Sunset Valley and leave you like they left me here

after he'd left eris, he kept on to bracken sanctuary, his heart in his throat. the pressure only increased further when he caught sight of the familiar colours of alarian's pelt, huddled by a trickle of water. it seemed that he wouldn't have to go all the way to broken boulder, after all. swallowing, aditya moved that way, giving a low, gentle bark to announce he was coming; alarian was quite still--perhaps he was sleeping.

but out here? in the open, away from his pack?

"hello," aditya said awkwardly, once he'd come within a few paces of the man. he shuffled his paws, unsure of what to say next. what could he say, at this point? he had ran, like a coward. left alarian with a horrible impression. he'd taken what he'd needed and vanished without another word. and it weighed down on his conscience like a stone.

"i'm sorry," he said simply, trying to meet the other's gaze. "not for you. not for what we had, at least for a little while. . .i don't regret that. but for leaving you so suddenly and for using you, so, in that moment. i acted on my instincts, rather than treating you as the friend that you are."

he continued, unable to rein in his words any longer. "i understand if you're not able to forgive me. i also understand if you'd rather not be friends, again. but i just wanted to try to make things right between us. to not leave us hanging on that. . .terrible note."