Sunrise

"Sunrise? It is Ajal's last good deed."

Cuore tilted his head as he stared up at Khan, who was already up when the leopard awoke to get a glimpse of the sunrise. Even while staying with the elephants, he had chosen to keep the habit up, but this was the first time he had thought to question the Abdulbaith on their beliefs about it. There had to be an explanation other than the one he had been provided by his mother as a child. After the way the colony had acted, the way the leopards and their prophecies had screwed him over, Cuore could not believe that they were the ones responsible for creating something as beautiful as the sunrise. There had to be some other reason for it, and he asked Khan in hopes that the elephant could supply a more satisfactory answer.

"Ajal's last good deed?" He echoed, tail flicking back and forth behind him as he sat beside the elephant.

"Yes, for even Ajal, as cruel a god as he is, has some good in him. The god of death is not without compassion, even if he is terrible to us. Even if he is the one that causes us to pass on." Khan looked out towards the sunrise, pointing his trunk up to the sky to illustrate his point. "For those that pass on, if we tend to their bones, are granted the opportunity to paint the skies with color during the day and night. Sunrise is their reminder to us that they are still there, watching over us and painting something beautiful for us to look at."

Cuore nodded, considering the information that Khan had just presented him with. The leader of the Gravekeepers, Baqi's Abdulbaith, always seemed wise beyond his years. Cuore admired him greatly, and in this scenario, things were no different. He wasn't sure whether or not he believed the reason that Khan had provided him with, but out of the two stories he had heard so far, the one that the elephants told seemed far more enticing. How could it not be? Instead of the sun running away from the moon, fighting not to be caught and murdered by his brother, it was a gift both to those that died and those who lived. For the dead, it was a chance to make the sky a work of art, and for the living, it was a reminder that the dead were still watching over them.

Though he wasn't sure that it was the truth, for the time being, Cuore would choose to believe it.