Tempest Bound: Hey, guys! For those who have not read The Shade Law and wish to not have spoilers, please go read it. There are slight spoilers, as stated in the description. If you've read it or don't mind spoilers, please, go ahead and read!

Pneumonia

I can't breathe. Mother says it's a bug that got into me, that it's making me feel icky. Is this how it feels to have a bug stuck in you? If it is, I don't like it.

The nice man in the white coat told me to lie down while he talks to Father. I can hear them talking outside my room, and Father sounds angry. I hope the nice man doesn't get hurt like Mother. What's pneumonia?

The man leaves; I can tell because the front door closes loudly. An engine starts outside and Father comes in. I hide my face with the blankets because he looks mad and I don't want to get hurt.

"Skye, get up," Father says, taking the blanket away. "You do enough lazing around already."

"But, Father, the man said—"

"The Doctor knows nothing." I close my mouth, knowing not to talk back to him, since he's taught me not to. "Now, get up!"

I get up off my bed. Breathing gets harder and my legs shake; they feel weird.

"Good. Now I want you to go outside and find your mother. She needs to come home and tend to the guests."

"What guests, Father? I don't—"

"Just go get your mother!"

I jump and leave the room as quickly as I can, because I know better than to make Father angry at me. I still have bruises.

When I open the front door, it's raining. I breathe in and all of a sudden it feels like I'm drowning. It feels like someone's hugging me too hard, like when Mother found me when I went exploring in the forest when I wasn't supposed to.

I put on my shoes and jacket, because it's cold outside. The ground is slippery and I almost fall down.

I pass the Hospital, going towards Mother's friend's house. Why are my eyes going darker? I start to cough and choke and stop in the middle of the street. My hood comes down and rain makes my hair wet. Why does it hurt?

Then I fall down and I can't move.

"—he outside while it's raining? He has pneumonia!"

"It's your fault, Isa. If you'd been home, I wouldn't have had to send him out."

"But he's only six, Cyrus..."

"It's your fault; you can't even take care of your own child. That's why he has pneumonia in the first place. It's all your fault!"

"But Skye's...such an adventurous child. He must have caught it while outside."

I try to sit up. That's Mother and Father. What happened? Why am I in a white room? It looks so lonely; this isn't my room.

"If you hadn't let him outside, he wouldn't be sick, would he?"

"Yes—no...but..."

"Mother?" I ask, throat hurting. "Father?"

Mother some into the room. "Skye? Honey, thank the Goddess you're awake!" Father stays outside and I feel a little better.

"Mother, w-what happened? Did I die?"

"No, no, of course not, Honey. You just fell down."

"Then why do I feel really, really bad?" When she hugs me, I start coughing.

"Sorry, sorry. Go back to sleep, okay?"

I nod and close my eyes. Mother pulls the blanket up more. But then I open my eyes again when I think about Father getting angry at Mother again. "I love you, Mother."

She kisses me on the head. "I love you, too. Have a good rest."

"Good night."

"Good night."

When I close my eyes again, I dream of falling into water and not being able to breathe. I don't like that dream, but I don't wake up until Father's left.

Good night...

Tempest Bound: For those who're wondering, yes, this is the first time where I mention Blackthorn's first name. If you wondered what happened to make Skye scared of rain/snow, this is a detailed (?) account of what happened. Excuse my horrible writing here; this is the first time I've written in the POV of a young child, much less a boy. Sorry if this burned your eyes out.

See why most hate Blackthorn?

By the way, this is slightly after Blackthorn had been elected (coughtookovercough). Hope you liked it!