Blacktail Deer Plateau i was lightning, before the thunder

grayday was gracious about it all, keeping his attention on the boy and not himself. it was true to character, but it didn't alleviate aditya's concern or curiosity in the slightest. what had happened? and was grayday's eye the only casualty, or had others been hurt, too?

he kept quiet for now, not bothering the leader with any more questions. pema was comforting the boy--named burr, by his own admission--and grayday had summoned one of his younger daughters to assist the easthollow child back to the dens. aditya felt a pang as he saw the boy's eyes fill with tears; as someone who had been launched into far too many big adventures at a young age, beyond his control, he could empathize.

adi did feel bad for ignoring burr earlier, and sank to his level, after giving dawn's shoulder a gentle touch with his muzzle. he knew she probably felt slighted by grayday's avoidance of her questions, but all would be answered in time.

"hello, burr," he said, giving the boy a kind smile. "i don't know if you caught it earlier, on the mountain--my name's aditya. i know it's a little overwhelming, right now, but you're in good hands with pema here."