Eyes wide open when you're dreaming

*Spirit* · 05-09-2020, 06:39 PM

Spirit was struggling to reacclimate to live within Abaven. How was he even supposed to begin getting used to life here? He was used to his mom, and traveling with her close by his side. It became quickly apparent to him once they returned home that he was likely beyond the age where he should be sleeping curled against his mother for comfort... and so begrudgingly he'd found a den in the plains for himself. It was small, but the nearly-claustrophobic space was strangely comforting for the nervous boy. Finding things to grasp on to - whether it be the too-small den he'd claimed as his own, or even the little bird friend he'd met recently - seemed to help keep him grounded. He had an tendency to let his mind wander, a coping mechanism from the trauma he and Eulogy had been through together, and upon return it was becoming increasingly harder for him to stay in the present. Sometimes he still felt like he was in the southern continent, searching doggedly for their family in completely unfamiliar lands. Occasionally he saw those place from above, as if he himself were a bird, soaring high above the lands. In his imagination he was free and untouchable, hardly anything like he really was - a scared boy who didn't know how to do anything, not even how to talk to his own siblings.

He'd been trying to sleep a bit longer before his mother arrived, but he'd been lying in silence instead, wide awake with his mind running with alarming speed. The sound of her pawsteps was familiar, and he recognized it before she even had to speak. The chilly air from outside the den seemed to follow - or maybe opening his eyes simply made him more aware of it - and he shivered as she moved into the mouth of his den. How was he? It was a heavy question, and one he didn't fully know how to answer, even to her. The raid had been a source of anxiety for him, though unlike his mother he hadn't offered to help, mostly because he didn't know how. Instead he'd hidden away, hoping that it would simply pass and that everyone would be fine. And they were all fine, though some had taken more injuries than others. "I'm okay. Fine," he corrected himself quickly. His stutter was generally nonexistent around her, at least most of the time. And compared to everyone who had participated in the raid, he was fine, regardless of how felt, and complaining felt unfair.

Had Eulogy wondered where he'd been then? Surely her mind had been on other things, but he felt ashamed for not being present regardless of what he himself had found in the meantime. "During the raid, I... found s-someone I wanted to show you. Here." Slowly lifting himself upright and stretching his forepaws, Spirit padded out of the den and plopped down beside her. Lifting his head to the sky that was gradually lightening, he let out a short, quiet call. Within less than a minute a tiny little finch came barrelling out of a nearby tree, landing straight on his back. "I'm gonna call her Strawberry," Spirit admitted, hoping the name wasn't a childish one, but deciding he liked it even if it was. He wasn't good at being alone, at least away from Eulogy, but he'd found someone that he felt he could relate to.. even if it had wings and couldn't really talk to him, but he didn't think that mattered very much. As if barely awake herself, the red and black finch nestled into the fur of his neck, blinking sleep from her eyes as she tilted her head at Eulogy.

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