He was new, and so small, and so scared.
The tiny tiger could no nothing but cling to the tree branch, mewling for help. Cinders burned at the base of the tree, and the tree was already beginning to ignite, sizzling and crackling threateningly beneath him.
where was Siobhan? Where was his brother? He didn't dare move, didn't dare do anything but to cling, mewling
For once, Siobhan wasn't joking.
He wasn't laughing, or playing, or sneaking about.
Now, he was merely a blur, racing across the tree-tops, bounding as fast as he could, not even caring to stop and make sure the branches could support him before leaping. He was gone, leaping to the next one too quickly before he could fall.
He couldn't find his brother! The cub would never be able to survive in this fire!
But then, over the crackling over the raging inferno, he heard a voice. He changed directions on a dime, spinning to race towards them. Before they were even in sight, he was crying out,
@Pride
The moment she had smelled fire, Artume had begun to run.
Fire was a familiar smell - all of those who knew even a single fire smell carried at least the faintest scent of it. But this was overwhelming, nearly choking.
Her legs, and lungs, burned as she ran, head low and heart thundered. Already the smoke was blinding her, but she didn't stop. She still had her ears, after all.
Leaping, she cleared a burning log with ease. Heart-beats, tiny ones, thundered in her ears, and she skidded to a stop. Lowering her head, she was quick to push the log aside, releasing the trapped Windhoppers. They chattered their thanks before racing away.
Turning, she continued to run. It wouldn't be long until she skidded to a stop in front of a mountain lion, raising her head high and gulping down the relatively clean air.
@Rift
Rift was seeing red as he stumbled forward. The appearance of the deer went almost completely unnoticed. Their voice washed over him so faintly that he barely even comprehended what they were saying. He was shivering with rage and he was growling uncontrollably.
He snapped his head towards the black stag, his eyes burning to ferociously it was surprising that it didn't physically burn the animal. The sight of another creature, breathless and covered with ash sent a roar bursting from his throat. As loud a roar as a cougar could get, of course. He turned back to the burning forest and lunged forward, spraying more water on the burning plants, but it barely did anything at all.
Li had decided to go to Eridanus.
It had been a year, roughly, if she thought correctly since she had burned Eridanus. 12 cycles. She'd grown so much since then, had even taken in someone, adopted someone. Someone who didn't seem to need her anymore. So she left Orion, at least for a bit. She figured she could check out how the area had been, see how much it had grown in the cycles since the fire.
For the first few hours she was there, it was fine. The plants had all been growing nicely. It felt so long ago that it had all gone up in flames for it had been a while. A lot of time had passed - plenty enough for the forest to replenish itself.
The peace didn't last long.
Li had just been strolling along when she caught the scent. A whiff of it, smoke. It sent her back a year ago, and she wondered if she was imagining things. It wouldn't be the first time - there had been many times she thought she was back with Imperia, fighting for her life. More often than not they were dreams.
But this? This was real.
Smoke, and heat, blistering, smoldering heat. It had been fine just a moment ago! What had happened? She didn't even pause to think about it, her mind still stuck at that moment a year ago. This was just like it, but worse. Had the fire she caused been this big? Was there that much smoke and heat? It was so much, all around her. She didn't know where it stopped and where it began. Was there an ending? What if it somehow spread to all the caves?
It was then she realized she was running. Barely managing to dodge any flames, she could feel the fire flickering at her, burning her. It was familiar, all too familiar. She couldn't think, could hardly breathe. She managed to stumble on a log that hadn't burst into flames yet, though it was only a matter of time. She felt panic race through her. She was going to die here, surrounded by flames. There were no others to save her, no giant monster made of black flammable tar, no winged wolf with large claws. She was alone, surely. Everyone else would have had the sense to leave, to escape.
She managed to get up, though as soon as she took a step, she winced. Still, adrenaline urged her forward, and she tried to find her way out of this familiar hell.
He couldn't breathe.
The panther gasped, jolting upright. His jaw hung open uselessly, lungs burning. Panic cleared his fogged mind, and he leaped to his feet. Seeing the burning moss, he was quickly up and out, gulping down air as fast as he could, washing away the black spots caused by smoke.
He ignored the burning on his paws, legs, and stomach, adrenaline driving him to fly up the path from his alcove to the forest. The path to his brother's garden was ground into his memory, so he focused instead on avoiding falling tree branches.
Horror boiled in his stomach, and he coughed, choking on a charred throat. What had happened?
He leaped, bounding off of a tree shortly before it toppled, using it to leap out of the way of another, larger, falling tree. Over the roar of a fire, the sound of a voice began to draw his ear. 'Brother Sebby?'
He spun on a dime, raising towards the voice. The panther ran up the tree, where he could see the lemur. Leaping, he scooped up the lemur's head without a word, allowing Yellow's body to dangle as he began to race toward Rift's garden - towards safety. He had to get Yellow to safety.
But the whole way, he kept his eyes and ears out for his beloved brother.
@Rift @Yellow
Pavonia whimpered quietly, clinging harder to the tree. It was trembling beneath him, and he feared that it would give out, leaving him to plummet to the ground at any moment.
And then, salvation. He could have cried when an angel - a white stag, appeared, calling for him to jump.
So he coiled his legs, and went to jump. The branch beneath him broke, and he began to plummet, unable to jump in time.
@Pride