Keiba has just returned home after collecting some firewood, she looked up at the darkening sky and hurried inside. She set the firewood on her firepit and got started preparing dinner. It has been a week and a half since she returned to the Ka'Wai island and despite the other Dralics wariness of her she was still trying her best to get readjusted to the Ka'Wai way of life, and it also really helps that she is reunited with her childhood friend Kona.

"Keiba? Are you there?"

Keiba heard the familiar face of Kona and quickly made her way towards the door.

"Hello, Kona," Keiba greeted her friend happily, her smile faltered when she noticed his gloomy expression as well as the urn he is carrying. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I was sent by the Elders to return this to you," Kona said as he extended his arms toward Keiba.

"What is it?" Keiba asked curiously as she stepped out of her Yoja.

"It's an urn containing the ashes of your mother," Kona answered with sadness.

A flash of lightning followed by the sound of thunder was heard as Keiba's eyes widened and her face grew pale, her mind immediately flashed to her as a child crying on her mother's body that was covered in a white blanket. Neither of them moved, they felt droplets of water hit them before it started to rain but they still didn't move. Kona was getting worried and before he could voice his concern for Keiba she suddenly lifted her shaky arms towards Kona, she gently took the Urn from him and simply stared at it. Her mind flashed to her life on the streets, stealing food, running away, and hiding from the Dralics who wanted to help her. The cold nights she spent crying, the days she went without food, her being trapped on an island, the life-threatening encounters with predators, and the sleepless nights she would cry for her mother before falling asleep. Her fight for survival, meeting her Salk, and her goal to return to the Ka'Wai island.

Keiba brought the Urn close to her chest, her body trembling as she recalled the looks of fear the other Dralics showed her when she return, the children calling her a savage and running at the sight of her. Tears started streaming down the sides of her face when she remembered the day she visited the Yoja she grew up in only to find another family living in it, it was then that she realized that there was nothing for her here, that she was all alone. With her mother's passing, she didn't just lose someone she loved but a part of herself. She didn't belong here. She held the Urn tightly as she let out an agonizing wail.

Kona's heart shattered upon hearing his dear friend's cry, he wanted so badly to hold her in his arms and tell her it was going to be okay but he had to hold himself back, as much as he wanted to comfort Keiba a part of him new that she needed this. To grieve for her mother and the childhood that was stolen from her.

This beautiful, sad piece is done by  origami-orange She did an amazing job conveying the sense of loss.

Dralics are a closed species by  origami-orange

Kona belongs to  KasaiOkami

Keiba belongs to me.