**ATTICUS**
The forest is quieter than it should be, and I notice it immediately because silence like this never happens by accident, especially not along a border that hums with tension even on its calmest days, so I let that awareness settle into my bones as I move through the trees with slow deliberate steps, my boots silent against the damp earth while my mind keeps circling the same thoughts it has been chewing on for days without relief.
Patrolling has always helped clear my head, because movement gives my anger somewhere to go and structure keeps me from spiralling into worst case scenarios I cannot control, but tonight the rhythm refuses to settle me, and the further I move from the pack the heavier my chest feels, like something is pressing inward instead of easing, like the for
