Read this when I was 12. Might have been the first anti-hero I encountered.

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

I loved the titular characters far more than the protagonist. How can anyone not love these tiny, drunk, violent, blue dudes who steal sheep and beat up bad guys??