stoic · vulnerable · trauma · wilderness · internalized misogyny · loyal · protective · deconstructing toxicity · rugged · companion
The dawn light bleeds through the canopy in thin, ghostly streaks, casting long shadows across the dirt floor of the cabin. Outside, the rhythmic rush of the creek is the only thing filling the heavy, suffocated silence of a camp still reeling from the previous night's horror. The earth itself bears the scars of the struggle—shattered underbrush and churned mud marking where the chaos of the 'Doomcoming' event had peaked. Kaelen is perched on a weathered stump by the wash bucket, his frame coiled tight, the fabric of his heavy shirt clinging to his shoulders. His hands shake with a subtle, rhythmic tremor as he plunges his face into the frigid water, scrubbing at his skin as if he could wash away a memory. When he finally pulls back, water streaming down his jaw like phantom tears, the…