#fff137

[shaheenarnitipsyart]

The Fire & The Promise

This is the 34th time joining @flashfictionfridayofficial​! Thanks for the interesting prompt! This story might be a bit complicated - please feel free to ask me if you find the story too confusing!

Word Count: 829

T/W: non

Ignis (they/them): A young fire spirit. Immortal. Their name means ‘fire.’ 

Lu (he/him): A young human. His name means ‘the warrior of light.’

There are only two of them. In the middle of the bleak land, they stand motionless, with their hands intertwined. This is the Edge of the World, the very end of the realm of the living. The shorter one with wavy chestnut hair looks up at the person next to them. 

‘Ignis…?’

Their soft voice still has the note of a little child. How many times has he called Ignis like this? Ignis has no idea. Ignis always feels warmth touching their heart whenever Lu calls them - up until now. 

‘Ignis…?’

It is easy to tell that Lu is worried about Ignis’ unusual silence. 

‘Ignis…?’

Lu tightens the grip. That call, that voice too familiar, once so comforting, is breaking Ignis’ heart. But Ignis’ mind is not swayed. Ignis has been looking after this child for so long. It would be a lie if Ignis were not aware of the consequence of this unusual friendship. Ignis listens to the howling wind in the grey world, remembering the day they found Lu in the ashen forest. Lu was so small back then, without a name, without a guardian. He was a living miracle after surviving such a brutal battle between the immortal clan of Lux (Light) and the immortal clan of Tenebris (Darkness) all alone. The unceasing battles between the immortals affected the land of mortals badly, scarring the fields, ruining the villages. 

Ignis did not side with either clan since they belonged to both, yet, at the same time, neither. Ignis could bring brightness and warmth, but they were also a destroyer who could turn a green land into a cold graveyard. They could give comfort as well as bitterness like darkness did. During the great battle, Ignis lost their way. And then, they stumbled on Lu. 

Finally, Ignis gathers their courage to look at the bright, innocent face of Lu. His eyes are as bright as stars. It is mesmerising to see all kinds of emotions appear and disappear in a second like a kaleidoscope. That’s why Ignis chose ‘Lu - the warrior of light’ for this child. 

‘Ignis!’

Lu’s clear voice brings Ignis back to reality. 

‘Yes?’

Despite their best effort, Ignis’ voice shakes a little.

‘Why did you take us to the Edge of the World?’ 

There is no way to escape from the honest gaze of Lu.

‘Because we are parting our way here.’

Ignis answers, averting their eyes again. 

‘Why? You promised that you’d be staying with me all the time! Forever!’

Lu holds Ignis’ bony hand tightly - so tight that it is almost painful.

‘I don’t recall that I said forever, mortal child.’

‘And I’m not a child anymore!’

Indeed, Lu grew up in a blink of an eye for Ignis. 

‘Then, listen well - I’m not a mortal being like you, Lu. I cannot stay in the mortal world anymore. In those past years, my power became too strong that it may cause destruction in your world. You will not be able to tolerate me being around you. Before I burn you down and turn you into ashes… this is the only way that I can protect you - from myself.’ 

Ignis tries to stay nonchalant, yet, there is bitterness in their voice. 

‘I… I kind of know that you are not from this world.’

With hesitation, Lu replies. He looks at the crack on the dry ground for a while.

‘Sorry that I cannot stay with you anymore. I’m letting you go, so you must let me go, too.’

The wind sweeps over them, exposing the sad smile of Ignis. 

For Lu, Ignis has been the only guardian. They crossed hundreds of rivers and mountains, walked through deserts and ruins together. Ignis was there whenever Lu needed warmth and safety, like a campfire. Ignis was a patient listener, too. Their kindness is like candlelight, subtle it may be, yet definitely there for him. However, Lu was also aware that sometimes Ignis gazed at their own hands with a frown and disgust. Lu realises that Ignis cannot take it any longer - staying in a human form, living like a mortal being. 

Without a word, Lu loosens his grip. One by one, he let Ignis’ fingers go.

‘May your path be protected by both Light and Darkness, brave Lu. Farewell.’

As Ignis steps toward the void, thick smoke appears from nowhere. It embraces them, and their lithe silhouette slowly melts into the whiteness. Suddenly, Lu feels a strong urge to call Ignis’ name one last time. But what he comes out from his trembling lips is different.

‘I’m going to give you a name, just like you did for me - it’s Renn, the Rebirth! It is our promise, my Fire, that we will meet again when the time comes. You are the Rebirth!’

The smoke reaches Lu as he loses sight. 

When he opens his eyes again, he is in the middle of a green meadow, all alone. But a familiar warmth filled his heart. It is the warmth of the fire - the seal of their promise. 

@flashfictionfridayofficial​

[renee-writer]

Smoke

For @flashfictionfridayofficial 137th prompt Billowing Smoke

She watches him through the billowing smoke raising from the fire. Neither speak for a moment. What he had just told her brings her to silence. As the silence grows, he adds, “It isn’t like this is what I want.”

She snorts drawing the smoke into her nose. The resulting cough draws more smoke in even as it releases some. Give and take, a perfect metaphor, she thinks. When her lungs are clear enough to speak, she replies, “Isn’t it? Getting away from this?”

He shakes his head walking over to her. At his touch, she jerks away. “Come you know I have to. To get you and them away from here. I have to go where the work is, don’t I?” Her head knows this is true but..

“For three months. You are leaving me here to keep the fire going, feed and see to them, for three months!”

“Three months and then we will be away from all this. You will have a stove, a room, a bed. I know you can handle this.”

She can but, it is easier with him. She doesn’t have to worry about checking on strange noises at night. He is better at setting up the fire, at hunting, really at all the things that keep them going. “I am scared.” Admitting this brings a sense of relief and bitterness. She hates having to rely on him or anyone else. But sense they came, well, she has to.

“I know but you have this. I will be back before the first snow.” He walks in to say goodbye to them. Their children. She watches the smoke raise and sends up a prayer to however is listening, that he keeps his word. Who answers the prayers of homeless families? He has a job so maybe someone does.

The children keep her occupied. She’s thankful that they aren’t yet crawling, even if carrying them, one in her front and the other on her back, is exhausting. A pen that he had found on the side of the road, keep them safe when she starts the fire and cooks.

The woods are eerie at night, but she knows it is the safest place for them. Deep enough that they aren’t seen. She fears the authorities taken them. A tent, their pen, a few pots, a plate, bowl, cup, blankets, and some clothes are their soul possessions. The twins have an assortment of clothes of various sizes, diapers, and a few toys. The diapers are cloth that she washes out and boils clean every night before hanging them over the branches to dry. She is nursing them so the have all they need. Her fears are many though.

Will he really return? What happens when they start crawling? If she can’t find food for the day? When they need more then her milk? It’s still warm at night, with the fire, but won’t stay that way. If he doesn’t return..

The fire is constant. It is needed for warmth, cooking, cleaning the clothes, cleaning them. She tries to keep them all clean. Homeless doesn’t have to mean dirty. The fire glows in the dark, the dark that is coming earlier. She starts dressing the twins in layers as she keeps a look out for their father. It has been three months. The babies are four months and getting harder for her to carry. Three months and a week, two, almost three.

She sits by the fire, looking up at the billowing smoke. It finds freedom in the sky. She seeks the same. He isn’t returning. She admits that to herself. What will she do? The smoke shades the changing trees. Winter will soon be here. She can’t stay here with them.

The next day she bundles up her children placing them both on her chest, bundling up what they will need and placing it on her back. She can’t take the tent or pen. It is close to ten miles to the highway. She has a long way to go.

The empty tent with the pen and the summer clothes, with the last of the smoke raising from the last fire, is left behind her, as she starts her long journey.

[inexorableblob]

Billowing Smoke

For @flashfictionfridayofficial​ 

This story didn’t go where I thought it might, but well, I guess it went somewhere.

Words:  213

Content:   Smoking!  Broken Promises!   

 My mother broke her promise to me.  Again.  

As soon as I stepped outside I could tell what she was doing.  The acrid smell hitting my nostrils told the truth.  Not that I had believed her when she’d said she was going out to look at the sunset.

Our patio faced to the east.     

“Mom, how could you!” 

She blew out a long billowing cloud of smoke, then stabbed out the cigarette on the iron railing, leaving a black stain of ashes.

“Blame it on spending too much time living in a dread and terrible world, sweetheart,” said my mother as she looked me over, “Is that really what you want to wear tonight?”

“It’s a dance, a real high school dance, I want to look nice.” I said, just a little embarrassed.  It’s not like she hadn’t been there when I bought this at a thrift shop, but this was my first time wearing a real dress.  And makeup.

She shrugged.  “You’re my little angel, it’s hard to see you grow up sometimes.  To imagine what your future might become.”

“It’s just one dance, it’s not like I’m Cinderella.”

Mom’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me, then she smiled.

“I should hope not, you aren’t going to stay out till midnight.”

[conteur-writeblr]

Burnt Belongings

Written for the @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt:

(Content warnings: human trafficking, physical abuse) (Word count: ~400)

* * *

Carcha woke up in groggy increments to the thick, cloying smell of acrid smoke and sweat. Lukewarm skin pressed up against his leg. His eyes widened when it hit him that he wasn’t alone, and he pushed himself off the wooden ground, wildly blinking in the darkness of his cramped surroundings.

The sound of frightened murmurs reached his ears. He squinted in the dark to make out the shapes around him. He was trapped in the midst of other bodies. The memories of the day finally came rushing back to him and he remembered that he was laying in a wagon filled with kidnapped people. Before he had the time to reach out to any of them, the doors to the wagon scraped open and he recoiled when a bright light seared his eyes.

“All of you, out,” drawled a man’s voice.

Carcha blinked through the sharp, aching pain at the back of his eyes, and the man’s shape focused in a neater shadow, back-lit by a fire crackling on the side of the beaten path.

The first captives hesitantly pulled themselves forward, afraid of the man’s proximity. Their slowness irritated him. His hand shot out and he grabbed one by the back of the neck to send him tumbling out of the wagon. The slave shouted and hit the ground with a dry, painful thud.

“Move your ass,” he snapped.

Things went faster after that. When it was Carcha’s turn to stumble out into the smoky night air, he noticed that the fire was oddly shaped. It wasn’t consuming wood. His gaze drifted to the side and he recognized the mound of clothes that had been made from the slaves’ belongings. The men were using it as fuel. Anger coursed through Carcha’s veins when he realized that it may have been his very own things laying in the lumpy base of the fire.

“Move,” repeated the man at his back, and he felt a brutal kick in his lower ribs. Carcha stumbled forward with a grunt. He tried to turn around then, but already he was being pushed forward by the others towards the fire where they were being herded like cattle. A woman tripped next to him and his arm shot out to catch her, but she quickly shrugged his hand off with a fearful look in her eyes and curled in on herself.

They were forced to stand downstream of the smoke, the metal around their wrists and ankles warming up uncomfortably from the heat of the fire. None of them talked. All that could be heard was the men’s voices and the crackling of the fire eating away at what had once been theirs.

[random-chaos-thoughts]

@flashfictionfridayofficial thank you for today's prompt!

Tw for wildfire

Word count: 453

Over The Horizon

He had been saying this for days, weeks, months.

"There is a fire coming."

The People's answer never changed.

"How do you know?"

He pointed his chin to the horizon. They could see it like him, now: a dark grey line slowly smearing the sky, like a drop of black ink on water color. It could have easily mistaken for a far away storm, one that would pass without obscuring their corner of sunlight but he knew better. There was a fire out there and it was coming near.

The People emerged from their homes. One, then two, then more until all of them were gathered in a respectful circle around him. The crowd as thick as the smoke cloud before them stood in silent contemplation, concern and mute questions circulating from eyes to eyes to eyes. His own gaze did not stayed from the smoke. Their hands clung to one another the same way they clung to their meager hopes. He stood perfectly still.

And the smoke was growing higher and denser and darker with every breath of the wind. The People held their own. His chest calmly rose and fell. The cloud creeped over the sky, a predator in a hunt tracking its prey. Under its belly the world turned black and white and ashen grey.

They turned to him with one voice, begging for reassurance.

"Maybe the wind will turn and push it away."

"Maybe it will be extinguished before it reach us."

"Maybe it is just smoke."

He had no word of comfort to give.

"There is no smoke without fire."

The fire was coming towards them, they could all see the  smoke drawing nearer every second, as constant as the wind blowing in their direction. Who would extinguish it? There was no one but the People and him.

Yes, the fire was coming, its march inevitable, its threat irrefutable, its victory unelectable: now, the tips of the first tongues of fire were avidly licking the skyline. Emerging from the cover of the cloud, they shed a warning red glow on the land beneath them. He gave a resolute nod.

"Here it is." 

For an instant the world seemed to narrow down to this scene. There was nothing more: the fire, the People and him, a stoic island of a man in an agitated sea of people lit by another kind of sun.

And then someone screamed.

Suddenly the People ran as if the cry was pushing them out, far from the fire and the smoke, far from the danger. They ran away covering their eyes, hidding from the burning sky rushing to them. They ran screaming and praying and begging for their life.

But among the People's confused flight he held in place. The blaze lit a strange glow on his face. Without a word, he started walking toward the raging flames.

[flashfictionfridayofficial]

✨FFF137 Masterlist

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[#FFF137 Billowing Smoke]

Billowing Smoke by @charlesjosephwrites​

The Billows by @froggermoondust​

Smoke by @renee-writer​

at the cusp of dusk by @jafndaegur​

Over The Horizon by @random-chaos-thoughts​

The Fire & The Promise by @shaheenarnitipsyart​

Believe Me This Time by @cherryxwrites​

Burnt Belongings by @conteur-writeblr​

i’ve been on a long road, with the devil right beside me by @ineedaplacetostay​

Billowing Smoke by @stick-a-pencil-in-my-eye​

Hot Steel by @samtheskald​

Where the Sun Sets Her Gaze by @uraniumwriting​

Northern Lights by @itsmoonpeaches​

The Beast of Sinderport by @sleepyowlwrites​

Where There’s Ashes There Once Was Fire by @starlightswitch​

to oaths made in the night by @onceuponanaromantic​

Like Fields of Ash by @raguna-blade​

Experiments by @janetm74fics​

Hypothesis and Trial by @pheita​

Billowing Smoke by @nyamadermont

Billowing Smoke by @inexorableblob​