Hushed Willows she took a long cold look at me

he liked to follow the water. it had taken him, eventually, to the vast sea, and all was well. . .for a little while. until it wasn't. until the ocean grew angry and began to rise, rise, and swallow the shore. he wanted to stay longer but it soon became clear that it was no place for any creature, let alone a boy. so off he went again.

much to his surprise, the landscape became slowly familiar. the place where he met illidan. . .the ravine where he'd gone to mourn mummy. . .and he felt his heart leap into his throat as the willows rose over the horizon, peaceful and inviting.

once upon a time, he would have avoided them like the plague. but cam had shed all the tears he had and was old enough, now, to know lily wasn't coming back. and oh, the faces within the willows—his father! his siblings! olive, and seabreeze, and aeryn and minnow and and and—

the gangly youth took off at a dash, yipping with delight as he crossed the borders and found himself within the sanctum of elysium.

except. . .not?

dad? cam called out, soon finding that the forest was uncharacteristically empty. and while it had always been quiet, it had never been silent. there was an eeriness to the place now that wasn't present before, a stillness. . . he swallowed, and tried again. dad? — lana? — ziggy?

on and on, traveling the well-worn trails, shouting out every name he knew. he reached the little stream with the little fish and sat down with a thump, the dust rising up around him.

not even the birds were singing.

a deep-seated dread overcame him, and cam tumbled, hyperventilating, into the stranglehold of a panic attack, wheezing by the banks of the creek.