There's a little lag in this first chapter, but I promise, it gets was better.
Kakaku ignored the stares she was receiving as she ran down the street. True, she was nearly eighteen and she was expected to be more "lady like" as her mother had told her, but she couldn't; when she was young her father had told her the meaning of her name: "angel of fire", and ever since then she's done her best to live up to the name.
After the discovery of the meaning of her name she became proud of her natural bright red hair, and she'd gotten into the habit of wearing only yellow, orange and red. People became wary of her and tended to avoid her, even if they had never seen her before. Rumours spread saying she was a pyromaniac, which she thought was sort of true. Yeah, so what if she had an obsession with fire, but she wasn't about to go burning everything down to see her precious element, nope. Instead she had set up a place she could burn things safely.
"Hi Kaku" The only human who would talk to her smiled, his name was Wram.
"Hey Ram!" Kakaku waved.
Kakaku's mother had insisted for her to marry Wram, but Wram was at least ten years older than her, and a woodsman.
"More wood?" Wram wondered.
"Yep" Kakaku grinned.
"Haven't you burnt enough this month?" Wram worried.
"Nope" Kakaku smirked. When she had changed herself according to her name, that included personality wise too.
"Alright, as long as you keep me in business" Wram chuckled.
"You're in a very popular business this time of year" Kakaku reminded, "it's winter."
"Not since the guy across the street opened up shop. People are saying his wood burns better than mine, so they go to him instead of me" Wram scowled.
Kakaku looked across the street and saw a pile of finely chopped wood before looking at the messy stack of wood that Wram had given her, "maybe I'll try his shop next time."
"Good luck with that" Wram snorted, "he may be new, but with so many customers and his line of work, he's probably gotten hold of the rumours already."
"Aww" Shakaku pouted.
"See you tomorrow" Wram waved as Kakaku left the shop.
When she arrived home, Kakaku opened the door and hurried inside, she had always preferred the warmth of summer. The smell of smoke instantly hit her nose, and judging by the smell of it, it was a wild fire.
Quickly searching the house, Kakaku found her father asleep in his bed...with the flames covering him. Kakaku found her mother cowering in a corner surrounded by flames and expertly dodged the fire to get to her.
"What did you do?!" Kakaku's mother shrieked.
"No talking" Shakaku ordered, guiding her mother around the flames and out of the house.
"Wait! What about your father?!" Kakaku's mother cried, "go inside and get him!"
"It's too late" Kakaku said blankly just as the house collapsed.
Kakaku's mother, now a widow, was furious, "you did this! Didn't you?! Why would you burn down our house you crazy witch?!"
Shakaku was shocked, though she hid it well. Sure, her mother had had angry outbursts before, but this was different.
"Why?! You killed my husband! You killed your own father! Why?!" Kakaku's mother shrieked, "You little freak! How can you just stand there?! You look happy! My husband is dead and I am now a homeless widow!"
Kakaku knew where her mother was going and decided to get it over with, "Thanks for blaming me mother, I'll be leaving now."
"Good! And don't come back! Ever!" The widow shouted, now crying.
Kakaku waved and continued to head into the forest, she didn't bother looking for her belongings, all she needed in this situation was the clothes on her back and some money, which she decided to spend on a change of clothes in the next town over.
A year of traveling later, Kakaku found herself travelling through a place called the wastes. She would have thought of building a temporary home there if it weren't for the fact that is was always cold and foggy there; she needed warmth and sunlight otherwise she'd go crazy.
...It started raining, instantly dampening her mood. With her vision now blurred from the rain, Kakaku struggled to see where she was walking, and tripped UP the hill, banging her head against a tough rock and successfully forcing her unconscious, the last thing she saw was something large moving towards her.
