Phoenix Maplewood smile no matter what they tell you

things were starting to pile up too fast for aditya to handle. now, he was doing so mostly alone--dawn was scarce, and he hadn't been able to find her and discuss all that had happened. alya was on the mend, but still not well enough to travel. they had desdemona, now, but she was still settling into the place; and meanwhile, shale was still very much absent, as were some others.

inwardly panicking, he stopped in the midst of a border patrol and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. what normally did the trick now had no effect on him; he was well and truly underwater. he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this overwhelmed.

there were options, he knew. he had gone over them one by one every night before he went to sleep, weighing the merits, the pros and cons. perhaps two moons ago, there would have been multiple ways this could go, but now adi saw only one choice. even if it wasn't the right one, it couldn't be helped. it was sink or swim, and aditya did not intend to drown.

he lifted his muzzle and called for @Sunny, hoping the hunter caught the urgency in his tone and came with haste.