cheerful as an empty handed search party

The three siblings hadn't found their mother, and her absence weighed even heavier on his hear than it had before. Part of him wished they hadn't gone at all now that their search had come up empty-handed. Somehow knowing they'd spend months searching, to no avail, made him feel even worse - instead of just feeling sad, he felt like he was sad and that he'd failed his family somehow. And least they hadn't sat and talked about it, because saying the words out loud might make it feel even more real. It was hard to imagine a world in which his mother and sister didn't exist, and he'd always hold out some hope they might return, but they couldn't spend the rest of their lives searching.

He was struggling with his feelings toward Void's boyfriend too. It wasn't jealous, not really - Spirit had never experienced romantic feeling of any kind, and he wasn't sure he was capable - but he was still afraid Void would leave him and Gloom behind. With their strong brother beside them things felt a little less dark and gloomy, but without him he wasn't sure how they'd fare, not that they knew they were all three better together. At least he could vow to help bolster up Gloom, if nothing else. Though shy in his own way, Spirit found it easier to break out of his shell was he had a goal in mind, and keeping his sister happy and well was definitely among his goals.

He let out a quiet sigh as they neared the borders, leaning against Gloom for her comfort as well as his own. Theory was quick to greet them, which brightened his expression, if only somewhat. When she spoke up to ask if they'd found anything, Spirit felt his ears flatten and looked to Void to answer for them. The words were too hard for him to speak. But suddenly the approach of another disrupted his thoughts entirely. At first he thought maybe Plague had joined them... but no - it couldn't be! Spirit's tongue was heavy, caught in his mouth as he stared and felt white-hot tears prick at the surface of his eyes.