Horizon Ridge all your letters in the sand

what had he expected? for her to agree, to find comfort in his words? perhaps his life had grown too idyllic on the plateau, for it stung when she threw words like barbs at him. the girl was lashing out, blanketing whatever pain or loneliness she held in her heart with fire. he understood. . .and he knew he couldn't reason with her, at this point.

adi called out a weak farewell, heaving a sigh as he fell silent once more, once again in solitude. the anger at engel's depravity still simmered beneath the surface, this time tinged with sorrow for the wiry girl padding along the beach.

the names she had given him rang in his head like the calls of songbirds. ingram. lichen. he hoped she'd find them, eventually. if he saw them, he'd point them in the right direction. for her sake, for theirs. . .and, in a small part, for his, to sleep peacefully at night knowing the girl had found her brothers.

no one should be alone. no one should feel abandoned.

after several minutes more of quietly looking at the sea, aditya rose, climbing back over the rocks toward the plateau. trying to figure out how to move on.