Even though there is the soft murmur of the crowd that has gathered, even though there is the steady clinking of diamonds as they hit the stone path, even though there is a whisper on the wind, Katniss hears none of it. Her heart is aching, her eyes devoid of all emotion. She can do nothing but watch as Fable covers her lover’s body in a white shroud. She watches as he slowly lifts Metaphor’s body and places it carefully along the tall pyre. It is only when the torch is brought to her that she looks away.
She takes the torch, it’s fire flickering in the every growing moonlight. She can hear Isra speaking, but she cannot hear the words said. In this moment, it is as if no language can be understood. She is frozen in place, unable to move. It is not fear that freezes her movements, but sadness and sorrow. It is the inability to let go that keeps her along Isra’s side. She knows what she must do for she understands that his body has already begun to decompose. She knows by afternoon his stench will fill the city streets. And yet, none of that matters. She wants to spend every last second with him until the earth finally reclaims him.
With a deep and heavy sigh, she steps forward. She places the torch at the bottom of the pyre near where his back hooves rest, watching as the flames slowly begin to consume the lower layers of wood. Steps take her towards his head and she knows she does not have much time. The wood is dry and is burning quickly. Lips reach up to rest against his own, her breath hot upon his nose, trying so desperately to breathe air into his lungs even though she knows his lungs will not return it. Her eyes close softly, her tears dampening the shroud. “My love for you is never ending. It has followed you through time and space and it will follow you into the afterlife. My heart beats only for you…” Her words are nothing short of a whisper and she is uncertain if Isra and Fable can hear her. She can feel the heat of the fire, the flames flickering towards his body. She should step back, to move away from the flames, but she feels nothing. She feels no heat, no pain. It is as if her magic is doing things on its own accord because where the fire is burning her skin, the coat and hair regrow almost immediately. “I will never love again as fiercely as I have loved you…” She will never feel the love of another, the way her heart flutters at just the thought of him. She knows she can never give someone else a part of her that was always meant for Metaphor. A soft kiss is pressed to his lips, her eyes closing and the tears once again soaking the shroud. She does not want this moment to leave, but she knows that soon her lover will be nothing but ash on the wind.
The flames flicker higher, encompassing his body and burning away the shroud. She takes one more look at her lover, one more moment to tell him goodbye. And then she finally steps back and realizes that she too has been burning. Her magic betrays her, once more healing her wounds and not his own. Perhaps it knows that there is a child beginning to grow, still unknown to his own mother. Perhaps her magic knows that the child she carries will be great and will need a great mother to raise him to follow in his father’s footsteps. Perhaps her magic knows just how much Katniss needs this child, to know that her love for Metaphor could create something so great, even though he is no longer with her.
And for hours, Katniss stands watch over the pyre. She watches as the flames consume his body. She watches as the last of her lover is gone. And even when the sun has risen on a new day, she stands there. Her muscles are weak, her body fatigued from pain and from lack of sleep. And only when the pyre collapses in upon itself, does her own body collapse into a heap in the city streets. It is now that she weeps, the cry coming from deep within her lungs is something that seems almost unnatural. It takes her several long moments to realize the cry is coming from her. And then, just as quickly as the scream had come, he fades into blackness as the sun finally peaks over the horizon. A new day has started, a new day without the best part of herself.
@Isra - a long (sorry) closer <3
