Chapter Text
Skye was near the top of the hill at last…
It had been quite a trek, and had taken the better part of the morning, but she was finally almost to her favorite place in the whole of Salzburg. She had grown up in these hills, and whenever she could make the time to get away from the Abbey, she would go to one of the many hills like this one that surrounded her hometown. But THIS hill was by far the best one around.
This hill gave her such a beautiful view of her home valley. The mountains that surrounded Salzburg, almost like a great wall that separated it from the rest of the world, the hills that rolled like a blanket from the mountains, the great forests that looked like huge green patches upon said blanket, the town far below, looking more like toys from this height, the great castles that had stood watch over Salzburg for centuries, and the lake, like a giant mirror looking back to a gorgeous blue sky…
Today, the sky had been so blue, the breeze had been slow and comforting, carrying a thousand sweet scents of home and cooking and forest and spring, the birds had been singing so perfectly as if today was just a day to sing with joy, and to a soul like Skye's, it had been too much. She had been unable to stop her feet from running, (more like skipping) out of the Abbey that was her home.
She truly loved life at the Abbey, and as a sincerely devout mammal, she felt that she was also doing the right thing, but on days like today she couldn’t help but feel like something was missing in her life. She had devoted her entire adult life to becoming a nun. She had never had many friends, and the couple she did have at the Abbey she knew were simply more polite then those who made it clear that they didn’t want her at the Abbey. But it was more then that…
It was a longing for something that was simply impossible for a nun. She didn’t quite know why it was always there… As a nun, she would be doing good work. She would care for other mammals, help them get through their problems by seeking something greater then themselves, and most importantly to her, she would have the chance to help kits who had lost their parents like she had.
But every once in a while, she also wished that she could find THE ONE. The one mammal whom she could love, and be loved by, forever. Foxes, despite all the effort made by them to hide it, were very emotional creatures. When they felt something, it was usually felt very strongly, and over time foxes as a species had learned to keep that hidden by joking, or deflecting, or snarking with those they were not close to. When it came to family, it was even stronger, and love could send a fox to the heights of happiness, or the chasms of despair, and TRUE LOVE, something that foxes tended to be good at finding, always changed their lives permanently. No fox was ever the same after finding TRUE LOVE. And when she was really honest with herself, she knew that that was what she longed for, wished that it could just happen to her the way it had happened to so many others.
But it hadn’t. No Tod had shown any serious interest in her, and even though a couple had told her she was rather attractive, (not that she really believed them) they weren’t the ones for her. And with her nearing the end of her studies, she had decided that with the life she had chosen that it would be unwise to keep hoping that such love would come along. She wouldn’t ever just accept anyone, just to be married. She had waited, and it hadn’t come. It saddened her to think that that empty part of her heart would be permanent, but she had come to the conclusion that if that was not the life destined for her, then she would make do with the life she had been gifted.
As she came to the crest of the hill, she stopped her sad musings as the view replaced any other thoughts and she lost her breath. She had been up here so many times during her difficult youth, but it never ceased to amaze her just how breathtaking the view of the mountains and the valley and the forests and town was. And to top it all off, it was the most beautiful spring day in recent memory. The same wonderfully perfect sky, and breeze, and smells, they all came together to create a scene that could only be experienced by most in the form of a dream. (Or maybe a really nice postcard…)
Her sad thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind for the moment. If she could never find her lifemate, then maybe she could marry the view from this spot! So to speak… she thought. But even that thought was pushed aside as a euphoria overtook her at being here, the whole world she had ever known below her, the fresh grass beneath her paws, that perfect breeze brushing through her shedding winter coat, the sun warming her as if saying: “I missed you, but I’m back. Everything will be fine now…”
She could no longer contain her happiness… She had a musical soul, and this moment sang to her soul in a way that could only ever happen on the silver screen, but she knew this was one such moment, she could practically hear an orchestra begin to play a song she had loved ever since she had been a little kit… She heard, no felt the drums, the strings, the wind, and a grand brass section heading towards a crescendo and she twirled as she lost herself to the music in her soul.
🎼🎶 “The hills are aliiiiive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years!”
She did a turn, taking in again this view that she doubted would ever feel this perfect again..
“The hills fill my heaaaaaart with the sound of music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears.”
She began to walk as she continued singing, and came up to a cluster of baby birch trees which she began weaving through as she almost waltzed to her song, her elegant fluffy tail brushing along each sapling like a pull-worm toy.
“My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees,”
She caressed a baby tree as she passed underneath it’s branches, truly lost to the moment and to the beauty of nature.
“My heart wants to sigh like a chime that fliiiiieeessss, from a church on a breeze…”
She saw a small brook out of the corner of her eyes, and completely lost to the
moment as she was, ran to it on an impulse.
“To laugh like a brook as it trips and falls over stones on it’s waaaay,”
She couldn’t help but grab a small pebble and throw it into the moving water. She felt like a little kit again, and was reveling in the sheer joy this moment was bringing her as she ran across the water on a couple of rocks that had laid there for ages like stepping stones.
“To siiing through the niiiiighht, like a Lark who is learning to pray,”
She ran back to the summit of the hill, and stopped again to take in this scene again, so that just maybe, the memory would last forever…
“Iiiiiiiiii goooo to the hiiiilllllss, when my heart is lonely…”
Some bit of her sadness came back at those lyrics, but was thankful that it was for only a moment…
“I know I will heeeeaaaarr what I’ve heard befooooooorrreee,”
She put her paws together in a reverent manner, truly thinking grateful thoughts for this day.
“My heart will be bleeesssseed with the sound of muuuuuusiiiiiiic,”
One more perfect day…
“And I’ll siiiiiiiing ooooooonce moooooooooooooreeeeeeeeeee.”
…
She stood there for a content moment as her euphoria began to calm back down to normal. It wasn’t everyday that the gates just happened to be open when things are this perfect… I wish everyday was like today… she thought. But speaking of the Abbey…
She thought as she was still coming back to reality that she could hear bells, church bells, from that tiny toy town waaaaaaaaaay down the hill… How far had she walked? What TIME was it!?!
Things snapped back into focus almost painfully, not painfully like a head hurt, but painfully like a heart hurt, because her perfect moment was already passed, and the universe had decided she was late… Again… This WEEK…
But yesterday doesn’t count… She added to herself... It hadn’t been her fault that mud puddle had jumped her dress while she had been pursuing that simply adorable family of ducks...
She thought back to the route she had taken to get to this spot… And wished once again that once in a while she would just do the practical thing, and stay put in the Abbey… or at LEAST stay within the limits of Salzburg… She had quite a long run ahead of her if she wanted to be back before dark…
Grabbing her head in frustration as these realities came to her like hail, she grabbed the hem of her dress and took off in a run down the hill… Only to stop as she remembered her wimple, which she had abandoned on the grass somewhere behind her.
After a moment of retracing her steps, she found the plain black headdress and grabbed it with an annoyed “OOOHHH” as if all this was it’s fault and began RUNNING like her future depended on it…