Stone Circle I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map

there were suddenly several wolves standing beside the border, but alsek couldn’t complain; he enjoyed the company of familiar faces because it meant more ears to be entertained. while the adults held their conversation, he continued explaining the intricacies of easthollow’s territory to the kids, using his best technique to make it seem more interesting.

the first moment of silence, alsek opened his mouth to ask: are you guys going to sleepover? that way, he would have more time to spend with juniper and winter, and they could actually go explore something without the adults around. 

actually, he corrected himself, can i stay over with you guys? if he went with them to whitebark, he could see artyom, germanicus, satya, and-

vanished?

alsek stopped talking. he took complete pause, in fact, moving only to settle himself beside polaris. what did dawn mean, vanished? as in, gone and never coming back; as in, gone like their parents? is she going to be in my dreams, too? he whispered to pola, hoping that her answer might be an immediate ‘no’ so that some relief might come of this conversation.

still, he wasn’t hopeful. the drunkenness of extended sleep deprivation and consequential exhaustion kept him from feeling most of the pain to come, but not all of it. he turned his face away from dawn, from her children, and from valette to hide his swelling tears.