Submission (#722) Approved

418 words

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Shifting was still hard, but Alorus had managed to more or less figure himself out. Or well, so he'd thought. It had taken him a while to realize that while shifted, his emotions were, in fact, enhanced, and that those sharp, strong emotions were the key to losing control of himself. With that knowledge there was advancement in that department, but also... some slide backs because it soon became very clear to the Amiyn wool, that he wasn't exactly very good at dealing with emotions, and that this, may, in fact, come from a long time of pushing away feelings and not quite dealing with grief.

The day it hit him had been a day like any other, and he'd been deep in thought, practicing his mediation, shifting in and out of his shifter form, like he'd been indicated to do, in an attempt to control it.

The trigger had been an entirely mundane thing, so silly in hindsight that he couldn't quite believe what had happened when things calmed down. He didn't quite even register most of it until it was too late.

Akiko had simply taken a moment to pass his room and leave a plate of apple pie on the table. He'd been mid shift and... something about the scent of that pie had triggered a barrage of memories he usually tended to bury deep down. Warmth, caring eyes and arms holding him when he was much, much younger.

He rarely thought about his parents. They were long gone now. Accidents happen. That's what Grandpa had always said. The older wool had never really stopped to talk about his daughter, Alorus's mother, nor did either male really... take time to grieve. They'd both gotten busy, pushing the thoughts and notions away, and when Alorus had opened his eyes, or at least registered his surroundings, he'd found his room had been wrecked. Destroy by his newly acquired ice breath and his bed torn to pieces.

Under his claws, unharmed but visibly shaken was Akiko, who looked up at him and seemed to pinpoint the moment he came back to the present. She let out a slow sigh and relaxed her muscles, allowing the large shifter to get off of her, shift back to normal and have a good cry at her expense.

Thankfully, only his room had suffered, but it soon became rather obvious that Alorus needed to start dealing with his old woes and grief of his past if he ever wanted to shift fully....