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His face pressed upon the glass gently. The window only muffled the rain slightly, but it didn’t matter anyways. The train door was shoved open again, the person yawning. The pattern of footprints indicated it was Gingerbrave.
He had his eyes closed, and yet,
“Wizard? You awake?”
“Mn.”
“Hey.” Gingerbrave sighed. There was a noise- he had probably slid down the door of the compartment and sat upon the floor. “The other three are exploring.”
“Mhm.”
“You wanna know a secret?”
No, not really. “Hm?”
“My birthday is in June!” Gingerbrave chirped. “The twelfth.”
Wizard paused. So what?
It dawned on him. “We’ve never celebrated your birthday.”
“Nope!”
Wizard blinked furiously, shaking his head. He turned, rolling over to his other side. “Why not?”
“Because I never told you.” He smiled. Wizard rolled his eyes, yawning. The rain still hadn’t stopped.
He couldn’t help but notice the moss etching up and out from the corners.
“…why?” He asked. He was hardly audible. “I thought you liked celebrating.”
“I do!” Gingerbrave said. “But it hasn’t felt right for a long time.”
A soft quiet settled upon the compartment. The only noise was the heavy pitter-patter of the rain, and the wind that echoed through what he assumed was the entire train.
They sat there for a moment. Wizard felt as though he was supposed to ask. So he did.
“What do you mean?”
“I have a sister.” His friend said softly. Wizard smiled in amusement.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve met Walnut.” He snickered. Gingerbrave gave him a sad smile.
“No. I mean, a biological sister.” Wizard make a face. “Gingerbright. Well. I had a brother, too.” Had.
“What…happened to him?”
“Eaten.” Gingerbrave said dryly. “Bright ran away some time after that.”
“Why did you..leave?” His friend grimaced, and Wizard panicked. “You don’t have to-..”
“I didn’t.” He said hollowly. “Not by choice.”
Wizard immediately assumed Gingerbrave had been kicked out. He didn’t know what he’d expected him to say specifically, but-
“She brought me outside, middle of the woods. Told me to wait, that we were going to… train.” Pain flashed against his face as he spoke. “She left, as I assumed for only for a moment, but she never returned.”
Gingerbrave didn’t let it go quiet. He laughed sharply, startling Wizard enough his heart skipped a beat.
“I haven’t seen any of my family, besides our older siblings and father, in years.” He rolled his eyes. “But it doesn’t matter. The topic was birthdays, huh?”
“….was she your twin?” Wizard didn’t feel right prying into the relationship with his mother.
“Triplet.” Oh. “Me, Bright and Dozer.”
“Dozer?”
“The one who was eaten.” His eyes were misty.
“You…mentioned your father, and older siblings?”
“…if I told you who they were, you’d know who my mother was.”
“Why is that so bad?”
The train door swung open. It slammed into the wall, announcing to the pair that their friends were.
“Whoop!” Chili Pepper yelled. “C’mon, you two- where are ya’? Sorry we were gone so long, found a town. We gotcha food!”
Gingerbrave pushed himself up, shoving the compartment door open. He leaned backwards, looking as though he was going to snap in half.
“Are we staying in town?”
“Nah, no hotels or anything.” Chili said. “Lady said the closest was a couple miles in the wrong direction.”
“Ah. What’d you get?” He stood up straight, turning to walk towards the older cookie. Wizard stayed where he was, listening to what the others were saying.
“Um….just some chips and bacon and stuff..” Strawberry said, barely loud enough for Wizard to make out clearly. “Oh, we got Wizard some stuff too… where is he?”
Gingerbrave must have pointed, because the next thing he knew Strawberry was opening the door. She chucked a bag at him, as he growled when it fell to the floor.
He turned it around, snapping his head towards his friend, who held her hand over her mouth.
“Owl feed?” He said dryly. She burst out cackling, falling backwards into the compartment behind her and snorting. “You’re awful.”