Redsand Canyon For me to walk away

She tried to control her expression at first, before remembering it didn’t matter. Towhee gave in to the urge to frown deeply as Fennec spoke, her orange eyes hanging on every word that left her daughter’s lips. She had plenty of thoughts swirling around in her mind, though she did not interrupt. It was pretty obvious Fennec just needed to vent for a few minutes.

Towhee drew in a long breath, trapping it in her lungs momentarily before exhaling. She could certainly relate. How many times had her loved ones left her over the course of her lifetime? She’d lost count long, long ago. Over time, she’d come to accept this as an inevitable part of life. Everybody left at some point. Sometimes they came back. Most of the time, they didn’t. There was literally no one in Towhee’s life that hadn’t left her behind at some point.

But it didn’t seem like a very comforting thing to say to Fennec, nor particularly constructive. And her daughter had asked for advice. It made Towhee reflect on the one time she’d left the Teekon Wilds—in part because of Fennec herself—to spend some time with Raven. Her sister had given her some great tools for coping, though in the end, it all came down to Towhee’s inner strength. (And probably some plot armor.)

It’s taken me years to learn how to cope with the fact that literally everyone leaves, Towhee finally said, speaking slowly. I used to get that way too: angry, bitter, resentful. But I couldn’t live like that, so I had to figure out how to… cope. Sometimes I think the only reason I haven’t gone crazy is because I’m repressed and in denial. But if that’s what it takes… Towhee trailed off, not at all sure she was saying anything helpful.