Redhawk Caldera A brand new black hole in the solar system

Elwood's attention was only drawn away from Gannet when Finley suddenly departed, followed closely by Towhee. He frowned after them, fighting the urge to go comfort his mate himself. Surely Eljay's "test" would be a lingering topic of conversation between them, but for now, he recognized her need to remove herself from the situation. Finley had never been great at handling her emotions; he wasn't sure how helpful she would let Towhee be, but he appreciated his goddaughter's efforts nonetheless.

With a sigh, he turned back towards Gannet, who had replied to Elwood's last question with another concise yet simultaneously abstract answer. There was a bemused expression on his face, but, as always, Gannet seemed to be seeing the positive side; his tail tapped the ground a few times as he awaited an explanation from Elwood. "Thank you for telling us," he finally said earnestly after a few moments of silence. He glanced in the direction Finley and Towhee had gone before continuing.

"It's just...hard for us to hear. We didn't know he was planning to leave in order to test himself." He almost added, "We didn't know Eljay felt that way" -- but that wasn't true. Eljay had suffered from low self-esteem from childhood, so despite the shock that they felt, it wasn't necessarily surprising. With a small, sad smile, he added, "We miss him."