Jack Thunder huffed and puffed, unable to catch his breath. That spell had taken a lot more out of him than he thought it would. "Hff... Hff... Oh man... I think I'm gonna-" He collapsed on the dragon's back.

The dragon looked back at him, concerned. As annoyed as she might have been about what this storm gremlin did, she couldn't be mad at him. Not when he had strained himself this much. She knew he was too weak to get back home on his own. She recalled how she had seen Tempest Island pass by the forest a few days back, and figured that the island was where the storm gremlin lived. Or at least it was the closest place where he'd be able to heal and replenish his magic. She took off again towards the direction of where she'd last seen the island.

Before long, the dragon could see the unmistakable purple floating mountain in the distance. This was Tempest Island, all right. She touched down on the edge of the island, keeping an eye on Jack Thunder to see if he was alright.

He slowly stirred and opened his eyes. He thought about the Emerald Woodland. He thought about what could have happened due to his carelessness. About how he forced a dragon who had nothing to do with this to risk her life to help clean up his mess. It all made him sick to his stomach.

"What seems to be troubling you, young one?"

"I... I really loused up this time, didn't I?" He couldn't even look her in the eye. "I mean... I just wanted to bring some rain to help with the drought, and I nearly destroyed your home with a tornado instead." He sighed. "I guess Frosti was right. I'm not responsible enough for this kind of power..."

The dragon didn't know what to say. "I... who's Frosti?" she finally opted to ask.

He turned to her. "Frosti's my sister. She's probably looking for me right-"

"JACKIE!"

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Jack Thunder cringed. He must have worried her when he didn't come back. As if his little stunt with the staff didn't wrack him with enough guilt.

"And... uh..." she turned her gaze up at the dragon. "Who might you be?"

The dragon smiled. "Oh! You must be Frosti! I'm Scylla of the Emerald Woodland. Your brother told me about you!"

Jack Thunder tried to hide behind Scylla's wings. Some part of him thought that if Frosti couldn't see him, he didn't have to face his actions in front of her. It was a cowardly move... and a ridiculous one... but he couldn't help it. He peered out from his hiding spot.

He needn't have bothered; she saw him anyway. "He did? What were you doing in the Emerald Woodland?"

Tears filled his eyes once again. "Frosti... I... I..."

He couldn't take it any more. "You were right, okay?! I wanted to show you I could be responsible with the staff! I tried to summon a North Wind spirit to heal the drought there, but when it started snowing, I summoned a South Wind spirit to warm it up enough to rain! Instead, they started fighting and a tornado nearly tore through the place!" He gasped for breath as he reached the end of his rant. He shoved the staff into Frosti's hands. "You're just gonna have to take it away from me!"

Frosti was silent for a good moment. She tried to process all that her brother had told her.

"Oh," she said at last. "Well, that explains that nasty spat in the east earlier."

Jack Thunder propped his hand against Scylla's neck as he felt faint once again. "Hff... That's... That's why Scylla's here," he panted. "S-She helped me while I was putting out the storm."

Frosti gaped in shock. "You- You extinguished a tornado yourself?!"

Scylla answered for him. "Yes. I flew him close to the tornado, but he banished it. He used up all his magic."

At that moment, Jack Thunder collapsed to his knees, unable to support his own weight any more. Frosti picked up her shaking brother, gently placing him on her back. "Come on. Let's go home." He snuggled up to her shoulder, once again too exhausted to keep his eyes open. "As for you..." she turned to the staff. "You're going into my private study. I want to look at your powers." She wasn't intent on letting him have it again, but she got an odd feeling about the staff, and she wanted to figure out if it really was related to Stormbringer as he had suggested that morning. It couldn't be coincidence that it looked exactly how the legends described it and it contained enough power to create and destroy a tornado all on its own. What knockoff could do something like that?

"Ugh. Anyways..." she turned to Scylla. "Thank you for helping my brother and bringing him home. I'm sorry he caused you so much trouble. He means well, but he doesn't always think before he acts."

"Don't worry. The forest is not harmed. He actually helped us by bringing the storm," Scylla affirmed. "If the spirits hadn't started fighting, it would have been perfect for us."

"Hah. Well, he's not gonna be summoning anything for a long time. Not until he's much older." Frosti rolled her eyes. "Are you gonna be alright getting home?"

"I flew close to a massive twister only a half hour ago. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Well said! Frosti couldn't help but think. She watched Scylla disappear into the distance.

She turned to her brother on her shoulder. "Anyways, I think you've learned your lesson."

"Uugh... Kehehe... I guess so..." he agreed as he came to. "I just hope Scylla makes it home safe..."

"I'm sure she's fine, Jackie."

They were silent as they made the long trek home. It was only about fifteen minutes back to the storm gremlin village, but to Jack Thunder, it felt more like hours.

Finally, they arrived. "Well, here we are." Jack Thunder slid off of his sister's shoulder and made the journey back to his bedroom. He'd had more than enough adventuring for one day.

Ugh. It's getting late. Never thought I'd be so tired...

He started getting himself ready for bed. He went through the motions of his bedtime routine; brushing his teeth, peeling his jumpsuit off, and fixing the sheets on the bed, he couldn't help but think about how much trouble he'd gotten himself into that day. Frosti was sure going to let him hear it in the morning.

Blegh. He didn't want to think about that right now. He pulled the covers over his body and lay down. He stared at the ceiling, listening to the soft rain and thunder outside his window.

Eventually, his eyelids began to droop, and he smiled to himself. He was back home. He was in his bed. He was safe.

He could worry about the mess he'd made tomorrow morning.