The Heartwood man was born to sin, set him free and he will be a sinner

casually invades for the drama

He had woken with a start from a poor sleep and a bad dream - he could still see the silhouette of a bird in his mind's eye and feel the pounding of the blood in his veins, but the message had faded as soon as his eyes were open. The panic had not. Screech was on his feet and bolting from the caldera without a word to anyone; he didn't look for Cassiopeia, he didn't say goodbye to Raven, he bypassed anyone in his way as he fled from his home and ricochet through the bramblewood until he was in the clear.

The scent of the lake in the air made him think of the massive Lake Rodney that bordered home, and that seemed to spur him on, send him on another path to the northeast; the boy was on the eastern side of the Heartwood when he finally came to a stop and was a panting mess. The boy's fate was doomed to be unnaturally bad however; no sooner had he stopped and regained his breath (even started to slow his pulse) did he hear the snarling of two beasts in combat. Against his better judgement (which come to think of it, Titmouse desperately lacked any kind of judgement to begin with) he decided to investigate.

That feeling of dread he felt did not abate. If anything, when his eyes locked upon the agitated figures - a duality of black versus white - his breath hitched in his throat. The shadow was saying, ..killed my sister, and yet he could not zero-in on that face nor that voice. He saw Vaati and, much as he had reacted towards Awinita only a day or so prior, the boy froze in place and merely stared.

The events of the previous few days flashed before his eyes: finding Cassiopeia in the snow, escaping to the mountains, the white girl laying dead at his feet, the panic of his escape from a hungry Cerberus -- and then Vaati, his face, and only his face, while the shadow paced around him.