The forest was nice. The leaves hid him from the sight of the burning sun that gave him a headache. He was curled underneath a tree within it's root complex. His body heat warmed his makeshift den. Distantly, he heard voices that steadily grew in volume. His eyes flickered open and he shifted, turning his face towards the opening and the ray of sunlight that trickled into the den. Then, water rushed into the den, shifting into an ocean. His eyes widened as the cold water seeped into his fur and skin, drenching him, burning him. He thrashed and padded, trying to fight for the surface, but despite his efforts he only sank deeper and moved more and more sluggishly as the water shifted from a deep blue to a vibrant purple.

With a small jolt, Sigils gasped and woke him. He blinked and searched his surroundings. He was facing a wall, lying on a warm bed underneath a thin blanket. His burn pain was dulled, cooled. Bandaids covered his cheek where he was scratched by Biffle.

Biffle.

Eyes, angry eyes.

He shook his head. Sigils sat up, wincing as he felt where each wound of his was. He exhaled and glanced around. One of his eyes was covered with a bandage, minimalizing his vision. He was in the treehouse, the same place he had woken up the last time he experienced a major injury. Florian and Rafessor were cleaning the area, silent and paying attention only to the thoughts going through their heads. Sigils spotted another cot and tilted his head, trying to see it better. There was a patch of red on the center. He didn't get a lot of time to process it before the sheets were snatched away by Florian. The admin glanced up and locked eyes with Sigils, then quickly snapped his sight away, back to the bed and the bloodied sheets in his hands.

"Sigils, you're awake," Florian murmured stiffly. Rafessor tore his attention away to the desk he was neatening. He saw Sigils, but didn't dare meet his eyes.

"Don't look at me like I'm a freak." His voice sounded wrong.

Florian risked a glance at the enderman, "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to. I thought you were still..."

"What, a monster?" Sigils snapped. He lifted his arm, "This stupid bracelet stops that."

"Do you, um," Rafessor started, then cleared his throat, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah I do, dimwit," Sigils hissed, "You guys have to stop acting like I'm some feral beast. I'm not. It's been over a year now. I'm not going to randomly snap."

"That's not guaranteed," Rafessor replied softly yet sternly, "Remember, you're the only known enderman to be able to become human."

Sigils held Rafessor's gaze before turning away, "Where's Henwy and Jerome."

Neither responded.

"I'm, um, I'm going to go wash these." Florian whispered, turning and briskly leaving.

Sigils turned to Rafessor, "Raf."

"Dead," He murmured, "Jerome's dead."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Rafessor whispered, barely audible.

"Henwy?"

"Not good. He pushed his limits immediately after losing Jerome. He used his powers and he fought Biffle. And he won."

"You make it seem bad?" Sigils asked carefully.

"That's because any normal person in his state should be dead," Rafessor replied, "Jerome was murdered, and he immediately pushed himself physically and mentally to attack SSundee and Biffle. You probably would be dead if not for him."

Panic started to rise in his chest, making his voice break as he spoke, "So...so he might die?"

Rafessor turned back to the desk, "Yeah."

Sigils leaned his head against the wall. "And Jerome- he's really-?"

"Yeah."

Sigils cupped his face in his paws and leaned forward. He squeezed his eyes shut to push back the water forming in his eyes. His senses were finally starting to wake, and he truly felt every wound on his body, especially the one on his throat, which would explain why his voice didn't feel right.

He must have winced, because Rafessor said, "Starting to feel the pain?"

Sigils nodded. Florian quietly tiptoed back into the room and continued his work to clean the room.

Rafessor hummed to himself, "Can I get you anything? Potions, food, water?"

Florian snapped his head around while Sigils shot upright. Rafessor paused for a moment, then widened his eyes, "Not water. Not water, anything but water."

Florian turned away while Sigils relaxed. "Too soon."

Rafessor chuckled nervously, "Sorry. Is there anything you need, though?"

Sigils shook his head, "I'll be fine."

Rafessor nodded and turned away. Frost quietly walked in, glossing over Sigils and fixating on Rafessor.

"He's fine," He breathed, "If he was going to die it would either be immediately or far later due to grief."

"So Henwy's fine?" Sigils asked.

Frost glanced at Sigils, "For the time being."

Sigils turned away. He distantly heard Frost and Rafessor exchange a few words before leaving. Florian hovered nearby for a moment before joining the other admins.

Sigils let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Immediately, thoughts flooded his head. Was Jerome really dead? That's not something the admins would lie or joke about, but it seemed so impossible. Why would SSundee kill him? Was it SSundee that killed him? It must have been, because Biffle was trying to kill Sigils.

Was that planned? Were they trying to kill them? Was it because Jerome has always been a threat to SSundee's plans?

There was one rule that kept the dysfunctional group from completely destroying everything, and SSundee had broken it. Biffle almost had. Twice.

He shivered. Biffle wanted to kill him, too.

He numbly fumbled with the metal band on his arm. I should be dead.

Sigils exhaled shakily. Since he had been hit by the Soul Stone, it had been harder to think. Harder to stay passive. Harder to push back his old instincts. He was losing control over himself.

"It's supposed to keep it at bay," Sigils hissed, turning over the words Raf had told him multiple times now.

"Yeah...but what if it doesn't? What if something happens? What if I hurt you again?" Sigils asked, eyes darting over to SSundee, his scar not yet fully healed.

"You won't, it's okay," SSundee replied reassuringly, "And besides, I had it coming anyway."

Sigils rubbed the mark left by the spell on his wrist, "Yeah."

Biffle softly grabbed his shoulders. He didn't quite make eye contact- in fact, none of his friends did -but he whispered softly, "You'll be okay."

Sigils exhaled through his nose. He glanced at the door at the far end of the room, which is supposedly where Henwy was.

Without much more than a thought, he was standing at the foot of the bed. One of Henwy's wings was raised above his body at an angle, like he was sheltering his body from the rain. Sigils tip toed around the bed. Henwy dropped his wing and shifted, hiding his face from view.

"Hen? You good?" Sigils whispered, tilting his head to try and see his friend.

"No."

"Want to talk about it?" Sigils asked, "Or would you prefer to be distracted?"

"Distracted." Henwy replied immediately, almost eagerly, "Please."

Henwy shifted so Sigils could sit on the edge of the bed. The avian sat up, his knees tucked to his chest.

"Alright, well, um..." Sigils paused, thinking, "Did I ever tell you how I became a shapeshifter?"

"No," Henwy murmured, "I don't think so."

"It's kinda boring," Sigils admitted.

"Better than nothing."

"Fair," Sigils replied, "Let's see...

"I grew up here in the overworld, unlike the End like most enderman. I think that's part of the reason why my fur is green and not purple. I had heard tales about the End from other enderman, how it's quiet and lonesome, with stars seeming so far yet so close. Islands that were held up by an invisible dragon.

"I was so fascinated by the night sky, imagining that the stars we see are actually the End Islands, and the real stars can only be seen in the End, since endermen believe those are the souls of past enderman lighting up our desolate dimension.

"When the sun rose, I hunted for caves- the giant ones -because to me, that was the closest I could get to the End. The slightly glowing moss on the ceilings, the empty space.

One day while I was exploring a huge cave, I found what I had originally thought was another amethyst geode. Turns out, these were some of those rare magic crystals that gave me a new and much handsomer face."

Henwy scoffed as Sigils smiled toothily, shifting into his human form to show off his absolute beauty. "Well anyway, those crystals also changed my fur and gave me my white accents."

"Did you ever figure out what those crystals were called?" Henwy asked, tilting his head.

"No," Sigils admitted, "But I don't know if I want to figure it out."

"How come?"

"Magic is freaking wild, we have no idea what those things could do. If they turned me into a human, what could it do if SSundee fused it with dark magic? What could it do to you?" Sigils shrugged, "I'm not someone who likes tempering with magic. I'm a technology kind of guy."

"Ironic, Enderman," Henwy replied teasingly, poking Sigils' shoulder.

"Let me tell you about this one time I was teamed up by a bunch of creepers because I didn't shift back into my enderman form. I liked to visit villages a lot and spy on them, because they seemed kind of like a human, but not quite. Well I went to their town, disguised as a human of course, and when I left I forgot to shift- woah hey, hey, hey, are you falling asleep? During my grandiose tale?"

Henwy, head buried in Sigils' shoulder grunted, "I'm sorry. I'm tired."

Sigils patted the avian's back, "I'm kidding, it's okay. You get some sleep."

Henwy let out an indignant whine, but Sigils carefully pried Henwy off of him, letting him rest his head against the pillow instead.

"Get some good sleep, please," Sigils murmured softly, turning towards the door, "You need it."

When he didn't earn a response, Sigils glanced over and saw his friend fast asleep.

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Word Count: 1715