[SWP] everybody wants to be a hero

[Random Events]

but not everybody can

The fire rages on through the night and into the next day, charring sections of the forest black. Just when one side seems all but put out, another dozen small fires mysteriously start in another corner of the forest. 

There is seemingly no pattern, nor source; the fires start randomly as if from thin air, making it impossible to prevent them or make any gains. They steadily grow bigger, spreading slowly but surely towards the forest’s edge. 

But you are determined to beat it. 

Alongside the other brave firefighters of Delumine, you spend your time heaving bucket after bucket of water into the flames, smothering the fire at every edge. So long as you are on the frontlines, no fire will be getting to the capitol. 

Or will it? 

The flames creep closer and closer, breaking through the lines at every chance. They smother a tree and eat it from the inside out, leaving a smoking shell standing as sentry. Until it begins to fall, slowly at first, then gaining speed. It drops to the ground, crashing in a brilliant explosion of ash and embers. 

You have only a minute to admire it before a horse steps in front of it, their mane caught aflame. 

 

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[Somnus]

An eye for an eye and the world goes blind

“Quickly! Alba, keep vantage!”

With a scream the barn owl took to the skies, leaving her bond-mate upon the burning earth along with so many others of their Court. Alba whirled about in the smoke-filled air, watching down below as the trees, brush, and grasses all continued to steadily burn. Her eyes remained rooted upon everyone, darting from form to form as they bucketed water from the river and did everything in their power to douse the flames before they could spread further throughout Delumine.

The team of firefighters worked carefully, desperate to protect their home. They would not fail. They could not fail.

Stay determined, Somnus repeated in his head, a repetition of stalwart passion and fortitude as he shouldered another bucket of water to carry towards the front lines, the extended use of his telekinesis draining. We must stay determined! The Dawn King’s hide was marred with soot and sweat, streaked a muddy grey and hardly resembling the typically immaculate golden hue. The tips of his wings, mane, and tail were all singed, the smell of burning cloying his nostrils. His lungs acrid from smoke, his voice choked and raspy from the prolonged exposure to such poor air quality, but he couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t.

Somnus knew that those who fought the flames beside him felt the same.

Just as he opened his mouth to shout a suggestion, the dunalino watched in both awe and horror as the fires consumed a large tree just on the front line, burning and eating and smoldering it through from the inside out. The tree remained a beacon of destruction for only a moment before it gave way, charred and unstable, and Somnus screamed, his voice guttural.

“Watch out!”

The tree crashed to the ground only a moment later in a devastating shower of embers and ash, raining molten heat down on any who stood too close. It breached the front line, the flames licking and spreading closer towards the group of firefighters that strayed too close.

The terror and dismay of it all only lasted a moment, until his attention was drawn elsewhere, watering verdant eyes widening in horror. There, near the front lines, an equine’s mane had caught flame from the raining embers. Immediately the Dawn King lurched forward with his bucket of water, desperate to help as the equine’s screams of fear and pain reached a terrible crescendo. Please, Oriens, no… This cannot be happening!

A split second, and Somnus thought of Eulalie. He thought of little Regis and Anemone, so frail and helpless beneath the fury of the flame. His heart constricted painfully in his chest, the breath escaping his lungs that had no correlation to the brutality of the flames. It could easily be them among the flames, burning, dying… A second later and the Dawn King came out of his terrified thought, knowing they had no time for such things.

If they wanted to survive, if he wanted to survive, he could not falter.

“Ulric, help me!” Never once had the Warden left his side, so he knew that his frantic words would not fall on deaf ears. Since returning to the citadel to alert them about the fire and even after they had left towards the heart of the fires in an attempt to douse them, Ulric had not strayed. Exhausted though he certainly was, the fierce warrior remained a steadfast companion, and Somnus knew that the roan would readily assist in saving their fellow. They would need more than one pail to put them out.

Approaching the terrified, burning equine, Somnus tried to steady them with soothing words as he focused his telekinesis. “Hold on, we have you. Hold on!” With that, Somnus grit his teeth and lifted the bucket of water, hoping to douse it above the burning equine’s crest.

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tag: @Ulric @Random Events

[Sloane]

What has she walked into? This new land was strange and different and yet, there was something about it that kept her eyes trained ahead of her and her feet moving forward. The young mare had been traveling most of her life, not really finding some place to call home. Neverland had been temporary, but like all things the place had ended. And now she find herself here, having been greeted at the gates and given directions to this place…to the Dawn Court and to the surrounding forrest.

Whoever had given her directions must have been high on drugs or something, because just as soon as she entered the forest, smoke and the scent of burning plant matter fills her nostrils. Sloane had never been a smoker in her former travels, hating the way the ashes clog her nose and make breathing difficult. She doesn’t understand the draw some have to it. In fact, she doesn’t understand why she’s still walking further into the forest, despite the smoke getting thicker. She should be turning and walking in the other direction. And yet…there is something curious about this place. It felt as though she was supposed to be here.

And as she comes around the bend, she can start to see the flicker of flames as they seem to spread with no direction at all. The fire is beautiful and Sloane has to catch herself as he lips seemingly pull into a grin. There’s something beautiful about this chaos. But her attention is not on the burning trees for long because there is a sound of crackling that sounds somewhat close. Too close if you asked Sloane.

But it wasn’t the sound of the tree falling that captured her attention. It was the sound of a stallion, screaming out. She wasn’t sure who he was talking to, whether or not it was intended for her or someone else. Her head turns and she looks towards him. She can see the work of the others, carrying buckets of water in an attempt to put out the flames. Does he not realize those buckets will not help? The fire has already consumed the forest and will continue to do so until the rains come. But she says nothing.

She steps closer towards the others, curiosity leading the way. She wanted to know why these fellow equines continued a futile battle. Why not just accept their fate and move on. The more they stand here trying to fight the beast, the more likely they will be to perish. It doesn’t sound like odds are on their side and yet they stay. Stupid, if you asked her.

However, it was the burning equine that perhaps got her attention more. The way the flames engulfed his mane was tragic. That hair would smell of smoke for months until it grew out. It would make the individual look awkward with no mane, as if were nothing more than a donkey or mule. That hair style was not attractive. While her mind told her to run, she did not want to hear the screams of a dying equine.

And it was this thought alone that had her stepping forward to bite down on a full bucket of water. She gritted her teeth around the metal, the sharpened teeth giving great caverns for the bucket handle to rest in. She carried the water forward and as she came upon the burning fellow, she tossed the water as high as she could. At 16.1 hands, she had a little bit of height to her that she intended to use to her advantage. And yet she said nothing to any of them. She was only doing this because she didn’t want to listen to the individual die and slow and painful death.

@Somnus