Sunset Valley What the future says,

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— blackfell emerges from the shadows, stygian beast blending with the darkness of the night. a bundle of herbs hangs loosely in his jaws, freshly gathered from darukaal’s stash for ishmira and the injured pup.
he had intended to leave them quietly by the den. still, bitterness clung. still, guilt. and something deeper that he sought to ignore, as much as he could.
something that shouldn’t exist.
but that is when he sees her, awake before the blossom of dawn arrived. tension coils in him, an ever-present weight that gnaws at his insides. his muscles are taut as he moves from the shadows and appears from the distant treeline.
the moonlit silence between them insufferable.