Chapter 5
Tipping Point

A thud sounded as Gathor shoved a boulder into the ground. He smiled and dusted his hands, while looking proudly upon the impromptu move range he'd just set up. Shifting his smile to a frown, Gathor moved his hands around the boulder and shifted it to stand better.

Meanwhile, the three sat on a few rocks near the side of the mountain and watched their father tweak the boulders, like one trying to align a picture frame yet being dissatisfied with the result each time.

Move endurance trainin' huh. Ciecro theorized in his mind, his prediction supported by the groaning from his siblings.

"Endurance day," Jaron whined as he laid down on his boulder and went limp.

Seliph rested his arms on his legs and grumbled. "We already had to walk all the way up here." With a heavy sigh, Seliph laid back next to Jaron. Shifting on his side, Seliph looked at Jaron's displeased face and asked, "You ready for it, Jaron?"

"Blegh," was all Jaron answered with. The two began sharing their mutual disdain for this exercise while Ciecro just looked off in the distance.

They all had a good view from their flat, open cliffside; one could see almost the entire forest that sprawled around the mountain and even the start one of the signature plains that dotted Triacal in the distance.

His idle view gazing was interrupted by Gathor's approach along with his brothers quickly sitting up from their sprawling.

"A'ight, kids, line up an' pick yah stone," Gathor calmly ordered.

Seliph and Jaron hurried on over to the two end ones, annoyed and ready to get this over with. Ciecro just walked normally to the one in the middle, lining up to his siblings. Each of the kids was about fifteen feet from his paired boulder.

"A'ight," Gathor said, stepping past them and giving each one a glance. "Keep yah move on yah bouldeh as best yah can fo' ten minutes."

Ciecro heard Jaron groan as the Charmander looked at his rock, ready to begin.

"Okay, Seliph, use Water Pulse. Ciecro, use Dragon Rage. Jaron, use Scald. Everybody ready?"

"Yes, father." The water types replied, while Ciecro just eyed his boulder and narrowed his eyes.

"A'ight, Get ready!" Gathor raised his arm as the three tensed up. "Three!"

Ciecro, moved his arms forwards as he took a deep breath,

"Two!"

He held the air in his cheeks as his insides rose in temperature. His tail's flame flickered fiercer. Ciecro could feel energy moving throughout his body as heat filled his throat. "One!"

Ciecro opened his eyes and focused on the target, before swinging his arms back and unleashing Dragon Rage right as his father yelled, "Launch!"

The purple fire with yellow core struck violently upon the boulder, as the other two were subjected to a Water Pulse and Scald respectively. Feeling the air in his lungs depleting, Ciecro eased the pushing on his throat for a steadier, longer lasting Dragon Rage.

He relaxed a little at seeing Jaron's Scald cease hitting the rock first. Glancing over at the other one, Ciecro grumbled in his head at seeing Seliph's rock taking the steady hits of enlarging circles still. Come on! Ciecro begged as he started to struggle in keeping the move going.

After a few minutes, Ciecro was forced to cease firing. With a heavy pant, he looked over to Seliph, who was keeping his arms fixated in position, like he had just started. After a little growl to himself, Ciecro shook his head and resumed.

The process repeated of him and Jaron having to take a minute to regain air, while Seliph, occasionally had to roll one of his arms before returning it back.

"Two minutes!" Gathor shouted.

Ciecro quickly stopped his Dragon Rage and inhaled for a finishing stretch. As he did, he noticed Seliph's rock looked rugged, with its surface chipped by the Water Pulse. Glancing back at his rock, Ciecro noticed it had damage too, although not as badly as Seliph's. No amount of Dragon Rage would even the score, at least as good as a Water Pulse to a rocky surface.

Disappointment filled Ciecro's heart till he noticed his boulder was slightly tipped away from him due to the force he'd been exerting on it. I'll tip it oveh! Dat'll show Dad how tough I am! Invigorated, Ciecro took as big of a breath as he could before unleashing an even stronger Dragon Rage upon the rock.

"One minute!"

It felt like the air in his lungs were disappearing as he struggled to keep the powerful flame up. Did he misjudge how hard it would be to keep it going? Ciecro blinked, trying to push through the fatigue he was feeling. Come on! He pleaded for the boulder to move and slowly he could it tipping. A rush of excitement filled his mind and soul.

"Time!"

Ciecro stopped immediately, not on command but out of surprise. His hands draped in front as he hunched over, panting heavily. Worriedly, the Charmander looked up to his boulder only to frown in defeat at it remaining mostly upright.

"Good job, all round." Gathor congratulated. Shoving his fists onto his sides, Gathor looked at all three with a pleased smile. Jaron was too much of a panting mess to respond, Ciecro was just staring at his boulder dumbfounded, while Seliph gave him thumbs up amid some wheezing. "Take a break while I clear dese things fo' battle practice."

Seliph walked past Ciecro to help Jaron back to their spots, as Ciecro trudged over, sat down on the ground near the side of the mountain, and stared at the ground with a frustrated look.

"I…hate…move…endurance…training," Jaron complained, while panting as Seliph helped him onto one of the rocks.

Seliph chuckled, sitting down on a nearby one and leaning back to stare at the clear, blue sky. "Yeah, it does suck. But hey, it isn't running laps this time."

"I guess…" Jaron pulled at one of his feet, before looking at Seliph and bluntly saying, "But move endurance training still sucks. I'm just glad it's over."

"And hey, you did it." Seliph sat up, giving Jaron an encouraging smile.

Jaron gave an unsure look in return. "What good is keeping a move up if I'm just tired afterwards? I can fire moves already, do I need to keep them up for so long?"

"It ain' jus' abou' how long yah can keep firin'."

All three quickly shifted their gazes to their father, walking over while rolling his arm.

"Then why?" Jaron asked, sliding off his rock onto his feet. After a few breaths and keeping his stance up, he asked further, "Why do I need move endurance anyway?"

Gathor tapped his chest then pointed at Jaron's chest. "Yah're trainin' in dere. Move endurance also helps build up yah ability tah use yahr synergy fo' moves. Like buildin' muscle fo' liftin' better."

Jaron tilted his head and began scratching it. "So, like making my moves come out stronger?"

Gathor chuckled, making Jaron blush awkwardly. "Not quite, Jaron." Suddenly, Gathor scooped Jaron by the underarms before setting him gently onto his shoulder. Turning to the left and gesturing at the view before them, Gathor explained, "Moves are our power, but tah use 'em as moves we need tah convert dat power. When yah used Scald, did yah notice how yah felt tired while doin' it? Moreso den just rapid fire?"

Jaron nodded with enthusiasm. "Very tired."

Gathor chuckled, rubbing Jaron's head for a second. "Yep, but how do yah feel tired?"

"Huh?"

Gathor took his right hand before carefully pressing a finger to Jaron's throat. "Does it jus' feel tired 'ere?"

Jaron thought for a second before shaking his head. "It feels mostly tired there. But my arms and legs feel a little tired too."

Gathor looked at the other two and said, "And yah both feel tired all over too, right?"

Seliph nodded, while Ciecro just gave a minor grunt.

"Y'all feel dat way because dah power comes from all oveh yah. So when part of yah is usin' a move and it starts tah run dry, it takes synergy from dah rest of dah body. Dat's why move endurance is important. I helps wit dah circulation as well as yah move stamina."

Jaron just kept a blank stare at his father, causing Gathor to smirk.

"Didn't yah mother teach yah how mons use moves?"

Blushing a little and fiddling with his hands, Jaron shook his head.

"I think he fell asleep during that lecture, father."

"Seliph!" Jaron shouted as Seliph got up from his sitting spot.

"Hah! Nothin' tah be ashamed of, son," Gathor assured Jaron, patting the embarrassed Totodile's head. "I'd snooze too if I had tah listen tah her talk on an' on."

Seliph walked over with a big smile. "Yeah, but she'd smack you awake," Seliph said, punching Gathor in the side, mildly acting like Freya.

"Woah!" Gathor cried suddenly, bouncing back on his right foot. Jaron and Seliph looked at him in confusion till Gathor, with a big smile on his face, whined, "Don' hit so hard. Yah'll break me in half."

Deciding to be silly like his dad, Seliph rammed into Gathor's stomach, making the big gator go "Oof".

"Have yah gone primal‽" Gathor playfully whimpered. Seliph's reply was just pushing harder, forcing Gathor to finally give up on being easy and push back from falling over. Gathor gave a challenging chuckle at Seliph's pushing as hard as he could. "Yah gotta do betteh den dat, boy- ack!" To his surprise, Jaron had left his shoulder and was climbing onto his head.

"Pull as hard as you can, Jaron!"

"Will do!" Jaron excitedly replied with his signature grin as he roughly grabbed his father's face, right as Gathor tried reaching for Jaron's tail.

"Help!" Gathor pitifully cried out, the smile on his face a bit obscured by Jaron's arm. "Somebody, help! Dah kids have gone feral!"

It wasn't long before the mixed forces of Jaron's pulling and Seliph's pushing and a hint of Gathor letting it happen finally toppled the mighty Feraligatr over. The two leaped on their fallen father, hitting him with playful punches and laughing, while he begged in exaggeration amid his own laughter, "Please, spare me! Ahh!"

As the hearty three did their roughhousing, Ciecro watched them from his spot. His eyes took turns focusing on one of the three before finally just looking off hihs right hand. Lowering his head, Ciecro slowly clenched his hand just short of a fist. I can almost feel it. He thought, imagining the key in his hand. I wish dat-

His thoughts were interrupted by the booming voice of his father. "A'ight guys that's enough wrestlin'. We got trainin' tah do." He heard Jaron and Seliph utter bummed 'aww's. Ciecro's eyes narrowed at hearing Seliph whine like that. Hmph…so he's dah adult, eh? Dat whineh gets dah key an' dere twust. A scowl formed on the Charmander's face as he clenched his hand fully into a fist, the force he was exerting causing it to shake slightly.

"Hey, Ciecro! Come!" Gathor called to him and he immediately complied. Without a word he joined the other two as Gathor gestured towards a flat, open area away from the boulders they used earlier. "Okay, so it's battle practice time. So, who wants tah go first?"

Before anyone else had a chance, Ciecro raised his hand and quickly added, "Can I say somethin'?"

Gathor raised a brow, but permitted it with a nod.

Ciecro moved his raised hand to point at Seliph. "I wanna battle Seliph."

"Me?"

"Him? Why?" Gathor crossed his arms as all three looked at the Charmander.

Ciecro took a breath, pushing back their stares in his mind to reason, "Because, Jaron is probably still tired."

"Hey!" Jaron protested, before Gathor held out his hand, indicating him to stop.

Cieco clenched his mouth shut as Gatho looked at Seliph. "Are yah fine battlin' Ciecro first?"

The Charmander held his breath with anticipation, not releasing it till Seliph answered with, "I suppose so."

Gathor gave a nod and the two siblings walked to their respective sides of the flat area, while Jaron joined Gathor at the side.

Both boys started loosening their muscles, as their father yelled, "A'ight normal battle. Stop when I say stop and no foul play."

The two nodded and stared at each other as Gathor started counting down. Ciecro leered at Seliph, who was caught off guard by the glare.

"Begin!"

Ciecro rushed towards Seliph as fast he could, as the Frogadier thrust his arms forwards and sent a single Water Pulse in his direction. Despite managing to roll away from the enlarging circlular move, Ciecro wasn't fast enough to avoid the rim; he felt the water strike his legs, sending him off course into an ungraceful landing onto his back.

Ciecro gnashed his teeth as he felt his legs sting from the move. Rolling onto his belly and picking himself up, Ciecro growled as he heard Gathor ask, "Yah okay, Ciecro?"

"Yes!" He replied, rolling his head before giving Seliph another scowl and planning his next move.

"A'ight, Resume!"

Ciecro charged once more. Seeing Seliph thrust his arms forwards again, the Charmander quickly darted left. Dat's right, don' fire yah move yet. Just keep it ready. He kept going in a large circle around Seliph, as the Frogadier kept his arms pointed at him, ready to launch Water Pulse.

Now! Ciecro pivoted, heading directly for Seliph again. This time, when Seliph fired the Water Pulse, he rolled to the side earlier to evade the expanding move. Firmly stopping his roll with his right leg, Ciecro fired a responding Dragon Rage as fast as he could.

Seliph leap away from it and landed safely, extending his arms for another attempt.

No you don't! Ciecro turned his head and body, moving the Dragon Rage towards Seliph, but sadly he wasn't fast enough to keep up with Seliph.

The Frogadier was now the one running in a large circle around Ciecro, easily leaving the move behind. Fine! Ciecro ceased firing and quickly dashed to the left as Seliph fired Water Pulse at him. Once clear of the move, Ciecro fired Dragon Rage back, which collided with another Water Pulse Seliph sent his way.

The explosion was close enough to send some water splashing towards Ciecro, forcing him to cover his eyes. Once the stinging on his arm leveled, Ciecro moved his arm away and quickly tried to spot his brother. However, he was suddenly be hit in the shoulder by smaller Water Pulse.

"Ack!" he whimpered as he clenched the spot. He looked to his right, with Seliph there, smiling from his direct hit.

Ciecro snarled at Seliph, while holding his shoulder.

Seliph crossed his arms, bothered and a bit annoyed by Ciecro's angry stare. "Hey, you just stood there so don't be sore abou-"

"Shuddup!" Ciecro yelled, standing up and ripping his hand from his stinging, dampened shoulder. The Chamander rushed at Seliph once again.

Yah tink yah're smart? Well I'll knock yah smart! Ciecro surged Slash in both of his claws.

Seeing that, Seliph quickly moved his left arm in front to fire a Water Pulse as his right formed a Cut stick.

Yah're not betteh dan me! With the mightiest roar he could muster, Ciecro crossed his arms above his head, leaped, and crossed sliced right onto the incoming Water Pulse. His move cut through the water, splashing it into his upper face and lower body. Confused from the water hitting his eyes and stinging, Ciecro's blindly landed onto his face. He yelped from the hit as he held his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Ciecro!" he heard Seliph cry, before feeling his brother help him up. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, Ciecro opened his eyes, fighting through the stinging before he could finally see. As the pain eased, he looked slightly upwards to Seliph, who looked down at him with a relieved smile.

Ciecro just silently looked at him, making Seliph's smile shift to worried confusion. "Ciecro?" was all he could say before the Charmander pushed him back and leapt upon him.

"I don' need yahr help!" Ciecro shouted, punching and scratching at Seliph's face.

"Ciecro! Stop it!" Seliph pleaded, defending his head with his arms. "Get off me!"

"Ciecro, stop now!" Gathor shouted as Jaron gasped.

Ciecro wouldn't relent. Yah ain' betteh den me! Ciecro shouted in his head, over and over, till a hand gripped his tail. Yelping in surprise, Ciecro was pulled off Seliph and hung in the air upside down. He froze, as he stared straight into his father's scowl.

Not taking his eyes off of Ciecro, Gathor asked, "Are yah fine, Seliph?"

"Yes sir."

Ciecro's frustration returned, but the discomfort of the moment limited his nerve to say anything. He just looked away from his father's eyes and glared in a random direction.

With a snort, Gathor set Ciecro down and ordered, "Seliph, practice block forms with Jaron. Ciecro and I are gonna have a talk."

Gathor led Ciecro behind some rock formations and gestured for the Charmander to move right behind the rocks.

Despite complying, Ciecro refused to look up to his father out of a mix of shame, worry, and anger. He rested his back against the rock and waited through the few painful minutes of silence.

"Ciecro…" Gathor's voice sounded very authoritative, but wasn't too rough to sound harsh. "Why did yah staht hittin' yah brother and why did yah ignore me?"

Ciecro didn't reply, but tensed a little as Gathor asked once more. After taking a breath, Ciecro gave in and answered, "Because I was losin' an' it got to my head."

"Is that dah truth?"

Ciecro's muscles froze, almost as if the blood inside him had solidified into instantaneous ice. His heart beat faster as he kept a shaky leer to ground. What do I say?

"Ciecro…" He heard Gathor get onto a knee and say, "look at me."

Ciecro freaked out in his head and closed his eyes. Imagining Gathor's angry gaze felt like a cold Ice Beam to the chest, shriveling him up and making it hard to think straight. After Gathor started asking again, Ciecro desperately blurted out, "No!"

"'No'? Why 'no'?"

"Why should I?" Ciecro answered, more out of nervous sniping and irrational thought than actual confidence.

"Because I'm yah father an' we need tah talk."

Ciecro kept shivering, before Gathor put his hand on Ciecro's shoulder. Something about the heavy arm on his made his body relax, probably due to nostalgic feel of his father's touch. His breathing slowed and his eyes opened, although they were fixed squarely on the ground.

"…Ciecro, what's wrong? Why are yah afraid tah look at me? I'm not mad jus' worried."

"Worried?" Ciecro's said in a low tone. Worried… Something about that word shifted all his thoughts from fear to earlier, when Gathor asked if Seliph was okay. Frustration slowly began to return the longer he dwelled on that scene.

"Yes, Ciecro. Yah wouldn't do dat tah Seliph."

The Charmander scowled at the ground. Seliph…worried… Slowly, he raised his head and looked at his right hand. "Worried…" His right hand started shaking and closing.

"Yes…yah know dat right?" Gathor's tone seemed different, like he was picking up on something changing in Ciecro.

"Sure...I know dat." Ciecro mumbled as his fist clenched tightly.

"Ciecro-" Gathor started, but ceased once he heard Ciecro growl at him.

I'm done wit dis! Ciecro yelled in his mind. He looked right at his father with his fierce orange eyes and harshly snapped, "I know, so don' waste yah worryin' on me!"

Gathor's eyes widened, before settling into a scowl of his own. "Don' yell at me boy," Gathor rebuked, but it was met with a challenging snarl from his son.

"I'll yell if I wanna!"

Gathor stood up, his height overshadowing Ciecro. "Ciecro, what's gotten into yah? Why are yah bein' so aggressive wit me?"

Ciecro crossed his arms, snorted, and looked to the side. "Nothin's gotten inta me."

"Somethin' clearly has fo' yah tah growl at me and attack yah older brother like dat."

Ciecro's muscles tightened and his eyes narrowed as he mumbled, "Tck, worried I'd hurt 'im."

"What was that?" Gathor demanded, his voice raised slightly.

Ciecro retaliated, "Isn' dat dah truth?" Taking an aggressive step forwards, Ciecro yelled as loud as he could. "Yah might as well jus' go an' check on Seliph if yah dat worried!" Tears started forming in his eyes, as he kept on Gathor face albeit not really seeing his father's reaction. "Go on, I don' care! Go make sure I didn' hurt 'im in my stupid rage an' punish me like dah bad kid I am!"

Panting a little, Ciecro braced himself, ready this time for whatever Gathor would throw at him, or so he thought. He paused; his aggressive, dominant scowl slowly melting away at his father's face, which was still serious but not like before.

Slowly, Gathor's eyes shifted left, deep in thought. Small growls or grumbles were coming from his closed mouth followed by an eye closed sigh. Suddenly, Gathor started leaving, but not before placing his hand on the rock formation and saying as he glanced back at Ciecro. "If yah wanna be left alone…okay. I love yah…an' I'm sorry I made yah feel dat way."

The sad look in Gathor's eyes took all of Ciecro's attention. It stung more than any poison or blow, leaving the Charmander at a loss of not just words, but actions too. Once Gathor took his hand off and resumed leaving, Ciecro went after him, reaching his arm out. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't come and without another word Gathor disappeared behind the rocks.

Ciecro stopped in his tracks as his right arm fell to his side, open and limp. His face lowering as tears started to flow again. After wiping his eyes with his left arm, he made his way to the edge of the rock formation and leaned past them to see the others.

Gathor was talking with the other two, who looked worried at whatever their father was saying.

Ciecro pressed his back against the cliff, his eyes wide, his breathing slow, and his claws clasping roughly on its rocky surface. Did…Did I…h…h-h-hur-. He couldn't finish it. He didn't want to finish it. Tears started to flow once more as Cieco slid down onto the ground, sniffling and shaking like a newborn. I hate all of dis! He leaned forwards and slammed his fists on the ground hard, unconcerned by the following pain. He pressed firmer onto the rough earth as tears fell from his face, hitting the ground near his hands.

O

A gentle breeze blew across the opening where the house stood, occasionally hitting Ciecro as he sat outside the house. He was too troubled to care about the annoying wind, too lost in thoughts to stare at anything but the dirt field a few meters away. Images of his battle with Tetheron filled the spot as did the thoughts of how happy everyone was then. Now, just two days later, it was empty, and he felt alone and sad.

Finally, he shifted his depressed gaze to different patches of dirt in the grass near his feet. He circled between all of them with his eyes before he heard the complaining rumblings from his stomach as he got a whiff of the food being prepared inside. Sighing heavily, Ciecro stood up and walked over to the empty battlefield and plumped down onto its edge, making sure his tail's flame wasn't in the grass.

Leaning over, Ciecro started to draw in the dirt. First he made a picture of himself blowing fire. Heh, he chuckled at the silly stick figure and triangle body him. Leaning in closer, he next drew a tree, although it only had four lines. Pausing for a minute, Ciecro brushed dirt over the tree drawing till only the long stump line was left. Carefully, he drew a diamond at one end, before adding a few spots at the other end. A frown formed as he stared at the key drawing in the dirt.

He sighed heavily as he hunched over, just staring at the two drawings, glancing from one to the other.

"Hey Ciecro!"

He about jumped from his spot. Jaron? Instead of looking at Jaron, he swiftly brushed over his drawings.

"What did you draw?" Jaron inquired, leaning over Ciecro to get a glimpse at the spot.

"Notin'," Ciecro replied nervously.

"Oh…" Jaron scowled slightly, before scratching his neck. "Fine, I guess."

Relieved that Jaron wasn't pressing further this time, Ciecro stood up, dusted off his hands and bum, composed himself with a breath and asked Jaron, "Do yah need sometin'?"

Jaron nudged his snout towards the house. "Mom and Dad wanted me to tell you dinner is almost ready."

"O…Oh…" Ciecro looked to the side, awkwardly. "Well, I'll be dere." He looked back at Jaron, and noticed Jaron looked annoyed. "What's wit dah face?" He asked, facing Jaron.

"Nothing," the Totodile huffed as he crossed his arms, raised his snout, and closed his eyes. "And by nothing, I mean something I'm not going to tell you."

Ciecro groaned and rubbed his head. "Dis again?" he grumbled, unfortunately loud enough for Jaron to hear.

"I'm not stupid, Ciecro." Jaron suddenly stepped closer with a interrogating, narrowing eyed stare, catching Ciecro off guard. "You've been acting weird ever since you listened in on mom and dad."

Ciecro was about to say something before Jaron quickly held up an arm and informed, "I didn't tell them."

"Phew. Thanks, Jaron." Ciecro's relaxation vaporized as Jaron moved his head closer, antagonistically.

"So why are you being such a jerk now?"

"Huh?" Jaron's gaze increased in pressure, as if he was pushing Ciecro against a wall with it.

"You've been a jerk ever since that night. You never attack Seliph like that. You even made Dad worried." Jaron pointed at Ciecro and demanded. "I want to know the truth and I want it now." He ended with crossing his arms.

"I've jus' been havin' some…err…" Ciecro about panicked as he saw Jaron scowl even more at the stuttering. "Well uh-"

"Just tell me. I'm tired of you acting this way." Jaron demanded, stiffening his form to come off as determined. "I want the old Ciecro back, so what's wrong?"

Angered a bit by Jaron's accusation of changing, Ciecro crossed his arms and after calming himself, replied, "Well…yah can't."

Jaron's eyes widened in surprise, before shifting to skeptical. He leaned in once more to asked, "Why not?"

Getting frustrated at Jaron not backing down, Ciecro grumbled. "Because…Er" He paused, causing Jaron to scowl more at this delay.

"Why not?" Jaron asked again, growling a little.

Fed up with this pressing, Ciecro just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Because…yah're too young." He facepalmed, dragging his hand over his face. "Ugh, look Jar-" He stopped at hearing a sniffle. Quickly face Jaron, Ciecro stayed still at the sight.

Jaron's head was lowered, his eyes narrow and focused. The Totodile sniffled again. "Is that why?" Jaron's asked, though his voice was cracking despite his best efforts to keep face.

Ciecro looked to the side, shamefully looking at the side. "Well...it's complicated." Ciecro put a hand on Jaron's shoulder and tried to explain, "Tellin' yah now wouldn' be right, becau-"

Jaron swatted his hand away. As if frozen in time, Ciecro just looked into Jaron's angry and tearing up eyes.

"Fine!" Jaron shouted, in a quivery, tempered voice. "If I'm too young and stupid for you to trust me, okay then! Stay a jerk!"

Ciecro remained silent and motionless, while Jaron was all fidgety and struggling to say more.

"So…so…" Jaron turned around and rushed away as fast as he could while sniffling.

Snapping out of his stupor, Ciecro reached out for Jaron, pleading, "Jaron wait! I didn' mean-" He stopped and his eyes widened. As Jaron headed inside Ciecro looked at his right hand, as a realization filled his head.

Shakenly, Ciecro tightened it to a fist as his face filled with rage. Unable to contain it anymore, Ciecro let out an angry yell before dashing into the forest. I wish I neveh foun' dat stupid key! He cried in his mind, as he disappeared into the brushes of the dark forest.