Closed Into the Fire (Aidara)

[Sira]

Timestamp: 70th of Fall, 512 AV Addy. Come to the aeries, we are needed. Hurry. No further explanation came, though Aidara could hear the irritation in Sira's voice. She wouldn't find out why the kelvic was irritated until she arrived, however. The day had begun as nomral as any. Addy had to go to the infirmary and tend to patients, and Sira went out for her morning hunt. With the strange attacks, and the business with the unruly dek, Aidara was needed more and more often in the infirmary. Sira didn't mind, she understood, and so generally she did her morning hunting by herself or with Natalie. The evenings usually depended on how busy it was. ..this morning, however, had not gone so well. When Addy arrived at the aeries she would immediately understand the irritation in Sira's mental voice, and perhaps why she had failed to say anything else. She was too busy pecking at the dek who were trying, and failing, to get Sira strapped into one of the large, bulky, medical saddles used to transport Endal and their injured passengers. She could carry up to three extra people on the large, flat, board-like surfaces behind the main seat, so long as they were not overly heavy. The saddle came complete with restraints to keep the injured from moving, and to keep them from falling off. Attached to the saddle, adding more weight and irritation to the feisty kelvic, were heavy laden medical bags full of supplies. If Addy took the time to inspect the bags, she would find them largely filled with burn treatments, as well as other basic first aid supplies, and even a few surgical supplies in one of the bags. One of the dek pulled on a wing strap, trying to tighten it, and irritated Sira to the point that she nearly snapped his arm off. Needless to say, that dek backed away, unwilling to risk his life any further. When Sira saw Aidara walk into the room her head snapped in the healer's direction, and the dek who was tending to that particular side of her quickly backed away. Addy, come get these idiots away from me and strap this thing on right before I have me an early lunch. I swear, you'd think they'd send me some competent dek for once. Maybe I wouldn't keep hurting them if they knew how to do their jobs! Sira's remark was punctuated with another snap of her beak and flap of her wings that sent one of the dek sprawling. The bruised and brave man slowly climbed back to his feet and, surprisingly enough, returned to work rather than run. Sira had to hand it to him, he was dedicated to his job.

[Aidara]

Broken bones were some of Addy’s least favorite things to deal with. Not only was it nearly impossible to get the injured to sit still and be quiet thanks to the severe pain they were in, but there was actually very little Addy could do to help them. Using her mark was close to useless when it came to breaks, unless the bone pierced the skin. Then she could clean it. Whoopie.

Miquel was holding down a young girl who had been carrying an armload of something-or-other and tripped over an anvil, falling face first into a rack of completed weapons; that’s the story Addy was able to get out between the girls cries, however. Needless to say, the Yasi’s master wasn’t too happy with his apprentice. Having caught herself just a little too late, the girl had snapped her left wrist and seemed to have also broken a bone in her right arm as well.

Fight as she might, the injured girl was no match for the older healer, Miquel managing to get some of his weight on her legs to hold them still while one of the Dek that helped bring the girl in put pressure on her shoulders. Once restrained, Addy took a seat next to the infirmary bed and closed her eyes, drawing upon the power of her mark and throwing it into the girl. It took only a moment to ascertain that some of the bones in her wrist were in fact broken, while her right arm sustained only a minor fracture. Relaying this information to her assistant, Miquel traded places with the remaining Dek and rushed away to grab the splints and bandages.

Gently taking the girls arm in her small hands, Addy quickly checked the skin for abrasions, using the remaining power she still held to sweep along the skin and look for infection. The Yasi managed to avoid that, at least. Placing her broken wrist on her stomach and picking up her other arm to repeat the process, Addy snuck a glance at the girls face; she had stopped resisting chimes ago, finally having passed out. Her face was still arranged in a grimace, as she could feel the pain even through the blackness that enveloped her.

Miquel returned soon after with the splints, passing them over to the little healer as he too glanced at the girls face. “She finally gave in, I see. Feisty one, she was. And strong too.” Rubbing at a spot on his side where the girl’s foot had connected, Miquel winced as he laughed.

“Want me to take a look at that for you?” Smiling, Addy laid the flat, smooth piece of wood down on the side of the bed, carefully moving the Yasi’s arm from her stomach and onto the splint. “It’ll only take a second.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I’ll get her some tea.” Referring to the herbal potion that they mixed up into hot water to help dull the pain, Addy nodded as she placed the second half of the splint down on the top of the girls arm. As gently as she could, Addy lifted the splinted arm and began to wrap linen tightly, around and around. It was then that Sira erupted into her mind, causing the little woman to help and jostle the girl. Miquel had just returned in time to press the Yasi back into the bed, calming her as fresh pain spiked through her arm.

“I’m sorry! Oh, I’m sorry!” Apologizing through gritted teeth, Addy finished the wrap as quickly as she could. “Miquel I’m going to have you finish the other one. Sira needs me.” The elder healer nodded calmly, sliding around the bed to take Addy’s spot as she stood.

“Thankfully she’s out again. Don’t you worry, everything will be fine.” Her fellow healers were more than used to the Endal rushing off at the drop of a feather; it was hard for her to plan when she was needed, but that didn’t make Addy any less grateful. Planting a kiss on Miquel’s cheek, Addy rushed off and left her blushing friend to finish the job.

It took a handful of chimes for Addy to reach her aerie. The new one that her sister had gifted them was much further away from the Infirmary than their older, smaller one. Addy was grateful for the space even though she still found herself taking the same corridors she had for years upon years, heading towards her old abode.

To find Sira surrounded by Dek’s was somewhat of a surprise, to be sure, but to see her lover giving them a hard time over the saddle was not shocking in the slightest. If you just petching sat still, there wouldn’t be an issue. Striding over to where the Dek hovered fearfully just out of talon reach, Addy took up where they had left off, quickly cinching buckles and sliding things this way and that. She of course noticed that it was a medical saddle, they had used it more than once, but she said nothing of it while they readied.

Nodding to the only Dek that was courageous enough to face Sira’s irritation, Addy slipped him a food voucher note as she hurried them away, hoping that her lover didn’t notice. Petch, half the time she wished someone would reward her for having to saddle the ornery Wind Eagle.

Seeing the Dek out so she could shut the aerie door behind them, Addy returned to find Sira readying herself for takeoff. Taking a moment to check over the medical gear in the packs, making sure that everything was to her liking, the little redhead used one of the metal braces to hoist herself up into the saddle, buckle herself in, and tie her hair back before she said another word.

Who are we saving today? Feeling rather smug as she said this, Addy triple checked the straps that held her into the saddle as Sira waddled and hopped over towards the open air. Addy was adept enough at flying now that she hardly needed the restraints on a normal saddle. However, this medical one was ungainly enough that she wasn’t going to risk it; Sira wouldn’t be able to do any fancy aerial maneuvers with that thing strapped to her. I notice that Natalie isn’t here. Is it that bad?

[Sira]

Sira had grown silent as Aidara worked, and didn't even give the dek any trouble. If she noticed the food voucher, she didn't comment, nor did she comment when Aidara asked who they were saving. It was rather disturbing, the silence, from the woman who usually never shut up. But Sira was being fed images from the other eagles who were returning already out. Images of fire, and burn victims, and falling trees. Fire, that was dangerously close to the settlement of Thunder Bay, though luckily it had not yet reached the place. The victims were hunters, and other people who were out in the forest doing whatever it was they did out there. It's bad, Sira commented as Aidara settled into place on her back. The wind eagle quickly hopped to the edge of the aerie and took flight as soon as Addy was ready, deciding against feeding her the images right away. Sira flew quickly, beating her wings to gain speed and altitude before catching a thermal and riding the warm air up high. As they crested one of the peaks around wind reach, the bay came into view. Though they were still to far away to see anything in detail, the smoke was as plain as daylight. It looked like black clouds rising from the ground, and sometimes they could even glimpse patches of orange and red through the smoke. It did not take longI looked it up, a normal golden eagle's glide speed can be up to 120mph, so you can imagine how fast Sira is to reach the fire, and the closer they got the thicker the smoke got in the air. Sira was beginning to have trouble seeing, but continued to glide for as long as she could, trying to stay above or out of the smoke whenever possible. I am going to have to land soon. I can't see anything down there, but there is supposed to be a medical camp set up near Thunder Bay. We'll go there, then see what they want us to do next. Sira turned in the direction of Thunder Bay, but took a quick look back as something caught her eye. It was just a glimpse, a hole through the smoke, but she was certain she saw someone. Without explanation, Sira suddenly altered the course of her flight. From what she could tell, the flames weren't at the person yet, but they would be there soon. Sira dove into the smoke, finally explaining as she did, Someone is down there. We have to help them before the fire gets to them! The descent was perhaps the most frightening thing in the world to Sira. She couldn't see a thing, and the smoke hurt her eyes to the point where she had to shut them at some points. When they reached the treetops she hovered for a moment, searching for the best spot to dive in. Nothing was ideal, especially since she couldn't see much. In the end she just picked the best looking spot, then plowed through, breaking branches and bruising herself somewhat as she went. I think they are over that way, Sira said as they landed, Go and find them, and I'll get ready to get us out of here. OOCFeel free to make up whatever injuries you'd like for the person to have. Smoke inhalation, burns, djed-storm altered jackrabbit-venom. Whatever.

[Aidara]

Each tick held a more poignant silence than the next, the smug expression slowly melting from her face as the reticence stretched between them. Addy managed to catch fleeting glimpses of the images that flashed through Sira’s mind thanks to the sloppy transmission from the other Wind Eagles; it wasn’t much, but it was enough to drain the color from the little healers face. Sira’s conformation of the severity of the situation only deepened Addy’s sobriety.

They flew with the weighty burden of what was to come as a companion, Sira winging silently along while Addy simply sat deep in the saddle, swaying easily with each stroke of her great eagles wings; the contraption strapped onto Sira only made the placement of Addy’s legs slightly awkward; instead of gripping with her knees like she normally did, Addy instead had to hold onto an awkward set of reins attached to the pommel. They were of no use for steering and meant simply to help balance or to grab at if one thought it a good idea to fall.

More and more often Addy found herself preoccupied on their flights. At first, flying had been a joyous thing shared between the woman and Sira, a time for them to forget the world and their worries, to just be alone, happy, and in love. It seemed like the honeymoon was over, a sad, grim smile turning the corners of her lips as her gaze scanned the scenery below; those green eyes didn’t take in the beauty of the mountain, the cascading green of the trees and the way the shadows danced and plunged as the wind rippled the branches. No, instead she looked for what was wrong, a disturbance, or fighting.

It was the sharp, acrid smell of smoke that brought Addy’s gaze forward and over Sira’s head. So focused had she been in searching below them that the little woman missed what was literally right in front of them. A plume of smoke unfolded from the trees, obscuring most of the sky ahead and blanketing the forest below; the trees were only discernable when a hard gust of wind blew some of the thick smoke away, revealing the choking foliage for only a moment before the gray mass fell back in to fill the void. Good goddess…Sira, don’t even try to go in there!

Relieved to hear that they were going towards the Bay, Addy shifted her weight to compensate the twisting of her hips as she turned to look towards their new destination. It was pure instinct now, to move and help Sira best maneuver through the air. Tendrils of smoke had begun to reach them even here, fogging the air just enough that Addy could barely see the waters of Thunder Bay.

It was these smoky fingers that choked the little healer when Sira suddenly plunged, gasping for air after the breath was compressed from her lungs, the dive throwing her backwards in the saddle. Had the Addy not been strapped down, she would have been flung out into the open air with the way her center of gravity had been shifted to the side, the leather straps that bound her legs down cut painfully through the thin Bryda, ripping the fabric and pinching the skin. Desperate hands scrabbled at the reins as the healer fought to haul herself back upright.

She had only just managed to do so when they hit the wall of smoke and everything went dark. Taking in another deep lungful of the smoldering air in surprise, Addy coughed and plunged her face into the feathers of Sira’s neck What the petch are you doing! Thunder Bay my ass! If you think this is a good time for a joke, or some stupid displace of aerobatics then you’re sadly mistaken! The anger in the woman’s voice rang with the command of the an Endal, a tone Addy never used with Sira. The shock of nearly being thrown and then choked, however, had scared her straight to the base emotion of fear.

At Sira’s words however, the anger instantly vanished. There was no apology given, for there was no need for one. The two women understood each other further than anyone else could hope to. Addy felt her heart rate increase as Sira sped blindly through the smoke; her own eyes burning as she tried to search through the opaque air for the individual Sira had spotted.

When she finally landed, Addy pried her stiff fingers from the reins and quickly tried to undo the straps holding her down; her tight grip, however, made her fingers clumsy and it was a good handful of chimes before Addy was able to climb from Sira’s back, just barely managing to get her healing kit from the saddle packs before Sira was off again.

It didn’t take long for Addy to find the victim; his coughing could be heart from what seemed like a mile away. The rest of the forest was eerily quiet, the smoke seeming to muffle and amplify sound at the same time. Walking slowly, with her hands held out in front of her lest she get a face full of tree trunk, Addy worked her way towards the sound.

The man was curled up on his side in the bowl of a tree, his arms covering his head and his knees drawn up to his chest. He had his back to the healer as she approached, stooping low in order to see better over the low hanging layer of smoke; it had only taken a few moments for the acrid air to become too much, causing Addy to take the scarf she had wrapped around her waist and tie it tightly around her mouth. The cover only helped slightly and her lungs already burning; the pained cough of the man made her wince with pity. She had to get him out and fast.

“Don’t panic, I am Aidara and I am here to help you.” Talking loudly enough that her voice would carry through the smoke, Addy made sure that she took loud, slow steps towards the man. “What is your name? How long have you been out here for?” A few more steps brought her within arms reach, and the little healer knelt down and gently touched his shoulder.

Rather than respond to her questions, the man just curled further in on himself. “You’re alright. You’re going to be okay. We’re here to help get you out of here, if you would just…” Placing her hand more firmly on the broad shoulder, Addy tried to pull the man over onto his back and out of the fetal position.

He moved faster than she had been expecting, rolling into the direction that Addy tugged his shoulder and coming swiftly to his feet next to her, a dagger clutched in his hand and brought swiftly up and under her chin. Addy could feel the tip of the steel pierce the delicate skin there with a sharp flask of pain followed quickly by the warm trickle of blood. The metal of the dagger was unusually warm and began to burn Addy’s skin the longer he held it there.

Biting down a scream, Addy closed her eyes and held up her hands before her, doing her best to keep her breathing steady and to fend off the spasms of startled fear that tried to access her muscles. “Please, I’m just trying to help. You need to get out of here…. We need to get out of here or we are both going to die..” To Addy’s credit, her voice stayed calm and collected, with hardly a tremor to any of her words. Her mental shout however, was not nearly so composed.

GET THE PETCH BACK HERE THE PETCHER IS TRYING TO KILL ME!

Standing as still as she could, Addy waited for the man to remove the dagger as she offered help, her eyes screwed tightly shut as she focused on regulating her breathing; inhaling as much smoke as they both had wasn’t good to behind with. Hyperventilating and sending even more of the awful stuff down into her lungs would only make it worse. As it was, Addy could already feel the onset of a wobbly, lightheaded feeling.

When the dagger stayed in place, however, Addy forced herself to open one eye. The smoke immediately burned and she was forced to blink multiple times to clear the stinging from her vision. When she could finally see again, Addy sought the gaze of her attacker, hoping to further plead her face. What she found instead made her gasp in fright.

“What happened?!” Instinct sent the woman stumbling a step backwards, her hands flying to her scarf-covered mouth in shock. Luckily, the man stood where he was, the dagger still extended even though he didn’t follow Addy’s movement. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, a large, nasty, oozing burn covering the entire left side of his face and neck. The hand not holding the dagger was clutched protectively to his chest, sporting a wound that slowly leaked blood. The most shocking part, however, was his mouth. It looked as if his lips had been melted together, fused shut so that he could hardly make a sound, let alone speak.

Oh my god, Sira. Get here quick.

OOCI was going to do more than this but…. Everything kinda got away from me. I figured I’d let you come back in before I wrote a whole novel. Hehe

[Sira]

Sira took to the skies again but it was only with the intent of trying to spot the person within the smoke once more so that she could send Addy in the right direction. As it turned out, she wouldn't need to, and Aidara was able to find the man easily enough. Of course, had Sira known what would happen next, she would have never sent Addy after him alone. As Sira circled above the cloud of smoke, trying to see through, Addy was attacked by the burnt man with his knife.

At Addy's first cry for help, Sira let out a shriek and dove back into the smoke. She didn't need to be able to see to pinpoint where the healer was, their bond worked as a sort of homing beacon, and Sira knew right where the healer was standing. What she did need her sight for was the landing, and the trees right before it.

Sira couldn't see anything in the smoke and diving down into the canopy blind was never smart, but Addy was in trouble, and Sira had to save her. The giant eagle hovered nervously over the trees, but it was impossible to pick a safe spot to dive in. The smoke was worse than before, and when Addy sent her second message, Sira decided it she couldn't risk waiting any longer.

Crashing through the canopy above Aidara and the man with the knife, Sira came through with a shower of leaves and branches large and small in her wake. There was less smoke on the ground, and as soon as Sira landed, she noticed the man with the knife pointed Aidara. The eagle let out an angry squawk and lunged towards the man, snapping at the knife with her beak. She noticed the burns, albeit barely, but her focus was on the knife. There was a good chance she would take off his hand along with the weapon if he put up a fight, but Sira didn't care. If Addy didn't stop her she would continue to defend her until the man dropped his weapon or ran away.

[Aidara]

To Addy, it seemed as if Sira took her sweet petching time getting back to the scene of the almost-crime. Though the man still hadn’t moved hardly at all, Addy stayed as far away as possible, backing herself right to the edge of the clearing. It was hard to discern anything through the smoke, but after a few chimes the little healer noticed a strange wobbling of the man’s head. Back and forth, back and forth as if the top of his skull was connected to some sort of pendulum, those terrible eyes focused on her the entire time. Addy didn’t bother suppress the shiver the chilled down her spine, numbing her fingers and toes.

She really wasn’t cut out for this. Doubt began to creep back in, nausea right on its heels. Blood, guts and the like hardly phased the woman at all… but being stuck out in the middle of nowhere, in a raging wildfire? With no way to escape… Gagging, Addy pressed her fingers to her lips and turned her head away from the man, fighting down the gorge that tried to rise. Being alone was something Addy could hardly tolerate in the best of situations. Dying in such a painful way while alone was simply sickening.

A chirrup inside her head gave the little woman something to focus on. Sira must be nearby. Her bond always told her such things, but she was never really sure exactly how the whole thing worked. Perhaps it was because of her former connection with her sister that she was able to sense Sira much more strongly than normal. It was all hypothesis, however, since there were no other bonded Kelvic’s within the city for Addy to ask and find out. The two women were quite isolated in their situation, a fact that Addy tried to ignore as the lovers constantly struggled to keep up with everything that was flung into their face.

Tilting her head back and squinting into the thick smoke that hung above their heads, Addy searched for any signs of Sira being near; she couldn’t take it much longer. If the burned man didn’t get her, the smoke surely would. The scarf she had tied around her mouth as protection slid up into her eyes just there was a flickering from above, flashes of color through the dispersing wisps of smoke that made Addy’s hammering heart leap into her throat: Sira was there, just above the trees. Ripping the fabric off of her face so that she could get a better look, Addy tried to calm her beating heart. The surge of hope that flooded over her from that little glimpse of the Kelvic woman coming to her rescue overwhelmed the healer, who hadn’t realized just how skittish she had become in a just a handful of bells. Emotion surged and Addy nearly choked on the force of it, a choking gasp escaping despite her best efforts to suppress it. A mistake.

Smoke instantly flowed into the opening her lips made, filling her mouth just as she clamped it closed and swallowed in panic. The hot air burned her throat, her lungs and tasted of ash and something she couldn’t recognize. Instinct took over in that moment as Addy fell to her knees, sputtering and trying to expel the smoke without letting anymore in; an impossible task.

Sira found her like this, on her hands and knees with her forehead resting on the ground, fighting to maintain her consciousness, cursing herself all the while. What a stupid way to die. As a healer no less! Even the man with the extreme burns and wounds had managed to avoid such a stupid mistake. Hardly noticing when Sira arrived at her side, Addy only managed to glance up and find her former-attacker crouched nearby, his head still wobbling back and forth; it was sickening to watch.

From up close, however, Addy noticed the whites of his eyes, shot red from irritation but it didn’t change the fact that they were as wide as they could go. Slightly befuddled by the pain, Addy tried to sit up and leaned towards the man, her mouth opening once more in what seemed to be another gasp. Sira would have to prevent that one, because Addy was clearly no longer thinking straight.

The man’s mouth seemed to be moving despite the fact that his lips could not part. I think he’s trying to talk… Even through their connection Addy’s voice sounded hoarse and weak. What is he trying to tell us? Struggling against the protective hold that Sira had placed upon the healer, Addy tried to get closer, her gaze flickering from his eyes to his mouth and back again. There was something she was missing! She knew it, though her mind sluggishly struggled to make the connection.

"OH MY GOD” Screaming out loud and through her connection with Sira both, Addy lunged forwards towards the man, who raised his dagger again before him and stumbled upright and away from the seemingly crazed healer. Addy ignored the dagger and continued to try to make her way to his side. He’s screaming, Sira. He’s petching SCREAMING And sure enough, upon knowing what to listen for, very faint above the snapping and crackling of the nearby fire, the two women could hear a low, muffled moaning sound coming from the poor man.

[Sira]

Sira couldn’t hear the screams, but she didn’t doubt what Addy said. The man looked like he was in more than a little pain, and if Sira were in his place she was fairly certain she would be screaming too. What she didn’t understand was how his lips had gotten fused together. Did the fire do that, or was there some other power at play? Sira had seen a lot over the years, especially during the time she had spent with Aidara. Neither of them wanted the troubles they had, yet the gods seemed intent on throwing challenge after challenge at the couple. Every time they had managed to survive, and Sira was even been blessed by one of those gods.. not that that power would do any good there. Or would it? Sira had never really tried, but she knew Priskil’s light was supposed to invoke courage and hope. It couldn’t help the pain.. but maybe it would help something.

She had never used her gnosis in her eagle form, but in her human form her mark was found on the palm of her hand. As an eagle, Sira didn’t have hands, but she did have wings. On her hands the mark appeared as a faintly glowing vortex, but on her wings the pattern was much more intricate. The feathers had a slight discoloration to them, forming a circular shape much like the one on her hands. The feathers that were marked glowed slightly, just like her hand. Sira opened her wings a bit and concentrated, invoking the power the goddess had given her. This would be the first time she had ever used it, at least in a real situation. Of course she had experimented with it from time to time, but she had never had the need to use it for real.

The light was able to pierce the smoke, at least a little, and while it couldn’t shine incredibly bright it was enough to do what it was supposed to do. All of them would be affected by it, suddenly having hope and courage that wasn’t there before, or finding what they already had strengthened by the light. Sira didn’t really know if it would help the situation, but maybe it would give the man the courage to fight through the pain and listen to them.

You need to calm down, Sira said, speaking into both of their minds so that Addy could hear what was going on as well. I know you are in a lot of pain, but you need to drop your weapon and let us help you. We are trying to get you out of here, that way we can help you and you won’t have to be in pain anymore. But you need to drop your weapon first.

If he doesn’t drop it, she whispered privately into Aidara’s mind,Then you need to get on my back and I will carry him in my talons. It will hurt, but it is better than leaving him here.

Sira waited for the man to react, trying her best not to breath in too much of the smoke. She was much taller than Addy, especially in her current form, and the smoke was thicker where her head was. Sira founder herself struggling not to cough, and decided she needed to be lower to the ground. Closing her wings, but hoping that the effect of the light would linger long enough for something productive to happen, Sira sat on the ground as if she was nesting and lowered her head to avoid the smoke as much as possible. It looked like she was lowering herself to make it easier for the pair to climb on, something she didn’t really have to do with Aidara, and she hoped that would also help to clam the man. Still, she remained tense and ready to jump back up if he tried anything that looked even remotely aggressive. If he climbed on her back, Sira would fly the pair of them out of there, but if he refused she would do as she said and snatch him in her talons.

[Aidara]

OOCAidara has, since this thread started, received an Azenth mark from a thread dated in Spring of 512.

The man reacted wildly to the sound of Sira’s voice within his head; the pendulum-like swaying of everything above his shoulders turned into a frantic, panicked jerking. There was movement behind where his lips should have been, the muscles in his jaw straining as he worked at his attempt to scream, or talk, or shout. All that came out was a muffled sort of sound, as if they were listening to him talk under water; nothing was intelligible, and the man knew it. It wasn’t long before his eyes began to bug and that dagger started swinging around in front of him out of pure frustration.

“Listen to us. We are trying to help you!” Feeling as if she were stuck on a loop, repeating the same thing over and over, Addy clenched a fist in the hair on her head out of pure frustration. It took all over her self control not to also growl, gasp, and otherwise inhale large amounts of smoke. “You might not be able to feel it over all your other aches and pains, but soon this smoke is going to get to us all and we are all going to be doomed.”

Waiting beside Sira for another precious chime or two in hopes that the burned man would come to his senses, Addy responded in kind to her private message. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get through to him. He obviously isn’t thinking clearly. Petch! He might not even speak Nari at all! It was true, the hair was completely burned from his head; there was no way to identify him as a ginger or not. And I can’t just leave him here. If he doesn’t understand, maybe I just need to show him…

It was true. Through the mark on her hand, the one that made her one of the Azenth, Addy could feel the overwhelming fear and pain that the man was in, only the fact that she knew she was completely healthy allowed her to differentiate between emotions she was feeling, and those she was sensing from others. Had the little healer not been in constant empathetic contact with her twin their entire lives, such a blessing from Ivak would have been completely overwhelming within her city of extremely passionate people.

Without waiting for a response from Sira, Addy started taking slow steps towards the man. Those wild eyes followed her, but no other motion was made. In fact, that closer Addy stepped, the stiller the man became. It wasn’t until she was within arm distance that he lunged, dagger flashing. Letting out a cry, Addy fell back with a gasp that instantly seared her lungs. The petching smoke.

Stumbling backwards once more, Addy gathered her feet under her only as the man started dashing off into the burning trees. “No! STOP!” Coughing, sputtering and just more than a little bit light headed, Addy took out after the fleeing figure, calling for Sira to follow her. We have to get him! I can’t leave him here now!

Plunging blindly through the trees, Addy didn’t see the fallen tree until it was too late. Having fallen between the space of two monstrous trunks, it was hard to distinguish one burning thing from another. The man dodged around the outside of one of the still-standing trunks and Addy, thinking that she could catch him using the shortcut, dodged between them instead. The felled tree caught her just below the knee, sending her sprawling headfirst into the burning branches and leaves before she could even vocalize her shock.

There seemed to be some shred of humanity left in the burn victim for he turned upon hearing the snapping crash as the little woman fell, pausing for only a moment before rushing back to try and help. Sira was undoubtedly not far behind him, but the both of them were too late to save the woman from her tumble.

[Sira]

It was starting to get hot. The fire must have been getting closer, and Sira knew they couldn’t stay much longer. The smoke was already clogging her lungs and stinging her eyes, making it hard to see or breathe, but if the flames got to them they would be in far worse trouble. Sira couldn’t fly if she was on fire. If her feather’s burned away they would be stranded, and then there would be no escaping the inferno that was heading their way.

Be careful, she said when Addy began taking slow, cautious steps toward the man. Addy might have been determined not to leave without him, but if he attacked them Sira wouldn’t hesitate to make his dagger-hand her next snack.

When the man lunged at the healer Sira’s eyes went wide and she let out a wild screech, her beak snapping for the spot where the man was standing, but he had already turned and began to run away. It was lucky that he did, because Sira wasn’t really aiming for his hand. She would have taken whatever she got. Hand.. body.. head, anything to protect the healer. But he managed to escape, and before Sira could stop her, Addy was chasing after him in hot pursuit.

Addy wait! I can’t..

Sira’s voice trailed off as Aidara disappeared into the tree line and Sira chased after her. She had to take the long way, due to her size, and was often forced to back track in search of wider openings between the trees. She could already see flashes of orange and red in the distance, the fire was almost upon them, but there was no way to reach the healer and stop her without shifting. If she shifted, they would have to abandon the saddle and medical supplies, because there was no way they would have time to strap Sira back in before the fire reached them, even if she was on her best behavior.

It might have looked comical, if they weren’t in such a dire situation, seeing Sira dancing around back and forth trying to pick her way between the trees. Addy was in the thick of the forest, and Sira couldn’t get close to her. She wasn’t going to fly for fear of losing sight of the healer, and it was bad enough that she could only just barely make her out through the smoke and the trees. Sira did catch a glimpse of the flaming log and was just beginning to shout a mental warning when Addy tripped and crashed right into the flames.

Addy, no!

The screams of pain as Addy went up in flames that Sira expected to hear never sounded out, and though that did nothing to ease her fear, neither did she see Addy writhing in pain. Her clothes caught fire, yes, but Sira was possessed of such sight that she could tell the difference between burning clothes and burning flesh, and Aidara’s flesh was not burning. Sira was aware of Aidara’s gnosis, of course she would notice any change on Aidara’s body, but she had no idea what it did and didn’t make the connection between god of fire and why Addy wasn’t burning. All she knew was that somehow Addy wasn’t being burned alive.. yet, and Sira needed to reach her before she did.

When the man came to Addy’s aid Sira thought that he might have been trying to harm her, but that was obviously not the case when she saw him trying to pull Aidara from the flames. Sira, for her part, was trying as hard as she could to reach the healer, but the trees were so thick. She managed to squeeze between a pair, but the large medical saddle was just too bulky. Unless by some miracle something happened to stop her, she would have to shift and abandon the saddle and all the supplies they had brought, supplies that were desperately needed by those waiting at the medical camp outside Thunder Bay.

I’m coming, Addy! I’m coming! And in the back of her mind she added, Please don’t die..

[Aidara]

I’m fine… I think… Sira wasn’t the only one inexperienced in the healer’s newest gnosis. Never really having an opportunity to test it out and not really one to randomly stick her body parts in to flame, Addy had to believe what she read in the books she’d found scattered around the Enclave. Sure, it was easy to say that one would become resistant to fire and another to witness it, experience it.

The initial fall had been the most terrifying, the burning log seemingly appearing out of nowhere only ticks before Addy felt herself tumbling through the air, her arms and legs useless as they flailed and she spun. The ground met her not soon after and there was the instant, acrid smell of burning cloth and hair. Reality caught up to her then and the panic quickly set in. She was on fire. She was burning.

Few experienced the surge of adrenaline and pure fear that accompanied certain death. The Inartan’s dealt with the reality that they might not survive the next Winter almost every day, every time a hunt failed or the Endal and Avora came back with barely enough food to feed the people for a day, let alone begin stockpiling more for the cold days. But that was a slow painful death, starvation. The gingers, the masochists that they were, had also made their home atop and around a massive volcano. The instant, fiery death via lava, burning ash or just the pure heat and steam the vents emitted was very real. Every Yasi grew up hearing more than just one moralistic story that ended with the bad guy burning alive. It was a very real possibility for the fire haired race.

And now Addy was living it, though her mind had hardly dealt with the shock of her fall well enough for the realization of what was going to have caught up with her. Instinct kicked in first and, as in an other accident, the first thing one did was try to back in control of ones body. First things first.

A scream clogged her throat, unable to loose and effectively trapping all the other panicked sounds that tried to escape as she flailed around in the burning branches and limbs of the fallen tree. It took her far to long to figure out which way was up, everything looking the same from within the middle of a fire. If she didn’t get out soon, she would surely be burned to a crisp. By any reasonable standard, she should already be fried. That’s when Sira’s voice reached her and realization sunk in.

This… is so weirdly cool. Complete and utter amazement had washed over her as she looked at her hands, a ruddy crimson in the light of the flames but otherwise unharmed besides the cut or two thanks to a sharp branch or stone. Her fingers tingled strangely, as if someone was dribbling warm grains of sand all over her skin, but there was no peeling of flesh or horrible pain. Uncomfortably hot, maybe, but not much more than that.

Glancing past the hand she had been inspecting and down at the rest of her, Addy realized that while she might not feel the flames liking at her skin, she was on fire. Untangling her legs from the grasping limbs of the tree, Addy stepped over the burning trunk and instantly threw herself into the dirt and grass on the other side. Her clothes were almost non-existent, smoldering tatters of her bryda hanging about her hips though they were all be burned away, a strip of her vantai hanging off of one arm. Though completely exposed in the middle of the forest, Sira would be able to see that not a burn marred the healer’s skin anywhere on her body. Flushed with the amount of heat that she had absorbed, Addy stood while still patting at a smoking bit of hair. Unfortunately for the woman, a great deal of her red locks had been singed away, filling the air with the rather unpleasant smell of burning hair.

Well… I needed a trim anyway. Still wide-eyed with a mixture of astonishment and lingering fear, Addy stepped quickly to where Sira stood and wrapped her arms tightly around the great eagles neck, burying her face in her feathers, made bloody by the firelight. Though she wished for her lover to hold her tight as the adrenaline began to wear off and shock began to set in, Addy knew that they didn’t have to time to repack all the gear and replace the saddle. It would have to do for now. Good goddess… What a way to find out what this thing really does. Clamping her hands down hard enough that she wouldn’t be able to feel her fingers shaking, Addy took a deep breath before pulling away from the solid, protective warmth of her bondmate.

Where did he go? Did you catch him? The obvious lack of a body answered the second question before Sira even had a chance too. Allowing herself only a chime to regain her head, Addy spun and immediately bolted off towards where she had last seen the man. He had stopped while she tumbled into the burning tree but she had, for obvious reasons, lost sight of him after that. Luckily for them, a recent rain had left the ground soggy this deep within the forest, the foliage above keeping out enough of Syna’s light that the ground would stay wet until the frost came.

Following the clear boot prints that even Addy’s weak night vision could pick out, the little healer began her pursuit through the trees once more, though much more carefully this time. To her relief, the trail seemed to be leading away from where the fire roared; even though flame seemed to have little effect on her now, the smoke was still a problem, that had been proven already. Not to mention the fact that Sira was unfortunately not fireproof.

We’ll have to get you one of these so we can go swimming in the lava together. Attempting to be lighthearted as they stalked along, it didn’t last long as Addy followed the trail into a particularly wild thicket. The little woman hadn’t even completely disappeared from sight when she gasped and cried out, her voice a confusing mix of fear, panic and horror. “Oh my gods! Sira, get in here!”

OOCIt’s your turn! Make something happen.