They died as my father had died, as Broken-Tooth had died, as my sister and the Hairless One had just died--abruptly and brutally, in the full possession of their faculties, in the full swing and rush of life.

Natural death?
To die violently was the natural way of dying in those days.
No one died of old age among the Folk.

I never knew of a case.

Even Marrow-Bone did not die that way, and he was the only one in my generation who had the chance.

A bad rippling, any serious accidental or temporary impairment of the faculties, meant swift death.