Written for the Houses Competition
House: Gryffindor
Class: Astronomy
Category: Standard
Prompts: [Restriction] No human as the main character; [Animal] Fox
Word count: 1,142
Betas: Turanga, Aya Diefair, Ashes, CharlieManx
Author's Note: The ze pronoun set is used within this story, as are the they, she, and he sets. Ze/Hir; They/Them; He/Him; She/Her.
The forest was never silent, its mix of nocturnal and otherwise creatures ensuring that there was always something making sound beneath the trees. Ziva knew them like ze knew hirself, had learned the sounds of the forest and all their meanings. Ze had never heard it like this before. A muffled silence, a mourning before the happening. Grieving before grief was needed. Eternal pain that hasn't yet begun.
The forest had had more visitors in recent years. One by one, bit by bit, the so-called Forbidden Forest had become less and less forbidden. First, the half-giant, then four children accompanying him—two of them returning later and leaving behind a new resident, a motorised vehicle with its own sentience. Then the single child, alone and kind. Ziva understood this child; once upon a time, Ziva had been this child before becoming the thestral ze was today. Apart from the universe but never far from it.
The child with hair the opposite colour of Ziva came to visit hir and hir family often. She would come with offerings of food and fill the forest with joyful sounds. Ziva knew, despite not hearing this muffled silence before, that the child was leaving now. There was a heart to the forest and it was mourning the inevitability of endings. The never-ending knowing it had to let go because those trapped in the cycle never escaped.
The other child—Ziva's sibling, child (not Master, there were no masters of an eternal) of Death instead of Life—was leading the charge in mournful grief, ze knew. They were still young, and yet the ones they loved were not. They had become eternal and would be left behind, just as Ziva had been. The child would become invisible eventually, just as Ziva had; it was an eventuality just as the sunlight child's death was—as every mortal's death was.
Ziva paced through the trees with hir siblings and watched over the world as the day passed hir by. The mutedness around hir was new, but ze would learn it as ze had learned the other sounds that came and went. The only constant in an everlasting life was change. Sounds came and went, just as children did.
The silence grew louder as the sun began to set and two children set foot in the eternal forest once more. Ziva stood to greet them with the rest of hir herd. The Life child was frail now, trembling in her steps as the Death child offered her support, frozen in time as all Death's children are.
"Hello again," the Life child said softly. Her eyes were now unseeing and yet she offered a hunk of meat to Ziva unerringly. Ziva took it from her and passed it on to the young ones, making sure they received the rare treat. "You're going to be very important soon."
Ziva nodded, bumping hir head against the girl's still-outstretched hand. Ze knew ze was going to be important once the frail child was gone. Ze, and hir herd, were going to be essential in ensuring the child of Death didn't vanish into their own grief. She was ending, and they never would.
This was a farewell, from the sunlight child to the world she loved and all within it. And this, Ziva knew, was the final stop. The setting sun cast shadows over them all as the aged child bid farewell and settled down for her last moments. The ageless child sat next to her, grasping her hand and trying not to cry as they were forced to accept the reality they must continue to live in afterwards.
In the end, it was just another sound that Ziva knew well. One final exhale of breath followed by the silence of absence. Death had occurred and the eternal knew it. The silence did not last. A heartbroken scream pierced the shadows and drew them ever closer at the same time. The child of Death sobbed their agony out into the world and the world responded. They were alone now, the last remnant of their youth vanished as everything did.
Ziva settled next to the duo and offered a comforting presence. The forest around was no longer muffled; it was alive and everything mourned the loss of sunlight. The child had been dear to all and now she was gone—for the moment, at least; she was in the cycle and the cycle would forever turn.
The fox pup yipped happily as he raced through the trees of his home. It was, according to his mother, deemed as forbidden by the humans that lived nearby. To them, his home was full to the brim with dangerous creatures who would slaughter them if they entered unwary, and perhaps they were right.
Sol didn't have to worry about any of that though. Sol was a part of the forest and the forest was a part of him. He was safe here. Perhaps that was why the humans were afraid of his home—they knew it would protect those who resided within it against any who wished them harm. His mother told him their home had been charged with protection and gifted the abilities to do so by the people who had built the castle outside of the trees.
Occasionally, Sol would imagine that he lived in stone instead of wood. He'd dream of running through corridors on two legs and learning how to direct magic in the way they taught in the castle. There were so many different faces in his dreams, he had to wonder if humans truly looked as he dreamed they did.
He was on the edge of the forest now, low down to the ground and looking outwards. He'd never left the tree line, but he loved watching the activity of far away people moving about. Only today, there was someone very close indeed. Sol stared up at the person in wonder, a twinge of familiarity tickling his mind. He knew this person, maybe.
Ziva, the leader of the thestral herd, came out of the shadows and stopped next to Sol. Ze inclined hir head to the visitor and the visitor inclined their head in return. Sol looked between them and then slipped in between Ziva's legs so that he could be seen but still protected. The visitor smiled when they saw Sol and Sol could see their eyes were wet now.
"It's good to see you again," the visitor said.
Sol didn't remember seeing this person before, but Sol had rarely paid attention to the individuals he watched. Ziva nudged him forward and he went happily now that he knew this person was safe. The forest bent around them and Sol knew that this person, while not a resident, had been claimed by the forest just as he had been.
Sol couldn't wait to get to know them more.