The King's Remorse

Time's Ticking, Wait for the Firestorm

"Of course," I reply, still not knowing what he means or how.

I want to understand, but what the hell does he mean? I don't understand.

"Alright." Ice's shoulders are slumped, as if he's just given up.

"Do you not believe me? I really do want to help." I stop so I can turn around and look at Ice.

"I know," he says. "I just don't think you'll be able to help."

How can someone look so defeated? What does he mean he doesn't think I'll be able to help?

"Let me know what you want me to do, and I'll do it in a heartbeat. I truly do want to help, Ice."

"It's just stupid. Forget it. It's dumb. I never should've asked you in the first place. Forget I even said anything." Ice tries to walk past me, but I reach out an arm to gently bring him to a stop.

"It's not stupid."

"Let me go." Ice begins to tremble, and his eyes flicker out to the sides. The corner of his lip curls. His teeth chatter, sides shaking as his gaze turns distant. No! I watch as his legs give out and he collapses, a paw rising to claw at the wound just below the base of his skull.

"Let me go," Ice whimpers.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" Ice doesn't reply.

"Whoah there. What's going on?" Ky skids to a halt right beside me. Ice doesn't appear to notice.

"I don't know. I was talking with him and the-."

"No!" Ice whines. "Please, just let me go." A ring of frost spreads out as a puddle of frozen tears forms beneath his head.

"He's having a flashback," I say, the realization washing over me as I turn and face Ky.

"Didn't he lost all his memories except for Clap?" Phoenix grumbles.

"He remembers the snake. But it's not something you'd just... forget," Ky replies.

"He didn't know what happened to him when he woke up!"

"Memories sometimes take time, Phoenix."

"Whatever," Phoenix growls.

Ice squirms, writhing on the ground as he cries out. I whirl back around His claws tear at the snake bite, and scarlet spills across his fur. I curse.

"No! Ice! Stop!" I scramble over to his side.

Despite my words, Ice doesn't react and remains trapped in the flashback. He twists and rolls to his back, lashing out at an unseen enemy. But I can only guess who, or what, he's trying to fight back against. When Ice claws at the back of his neck again and gouges a slice on the tip of his ear, I look back at Ky and Phoenix helplessly.

"What do we do?" I ask until I look back. "No! Ice! Stop!"

Acting on instincts, I pin him to the ground, grip firm enough that he can't escape but loose enough that he hopefully doesn't feel like he's trapped. "Let me go..." Ice whimpers.

"You're safe, Ice. You're safe," I say.

"Come on, Ice. It's ok. You're not there anymore." Ky walks up to stand beside me.

Ice finally relaxes a little while later, and I cautiously let him go. "Hey, Ice," I say softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he replies a minute or two later. "We need to keep moving."

"Hey, you just were doing who knows what and are bleeding. And this is how you react?" Phoenix growls.

"We need to keep moving," Ice repeats.