"ughh.. we've been walking for ages and we've found nothing! this whole partner thing is a waste of time."
aries voice rung out into the forest trees, libra getting a bit irritated at his continuous whining.
"just.. lay down low and maybe stop speaking so loud. you might attract someone. or something."
aries was obviously annoyed that libra ordered him to quiet down. and i mean unnecessarily angry.
"dont tell me what to do, you flying turd! i hate you!" he yelled out, punching his feet onto the dirt below him. well, there was grass but it hasn't grown out everywhere.
libra sighed at this, still trying to get used to aries's loud behaviour.
"right.. well i think we should keep walking until we find something or we meet up with some other partners.."
"and how do you know we'll see another group?! we might just be stuck here! together! oh my god we might be stuck here forever and together." aries stopped in his tracks and stared at libra in horror.
"don't worry! it'll be okay. even if we get stuck, we'll have each other!" he smiled brightly.
"that's the thing that i don't want to happen!" he snapped back, structing ahead. libra watched aries walk away and groaned quietly, already fed up with his actions. he took a deep breath and continued to follow the red-head boy further into the forest.
"come on, aries.. stop being so negative. it can't be that bad, right? just relax a little." libra offered, finally catching up with the blaxing boy to walk side by side with him.
"shut up." he snarled back.
"don't tell me to shut up! i just want to be your friend!" libra yelled back, getting frustrated. aries was getting more annoyed, his steps having a lot more punch it in now.
"shut up!"
"if you want me to shut up so badly, why don't you just-"
"shut up!"
"don't tell me to shut up in the middle of my senten-"
"shut up."
"tell me to shut up again you-"
"wait no, actually. shush."
libra blinked in surprise, stopping in his tracks to stare at the focussing aries. he pressed his finger on libra's lips to stop him from talking, doing the same for himself.
"you hear that?"
libra's ears perked up as he tried to listen closely, "no?.. is there something-"
his body jolted, his eyes widening. and like it was right next to him, he could hear the sharp cracks and snaps of fire eating away on wood.
"now you hear it?" aries stared at the shocked, worried boy.
"where is it?" he asked, pushing aries's hand away from his mouth.
"dont know. but it's definitely close if i can smell the smoke, " aries coughed, covering his nose. libra did the same, holding his nose and closing his eyes tightly from the sudden dryness.
"we have to find it or we'll burn in here." libra informed, his eyes getting watery.
"right. you will but i won't." aries rolled his eyes, used to the heat. the smoke was something he hated, even though he's always smelling it in his kingdom.
libra huffed and his wings sprouted up, bright and light in the fogging smoke infecting their air, "i'll try find it up there!" libra pushed off the ground, flying above the trees. he looked around and saw the hungry flame of a fire consuming the wood around it.
it was burning down the wood as all fire would do but it seemed a bit weird. he wasn't too sure but he had no time to think about it, diving back down and grabbing aries by his arms and armpits.
"hey- woah!"
before aries could process, he was flying above the trees and staring down at the smoke filling up the forest they were just in. "oi! let me go you winged turd!" aries yelled out, looking up at libra.
he was shocked to see the serious expression of libra's face, not listening to the boy. "heyyy.." he tried again, his voice less aggressive. libra still didn't look down, diving down onto the ground again. aries yelled the whole time, clinging onto libra's arm tightly.
when they landed, aries was still clinging onto libra's arm and staring ahead with wide eyes. "let go of me. i just brought us to the flame." libra hissed, pulling his arm out of aries's grasp.
he cleared his throat and stood up straight, "right. yes. where is the flame?"
"well just turn- holy shit."
the two boys turned around to see the flame towering over them, the heat waves making their body sweat and feel like it's burning. well, only to libra.
"huh. kind of small for a forest fire, don't you think?"
"aries! this is a serious thing here! this can burn down the whole forest and not only kill us twelve but the whole village plants and food resources! and then all the other kingdoms are doomed!"
aries blinked, processing the information, "well if my kingdom is going to be effected, then we better get to work." aries pat libra on the back, making his wings ruffle by the touch.
libra groaned and pushed off the ground again, aries walking up to a burning tree. he reached out and grazed over the turning wood, his fingers catching ablaze.
"libra! round it up so it can't get away! i'll try to do something down here!"
he could see the flying figure follow his orders, watching him fly around the flame in a circle a good distance away. he watched the wing currents change direction, slowly making a faint tornado shape.
then something weird happened.
the flame started attacking the tornado. and i don't mean grenades or swords, i mean it was purposely bumping into the tornado shape to mess it up and mess libra up above.
"wait, libra!-" aries reached up, calling out to the winged boy.
but it was too late.
libra's mini tornado was bumped out of session and the wind current was forcefully pushed back into normal pace. libra yelled out, flying into the trees and thumping onto the ground.
aries stared at where libra used to be, staring at the dent of the leaves of where libra fell through with wide eyes. he had no time to process or check up on him as the flame strengthened its heat and slowly approached aries, the nature around it catching on fire too.
aries glared at the flame, his hands tightly curled into fists, ready to fight. he lifted up his hands, the flame on his left hand swallowing his whole fist to make some sort of offence, "fight fire with fire as they would say."
the flame let out a ghastly shriek, the embers on the flame dying out to reveal a phoenix glaring down at aries. the boy let out a quiet gasp, staring at the phoenix. it let out another squawk and swooped down at aries at high speeds.
aries yelped, diving to the side so the fire bird missed his head and was forced to swoop back up into the sky. the phoenix decided to try again, swooping down at aries's body. he struggled to keep up with its speed, scrambling to his feet.
a loud screech echoed through the burning trees, making aries to look up to see libra duelling off the phoenix single handedly. his wings easily matched the bird's speed but the fire threatened to swallow his feathers whole.
"libra!" aries yelled out, the flame now travelling across his whole arm and burning off his sleeves. he looked around and began to knock down the burning trees, giving libra and the phoenix more space to fight in.
he tried to push down trees that were closest to libra's wings as he kept pushed the phoenix onto the floor for aries to fight. yet, in a single movement, libra was pushed off and pushed into a burning tree.
his back hit the burning leaves and his wings instantly caught fire, burning off his ability to fly. aries ran towards his falling body, catching him in his arms as libra tried to set the fire out. aries glared at the laughing phoenix staring down at him, pressing his hands onto libra's wings to take the flame off his wings.
after a bit of panic and communication, aries managed collect all the fire from libra's wings. both of his arms were covered with flame, the heat making aries's arms tickle.
"just rest here. i'll deal with the phoenix.." aries offered, libra setting himself down to rest. he folded his wings, quietly hissing at the stinging pain.
aries spun around to face the phoenix, watching it laugh at them from above. "come face me like a man, you little rodent!!" aries yelled out, making the phoenix go quiet. it let out another screech and swooped down again, making itself a sharp dagger of flame.
aries narrowed his eyes and did a 90 degree spin, grabbing the phoenix's body and making it immobile in his hands. he breathed quickly, staring at the struggling bird.
"what do i do, libra?!" he yelled out, turning to face the resting boy.
"i don't know?! kill it!!" he yelled back, expanding his wings so the feathers can regrow better.
"how do you kill a phoenix?!" aries hissed, glaring at him.
"i don't know??!! im not the fire prince here!!" libra was getting considerable annoyed by now.
"what's that supposed to mean?! i've never tried killing a phoenix!- woah! hey wait!"
aries held the phoenix tightly but he realised his body was slowly going into flames, the fire swallowing him up. "libra!!" he yelled out, his eyes pleading for help. the boy could only watch and stare, his mind churning with rescue ideas.
but it was too late, the only thing left was the standing flame crackling with fire embers.
・⸝⸝﹒₊˚﹕﹒₊‧
GASP
aries shot right up, taking in as much air as he could. he looked down, seeing his hand clasp around nothing. he let his arm go limp on his sides as he looked around. all he could see was white, did he die?
he couldn't have, his body was born to be immune to high heat and fire. it's how he's able to use his power. suddenly, all his memories shot back into his mind. before he could process most of them, he was already shouting libra's name.
"libra! libra, where are you?!" he yelled into the white abyss. all he could hear was his own voice echoing back at him. he furrowed his eyebrows, obviously annoyed by this.
one moment, he was gasping for air as if he was suffocating and now he's alone in a room, no, somewhere that's just all white and doesn't seem to have any sort of end or walls. no escape.
"this is weird.. where am i? and most importantly, why am i here? im meant to be helping libra defeat that ugly old fire bird." he gritted his teeth, walking around. but no matter how long he walks, he doesn't seem to find an end. it's as if he was walking around in circles.
"hello? anywhere there?!" he yelled out, only to be responded by his own voice again. "this is bullshit. where is everyone?! and where is anything?" he stopped in his tracks, looking around.
suddenly, as if his wishes were being granted, a voice spoke to him.
"hello alexander blaxing. or formally known, aries. how are you?"
"what the fuck?! who are you?! what do you want from me??" he yelled into the whiteness, not sure where to look.
"that is none of your concern. right now, you're in a vision. a thought, if you will. and you're currently trying to get a phoenix to submit to you, correct?"
aries blinked, trying to process the information. he wasn't sure how to respond, not used to people stalking his every move and approaching him about it.
"yes. i am.."
he wasn't sure why he answered truthfully, taking himself a bit off guard for a moment to process his own answer.
"hm.. it seems like you two are having a bit of a struggle, yes?"
"what are you on about? we're doing fine!"
aries yelled out, his temper running short.
"do not feel annoyed by my offer to help. im not mocking you or underestimating you either."
aries blinked in confusion and shock, "how do you know?"
"i know everything."
...
aries stood there, thinking silently to himself. "who are you?"
no response.
aries stared up at the white room and finally nodded, accepting the help granted to him.
"yes. i want help."
he was soon blinded by the glowing whiteness around him. he closed his eyes and lifted his arms to cover them, letting them take him back to libra.
・⸝⸝﹒₊˚﹕﹒₊‧
aries let out the same gasp, coughing at the sudden intake of smoke. he slowly stood up on wobbly feet, using the tree next to him as stability.
he looked around, his eyes widening at the sight of libra fighting the phoenix alone. he watched the boy get hit continuously, struggling to get a hit on the bird from its fast speeds.
his wings were long gone, burnt down to only little buds of raw feathers. they probably retreated back into healing, only a few unlucky hits left them burnt and scarred.
aries blinked out of his trace and ran towards the battle, ignoring the pounding headache is had.
"libra! libra!" he yelled out, getting a flicker of fire and growing it across his arm.
the winged boy looked up and his eyes brightened seeing aries run up to him. "my hero!" he joked, giving a weak smile as he felt his legs give out on him.
aries turned to the phoenix and punched it square in the face, feeling this new strength run through his arm and into his punch. the bird let out a painful screech, falling onto the ground. aries ignored the loud noise, catching libra with his other arm.
"are you okay? is there a healing spell i can use? fuck your wings.." he grimaced at the burnt feathers falling off, libra leaning into aries for support.
"it's fine. they grow back easily. but i might have a scar now.." he winced, gripping aries tightly.
"ok.. it's okay!" aries said, trying to reassure both of them. he looked up to finish the phoenix but saw that the bird had already turned into dust, the fire that used to be crackling around them evaporated into the sky as mist and left the trees in a burnt, ashy state.
"let's.. let's get out of here." aries furrowed his eyebrows, shrinking the fire on his arm to a small flicker of flame on his neck as he picked up libra with both his arms. libra's breathing hitched, feeling weak from the attacks the phoenix had on him.
he had bruises and cuts everywhere, surpringly he had no burns. he must of got some hits in to make the phoenix fire weaker.
"i can walk, you don't need to— agh!" libra trembled, pain spiking through his body as he tried to move out of aries's arms.
"less talking, more moving." he huffed, holding libra tightly as he stomping forwards.
"i told you, you'd come around. we're like best buds now!" libra said as they walked further into the distance, away from the tumbling trees.
"shut up before i drop you right here right now."
"wah! okok, calm down fire boy!"
both their laughs echoed into the setting sun, the black trees from before falling to the ground as ashes.
・⸝⸝﹒₊˚﹕﹒₊‧
aries continued to walk forwards mindlessly, zoning out to stare at the sky as they travelled through the night. he rested the sleeping libra on a tree to get a drink of water until a letter fell out of his pocket.
he stared at the paper, not familiar with it. he didn't bring an envelope with him on this trip. and if he did, it should be burnt out by now. he slowly picked it up, gently opening the envelope to pull out a letter.
he unfolded the letter and stared at the handwriting, instantly knowing who the letter is from by the writing. he was about to read the letter until there was shuffling next to him, libra beginning to wake up.
"ah.. im awake.." he yawned, rubbing his eyes, "also, where did you go when you went into that flame? if you don't mind me asking." libra asked, staring at the boy.
"i.. i dunno but i found this in my pocket and i definitely didn't put it in there." he said, lifting up the letter. libra sat up and stared at the letter, shuffling over to see.
"well, what does it say?"
aries shrugged and looked back at the infamous handwriting, beginning to read it out to both of them.
"it's from the town helper. they say they know we're looking for them."
"... what?"
・⸝⸝﹒₊˚﹕﹒₊‧
𝙖/𝙣;
𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴! 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 25 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳.
𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘻𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘤𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.
𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 :)
𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵!