Bane trudged out of the castle, partially grateful that he was well enough from such a severe burnout of the magic, but also a bit disappointed to be leaving such a place where he had been shown much more comfort than he had ever experienced prior, going back to the run down home he lived in feeling oddly strange.
And leaving that kind Arctic Wolf that had practically saved him from the loss of his job that he knew he would surely have had to face if it were not for the wolf.
But Bane felt no use of thinking about that, because he knew that even with the surplus of money he now had, he would still have to save it, use it to pay the rent that seemed to come around quicker each passing year.
As he approached the small cottage that he called home, the place looked in even worse when he got back, though he couldn't tell if it was because he had began to get a bit too accustomed to the luxurious castle or because his sister could barely manage to keep up with the work.
As he approached the door, his foot paws feeling the cracks and breaks in the cobblestone paths as he walked through the yard, as awful as it usually was, the small space haven been completely overrun with weeds, grass dying. His mother had always been the one who had taken care of it.
Bane felt the doorknob open easily, the door always being unlocked, there wasn't much that was worth any thieves time in the fox's small home.
As he opened the door, he could see his sister sat at the chipped wooden table at the center of the room, seeming to be invested in some piece of paper in front of her, which Bane could immediately tell as the bills, signed with the royal signing at the bottom.
Erin's eyes immediately lit up as she saw her brother standing in the doorway, the young fox immediately running to embrace her brother, Bane barely able to hold himself up as his sister slammed into him, Bane being much more frail than her despite being older.
"Oh my... Bane, where the hell have you been?!" Erin snapped in a tone vaguely accusatory. "You didn't come home last night, I was so fucking worried of what happened to you, if you had another magic burnout, or gotten in some sort of trouble..." Erin trailed off. "Never do that again." She snapped, words laced with finality.
"I-I'm sorry." Bane murmured quietly. "I was trying so hard to keep up with the other healers that I... I pushed myself too hard." Bane said, face heating as the fox feeling such embarrassment for getting a burnout, something he knew only the inexperienced or foolish came too.
"You aren't telling me..."
"I had a burnout." Bane cut her off. "I-I just can't lose this job Erin, you don't understand how much it means that we can actually make some sort of income, have food on the table to eat."
"Your life comes first Bane!" Erin snapped. "I think you of all people should have known what a fucking idiotic decision that was of you! That's practically the first thing all healers are taught."
"I-I-didn't mean to, it just happened so quickly." He mumbled, scarcely able to keep his voice from shaking.
His sister paused for a moment, still in disbelief that Bane had pushed his magic that far, had been so irresponsible with his magic that it had been pushed to its absolute limit.
"Bane, I know this might be hard to hear but.... You can't do this to yourself anymore, being a royal healer I mean." She told her brother softly.
"E-Erin I can't! We already have so little money!" He begged her, eyes wide in desperation. "You know that without me doing this we're going to lose everything, even our home."
Banes eyes were beginning to fill with tears at this point, the fox always having trouble controlling his emotions.
"Bane, we can find another way, alright?" Erin said quickly, grabbing Banes paws in her own. "Your own life is more important than the money, and I'm almost finished with school, I can help!" She said desperately, though she could see that Bane wasn't even registering what she was saying.
Bane couldn't imagine that after all he had done to get this far, to get a job that he knew would pay more than enough for him and his sister to live a comfortable life, that his magic was still too weak, despite the countless and brutal hours he had spent training his magic, becoming a royal healer something he had thought he would always be able to achieve if he worked hard enough.
No, the fox thought. He had fought too hard to quit. If he could just get himself together, manage his magic in a more timely way, he knew he could do it.
"I'm not quitting." The fox murmured carefully, his small paws clenching into fists.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Bane, you have to...."
"I've worked too hard for this Erin!" Bane shouted, the words coming out louder than he had wanted them to. "All this time we have been so poor, I can't give it up just because of a damn burnout that only happened once, I have to keep trying!"
Bane could see his sisters face morph into a furious expression, though he could see fear mixed in as well. He knew how much Erin cared about him, and that she would do whatever it took to stop Bane from going back to the castle, from continuing his healing job.
"Bane, I'm not going to have you..."
"I'm not quitting!!!" Bane screamed, tears now flowing from his emerald eyes.
He wished his sister understood that he was mature enough now to know what would be the best decision for himself, that he knew better than her the limits of his own magic, but he knew she would never understand, because she never inherited the magic like Bane had.
"I'm leaving." He snapped, turning around, not being able to bear the hurt expression on Erin's face as he sprinted out of their cottage, slamming the door behind him.