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He was so close. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to continue on. So he had instead chosen to tackle the falls. It was a difficult climb, especially for one in his condition, but he made it none the less. He knew he was dangerously close up here, to them. But deep down, he realised they were family too... the little ones... They carried some of the same blood that coursed through his veins. It only made him feel all the worst for what he had done.

He looked down the falls, to the jagged rocks below. It would be so easy. It could all be over...Just like that. All he had to do was step into the water. The current would be strong enough and it would take his broken body with it. Over, under, onto the rocks below...to where he had met Anyu and Kashikoi. He wondered whatever had happened to those two...

Anyu had vanished, even Willie, the closest thing he had come to a mate was gone... and even if she returned now, she wouldn’t want him, with half of his face missing and only one good eye. Both of his ears torn and a leg that only sometimes worked, if he got enough rest and the weather was mild enough...

It was going to be a long, hard winter for the shell of a man. If he decided to face it at all.

He stood on his perch and he contemplated his future... More-so, whether or not he actually had one.

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