Firestorm Event

    Song made a soft, sad trill as they walked through the scorched grass, the acrid tang of smoke in their nostrils a sharp reminder of all that had been lost, past and present. The vibrant green of the long prairie grass had turned black, the plants twisted and curled, trying to shelter themselves from the heat that had swept through the land.

    Smoke still hung in the air, the sky the gray of wet soot as their paws stepped down on piles of ash and the remnants of plants.

    Andromeda touched her nose to a shriveled sage bush and Mirrina went to comfort her.

    They were with a keeper searching for the source of the fire, a long grid of esk spread across the gently rolling land doing all they could to find a reason why.

    Violet, Nagi, Cara and Song rode on mama’s back, out of the ash and prickles. Rosette and Andromeda walked together next to Mirrina, keeping a careful eye out for anything suspicious or any trapped animals, especially the burrowing sort.

    Their warrens might have gone deep enough to keep them out of harm way.

    Just maybe.

    The keeper was distressed, keeping a sharp lookout for both possible causes and the missing Vetru. Nobody had seen the great esk since their race up the hill and they were all greatly worried.

    They came upon the center of the fire, where the great smoke beast had crouched and snarled. Its presence had left a great black swathe, as black as the pit and still glowing with embers around the edges.

    What could have breathed life into such a thing as that?

    Toki touched the edges of a plant with the very tip of her foot, the stalk of grass disintegrating, the ash being pulled into a sudden breeze that sent another black cloud coursing up into the sky, dimming the sun briefly and dampening the spirits of all near by.

    Surely the plains could come back from something like this, they had seen the proof just earlier that day.

    Life would come again.

    Mama was sure of it.

    The keeper was nuzzling around the blackened earth, shaking their head “I just done know…” their words faded into mumbles as they looked out of the plains.

    Rosette stuck her nose into a mouse hole violet and cara pointed out, making sure the inhabitant wasn’t at home.

    No one was home and rosette couldn’t help but wonder if they had made it out or been transformed.

    How many new esk were there?

    She wished she could go find them.

    Persephone walked to the keeper, looking at the embers, the orange and red of dying flame almost hypnotizing “its alright, we’ll figure it out.” she tapped the keeper on the shoulder with her nose and they turned to look, the sadness in their eyes heart wrenching.

    But persephone believed what she said.

    They would figure this out.

    And the valley would one day hold such life again.

    She looked up into the sky, firming her resolve “everything happens for a reason. We just need to be brave, and have faith.”

    She looked back down, song gliding onto her back, humming a little and nodding “Persephone’s right. Lets go help the search for Vetru. They’ll know what to do!”

    “i second that!” Nagi stood on mama’s back with cara and violet.

    Mirrina looked hesitantly down the line of searching esk “but where do we start.”

    Andromeda ducked her head to look closer to the grasses roots “there’s a lot of burrows here, of foxes and owls and badgers, maybe in one of those?”

    Toki tilted her head “perhaps a set of warrens that have collapsed into one? That may be big enough and I’ve seen such things elsewhere…”

    “there’s no harm in trying, Take the lead Mirrina!” she looked up at the bigger esk, who hunched her shoulders “I don know…maybe mama would be better.”

    Rosette trotted over the Mirrina “come on, we can do it together, and mama will help, right?”

    They looked at mama, who tilted her head, her voice encouraging “of course. I can look high and you can look low, that way we wont miss anything.”

    Persephone danced in place “alright, lets get our butts in gear!”

    Nagi scampered down from mama and joined the dark blue song on persephone’s back, blending with the slate gray of her fur, grabbing small tufts as handholds.

    They turned towards the sun, ready to go.

    They could do this, together.