where troubles melt like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops
that’s where you’ll find me
[size=3]somewhere over the rainbow[/size]
Ever since the death of his parents, the sightless young male had fallen silent. Not a laugh, nor a smile, came from him in the months that followed their deaths. He was clearly taking it so terribly hard. Although he knew that his parents would not live forever, he had thought they would at least be around to see him into adulthood. Though his mind was full of memories of his parents, especially of his father, there were specific things that would always stand out the most for him. Like when his father had taken him out into a space where he could run freely without worry of running into trees and such. The feel of the wind against his face had been priceless. And his father had been teaching him how to hunt. Since he was blind, his father had encouraged him to use scent and hearing. He’ll never forget the excitement he felt the very first time he caught something. He had been so excited that he had nearly missed his chance to actually kill what he’d caught.
Those days were all gone, though, only memories to relive in his thoughts, in his dreams. Leaving Sterrenvuur had been quite a painful thing, but he knew it was for the best. The first smile in many months had graced his face on the day the small group had left. It had been a small smile, but a smile none the less. It hadn’t lasted long, but it had been there. He spoke only when spoken to, but gave only specific, to the point answers. He did not delve into conversations with anyone, hadn’t since the death of his parents. He stuck as close to Julooke as absolutely possible, though he could sometimes be found tagging along with his brother.
Nightmares had woken him in the still of the night. Quietly and carefully, he had untangled himself from his older sister, silently moving away from the small band of wolves that were traveling together. He wasn’t going to go far, but needed some time to himself none the less. The nightmares had left him feeling cold inside and out. If he’d been human, he would have woken in a sweat. Picking his footing carefully, he moved further and further away from the group of sleeping wolves. Only when he felt he was a decent distance away, the sightless young male sank to the ground, burying his face against his paws. Part of him wanted to cry, but part of him refused to allow it to happen. As of yet, he hadn’t even cried for the death of his parents. He merely shut down, entirely. He was not living, merely existing. But the nightmares had left him feeling a horrible rush of emotions that he wasn’t sure how to process.
For last two weeks or so, Barristan hadn't been sleeping well. He wasn't sure if it was the change of pace or the climate, but he'd only sleep four or five hours at night and then sit up fully awake. During times like that, he would quietly wander from the group to a spot where he could watch them, but also scan the horizon and listen to their surroundings. He figured that being slightly homesick and missing his parents had something to do with it, but he didn't voice his concerns. He slept enough to function and that was good enough for him.
Tonight was no different. He had slept for maybe four, four and a half hours, and then just sat up completely aware of everything around him. He had found a soft grassy spot near the group, but far enough away to not bother them, and settled down to watch over them. It had been perhaps an hour when he heard a noise from the group and turned to watch Yildun gently disentangle himself from Julooke and wander from the group. He knew that Yildun sometimes had nightmares, and it wasn't often that their sleeplessness coincided.
For a moment he simply allowed the two of them to stay separated, in their own worlds of thought. But then Barristan noticed Yildun buckle to the ground, his nose buried in his paws. Standing from his secluded spot, he padded softly over to the sightless boy, making enough noise to alert him of his presence but not wake the others, and settled down near the white wolf. He didn't say anything, but laid his chin across Yildun's neck gently in a reassuring gesture, before pulling back into his own space. If Yildun wanted to talk, he was here. Otherwise, they could commiserate in silence.
this used to be the place i ran towhenever i was in need
of a friend
[size=3]why did it have to end[/size]
He wasn’t aware that there was anyone else awake at this hour. Being blind, he wasn’t able to do a head count to see if everyone was there within the group or not. And since it had been a nightmare that had woken him, the thought of maybe smelling to do a head count didn’t even cross his mind. He was distraught because of the nightmares that had been plaguing him since the death of his parents. There was a part of him that truly blamed himself for their death because it hadn’t been long after his birth that his mother had seemingly gotten sick. Part of him wondered if it would have all turned out this way had he not been born blind, the beyond helpless child. Alas, it was something he would never know, nor was it something that he’d be able to easily let go of thinking.
He crumbled to the ground, burying his muzzle into his paws. For a moment, he thought he might finally cry, but no tears came. None at all. He stiffened at the sound of someone coming near. Yildun’s nose twitched a few times as he sniffed the air, relaxing when he that it was Barristan and not a random stranger finding him. During his sniffing, he had not lifted his head from his paws. So when the older male settled beside him and laid his chin across the younger male’s neck, the grieving boy accepted it. Because of growing up blind, touch was one of the things he always craved the most, sought out in fact, even from those he only just met. No one had ever been safe from the blind child invading their personal space at any given moment. No one.
As an automatic reaction ot the chin on his neck, Yildun shifted his head to lean into it. He couldn’t remember if Barristan had ever experienced the younger male invading his personal space like he did most everyone else or not, but it was going to happen now. Since he wasn’t alone, was with someone he knew, his tears wouldn’t fall. It was just something that he didn’t want to happen, and so it wouldn’t. For the moment, he would just lay there with the older male, silently, while thinking about the nightmare that had woken him tonight.