Cashew hated to say it, and would never speak of this to anyone, but...
Life had been better without Persimmon.
Gone in the night, the small family had looked for him over, and over, and over, to no avail. No scents, no fur, no howls, nothing. Cashew had basically turned himself inside out worrying. His anxieties had been soothed when Sparrow had come back and told everyone she knew where he was, but it confused him even still. If she came back, why didn't he? Apple had told them he would come home soon, but the confusion never left, especially when Apple seemed to have... changed. While their first few months had been met with ignorance, grumpiness, and avoidance, Apple had been teaching them, and been... nice. Cashew had no reference point to know the way they were treated was bad, but after seeing the change, he realised that maybe there was something wrong with the way they'd been treated before Persi had gone missing.
The thought ate away at him through endless nights, kept him up with the guilt sometimes. Despite this, he was not tired. After a long day of lessons, normally he could fall asleep quite easily, and it was only the less-busy days when he struggled, which he somehow felt worse about. Cashew really did miss his brother, though. Life was never the same without him... and for a while there, he was worried he'd died! His anxieties had been comforted somewhat by Sparrow's words, but not entirely. After all, Persi's place was here, not out there, wherever he was!
But, there came a soft, sweet, familiar howl, and Cashew was up faster than he'd ever moved in his entire life, dropping quite literally everything out of the sheer joy, panic, guilt, anxiety, and whatever other emotions were making him cry. While his greetings were usually quite sweet, and mild-mannered, Cashew quite literally ran into his brother, a tackle he was unable to stop in time before knocking him over, if the pale boy did not move out of the way in time. There were wolves with him, sure, but for once, he didn't care about anyone else.
Life had been better without Persimmon.
Gone in the night, the small family had looked for him over, and over, and over, to no avail. No scents, no fur, no howls, nothing. Cashew had basically turned himself inside out worrying. His anxieties had been soothed when Sparrow had come back and told everyone she knew where he was, but it confused him even still. If she came back, why didn't he? Apple had told them he would come home soon, but the confusion never left, especially when Apple seemed to have... changed. While their first few months had been met with ignorance, grumpiness, and avoidance, Apple had been teaching them, and been... nice. Cashew had no reference point to know the way they were treated was bad, but after seeing the change, he realised that maybe there was something wrong with the way they'd been treated before Persi had gone missing.
The thought ate away at him through endless nights, kept him up with the guilt sometimes. Despite this, he was not tired. After a long day of lessons, normally he could fall asleep quite easily, and it was only the less-busy days when he struggled, which he somehow felt worse about. Cashew really did miss his brother, though. Life was never the same without him... and for a while there, he was worried he'd died! His anxieties had been comforted somewhat by Sparrow's words, but not entirely. After all, Persi's place was here, not out there, wherever he was!
But, there came a soft, sweet, familiar howl, and Cashew was up faster than he'd ever moved in his entire life, dropping quite literally everything out of the sheer joy, panic, guilt, anxiety, and whatever other emotions were making him cry. While his greetings were usually quite sweet, and mild-mannered, Cashew quite literally ran into his brother, a tackle he was unable to stop in time before knocking him over, if the pale boy did not move out of the way in time. There were wolves with him, sure, but for once, he didn't care about anyone else.
Persimmon! You're back!He cried, leaping to his paws to cover his brother in affectionate licks if, again, he didn't move away. His tail was whipping behind him at what felt like the speed of sound, enough to make his whole body wriggle. Everything was okay again, finally.