The spider's threat and her reveal that it had been only a trick, a ruse to get him awake, sent a bolt of rage through his body. And the other one, the bigger one, god he was annoying. His patronizing tone, his soft gentle words, they only served to infuriate Huckleberry further. Shiny pawed at his wings, her ears twitching nervously. Calm down...
He snarled and shoved her back so that she was fully behind him now, his eyes now bright and glimmering with anger as his head whipped between the two. "SHUT UP!" he suddenly screamed at Zeke. "I hate you! I want you to leave me alone! I don't care what you think I don't care what you want! Everything is NOT okay so stop acting like it is. SHUT UP!" he screamed again. He was shaking now, his complete lack of control over his emotions causing them to stream from his so powerfully it was visible. His breathing were harsh pants. He hated them. He wanted to hit them and strike them with lightning and wipe them out so they would leave him alone. He wanted to be the monster they all thought he was, just this once, this one time. Mama had trained him for it. Mama had raised him for it. He should do it now, everything she'd told him and taught him and beat him...

"I WON'T," he hollered, as if they would understand. "I WON'T. I don't CARE. I HATE you I HATE you SHUT UP!" He suddenly began clawing at his ears, pressing them against his head, but his talons were sinking into his skin and drawing blood. The spider even mentioning Blackberry's name was enough to cause him to flinch and jerk his head up to stare at her with a burning gaze. "I hate her! She's not my mama! Stop saying she is! I'm not like her!" He shook his head and looked away, staring off into space as if there was someone else there. "But she's my Mama! She loves me! I killed for her! I don't hate her."

Something had definitely broken. Huckleberry's head jerked to and fro, looking at the spider, then at the empty space next to her, his expression shifting through pretty much every emotion in his range. His talons came up to continue digging at his head, the blood beginning to run down the side of his face.

@Thothaga

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

Thothaga braced herself. Things were about to get dangerous. Blackberry's spawn was unstable, going mad! He would not even listen the dragon's kind words. She watched, disgusted, as he dug his talons into his head and broke skin. Thothaga was tempted to leave him alone, like he wished, but the moose-goose was a disaster waiting to happen. As the blood ran down from his self-inflicted wounds, the spider decided she had enough No, no, no! I cannot have another maniac threating my home!

She had to put a stop to this madness. Right here. Right now.

If not, she might be looking at the new Blackberry.

"Alright, that's enough." Thothaga hissed. In this state, it was impossible for him to listen to reason, and he dragon's words could not reach him. She had to make it so. This creature was too tangled in his own self-hate to have a proper conversation. If words alone could not calm the goose-spawn, then she would have to weave that very emotion into his brain.

"Look at me, Storm-Heart." Her black eyes glinted in the spire's light. "Calm. Breathe. Listen." She said those words like a command, but the magick did not follow through. Blast! I can still save this... If he didn't kill her first, that is.

In that moment, she thought of Aether, her beautiful Aether, and what she said to him. "You are not your mother! You are you! And you do not belong to her, you do not owe her."

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

@Huckleberry @Zeke

All this isn't going well... Zeke tensed up a little with pure unease from this kid's crushing dark aura they are emanating from their eyes alone and erratic swaying with their head alone. Such a formidable tension coming from them, it made Zeke from reflex or maybes instinct to as discreetly as he can to breathe in some air and hold it as long as he can as if to avoid suffocating from this tense air round them all.

Vehement words spill out from his pal's mouth non-stop, kinda like how someone's blood will gush out in large quantities endlessly from a mortal wound, and it will not stop until someone takes action. Every word, directed at the two of them, and they soon decide to throw jabs at Zeke when they proclaim their hatred for him, and how things aren't OK. Taken aback by all this, Zeke got rendered into an utterly stunned and horrified silence, blue candlelight eyes widening with such worry in them, worried and scared for them as to what is going on through their head right now, it seemed like something snapped outta nowhere kinda.

Zeke tried to ease the worries he has for everyone's; including his own, personal wellbeing here. Casually musing to himself if he should scoot back and away a lil bit in a kinda comical manner with a blank stare or something as some way to ease some tensions and he would move away to give them all space, but he's aware no matter how funny such an idea sounds, it's not gonna work.

Still, the dragon wasn't offended or angered by the hurtful words thrown at him, if anything a pang of guilt was taking over Zeke so much so he can feel it deep in his chest. While Zeke wasn't threatening to harm anyone or anything, he did cause all this, their words to him made it clear he upset them so much. The dragon was so tempted to glomp them and tell them things will be OK, but they already told him crystal clear if he were to dare at touching them or their bud, it won't be a good time. Anything like grabbing them both outta nowhere is gonna make things much worse, things will probs get dangerous if he does, even if it's a hug. Besides, it's clear him telling them about things being OK is something which angered them immensely and pretty much the worst choice in words right now.

Zeke's concern only got ever stronger, but as they kept on going with saying how they hate Zeke and more yelling which kinda did not make much sense to the dragon. Their words on telling Zeke they hate him and to stop saying things are OK when it's the opposite for them kinda got to him for a second, he doesn't bother to retort, seeming sad more than anything as he's rendered to pure silence now.

For a moment, anyway.

When, whoever this other large one is, took on a much more solemn tone, he perked up a lil gave them a lil side eye, sceptical on what they're gonna do here, but some part to him is relieved here. Seems to be taking things a lil seriously now and taking an initiative to help ease this storm trapped in this kid's head. Not gonna lie but kinda need to here, their initial 'pep talk' while did get them a lil more alive here, it's more they caused an even worse problem which happened to cancel the first problem out and all.

Please do not screw this up.

When they tell them to calm down, breathe and listen Zeke perked up a lil and tried to take it from here, something this alone might be a tad bit too vague but was a significant step to helping them here.

"Kay buddy just breathe. Kay? Deep breathes now. In and out. Slowly breathe in the air for five seconds, then breathe out for five secs, and do it all again, kay? Yer probably should breathe in as much air as you can till it starts to feel a lil uncomfortable, same for when you breathe out too. ...Kay?"

Zeke hopes his words got to them and are not gonna upset them even further, hate him or not supposedly Zeke can't possibly leave them be here. If they say, things are not OK at all he's gonna find some way to help things be OK for them right here and now.

After a bit, however, everything got worse, and it was so heartbreaking and kinda panic-inducing to witness before Zeke's very eyes. The way this kid was severely hurting themselves, scraping their claws against their head and so much blood spilling out their head from those self-inflicted wounds of theirs as if doing this to themselves is the solution to dealing with the demons haunting them mentally.

"Little buddy! You NEED to stop...!" Zeke's tone while still maintaining a soft kind had some firmness to it; this is no room for discussion here they need to cease in hurting themselves here. Panic rushed over Zeke so much that from reflex the dragon shifted one leg to reach out to them with, one claw pointing up, but once again pausing in his tracks, rational thoughts returning when he recalls on a no touching rule. The dragon lightly shakes his head to himself with his eyes closed, internally scolding himself for nearly making this mistake again.

One slow step at a time.

The moment this new name Zeke casually asked on who they were referring to here, didn't matter now, as Zeke took note on how when this name was mentioned, from the get-go this kid's whole form seemed to recoil at this name like some imaginary attacker confronted them and gave them a static shock.

Zeke remained in his baffled silence, his face blank as he stared at this poor kid in utter shock, as they went into another rant, a mixed and most likely a bottled up one, making Zeke's gaze drops a lil, their words are contradicting each other now.

God, this Blackberry, who is their main topic, is supposed to be this poor kid's mother? Hard to decipher which words they say to be accurate, but one factor remains in their string of words no matter how contradicting, their mother, if this Blackberry is their mother, doesn't sound like the most exceptional person. This kid for one says to hate their mother, which is enough to indicate this conclusion, yet even where they claim they don't hate them, cuz they are their mama, it didn't place them in a good light either. When they said they do love their mother, baffled Zeke more than all their other words, cuz it was jarring for Zeke how this kid confesses to committing acts of murder for their mother, yet saying they do love their mother despite this horrifying confession. Zeke prefers not to think bout it more, but still, all the potential awful which were gonna flood through his head bout what this 'Blackberry' coulda done, the result is right here, this poor kid right here has been severely affected from it all.

Man, it makes him want to think less bout this Blackberry from how deep all this is, this poor kid has been tossed aside and left in such a sad state, like the entire ceiling of the cave has fallen on their shoulders and is buckling their whole form down.

"Whoa hey, no one-" Zeke's voice faltered halfway through, clearing his throat for a sec before -"We aren't saying you are like your mother buddy," Zeke was quick to correct himself there, saddening as it is, like how he said things are OK, he dunno if whether or not someone has told them they are like their mother. But he and this other one sure don't view them this way.

"Just cuz someone is your mother does not mean you are gonna be like them by default buddy, not in a slightest. And you sure don't owe her, from how it sounds, seems more like they owe you if anything else pal," Zeke had a firm tone, it wasn't filled with anger but to place his point on how his statement wasn't a moot one.

Mean... What mother leaves their child like this?

@Thothaga @Huckleberry