Sun Mote Copse “The things that make me different are the things that make me, me.” —Piglet

Part of him was very excited to be taking a trip to a new place, and to be going to a new home for a little while, with Meerkat. He was relieved to be finally putting space between himself and his mother, without always having to look over his shoulder, or scent the air to see if she was nearby...It would be so much easier to avoid her when she was nowhere near him. So their conversation had been short, and disappointing. His stoic mother had been more warm toward Meerkat, and firm with him. He felt like a disappointment still- and that she was glad he was going. Like he'd anticipated, she felt at least that he might toughen up, living in a different pack...And that was about all she had to say to him. 

So when they went to the Rendez-vous site to say their last goodbyes to their folks, he wasn't surprised when all he received from his mother, in response, was a howl. I'm out patrolling- have a safe trip, love you! He felt he could've squeezed more emotion from a stone than he could from his mother's farewell howl, but he sighed. It wasn't his job to do that...He'd leave that up to Phox; she was just his stone, now. 

He felt bad, knowing that he was leaving behind young siblings...But they were growing up now, and depended on him a bit less. He wasn't leaving for good, and even if he was...He would've been there for them when they'd needed him the most, at least. Long enough that he'd helped them survive, and that they'd still remember him, which was more than he could say for perhaps others like Avery, Sugar, Nellie or even Fennec who'd left much earlier. Out of all the yearlings, he'd hung around the longest...So he felt like he'd done at least as much as he could. His heart ached, thinking about leaving his younger siblings behind, and he knew the promise of visiting would never be enough...But staying in the Copse with his mother's walking threat hanging over his shoulders was too much. He needed to get out. 

So he lounged near Meerkat, waiting for their goodbye party to arrive.