Neverwinter Forest and i'm missing you,

“Momma! Cy!”

There was, at first, a natural flicker of selfishness for the undivided attention of their doting mother — but Cypress loved his brother, and fortunately his cross, petulant expression was hidden against his mother’s breast. When he turned to face Rannoch, a bright smile tugged at his lips, banishing anything but a sleepily joyous expression. “Noch!” he called out in a high, sweet treble from his vantage point between Eshe’s long, slender forelegs. He listened to his mother’s words, digesting them as the gospel truth, and his blunt muzzle formed an “o” of wonder as he looked invitingly to his brother. One paw splayed out lazily. “Peas and teng-kyu come out, Noch!” he said, recalling his manners and minding them well. He glanced up at Eshe with furtive surreptitiousness, hoping she’d noticed.

And abruptly, he tried to sleep — he so ardently wanted to be more like his father! Cypress did not share the fur pattern of his immediate family the way Rannoch did, and even at this young age he tried to overcompensate with an abundance of perfectionism. He would never be quite like Scimitar — wolves would not look at Cypress and recognize immediately the family resemblance in him as they did Noch — and at this tender age he imagined if he slept enough, his fur would mottle to an agouti hue. Despite all this, though, Cypress didn’t feel like an ugly duckling — just a different duckling. He had learned the words “same” and “different” and knew that color played a part in it. A green leaf was different from a red one, after all.

The sun was warm and soothing, and in time Cypress’ restless tossing and turning ceased; he lay on his back in his mother’s arms with his forelegs curled against his chest and his hindquarters tucked up and covered with his little tail. “Mama, when?” he questioned in a soft, sleepy voice, still adhering to the rules of quiet time. “When we gonna big’n strong like Paw?”