Most people did not like to wander in the rain, let alone a storm so fierce, but it was the only time that Edreina felt clean while on land; the storms that danced uninhibited across Laviku's realm were far more powerful, anyhow. Makutsi's caress - could it be called such by any other than a Svefra? - wiped away the grime of simply existing anywhere other than the deck of her ship... But the 'grotto was so far away... Acclimation to life on land was taking far longer than she expected. And so, odd though it may have looked, Edreina was wandering the street in her atypical garb of leather riding pants and linen wrappings about her chest. Her hair was not, however, bound into its usual braid. Instead, the copper tendrils cascaded down her neck, her back, resting upon her chest; its presence was oddly comforting. So much had happened in the past few days, she needed the gentle touch of Laviku's daughter to wash away all of her worry and her trepidation.
Reveries only lasted so long. It was the smell of fire that drew Edreina in from her wanderings. That singed scent of charring wood, burning your nose each time you inhale. Over the rain, she smelled it, and her head automatically went to searching for the source. In her time upon the Anchorage, Edreina had learned the difference between a fire set by volition and by folly. Or, in this case she guessed, nature. She had seen bolts flash across the sky, illuminating her steps and her surroundings, momentarily canceling out the gloom of the clouds above. Zulrav's breath caused the flame to flicker upwards, the orange glow alerting Edreina to its presence.
Fire inspired so many emotions in humans. Among those was, of course, a morbid sort of curiosity. One had to wonder what was burning and why. And so the Svefra trotted her way through Zeltiva until finally she managed to face the blaze. It was a towering inferno that made the bonfires of the Anchorage appear to be naught but a spark, flickering with tongues of red and orange. It was a hungry behemoth crackling for more sustenance.
The moment she stopped in utter awe of the flame, it seemed to burst with a new sort of life. Two people, a man and a woman, came tumbling from one of the side windows, clutching onto one another and coughing violently. Spurred on by instinct, the Svefra ran to them alongside a few others. She knew little about medicine, but Edreina could not allow herself to standby when she may be able to help others. When she arrived, the bleeding woman was sputtering about someone named "Laine", saying that it was her daughter's name. What did that have to do with-
A child's terrified cry rent the air, sending a chill up Edreina's spine. She had never heard a child scream in such a way, not from pain, not from surprise nor excitement. This was a primal sort of fear that even the most archaic humans had understood. "My baby!" The woman screamed, attempting to rise before her husband pulled her back down, applying pressure to a gash on her arm. The Svefra had to had it to mothers, they knew how to fight when the safety of their offspring was threatened.
"Be still!" Edreina shouted above the snarling flame, surprising herself to some degree. Struggling in such a way would only have the woman be hurt more, and judging by her coughing she would not handle the fire well again. The Svefra chewed on her lip only for a moment before giving the woman a pointed look and turning to the window through which they had been able to escape. "Do you know where she is?" Curse this Common Tongue! It took so damned long to leave her lips, growing and sprouting from her tongue as slowly as a tree took root upon this foreign soil where her natural Fratavan would flow out as quickly as she needed it to.
"Across the house," the man wheezed, eyes a startling white beneath the soot, "small room without a window." It was not the best description, but frantic people rarely had much sense. Nodding, the Svefra ran to the window, gripped the sill, and threw her body in as easily as she would navigate between ships or a fully-packed subdeck. Adrenaline surged through her veins as heat and smoke assaulted her nose and eyes. She struggled beneath the urge to stumble backwards, back out into the rain-cleaned air.
She was here, she had to do her best.
The girl screamed again, piercing the the smoke and gurgling blaze. Elbow crooked over her nose and mouth, Edreina hunched through the fire quickly. Flashes of light threatened to blind her, and she stumbled twice over some fallen bit of the house. It was a struggle and the Svefra was doing her best to hold her breath as frequently as possible, making use of her enormous swimmer's lungs. Bells seemed to drag on as she moved through the house. It seemed to her as if the majority of the fire was still upon the roof, but it was slowly crawling down the walls like some sort of living disease.
Once more the little girl screamed, this time calling for her mother, for her "pa-pa". The tears in her voice should have doused the flame. Luckily, they sounded from a small closet in the hallway, not the room which she had not yet found. "Laine?" Edreina coughed, jiggling the handle of the door. After a tick, the door opened inward, exposing the pale, soot-spotted face of a child, a little girl with brown eyes and hair.
Without pausing, Edreina caught the little girl up in her arms and started to backtrack, cough becoming more fierce as she moved back towards the window she had used to enter. Half of her expected the ceiling to cave in as she trotted with the little girl bobbing in her arms. She did not, however, expect for it to be a bookcase falling into her way, tattered books with flaming wings spilling out.
The child's terror was voiced once again at the ruckus, the danger as Edreina barely managed to jump back. Now what! Petch! What the petching petch have I gotten myself the petch into!? Good thing the little girl was not a mind-reader...
Wordless with tears creating odd rivers through the black on her face, the little girl pointed solemnly and, through the smoke, the redhead glimpsed... Yes! Nearly unable to keep her coughing from doubling her over, Edreina bum-rushed the door, slamming her free shoulder into it as she moved, focused only on getting herself and the girl out of the beast's maw.
The heat-weakened door broke in several places, allowing the Svefra to tumble out and into the street, barely mindful enough to keep the girl from cushioning her fall. The girl was free, her parents were free, the willowy Svefra lay on her back, gasping and coughing like a fish denied water as her lungs ached so wretchedly. She was barely aware as the parents came to catch up their daughter, thanking the prone Svefra profusely. Dimly was she aware of the little girl telling her mother how she had tried to hide.
Gods this hurts... That is the last time I am ever nice to anyone... Ever! It was a lie, of course, Edreina knew not how to help herself when it came to this... But the lie kind of almost made her feel better. Groaning, she rolled onto her side, feeling water dance down her back as she did so, and contented herself with coughing just a bit more.
Brawling seemed the closest 