Two

   For whatever reason, River always had to do the worst job: taking Frost out for a walk every morning. And he'd get in trouble if she cried at all. Even though it gave him headaches, when he thought about that chore he immediately was grateful for Frost's tantrum outbreaks. So he got up and started his other morning chore: melting ice into the form of water to drink for the day. 

   River went outside and grabbed a piece of ice that Freeze had gotten earlier as one of his easy, enjoyable chores. Freeze had taken River to the place where he gathered ice once, and River had enjoyed drawing shapes in the ice with his claws before picking them up. Doing that by himself every day would be much better than his job of rubbing ice until it melts into a small well that Blizzard dug. 

   River dropped back down into his home and started creating friction on his ice piece, which would take forever to heat up enough. And Frost's screaming made him really impatient. Couldn't she stop? Or it would be better if Icy stopped fretting about her every time she did scream.

   River felt satisfied as the ice started to drip water. He started blowing on it with his breath as warm as possible, and soon it was smaller, and the small well was starting to fill.

   Bang.
   Frost instantly was quiet. River narrowed his eyes and listened, curious about what had happened as he worked.
   Icy was the one wailing now. "Oh! What happened! Frost! My precious girl! No. Wake up. Wake up!"
   A moment later, Icy came out, a limp Frost hanging over her shoulder. Blizzard and Freeze approached Icy, who sobbed frantically as she put Frost down. River continued rubbing the ice but turned his head to watch.
  Frost looked tiny, curled up like that. Her eyes were closed, and her pretty face looked delicate, not like River expected a shrieking one year old hatchling that had just passed out would look like.
   "Someone ruined her icicle strands. They were connected to that snowflake shaped flat ice carving on the ceiling, and it dropped on her head when I touched the strands," Icy explained.
   Blizzard ran a claw down his daughter's chest. He felt her head and arms, before saying heavily, "She's out cold. Not dead yet. But that carving was heavy, to much for her to handle. It must have been wider than her size, to do so much damage. I think she broke a leg."
   Icy gasped and buried her face in her talons. "No, not Frost! She'll never win any games like this!" Zircons families played challenging games with each other sometimes, and Freeze was always a champion when he was a hatchling. River's parents had been disappointed when he wasn't the same as his brother, but had still tolerated him until Icy and Frost came.
   "There's only one explanation for this," Icy continued bitterly. River froze when he saw that she was looking straight at him. He knew it was coming, but still hated and feared it every time. He turned back to his chore. "River is the one that did this. He's the only one that would have broke those strands. Everyone knows he's not fond of Frost, or anyone in this family."
   But I didn't do it! River knew that he was innocent, but didn't say it out loud. It would make no difference. 
   River met Freeze's eyes, trying to get him to say something. River saw a flash of guilt in his brother's expression, but then it was gone. And River knew that Freeze was the one that actually broke the strands, and was now once again going to abandon him, like he'd done ever since he became an explorer.
   River backed away from his father, who was glaring at him menacingly. "You'll pay for what you did to Frost," Blizzard growled, starting towards River.
   Icy was the one that made the ice fall, River protested in his mind.
   Blizzard raised a hand. "Maybe you'll like to see how it feels to be knocked out, like Frost was. If it's hard enough, perhaps you'll get a broken bone too."
   River looked up and fled, flying as fast as he could. He raced across his world of ice. He had noticed a small look of regret in Blizzard's eyes, but he couldn't stop to think about that now.
   "Coward!" Icy taunted from somewhere far away.
   River ignored her. Blizzard was going to catch up with him anyway. And a few seconds later, his prediction came true, and he felt the blow of his father's claws hit him. He had escaped most of the force, but it still knocked the breath out of him. He lay winded until Blizzard was out of sight. 

   River stood up shakily and walked back to his home. He was even more reluctant to go now, but he knew that he had to. I'll leave as soon as I become an explorer, he promised himself. And that'll be tomorrow, when I'm finally six.