Flawed Design / OPEN, Death! (WARNING: Gore)

[Leigh]

Death had slowly become more and more apparent within Snowbound's borders. Leigh had lived a good 70 years of his life thus far and had seen a fair share of it. Though he never did get used to witnessing the fall of living beings. Death came in all sorts of shapes and forms; most went peacefully, through old age or sickness. The unlucky ones go painfully- murder, suicide, long-term illness. He's watched the birth and deaths of many many friends and it hurt every time. Gore made him sick- always did. He vaguely recalls the first time he witnessed a gutted animal; he was a very young foal, about 3 years. He had wandered away from his herd to go explore a thicket and stumbled upon a hawk tearing apart a half-alive pigeon struggling uselessly to get away. He only got a few seconds full of the sight before running back to his parents in a fright. Gore- even the slightest hint of blood- made him sick; a bit of a phobia he developed through the years of watching other animals die much to his dismay. 70-something years later and it still pushed strong.

It was the broken howl that stirred him from his light sleep. He almost let it slide- brushing it off as one of the small packs of wolves that prowled the tundras they called home. But the longer it persisted, he knew it must be something more. He got up slowly and wandered out of his little den, down the tunnel systems, and out into the cold night air of the valley. He paused, ears pivoting to pick up the direction of the howling before steering himself closer and closer. He only picked up speed when the familiar metallic scent of blood hit him. He feared the worst, mind racing as he broke into a run, stopping just before the two siblings, weeping next to the still lifeless form of a feline. "Gods-" he spoke, voice no more than a hushed whisper as he took everything in. He was frozen. What should he do? Should he comfort them? Should he move them away? No- no- wasn't that their mother? Yes, it came back to him, their joining not that long ago. The unicorn slowly moved towards the two, heart twisted and hurting to see Kayn and Ecto so broken. He said nothing as he stopped close to them, shielding them from the cold wind. He made his body language clear that he would offer comfort if they accepted it. "I'm sorry..." he finally spoke, breaking the air of quiet sobs.

"SPEECH"

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