<Ignavus>

Ignavus could feel his heart beating crazy fast. Threatening to bust out of his chest.

'Calm down, calm down'

As much as Ignavus tried to calm himself, it just wasn't working.

'What the heck is wrong with me!?'

A question he seems to be asking himself a little too much of late. Ignavus was not new to stressful situations. As a soldier he had always been in high intensity situations and while he was scared, he had always managed to supress it. 

'Come on! Get a hold of yourself!'

Maybe it was the lack of air flowing into his lungs or just the suddenness of the situation, but he was off his usual game.

'I swear, I don't care what Marie or anyone else says! I. AM. NEVER. WEARING ANOTHER STUPID DRESS AGAIN!!'

Ignavus kept tugging at the silk in a vain attempt to free himself. The fabric only appeared to tangle more due to his efforts.

'All this after begging Teen! So embarrassing! I should have just stayed!'

Ignavus had at least wanted to help the kids with something. Be the responsible adult. Becoming a burden mid-way through the operation was the last thing he should have allowed to happen.

Teen sent him an unimpressed gaze as Gol rushed over to free him.

'Just kill me!'

The longer Ignavus held his breath the more he was tempted to take a fresh one. This entire operation relied on them being quick and efficient so as to avoid this exact situation. Every second spent in the cave increased the odds of failure.

Finally arriving to where Ignavus was, Gol gave him a reassuring smile. Gol's hands motioned for Ignavus to quit his movements before quickly going to work on the dress.

'Hurry up! I can't hold my breath for much longer!'

Teen made her way over to where Ignavus was after it became apparent that Gol was struggling to free him. Teen flicked Ignavus' head before going down to try and help free him. 

'T-that wasn't necessary at all...'

Both Teen and Gol got to work trying to free him.

'OH! My claws!'

Ignavus' panic filled thoughts finally realized the obvious, but by then it was already too late. 

Gol had motioned his hands towards Teen. A brief look of confusion appeared on Teen's face before she realized what her brother was intending to do. A panicked looked flashed on her face. She repeatedly shook her head and waved her hands trying to warn her brother, who seeing her theatrics, shrugged his shoulders before lighting his hand on fire.

Teen threw herself in front of Ignavus as the entire cave flashed bright white.

 

Ignavus didn't really register his environment until they were already out of the cave sprinting.

Their clothes smoking and slightly singed.

"Idiots! We had such a good plan!"(T)

They were all pumping their feet, and like before, Ignavus was starting to lag behind.

"Help her!"(T)

Gol slowed down then quickly scooped Ignavus and threw him over his shoulder. Despite Ignavus hating these arrangements he didn't complain. They needed to get as far away from the beast before it caught them. If it wasn't too fond of them before, it certainly won't be now that they blew up its home. Things had honestly gotten out of hand and what made it worse was the fact it started because Ignavus got stuck. He was the direct cause of the failed plan.

"What's the way Navy?!"(T)

Teen had slowed down in order to keep pace with Gol.

Ignavus still held the stone and from what Teen explained to him it should be relatively easy to use. He might as well try and redeem his many failures. He lifted the stone in the air before twisting his body to see if the stone reacted. It grew a deeper red hue when he faced it right in front of them.

"There!"(I)

Holding his hands out to the direction they were supposed to travel, Ignavus hoped that the beast wouldn't catch them once more.

 

They had been running quite a long time, well, the demon kids had been. Ignavus had just been holding out his hands that were slowly getting tried.

"I-I think w-we can t-take a break..."(T)

Gol set Ignavus down before collapsing on the ground. Teen quickly followed suit. Both children utilizing this time to catch their breath. They had left the red twisted forest some time ago but didn't stop running for fear of the beast.

Ignavus wasn't really tired like them but still just sat down beside them. He didn't really know what to say. He knew he should apologize for ruining the whole plan, but words alone felt like they were lacking. He had begged to join with the delusion that he could actually help. Not only had he made the situation worse, but he ruined the whole plan and endangered them all.

'I really messed up...'

Ignavus couldn't help but feel a little dejected. He had utterly and completely failed. He wouldn't be surprised if Teen decided to yell at his sheer stupidity.

'Some hero I am...'

"Uhhh... I'm sorry I ruined the whole plan. I...I, it won't happen again. I promise..."(I)

Ignavus closed his eyes and braced for the admonishing from the children. One that never came.

"Ya'know... that was a ton of fun!"(G)

'What?'

Teen scratched the side of her face with a bit of an awkward smile.

"Yeah... kind of like those adventures you read about... Even if it was with a couple of idiots"(T)

Ignavus couldn't help but stare at them in disbelief.

'These kids have some serious issues...'

But even as he thought that he couldn't stop the smile that was making its way onto his face.

"Are you guys okay in the head?! We almost died, twice!"(I)

Maybe it was the absurdity of the situation or his emotions which were still running high from almost dying but, Ignavus found himself chuckling. Chuckling which turned into full blown laughter. It shortly was joined by two others. If a person were to suddenly appear, they would witness three children trapped in a giggling fit.

The giggling slowly died down and the children laid in the comfortable silence that resulted from it.

"Though... to be fair, you still did cause the whole plan to fail... I believe a little pay back is more than well earned"(T)

"I was thinking the same thing..."(G)

Teen sat up and locked eyes with her brother.

"Don't talk like you're any better. If you bothered to pay attention to even one of mom's classes, you would know those things release a flammable fume when lightly cooked"(T)

"Don't attack me, remember it was Navy who forced me to use my flames. If she was looking where she was going none of this would have happened"(G)

"Fair point"(T)

Both kids turned and face Ignavus who had backed-up from them.

"Three pats and a three-minute hug then all is forgiven"(T)

'You can't be serious!'

"Is there really no other option...?"(I)

"Nope!"(T)

 

Located in a lush green forest.

Three children could be seen.

Two petting the most esteemed.