Fairspell Meadow I really hope that you find happiness

The meadow was pretty, and on any other occasion Sobek would have been thrilled to be visiting it. Visting being the chief word there; he'd seen it before, actually, and didn't think it was as special the second or third time around — and especially not after fleeing the dark forest which was his home. He had made frequent stops to peer over his shoulder at the dark smudges of the trees, watching as they retreated from him. Wishing desperately that they did not have to abandon the woods; it felt like he was losing more than just a home in that pivotal moment, and he had. Sobek's brother was gone. It didn't feel real, and he was too young to fully understand the permanence of it, each time he paused to look back at the smaller and smaller band of trees he found himself wishing Anansi was there with him. Alas, the meadow would have to be home for the forseeable future. The open ground proved to be easier to traverse and the danger of falling rocks or uprooted, collapsing trees had been nullified by Maegi's choice. He did not doubt his mother in any way—but he did miss the ghost who completed the trio of children.

Sobek felt a weight pressing on him from all sides despite the openness of the meadow; he did not know what to call the feeling of despair, did not know that his body was reacting to the recent losses without his control. He felt ill. He could not eat or sleep without thinking of Anansi, and even when he sought comfort from his twin sister, his silence was longer lasting than ever before. He did not bestow kisses as regularly nor cuddle up close to her; he did not speak to their mother when she came to check on them, nor allow himself the pleasure of Rowan's company when he felt despondent. A part of him did not want to besmirch Anansi's memory—unwilling to let himself move on so quickly or replace the ghost with a new brother, despite being so adamant that he befriend Rowan on earlier days. So he withdrew beyond the usual behaviors he oft displayed in the woods: the lurking, spying, creeping, and playing, had distilled in to monotonous action, utilized to fill his time but not much else. He found no joy in watching the adults scout the meadowland. The earth siezing beneath his paws no longer made him curious or afraid, he was emptied of all of that. And he took to roaming on his own, lurking on the side of the meadow that would give him a better view of his true home, as if he might spy Anansi somewhere nearby.

Today he was doing just that: but it was not Anansi he saw, but an older fellow. A shape that reminded him of Jakoul first-off but with different colors, a toasted complexion topped with a pale face. Even from a distance Sobek could tell this was some foreign entity; but he was unafraid, as blank in that moment as he was in every moment. His pace increased as he trailed after the stranger, keeping to the tallest of the grassy areas and trying to remain anonymous for as long as he could—which proved difficult, as Sobek had trained himself to lurk in Blackfeather's twists and turns in near-total darkness, not here where there was only stalks of dry grass. The stranger's path led towards the mountain so at some point Sobek slowed down to observe them too, enthralled by the sight of stones breaking from the soil and tumbling. It sounded so much like the destructive sound of the tree which had fallen upon his brother that he felt utterly gutted by the memory, and even shouted out to the roaming figure ahead without forethought: No! Anansi!!