When He Leaves

Together Once Again

It was every winter Snufkin left Moominvalley, and every spring he returned. Today was the day Snufkin was due to leave for the year again. He said his goodbyes to his woeful friends, explaining once more to Moomin that he couldn't come with, nor could Snufkin stay. Of course, Snufkin never gave a very good reason as to why he needed this time alone, even though he most definitely had a good reason. See, every winter he wandered out of Moominvalley, everyone thinking he'd be by his lonesome for the months to come, but instead he found his way to a predetermined meetup spot, to meet his traveling partner. 

Judalina was this partner's name. He had black hair, antlers, pointed ears, and a black fox tail. His skin was rather pale, save for the black that spread down his forehead and just past his eyes. He typically wore a white button up shirt, brown pants and suspenders. He was a bit taller than Snufkin, but was only a year older.

Snufkin made his way to this meetup spot, taking him nearly all day. Once he found himself there, Judalina was already sitting against a tree, staring off into the distance with a frown on his face. 

"Juda!" Snufkin called, a small smile on his face. Judalina turned to see who called him, his frown immediately being replaced with a smile once he saw Snufkin. He stood and greeted Snufkin with a quick hug.

"Hey Snufkin." Juda said, looking Snufkin over. "You're looking better than ever. How's Moomintroll?" Snufkin, of course, had told Judalina all about Moomin and all the others that hibernated over the winter. 

"Oh, he was sad to see me go again, asked if he could come again." Snufkin shrugged. "I don't think he'd last very long though, he needs to hibernate over the winter in order to have all that energy the rest of the year." He commented. Juda chuckled and shook his head. Truth be told, he was somewhat glad Snufkin didn't allow Moomintroll and the others to come along, he rather enjoyed the alone time with the other.

"Well if we're to get any progress in today we must shake a leg before the sun sets." Judalina said, picking up his backpack and nodding for Snufkin to follow him. Snufkin of course followed, looking up at Juda.

"Say, why don't you ever tell me about your year?" Snufkin asked. Juda chuckled once more and looked ahead, almost forlorn. 

"Perhaps for the same reason you don't tell your friends about me or what you do over the winter. Perhaps because there's not much to tell. Perhaps both." He shrugged. "I'm not lying when you ask 'What did you do' and I respond 'Not much.' I'm not nearly as interesting as I seem Snufkin." He finally glanced down at the other and tilted his head. "I'll never wrap my head around why it is you're so curious." 

"Curiosity, the bane of man." Snufkin replied with a small smile. Judalina snorted, the smile back on his face. "I suppose I just want to know more about my friends." Now Snufkin looked down. "There's not much to know about what Moomin does over the winter, all it is is sleeping. But you Juda, you have adventures that I can't be a part of. You see more of the world than I do, even if all you do is go home. You've never shown me your home before, you know that right? I'd love to see it some winter."  He said, watching his feet move on after the other, kicking a small rock as he moved.

"There's a very good reason I don't bring you to my home." Judalina's tone was almost stern, like a mother telling her child they can't have another sweet. He wasn't lying, he had an extremely good reason not to take Snufkin home with him over the three seasons they didn't see each other. Snufkin's face fell slightly at Juda's tone, and he moved in front of the other so Juda had to stop.

"Judalina." Snufkin started, looking up into the man's face. "You know you can tell me anything right?" He let out a small, unbelieving laugh as he spoke, like he didn't understand why Juda kept his home so secret. Juda let out a small sigh and shut his eyes. 

"Snufkin.." he opened his eyes again to look at the now worried face looking up at him. 

"Juda, we've been travelling together for too long to be keeping secrets now." Snufkin placed a hand on Juda's arm. Juda glanced around them, his eyes looking anywhere but Snufkin for much too long. Finally, he looked at Snufkin again and sighed.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked. Snufkin nodded, positively dying of curiosity. "Then I suppose that's where we're going this winter." He said with a nod. Snufkin looked taken aback, he wasn't expecting Juda to just show him where he lived. He was expecting more of some tragic backstory, or an explanation of some sort. "Until we get there," Juda continued. "Please don't ask about my family." Now Snufkin was just plain confused. But, he figured if he didn't agree Juda wouldn't show him the way. So he nodded and stepped back so he was standing next to Judalina again. They both stepped forward, almost in sync, and continued onward, Juda acting as though the conversation they'd just had hadn't happened. 

It took Snufkin a minute to figure out a topic of conversation, just something to break the silence. Judalina didn't exactly help with this thought process, staying silent until Snufkin spoke up again. 

"We found a boat this year." He said. Juda looked down at him, seemingly completely back to normal.

"Oh?" He tilted his head a bit. 

"Yes, we found it washed up on the shore while we were exploring a cave. We decided to fix it up so we could actually use it, and took it out to an island." Snufkin said with a nod. Juda smiled a little, glad the focus wasn't on him anymore.

"Tell me about this island trip?" He asked. Snufkin gladly obliged and told Judalina all about their adventures on the boat. They walked and talked until the sun started to set, then set up camp for the night.