This is one of the literature pieces I made for my characters in the Girfugol arpg that I don't actually like, but it's the only one I've posted on wattpad. Crayzee. There's a lot of backstory to this but since I'm probably not posting anything else Igneous-related on Wattpad,,, yoouuuu don't need it. slay

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Igneous let out a low sigh. It was dinnertime, and his brothers were debating- very loudly- about Queen Reprise's decision to bar Northern citizens from the Mountains. Stalagmite was upset; he was a smith after all, and often had gryphus customers willing to pay for bronze armor sets. They usually had plenty to spend, more than most dromaeus could really dream of. Stalactite couldn't have cared any less, and was glad to see the higher-ups doing something useful for once. That was what he said, at least. Igneous had been upstairs since he heard a thundering crash from the kitchen earlier..

(Flashback)

''You're childish! Are you fucking serious?! Get down from there!''

''Oh, I'm just SHOWING YOU HOW DUMB YOU ARE!''

Their brother's voices yelled from the downstairs kitchen, Igneous' bedroom door flap doing very little to keep the noise from their ears. As much as they badly wanted to just leave until they stopped yelling, this was supposed to be a debate from what they heard, and no doubt they would get dragged into it when they saw them. There were only two rooms downstairs anyway. Maybe they could escape from the window in their room and into the shed in the backyard? .. No, they were one of the worst dromaeus fliers and jumping from a two story window without a proper takeoff was asking to break a limb. They could do it, sure, but they were barely capable of taking off properly due to their shoulder quills, let alone try to fly that far of a distance and expect to be unharmed.

He pondered quietly before the sound of angry paws thundering up the steps prompted him to hide under his nest, which was shoved into a corner of the room and crowded with various boxes of various sizes and belongings. Now normally he could convince his quills to lay flat even if he was utterly terrified and hide rather well, but currently he was seething with anger at their loudness and fear. So, no, he could not. His brother stomped past his room and grabbed something from another, marching back down the steps. Maybe Igneous would sit here. For a little while. Long while. Forever, actually.

(Flashback over)

Lost deep in his thought, Igneous couldn't help but flinch and recoil underneath the table when a flying object directed seemingly at him zipped toward his face. He fell to his paws, alarmed. As the young roo hit the floor he heard Stalagmite snarl from above the table, quite angrily. ''Stop throwing things! I swear to the dragons flying ABOVE I will subdue you if you keep causing problems tonight, Stalactite!'' It sounded like a wild animal had broken into their home. Shattered pots and toppled plants sprawled across the wooded floor, the strong scent of pine somehow overtaken by a hint of mashed food and dirt. Igneous clasped his talons over his ears, eyes wide as he did his best to block out the noise. He clenched his teeth, brows furrowed angrily as he tried to think over the loudness of his siblings.

''Then do it! You won't! You've never taken a stand for anything!'' Stalactite snarled, slamming his paws against the already wobbly table. It let out a groan, silencing the room for what was only a few seconds. Igneous wished it were longer. Stalactite shook his head, shoving the table forward and into Stalagmite's gut. Igneous scrambled underneath it to catch up and avoid being stepped on. Everyone in the room was pissed off enough, Igneous didn't need the anger directed at themself. Something else clattered to the floor- a plate full of food from what the pile of mush looked like- and Stalactite growled again. ''Go for it, Smartass! I think you need to learn your place!'' Igneous' quills bristled and they contemplated making a dash for the stairs before push came to shove and the table collapsed on them. They didn't have much time to think of a reason not to, as with the sound of claws scraping against wood and the table's dying cry, Stalagmite hoisted himself on top of it, diving after his brother with a rather mortifying look.

Igneous rolled out of the way of the collapsing furniture, a few quills pulled away from his flank but otherwise unharmed. He looked back toward his brothers in fear, not appearing too different from a sea urchin as he stood there, frozen. Stalagmite battered his only-slightly-younger brother with his sharp wing claws, snapping angrily as Stalactite struggled to fight back against the much heavier and more muscular roo. Neither had noticed Igneous standing there as his senses returned, screeching out in his mind. Stalagmite's fuzzy paws clasped over his Stalactite's throat, pressing down and choking him.

Tell them to stop. You shouldn't just watch, coward. Tell them to stop he's going to hurt him stop stop stop stop STOP STOP-- ''STOP IT, GUYS! GET OFF OF EACHOTHER! STOP!'' The reality of being utterly tiny and trying to stop two massive avus from fighting was. Not something Igneous wanted to confront. There was a very high chance they were about to get stepped on, kicked, and flung across the room, but as long as nobody ended up dead because of politics Igneous was perfectly fine with that. They didn't seem to respond to their pleas, continuing to tumble across the room in a ball of anger. Small paws pitter-pattered across the floor with little, quiet clicks of their nails and Igneous sunk their teeth into Stalagmite's tail to draw his attention.

''GAH!'' Stalagmite flinched away, leaning forward and almost crushing Stalactite under his weight. The younger roo scrambled away, the floppy strands of fur on his face momentarily blinding him as he worried more about getting away. He hadn't drawn blood, but everyone was still looking at him like he had. ''You bastard! And here I am trying to defend you!'' Stalagmite bared his fangs, snarling. Man, and just when he said he didn't want that to happen. Igneous frowned and began to hide underneath the rubble of the table, giving up halfway and settling on just hiding his face instead. It was far enough away from them anyway, considering they found themselves at the front door after that tussle.

''I say it ALL the time! That kid is like a feral fucking animal you INSISTED on letting rummage through the house!'' Stalactite yelled through gasps, struggling back onto his paws. Igneous was.. Regretting their move to be brave and stop the fight now. They expected there to be some awkward silence, yelling, blah blah, they just weren't expecting to be uh, berated after potentially saving someone's life. They squinted at their brother in confusion, fur and feathers beginning to bristle as well.

''But-''

''Honestly Igneous! You need to get that 'involuntary' thing under control. You're not a fucking fledgeling anymore.'' Stalagmite butted in, their two older brothers deciding to unify against the greater threat. Themself. Igneous couldn't resist the urge to roll their eyes. Not like they could punish them for it anyway now, all of the dinner had been smashed across the floor into a fine paste. They began to try and scuttle further underneath the table's ruins, thinking that their brothers would leave them alone if they hid away. The sound of claws on wood caused them to perk their ears and bristle their quills, but they weren't fast enough to stop their brother from slapping a paw down on their leg. ''Good lord, calm down Stalact-'' Brows raised in annoyance, Stalagmite moved to stop his brother from breaking the young dromaeus' limb, or whatever he was about to do.

''Igneous, you've been really pissing me off these past few days. It's like everything we tell you to do, you take to the maximum. Do you think you're being brave by biting everyone? Huh?'' He snapped, though it was more of a rhetorical question from how well Igneous knew him. He was well aware that by speaking he would just get cut off. ''You're not. Dragons, Stalagmite isn't he acting like that maid Cobble ran off with?'' Oh boy, here it was. They did this every time he did anything. They were insistent on reminding him that his dad wasn't theirs. Didn't even let him pretend. Igneous broke free from his brother's paw and turned underneath the once-table to see what was going on behind him.

''..Yeah. I don't really remember Streak much since I wasn't in-''

''Even Stalagmite agrees with me. And he's always got to be the mediator, so you know I'm right.'' Stalactite lifted his chin proudly, though just about woofed in surprise when it seemed the demiroo had vanished. ''Even hiding like a coward! Tsk, can't even handle criticism. What a joke.'' He shook his head and started upstairs, leaving Stalagmite looking confused to stand by the door.

''Did I agree with him? I don't think I did. I don't know. I'm going on a walk, don't follow me, brat.'' Promptly, he turned and walked out of the house, leaving Igneous in the now ruined kitchen. Living room? Dining room? They treated them all the same, Stalactite even started cooking in Igneous' room once because he could. With a shake of their head, they sniffled tiredly and began to drag themselves up the stairs. Though, since Stalactite was also up there they weren't sure if that was a good idea. They turned and made their way to the back door instead.

''I didn't even do anything.'' Igneous muttered to himself, ears drooping and nostrils twitching as he made his way outside. Given everyone else in his family was huge he had a hard time getting down their stairs down the hill, even more so since there was a step everyone refused to repair. It jostled whenever you stepped on it and it often screeched for no reason. Igneous hated using the stairs because of it, but with tears clouding his vision it was either 'fall later' or 'fall now'. ''I hate this stupid house.'' He carefully placed a talon down on the wobbly step, and it lurched forwards, flinging him down the rest of the stairway with a tumble. ''WAUGH!''

They hit the stone pathway with a loud thump, accompanied by a quiet crackling sound. Their body rolled for a moment, though eventually they came to a stop. There was a stinging pain in one of their legs- not sure which, because at that point after falling down around seven giant steps everything hurt. With a quiet murmur, they pushed themself off of the ground. Yep, their right leg. It wasn't doing anything to help them stand- well, maybe it was, but sitting on a pile of your own limb was not all that fun. Igneous quickly settled themselves back on the ground and shot a glance at their limb. Mm, legs were not supposed to bend like that. Maybe falling in the dark with watery eyes wasn't a good idea. They did it all the time, but maybe the stair had had enough of the disrespect. Igneous could respect taking things into your own.. Er.. brick pebbles, but breaking their leg seemed kind of unfair.

Why do you personify everything? I bet those stairs weren't even aiming for you. I mean- they're just stairs. They don't aim for anyone. Because they're rocks. Igneous thought coldly to himself, though after a moment of flopping on his stomach like a seal to regain his balance, he hopped up on his paws and made sure to raise his sprained or twisted leg in the air instead of trying to walk with it. It was better not to test the waters with something like this. Hobbling over to the fishpond, Igneous collapsed with a wheeze, grimacing in pain. Over the sound of slow moving waters, he swore he could hear Guppy call out to him.

'That was harsh.'

They quickly furrowed their brows, dragging themself closer. Guppy was one of their fish that trusted them the most, barely moving when they bapped her gently on the snout. They didn't think she'd run, not if she had something to say. She didn't talk much anymore. ''You think so, huh?'' Igneous never was sure if they were just talking to themself or if she projected her words into their mind, but they didn't care. They needed a comforting chat right now. ''But I'm used to him yelling at me now, so-''

'Remember what that council member said? Why don't you just run off into the mountains? Maybe you could even get to Preyma if you tried.'

''That council member was mean and stupid.'' He butted in, scowling at the memories of the conversation he'd had with Reefchaser. That roo was.. Something else entirely. He angrily plopped his chin back down on the grass. ''Besides, I don't want to leave you here with either of them. What if they eat you? What're you gonna do? The dragons told you not to come back, you might get sent to jail again.'' Igneous also wasn't sure if that was entirely imagination or not, but he took Guppy's word for it. His leg throbbed in terrible pain, Igneous glancing back and noticing it was slightly swollen. Maybe instead of moping he should check out a physician. Or an herbalist. He didn't know the difference.

'Your brothers are mean and stupid. Everyone is mean and stupid. You're just nice and stupid, so everyone takes advantage of that. They know you won't do anything about it. Even when you can leave you don't because it'll make your brothers sad.'

Guppy seemed to investigate Igneous' talons for any extra food before beginning to submerge. The demiroo flicked their ears back. Being called stupid was.. True.. but they didn't like it. ''Well maybe, I guess..''

'Maybe it's time to listen to me for once. You can't pacify your way out of this problem. You have to be mean and stupid, just for a little while. Like everyone else. It's not like you have another option. You can't let them mess with you or it'll get worse. I'd know.'

Igneous turned his head dismissively. ''You always want me to hurt people. I'm not gonna.'' As the fish sank into the water, the young dromaeus glanced back at his home. He didn't feel like he had a choice. He couldn't think of any other option. He didn't want to stay here, it was just too much for him. ''I'll come back later.'' He began to sit up when an awkward drive told him to say something else. He didn't really say goodbye to his brothers, but the dromaeus in his class often said 'Love you, bye.' to their parents? He looked back at the fish pond and quietly muttered ''Love you.'' And flopped back inside.

Igneous panted heavily by the time they reached the top of the stairs, the act of having dragged their leg up the grass- mostly because they didn't want to get launched back down the stairs again- found to be rather tiring. Stalagmite wasn't home yet- Igneous didn't have to look around to figure that out. When he left on walks he didn't come back till dawn, so they only had to sneak past one brother if they were to properly run away. But.. where would they go? As much as they liked Irukandji they weren't sure if Guppy would be comfortable in a whaler's house.

Hm.. Now that he thought about it, Igneous didn't really know anyone who would let him live in their houses. Especially not if his brothers found them and asked for their sibling to be returned home. Igneous stepped around the ruined kitchen furniture, eventually hobbling up the steps and taking a break on the second floor of their home. He wasn't even sure if he'd make it to the great lake being so hurt. He might have to fly if he wanted to get far. Huffing, the demiroo promptly limped into his room.

Uh- what did they need? How did you run away from home? Standing still for a moment, they decided that a woven basket's worth of items was fine. They were going to live.. Umm.. at Tide's meet! Yeah! Birch was nice, but he was really far away, especially since Dromaeus didn't like Queen Inula or something now. Time to get packing, then! They grabbed a waterskin and tossed it into the basket, well aware that Guppy was coming with them whether she liked it or not. They also grabbed a potted plant, affectionately named 'Pot', though sadly put him back after realizing that he was heavy, and they already struggled with flying with nothing in their talons. ''Uh.. Sorry. Have a nice life.'' They murmured, tossing one of their many blankets into the basket. They needed a blanket. And all of those wooden carvings of animals. And that plushie of a Whale they brought while protesting killing whales. And this thing. And-

Before long he had almost entirely filled the basket with random knick-knacks and whatcha-macallits. They didn't weigh much of anything so it would be relatively easy to carry, but they were also completely useless. Igneous would feel HORRIBLE leaving them all in the house after he left, though, so he dragged the basket out of the room. What else did he need? Food? Uh.. There was no food for tonight, they would have to go to the marketplace tomorrow if he- oh. Right. He was leaving, so he'd just have to forget about the essentials. He could eat some, er, berries. Were there berries in the forests of the mountain kingdom? Yeah. Totally. If he wanted to defend himself from the woodland critters to whom the berries belonged to then he needed a weapon! Stalagmite had those. He could just grab one and get out. Dragging the basket into his brother's room, he used it to try and block the door flap from opening with the draft.

With wide eyes the demiroo hobbled over to the closet actual-door and pulled it open. The door was heavy for this exact reason, but Igneous had their ways of getting it open. It was called 'Pull, not push'. When the clanking of disturbed copper and bronze reached their ears they beamed. There was one helmet in here not made for them, but for someone else. However, it seemed Igneous and the stranger had a similar head size, which made it easy for them to fit it over their head. They weren't going to put this in the basket because it was made of bronze and decorated with some kind of jewels, so wearing it was easier than carrying it for possibly hours at a time... Because all of the weight was on their head, which they always held up anyway.

However, as he awkwardly shuffled backward and out of the closet(Whoever got this helmet custom-made was some kind of swordfish or something. Why did you need a barbed spear on your helmet's nose? What kind of miniature avus needed something so heavy on their face?), he flicked an ear back and craned his neck dramatically. Stalactite was standing there, talons tapping as though he were annoyed. Igneous was caught! Quick, run! Scream! Freeze! Stop drop and roll! Stranger danger! Don't eat the floor candy! Almost as quickly as he had noticed Stalactite the young dromaeus frantically scampered- or at least he tried to- across the floor. He skedaddled in place for a moment, allowing Stalactite to promptly sit himself down on his haunches, blocking any escape.

''So. What's going on here?'' Their brother's coy voice spoke after a while of silence. Igneous' legs were trembling, and they were just glancing at him from the side of their eye. ''Going on a camping trip without telling anyone, huh? Where ya goin?'' They could tell Stalactite was doing that thing he always did. If Igneous even tried to let their guard down then something was going to happen. They didn't really know what, but by how Stalactite was actually smiling at them for once, it clearly wouldn't be good. ''So still now. Quiet. Thought you were being sneaky, clanking all that metal and dragging that basket around, hm? Stupid.'' Stalactite's frown quickly vanished from his face, replaced with an annoyed sneer. Igneous could feel their quills starting to stick up, looking at the wall and then glancing back at their brother. ''Put the stuff back, dumbass. I'm not being nice, I'm being sarcastic.'' He growled, only stepping to the side enough for Igneous to drag the basket out, not exactly run away. Not with that twisted limb anyway. Stalactite had yet to notice or mention it, but their leg was a whole different jar of worms.

After a long period of their jaw trembling in fear, Igneous finally croaked out: ''I.. I don't want to..'' His brows furrowed, and he struggled to keep his head up with the helmet being so heavy. Stalactite tilted his head and a low rumble escaped his throat. Igneous pursed his lips for a moment, debating on if he wanted to go down this path or not. When Stalactite got mad.. He got mad. Almost like he turned into a vengeful ghost whale or something. Igneous usually tried to go to sleep when his brothers got into arguments like that but it didn't mean he hadn't heard snippets of it before.

''Put it back. You're not going anywhere.'' The gray roo snarled, flicking his tail rapidly as they continued to defy his orders. Usually they were obedient, but they always got unusually bold at this hour. Igneous seemed to dwell on the idea for a moment before shaking their head. No, they were confident they wanted to leave now. Even if he turned a new leaf, their brothers were just not something they wanted to deal with anymore. ''Fine, then. Have it your way you little arsehole.'' Without warning the roo promptly clamped his jaws around the swordfish-like helm, pulling Igneous forward and shoving them into the wall. ''Either you put them all back and go to sleep or I'll make you.'' He let go, almost as if offering one last way out. False hope, false false! Igneous knew they weren't safe!

Igneous honestly thought it was rather rude to have shoved him into the wall, and cleared his throat in an angry tone. ''Nuh-Uh.'' It was hard to speak proper words when your entire body was telling you to pass out on the spot, curl up into a ball, and never lift your head ever again. He was trying, though. Stalactite lifted a brow, then rolled his head in annoyance.

''Have it your way, Igneous. Afterall, you always have t-ugh!'' Before he could fully spew his angry remark, the quilled dromaeus quickly swatted their brother with the sharp spear on the helmet. While not intended to draw blood, this helmet was weird. It was a sword and a spear and a harpoon all in one. Four sides of sharp. The pronged blade split his skin in a long, sharp line that neither of them were expecting. Stalactite flinched away with a loud growl, clutching his arm in pain and shock. ''Grrgh, fuck you!'' His voice was entering that dangerous-to-be-around tone, and Igneous wanted to quickly find a way out of the situation that wasn't just defeat.

''I just...'' He began to sputter, though when his brother slammed his chin into the floor by slamming the helmet-spear down, he forgot what he was trying to say and focused more on getting up. ''Noooo!'' He flailed his arms around, but when Stalactite yanked the helm off of his head he instead opted to try and curl up into a ball. It was never too late to curl up and cry. He knew Stalactite wasn't above hurting another avus, it was obvious just by how often his brothers got into physical fights. Igneous did not want to have a fight with Stalactite. He didn't, really. He was hoping he could leave peacefully. The pounding of his heart and throbbing pain in his leg only told him that he needed to get out of here, but he couldn't see any exit. Stalactite had only begun tossing stuff out of the basket- his stuff. Igneous' stuff. His beloved things that his brother had NO RIGHT TO TOUCH! ''STOP!'' He wailed, turning on his wobbly side and making an attempt to prevent his brother from defacing the things he loved.

Small wooden heads of little carved figurines rolled as the roo stomped them to bits, only missing around three of the little things before he whipped around and startled igneous off their feet. Little limbs and tails had been snapped by their brother's paws. Slowly, a hostile voice escaped his maw. ''I gave you several chances to put them back. Since you didn't want to, I guess I have to make sure you don't try this bullshit again.'' His smile was insincere- it didn't even meet his eyes. Igneous' eyes grew glossy and they almost began to sputter, holding back a cry. Their brother shouted again, ''SEVERAL CHANCES! YOU HAVE ONLY YOURSELF TO BLAME!'' and they could only throw their talons over their mouth to silence themself. Stalactite scoffed and kicked the basket backward and out of the doorway, glaring at the young dromaeus. ''Know what? Change of plans. I'm keeping you in here till Stalagmite comes back. Wait till he hears how you tried to steal his belongings! I bet he'll have something to say to you, too.''

Igneous frantically shook his head, desperate not to have another brother dragged into this. Just one was too much. He was terrified. Stalactite lifted a brow and smirked again. ''No? So you think that telling someone you tried to steal from them is wrong? Immoral?'' Now he was putting words in his mouth. Igneous never said that! He didn't say anything! He just didn't want to get yelled at again! ''Hm, how shameful of you. I never thought I was related to such a crook. If you don't feel like talking to your brothers then how about we do something else?'' Oh, so now he was playing the 'but we're brothers!' card. He never said 'brother' unless he was trying to manipulate him. Igneous was confused, but dared not say anything else. As relaxed and reasonable as he seemed now, he'd lived with Stalactite long enough to know that when he was calming down after being angry he was really just thinking of a way to be mean again. Like a geyser waiting to burst. His brother tapped a paw on his chin and seemed to have a thought. ''Oh! How about we lock you in the closet where you got the helm from. Brilliant idea from me. Alright, in you go.'' He began to push Igneous towards the closet, which he did not take kindly to.

''NO! STOP! I'LL TALK, I'LL TALK!'' With a sudden jerk of their body, Igneous sank their teeth into the nearest limb of Stalactite's they could reach. It just so happened to be his paw, and with a yank one of his toes was torn open, spurting blood into the demiroo's mouth. They fumbled on their side for a few moments, wings flared as they tried to right themself, and scampered beneath Stalagmite's bed. Stalactite stumbled in pain for a few moments, just about screaming before he crashed into the wall. ''I'm sorry! Im sorry!''

''YOU BETTER BE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!'' Stalactite roared, shouldering the bedframe and just about sending it sliding across the floor. His brows furrowed and the stump of his toe bled onto the floor, head lowered as he tiredly held himself above the ground. He kicked himself away from the floor and flipped the bed, which Igneous swore would have torn through the wall if it wasn't made of solid, carved stone. The window, however, was destroyed. The cloth preventing either of them from escaping was no more. Igneous' eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak but could only gasp for air like a fish. He'd. Never seen his brother- Stalactite do that. Tables, sure, but that was directed at Stalagmite and didn't often end up with him being dead. The way Stalactite was looking at him– Was he going to hurt him? Was he, too, about to be flung into the wall and stomped on like his wooden carvings? Igneous began to visibly jitter as he quietly shuffled into the crevice created by the flipped bed and the wall. ''Oh, no, no no you don't go hiding. I'm not going to tolerate all of your bullshit and just let you get away with it. I swear by the dragon's burning throats, Igneous, that if you think you're getting out of this safely then you're wrong.''

Their eyes darted back and forth between the wall and their brother's talon. Every time they looked away it got closer and the blood smelled more strongly. In the span of about ten seconds Igneous was in the corner and their brother towered over them with hatred in his eyes. ''I knew it was a bad idea not to send you to the orphanage. Honestly, I don't even think you'd have been best off there. You're a danger to society. You should be thankful Stalagmite and I kept you here all of this time- but I think it's time for you to feel exactly how I felt having to look at you.'' The blue-furred demiroo could have sworn they left their body for a few seconds. The world around them was slowed and they felt like there were only two options left.

Either he was going to regret not doing so, or he had to stop Stalactite. He couldn't just run, his leg wouldn't allow that. He couldn't fly away because in just one wingbeat Stalactite would have caught up to him before Igneous even got to his tenth. Escaping was impossible. If Stalactite really was going to do something to him, Igneous had to be the first. He had to be. He looked up at his brother, gnashing teeth and bloodied talon blurred in Igneous' eyes with adrenaline and tears. With a loud thump of his heart, he jumped up with his jaws parted. He was going for his head. He didn't-

TW– GORE.

Stalactite, in reaction to Igneous seeming like they were going to bite his nose, pulled his head away. There was only the telltale sound of ripping flesh and the thud of his sibling hitting the floor as his throat was ripped clean open. Igneous' teeth were too small to rip his esophagus out, but their incisors were sharp enough to rip a long strip of it off of the rest of his body. In a blink there was blood spraying everywhere, coating the pair's fur and the young dromaeus' face. They hadn't meant to bite that deep. They didn't mean to rip his neck open. They didn't intend to do that at all. Stalactite was attacking first- why- why did he turn away? Why did he stop? They laid there in confusion and terror for a moment before realizing what they'd actually done. This wasn't an 'Oops!' situation. They wouldn't wake up and see Stalactite standing over them again like he always did. They couldn't just take their brother to an herbalist and get him some herbs for his wound.

Igneous had killed someone. His half-brother. He was running to the Northern Kingdom and had committed a crime. What if he wanted to come back? Who cares about him?! His brother would never be able to change the kingdom for the better in the way he wanted! Igneous stripped the life from a decently-innocent dromaeus and for what? Was he really that afraid of being bitten?! Snapped at? Yelled at some more? Igneous could not forgive himself for this. His mouth was agape as he tried to overcome the shock. He didn't seem to realize just what he'd done. His brother was gone forever. This was irreversible. What would happen when the guards came because Stalagmite reported the murder? If Igneous couldn't flee the kingdom? If Birch didn't take him in? Was the North really that welcoming to dromaeus right now? Was Birch a hardcore supporter of Inula? He stood in silence for a little while longer before the stickiness of blood covering his body became overwhelming in the chill of the night and she just had to move. His twisted leg wasn't throbbing anymore, which he could assume was a plus of this horrible scenario, but now?

What would they do now? All of the things they intended to take, save for the bronze helmet, basket and their blankets were.. Destroyed. Could they even bring themself to leave? They had to turn themself in. It wasn't right to just leave a dead body in their brother's room without any explanation, right? As much as Igneous wanted to do the right thing, though, it was impossible to reason with themself. Every excuse they had for trying to stay and explain was shut down with 'yeah, but you're a murderer now.' And so, with as brave of a face they could manage, they grabbed the helmet and limped away. They gently put it inside of the basket and did their best to get down the stairs, the house oddly quiet. A feud had very clearly taken place, but as Igneous made their way outside with their basket full of sour memories, it just wasn't right. The house was too empty.

TW OVER.

Igneous tiredly made his way behind the house and opted to slide down the hill with the help of the basket this time, carefully touching down on the grass and looking into the clear water of the fish pond. ''Guppy? Are.. are you awake?'' He tiredly called, the blood having dried into his fur now and leaving no tracks on the grass. He could see her, settled on the bottom, and he made a gesture as though he was about to toss food into the pond again. When the fish came up to eat, he scooped Guppy into a waterskin and frowned. He didn't feel good tricking his friends like that, but.. He didn't have a right to. He didn't feel like he did, anywho. He was a murderer, and stone-cold killers shouldn't feel more remorse for.. Stupid fish than they should their own family. ''I'm sorry, guys. I have to go. You won't see me again, so just know this isn't your fault. I love you. Bye.'' They couldn't bring themselves to just leave. As they began to haul themselves into the depths of the forest, and as far away as possible before Stalagmite came back, they glanced towards the house again. They couldn't look at it the same.

Everything that had happened.. Igneous was glad he was finally leaving, even if he couldn't have done so peacefully. And, despite everything, he didn't want to go in utter silence. ''You too, Stalactite. I never... meant.. to hurt you. I'm sorry. I love you, even if you didn't like me. Maybe if Stalagmite listened to you then everything could have been different. I have to go now, but I hope your ghost finds peace.'' He didn't speak particularly loud, but it was loud enough. He didn't want things to end up like this. Nobody ever did. But what Igneous did wasn't fixable, and no amount of apologies would help. He nodded toward Guppy who was visibly thrashing about in the goat waterskin and made his way into the forest. Maybe he would find Birch, but for now, he was just getting out of here.