The smoke was not yet thick, but there was a steady breeze that caught it and sent it dancing up into the sky, a ragged pillar of warning and a call to arms. Jigano had only begun to turn towards it when a mind met his, met and merged with the ease of his heartsister, his dear Amalia . Her form was new to him, beautiful and sleek and soft as Isuma, but the soul was beloved and her presence steadied him, giving him courage and helping to clear his thoughts. I had thought we could drop bloatbeetles on it, he offered, joining her as their wings stretched to catch an updraft and circle over the affected area.
Fire bloomed through the leaves below, peeking up at them in cheeky flickers and tongues of orange and yellow. Though the canopy obscured the worst of it from above the smoke showed the growing fire's path. It was still small, an old log burning merrily near its heart if they dipped lower to investigate. Fingers raced out from that blazing core, bright and hungry as they sought any sustenance they could find across the dry earth - grass, twigs, weary bushes, fallen leaves - but for now the blaze might be containable.
If they acted fast.
The two jays arrowed back to circle them, chattering excitedly as they sent images of the bloatbeetles Jigano had placed in their minds, a sense of knowing where some were, and he croaked in gratitude. Can you hear them? We can follow them to some beetles, I think! His connection to the compelled ravens was growing weak with distance, and he tugged them back to search in another direction while he followed the excitable jays between the trees.
Does this happen often? he thought back at his friend, his guide, the one who knew so much and shared so much with him. What do you usually do?
Fire bloomed through the leaves below, peeking up at them in cheeky flickers and tongues of orange and yellow. Though the canopy obscured the worst of it from above the smoke showed the growing fire's path. It was still small, an old log burning merrily near its heart if they dipped lower to investigate. Fingers raced out from that blazing core, bright and hungry as they sought any sustenance they could find across the dry earth - grass, twigs, weary bushes, fallen leaves - but for now the blaze might be containable.
If they acted fast.
The two jays arrowed back to circle them, chattering excitedly as they sent images of the bloatbeetles Jigano had placed in their minds, a sense of knowing where some were, and he croaked in gratitude. Can you hear them? We can follow them to some beetles, I think! His connection to the compelled ravens was growing weak with distance, and he tugged them back to search in another direction while he followed the excitable jays between the trees.
Does this happen often? he thought back at his friend, his guide, the one who knew so much and shared so much with him. What do you usually do?
