Surrounded in a dead red forest, two small children could be seen.
Gol had messed up. Messed up real bad.
'How was I supposed to know he cared about those dumb papers!'
Gol was panicking. He knew that their kind used to abandon children they thought weak. He just never thought it would be them!
'Come on! Pull yourself together...'
He wasn't feeling very confident but this whole thing was very much his fault. Looking at his sis curled up into a ball filled him with new levels of guilt he didn't think were possible. He went and picked up the stone from the ground.
'He didn't completely abandon us yet, we still have a chance!'
All they had to do was find their guest and go home. Heck, they didn't even have to find the guest. They just had to go home.
'We can do this!'
They could come up with a plan or something!
Gol turned toward his sis.
'I just have to convince her to move'
"Uhhhh... hey sis, wanna move along?"(G)
"Shut up! Don't talk to me! I told you not to enter and you still did! I have had enough of you!"(T)
Gol winced at her response.
"I know you're mad, but we gotta move before it gets dark"(G)
"NO! We are not moving a foot until dad comes back!"(T)
'I don't think he is coming back tho...'
Gol didn't want to make his sis more miserable than she already was, so he decided to comply and sit back down.
It was mid-day, and they were still just sat around. Well, Gol was, his sis was still curled up in a ball.
'If this keeps up were gonna be here till night!'
"Look Teen, we can't keep this up. He clearly ain't coming back!"(G)
"Shut it with the negativity!"(T)
'Why is she so unreasonable!'
Gol stood up and started walking toward his sis.
'If she's not gonna listen to reason, I'll just force her!'
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"What's that noise?"(T)
"Stop changing the subject. If you not gonna move, I will move you myself!"(G)
"I'm not changing the subject idiot! Listen!"(T)
Gol paused mid stride and decided to humour his sis. As he focused, he could hear a faint screaming sound.
"I actually do hear something..."(G)
A look of indignation appeared on his sis's face.
"What do you mean 'actually' unlike you I am a-"(T)
A tree in front of them appeared to spontaneously bust as a white blur flashed in front of them. After bursting through the tree, the blur hit another one that killed all of its speed.
A dumbfounded look appeared on Gol's face.
"W-what was that?"(G)
Ignavus didn't know what he expected, but whatever was happening now was definitely not a part of it! He had assumed they would be using some reasonable form of transportation, but, he guessed, even that was hard for his 'aunt' to do.
"Stop making that face or I will drop you."(C)
'How is she even able to speak?'
Trying to control his facial expressions he couldn't help but ask,
"Why aren't we using the mounts?"(I)
Every time they would go training, a mount would be provided. Granted, they were oddities but really, anything was better than his current situation!
"Most can't make the journey this far, so stop acting spoiled and try enjoy yourself! Anyways, you should get used to flying... It will help later on."(C)
Ignavus stared blankly.
'If you're going to lie to me don't be so half-assed about it!'
He was pretty sure she was lying. The mounts they had were beasts unlike anything he has ever seen. To say they wouldn't make such a simple journey was a blatant lie. Ignavus was almost certain he knew the reason they were not using the mounts. He believed it was a matter of pride.
She had forgotten to have them prepared by the time they were supposed to leave and didn't want to admit it. It only took one minute to do it, but he had made the mistake of asking if she really had forgotten. She pretended to have not which resulted in them just leaving like that.
'I swear she's so irresponsible. The only thing she does is laze around all day looking for a ripe opportunity to inconvenience me!'
"Were you just thinking ill thoughts about me?"(C)
"N-no. I-I was just wondering why you were taking me..."(I)
"Ahhh, your mother was busy sorting some small issues with the mortal races."(C)
She took a pause as she slowed down her flight speed. It looked like she was searching for something.
"Do you dislike me taking you?"(C)
"Not at all! Bonding time, right?"'(I)
'Literally anyone but you would make a great choice. Marie preferably, that silly bird even, and if worse came to worst, 'mother' wouldn't be so bad...'
His 'mother' appeared to be much gentler in certain regards, at least in training and general care, which really wasn't much all things considered, but it was something.
Ignavus, even though he wouldn't admit it, was still afraid of his 'aunt'. The memory of gaining his new accessories was still fresh in his mind. He couldn't even muster the courage to ask what happened to the bird.
"Well put my cute niece!"(C)
They had started gliding in the air. Lowering to get closer to the ground.
'It's not so scary once you close your eyes'
Cradled in the massive arms of his 'aunt' he couldn't help but try and make himself comfortable. After all, it could be much worse.
"Okay! We are just about arriving."(C)
"It's a shame we're going to have to cut our nice session short"(C)
"Yea, what a shame..."(I)
Ignavus peaked out from his shut eyes to see where they were going to land. Instead of seeing ground he saw a vast bright red forest.
'Where are we landing?'
"Say, do you know how to fly?"(C)
Ignavus felt his blood run cold at the question. A bad premonition.
'Calm down, there's no way she's going to drop me. She sees me as her niece. No sane person would do that to their niece'
He slowly shook his head to answer no.
"No time like the present, am I right?"(C)
It took Ignavus a second too long to realise he wasn't dealing with a sane person. He was speaking with a beast.
The revelation hit him, hard. Fear gripped his heart the moment it settled in.
"NO! PLEASE DON'T I CAN'T-!"(I)
But it was already too late. His arms were unlatched from her body forcefully.
He was falling.