Blacktail Deer Plateau people let me tell ya bout my best friend

for @Engel. obvs set before Dawn freakin impales herself on a stick

counting birds.

when aditya was younger, his mind had raced like no other. back and forth, here and there, hopping along and skipping from one subject to the next. it had affected him in various ways: he wasn't as sharp a hunter as he was back then, and his speech tended to be more obnoxious than his manner would suggest.

then, one day, an old man by the name of cyrus crossed his path and taught him one of the most important lessons he'd ever receive: how to count birds. in other words. . .how to relax.

aditya was restless lately. his mind wandered all too much. dawn was away doing her own thing, which was fine, except he felt she was slowly slipping away from him--as so many had--and was feeling the loneliness creep up on him. his heart raced often with terrible thoughts.

so, today, the now-older agouti male sat on the edge of morningside's territory, looking toward the ocean, and counted the sea birds that flew in the distance, their sleek, slim shadows flitting across the sky. one. . .two. .three four fivesixseveneightni-- well, even if they were too many to count. . .he would just let the numbers slip aimlessly through his head and breath. pick it up once more. one. . .two. . .

and his mind was calm.