Solo Burning into the Brain

[Fiametta]

29 Fall 517AV

The grasslands were quiet. The only sounds were the occasional rustling of grass in the wind and the snort of a handsome strider nearby. Most people would assume quiet was good, but in a place like that, quiet could easily be a warning.

Being on her own was nothing new for the Drykas girl, as she preferred being by herself. The golden grassy fields stretching further than anyone could see, the white fur and pointed ears of her hunting companion disappearing and reappearing every time he discovered a new scent, the steady beating of her strider's hooves beneath her.

The life was a dangerous one, but there was nothing else she could want. Endrykas was the safest place she knew, but the adventure and thrill of being out in the wilderness was what really filled her spirit.

Staying away from Endrykas at night wasn't exactly the wisest thing to do, but it's not like she had never done it before. She watched the sun setting in the distance, then looked into the distance to see the blur that was the tent city. It was a welcoming sight, but not the one she wanted at the moment.

Fiametta dismounted, walking and settling near a lone tree. In her time alone, she had to teach herself the basics of surviving on the Sea of Grass. Without someone to teach her, there came a lot of mistakes. Still, experience breeds experts. Falyn laid down beneath the tree, his head resting on his paws. Latigo stood nearby, head down as he grazed on the grass. Fiametta dug in the yvas bags, taking her cloak out and wrapping it around her. Once the fall came, the nights started getting a chill, while the days held the heat.

She pulled up some dry grass and snapped thin branches off of the tree, then piled them together. Falyn grabbed a few of the twigs from the pile and started running. "Falyn!" She called with a groaned. "Geht voune," she mumbled to herself, knowing the dog just wanted to play. She whistled, and Falyn turned around, jogging back to her. She put the twigs back on the pile and went to the yvas bags once again.

Latigo lifted his head slightly, nudging her leg with his velvety nose. She smiled, taking the flint and steel and going to the tree. She knelt down and struck the flint and steel against each other repeatedly, often just getting sparks. The one time the spark actually took, wind blew it out.

Fiametta huffed, trying to think of how to deal with the wind. If she got a fire going and the wind picked up, it was likely she could start a wild fire. If the wind never let up, there was no way she would even light the fire.

WORD COUNT:

Secret :

471

[Fiametta]

She stood up, leaving the flint and steel where she had been sitting. Fiametta looked up at the quickly darkening sky, taking a long and deep inhale. The air was more fresh out there than it could be anywhere else. Nothing but earth and freedom.

She walked over to Latigo, once again opening his yvas bags. Though she was definitely not the most experienced guide, she was determined to make herself better with each passing day. With that in mind, Fiametta never left Endrykas for a night on the grasslands without a few simple items; her knife, flint and steel, waterskin, rope, and tarp. Of course, her shortbow was always on her body.

The wind picked up again, making her long, strawberry-red hair whip all over. She smiled. Every time the winds blew, she felt Zulrav around her. Naturally, it could easily have been just the way she was raised and her own superstitions that made her believe he was there, but the Drykas girl did not remotely care. She chose to believe that the Father of Storms was on the Sea of Grass with her; not that he cared to help her build the fire.

Rummaging through the yvas bags, she found the tarp and rope. Trying her best to remember watching what her deceased father had taught her deceased brother, Fiametta scanned her eyes over the relatively thin tree. Though it was not as strong as other trees, it had wide branches and bushes around the bottom. Thinking about it then, she secretly wished she had used twigs from the bushes for the kindling, rather than use from the tree what she could have potentially manipulated for the temporary tarp shelter.

Note to self, she thought, plan ahead so you don't petchin' damn yourself. The girl chuckled to herself, then looked at the horizon again. I don't have too much time, she thought, slightly quickening her pace. Fiametta stumbled over her own foot for a moment at the change of pace. She glanced around, casually making sure nobody saw her out-of-character clumsiness. Even though she consciously knew there was not another soul around, except her hunting dog and strider, it was an automatic reflex to free herself of any potential embarrassment.

She had no real reason to be embarrassed of the small trip. Her leg was still on the mend from the incident with the Yukmen a few days prior. She thought about the fight: it was the first time Fiametta had ever seen an Alpha Yukman. She thought about how her comrades were healing. Shaking the useless distraction from her mind, the girl went back to setting up her small camp.

It was more difficult than her father and brother had made it seem. She was unable to reach the branch, since she strained her calf muscle every time she tried to reach that height. She pulled two arrows out of her quiver, then set the quiver down near her flint and steel. Deciding where she wanted the tarp to be, she drove two arrows into the dirt through either corner of the tarp. Then, she tied the rope in a basic knot to the other two corners and looked at her strider. "Latigo," she said, signing come to the horse.

As the stars began to appear in the sky, Latigo's faint golden glow began to do the same. She loved the glow. It was one of the many things about him that reminded her he really was a gift from the gods. He walked over, and she climbed onto his back. As slowly as she reasonably could move, she stood on his back with the tarp and rope in her hands. Her footing was shaky, as she had only done that trick once before. The last time she did it, the Drykas ended up with a bruised bum and an arrogantly satisfied horse.

Latigo stood as still as he could, understanding that her decision to do that was based purely out of necessity, not wanting to test her limits. Even so, Falyn's sudden and loud bark, spooked both the girl and the horse. Latigo jerked to the side, and Fiametta jumped off before she could fall off. "Cultakh!" Fiametta groaned at her dog, regaining her footing on the strider. "Let me do this!"

That time, there were no disruptions and Fiametta was able to get the tarp tied to the branches successfully. Though the knots were not as intricate as they could have been, she was happy that they could simply withstand the strength of the wind. Settling down near her small pile of twigs and kindling, she smirked. Next, she just needed to start the fire.

WORD COUNT:

Secret :

471 + 777 =
1,248

[Fiametta]

It took just over three minutes for a spark to catch. Fiametta sat, her cloak wrapped around her, rather close to the fire. The wind was crisp. Though the tarp she had secured on the tree was doing its job in keeping the overall strength of the wind away from her, some still crept around. That was why she kept the fire low. If it grew too high, she knew she would risk setting the plains ablaze - something her late father once lectured her on.

Releasing a soft and drawn out whistle, Falyn sprinted over to her. His white fur was entertaining to watch, as he would disappear and reappear like a lightning bolt. She sighed stay to the happy pup, who settled beside her. Fiametta looked past the fire at her strider naturally illuminated by his own glow. She stood up and walked over to him, removing his yvas and placing them on he ground. He nuzzled her ankle, investigating the wrap with his top lip and quickly deciding he was not interested.

The Drykas girl sat back down near the fire, her back against the tree with one leg extended. She scratched behind Falyn's large ears, the dog closing his eyes to sleep. Fiametta looked up from under the young tree. The stars were brighter than she had seen them in a long time, which always reminded her of her brother. He always treasured Fiametta for a reason she never discovered, but it left her with some incredible memories. When she was little - when he was still alive - he would take her outside at night, just outside their little home, and tell stories about the stars.

The fire started dying, so she sat up and shifted the wood with a stick she found beneath the tree. She snapped a few twigs off of the bush that time, adding them to the fire. It was a quiet night, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing; maybe it was quiet so she could actually get some rest at night for once. That was a good thing, right? Her dog didn't seem to be alarmed by anything, nor did her horse. Maybe she could let her guard down, too.

WORD COUNT:

Secret :

471 + 777 + 371 =
1619

[Fiametta]

Either way, it really wasn't like the Drykas girl was going to drift off to sleep. She had trained herself through many years to be fully capable of operating the next day with no sleep. What worried her was whether or not she could go more. The trek she had taken from Endrykas was a far one, as she wanted to make sure she would not be tempted to just up and return on a whim. If she was to be an efficient guide, she would have to set her mind to fending off her fears and focusing on the necessary steps of surviving in the wild, unpredictable grasslands.

Fiametta kept herself awake through the entire night. Often, she would come across those people who were unafraid of the dark, but she knew they were fools. She knew what was out there. Anyone who wasn't afraid of the dark wasn't afraid to die.

By sunrise, the fire had mostly died out. The girl kept herself from adding anymore wood to the fire, instead kicking dirt onto the flickering ashes. She remembered her father telling her how important it was to make sure there were absolutely no hot coals left. A wildfire was one of the many threats on the Sea of Grass, so it was imperative that she not contribute to creating one.

She took her waterskin and opened it with her teeth. Giving the flickering ashes one more dusting with her foot, she poured some of the water onto it. That ensured it was completely out. Glancing back towards Endrykas, Fiametta decided that she was close enough to the tent city to make it back before nightfall, even if she stayed away for a little while more.

It took only a few minutes to take the tarp down. Without a needy dog stopping her efforts, taking it down was a lot easier than putting it up. She made a note to make time for any night preparations far before night actually comes. That would definitely help for next time she ventured out. Fiametta folded the tarp into a small square. She tucked the tarp and the rope into Latigo's yvas bags. Latigo saw her nearing the yvas and lifted his head, curious as to whether or not they were going for a ride.

The girl raised one eyebrow at the strider, tucking her hair behind her ears and smiling. She sat back down and took hold of the wrap on her ankle. It had probably been long enough with it on. Fiametta peeled the top of it and quickly unwrapped her ankle, examining the indentations the wrap had left on her leg. She ran her slender fingers along the almost nonexistent scratches. It was an internal injury, as she was still sore with no real evidence of anything on her skin. The bruises were faint enough that they would probably be gone within a day or two.

Falyn inched his way over to her, sliding his body on the ground. Fiametta signed lazy quickly and shook her head at the dog. He licked her finally exposed ankle, and she laughed, pushing his head away. Apparently, her ankles were ticklish. She stood and started placing the wrap around her left forearm. It was dirty enough that she would not be able to get any other medical use from it, but that certainly didn't mean she would get no use from it in a different way. As she finished wrapping it, Fiametta smiled at her improvisation. She hadn't gotten the chance to pick up a real armguard, but that sure as hell wouldn't stop her from practicing her archery.

Picking up her shortbow and securing her quiver to her waist, she took a few paces back. There was a decently large spot on the tree trunk where the bark had worn away, so she decided that it was a good enough target for practice. Making sure Falyn and Latigo were out of the way, Fiametta took an arrow from her quiver. She placed it against the right side of her bow and nocked it.

The bow went up; the drawstring was pulled back; the arrow flew forward.

WORD COUNT:

Secret :

471 + 777 + 371 + 695 =
2314