Hushed Willows Days go by

She hadn’t been sleeping at all since they came back from swiftcurrent nor had she been eating that much only enough to keep herself alive. She searched for her siblings, although valiant had been distant maybe @Aeryn wouldn’t avoid her.

aeryn was not looking forward to this moment. ever since dear mother passed, he spent most days by himself. the boy wished to grieve on his own but in turn he was actively pushing away the family he still had. he was well aware of this and not a day went by without him feeling guilty for his actions. but even when he tried he couldn’t bring himself to properly socialize with them.

when he saw minnow approach, all that underlying shame came washing back to him. he couldn’t run away from her anymore. aeryn took a deep breath and slowly closed the distance between them.

She heard a small breath and turned around to see her brother and her tail couldn’t help but wag. She craved her siblings’ presence. “Hi.” She said simply unaware of what else to say seeing as though this was their first actual conversation

he was expecting disappointment, or rage, or sorrow. but none of those things were present in her tone nor body language. her greeting was simple, but her wagging tail seemed to suggest some sort of happiness. it made him feel a little more guilty in some weird sort of way.

hi, he returned, slumping down into himself. how are you feeling?

She got no emotion from him and she sighed. “I’m lonely...” it was the truth and being so young she didn’t really hide her feelings. “You?”

there was that melancholy feeling he had anticipated. it hung over them as soon as those hushed words left her. aeryn frowned, believing he was the one to blame for his sister’s sadness. there was no one else to blame. sunny was always there when he had the time and sure valiant wasn’t as present but he always bought a little life to the family when he felt like it. then there was aeryn, a closed off kid stuck in his own little world with his own little problems.

i’m lonely too... he averted his gaze to a nearby stump, sinking deeper and deeper into himself. sorry, he whispered.

She gave a small whimper and nudged her brother. “Be lonely together?” She said softly as she looked up at him. She couldn’t think of a better way to say it but she didn’t want to feel alone anymore. She wanted her whole family together.

minnow did not seem too bothered by her brother’s absence. that or whatever ill will that he assumed she had for him was thrown off to the side. when she nudged him and made a proposal a small, quivering smile appeared on aeryn’s face. yeah, he mumbled, leaning into his sister for comfort.

It was almost like she craved the affection of her siblings since she didn’t get it very often and she didn’t want her siblings to feel like they were all alone and when Aeryn leaned inter her she felt safe and happy and she couldn’t help but smile and look at her brother. “Your never alone remember that. I’ll never leave you.” She said sweetly with a wag of a tail

life had so much pain in store. it was a shame the morningside children had to endure it at such an early age. no child deserved to have their mother ripped away so suddenly. but at least they had eachother through this dark time. the overwhelming comfort of that thought caused tears to travel down his face. and i won’t leave you either. promise.

Minnow nudged him and gave him a swift lick to get rid of his tears. “Don’t cry.” She said simply cause if he continued she might cry and she didn’t want to do that nor did she want him to