He was out on his own for the time being, waiting for when he and Pride would go traipsing through the caves after some fire breathers and destroyers and ask them to temper it for them. It seemed a little foolish to him to go up to a dragon to burn just a little bit of the forest at a time but what did he know, huh?

In the meantime, he was practicing magic, wind and fire both, blasting rocks with streams of air and spattering them with char marks until everything got stronger or he got tired. He stood back from his last cast, the air still violently whipping past him, breathing heavy. But a glimmer of white in his periphery had him turning his head to see the dragon that approached. And immediately, by the look of the pure white, the antlers, and the familiar gem placement, he knew what he was dealing with.

"Hi. Yeah sure, its about, uh, what's his name...Doku, right? Doku? Doru? Dono? I don't remember what Pride said. What do you want to know?" He turned to face her fully, lifting his head and trying to look impressive and also a little frustrated (that was easy, considering frusteration followed him like a stormcloud.)

She was already throwing a bunch of names at him that he really couldn't care to remember. The sooner this could all get cleaned up, the sooner he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore (although he didn't have anything against Cadenza, she seemed nice enough).

He scoffed. "Oh, so now he feels sorry for it?" He shook out his mane and snorted. "Didn't seem so when he was attacking and DRUGGING me! Did he mention that he drugged me? That happened. Wasn't fun."

He had run this story through over and over in his head because he just knew, as soon as Pride said something about talking to the family, that he would get questioned. His side of the story. So, he told it as he remembered.

"Alright here, I'll tell you what happened. I hatched. Let it be known that during our whole exchange, I still had my own chrysalis shards at my hooves. First thing I see is this big scary dragon thing so what do I do? Warning sign - just a gust of wind! And he took that to mean I was attacking him for some reason. Started going on and on and on about how I shouldn't attack first, there's dangerous people, magic and stuff, I don't know. And I'll be honest, I was a little rude about it because I wanted to hear about magic and he was just trying to lecture me. But I seriously don't think that warrants a scratch. Sucker punch was more like it!"

He took a second to breathe before continuing. "And then I started feeling all loopy! Like the world was spinning and I was feeling like. Super happy in a really bad way and it freaked me out so much. I could barely stand, and he was just fuckin standing there lookin' all superior and telling me that he was teaching me a lesson! So I fought back, I defended myself! And he told me that I'll "learn nothing and be nothing" and then fuckin flew away!" He was seething by the end of his tail, those words ringing loud in his ears and making his blood boil once again. "I mean, who tells that to a kid that literally hatched less then 10 minutes before? I don't really remember what happened after that, I kind of curled up and passed out for a while until the loopiness was gone. But yeah. It sucked."

He snorted again and tossed his head back. "So no, I didn't attack him first. I gave a warning signal. And he didn't like that."

September shrugged, tail flicking behind him. He figured that was true, Doru was well within his abilities to regret what he'd done. He just hoped that it fuckin ate at him, that it wasn't a passing regret. "Well fine, he can regret his actions. But that doesn't magically fix everything." Because those words still pulsed behind his eyes like a promise, the injustice still burned heavy in his gut. September wouldn't forget it, oh no.

His head snapped up sharply to look Cadenza in the eye as they began to apologize, over and over again, and propose, what September considered to be, the most ridiculous proposition he'd heard in his life. And that included burning down Eridanus. "What, like you want me to forgive him?" He didn't give her a chance to respond. "No. Out of the question."

The fawn huffed and continued. "No offense, but I don't care that you don't like violence. Someone should have taught your grandson better. He made an enemy when he hit and drugged me. Actions have consequences and in my opinion, he hasn't faced any. He gets, what, a stern talking to and a pat on the back? For attacking a literal baby?" He scoffed. "I'm not out to kill him or anything. But I made a promise to him and to myself - that when I'm old enough and strong enough, I'll show him that I grew up to be better!"

It was with passion that he finished his speech and he seemed to mildly deflate afterwards, having said that last bit that felt like such a raw, genuine part of himself. That the experience had genuinely hurt him and it wouldn't feel right again until it was resolved in his own way. He didn't want to say it, that the words haunted him, that the weakness he'd felt that day still made him want to curl up and hollow himself out. But the anger and passion and raw confidence did the job for him.

The more and more they talked, the angrier he felt. Did they not get it? Were they not hearing him? Why was she even advocating for Doru's child when DORU had been the one to ATTACK A CHILD?! He guessed it was familial bias, which was making every one of her attempts to sooth his temper and stem his need for a grudge fall on deaf ears.

"Like I'd drag his kid into it. Unlike him, I don't find a habit in hurting kids. Maybe he should have thought about future kids before making enemies." He stared at her, hard for a moment, but there was a moment where his gaze softened. "Look, you seem nice. I guess. But you're not gonna talk me out of this. Your grandson was there for the first minutes of my life and fucking ruined them. And I gotta carry that shit. I find that a lot worse then a little burn mark. Being the "better Gembound" means proving him wrong. That I will become something."

He turned towards the rock, feeling heat rise in his stomach again, and this time it was physical, magical, real and he tried to bring it up, belch it out, but it wasn't strong enough, not yet. He coughed and a flicker of flame fluttered in the air. "Shit," he spat, turning back to Cadenza. "I'll find him again someday. And we'll fight proper. He owes me that much."

Finally, they relented and September felt himself relaxing minutely. The conversation had grown tedious and repetitive. But now, it seemed, they'd reached an uneasy understanding, which was enough for him. He turned back to the damaged rock he was still practicing on, this time focusing his magic more into the flames in his stomach. "I'm no killer," he grunted, before expelling a small jet of flame from his mouth instead of a few sparks. It rained over the boulder, adding further char to the surface.

He glanced at them and shrugged. "Yeah sure. See you around, I guess." He had a feeling Doru might seek him out if his grandparent told him of this conversation, but at this point, September didn't mind or care. Let him come. He wasn't ready yet to find him, but if he came looking, the fawn wouldn't be caught off guard again.

Unless Cadenza had other things to say, he'd continue practicing against the rock, summoning streams of air and fire, controlling it carefully in preperation for the upcoming missions.

*exit