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Protecting And Hurt — Description

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Tony was tired.

He thought he knew what tired was, thought he felt it when he was in those woods with Lee. Maybe this was a different type of tired, he did just spill years of emotion out to his sister and then tried to fight her. Sister....
He looked back at her.
They were standing back to back because they suddenly heard grass crunching, Ember being the 'spite hunter' was immediately on edge and told Tony to keep an eye out. She wanted to make sure it wasn't a dangerous spite, so it could be handled quickly and efficiently, then they could continue talking. What a joke.

Tony just rolled his eyes and went back to surveying the bushes.
The storm clouds and Tony's now dead practice fire made it hard to make out anything within the leaves. Though he didn't need to see anything to know they were being watched.
He felt a shiver trail up his spine, his fur starting to stand on end as he tried to think about what spite it might be. Yittles? Would it be yittles again? No.. There's two of them and they're both grown, with what a racket they were making they wouldn't chance appearing before them. Was it a... No, it couldn't. It wouldn't be. As terrified Tony was at the time, he knew those things had heavy steps, it was the entire reason he knew that something was in the clearing behind them.

"It's alright."

Tony refused to admit he jumped at the sudden voice before realizing it was Ember speaking to him. He glanced back at her in some disbelief. "What?"

"It's okay. I.. I know you and Lee have fears in regards to.." She trailed off, staring harder into the woods.

"A stupid group of trees and the scary monsters inside? Yes, we have some troubles with it." Tony huffed, wincing at another crunch of grass and looking back to the bushes.

He felt Ember's tail gently whack at his back leg, followed by a big sigh. "Were you always this sassy or is it just coming out because you're angry?"
Tony let out a sharp laugh, only grimacing.
"I don't know, if it only comes out when I'm angry then I should be sassy all the time."
"Alright.." Ember seemed to get the hidden jab, sounding uncomfortable. "Well lets.. focus. It sounds like small spites so you should do fine if you're careful."

Small spites.. Tony internally let out a sigh of relief. Yes.. they're just small, nothing terrifying like he thought. If Ember considers them small with her stature, then they'll be nothing to him, he'll just have to make sure not to be injured.
The fur along his back rested just as the spites watching them made themselves known. Shambles, is the name Ember called out before growling and stomping her feet at one that sped around her before vanishing back in the wood. No wonder he felt like they were being watched, they seem to have disturbingly large eyes.
They sort of reminded him of bugs, with how they skittered and hissed around him. He couldn't help but jump away in unease as a few started to crawl from the woods and steadily make their way towards him. He managed to pull his claw away right as one jabbed it's head where his claws used to be, leaving a hole deep in the dirt.
Alright, stupid bug-eyes but deadly punch. Great.
"You have to kill them Tony! There's too many, and they're too close to the house!" He glanced back to Ember, where she was trying to scare them away but failing. They would just scatter and come back, trying to catch her off guard. "It won't be safe for Lee or Brook if we just left them here!" One narrowly missed punching a hole into her paw.
"H- How do I kill it?" He jumped over the first few trying to push him into Ember, only to be faced with more at the treeline. They hissed at him and it looked like the needles on their necks shook in redponse.
"The necks are weak!- Agh! You little..-"
Ember had been cut and slashed by the shambles enough times that she became irritated, Tony wasn't surprised at the sudden red glow at her magic glands and the fire spewing out her mouth. The shambles seemed caught off guard by the flames, giving her enough time to slice their necks with her own claws.
He turned back to the shambles in front of him, looking at him curiously with those empty eyes, circling him and attempting to walk on him or stab him with their beaks.

He wasn't the same as he was before. He knew this, he shouted it at Ember not a few minutes ago. This fear to enter the woods that he hates so much... the fear of these magic eating spites that harm every innocent gro in their path..
He's not going to be the same shaking wyngling from before, the one who cries at rejection or freezes when he sees these beady eyed creatures.
If he truly wants to leave home, he needs to take the step forward, show he can survive without having Lee to rely on. He can't be in those infested woods anymore.

Tony doesn't know fire magic quite yet, not like Ember does, nor is he used to fighting these creatures like she is. But he's still bigger, he still has strength from all those labor heavy jobs he takes to raise money for their family.
He didn't get it right the first try, when he swiped at the closest shamble near him and only nicked it. It hissed louder in response and tried to run back into the dark woods, but Tony chased after it, determined to kill it correctly.
He got it then, receiving black blood staining his claws and a small spike jabbed in his claws, but he merely bit it out with his teeth and more confidently went to kill the remaining shambles.

He hated to admit it but Ember was right, they couldn't just kill a few and run back home to safety once they were given the chance. They had to get rid of them, they couldn't leave the group alive and give them a chance to later attack Brook or Lee if they ever decided to stroll through the woods of their backyard.
The thought honestly never occurred to him that the spites would remain around this area and hurt others in the future. But of course Ember would think of the future, the possibility of others getting hurt if she left these shambles undealt with.
As much as she hated him and he avoided her, Tony wasn't blind enough to not notice how much thought she put into keeping Lee out of harms way.
She would stay out late often, and Tony had soon realized it was because she was scouting around the house and trees. They both knew Lee would often wake up early and stand outside, he would say it was to check for mail or wake himself up, but they knew it was to make him not feel so suffocated after his dreams. So she would check the night before, make sure no spites were lurking around till sunrise, when Lee would get up and calm himself down.

Of course she would think of Lee and Brook's safety...

...
He wondered when Brook was added alongside Lee for needing to be kept safe.

He didn't linger on the thought, pushing it aside for later as he bit into a shamble's neck and tore. He growled lowly, spitting out the disgusting black blood that was covering his fur and mouth. He'd need a very deep bath after all this..
Which may be soon, he couldn't hear the hissing of shambles anymore. He looked away from the dead spite that was quickly breaking apart under his claws and looked around the part of the clearing he was in charge of. Nothing? He was sure there was many more left to take care of, he could even still hear the crunching of grass.
Tony froze, heart suddenly thudding against his chest as he listened to the crunching of grass.

Not the sound of small hooved feet stomping on blades, nor the almost silent whisper of barely there giggles shifting through the ground. These were heavy steps, uncoordinated steps. Like a bipedals walk, but their legs are inverted, and theyre searching, looking.
Looking for someone vulnerable, someone full of magic and blood-

Tony whipped his head back so fast he felt drops of spite blood fly off his fur.
There it was.
His nightmare, the thing his pa wouldn't let him see that one horrible day. It moves all the same as before, but this time it isn't coming closer, it's walking away. It walking towards Ember who has her back turned to it and is breathing flame at measely little shambles who are quickly scattering from the real danger.

He's so afraid, but he's not the same as before.

He's bigger but he still feels small, he's more resilient but he still cries so much.
He hates her, but he can't help but care about her stupid scared face as she turns to the sound of Tony shouting at her to get away.
He's still so many things he says he isn't, he's still terrified as he jumps onto the disgusting kindrin and digs his teeth into its throat, clawing at its strange arms and horribly deformed body.

It's grabbing at him as he's shaken from his hold on its neck, but he wont let go, he may have lost the best way for him to kill it but he's determined to hurt it enough to make it leave.
He doesn't know fire well like his stupid older sister but he still wants to protect her. That's so frustrating to realize.
As much as he yelled at her that he wants her to go away, to leave him alone, he doesn't really mean it. That's so fucking annoying.

It's trying to pull him off, its grip on his shoulders painful as it shrieks and roars at him. He digs his claws onto the side of its head and holds on, it shrieks again and does the same to him. Ember is on the ground screaming too, she's telling him to let go, she's breathing fire at it but it only shakes itself harder and digs its claws deeper into his skin. One of its claws is digging deeply into the skin above his eye.

She's the spite hunter, shouldn't she handle this thing? Well she can't really, because he's clinging onto it like he'll die if he isn't. He might actually die if he let's go, now that's something to consider.
Dying right after getting into an argument with a family member? Horrific. He's sure Ember didn't care about that when he was a wyngling, but now? While she's going through this... forgiveness thing? Truly the worst thing that can happen to her, maybe.

He didn't know when he started to scream too, maybe when the spite broke the flesh of his face and started to pull.

Alright, he's not that mean, no matter how furious he is with her. He wouldn't die just to prove a point of how terrible she was to him.
They haven't even gotten to the finer details!
And....

He wants to forgive her one day.

His throat felt raw from screaming as he finally managed a good enough grip on the kindrin's head.
He wasn't sure if he screamed as he slashed his claws down its face, but he knows he won't forget the disgusting feeling of his claws raking across its gigantic eye.
He saw red for a moment, then the ground was coming towards him too quickly.
He's certain he made a thud as he fell, but all he could hear now was Ember's screams and the kindrin screaming back.
He's certain she'll kill it with her fire, or chase it off further to the woods where it belongs. He was too exhausted to open his eyes and see for sure.

He was afraid to see what he was certain of.

Tony's upgrades-
+Finger Paw Pads
20 wyns
Good Interactions
+Blindness
800 wyns
DOB 7/19/18
www.deviantart.com/cryptidmick…

Intermediate Fire
Smoke Manipulation: 0/3
Breathe Fire: 2/3
Incinerate: 0/3
Fire Resistance: 0/3

SCREAMS, i hate that comic i hate it so much bUT BIG THANKS TO Eggmcbaconboy MY DEAR SON FOR COLORING IT BECAUSE CHRIST
anyways uh,,,
: )

MAX WYNS