A mouse skittered across the floor in the BLU dry storage, twitching its nose. Many of the crates in the back were still nailed shut, but it hoped for at least a few crumbs or even a half empty box to dig into closer to the door. If not, perhaps it could sniff out some sacks to chew into. There used to be others of its kind, but as of late it hadn't seen where they had gone. It scampered into the shadows as someone passed. Curious, it poked its head around the edge of shelving unit and watched.
The BLU Pyro searched among the shelves, scattering containers and bags as it dug through the contents of the shelf it skidded to a halt in front of. It withdrew a bag, hooting with satisfaction, and walked with determination out of the room.
The mouse crept out cautiously after it had gone, eager to see if the disturbance had moved something edible within its reach. Its whiskers flicked as it sensed a new smell by the door. It was a wonderful, beguiling scent, and the mouse followed the siren call to a shape on the floor. It sniffed at the metal, knowing that it couldn't be eaten, and then turned its attention to the source of the smell on top of it. Its eyes widened in anticipation.
A moment later there was a complicated snapping noise. In a moment of boredom, the Engineer had truly succeeded in building a better mousetrap.
Pyro snuck along the halls, taking care not to be seen by their teammates. While what they were about to do was important and may save Medic's life, they felt that their friends might not necessarily approve.
Engineer had once mentioned to Pyro that they saw the world in a different way, and he couldn't have been more right. Pyro saw the world and sometimes even beyond, seeing through the illusions most people's minds created in self-defense against reality. Some of what the firebug experienced was their own unique way of dealing with this, but most of it was just seeing what the world was really like.
When Pyro first joined the team, they thought that the others were just messing around and trying to play games, but by now Pyro knew that the others couldn't see like the spark did. The others couldn't see beauty and color that they could every time they went to play with their friends across the river. The others didn't see the sparkles in the air, or the rainbow that hid in every flame.
The others also couldn't see the shadows.
Pyro remembered sitting on a village elder's knee at night as he told stories of myth and legend about the greatest heroes and the darkest evils. The little spark listened raptly to The Journey to the West among other things, and loved the stories about dragons the most. The elders in the village taught the young firelighter how to respect its ancestors and the spirits, and how to ward against those that sought to cause trouble.
The stories that the elders told made perfect sense to Pyro, because it could see all sorts of things that sounded like they came straight out of folklore. Some things were pretty like the dragons who brought rain, or mischievous like the nine tailed fox.
Others were terrifying, like the yaoguai that occasionally visited the village. The demons lurked and laughed and quietly whispered temptations of self-destruction to the weary. When Pyro ran frightened to the nearest elder it could find, the blind old woman smiled and told the firebug that they were evil spirits, and began to teach the ways of protecting against them.
Sorting through what was real and what their mind created as a reaction to reality was the biggest challenge. Pyro dealt with that by not dealing with it at all and reacting to everything that they saw as being real. Sometimes the others, especially Scout, thought that the things that it did were strange, but Balloonicorn always reassured Pyro that it was fine.
Pyro heard a voice coming from a doorway, and they shrunk into the corner. Someone replied, and they heard footsteps disappearing into a hallway. Relieved, Pyro continued onward.
Pyro knew that the others didn't understand. The real world was a much scarier place than they imagined, and the fire starter considered it a duty to protect their friends.
There weren't many mogwai or vengeful spirits in the Badlands, so Pyro was surprised and a little concerned when one began to linger near the base. The firebug tried to warn the others, but what could they do when the others couldn't understand what they said? The pictures didn't seem to be working either. This particular shadow seemed uninterested in being appeased, and Pyro began to worry about what it really wanted.
Medic didn't seem to notice when it began to follow him, and despite Pyro's attempts to warn him the man remained oblivious to the dangers of its presence. It all came to a head when Medic never returned from Respawn, and the shadow vanished.
Pyro was often unsure of what the things they saw meant, but when they first looked at Medic comatose on the bench they knew that something was very wrong. There seemed to be a faint dark layer underneath his skin, shifting occasionally. It was almost like watching a storm cloud writhe, or a shadow creep. The monster had somehow gotten to Medic, and in a way that Pyro had never seen before.
The firebug had tried to get its teammates' attention, tried to explain, but the others just wouldn't see. Pyro would have to take matters into their own hands.
The ritual incense burnings hadn't worked, but reassured by Balloonicorn, Pyro wasn't going to give up yet. They poked their head around the corner. No one was guarding the Medical Bay, and they shrugged in relief. The others hadn't arrived to attempt sending the man through Respawn yet, so they hoped that they would have plenty of time to try a rescue effort of their own first. Pyro eased themself through the hall and slipped past the doors, closing them quietly.
A few doves ruffled their feathers at his entrance into the operating room, and Pyro waved happily at them. They weren't very intelligent conversationalists, but perhaps he could ask one of them for a feather later. They looked so pretty surrounded by a rainbow halo as they burned.
Pyro entered the infirmary and approached the Medic. It was so blindingly obvious that the man wasn't suffering from a simple illness that Pyro wondered how much of their teammates' blindness was subconscious, and how much of it was willing. The Medic was still, yet Pyro could see that his aura was fighting beneath the surface. Darkness flickered beneath the skin, and for a moment Pyro thought that it could see a figure's face winking at them. They blinked and shook their head, and the figure was gone.
Worried, they turned to the door and opened the container of salt. While the firebug would have preferred to use the cleansing power of rainbows, salt would have to do. It had taken ages to repair the damage the last time it used the flamethrower indoors, so Engineer had taken Pyro aside and expressly told them to never do that again. Besides, their teammates might get the wrong impression if Pyro covered Medic in rainbows. They tended to get upset about that sort of thing, for some reason.
The salt trickled out in a thin line against the door first, to repel any more evil spirits. Then the fire starter made a little pile next to the doorway for good measure. There was no change in Medic, and Pyro felt a little unsure as to what to do. They remembered hearing something about putting salt in a circle close to the affected, and while it didn't know if the lollipop tree was telling the truth or not it was prepared to give anything a shot.
Pyro crouched next to the gurney and began to pour out a circle. It looked too plain and severe, so the firebug began to turn it into a picture as well, creating the class symbols in salt around the circle. The circle began to look a lot more cheery and Pyro was pleased with the result. It was almost finished when the door opened and Pyro looked around like a kid caught in the middle of mischief.
Heavy stood in the doorway and stared at the salt on the floor, his big brow curling up in confusion. "What is leetle Pyro doing?" he asked, a frown settling on his face.
Pyro stood up hesitantly. They weren't sure what Heavy would make of what the fire starter was doing. The firestarter mumbled something noncommittal and waved at Medic.
Heavy took a step into the room and scuffed the salt line. Pyro couldn't help but wince. "Is leetle Pyro hurting Doktor? I crush you if you are," Heavy said menacingly.
Panic flooded the firebug. "Hurr wrnnhhd turr hurrpp!" they mumbled, putting its hands up placatingly. It mimed blowing a kiss at Medic.
Heavy looked at the frantic Pyro, grumbled, and rubbed a hand over his bald head. He didn't need to deal with this, on top of everything else. "If Doktor is not hurt, is ok."
Pyro glanced at the partially completed circle longingly, then back to Heavy's irritated face. It had to be finished, but Heavy's expression made Pyro consider that maybe now wasn't a good time. The firebug couldn't understand what had upset the Heavy so much, but it had to have been something to do with the Medic. Could it have been what it did? They hoped not, since the firebug was only trying to help.
"Hur hurdah furnah," Pyro said, gesturing to the salt on the floor. They had to finish, and hopefully Heavy could see that. The man seemed like he was uneasy or scared of something, and the firebug wondered if Heavy had seen the shadow too.
Heavy approached and put a giant hand on Pyro's shoulder, turning Pyro to the door firmly but without malice. "You made mess in here. You are leaving now, Pyro," he stated, guiding the firestarter to the door.
Pyro squirmed in Heavy's grip, but the man wouldn't be budged. It was like trying to shift a brick wall, and when they tried to explain what was wrong the giant man picked him up so they couldn't drag their heels. The firebug could hear voices outside.
"What's the Pyro up to?" they could hear Sniper ask.
"Pyro made mess in here. Send him to Engineer," Heavy replied as he placed Pyro outside. As soon as its boots touched ground they tried to run back into the room, but was blocked by Spy's arm. The spook shooed Pyro back, his expression solemn. A light hand was placed on its shoulder, and they looked back into the Sniper's grim face.
"C'mon mate, go on an' help Truckie out. Ya can see the Doc later, an' he might even be able to see ya too. Go on," he said, nodding towards the Med Bay doors.
Pyro shrugged off the hand and turned away, skulking out of the doors. They knew that their teammate's untimely intervention reversed any progress that they may have made, but at this point the firebug didn't expect anything else from them. The rest just didn't understand, however well-intentioned they were.
"Race ya, mumbles!" Scout yelled as he sprinted past.
Well, most of them were well intentioned. No matter how much Pyro tried to explain what they meant, even Engineer sometimes couldn't what was really going on. Pyro had listened to the Medic talk about mental illnesses once, and it wondered if that applied to their friends. The firebug still cared about them a lot, but they could be frustrating sometimes. All Pyro could do was wait until the fuss had died down, and keep trying to save their friend.
Someone had to.
Work Notes: I subscribe to the headcanon that Pyro is Chinese. Don't ask me why, but I'd like to think that the firebug learned stories of dragons when they were a child. Part of that is probably from Saving Private Soldierbot (by SanctusCecidit), in which the Pyro is Asian. The thought of him being Chinese went really well with the mythology I wanted to work with, so I'm rolling with it. I also don't want to give Pyro a gender; it's not my right to decide what kind of pronouns are associated with Pyro. I'm sure that they wouldn't appreciate it.
I've seen the whole spectrum of writing Pyro's character, from a wise and sane human being to a psychotic child. I struggled for a while with this dilemma until I reached a middle ground that made sense to me.
I borrowed from something that Terry Pratchett created called "Knurd", which is "The opposite of being drunk, its as sober as you can ever be. It strips away all the illusion, all the comforting pink fog in which people normally spend their lives, and lets them see and think clearly for the first time ever. Then, after they've screamed a bit, they make sure they never get knurd again" - Terry Pratchett.
I'd like to think that Pyro can see the world as it really is, and that the revelation means that they can be extremely intuitive yet also a little crazy. Some of the things that they see are real, and the rest are made as a coping mechanism. The truth is out there, but all of the lies are in your head.
This was written without my wonderful beta, and as a little mental challenge.
Please leave feedback! I love to hear from you lovely people. :)