Redhawk Caldera lazy afternoons

this'll be my last post in here! but i'll definitely stalk the rest of this thread :)

Though Eljay had intended to bring the rabbit from the cache like mommy instructed and return later, he found his courage sinking further and further as he made his way along the path to the river. Tears fogged up his eyes as he felt utterly confused. One moment he thought he understood the truth, and the next he wondered if Uncle P had been lying to him (but why would he?) because Peter couldn't really be dead, could he? He was just a little boy and he'd never hurt anyone. Wars were fought in Eljay's heart between the truth and his defense mechanisms while he trailed down to the river and the cache. He unearthed the rabbit mommy asked him for and stared at it, feeling numb.

Everyone thought him crazy, he realised then, they had to, because he thought things were real that weren't and because he denied things that had happened. When he heard Uncle P's words in his head he knew that it was true, he remembered holding Peter's decapitated head close; but the next moment he remembered that that had just been a dream. But did it really matter what was real? How could he feel as though Peter was alive if he was dead? How could his mind play tricks on him when Peter's death felt like no more than a bad nightmare? How could such a terrible event have really happened?

"Oh, Peter, everyone thinks I've gone mad," he mumbled to his own blurry expression in the river's water, and his ears folded back as he fought the tears. "You're right, I'm sorry — I'm gonna try better and take good care of my baby siblings and yours." He smiled blearily as his eyes turned to the water and whispered, "It'll be our secret..." And he sat and stared for a good couple of hours, at times talking to the imaginary picture of Peter in his mind and at times just sitting there; he'd forgotten that he was supposed to return, for now, content to avoid social engagement that would likely only upset him again.