Destiny of the Small

by Juuchan17

 

Piece III: A New Destiny
  

Back with the sight of grief, the dark-brown Kahu patted Quillac’s light-colored back with a gentle paw. “We’ll make it, Quill . . . Shh-shh . . .” He allowed her to weep on his shoulder as he looked back up towards the sky.

I felt some sort of regret for Kahu, Quillac and their feelings of loss. Utter sorrow . . . is quite a heart-wrenching emotion to deal with, especially when one loses a child, it seems. Many times I had witnessed loved ones, both young and old, coming to join the Spirits once their moment arrived, and the sense of emptiness that one feels when you realize that someone is gone forever. Even the spirit of Muru, their child that unexpectedly joined me far too soon, was sent to tears by the sight of his parents. 

“What can you do, Aniu?” he asked me amidst his tears. “You said that there’s a way for me to say goodbye to them . . . and offer some words of condolence before I follow you, right?”

I couldn’t deny him the chance to bid his farewells to his family, the ones that knew him for almost seven moons. That would just be cruel of me, . . . especially since his journey now would never be the same, but there was something I had to prepare him for next. “I will allow you to speak with them, but in return, you must swear that whatever I ask you to do for me, you will agree to it. Understood?” 

The wise mouse-child nodded. “Oh, of course! You know I’d do anything for you, My Lady. Anything.”

I gave him a small grin. I had hooked him into a deal – he didn’t know about it right now, but he had just agreed to ready the future of a child who had not even been conceived within the womb of its mother. Of course, I knew he couldn’t refuse, and his unknown destiny was just beginning. 

“Now, come with me, little one,” I motioned my head towards his grieving family. “There’s still time before the dawn. That is when you must leave this place behind and join me.”Without hesitation, he leaped by my side, both of us suddenly disappearing into the air.

Other mice began to offer some senses of comfort for those in mourning, but it was still difficult for anyone to bear. Muru’s lifeless body was limp and slightly cold from the lack of warmth, but a tearful Quillac still cradled it as if he were merely fast asleep in her arms. Kahu wept at the sight and fell to his knees – he just couldn’t handle the emotional strain anymore. 

With streams of tears in his eyes and complete sorrow in his heart, Kahu began to call attention from all directions, screaming towards the stars as if he hoped that the Great Spirits were listening. “Damn it all! O Aniu . . . O Great Spirits, why have you forsaken us?”

Quillac gasped at the words her husband spoke. “Kahu! Don’t anger the spirits with your harsh words!” 

“Sorry, Quill,” Kahu huffed, looking back at his mate. “but Aniu said she’d protect our son – she promised! Why should I not be angry when she broke her binding vow?”

“I understand that, but can’t you see? I’m just as upset as you are!” she replied, embracing him after placing their son’s body on the ground. “I wish our son was just sleeping in my arms, . . . but he’s not!” Her eyes began to drip tears, each word about her son invisibly stabbing her heart with a dagger of grief. “I loved him . . . Oh, I loved him . . .” 

“Shh-shh . . .” Kahu calmed himself for a moment, drawing himself closer to his mate’s warm body to comfort her. “I loved him too . . . You’re not alone in your grief . . . No, in our grief . . .” His arms stroked Quillac’s light-colored cheeks as their bodies met in embrace.

Within their hug of several seconds, they shared tears and silent words of comfort – all signs of the ultimate sorrow of their loss. Once they separated, the she-mouse continued, speaking with a sense of calming wisdom despite the grief she felt in her heart. A couple of tears streaked down her cheeks. “Muru was . . .” It seemed quite difficult to speak of her only son in the past tense. “ . . . he was so young and we did our best as parents to love and nurture him as our miracle son, but . . .” Quillac’s voice began to crack once she paused. “i-i-it  . . . it was just his time to join our ancestors in the Paradise of the afterlife.” 

“We couldn’t really predict that, could we?” the darker mouse sniffled. Quillac only shook her head, still with tears streaming. “So . . . I suppose . . . I should apologize to the Spirits for my furious revolt.” As he approached the body of his son, Kahu knelt by it, reaching his hands up into the air as a gesture of peace. “Please, please forgive me for my fury, O Spirits. Calm our souls . . . and offer us comfort as we accept our loss . . .” His head then fell, his nose touching his son’s unmoving chest as a small stream of salty tears trickled from his eyes.

The hurt father wept for a couple of minutes before the form of Quillac’s light palm sat on his shoulder. “Kahu, I know it won’t be easy to move on from this, but think about Aniu . . . and our son . . . The Spirits give, and they take away – it’s all part of the natural cycle from which all creatures live.” Kahu glanced up at her; his wife smiled softly amidst her sorrow and the painful words she uttered. “If we remember that, . . . perhaps we too can move on from this. Besides, neither Muru or the Ancient Spirits would want us to reflect on the bad mistakes of the past, right?” 

“That is correct, Quillac . . .”

My deep words echoed through the ears of all the mouse families that were present. Over fifty other mice, both young and old, had come to pay their respects and offer whatever condolences they could to the family, but once my spiritual form slowly appeared with a flash of mist, all eyes were on my shining face; however, my light eyes were on the two grieving mice that had called me.   

“Oh!” The parents spoke in awed unison. They grasped each other with their tiny arms wrapping around their backs and shoulders. “O Lady!” Their eyes were wide, regardless of their tears, but they and their company lowered their heads in respect for my sudden presence.

“There is no need for formalities now, young ones; time is currently of the essence,” I told them, allowing them to look up once more.  

“Why are you here now?” Kahu asked, breaking the moment of amazement with his voice filled with total exasperation. “Why didn’t you save our son?” Despite the anger on his face, tears continued to fall from his eyes as he talked to me. “Muru . . . he’d probably still be alive if . . . if you protected him . . . He wouldn’t be—”

“That’s enough, Father . . .” A new voice came from my side; it was that familiar voice that silenced Kahu’s rage, repeating the words once more. “That’s enough.” 

I turned my nose towards the ghostly vision of the young rodent that walked out into the moonlight. It almost seemed to outline the creature’s features once the lunar glow made all things clear.

“M-M-Muru?” Quillac stammered out in astonishment at the sight. She looked back and forth from the corpse of her son and the vision that stood beside my white fur. “No . . . no, it can’t be . . . You can’t really be here, . . . can you?” 

“Mother, it is I,” Muru revealed, approaching her with a small smile and shining dark eyes. “I am here.”

“Impossible . . .” The dark-brown mouse murmured. I could sense the disbelief in his voice and in his eyes. “It . . . it can’t be you . . . You’re . . . you’re . . .” 

“Yes, Father – I am dead,” Muru turned to his saddened patriarch while he was near his mother’s arms. I was instantly surprised by the way he serenely accepted his unfortunate predicament, but I had a feeling that he would understand for I knew he was wiser beyond his days. “but Aniu . . . she graciously allowed me to see you again . . . one last time.”

Kahu gasped. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, although he could clearly see Muru with his own eyes. “But why? Why have you come back?” 

I decided to respond this time. “He is no longer meant to be in this world, Kahu. His physical body has broken ties with his soul, thus the son you knew as Muru exists no more.” Although both Kahu and Quillac embraced their son’s vision together amidst their weeping of comfort, I continued on, looking at them with soft eyes of amber-orange. “Brave Kahu, gentle Quillac, . . . your son only wishes for you both to not be troubled by his sudden passing. This meeting was his final wish to you two as a sign of comfort . . . and I respectfully accepted.”I lowered my head in respect for the grieving parents. “I send my humblest apologies to both of you, despite my absence, but now I offer you a prophecy of comfort: Your son’s sacrifice was destined to occur . . . for his destiny is one that not even you would ever realize.”

“I . . . I don’t understand,” Quillac said, looking towards her son. “Did you know about this, Muru?” 

He shook his head. “Oh, no . . . I’ve never known about this before. The Spirits never told me in my visions.”

“That’s because if you had known about your forthcoming death, the Spirits knew that you would never leave home,” I explained to him, as well as the other mice who listened. “We are not allowed to interfere with the natural course of a creature’s cycle of life and death, for it shakes the balance.” 

“I see,” Quillac, the more intelligent of the parents, muttered. “Great Spirits can only see, not do.”

“Again, that is correct,” I replied. “As Great Spirits, we are indeed omnipotent – those that have knowledge of everything, from one’s time of conception to the moment their souls come to join the eternal heaven. We even know what thoughts really lie within one’s heart and mind, no matter what creature they may be and no

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