not strong enough.

[Tristan Nakado]

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Never once did he expect or ask her to do better or do anything. She had suffered, and he could see this, as clearly as he could see the burns weren’t all that had happened. Down they went, over crumbling rocks and dry grass. Somehow they found the ground and a grassy area where they settled, Tristan resting his head on her neck gingerly, as if she might break. For a while, all he did was listen. “I’m sorry. You did what you could. They’ll be in a better place, and they’ll be there together.”

With his body wrapped around her, his tail gave a feeble wag before it curled against her hindquarters. “You’re tough, you would have made it,” he reminded her, keeping his eyes on the strange forest, listening to the sounds of the unknown area. “We can look for them or we can start over.”

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