Broken Boulder spin for you like your favorite records used to

for SMLELEp ❤

Something was wrong when he woke up; something he couldn't quite put a name to, though it forced him to his feet nonetheless. For several beats he could only stand and stare at the mess around him, chest tight. It was all wrong— why was it all wrong? He shuffled and nosed uselessly at the plants for a few moments, quickly becoming overwhelmed with the size of the task.
He couldn't fix it. Alarian abandoned the task, suddenly wanting nothing more than to be anywhere else. Anywhere away from all of this mess he couldn't fix. He bolted from his den, heart pounding inexplicably. That overwhelmed him, too; the openness of the land, the danger of running into another, but he couldn't stop himself. Maybe, just maybe if he got far enough from the den— far enough from the others— far enough from any evidence of his failure, he would feel okay.

He couldn't have known that nothing would help. Alarian stopped finally along the creek, close to where the Bracken Woods bordered the Sanctuary. He was reluctant; he wasn't done running. It wasn't like him to stay. But the thought of leaving— he sucked in a breath, settling back on his haunches a few feet away from the creek with tension written throughout his posture and expression. It just wasn't an option anymore, and that was terrifying.