"You have to find your inner spark." Sensei explains.
"My what?" I simply respond as I have no idea what he might be referring to.
"It's not something you might have ever noticed, but you have to remember what I taught you: every fire there is was ignited by something. Everything there is has a cause and a causality, leading it to be the origin of something else that might happen."
I nod and act like I remember the point when he told me that, but if I had to be honest, I don't remember him explaining that to me. Although it does sound really wise and feels like something a sensei would say.
"Well..." Sensei continues. "Why don't you light this twig right here?"
From seemingly out of nowhere Flare pulls out some random twig and holds it up to my confused face.
'What would be the point in that?' I wonder to myself, but shrugging my shoulders, I decide that there would be even less of a point not to follow his orders and light the twig.
Lighting a twig is quite simple and I try to show off my abilities by summoning a candle in my paw instead of shooting a fireball at it, like some of his other students would have done in this situation.
A moment later the twig is burning softly while sensei sends a pleased at me and the tiny piece of wood.
"Now tell me, Quill." He begins speaking again as the twig has almost burned down. "How did the twig catch on fire?"
I should have gotten used to sensei's thought process, but his questions still manage to surprise me every time he asks one of them.
"I lit it on fire, like you asked me to do." I answer blatantly, not understanding what the Flareon was building up to.
"Just like you lit this stick..." He says, managing to interrupt the sentence the very moment the fire consumes the rest of the stick and extinguishes after licking against sensei's paws holding the twig.
Taking his eyes off of the charred pile of ashes and staring back at me, he finally continues. "Every fire type there is has something inside that is capable of producing that initial fire capable of burning on its own until the no more of the twig is left."
He has my fullest attention while he continues to explain. "That is what the spark is. It is located quite close to where your ember originates from."
"So what you have to do is remember exactly where your ember is. Because if one day you can feel it blazing no more, you have to search for the muscle controlling your spark near your ember."
"Couldn't I just search for it now?" I speak up without even thinking about my question.
"How would you know when you found it?" The Flareon returns. "Your ember is already burning and how would you know when you found it."
Out of nowhere, sensei pulls another twig and sets it on fire himself.
"Set it on fire." The challenges me. "Don't be shy. Just set it ablaze."
"But it's already on fire." I blandly respond.
"Exactly." Flare responds and extinguishes the fire before wasting no time to launch a surprise attack aimed at me.
"Now defend yourself, I want to see your reflexes!"
-
'My ember!' I cheer in my mind, finally feeling what Flare meant when he explained how feeling cold was like. 'You really don't know what you're missing until you lost it and found it again. - Ha. That sounds like something he would have said...'
Thanks to what I was told all that time ago, I actually manage to find my spark and reignite my ember. Flare was correct, though. Locating one's ember is quite difficult and if I wouldn't have done what he told me and remembered exactly where my ember was and fortunately is originating from again, I would have never been able to find the exact spot.
"T... Treek?" I began babbling, feeling myself coming back to life after being forced to shake the paw of death himself yet again.
I know I can still feel the pain from the rain water dripping through my fur. But nothing can compare the feeling of the fire blissfully starting to heat up my body, returning to give life to the vessel holding my conscience. And with my emotions returning alongside it, I realize that they are a part of me I wish I could somethings get rid of, but also that a live without them would be a life worth living.
"Did it work?" A voice I immediately recognize as Treek's responds.
"Yes..." I state, happy and glad to live another day after just having experienced something I wouldn't even wish my worst enemy to go through.
'You truly don't know how much you miss something, before you lost it and find it again.' I continue think to myself, not aware of my wet fur or the raging storm only centimeters away from me while Treek and Nina start cheering for me.
"You are such a dummy!" Treek exclaims. "Why would you do something like that to yourself?"
My newly regained emotions are overwhelming me and I can't help myself but to be filled with an all-encompassing happiness. Happiness because I'm still alive, happiness because I'm among friends and happiness because I can feel happy again.
"I'm sorry, Treek." I sob with tears of joy. "I'm sorry I was such an idiot."
But to my dismay, happiness isn't the only emotion that is returned to me, and I remind myself about the absence of the kids.
'The kids...' I think to myself, turning my smile into an instant frown.
I stop talking and while not daring to look into Treek's face, I attempt to stand up again. Because now that my ember is burning again, there is nothing standing in the way of me getting ahold of my full strength.
"Take it easy, Cyder." Treek attempts to stop me, an advice I gladly follow as a notice how drenched my fur still is, making it feel like I'm walking through a humid jungle after being dragged through a swamp.
"And don't even think about going out there." He continues while pointing behind himself.
Looking past him, I can see Nina standing next to the entrance of the make-shift tent that Treek must have thrown together. It's a very small shelter, made out of sticks and branches that must have been lying around the forest floor, while only being held together through some vines binding the sticks at the top of the roof and the willpower of Treek still present to keep everything together.
I sigh and following Treek's orders, I lie myself back on the ground while looking up at the ceiling. The roof covered with leaves is located less than a meter above me, something I notice only now that I'm looking at it. It's actually a wonder that I didn't hit my head when I was standing right here before I learned about my state.
"You're looking good." Treek compliments me, thereby stopping me analyzing his roof.
"Thanks." I respond, not really feeling as great as I apparently look, but already finding comfort in the fact of my ember slowly drying my fur. It's probably going to take some time before it will be done and all the water have evaporated. But one it has, I should take no permanent injuries from the ordeal.
Treek continues to stare me down, making me start to wander what he is thinking about. But while returning my glare at the ceiling, I start listening for my surroundings.
The raging storm can still be heard just outside and from time to time I see one of the leaves wiggle and trying to escape. But Treek being the Grass Type that he is did a good job of securing the tent, leading me not to worry about it withstanding the portion of the storm that still hasn't already passed.
"How much time passed since I started fizzing?" I suddenly find myself asking out loudly. I hadn't intended to ask the question already, but for some reason the thought reached my tongue before arriving in my mind, leading me to wait for the answer I would surely get in a moment's notice.
Only staring at the ceiling, I didn't notice Nina sitting at my side, looking over me as if she was my bodyguard.
"Not too long." She begins speaking, causing me to notice her before she continues. "Treek was pretty fast with putting this tent together while I blocked you from the rain in the meantime. And you came back, not knowing what was going on about five minutes after we got you inside."
I wasn't really going anywhere with my question, which was the reason I was surprised finding myself stating. But now that I got my answer, I only nod as a response before rolling onto my side in an attempt to locate Treek.
He is sitting next to the entrance, occasionally peeking outside while probably making sure that no one would launch a surprise attack at us.
I've never told him, but since the first time I witnessed his abilities to command grasses and plants, I always felt a bit jealous. Not only was he a much more dedicated student that I was while we were both taught how to control our cores, but unlike me he went above and beyond, learning how to master his powers after only a couple of lessons.
I sigh as I remember back to the simpler times, when we were still living at the Eastern Mountain Range Guild under the caring protection of guild master Asselia.
Treek was always so good at commanding plants to form shelters and I don't even remember how many he built before constructing the one I'm currently lying within, listening to the rain pounding against the roof and thinking about the past.
'So much has gone wrong since those simpler days.' I wonder, hypnotized by the feeling of warmth slowly starting to spread to my limbs and the strangely relaxing sound of the water falling from the sky right next to me, only being interrupted by the occasional lighting strike followed by the associated rumbling of the clouds.
Rain is truly a spectacular miracle of nature. And if it wasn't for the danger is represents for my kind, I might even someone who enjoys being outside during a storm.
'So my things I wish I would have done differently.' I continue to ponder my thoughts, before I get surprised by Treek suddenly leaning over me.
"I hope you learned from this." He begins, immediately making me cringe from the thought of being lectured about my actions. But before I can respond, telling him that I'll never do it again he continues talking. "But much more importantly: why didn't you just tell me that you were up for a rescue mission before running away back at the cave?"
I cringe again, rolling my eyes before slowing sitting up.
Not even having to think for a moment what he is referring to, I remember what happened before I got distracted by the abduction of Tolan and Cari. All that I saw in my visions. All that happened and all the connections I've made since then. And even though I haven't reached any more conclusions since then, I understand Treek desire to be told more than what he already knows.
"Look Treek." I begin, glancing at Nina to see what she is doing. "I wasn't myself this morning. And the thing is: it's really complicated. But if I had to summarize it: I've had a vision. And in that vision I was told that the library was in danger."
Treek really wasn't expecting me to jump ahead this much and appears to want to interrupt. But while he only looks at me with a tilted head, I glance over to Nina, to see her intently listening to what I'm saying as well.
I fully expected her to pay attention. And as long as it took for me to admit it to myself. And as much as she had to do to get there, I finally start getting comfortable enough to trust her with some of the more basic knowledge I possess.
Looking back at Treek, I can see that he finally processed what I just told him. But before he can say a word, I speak up again.
"Before you ask: I have no idea what that danger might be. But my point is that it can't be good and just when I was about to understand some of it, all this happened."
I sigh before I continue. "And I guess my ember expected you to connect the dots and figure out that I was fine all along. And I'm sorry about that, but I don't think there's anything I can do about it right now."
Silence settles back in, but after a few moments Treek decides to interrupt it and begins speaking to me again.
"I did have a feeling that that would be your answer. And I guess I was a bit too commanding of you when I wanted to prohibit you from leaving the cave at all."
Treek sighs just like I did a moment ago before he continues a moment later. "But next time try to remember that we're all on the same side."
I nod, suppressing another sigh for being heard before choosing to change the subject.
"I guess we won't be getting anywhere today..." I speak up, only to be interrupted by Nina.
"Hold on now." She suddenly says, causing both me and Treek to turn to her. "It's great that you let me hear that right now, but unless you were speaking in code, I have no idea what you're referring to."
Crooking her head and sending me a confused look, she continues. "I assume you're talking about the library of the ancients, but before the rainstorm you told me about how you couldn't access the library. Or were you lying to me?"
"I..." I begin, as I notice a detail I didn't notice fore. "I wasn't lying. And we're not speaking in code. I just had a vision."
Nina still seems dissatisfied, but I quickly look away from her to follow up on the thought I just had.
'Considering I saw myself back in the storage shed, was I actually in the library then?' I start wandering. 'I must have been, because I remember seeing myself there. But how is that possible?'
I thought this revelation would start making it more clear to me what actually happened, but there is one big problem with this detail. 'There should be no way I can enter the library without physically summoning an entrance and heading through. I couldn't have been in there, while my body was having a seizure someplace totally different.'
I put the detail aside, reminding myself to take it into consideration the next time I'd be thinking about it. But I know that I'm not going to reach any sort of conclusion at the moment. Much less before rescuing my kids.
I shake my head, trying to get the frightening images of them being devoured by a dragon out of my head, before I finally succeed and turn back to Treek.
"Like I was saying." He begins. "It was already nearing dusk, and looking outside right now it's getting darker and darker."
I sigh, mainly because what I'm about to say goes against the will of my ember. 'Maybe my new one is a bit more considered...' I wonder for a moment, not actually knowing if the metaphor of all my emotions coming from my ember is to be taken literally. "I guess we'll sleep in here for the night and get up early in the morning to continue on the rescue."
I wrinkle my forehead and take another look at Treek, before continuing. "Please don't tell me the map was destroyed through all of this?"
Treek immediately understand my concern and shows me the map he had somehow managed to conceal from me the entire time. "The map's fine. But I hope you don't mind me holding onto it from now on."
I try to force a smile on my face, but end up with a deformation that would have probably been humorous if it wasn't for the context. And not wanting to appear stupid, I quickly state my response. "I understand. You hold onto it, but don't be cranky when I wake you up, demanding to head out once the first rays of tomorrows sun cross the horizon."
Treek doesn't respond verbally, but manages to form the smile I so desperately tried to conjure a moment ago, before I glance over at Nina standing next to him and wish both of them a good night.
