~Finding Home Again~

Chapter 2

Tears clouded his eyes but Sting didn't care- he just kept running, his legs protesting for a break. But he wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop because if he did, he would break completely. He needed to get to Skiadrum and Rogue- they'll help him. Shred understanding on what he just did at Weisslogia's request.

"Sting, kill me."

The child so desperately tried to talk his father out of his request. But the white dragon stood firm, calming stating that dragon slayers become stronger when they have spilled the blood of a dragon. Nothing could shake Weisslogia. So Sting followed through with the request, his heart screaming and breaking as he fought his teacher. His guardian. His father. With a blow to the heart, Weisslogia fell dead. Sting wrapped his arms which were screaming and bleeding around the dying dragon's neck and whispered, "Goodbye."

Gathering wood, the boy lit the dragon on fire, watching the flames eat away at Weisslogia's once strong and proud body. "May you still fly, father!" Sting cried to the sky, tears streaming down his face. And then he ran. Ran into the woods towards the two people that he hoped would help him.

His enhanced speed helped the trip along even with the heavy wave of tiredness crashing over him. Sting could now start to smell Skiadrum and Rogue but fear gripped his heart. For in the air was the smell of burning flesh. Sting pushed his legs to go faster, praying that nothing has happened to his fellow dragon slayer and his father. Pushing through the ring of trees, Sting came to a halt as he took in the scene before him.

Thick, gray smoke came pouring out of the cave that Rogue and Skiadrum lived in and into the black, starry night. Fear tightened its grip as Sting yelled with all the force his vocal cords could manage, "Rogue! Skiadrum!" Then Sting saw him- Rogue came walking out, tears pouring down his cheeks, his hands bloody. Though the White Dragon Slayer couldn't say much since he was sure that he looked no better. The blonde came rushing to his partner. "Rogue! Where's Skiadrum?!" The raven pointed into the cave with a shaking finger.

"I-I killed him."

"What?"

"I killed him. I killed Skiadrum." Rogue looked up to stare at Sting, his bottom lip trembling. "I killed my own father." With no words to say but knowing what the other was going through, Sting embraced Rogue who clung to him as if he was all that he had. Which at this point was true. "He was just so sick," Rogue said, his voice muffled by Sting's shirt, "and I couldn't do anything. He could hardly leave the cave without pain. I-I didn't want him to suffer anymore."

"At least you are better than me."

Rogue pulled back, confusion written across his eyes before they fell to sight of the blood on Sting. "You killed Weisslogia." It wasn't a question. There was no need to question it.

"He asked me too. He asked me to kill him. I tried to talk him out of it b-but he wouldn't change his mind."

The two child just embraced, understanding and suffering in the air around them. This was why they were partners- they just knew each other. A single glance from one to the other would hold a single conversation.

"What do we do now?"

"We run."

And so they ran- two little boys, hand in hand, running into the night from home to the unknown with nothing but each other.