Post by juukai on Dec 16, 2006 15:53:41 GMT -5
Let's go back, back to the b-e-g-i-n-n-i-n-g
Dusk was fast approaching; the sun was already obscured by the trees, and the moon's light grew stronger with each passing minute.[/blockquote]
The Deep Pool rippled with silver moonshine and the last of the sun's golden-red dying rays, like something from a legend, a long-ago tale.
Juukai stood on a small rock overlooking the tranquil pool, her orange eyes wide with wonder, drinking in the beauty of it.
By her paws lay a pack of twoleg matches, an item in which she was skilled at using but had momentarily forgotten it.
She was fairly sure she was in MistClan territory somewhere, but there was no one around. This place seemed more like a secret, secluded
retreat than the kind of place Clanners would pass by every day. And anyway, it wasn't like Juukai was stealing prey.
Why not enjoy the sights?
Ooh. Pretty.
It was more than pretty, really. It was amazing. It was unreal.
"Y'know what would make it prettier?" Juukai asked no one. She waited for a moment before answering her own question. "Fire!"
In one smooth motion the gray-furred pyro plucked a match from the pack and struck it alight against a rock. She gripped the burning match
in her mouth and dashed to the water's edge.
The pond rippled quietly by her paws, and for a long time Juukai gazed into the water, rapt. Her reflection stared back at her, all ash-gray
and dark burn-marks and fire-colored orange eyes. The fire jumped and shivered on the match.
Juukai knew that fire liked to run around on things like grass and cats, but hated wet or heavy things like water and dirt. She dipped her
paw in the pool, watching as her reflection blurred and distorted. With a slight grin, Juukai flicked a spray over water across the grass.
She proceeded to wet the grass in a wide circle near the pool, and when she was finished, she set the burning match revrently down inside the circle.
The smell of sulfur burned her nose.
The fire caught and spread, dancing up toward the stars that dotted the sky. The flames -flames the color of the sun, which was now entirely
gone- spread on the grass, but stopped when it reached the dampness.
Standing just outside the spot of fire, Juukai purred at the heat on her pelt. Her orange eyes flashed with glee.
The sky was navy-blue and purple and the moon was bright. Juukai sat beside the pool and watched the light of the fire flicker across the
water's surface, watched the golden light of the fire meet the silver light of the nearly-full moon.
The water was a still mirror, reflecting the moon and the sky and the flames and Juukai, who watched it all in amazement.
"Fire, fire, fire," she chanted to herself, almost without realizing it.