DragonBonds

Processing

What if he never comes back again and I'm left all alone again?

I can't, I can't, I can't...

I can't do it.

The dam finally broke as the same thought of Cloud being gone for good repeated itself like a broken record. The desperate partner buried their face into the middle of the pillow and let out a loud sob. Their body shook with the strength of their grief, and it prompted the kitsune to get up from her spot and sit next to the crying ringtail. Vickie very, very gently put her hand on Andi's back as they grieved, and gave them a slow back rub, soft green eyes watching the ringtail. There wasn't too many words that would be easy to exchange like this, so Vickie stayed where she was and made sure Andi had something physical to ground themself on if they needed it.

Angela had run back downstairs from her room, her face full of confusion as she looked between the duos that were in the two rooms. Her eyes drifted to her brother, her gaze lingering as she watched him with his arms wrapped around Khloe, the two of them locked in somber silence. The rabbit remembered the first time her little brother met the bat and how happy he was to have finally found someone he could trust... and seeing them like this broke her heart. Her eyes then flicked over to the ringtail and the kitsune. The two friends were a more rare sight at the house, but she still knew them fondly. Andi seemed highly distressed, and it crushed her to see someone so confident in themself crumbled under heartbreak. She watched Vickie do her best to comfort them, watched how carefully she treated the situation, like a leaf of ice.

The rabbit took a deep breath and walked over to her brother and Khloe.

"Connor? What.... the hell happened?"

The hare's ears twitched at the sound of Angela's voice, and he pulled gently away from the bat.

"Oh, uhm... We're not super sure yet but..." He looked down at Khloe, setting his hand on her head and holding her close to him.

"I dunno if you noticed since his birthday, but he looks a little different, yeah? So apparently his family has this thing, where when a member comes of age, they're sorta like.... Possessed by these things called Drakes that are like, pure magic I think. If they come from somewhere else that's all I can think. And the first time he ever lost it, his ma told us what it was all about- like it's not a huge secret thing, pretty much everyone knows what happens to the Colvis I think- and his Drake is.... Dangerous. Like, if a fire tornado hit the town and then a hurricane happened right after kind of dangerous. And since then he's kinda been having issues managing like, controlling himself. And I guess it just.... got worse and worse and now he's just gone. That's what it looked like to me, so we... we need to figure out how to get him back."

Angela slowly moved over to the dining room to sit down and listen to her brother talk, weaving her fingers together and setting her chin down on her hands. When Connor finished talking, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Fluttering her eyes open again, the rabbit bit her lip.

"Well.... I suppose that explains him attacking Khloe out of nowhere. He just gets clocked in the head and then all of a sudden he turns into this... creature, I guess. But it wasn't really him then. Hm..."

Khloe took a deep, shaky breath and stepped away from Connor to go over to Vickie and Andi, ready to comfort the ringtail. Connor watched her leave the room, and then sat with his sister, putting his head in his hands.

"What do we do? Our friend is being controlled by this dangerous magic creature and we can't do anything. We can't even find him. He left and he kept us held back until he was completely out of sight. This bastard took our friend and we don't know where to start."

The rabbit watched her brother devolve into defeat- she'd seen it before with him- and she put her hand on his shoulder.

"I think we should talk to his family, Connor. They might know how to deal with this. They might have more answers."

Connor paused for a second. And then another.

"I'm so fucking stupid."

Angela let out a sharp, but light laugh at his remark. "Yeah, yeah, but it's okay. Home was closer and you guys needed somewhere to catch your breath after that. But yeah, go talk to his family, it might benefit you guys."

The hare gave his sister a smile, reaching over and giving her a hug. Angela hugged her brother back, and stood up, dusting her skirt down and letting out a sharp exhale. She left the room to check on the girls and Andi, and it seemed like the two girls finally managed to calm Andi down a good amount. The ringtail sat up and rubbed their face roughly with their hands, taking deep breaths and trying to get their breathing back to normal.

Vickie moved in a little closer to Andi and hummed at them softly. "Do you need something to drink, dear?"

Andi pulled their knees up to their chest, and nodded. "Uhm.... Do- do we have juice here? I want... I want juice."

Angela looked at Vickie, who turned to her, and nodded, going back into the kitchen to get Andi some juice to feel better. She walked back into the room and handed Andi a glass of juice. The ringtail nodded at her quickly and downed the juice relatively fast, letting out a deep, soft exhale, closing their eyes and relaxing their shoulders.

"Connor told me what happened. I think you guys should head out and talk to his family. First off, they kinda need to know what happened, but secondly, they might be able to help with like, information and all that."

Andi looked over to Angela, and looked down at their now-empty glass. They took a moment to think, and nodded when they had an idea. They'd bring it up later, but for now, they just responded quickly.

"Okay. Let's go."