Sunset Valley yeah. i couldn't either.

one.

one heavy sigh escaped him in a slip. one bear. one bear who had come out from the depths of hell to terrorize —

two...

young boys. two bodies laid in the snow, dusted by it now even too. two boys who had been excited for the world beyond and just as swiftly kicked down by it.

he had forgot to say three as he laid there and considered more things than he ever had in his life.

he remembered how he had been extended an invite to come to the rise and now he wondered if he should ever leave home at all. if he should ever bother to even show his face again. or maybe he needed to go far away from home. leave swordfish back in the hands of safety, then slink away.

if shardik was around, quen could trail him off maybe. make things right.

he inhaled and found it ached too, the shift of his ribs on his spine.

he thought of maman rosalyn and wondered how she had endured as much as she had. he thought of njord with his own collection of scars now.

guilt burned in the form of bile in the back of his throat.