this little spell did get out of control with the fire. as always, i keep water near by to easily put it out.
be careful with fire, and be careful putting it out. the moment that water touched that flame, fire lifted to the roof and i was scared shitless for my rent bond!
end the end though, the spell still worked. that fire and wax spread away from me, so it's now in the universe
Dear friend, Here's a prompt if you're ready for one: part two of natural disasters. Yes it is I, the natural disaster anon. You just did so well on the first one I had to come back for more! You are legit the best at Stone whumpage and the best at Librarians fic in my opinion. So thank you very much for giving these rarities with so much sincerity! You are a gem and a blessing to this fandom! Love, The natural disaster anon or aka your biggest fan.
Hello, my friend!! I’m so happy to hear from you again! Doing well? I hope so :)
Oh, oh my gosh, you are so freaking sweet. I don’t feel like I deserve half these compliments but thank you so much. You literally just made my entire year tbh
But, anyhow, here’s Natural Disaster part 2 (with plenty of Stone whumpage for all ur jacob stone needs ;) )
“It’s so hot out here,” Ezekielwhined. “Can we go home yet?”
“Not yet,” Flynn muttered, studyingthe map he had open in his hands. Eve was looking over his shoulder, eyestrailing over it. “We’re almost there.”
“Almost where, exactly?”Cassandra asked. She would never admit it, but the sun was getting to her too.She’d also made the mistake of wearing long pants instead of jeans, and whilethe trees around them provided some shade, the hot, stale air was taking awayany bit of coolness that shade provided. “You never did tell us where we weregoing…”
“That’s because it’s a surprise,”Eve said, trying to keep her voice bright and cheery. Even she had started tosweat, and her footsteps were becoming less chipper and more grueling. “Plus,this is good for you! Fresh air, hearts pumping, legs moving; tomorrow you’llbe glad you did it.”
“But I hate hiking,” Ezekiel muttered.He too had made the unfortunate mistake of wearing jeans and two layers ofshirts and was panting heavily despite the good shape that he was in.
“I don’t mind it,” Jake said,bringing up the rear of the team.
“That’s the spirit!” Eve shoutedback to him, throwing him a thumbs-up.
Ezekiel rolled his eyes. “Don’t besuch a suck-up, Stone. You’re hating this too. Hell, you’re working harder thanthe rest of us!”
It was true. Jake had drawn theshort straw and had been forced into becoming the team’s pack mule for the day.A giant backpack that was nearly bigger than Ezekiel was strapped to his backwith various clasps and buckles. Luckily, he’d been smart enough to wear shortsand a light t-shirt, but he was beginning to feel the strain of the heavy loadon his back and the harsh sun above them.
Not that he’d ever admit to it, ofcourse.
“We’re almost there,” Flynnreassured the team once more. “It’s just a little bit further along the trail.”
“And what was the point of all ofthis?” Ezekiel questioned. “Couldn’t we just, oh I dunno, use magic to get there!”
“Where’d be the fun in that?” Eveasked. She looked over her shoulder at him and grinned. “Plus, we’d miss out onall of this great team bonding!”
“Ripping the team apart s’more likeit,” Jake grumbled to himself. Cassandra, who was in front of him, looked overher shoulder and smiled ruefully at him, clearly overhearing what he’d said.
They walked in a tense silence for afew more minutes before Flynn came to a sudden halt, causing Eve to run intohim. Ezekiel, who’d been paying attention, stopped and rolled his eyes, notbothering to try and help steady Eve as her and Flynn stumbled forward a bit.
“We’re here!” Flynn announced whenhe’d straightened himself out and made sure that Eve was sure-footed once more.
She frowned, looking around. “We,uh, we are?”
They were still on the hiking trailand there was nothing around them save the forest and the trees that resided init. Oddly enough, there were no birds or their songs either. If Jake didn’tknow any better, he would’ve said they were completely lost.
“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Ezekielasked, crossing his arms over his chest. Flynn, frowning, looked back down atthe open map, biting his bottom lip worriedly.
“Oh boy,” Cassandra sighed, sittingdown on a nearby log. Ezekiel joined her, slumping and muttering under hisbreath in annoyance.
“Don’t worry,” Eve said, bendingover the map too. “We’re not lost.” She glanced back up and jerked her head toJake. “Get over here, Stone.”
Jake nodded and walked up to them,taking a look at the map as well. He studied it for a few seconds beforesighing and reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You’re kiddin’ me,right?”
“What?” Flynn demanded, studying themap closer to look for the thing that Jake had obviously found. He flipped themap around to look at it from the direction Jake had but still looked confused.“What’s wrong?”
“Flynn,” Jake ground out, rippingthe map from his hands. He flipped it around and shoved it towards Flynn,shaking it viciously. “This map is from 1956, dude!”
Flynn’s face fell. “Where…Where doyou see that?”
“The print date!” Jake snapped,tapping the small list of numbers in the corner of the map. “They’ve probablychanged the layout of the trails since then.”
Flynn’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
Eve let out a long, frustratedbreath and took a step away from them. “You know, Flynn, for the smartest manin the world, you can be so stupid sometimes.”
“I-I’m sorry!” Flynn spluttered. “But,hey, you looked at this map too and didn’t see anything!”
“Because I trusted you to be able tocatch something like that!” Eve retorted.
“Well, excuse me for trying to havea fun trip!” Flynn snapped. “I was too busy getting everything prepared that Imust’ve just forgotten to check!”
“It’s a print date from the 1950s!”Eve shouted. “Where do you even get a map from the 1950s, Flynn?!”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe there’sthis huge building that we work in that has artifacts and relics from thebeginning of time that I could’ve accidentally grabbed the wrong map in!” Flynnshouted back.
“Guys,” Ezekiel called from where hewas sitting. Eve and Flynn didn’t hear him over their arguing, and Jake lookedtoo frightened in between the squabbling couple to try and interrupt them.“Guys!”
“What?!”the two snapped, turning on Ezekiel.
The thief was holding up his phone.He rolled his eyes. “I’ve got GPS, y’know. Just tap in wherever it is thatwe’re going on here.”
“Oh,” Flynn murmured. He steppedforward and swiped the phone from Ezekiel, beginning to type on it. “Well, thatworks. Good work, Jones.”
“Whatever,” Ezekiel said, shrugging.
“Oh, perfect!” Flynn said, holdingup the phone triumphantly. “We’re not too far from our destination. We’ve justgot to keep on this trail a little longer. Let’s go, crew!”
He set off again. Jake glanced atEve and huffed, “The 1950s, Baird.”
Eve sighed, looking two seconds awayfrom bashing her head against a tree. “I know, Stone.” She turned a brightsmile onto the other two. “You heard him; let’s get going crew!”
She set off after Flynn, and therest of her Librarians reluctantly followed.
They’d only walked about twentymeters when Flynn came to a halt again. Eve, who’d been paying better attentionthis time, stopped too and snapped, “What now? Have we reached our destinationor is Ezekiel’s GPS from the 1700s?”
“Shh!” Flynn hushed her, and Evelooked like she was about to hit him before he quickly said, “I thinksomething’s wrong.”
“Yeah!” Ezekiel shouted. “We’re outin the middle of a forest when we could be at home with a cold glass of icedtea in our hands!”
“Quiet!” Flynn snapped, and hisserious tone made everyone hold their tongues. Flynn was only ever this seriouswhen he thought they were in real danger, and the team could recognize thiswell enough to understand the severity of the situation. “Do you smell that?”
The sound of sniffing loudly filledthe air quickly, and it was Jake who nodded first, fists clenching. “Smoke.”
“We need to keep moving,” Flynnsaid. He glanced at Ezekiel and waved the phone. “Can I make calls on this? Wemay need a Backdoor.”
Ezekiel shrugged. “I dunno; you cantry, mate, but I bet reception out here is spotty at best.”
Flynn nodded jerkily and started towalk again at a quicker pace, tapping away at Ezekiel’s phone before bringingit up to his ear. He huffed in frustration before he lowered the phone again.“It’s a no go.”
“I can do it,” Cassandra said,sounding a little unsure. “I mean, I can try. After Jake and I got caught up inthat hotel with all the, uh, frost giants, I worked on a homing spell for theBackdoor. I can get it to work…hopefully.”
“You’re gonna have to,” Jake said,voice low. “Look.”
The team stopped and turned in thedirection Jake was pointing in. They were on the side of a mountain and downbelow them they could see dark, heavy smoke in between the trees, quicklyspreading uphill.
“Shall we run?” Flynn suggested.
Eve was already shoving him down thetrial, shouting, “Go!”
They raced along the hiking path,making sure to stick close together. Cassandra was already mutteringincantations under her breath, and a slow ball of magic was forming in herhands. Jake wasn’t quite sure when she’d started getting so good at it, especially after the promise they’d allmade after defeating Apep, but he wasn’t about to question her now, promise orno promise.
Eventually the team reached the endof the hiking path into a large clearing. In the clearing was a large,two-story cabin. Flynn drew to a halt, bending over his knees and pantingheavily. He flourished with one of his hands and sang, “Tadaa!”
“What’s this?” Ezekiel asked, facescrunching up in confusion. Cassandra pushed past him and darted towards thefront door of the cabin, pressing her palms flat against it, and continued tomutter her magic spell.
“Your surprise,” Eve explained. “Wewanted to give you guys a little vacation…so much for that.”
Black smoke had reached the trailseveral hundred yards behind them. The wind was pushing their way, and Jakeknew it would only be a matter of minutes before the smoke was upon them andafter it, the fire.
“Almost!” Cassandra shouted. Sheyelled a few more final words, and a bright beam of white-blue light lit up thedoorframe. “I think I got it!”
She yanked open the door, careful tokeep her hands on it, and shouted, “Okay, go! I’m not sure how long I can keepthe connection!”
Eve shoved Ezekiel through the doorfirst, and he disappeared, hopefully landing safely in the Library beyond. Shepushed Flynn through it after him, and the bright light flickered after he fellthrough, showing a flash of the cabin’s living room before coming back again.
“Baird, you next!” Jake shouted. Shelooked uncertainly between him, Cassandra, and the wall of smoke encroaching onthem quickly. “I’ve got her, go!”
Eve nodded to him before she jumpedinto the bright light too.
Cassandra glanced worriedly at Jake.“I’m not sure I can hold it, and it’ll be gone the moment I let go of this door.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan,” Jakereassured her, beginning to undo all the buckles that held the giant backpackagainst him. He walked up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, glancingbehind him. “Okay, we’ll jump together, yeah? We’ll be fine.”
“O-Okay,” Cassandra murmured.Without letting go of the door, she positioned herself in front of it, ready tojump in. “On the count of three we-.”
“Three!” Jake shouted, shoving herthrough the door. She yelped and tumbled through, disappearing into the whitelight. Jake managed to jump too and groaned loudly when his face hit a soft,carpeted floor. He quickly looked up to find the living room of the cabinsitting in front of him. “Oh hell.”
~~~
Eve quickly got to her feet, sighingin relief to find the Library standing around her. Ezekiel, a few feet away andphone already in hand, was already on his feet and wiping off the sweat fromhis forehead. When he noticed her, he grinned and said, “Hell of a vacation,Baird.”
Flynn, who’d apparently fallen onhis face after Eve had shoved him through the door, groaned from the floorbefore he flipped over and muttered, “To be fair, that wasn’t the exact vacation we had in mind.”
Eve jumped away from the door whenCassandra tumbled through it, quickly reaching out to catch her before her facemet the same fate Flynn’s had. She frowned, confused, when the Backdoor slammedshut behind Cassandra and the glowing light faded away. “Uh, where’s Stone?”
Flynn sat up at that, and Ezekiellooked up from his phone, eyebrows knitted together. Cassandra wrenched herselfaway from Eve and began tugging at the Backdoor handles, shouting, “No, no, no,no, no! He wasn’t supposed to do that! I could’ve held it open for both of uslong enough!”
“What do you mean, Cassandra?” Eveasked, taking hold of her hands and positioning Cassandra in front of her sothey could meet eyes. Cassandra’s were already filling with tears as she shookher head. “Where’s Jacob?”
“H-He pushed me,” Cassandra toldher. “He pushed me and tried to jump, but Itold him. I told him the moment my hands came off of the door, the portalwould close, but he pushed me!”
“O-Okay, okay, it’s fine,” Evestammered. She stepped past Cassandra and over to the globe to begin toposition it. “We’ll just open the door really quick, pull him through, and itwon’t be an issue. It’ll be okay.”
“No, it won’t,” Flynn rasped,stepping up to her. He grabbed her hands and shook his head forlornly. “TheLibrary won’t open the Backdoor to that location again until it knows that it’ssafe; it’s why it slammed the door behind us instead of leaving it open.”
“So, what, Jake’s just trappedthere?” Ezekiel demanded. “That’s ridiculous! The Library wouldn’t do that!”
“It would to protect the rest ofus,” Eve said, realization dawning on her. Her hands started to shake inFlynn’s.
“We can’t just leave him there!”Cassandra protested. “He’ll die!”
Flynn sighed, hanging his head. “Idon’t think we have a choice.”
~~~
Jake did the first thing that cameto mind: Run.
“Shit, shit, shit,” he cursed underhis breath as he scrambled to his feet and began unbuckling the backpackquicker as he raced past the side of the cabin. He needed to get the largebuilding between himself and the fire; it was made from wood, yes, but it wouldserve as some kind of barrier for a short amount of time before the fireovertook the surrounding area.
He yanked the backpack off and beganto rummage through the bag, praying that Flynn had been as over-prepared as healways seemed to be. Jake yanked out a first aid kit, a canteen already filledwith water, an umbrella, some jackets, bug spray, sunscreen…found it. Jake quickly pulled out athin, aluminum fire shelter that he knew wildfire firefighters used. He had noclue how Flynn had gotten his hands on one, but he wasn’t about to startquestioning it.
Jake took a quick survey of the landsurrounding him and found something that he could use for further protection.He sprinted over to a nearby rocky streambed and went about setting up the fireshelter.
Jake had never been happier aboutliving in Oklahoma than in that moment. While the forests there weren’t asprone to catching fire like the one’s in Washington, Jake had experienced somewildfires of his own. He’d never been directly in one before, but as aprecaution, his dad’s business had been required to put each one of its oilworkers through the training of protecting oneself in this exact circumstance.
So, Jake knew that he had to spreadthe fire shelter over himself thoroughly, lying face down on the ground where theair would be cleanest. He then used hiselbows, knees, and feet to pin down the aluminum blanket against what werebound to be strong winds.
It was only a few minutes later whenthe wave of heat hit him. The fire and the wind that accompanied it roaredabove him. He could hear nearby trees bursting into flame wish a whoosh. Debrisand embers fell on his back, but the protective shelter kept them from burninghim. He tried to knock them off while being careful to keep the shelter pinnedto the ground. At one point, a flap pulled up and heat and smoke quicklyspilled into his protective cocoon before Jake could slam it back down to theforest floor again.
He wasn’t sure how long it lasted,but after a couple of minutes the heat seemed less intense and he could nolonger hear the sound of the trees catching fire. Hesitantly, Jake peaked frombeneath the fire shelter. Around him, little pockets of fire still clung to thetrees and dry brush, but it wasn’t the wall of fire that he knew had just goneover him. The nearby trees were scorched black, and the ground around him was acharred mess.
Jake crawled out from beneath thefire shelter, careful he didn’t put his bare hands on any open flame or embers.When he was free, he got to his feet and pulled his shirt collar over his mouthand nose, trying to suck in some smoke-free air. He knew he needed to find away out of the forest quick, or the past five minutes of survival would meannothing in the face of smoke inhalation.
A few yards away, he could see thatthe cabin had caught alight. The backpack he’d spent all day lugging around hadbeen turned into a black, charred pile of cloth that was still burning. Hesearched around for any other exits and nearly collapsed in relief when hiseyes landed on a toolshed that lay not too far away. It was streaked blackaround the sides, but the brick walls had stood up bravely against the intenseflames.
Jake reached down, grabbed the thinpiece of aluminum that had just saved his life, and stumbled over to the toolshed.
~~~
“How much longer?” Eve questioned.Her arms were crossed over her chest as she paced in front of the Backdoor.
Ezekiel and Cassandra were hunchedover the globe that controlled the Backdoor, trying to hack it with a mix oftechnology and magic. Both of them had frustrated looks on their faces, so Evewas forced to assume it wasn’t working as well as they had hoped it would.
“Eve,” Flynn said softly. He wasstanding to the side, face pointed towards the ground. He’d never admit it toanybody but Eve, but he felt guilty. The trip had been his idea. He couldn’tbelieve he hadn’t checked the possibility for a wildfire in that area. “Evemaybe-.”
“No,” Eve snapped, rearing on him.She pointed a shaking finger at him. “I’m not giving up.”
“Eve,”Flynn tried again, but she had resumed her pacing. “The type of heat he justwent up against would’ve been deadly. There’s no possible way he could’vesurvived that. Look, we’ve already informed the park rangers of the fire.M-Maybe they’ll find him, but even if they do, he’s going to be dangerouslyinjured. He may not want-.”
Flynn was cut off when the Backdoorbegan to sputter and flicker with lights. Eve turned to Cassandra and Ezekiel,but both shook their heads in confusion; neither of them had made any progress.Which meant the Library was trying to open the Backdoor and help them out.
Eve quickly wrapped her hands aroundthe handles and yanked the doors open, nearly shouting in shock when Jake fellthrough it. He was coughing and covered in soot, but he didn’t appear to haveany fatal wounds or burns. Eve didn’t hesitate in dragging him in and closingthe Backdoor quickly behind him.
“Jacob?” Flynn said, startled,walking up to him. Without waiting for a response, he began to quickly circlearound Jake, looking for any injuries. When he found nothing, he stepped awaywith a perplexed look on his face. “You’re…alive.”
Jake laughed at that, but he quicklydissolved into a coughing fit. He nodded, and when he got his breath back,said, “Yeah, barely.”
“We need to get him to a hospital,”Ezekiel said, standing up. The others looked at him, confused, and he quicklyadded, “Well, he obviously inhaled smoke. That’s not good for his lungs.”
“I’m fine,” Jake said, waving theteam way quickly. He stepped away from Eve who was trying to reach out and grabhim. “I’m serious; I’m okay.”
“Someone call the park rangers andtell them we found our man,” Eve said quickly.
Ezekiel raised an eyebrow. “You meantell them that a man in the middle of the forest somehow made his way back tous during a wildfire?”
Eve frowned. “Uh, good point.”
“But how are you here?” Cassandraasked, stepping up to Jake. “I mean, how are you even alive? That shouldn’t bepossible.”
“Uh, Flynn, actually,” Jake told them,turning a grin on the man. “Seriously, dude, you are so over-preparedsometimes.”
Flynn frowned. “What do you mean?”
“That backpack had a wildfire fireshelter,” Jake explained, nodding to the aluminum shelter on the floor that he’ddropped when he’d tumbled through the Backdoor. “Luckily I took a trainingcourse in how to set one up back when I lived in Oklahoma. Saved my life, man.”
Flynn’s frown deepened. “I didn’tpack that bag; Eve did.”
Jake turned to Eve to thank her, butshe shook her head too. “I didn’t pack it. I found it that way.”
“So, who packed it?” Jake asked.
They all turned to Cassandra whenshe laughed giddily. Jake raised a questioning eyebrow at her, and she grinned.“Isn’t it obvious? Like you said earlier, Eve, the Library protects us.”
Eve slowly smiled and shook herhead. “Yeah, I guess it does.” She slapped Jake on the back. “Well, good work,Stone. You’re definitely the first guy I’d call in a crisis.”
Jake grinned. “Thanks, Baird.”
She squeezed his shoulder andwandered off, muttering to herself about learning how fire shelters worked.
Flynn grinned at Jake. “Well, uh,sorry about all that, but, yeah, what Eve said. Good job, Jacob.”
He awkwardly reached up to ruffleJake’s hair before giving him another brief smile and sprinting after Eve. Jakewatched him go, a reluctant smile of his own tugging at his lips as he shookhis head after the man.
Cassandra walked up to him next,pulled him into a hug, and then stepped back to punch him in the shoulder. Hewinced and stepped away from her, saying, “What the hell was that for?”
She pointed a warning finger at him.“That’s what you get for making me leave you back there!” She pulled him intoanother hug. “I’m glad you’re okay though, you dolt.”
She pulled away and walked out ofthe room. Ezekiel ambled up next and rolled his eyes. “I’m not hugging you.” Hebit his lip and looked around nervously before saying, “But I am taking you tothe hospital.” He held up a hand when Jake started to protest and added, “Andyou don’t get a choice. I’ll literally knock you out and drag you out of hereif I have too. Trust me; smoke in the lungs is not good for your body. We’releaving in ten.”
He reached out, timidly patted Jakeon the shoulder, and walked away, pulling out his phone to begin tapping on itwildly.
Jake sighed and was about to followwhen something made him pause. He looked around the room and awkwardly said, “Uh,thanks I guess.”
He cleared his throat and added, “Butnext time can your saving be a bit more, I dunno, direct? Like, let’s avoid allthe fire and stuff?”
The lights flickered above him, andthe room shook.
“Okay, okay, never mind!” Jakeshouted, quickly walking out of the room. As he was walking out the door, hemuttered, “Ya freak.”
He yelped when the door slammed shutbehind him and raced down the hall to catch up with Ezekiel.
(also, ps, the only kind of fire experience i have is a house fire and i’m like 92% sure that a wildfire is a completely different experience so if you’ve ever experienced a wildfire first of all: good job to u for living and secondly: i’m literally basing this on my personal experience and a multitude of google searches so a thousand apologies for any inaccuracies :P)
(also, wildfires are extremely scary. if you’re interested in what being in the middle of one looks like and are not afraid of fire like me, check out this wicked cool video )
So there was a huge fire at a local apartment building where I live, and there was a lot of damage but luckily no one was seriously hurt, but a lot of stuff was lost including entire apartments. Some people and whole families have lost everything, and have to start from scratch. But people all around town have banded together, both locals and businesses alike, to help those affected. Free hotel rooms have been offered, and a lot of donations have been given to help such as clothing and hygiene products.
It's stuff like this that reminds me there's still plenty of good in the world, and that makes me happy. Things are still plenty rough at the moment, as it all went down yesterday. But things are certainly looking up thanks to all the help people are giving (I've already donated, too). It's scary, yes, but I'm sure it's all gonna be okay in the end! For now I'll just keep it all in prayer and help out if I can, too :)
When you live in California so your packing go-bags and putting old photos in the fire box in case fire gets to us (unlikely but possible).
It’s so Smokey you can see it outside, and we can’t be in the garage because the smoke is too strong in there. Also, it’s really close to family, so I’m worried about them.
We found some cool photos though. I look a lot like my great grandparents.
