Firefly Glen but if we go, we go together

His words hit her like a blow, stealing all the breath from her lungs. When she sipped in another lungful, she felt a little lighter for it. It all still weighed heavily on her young shoulders, though hearing that it might've been something else that truly triggered Atlas lessened her guilt somewhat. It made sense too, that Osiris's violent death might affect him so horribly, much more than Meerkat's oblivious attempts to comfort him.

"It really does," she agreed quietly. Losing Atlas was just the most recent in a slew of terrible tragedy that Meerkat still hadn't processed entirely. But as Antares pointed out to her, they had no choice but to move on with their lives and try to pick up the pieces. Meerkat felt a little hopeless on this point—surely the pack had been shattered beyond repair—but maybe...

Antares wanted to know if she was going to be okay. Meerkat truly didn't know how to answer that other than to say, "I'm not sure." It was her honest answer. She'd never been through anything like this. It had changed her and she wasn't entirely sure who she'd be in the end. She did not imagine she would ever be as blithely, brightly carefree as before.

"How about you?" she asked, not only because it was easier to focus on someone else's pain but because she genuinely worried. Antares had lost two brothers in a matter of days, not to mention warm bodies from the ranks. She wanted to comfort him, though she didn't know how except to add, "Is there anything I can do?"