The Funeral

I panted heavily, as my wolf claws dug deeper and deeper into the earth. Not far from me, several of my wolves were helping me dig up graves. Ever since wolves accepted me as their leader, we had been digging up graves for the Tuatha Dé Danann. We had of course then several brakes and gotten sleep, but aside from that we had been hard at work. We had been digging for what seemed like weeks, but after all the hard work; we had finally managed to dig up enough graves, to house all of them.

As I finished the grave, I turned back into my Tuatha Dé Danann form and wiped the sweat off my brow. I climbed out of my grave, and turned to my wolves as they worked hard on the graves. I sighed gently and howled to get their attention. Almost immediately they stopped digging, turned to me up to hear my words. By now they were used to me howling, for their attention. It had taken a while for some of them to get used to it, but by now they were all, loyal to me and would always listen whenever I called for them. I grew a small smile at their loyalty, and proudly announced to them: "You have done very well, my friends. After all this time, I think we have finally dug up, all the graves we need. Tomorrow, we start getting the bodies. Your work today is finished. You may go now." With that the wolves turned, and left back into the forest.

I waited patiently, until they had completely escaped my sight. Once they were gone, my smile faded away and I sighed sadly. Now that the graves had been dug up, it meant that it was time for the hard part. Getting the bodies. Ever since that time I tried to get the body of Ronan, I had been terrified to even enter the city again. The voices were there, and they would no doubt be waiting, to haunt my mind and bring me to tears once again. But I had no choice. Ronan deserved a funeral, as did everyone else. I had no choice but to go back, regardless if the voices would be there or not. I had already failed once; I would not do it twice! I took a deep breath, and ran towards my old home.

As I made my way though the forest, I could hear laughter to my left. I ignored it and kept on running. I knew that another version of my mother; father and I would greet me, along with my friends. They did not appear as often, as the voices in the kingdom, but they did show up one time or another. By now I had gotten used to seeing them, and just did not want to pay attention to them anymore. Though whenever I heard their laughter, I could feel a heavy tug at my heart, and tears welling in my eyes.

After running, for what felt like hours, I finally made it to the entrance. It still looked the same it did, a few days ago. The houses and bodies were still as they were back then. Dirty, bloody and destroyed. The carnivores had been generous and kind enough, not to disturb them. I was about to walk inside, when I hesitated. Even though I knew all to well, of what would greet me, it was still difficult for me to enter. Not just because of the voices, but because of the memories. Every time I would see someone I recognized, I would be reminded of all the good times I had, and that would make me increasingly sad. Still I knew that I had to go. I had made it this far, and it was time to finish what I started. And so, I forced every muscle in my body to obey, and slowly but surely walked towards the tunnel.

Fortunately there were no voices, to haunt me as I made my way through the town and towards the tunnel. This made me easier and more comfortable. Maybe the voices were gone or just did not want to haunt me anymore. Either that or they were never there to begin with. I decided to push my theories aside for now, as I made it to the entrance. I summoned the trail of glowing mist, and slowly walked into the tunnel. As I walked over to Ronan, I once again made sure not to step, on any of the other bodies. However as I kept on walking, I was sure that I heard, someone following me. I turned behind me, and saw one of the wolves looking at me curiously.

I stopped in my tracks, and turned to it and annoyingly, yet confusedly, asked: "What are you doing here? Your work is over for today. Go back to your pack." I continued walking, until I heard that the wolf was still walking beside me. Getting rather annoyed, I shouted: "Stop following me!" I went back to walking, sure that the wolf got the message by now, when I heard that it was still following. This time however, I simply sighed annoyed and said: "Oh alright. If you want to come so badly, you may." It barked happily in response, and walked beside me.

We kept on walking through the tunnel, until I finally made it. As I looked down, I saw the body of Ronan. His arm was still trapped in the rubble. I crouched down and carefully dug his arm free, making sure that I did not break any of the bones. The wolf walked over to help me, but I turned to it and nicely told it: "Thank you for the offer, but I would rather do this on my own, please." The wolf walked back in response, and simply watched as I freed Ronans arm. I then picked up the arm and carefully moved it away, from the rubble. I placed it gently onto his chest, and smiled sadly as I greeted: "Hello Ronan, it is me. Sorry I took so long. I did not mean to. I was simply haunted by these voices, and I could not take it. They would not stop. They hurt me. I am so sorry I left. I hope you can forgive me." A small tear fell from my eye, as the wolf whined sadly.

"AISLING!"

My heart froze, when I heard that word. It was Ronan. But that meant…NO! NOT NOW!

But there was nothing I could do, to stop them. No matter how much I did not want them to, the voices came back. Crying, screaming, begging and moaning, as if try to escape and tear off my head. It grew louder and louder by the second, as if they were trying to rip my ears off. I flung my hands onto my ears, to try and tried to close out the voices. But they would never rest, and kept on and on:

"AENGUS! AENGUS NO!"

"Stay close to me dear!"

"THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!"

"What is going to happen to us Mommy?"

"Why must this happen? What have we done, to deserve this?!"

"DADDY!"

"FINN!"

"Remond? Redmond where are you? REDMOND!"

"Mommy! Mommy, please help me!"

"I do not want to die Daddy! Help me! PLEASE!"

"STOP IT! PLEASE STOP IT! I BEG YOU! PLEASE!" I cried out in despair, as tear after tear fell down my eyes. I fell to my knees, and cried as the voices kept going on and on. "I do not know why you are doing this, but please stop it! STOP IT!"

I cried, as the voices kept on haunting me, when I felt something wet licking at my tears, on my left eye. Slowly I open it, and saw the wolf standing there, with a concerned look on his muzzle. A second went by, before I grabbed the wolf and pulled it into a hug. I did not know if he could hear the voices too, and nor did I really care. I needed comfort now more than ever. The wolf did not even mind, and simply let me hug him, as it rested its head on my shoulder. I sat there for what felt like hours, getting my tears into his fur as I took refuge in him. We simply sat there, perfectly still, as if frozen on spot, never noticing that the voices were slowly fading and fading, until they finally disappeared.

I slowly released my hold on the wolf, and wiped the tears from my eyes. "Thank you…I needed that," I whispered softly. The wolf gave me a happy whinny, and gently licked my cheek. I giggled happily, feeling much better now. Shortly afterwards, I slowly rose to my feet and went back to the body of Ronan. "Well…I have work to do…" I sighed, as I bent down and gently pick up the body of Ronan. With that we walked back to the graveyard, and to the grave I had dug for him many days ago.

As I saw the light of the tunnel entrance, I briefly turned to the wolf, which was looking at me with curious eyes. After everything, I could not help but to smile. We climbed out of the tunnel, and went to the graveyard. Once there I went over to the grave of Ronan, and gently placed him down. "There you do Ronan, your finally here. I am afraid; I am going to have to leave for a while, but do not worry I will be back. And I will bring Nuala with me as well," I kindly reassured him, as I turned to the wolf and kindly asked it: "Could you possibly join me, to get the body of Nuala body? After everything that was happened, I could use some company.

The wolf nodded and gave my hand a small lick. I giggled briefly and we went to get the body of Nuala. When we reached the halfway point, I once again heard the sound of laughter. I motioned the wolf to stop for while, and turned to the source, and there was my mother and father, watching me play Ronan, Nuala and Oision. I smiled at the sight, before the wolf and I went back to get the body of Nuala.

Several Weeks Later

We had done it. I had taken us several days, but we had finally done it. We had managed to get each and every Tuatha Dé Dannan, left in the town, and gave them their own grave. With the help of my wolves, it had gone a lot faster than I originally thought it would. It had been weeks since that fateful night, and since then things had changed. The visions and voices became less and less frequent, and only appeared rarely. The human town had grown, yet still kept to the boundaries they were originally allowed, and was getting more and more populated. Sometimes they would come into the forest, and try to hunt down a few animals or two. But whenever they tried to do that, the wolves and I would scare them away. I made it clear, to the wolves that they were not allowed to kill, unless they were ordered to. They were also not allowed to hunt down children, and only enough to feed the whole pack. The pups had grown a bit, since they lost their mother, and I would often help take care of them and watch them play. The wolves had come to fully accept me, as their Alpha and leader of the pack, and would sometimes follow me even when work was done for the day. Not that I minded too much. Things had been very lonely ever since that day, and the wolves were actually quite good company. While they could not "talk" back to me, I still loved playing with them and sometimes hunt with. I would though, never eat any of the meat they would get.

And now, it was time for the night I had been meaning to do, for a very long time. It was the night, of the funeral. Not just for my family and friends, but all the Tuatha Dé Dannan we could find. I stood by the corner of the graveyard, with my wolves around the field. Some of them by the graves next to a pile of earth, and the rest making sure no one tried to enter. However it was not just them that were here. Several other animals like squirrels, birds, deer and many more had come to pay their respect. I had told the wolves, not to hunt them down, so there was no harm for them here. Knowing it was time; I took a deep breath and began:

"Today, we are here to honor the creators of this forest. The ones, who came to this land, and made it as it is today. The ones that brought life and beauty to the land, and sealed away the Dark One, Crom Cruach. Today we honor, my people the Tuatha Dé Dannan." I gently wiped away a tear by near my eye, as I continued. "I will now speak for my people. I would like to say a few things, not just to my family and friends, but to the rest of my people."

With that, I cleared my thought and solemnly began: "To all the ones, who I have not known during their life, or the ones I knew very little of, I would like to say that I hope you are happy in Sidhe, with your loved ones. May you forever rest easy now, and live peacefully in the golden fields of Sidhe. I wish I could have know all of you better, so that I could have given you all a better ceremony and said more things about all of you and your families, and had I know that this day would come, I would have tried to get to know everyone of you. But regardless, I hope you are all happy where you are now.

And so for your children…I am sorry you never got to enjoy your life in full. That your time on this beautiful and magnificent earth, filled with wonders and happiness was taken from you in such a terrible way, and at such an early time of your lives. You all deserved to live longer, and more prosper lives. To grow up and maybe one day have children of your own. I hope that what was taken from you in this life, you will all find in Sidhe, and that you may be reunited with your families and friends. And that you all enjoy it well."

After I was finished with the first part, I walked a little more into the yard and continued: "To all the guards and council members, who served my parents during their reign, I would like to thank you for all the work you have done. You have helped our kingdom and land through many of its hardships and struggles. You have protected it from attacks and made our live peaceful. No matter how large, the problem was you came to our aid. Even when Crom attacked us, you stood by your king and fought by his side. I hope you are rewarded in Sidhe, along side the rest of our people and all of the great kings and queens of the past."

After that, I walked through more of the field, until I reached the other side of the yard. There were three small graves, each next to two larger ones, side by side each other. Ronan, Oision and Nuala, alongside their parents. By body trembled slightly of grief, as I took a deep breath, fought back any tears I had and continued:

"Ronan, Oision, Nuala…you three were the best friends, I could ever ask for. You cared for me as a person, rather than a title. Whenever one of us was sad or angry, we would not hesitate for a moment, to try and cheer them up. Oision when we first met, during my birthday, well we were friends right away. And who can blame us? You were funny, caring, supportive and nice. You were always up for anything, if it was a race or game or the like. You were the first friend I ever had, and I am happy to have known you. Ronan, your one of the kindest persons I have ever met. You were sweet, optimistic, generous and happy and you were always there to help someone. Even though you were very shy, and even when we first met you barley knew what to say, you were never afraid to voice your opinion or help any of us out. I hope you can forgive me, for leaving you behind, and that you will be waiting for me in Sidhe. Nuala, what do I even need to say about you? You are bold, brave, risk taking and passionate. Even though you were born blind, you never once let that get in the way. You would always be proud of who you were, and never let anyone tell you other wise. I hope that your sight returns in Sidhe, so you may see its beauty for yourself. I cannot thank the three of you enough, for all the good times we had together. I hope that we may see each other in Sidhe one day, and play together like we used to."

After that, I slowly walked over to the two final graves of the field. Two large ones, side by side. My mother and my father. The wolves beside them walked back, as they waited for me to start. As I began to finish, I could feel a single tear welling in my eye:

"Mother…Father…I cannot thank the both of you enough, for everything you have done for me. You two have made the person I am today. You would always comfort me when I was sad, heal me when I was injured and care for me when I was sick. You have both taught and showed me so many things, that I could not have imagined. Father, even though the two of us, did not always get on the same point of view, I can see that what you did you did for my protection. I still knew that you loved me dearly, and so did I. I remember all the times we had together. You tell me stories of your grandparents and our ancestors. You thought me about the kingdom and its people. You thought me its laws, history and wonders. You made me determined to improve myself. To become the best I could be, and help others. Mother, you were the one I wanted to be like, when I grew up. Kind, selfless, helpful, supportive and honest. Someone who would always forgive one and encourage them to keep on, no matter the obstacles. And who would always help someone they loved, even if it meant losing your own life. You not only taught me how to unlock my animal forms and my spells, but you showed me the beauty of the forest and all the lives that lived there. You always knew the right thing to say and would help me if I had any problems. I can thank you for making me, want to protect all lives in this forest, and to show compassion to those who needed it. To never lose hope and to learn from my mistakes. I know I might not grow up, to become the queen you were hoping I'd be, but regardless I promise that I will protect this forest and its lives, for as long as I live. I will guard with my life, and care for it as you would. I hope you are proud of me, and are watching me from Sidhe right now. I miss you both very much and I hope we will be reunited one day. I love you both. Thank you for everything."

With that, I smiled a sad smile, and gently wiped the tears from my face. After standing still for a few seconds, I turned my face to the sky and howled at the wolves. As they heard it, they nodded and gently pushed their piles of dirt onto the bodies of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, covering their bodies. I myself covered the bodies of my parents. Once I had made sure, that every grave was covered, I went to the center of the field, using my connections to forest, made a few snowdrops by the graves. Once I was finished, I sighed gently and kindly said: "May you all rest easy, and be happy in Sidhe."

With that, the wolves and I lest the field in peace. However before I left completely, I turned to the field and using my mist spells, I covered it in a thick fog so that no unwanted guests, would try to rob the graves. With that I left the field, and walked back to the wolves. And that was the beginning, of my new responsibility as the protector of the forest.

Well here it is. The first half is done. I have officially completed, what I had wanted to do. Tell my version, of Aislings past. But it's not over yet. I plan on having a second half, in which I do a basic retelling of the movie from Aisling's POV. It's also going to include a few scenes, that weren't in the movie and some changed versions of the scenes from the movie. However, that won't be out for a while. While school and life, I'm afraid I'm going to have, to put this story on Hiatus for a while. Don't worry, I swear I will complete this story (I've left enough of my stories unfinished as it is), and I hope you'll stick around to read the second half. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this and I will see you all later.