Moth Adolescent

“… As if listening to voices in your head.”

“Voices?”, a saddened smile cracked as his head tilted gently to one side, “… No. The only voice I hear is my own, of which comes forth from my mouth and not my head.” A hand raised dreamily from lips to temple in emphasise his words, then slowly returned to hide beneath the fur draped heavily over his shoulders.

“And yet you say Herne wishes you to stay in this desolation, while your friends move on to live free from the hunger and cold of these lands?” The large Faunid took a seat next to Moth, leaning in closely, whilst Moth simply continued to stare off into the horizon. “How can you believe this to be true?”

“I believe many things, and many of those things I do not understand. Yet, I know that here is my place, here is where I should be. Between the snows and sea is what Herne has planned for me.” His words sounded hollow as his head tilted over to the other side, still fixated on some miniscule point in the distance.

Moth’s companion ruffled, clearly agitated. “So, all I’ll get is rhymes and riddles? This is madness. There is nothing for you out here, you hear?” A hand reached out to grab Moth, angrily pulling him in face to face. “Look at me!”

Moth reluctantly looked up under a weary brow, “… of course, brother.” He swallowed and his ears dropped low as if finally recognising his brother before him, seeing the emotion plastered in his face. Anger and hurt stretched across the contours of his brother’s features, with watery eyes now reddened from wiping them dry so often.

“You cannot leave me.” It came as a pitiful attempt at an order, drowned under a sob as a fresh wave of tears hit.

Moth reached out to gently wipe away the tears, calming his brother with a soothing shhh as he pulled him in closer until their antlers locked, his own dwarfed in comparison, then smiled heartily. “That I cannot. But it’s you who must leave me. You have lands to discover, friends to look after. I expect you to have all the merriment and adventures enough for the both of us.” His eyes then sparkled with newfound joy and ears pricked as his brother lifted his head to continue wiping his own eyes. “I believe we’ll see each other again… perhaps. If not in this life, then another. Perhaps next time I’ll not have all these gaps in my head and the sun will shine from my backside like a blinding sunrise reflecting off the ice.” He tapped firmly at his temple before gesturing wildly to the sky.

His brother looked both cheered and grossed by the analogy, “perhaps,” he said reigning in his older but smaller brother by patting his shoulder and pulling him in to ruffle his feathered crest. “Regardless, you’ll still not be as handsome as me.”

Moth chuckled and embraced the ruffle whilst attempting to return the action. It wasn’t much use though, outmanoeuvred and outmatched by his larger sibling he resigned to the playful beatdown that ensued.

Come the end, both were calmed enough to finish the topic. Then, settling comfortably enough next to each other, bundled under layers of furs, they both looked in silence up to the stars just in time to see the first warning flakes of the upcoming blizzard season float down.

Moth’s comforted smile though soon drifted off to a blank expression, once more fixated on some unknown thing on the horizon.