The Fire, who followed all of Daire's wishes until now, when asked to stay with Daire for longer, it was more than thrilled to comply.

This was when Daire felt the heat on his left hand. It started at his index finger and then exploded up his arm.

Daire's entire left arm alight.

"Daire!"

The space he had been working in was now cast in bright, flickering light as the Fire ate him. Violet stood up in alarm, panicked. Trinket turned around to look at the commotion; seeing his friend on fire, he quickly paced back and forth, groaning in an intelligible language. He tried to use what processing power he had to figure out how to save his companion.

Pebbles watched on in mute fascination, firelight illuminating its dull green colors.

Floundering, Daire remembered training.

Stop. Drop. Roll.

Roll.

Roll.

...Roll.

It wasn't going out! It wasn't spreading, but Daire could focus on nothing but the blistering and agonizing heat.

Stopping, Daire ran for the barrel of water that was left out. Plunging his entire arm into the thing, he was appalled that the flames only dimmed slightly—the water refusing sizzle a similar way to his flesh.

Violet wanted to help, to try and pat Daire down but was too busy calming Trinket.

Out of sane options, Daire tried talking to the Fire.

"STOP! Heal. Do not harm. Merge. Calm..."

Daire continued shouting words in his head to try and control the fire again.

Cool.

Extinguish.

Harbor.

Dwell.

Slumber!

The Fire seemed to flicker with confusion before cooling.

It started to retreat down his arm, back down to his pointer finger, where it finally went out with a pop.

Sweating. Panting. Exhausted and drained, Daire fell backward.

"Daire! Daire? Daire, are you okay? Your arm!"

Daire was in too much pain. His entire left side throbbed. Pulsating. Beating.

He thought that the claw marks hurt... When he stitched them up, it had been excruciating.

Yet... The burns.

Fire.

It was too much. Daire blacked out.

=

She had counted and organized their materials and ingredients while waiting for Daire to finish his crafting. She watched with fascination as Daire used Fire to both destroy, heal, and create. When he finished, she was getting ready to ask what that metal thing was but was shocked when his entire arm erupted in flames.

Violet went for water immediately but was too small to carry anything substantial over. She watched Daire roll on the ground, screaming. She was lost at what to do but saw Trinket charging forward towards Daire, ready to tackle him. Realizing the giant bear would only hurt himself or Daire, she intercepted him, blocking his view and giving him tiny shocks to distract him.

Daire plunged his arm into a bucket of water, but it still didn't go out. Truly losing her mind, she heard Daire yelling several obscure words before the Fire abruptly went out. She rushed over as he collapsed and quickly lost consciousness.

Violet was tearing at her hair in a very unhealthy manner.

Violet told Trinket to grab the water barrel, to which he complied. Trinket chewed on one side of the barrel before getting a grip. Waddling over, he poured the entire contents onto Daire's left arm and, consequently, Daire himself.

Daire woke up with a splutter and quickly winced in pain.

This wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but it worked.

"Daire! Are you okay? What should I do? I don't know what to do..."

Tears were streaming down her face. She felt so helpless, only able to watch on in horror as Daire burned. Unable to do anything but stop Trinket.

Daire cradled his arm; it was shaking intensely.

"H-Hold on. Please. Give me a moment."

Daire was hyperventilating and his eyes were out of focus. When he was able to think, he spoke.

"Get the barrel. Don't spill it."

Violet nodded. The other barrel was already detached, so all Violet had to do was micromanage Trinket to pull it out far enough. There were more than three close calls where Trinket nearly toppled or broke it entirely.

When Violet looked back, Daire was on his feet, swaying. Stumbling over, he continued.

"I need bandages... Not enough... Please."

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Violet understood, realizing she needed to go out on her own.

She didn't hesitate. Using her magic to bolt away.

=

Daire was fading in and out of consciousness.

It was unreal.

Pain couldn't reach this level.

Impossible.

Daire knew burn victims survived the most terrible pain and were left with equally terrible scars. But it had been all words and images before! Feeling it himself... it was severely underestimated.

For a sheltered middle-class white boy, he never knew discomfort or pain like this. Protected on all sides by life's circumstances, culture, society, hierarchy, rules, and his overprotective parents.

It's too much.

Daire was regretting every decision he ever made.

Books. Dreaming. Traveling. Vi-

No. Not her. Never her.

No thoughts or feelings would make this better. So all Daire could do was grit his teeth and bear the pain.

"Trinket... please watch out for attackers. Please protect me. Please...watch out for Violet."

Daire's words turned from comforting to pleading.

Trinket gave a small whimper, hesitantly plodding away. He situated himself so he could watch the surroundings while keeping an eye on Daire. The bunnies still seemed oblivious. Pebbles was even more disconcerting, bulbous eyes looking lifeless to Daire.

Daire tried to tend to his wound. Dipping the arm in stale water all the way to the shoulder, he could feel the burns reach his shoulder blade, but he couldn't submerge it entirely.

Daire stupidly tried to order the Fire to take away the heat. The pain. The throbbing. And to Daire's surprise, the Fire still present in his smoldering arm relieved a significant amount of the pain. The warmth in his appendage grew, but the pain nearly stopped completely. The trembling in his arm lessened considerably.

It seemed Fire was even more simple than he had thought.

A wild but equally impressionable child.

Daire had been so enthusiastic about finally being able to control Fire. Doing it so well made him lose sense.

Why in the holy tartar sauce did he think it was a GOOD idea to tell Fire to EAT him!?

That was basically what he did. He asked the Fire to stay with him!

It interpreted this as renovating his flesh, apparently. The only damn plus side to this disaster was that Daire was 100% positive that he could now call out Fire from his burnt arm. Not that he would ever touch it again.

Never again.

Removing his limb from water, Daire examined it. The flesh was twisted in a horrific macabre scene. There was still healthy skin and muscle in parts. His middle, ring, and pinky finger were actually untouched. His index finger had it the worst, nearly burnt black. Moving it was difficult, but it still had motor function. Magic, maybe?

The burns continued up along his arm, coiling like a viper. It continued in its "fiery" pattern all the way up to his shoulder. He used his other hand to feel his back. It was unharmed other than a malformed wing of scarred tissue, piercing out to the edge of his left shoulder blade.

Part of his white shirt had burnt away at the flames. Luckily it was still intact and wearable. Even luckier, the fabric didn't melt and fuze with his skin.

Daire was looking down at his mangled and unrecognizable arm. It had been just a normal arm moments before. Unscarred. Healthy. Strong.

Drops of salty water fell down onto the ruined limb, making it flinch at the slightest touch.

Daire's shoulders shivering.

He vehemently cursed his young self for thinking scars were cool.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

It is real. Too real.

A tiny part. In a distant section of his mind, he still thought of this as nothing but a book: the wolf fight, the claw mark, the struggle with Trinket. Daire felt pain. But not once had Daire wrestled with the idea he would die.

And now. For such a stupid reason, he nearly lost his life.

Ceasing to exist. Being no more. An endless abyss of nothing. No consciousness. No dreams. Nothing. Nada.

His parents would never see him again. He could never thank them for everything they did. Tell them he loved them. Rush back into their arms like a complete child. They raised him better than this. Playing with fire was one of the first things he learned.

That shifter, Markus, would have gotten his end of the deal fulfilled early, which could absolutely not happen under any circumstances.

And Violet.

Violet would have been left alone again.

Daire thought back to the tears she shed. How much he scared her. How much she worried about him. She rushed to help and is out there right now! Trying to get help... Daire could see the frustration in her own eyes. The powerlessness. He'd felt that feeling in himself so many times before.

How much of an ass would he be if he were to leave such a precious thing alone again?

The only thing he could do now was apologize and try to make up for worrying her so much.

Thankfully no one investigated his screams, or maybe they didn't hear. At least that was until he heard a familiar voice approach.

=

Violet approached Trinket with a hunched over old man. Trinket let them by but eyed the old man warily, showing some of his teeth.

"Trinket!"

Violet scolded.

Trinket stared down small old man. The old man smoked a pipe, staring back.

"Please, this way, hurry."

"Yes, yes, hold your horses. My bones aren't shiny new anymore."

Violet ignored the old man's comments and quickly led him to the back where Daire was sitting up, half leaning against the end of his cart. Cradling his left arm. Still dripping wet, it was wrapped in horrendous marks that twist the flesh, covered in pustules and countless blisters. Violet winced.

Daire's eyes were half-closed and there were tear tracks running down his face, accompanying the intense sweat the drenched his body.

"Didn't your parents tell you not to play with fire, boy?"

Violet saw Daire give the slightest inaudible chuckle, harrumph, and groan.

The old man named Gunter set down a pack with clean bandages.

Daire obediently stopped hiding his arm and held it slightly out in front of him. Gunter took it in his hand, a pus pocket burst, making Violet gag and Daire yelp.

"Don't be such a milk-drinker. Hold still."

She could hear Daire curse the man using words she didn't know.

Violet watched in morbid fascination and disgust as Gunter took the time to wrap Daire's hand methodically. It was bleeding in places where blisters popped. Violet couldn't think that this to be healthy but didn't know how to prevent it either. Slowly, gradually, the local equivalent of gauze weaved entirely up his arm.

Gunter grunted and slapped the bandaged arm. Causing a shock to run through Daire. Violet reacted similarly.

"There! Don't act stupid again."

Spitting out the word "stupid", Gunter gathered up the scraps and turned to walk away. Daire reached out with his unburnt arm.

"Wait. Please. How do I repay you? I owe a debt."

Seeing the magical glow of the bandages.

Gunter stopped, looking over his shoulder. His gaze was indomitable and immutable. He spoke in a soft, grave tone that was unable to be ignored.

"Repay me? Then don't ever make that little lady break down in front of me again. I'll kill you myself."

Violet tried to hide her face in her hands and keep herself from breaking down again. She could see Daire's extreme downcast expression and how hard he grit his teeth.

Satisfied, Gunter left.

All that remained was quiet.

Emptiness.

Trinket was as mute as Pebbles—Daire and Violet both in their own heads.

Ten minutes passed like that.

Finally, Violet could take it no more.

She bawled. Cried, wept, and wailed. She was a blubbering mess, sniveling, snot running freely. Her hands trying to wipe it all away. Hiccuping and babbling nonsense.

Daire, too wept once again, silently, and biting back his yells.

Releasing all their pent up emotion, they cried.

Ultimately, Daire came up from drowning first. Realizing something. He took his right hand and moved to cradle Violet. Gently, the fingers carried her still shaking form toward Daire's chest.

Clutching on, she seized the soft fabric in her hands, crying into his shirt.

"Violet... I am so sorry, Violet."

Unresponsive.

"Violet..."

Still not in control, she barely registered his words.

"Violet. Can you feel it?"

She kept her face buried in his chest. Mumbling.

I was so scared, Daire. I thought... I thought I would lose you.

Violet didn't know if Daire heard her, but he continued to talk.

"Can you feel my heart still beating?"

Violet retreated deeper into the fabric. She tried to calm her blithering.

The warmth of his chest and rhythmic pulse of his heart finally registering. It provided an odd comfort.

Violet felt a second hand loosely wrap around her, brushing against her wings and back. Daire's burnt, black, bandaged index finger tentatively stroked her hair.

"I am still alive, Violet."

"I am still here."

"I am alive, Violet."

"I am not going anywhere."