꧁𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒌𝒚꧂

○prologue○

The two teens had just arrived on the scene and Nîryni searched the crowd for her father.

"I need to find my dad, go find your family!"

She was about to run off when she was pulled into a warm chest.

"Stay safe."

She didn't have to process it before the boy had ran off. A loud shout pulled her back to reality and she shot off towards her home.

"Father? Father!"

All she received was silence and she could see it looked like he had left in a hurry.

With a small growl she left and began to search through the village for the person who meant the world to her.

Her heart refused to allow her to leave without finding him even if the whole forest burned to the ground.

♡

The fire continued to burn brighter every second and the smoke suffocated anything that dared to stay in its embrace.

Her body stumbled across the forest floor and her eyes became dazed with unclarity due to her lack of clean air.

While searching for her dad she got cut off by the spreading flames and she mindlessly searched for a way back.

She heaved her chest painfully trying to get more air yet each inhale took her one step closer to death.

All she could manage was small wheezes and coughs.

It felt like torture to not be able to breathe when she so desperately needed to. She decided she hated this feeling more than anything.

Her yellow eyes teared up as she crumpled to the floor. Is this how her life ended?

The instinct to survive forced her to crawl away from the fire getting closer to her exhausted body.

When her eyes started to close, her mind and body completely relaxed. The heat from the flames licked her skin and she was ready for it to swallow her whole. Her vision was slowly being clouded by black and her ears were ringing.

"Nîryni!" A voice that she knew meant safety.

She couldn't see him but she could feel his hands picking her up. The comfort she found from feeling the extra finger glide along her body, made her eyes finally close.

Even though he had found her, she wondered if maybe things would have been different had they both stayed home that night.

"Come on Ryn, I got you." He hurriedly got her settled onto his back.

The only thing keeping Lo'ak together was feeling her warm breath gently hitting his neck. His ears were pinned back as he looked around wildly for an escape route. The smoke was blinding him and the fire made him feel cornered.

His own eyes started to tear up involuntarily from the thick air flowing into them.

Then like a miracle from their Goddess herself, he saw a pathway opened up by the strong breeze of the wind.

At first he stumbled from the extra weight but he quickly found his footing and jogged as fast as he could towards where their people had evacuated to.

♡

The light from the orange plague illuminated the relief on Lo'ak's face when he saw his family and the others close by.

"Hey, we made it." He gently moved her from his back and into his arms bridal style.