Haunted Wood when i was seventeen, a hurricane destroyed my town

set for the night of Aug. 10

his body was healing, but his heart was not.

he missed home. he thought he'd find one here in the form of the nightwalkers, but they'd mostly dispersed, and he found himself often alone. alone with his thoughts—always a dangerous thing.

so that was why, when he heard aphrodite's voice pierce through the howling wind of a thunderstorm (would it ever stop raining?!), he thought it true.

aphrodite! surya yelled back, stumbling upward and crashing through the nearby brush.

surya! she cried. (the wind cried? his mind cried?)

her voice led him to the river, churning, a muddy mess and well over its banks. a flash of lightning lit the sky, and he swore he could see the outline of her body struggling in the nearby shallows. aphr— his voice was swallowed up by a thunderous boom.

he waded in. . .ankle-deep, knee-deep, chest-deep. he began to paddle against the wind and waves, heading toward the shape in the darkness. pressed his muzzle into it, only to find the taste and smell and feel of sodden wood.

a fallen tree, dislodged by the storm.

aphrodite, he sobbed, and leaned against the bark for a moment. but then he felt a tug both inside and out, and with a sickening lurch, he was dragged under.

the current was not normally this powerful, and he could swim—just not very well with three good legs and still-healing ribs. his head broke the surface intermittently, mouth open in a gasp. it was torture: up, down, up, down, breathing, drowning, life, death.

eventually, he tired. eventually, his legs lost the strength to carry on. eventually, he stopped feeling the jagged tear of the river rocks upon his flesh. eventually, nothing much mattered anymore.

a sensation, suddenly, of someone gripping his scruff. maa? he thought hopefully, and gave himself up to the darkness.

sorry ;-; i'll close up open threads