It was time.

He'd been spending his time tirelessly gathering materials. Wood and coal and any charcoal he could get his talons on were piled onto the forge he'd chosen, piled high - higher then he would probably ever put them, but this fire needed to last a while if his plans were to work. It would all be put to waste if it burned out before he could stoke it again.

He did feel a twinge of guilt, leaving his fire burning at its earliest infancy, but perhaps the strength of his spirit would stoke it in the place of his physical form. Or Ember would. Or Dread. It didn't really matter to him, as long as it was kept burning.

At long last, he piled the last of the wood and hopped off, taking a step back. It was a veritable mountain of fuel - enough, of course, to get the forge going and hopefully enough to keep it burning for many days. The wood would burn quickly but the coal underneath, when it caught, would last.

He cleared his throat and paced around the forge, waiting for Ember or Dread to arrive. He had called for them earlier, after all.

@Ember (or Dread, whichever one you'd like)

Ember wasn't sure where Dread had gone, but he himself had just arrived back, the day before, from a visit to Orion. He still hadn't decided which cave to remain in. Orion had Sir Hammersly's old forge, and Pride; Leo had more forges, Glory, and Dread.

Maybe a sort of... joint custody sort of thing-

"Glory?" he called out, winging his way toward the eagle's call. When he landed, he saw the pyre--though he didn't understand it, yet. "...What's that?" he asked, curious, as his feet touched down. White wings folded across his back as he peered sidelong toward the eagle.

...Something about this... worried him--he couldn't have said quite what. It was nothing like a seer's ability, but rather the look of frenetic energy and determination to Glory, and the strangeness of his having piled what looked like a week's worth of fuel on the forge.

It was... It was like, Ember mused, he planned to start the forge and just leave it burning, not working it at all. That was wrong--there was no reason to do that, and it'd waste fuel--and that troubled him. Unless it cleans it out, somehow? he thought, doubtful, eyeing up the pile.

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Glory straightened up, eyes bright as Ember approached the forge he'd cleaned out. "My friend!" he called merrily. "I need to ask you a great favor - although I should explain what I'm doing here first, I think."

There was a spark of madness in his eyes as he turned towards the pyre, an artist that had been left alone far too long, born of pure passion and heart and hope. "This is to be my new forge! I've cleaned out the dust and old ash and it's ready for a new fire. There is one thing, though - I am used to working on a flame that has been burning for cycles. It was fed my youthful spirit as I learned the craft. But that fire is no more, it will never return. I have been thinking of a way to try and reignite some of that fire's spirit here, bring back some of its soul. And, as I worked with that fire, stoked it from its birth until its death, it is I that shall be the spark that ignites the new flame!" He opened his wings proudly, as if announcing that his act of self-immolation was something to be proud of.

"When I burn with it's birth, it will be a flame like no other! And that is where I must ask you a favor - I will go to my chrysalis again and sleep - not for long this time! - and while I am asleep, will you watch the forge for me? I have brought enough fuel to let it burn for a while, but I can't be sure. And...of course, make sure that nobody comes and kills me while I'm out." He turned towards the pyre again and sighed. "It pains me to leave it while it is young, but sacrifices must sometimes be made for art."

@Ember

Ember stared.

He didn't move much--motionless, standing in silence at first--but his expression went from loosely relaxed and friendly to tensely attentive and mildly alarmed.

Surely he must have misunderstood-?

"You're--the spark..? What do you--when you burn?" Extreme concern was clear in his voice, and in his posture too, the sudden, sharp and unconscious step that he took forward proof of this.

"You don't mean... literally, right? You'd--die, Glory." He wants to burn himself for the forge..? Ember squinted. "Unless you just mean... some feathers?" It didn't sound that way, though.

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Glory nodded in confirmation, solemnly. "That's exactly what I mean." He knew this was going to be a problem - it wasn't like he wasn't aware that intentionally burning himself on a pyre was a very...sensible thing to do, especially to someone that had little to no context. "But! I assure you, I won't die! We Gembound are built strong! I have known those before that had seemingly been killed only to reemerge half a cycle later. Some of them even changed! Stronger, more limbs, completely remade! It's a terrifying concept, I'll admit...but..."

He seemed to deflate a little and looked down at his feet. "I have done the best I could to be a blacksmith. I have done everything in my power to make it possible to do it with only two limbs. But its a craft not made for birds, unfortunately. And my skills are limited. I can only hope that by doing this, I can become...better." He turned away from Ember and towards his pyre, for the first time feeling his heart beginning to race.

"Listen, Ember. I know how it sounds. I must be crazy, right? To burn myself alive? But this...it's important. To me. It's a risk, but I'm not afraid." But he was afraid. Of death, of course. And pain. But he wasn't going to let that show.

He turned back to Ember, fully serious now. "You don't have to watch. I just...need you to make sure the forge doesn't go out while I'm asleep. Like I said - half a cycle should be enough."

@Ember

"You're talking about--in your stone, right?" Ember took another step forward, alarm thrumming through him, though still twisting with baffled disbelief.

Glory couldn't mean literally. No, Ember must be misunderstanding. He must have missed something, somewhere.

"If you're in your stone, and your stone's on the fire, it's just gonna boil you while you're in there. I think." That made sense to him, at least--how could a body reform when their chrysalis was in literal flames-?

And, as a second consideration: "It's also hurt, a lot. Like-... so much... You'd be burning, Glory."

Burning-... hurt.

Faint panic rose in Ember, now--what if he wasn't misunderstanding? What on earth--or rather, what in the caves--had gotten Glory to think that burning himself alive was a good idea..?

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It seemed like his many long-winded explanations were not getting through to Ember. Or, at least, they just weren't helping calm him down. To be honest, he hadn't really expected them to, but it was better then leaving him in the dark. Although he didn't like that the more he talked, the more panicked Ember seemed. He hadn't gone that far off the deep end, surely...?

He adjusted his wings and clacked his beak, dismissively. "I'm not gonna stay in the fire! Once its done, I'll jump out. I'll sleep and heal here." He tapped one of his large talons on the stone in front of him.

The mention of pain made him pause just for a moment. He sighed. "I know. I've burned myself before, full combustion - it isn't fun. Which is why I said you don't have to watch. I just need you to make sure the flame burns. So that what I do isn't for nothing." The light of his madness returned to his eyes for a moment and he snapped his head towards ember, suddenly intensely serious. "I know you are trying to sway me not to do this, but it won't work! I have made up my mind. I just need you to promise me - watch the fire while I heal. It should burn on its own, but I can't be sure. I don't want to take a risk on that!"

@Ember

Ember stared.

He thought that Glory was insistent, in an almost obsessive sort of way, and it frightened him. He desperately wanted to run for help--to go to his father and ask what the hell to do when someone wanted to casually self-immolate.

He spoke slowly, instead, a frigid and terrifying feeling of unreality seizing him. "You want... to burn yourself, to make... your fire better-? And you want me to take care of your fire... for a cycle, or... whatever it will be...?" It held no emotion; it was a slow repetition of Glory's request, because, damn, Ember could not process this.

And suddenly, that blank feeling snapped. He stepped back, blinking, horror welling up like sickness in his gut. "Glory, no! This isn't--right! You burning yourself isn't going... it's not going to change your forge?! Fire is fire!" he cried, despair welling up in every word. "Of course I'm trying to stop you!"

The wholly disparate views--one Gembound viewing it, perhaps, as a reasonable legacy and the other, a sick horror--left him reeling. The idea of his friend screaming and thrashing as he burnt alive was horrific, and Ember didn't want to be here for that. Not to see it, but not to hear it, not to have to sit with the stifling odor of smoldering feathers-...

He shook his head, taking another step back, blinking.

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Glory nodded as Ember went over what he was requesting. ”Yes! Make my fire better but also hope for the chance of change! If I go into it with that will then I believe it will happen!” Of course, Glory was unaware that his prayers would most certainly be answered by an exterior force that followed every move, but that was besides the point. Concern and frustration took over when he realized that Ember was not, in fact, with him at all.

His eyes blazed. ”You dont understand! Fire is fire but the forge has a soul! It has a spirit to it that makes its metals better and allowes its crafter a greater experience! I spent cycles cultivating the fire within my home and I felt a kinship with it! It in turn enhanced my skills, made each project a labor of love! This is what I will do here!”

Ember was stepping back. Perhaps he was distraught now, but Glory hoped that during his time sleeping and healing, his mind would change, at least enough to come help watch the forge in his stead. He watched him with a sharp gaze before turning and fluttering atop the pyre he’d created.

”This is my choice! Stay or leave! If you leave, I’ll wait until you’re gone. What I asked of you, I hope you honor. If not, I can only hope the forge stays lit until I return.” He was readying himself now, taking deep breathes and waiting for Ember’s decision.

@Ember

"...What is wrong with you?!" Ember cried, but it was more distraught than accusatory. "A forge hasn't got a soul! It's--rock! It's rock, Glory! You're asking me to sit here and watch a fire, not able to leave... probably hardly to hunt... and sit here with your chrysalis, if you survive at all, and probably it'll smell like dead bird and I'll remember-" he choked off, unable to even put voice to the idea of what this was about to look like.

He wasn't making a coherent argument. Far from it; he was just half-frantic. "You can't just throw yourself into a fire! It won't do anything! Please--talk to someone... ask the Blacksmith! This isn't going to help anything! It's--it's just going to be awful!"

He continued, giving his heart and soul to try and save his friend from what he perceived as an idiotic fate.

From what he'd seen so far, it didn't look like Glory would listen to him.

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