Life in the desert was not as exciting as it may sound, at least to Ember. He was tired of the infinite sand, the intense heat, even the tumbleweeds that seemed to love clinging to his house. He couldn’t train as long as he wanted without passing out and almost dying of a heat stroke. His friends never seemed to mind, but they were probably crazy anyways, so he decided to leave them all. He had tried to leave multiple times already, but he always ended up half dead, starving, and painfully dehydrated, just lying in the sand and waiting for someone to come pick him up.

After a full week of research (he would have done more, but he was too desperate to leave), he set off for the forest that was supposedly farther north than he had ever been before. The trip was painful and he actually almost died a bunch of times, but he found the strength to continue and eventually ended up in the forest. It was so cold! He almost froze the first night, but he had water and knew how to start a fire, so all was well. He spent a bit of time wandering from town to town, looking for a place to stay. As he got closer to the lake apparently known for its delicious fish and fresh water, he heard more and more rumors about a powerful deity who protected a certain lake town from evil spirits and criminals. Suspicious but also intrigued, he pushed on and found himself at the lake from all the rumors.

Life on the lake was a lot more enjoyable! Fresh fish every day, cool air, even the occasional rain! The only problem was that he could smell the fear in the air. Everyone around him seemed terrified of something, and the only thing he could think of was the lake deity from the rumors. He stayed close to the shadows, but he watched closely, to see if the deity was real. He was, sure enough, and he was super tough! His physical strength was amazing, and Ember knew he couldn’t best him using strength alone. Luckily, he had another tactic up his sleeve: speed. If he could incapacitate the deity fast enough, then no amount of physical strength would be able to knock Ember over.

He spent the next few weeks studying the deity (he learned that his name was Pike after eavesdropping a bit) and analyzing his fighting styles. It didn’t take long for Ember to feel confident enough to go and challenge Pike to a formal battle, and he asked that if he won Pike would mentor him in his ways. Ember himself wasn’t sure why, maybe he just wanted to study Pike a bit more. No matter the reason, he won (although it was pretty close! had he waited a second too long he would have been overpowered immediately), and Pike agreed to mentor him.

Over the course of time, Ember grew deeply attached to Pike and loved him as he had never loved a friend before. When Pike entrusted him with protecting the town when a monster got past him, he did his best, and when he didn’t succeed he felt as if he had betrayed their friendship. He felt it was necessary to pay Pike back somehow, so he taught the deity everything he knew about fighting. Pike knew more than him, but their strategies were so vastly different that they both seemed to learn something from the lessons. As times grew more peaceful, they found themselves sparring more and more, and now neither of them know who has won more matches (Ember is certain he has, but Pike always refutes that by saying he’s actually been counting). Things are calming down, and more and more people are visiting the lake town with good intentions. Ember feels like a real hero for whatever reason, and in truth that’s all he ever wanted.