It wouldn’t have mattered how fast she spun around to face him. It felt as with each second, time was crawling to a nonexistent pace until finally, he could see her features. Her previous mission regarding the jades was lost on him as his eyes instinctively widened. A single horn sprouted from her head and a pair of soft yellow-green eyes stared at him with bewilderment. And most importantly, she had reacted to the sound of her name.
"Its...is it...you?"
Wroth breathed out the words with shock and awe. He could barely speak as he tried to form either the sentences of is it really you or it is you. His mind was processing faster than his tongue could manage. She looked a bit different from what he could remember, but he would always remember those iconic features about her. His mind barely registered that his sister was nervous of him. All he could do was just stare and stare as her name repeated over and over in his mind. He was so afraid that at any second, if he blinked, she would disappear and return to being a figment of his imagination. Admittedly, there were huge parts of him that wanted to doubt this Sage. He had been separated from her for so long that at this point, it seemed impossible for this reunion to ever happen. Whenever his mind had envisioned her or any of his other siblings, they were trapped as slightly older pups in his mind, which made seeing a fully grown, but still young adult version of Sage surreal to him. But against his better judgment, he decided he would dare to embrace this, real or not, for as long as he possibly could. A part of him wanted to run up and hug her, but somehow, he remained frozen in his spot. A multitude of questions and statements appear in his mind.
Once more, Wroth found himself stumbling over these words that he felt like he had said for the hundredth time towards his imaginary family.
"Its...its me Wroth. But not Wroth. Not like you knew him."
And now he awaited for the finale. That dreaded finale. The one where his siblings would look at him with judgmental faces before telling him that he was right. He wasn’t their Wroth and walked off from his life, ignoring any pleas or sobs that came from their not brother. This time, however, he couldn’t help, but find his body was shaking more than ever. Not even his eyes wanted to remain open for this moment as he shut them tightly. In his dreams, he did get emotional like that, but not like this. This felt real. All of this felt so real. And it made whatever emotional state he was in previously exacerbate with each passing seconds. He just wanted this horrible, lucid nightmare to end.
"Its...is it...you?"
Wroth breathed out the words with shock and awe. He could barely speak as he tried to form either the sentences of is it really you or it is you. His mind was processing faster than his tongue could manage. She looked a bit different from what he could remember, but he would always remember those iconic features about her. His mind barely registered that his sister was nervous of him. All he could do was just stare and stare as her name repeated over and over in his mind. He was so afraid that at any second, if he blinked, she would disappear and return to being a figment of his imagination. Admittedly, there were huge parts of him that wanted to doubt this Sage. He had been separated from her for so long that at this point, it seemed impossible for this reunion to ever happen. Whenever his mind had envisioned her or any of his other siblings, they were trapped as slightly older pups in his mind, which made seeing a fully grown, but still young adult version of Sage surreal to him. But against his better judgment, he decided he would dare to embrace this, real or not, for as long as he possibly could. A part of him wanted to run up and hug her, but somehow, he remained frozen in his spot. A multitude of questions and statements appear in his mind.
Sage, I missed you! How are you? How is our family? Is Mom doing okay? Where is everyone? Are they with you? Have you all been living here? How much time has passed? You look different!
But this time, nothing came. Just inaudible noise as his tongue still could not process what his mind wanted to say. Some part of him took note of this. In his hopes and dreams, he wanted to believe that he would be ecstatic and jump straight into their fur almost bowling them over from his size and that there would be a lot of laughter and crying and joy. Not that he would freeze in place barely being able to process what he should do or say. But soon, Sage would drop a heavy dose of reality once more shattering the dream he wanted to remain in.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
The moment that Sage mentioned those words, Wroth’s face went from hopeful joy to utter despair and heartbreak. Deep down, he knew it was too good to be true. He was in another one of his nightmares. And just like in his previous ones, his siblings glare at him with distrust and rejection. Just like what Sage was doing now. He finally noticed just how defensive and uncertain she was of him. The only difference was their age. In those visions, they were still just pups, but somehow, it felt even more horrifying to him that this version of Sage was saying this. He didn’t consider himself to be the most imaginative, at least, not to this extent where he could envision what Sage would look like and do in her adult form. The worst part? It was fitting. Too fitting. Wroth had always adored Sage for her spunkiness and playfulness. She seemed to know how to entertain or make someone laugh from her contagious joy. These aesthetics felt like Sage even if he wasn’t sure if she would actually wear any of that.
Once more, Wroth found himself stumbling over these words that he felt like he had said for the hundredth time towards his imaginary family.
"Its...its me Wroth. But not Wroth. Not like you knew him."
And now he awaited for the finale. That dreaded finale. The one where his siblings would look at him with judgmental faces before telling him that he was right. He wasn’t their Wroth and walked off from his life, ignoring any pleas or sobs that came from their not brother. This time, however, he couldn’t help, but find his body was shaking more than ever. Not even his eyes wanted to remain open for this moment as he shut them tightly. In his dreams, he did get emotional like that, but not like this. This felt real. All of this felt so real. And it made whatever emotional state he was in previously exacerbate with each passing seconds. He just wanted this horrible, lucid nightmare to end.