeared. Her attention was immediately back on the bed when she heard a tiny gasp. The tod watched her grab the little bundle and furiously start rubbing his back before unwrapping the kit and pressing against his chest, blinking as his fingers curled. The doe turned and was frantically running her paws along his back and chest until he sucked in a deep breath of air and wailed.

Hope almost laughed. She turned seeing the tod still holding his lost mate, sitting stunned as he blinked. His eyes had spilled over while his ears trained on her. The doe held up the kit and the tod jostled in a hiccupping whine as she stepped closer and laid him in his father's arm. There was a horrid mixture of joy and despair in the room as the fox curled one arm close, holding his son and laid his head on his wife's, weeping for the mate he'd lost and overjoyed at the only kit who'd survived.

Hope took the child and tended to him as his father made funeral arrangements. He came back and sat in a chair almost mechanically as he looked at the doe holding his son. The bunny stood and walked to him smiling, and held his arm out before she laid him in his arms. "Mr. Whood."

The doe smiled and dipped her head to him before she stepped to the door. "You are leaving?"

"Forgive me, Mr. Whood. I am afraid I must tend to my mother's arrangements this day as well."

"It has truly been a day of death has it not?" He asked.

She ticked her cheek up looking back at the kit he was holding. "And a day of life, Mr. Whood. Have you a name chosen?""

The fox looked up at her with tears in his eyes as he ticked them back and forth between her and his son. "A dark day, and a day of life. A light in all the darkness….. Robert."

She smiled as she tipped her head again. "You know where to find me should you need any help, I'll send the steward over and arrange for a wet nurse for you." The fox nodded blankly as he held his son tighter and the doe smiled as she watched him run his muzzle along the tiny kit's head and laughed as the infant whined. She stepped out the door and closed it finding the little bear peeking from behind a tree. "John, why are you still here?"

The little bear looked away with his ears pinned back as he stepped to her. "Lady Sylvia is gone?" Hope nodded as she folded her paws in front of herself. "Why?"

Hope sighed as she shook her head. "It just happens sometimes. That is the way of the world. Travel home John. It is late and your parents will worry if you are not there before night falls."

The bear scrunched his nose and looked at her frowning. "But the kit…he will be alone?"

"No, he has his father. If you are worried about him being alone perhaps you should come and see him when he gets a little older, so he will have a friend too. Ask your mother to send him some help. I must reach the steward so he can arrange a wetnurse."

"Mamma still has milk from my little sister!"

Hope giggled as the little bear jumped up and down. "Maybe you will get to spend more time with him than I thought if she agrees to that. Let me know by morning if she agrees." The bear smiled before he shot off, running towards his own home. The bunny stepped around the corner and back onto the path, tripping as a dark figure swooped in front of her. She shielded her face with her arms and looked up shaking her head as a Raven perched in a tree above her.

The bird tipped its head looking at her. "Evermore, evermore."

She rushed back to her home and slammed the door behind her, reaching into her pocket, pulling out the little pendant and grabbed the papers her mother had given her, seating herself at the window as she watched her siblings start the fires that would return their mother to the Earth. "Ever more…" she whispered as she looked at the little pendant and tied it around her neck. "Not Never more, Ever more." The doe stood and gathered her strength before she walked out of the little farmhouse and joined her siblings. She kept her head held high as several sneered at her or moved away from where she stood. Two of her brothers carried the body of her mother out before setting it on the pier. The small flames that had licked up the sides of the bundled twigs ignited in a large flame after she placed a bundle under the fire. She stepped back and swept her eyes around as her siblings leaned into each other whispering. The doe let her ears fall as they all shook their heads frowning and scowling. A few went so far as to look at her and shake their heads as another rabbit stepped beside her. She looked over her shoulder catching a breath that spilled out as a whimper when another doe took ahold of her paw. Her siblings stormed away in a huff of disgust as the other doe lifted her head high and looked at them smirking.

Hope wiped her face off, giggling as the doe beside her squeezed her paw. "Do not listen to them, Hope. It makes no difference what they see, it only matters what you see. What I see."

Hope dropped her eyes to the ground as she overheard her siblings leaving, a few of the things they were saying she'd heard more than a few times about their own mother. She felt the other doe pull her lightly as she looked up. The flames had taken her mother into the sky as she turned again, following the doe after seeing her siblings leave grumbling. Once inside she stepped away as she closed the door. "Becka, you should not have come on this day." Hope said as her eyes stayed on the floor.

The doe stepped in front of her and Hope leaned into her paw as she cupped her cheek. "That is why I come on this day. I will be your comfort, when those who should be fallaway. Your mother lived a very long life. It was a lonely life. I will not watch the one I love be left the same way." The doe hiccupped as she was pulled into Becka's arms. "Did she give you any words of wisdom before she flew?"

Hope giggled as she wiped her face away. "Funny you should mention birds. She said it again, that I would have children."

Becka stood a little straighter and squared her shoulders. "Perhaps you are meant to have a sire, because your mate cannot give you such a thing." Hope looked up at her slack jawed as she smiled. "I love you, if it is children you wish to have, do you think I would not accept them as ours?"

"But, we…."

Becka tipped her ears forward and nodded. "No one would think twice about it. Your family may know of us, but we would remain hidden to the rest of the world. Maybe your mother was right and in the future others like us will not have to hide. If you did conceive, I could stay here with you, as your servant. There are always more does than bucks. It would be acceptable to the community this way." Hope swallowed as her eyes burned. She shot forward being wrapped in the other does arms and buried her nose in her neck, sighing heavily as Becka pet her ears and nuzzled her cheek. "We can teach our children that family comes in all shapes and forms, and love has no boundaries. I love you…." They wrapped around each other tighter as Hope opened her eyes and caught a shadow outside the window. The doe sobbed as the Raven sat in the tree, ticking its head back and forth. It almost looked as if it smiled before it shifted like it became a waft of smoke as its wings lifted. Hope shook it off, curling into her mate as she closed her eyes. The form outside the window smirked as dark wings lifted her before she dove into the shadows again….

A vixen screamed as King Richard scrunched his shoulders, pacing the room outside. The lion lifted a brow and scrunched his nose as a Raven flew in, chuckling as it hopped along the floor past the curtains that covered the birthing room. "Oh a sign of good fortune! I will have many nieces and nephews!"

His ears set as the midwife came out giggling. "How many are there?" he asked almost giddy as she unfolded the blanket, showing the little foxes as he laughed excitedly.

"We had good fortune. Almost lost this little one." She churred as she gently pulled one from the folds, placing the tiny vixen in his massive paws.

King Richard chuckled. "I swore to her husband I would care for them after he was lost in battle. How is the new mother."

The midwife giggled as he pet the little vixen, watching him chuckle as she purred in his paw. "She is well, very tired."

The lion sighed and chewed his lip looking at the midwife and took a deep breath. "Has she named them? I know the fathers usually do that with foxes."

"Only the little one we almost lost. She said it was some kind of tradition in her family. To name them merry on the day they were born. She said the others were yours to name for all you have done for the family. This one is Marion."

"Marion. What a bright little Lady you will be." He purred as he pet the little vixen in his paw. King Richard bowed his head chuckling as he handed the little vixen back to midwife and watched as she folded them back into the blanket before she slipped back behind the curtain of the room. The raven that had hopped in on the floor slipped out from under the curtain and jumped to a window. throwing its wings out and cawed as he bowed significantly. "Thank you, for the good fortune."

The bird spread its wings and its feathers fluffed out before it took off out the window, leaving him standing their grinning as he heard the fox kits fussing. "STEWARD! CALL THE WINE MAKER WHOOD! WE ARE IN NEED OF ALE TO CELEBRATE!"

Notes; Robert Whood is later renamed and known as Robin Hood. The doe who is delivering him is the mother of Sissy and Skippy. The ones he later takes as his own children. This is how Robert Whood/Robin Hood met Maid Marion through King Richard. In the original story, she was thought to be the Kings niece.

For anyone who is not a poet and doesn't catch the reference. Edgar Allen Poe wrote the Raven. Each line fits into the story but the original poem was not used, only a- nod to it through another short poem.

The name Lenore means torch, light, and bright. It is a shortened form of Elenore. This is the name the Valkyries gave to the Spark of creation - Odin called it the creature. The poem references a number of things that may not be understood by someone unfamiliar with the wording. Gilead was an area east of the Jordan River but in this case it is referring to Gileed; a heap of stones- piles of testimony. Headstones, or the ten commandments- something carved in stone.

Plutonian is referencing the underworld and death, it is also the ninth body in our solar system. Pallas can be referring to astronomy mythology, people, or ships. It's also the name of a Greek God but not what it is referring to.

A broken arrow is nodding at the short story/fable of Aesop. His sons fought constantly. He told them if they could break the bundle of arrows/sticks whoever accomplished this feat would get his kingdom. None could break them bundled together so their father took them apart and snapped each one. The lesson was that they were stronger together than apart.

Lady Marion Wild, her family is descended from the vixen Heimdall and Loki placed in a tower to protect her while she was waiting for her true love. "Name her merry on that day." They're all connected through Time. Something that's impossible to see when we're only a small piece of it, live in the moment, and can't see if it isn't pointed out.