Heron Lake Plateau guiding light

no pls D:

Kite’s existential crisis was so overwhelming and so all-consuming that her typically gentle, cheerful nature seemed utterly burned away by the wild glint in her fiery eyes. Guilt leapt to join the fray soon after. She’d ruined Eljay’s lesson and caused poor Owen to be cold and soaked! The monochrome fledgling looked blindly around at her siblings, barely registering what they were saying to comfort her, and was indeed silent in the wake of Eljay’s kind reassurance. After a few deep breaths, she felt calmer, but she still felt wretchedly forlorn. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled in a tiny voice. “I di’n’t mean to yell’n run away. I mean, I did.” Be honest, she scolded herself sharply. Her ears drooped momentarily, but she made herself stand tall as she confessed her crime: “I did mean to yell and run away, but I’m still sorry I did it.” She wibble-wobbled her way over to make the rounds, starting with Eljay. She smushed her face against his breastbone in a clumsy answering nuzzle, trembling not only with her usual jitters but with trepidation, too.

It was to Owen, Phoebe, and Vasa that she went next, peppering their faces with apologetic kisses. “Thanks for loving me,” she said simply, “even though…even though.” It occurred to her that she was very lucky to be part of a pack, but more than that, she was very lucky that her pack just happened to be her family.

“I feel better now,” she lied, conveniently forgetting her earlier self-correction to be honest. “I’ll be quiet and learn. Promise.”