Moonspear amends

Stingray could not bring himself to join in with the joyous song.

It wasn't that he was unhappy with Moonspear or felt he wasn't welcome, but turning his head sidelong to look at his singing father, he felt lost. Perhaps it was because the Sapphique wolves had not turned on him the way they had his parents, although he was upset with them for that, but he missed his home by the sea. It was the only home he had ever known and he had not been prepared to leave it. Even a boy as unflappable as Stingray couldn't bounce back from such a colossal change so quickly.

A soft whine eked out between his teeth, but that was the most Stingray could raise his voice. Anything more felt too celebratory, and Swordfish's eyes still glared at him in the night, reminding him that there was something vital missing and he couldn't celebrate yet. He could not so easily make a new home where his brother was not.

When the song ended, he returned to tracking hares, trying to silence the echo of his brother's voice in his mind: Why?