Blackfeather Woods He hurt him away

What to expect, he knew not. The siblings had proved long ago to be unpredictable beings, and so he’d settled for simply waiting—waiting and bracing him, though remaining uncertain of what to do should his words be taken offensively. His head was kept tilted away, eyes on the ground and ears back. Every muscle within his body seemed to tense at once the second Potema had spoken, and he’d remained that way even after her words had been processed. Unable to relax, he’d shifted his weight around, nervously thinking over how he might respond. A glance was tossed her way in the meantime, but his head had yet to lift back up, leaving him to look towards her chest. The look was quick, cautious, her pale figure having held his attention for only a short period of time prior to it being given back to Damien’s.

“I—,” he cut himself off, nearly having bitten into his tongue in the process of doing so. What reason could he give? To admit what had happened to him, what had driven him away, was out of the question. He could not speak of it to anyone, and especially not to them. As Cicero’s siblings, he was sure that they wouldn’t believe him, even if he had been courageous enough to go over every little detail of what had transpired. “I can’t give my reason,” was his final answer. “I can’t… I can’t say it.” It frustrated him, in a way, knowing that he was unable to do anything. Xan could not speak of the event, his fear of reliving it, and of being viewed as the disgrace that he’d been made into, prevented him from doing so.

Though Cicero had yet to be noticed, the feeling of eyes on him had not been missed. It’d caused for the fur along his back to raise, something that felt like a rock having dropped into the pit of his stomach. Swallowing, he’d continued with, “You wouldn’t believe me even if I did say why. You—” The boy shook his head, forcing the thoughts—the images—to leave his head. “I don't want to leave my family, but I can’t stay here.” It’ll happen again, he’d wanted to add, but forced his mouth shut before the words could escape. Alexander leaving would provide him with the safety that he wanted, but he didn’t know how to explain that without giving too much information away.