"Help!

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 "Help, help! Someone, anyone, help me! Please!"


"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

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.

"PAV!" he yelled, breathless. "PAVONIA!" his voice cracked, heavy with tears.

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, "Please, you have to help me! I can't find my brother!"

@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. "Do you need help? Have you lost someone?"

@Rift

Nemophilist (n.):

a haunter of the woods;one who loves the forestand its beauty and solitude

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. "I...I..." he tried to speak but his throat was so clenched that he could barely manage anything.

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. "I'M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER DID THIS," he screamed. "WHO DESTROYED MY BELOVED FOREST?! WHO WOULD DARE BURN IT DOWN?!! THEY WILL FEEL ONE HUNDRED HELLS OF PAIN BEFORE I'M DONE WITH THEM!!" Without a single glance towards the deer her shot into the forest, roaring challenge after challenge as he went through. The plants along his body caught fire as well but he gave no notice to the stinging pain along his fur. His rage was so great he had lost all his sense of reasoning. "WHERE ARE YOU, MONSTER?! COME OUT AND FACE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!"

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.


"Li Speech."

@Artume

Pride held his mist about him, and the moment he heard the calls of the tiger cub in the tree, he bolted into a swift sprint. He heard the calls, too, of the fox cub behind him, and one ear flicked back as he came to a skidding halt near the tree's base.

The tree was on fire. That was bad. Worse still was the sight of the cub in its branches, barely clinging on. Pride snorted in alarm, and lifted his antlered head high, silver eyes fixed on the cub as he gathered his magicka, and the mist.

He began to shift the mist into water, but the moment it touched the fire it simply sizzled right back into steam and faded away. It isn't enough. It isn't nearly enough. Gritting his teeth, he leapt in alongside the flames, just shy of them, feeling the heat licking at his hide.

"LEAP!" he called upward, his usually-melodic voice a wailing flute. "I WILL CATCH YOU!" He turned his head so that he could see the tiger cub clearly, but stretched so that his white back would be visible beneath. Hopefully the little one could latch on--if not, he'd have to do his best to catch him with his magic.

He'd handle the fox's cries next; for now, the tiger was a far more urgent sight.

@Siobhan @Pavonia

The first thing Yellow noticed was a funny smell in the air.

Here he was, all curled up for a nap between a Y-shaped branch formation in a tree. His eyes were closed; his breathing relaxed. But the new smell was harsh and alarming and something in his instincts told him this is bad. The lemur opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as rough particles entered his eyes. Rapidly getting more alarmed (the forest is warm, but is it supposed to be this warm? And what's with the screaming?!), he scooted further up the tree trunk, away from the too-warm ground.

What's going on? The funny smell coming from dark tendrils coming from too-warm orange things was making him cough and his eyes water, and it was quickly becoming too hot to bear. "What-" he tried, breaking off to cough. "How? What's happening? Why are people screaming?" Surely screaming couldn't be good... this jungle was usually very good, with no screaming at all. Now there was lots of it and oh no the too-hot orange stuff was getting closer -

"HELP!" Yellow shrieked, raising their voice for the first time. "WHAT'S GOING ON - SOMEONE HELP!?!" However, the breathing required for yelling at their volume just drew more smoke into their lungs, leading them to bend over for another coughing fit. "BIG BROTHER! BIG BROTHER SEBBY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" If anyone could fix this, it would be his big brother. Big Brother could do anything.

Brother, understand whySee it's burning me to hold onto thisI know this is something that I gotta doBut that don't mean I want to

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?'

'Yellow!'

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

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

What I'm trying to say is that, I love you I justI feel like this is coming to an endAnd it's better for me to let it go now,than hold on and hurt youI've gotta let it burn

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


"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Pride stared up, and the moment the branch cracked, his magicka was already shimmering powerfully into being. He was ready--alarmed, afraid, but ready--and reacted near-instantly.

He felt his mental grip slip as the cub fell past, and he nearly did not catch him--as it was he caught him low, only barely over the flames. As swiftly as Pavonia fell, Pride had lifted him back out again, hopefully before he'd even felt the heat of the fire--and with a light gesture of his antlers, as if indicating back over his shoulder, his magic had slipped the cub through thin air and onto the stag's back.

He then turned to look down at the fox cub, blinking pale eyes and speaking quickly.

"You, on my back--hold on tightly! Do not worry about your claws, draw blood if you must--you, who are you missing?" His voice was urgent, but direct and clear.

ooc - sorry for mucking up posting order just a bit, but this is a short post so Siobhan knows if his brother got caught, before posting/reacting!

@Siobhan