The Sunspire through the dreams and disasters.

So, this was what being a year old felt like. Summer walked slowly through the woods, following the distant sound of the falls that echoed between the trunks of the trees. His gaze was cast ahead of him without really seeing it, so deep in his thoughts was he. Even in his distracted state, he still artfully leaped over and around the old and rotting obstacles that littered the floor of Eldershade Grove in his path. He had spent a lot of time in that forest in the days that had shortly preceded that one. He was becoming very familiar with the old trees and the paths that wound between them.

A whole year of life, and Summer somehow felt quite certain that he had not spent it in a way that his father would have approved of. Not only had he allowed his anxiety and depression to get the better of himself even when he'd found a loving and safe pack to take him in, but he had fallen victim to addiction and had shirked all of his responsibilities to them. And while he worked hard to make up for it now, he still could not help but feel that it was too little too late, and worst of all, Dhani would have agreed.

His dark paws finally led him to fallen tree that stretched across the top of Afterglow Falls. Summer's bright eyes swept across it, making sure the surface was safe and free of frost. He found only the soft glow of moonlight upon it, so he leaped up onto it and walked steadily across until seating himself in the very center. Summer heaved a sigh as he slid down onto his belly, allowing his front paws to dangle off its edge towards the steep drop into the pool far below. At length, Summer laid down his head upon them and gave another heavy sigh, drowning in his thoughts again while a light snow fell softly upon his thick obsidian fur.