Midnight Pigeon

Respite [Comfort II]

been gone a bit lol
got sick, but it was a "my hands are on fire" not the "i can stay in bed and write"
so i didn't write for a while lol

~

"Shall we set off?"

I offered my father a nod. I was in much better condition. I could visit Morro.

I had to. I needed to.

My father lead the way down the mountainside. It was quiet. The wind was soft. It was sunny, yet it wasn't harsh. The small box I held felt cool against my arm.

We reached the bottom of the cliff and set off to the nearby forest. The world passed by, and soon we were surrounded by trees. The sky almost vanished behind the leaves. I could hear the sound of running water in the distance.

Then, the trees barely thinned, and we entered a tiny clearing. A small pond sat nearby, with a river leading into it from the distance.

And beside a set of young trees lied a small grave. A long wooden board stuck out behind the upturned dirt. Morro's stuffed bird sat up against the wooden board. Morro's name had been carved into the wood, and the wood seemed to have been treated with something shiny.

My father and I went to the grave and knelt before it. I set the box down and reached inside. I took out the small bag of seeds and silently planted a collection around the edge of the grave.

I soon set the seeds back in the box and pulled out an origami bird. The paper it was made of, my father gave to me. He said the paper was waterproof and would last a long time.

I set the origami bird beside the plush bird and sat back.

"...He's okay, then..." I quietly said.

My father nodded. "This place is far from others. It was the best place I could find for him. No one will disturb him."

I sniffed. Tears fell. "It hurts a lot..."

"I know," My father quietly spoke. His voice was soft and barely trembled. "I know."

I cried. My father set a hand on my back.

It hurt. It will always hurt. But at least Morro was somewhere nice. I couldn't imagine anywhere better than this clearing. A small pond nearby, the soft sound of the river. Soon, there will be flowers. And maybe bees for the flowers.

And the pair of birds will be here for a while. Even if they weren't real, they were real to me. A plush bird I made years and years ago, and an origami bird from the instructions Morro taught me.

I caught my breath and took a moment to collect my thoughts. "Thank you, Morro. For being there for me, for listening to me, for gifting your Element to me... I hope it's peaceful, here."

My father sighed. "Thank you for teaching me much about this world, Morro. And I am sorry for not believing you to the fullest. Though the Weapons do not deem you a saviour, you are still the saviour to many individuals."

We stuck together in silence for a long while. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to speak. I didn't know if I could do much else without bursting into tears.

Eventually, though, my father gently moved. "We should return home before the others worry about us."

I barely nodded. "Yeah," I said. I held a sad smile as I glanced between the plush bird and the origami bird.

The two birds will keep watch while we're gone.

~

We returned to the monastery with sad smiles. The monastery usually was quiet, though currently it didn't seem so.