Flammic Hunt

"And that's when I knew I was screwed."

"I promise." Ringy was unusually.. juanty. Cindre didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. "Why did we leave the lape behind." "Adia? Oh, the little blue-bun is studying or nibbling or somesuch." "I see." They crunched quickly through the underbrush, half hacking and half burning through any stray branch that was foolish enough to stand in the way of a walking tinderbox, and a sledgehammer on two paws. "It's not far. If you really want to take the plunge, this is the only way we can get it done." "Fae Curtail," Cindre begun, dreading to actually voice the question. "What precisely are we on our way to." "Fire," she replied, as vague as she was bright in the eyes. "I see," he rumbled, concerned. "I need to flex my acetica to the best of my ability. I need to experience true flame. Only then will I be strong enough to defend-" "Defend the only two vestiges of the true light, yadda yadda, look here Cindy." "For the last time.." "Yeah yeah, ash-butt, look. Use those big ears and just listen for half a moment." Cindre grunted, and rather emphatically burst a short tree into white hot flame. One that was not exactly in his path. "Go on." "I understand what you need. I do. You find a source of fire or heat or light or whatever, and you learn its secrets, and you grow inside." Whipping her arm across her chest, she flung a poorly placed rock aside. The boulder shattered into a handful of chunks, each larger than she was. "As a sympath I know the process better than anyone," Cindre intoned softly. "And as a peer," quipped Ringy, "I've seen it more than anyone. So, trust me when I say this will be a true test, okay, Mae Grumble Pants?" The dark layph paused. "Grumble.. pants? You have been spending far too much time with Ben." He leapt nimbly to catch up.

It was an enormous space. Cliffs loomed high into a gloom above, trees reached deeply into the fog behind them. The area was hundreds of meters across, and Cindre took it all in slowly. "It's an arena." "A-yup. Perfectly round." "Fel, this isn't the first time you've spent the entirety of my patience." "Just wait here, alright, and I'll get things started." The cat anthro skittered to the centre of the cavernous area, and waved him over. With a ponderous sigh, he obeyed. When he reached the side of the poised and high-tailed fel, she hopped to face him, beamed with a gleeful malice, and dashed for the treeline, covering the football-field distance in a second of rapid scrabbles. As she sped away, she bellowed the most peculiar thing. "Dinner's ready, ya big leather coat! You can't burn this one! You can't burn nothing!!"

Adia pulled on her ears, raptured and wide sky-eyed, as Cindre's deep voice thunder-rumbled. "And so", he went on, "I turned around. Behind me was easily.. the single largest drake I have ever seen. It filled that arena to brimming. A mountain of flame, teeth bigger than I was. And it looked angry.. fie, I have never seen anything so angry." Adia squeaked quietly, using her new and so far, poorly mastered powers of healing, to soothe charred skin and brush away ashened fur, shaking her head in sympathy. The layphon winced in pain. "And that, to borrow from Ben's nonclamenture, was when I knew I was screwed."