it's not the same without you

The nearly grown boy was pure innocence compared to Bowen, he had been sheltered in Abaven for the majority of his life, and however many stories he heard from father and grandmother he didn’t really know the horrors of the world. He heard about them, but there was something much different about seeing and living those atrocities and hearing your loved ones speak about them. He hoped that whatever end Bowen had faced, that it was quick, that she hadn’t been forced into a fate like his grandmother, father, or sister had.

The sounds of the ocean crashing against the sand filled his ears and the setting sun his eyes so that he didn’t realize he was no longer alone until that sweet voice caressed his ears. A voice he was certain that he would never hear again. Tricolored eyes blinked in surprise as he lay them on the small slender frame of the friend he thought he had lost.

She looked so much different and exactly the same as the last time he had seen her. She was grown up, much like he was certain he looked. ”Bowen.” There was a strained relief in his voice as he lifted his massive body to his paws and closed the distance between them. He thought she was dead, he thought he would never see her again and now that he had her here if he looked away she would be gone again.

”I… I’ve really missed you.” He could feel her sadness, feel how much she had changed from innocent child to.. Did he want to know what she was forced to be now? Haiku aimed to nuzzle her cheek softly, an innocent and loving gesture as his mind embraced the dread in his heart. Bowen was no longer the girl he once knew and loved. Still, he smiled for her, a soft grin under his bright eyes.