Smoke You Out || Phillida
@phillipxknight
The air was crisp and dry, smellin’ of leaves that lost their lustre. And oh, it was a smell, wasn’t it, a smell that Merida knew well. She could close her eyes and be back into the forests of her childhood, the ones she rode Angus through. Though she could not close her eyes and think of those forests-- for this was not the forest of her childhood. She was about to set fire to this one.
And so y’know-- Merida wasn’t excited about that.
She was excited about what would come after the flame caught and the smoke billowed up. She was excited to see the Changeling emerge, to learn his form and then to take him down. But the fire itself, the panic it might cause, the damage to the trees… no, Merida did not delight in it. But it was necessary.
One good shot and she’d weaken the magical hold that ‘twined the trees together as one and hid the monsters that she and Phil sought for. One shot, and she’d prove she was the best shot. One shot, and she’d be a step closer to taking her place in the Order, as she was meant to.
She rode Angus, Phil behind her, his hand on her waist. They picked their way through with an easy walk as they got closer to the spot they’d picked out. It was a patch of the forest that a stream curled ‘round. It should be easier to keep the fire under control. ‘Course, they needed to do a little pre-burnin’ of the undergrowth themselves, just in case-- that way the fire would have nothin’ to eat when it reached their designed borders; funny, wasn’t it, how oft you fought fire with fire?
She stopped Angus when they reached it, dismounted, then looked up at Phil. “Need help, Slayer?” she teased him, liftin’ her arm up toward him.