The Fire Child: Chapter 2
The Fire Child: Chapter 2
Draden's eyes gleamed with starlight as he marveled up at the night sky. He had learned about heaven from a number of different conversations that had happened around him. The heavens are the skies, he had heard somebody say in one conversation, while in another he had learned that the gods lived in the heavens, and in another conversation he found out that when somebody died they would go to the heavens.
With this information, Draden had figured out what the stars were. If the dead go to the heavens and the skies are the heavens, then the stars must be the dead, which was why there was a countless number of stars. People died all the time. He scanned the night sky, wondering which star was his mother. Was she watching him right now? Was she happy in the sky? He thought it must be nice to be able to look down at the world and watch it without worrying about it trying to get you.
As he continued to scan the night sky, his eyes landed on the moon. The moon was so large compared to everything else in the night sky; it struck awe into the wolf pup even when it was just a sliver the way it was now. Draden figured that since the gods lived in the heavens and the stars were the dead, then the moon must be a god. It was so ominous; he had trouble taking his eyes off of it. He even had a strong urge to howl at the moon, but he knew better than to do that and fought back the urge.
Draden's suspicions that the moon was a god were strengthened when he had found out that it had a name. The people he had been listening to were a group of wolves, instead of calling it the moon; they would say "Luna" and say "she" and "her" instead of it when referring to the moon.
So the goddess of the night sky was named Luna. What did she do? She was always out when the dead were. Draden thought he knew. He was very sure that Luna's job was to protect the stars when they came out at night for the living to see.
However, there were some nights when she didn't come out with the stars. Those nights, like last night, worried Draden. Would his mother be okay in the heavens without the moon there to protect her? Did she make it the last night? He wasn't completely sure, but he felt that she was safe; his mother was not just nice, she was strong. She could fight off the evil at night when Luna had even more important things to do.
Ketch's eyes were staring in a completely different direction than Draden's. The white wolf pup's eyes were gleaming with the street lights of the city in the valley. Everything Ketch really wanted was in the city.
There was the group of older furs who usual hung around near bars. They would use a lot of foul language and insult each other and passersby's. When one insulted the other, the other would insult back and they would laugh and continue the insults. When a passerby was insulted, the passerby would be offended and usually trump off in an angry fashion, causing even more laughter from them. They treated Ketch as if he was one of them and he would insult them, causing them to laugh and insult him back.
There were also plenty of unsuspecting people in the city that Ketch would steal from and play tricks on. Sometimes they had money, which he would use to buy food for him and Draden. Other times they had trinkets, which Ketch would either keep for himself or sell and buy food with the money.
He had a collection of electronics built up; they had always fascinated the wolf pup. When they weren't doing something, Ketch would take them apart and figure out how to put them back together again. He had become quite good at putting the electronics together that he eventually got to the point where was bored of it. Instead of putting them back to the way they were, he started to mix pieces and design his own things. He was becoming rather skilled at inventing new things and hoped to find more pieces for his new designs. But, the city was the only place he could find electronics. Ketch loved the city.
Both the wolf pups had been staring at the night time beauties for almost half an hour now, thinking to themselves, when they both whispered at the same time, "It's beautiful." They turned to look at each other as the others words fell on their own. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then the two wolf pups fell over onto their backs laughing.
After laughing for a while, Ketch stood up, breathing deeply. He looked down at Draden who was still lying on his back, letting out a small snicker every now and then. Ketch reached down and picked Draden up, setting him on his feet. "Come on, Draden; let's spend the night in the city." The white wolf pup looked back at the cave that they were sitting in front of. His nose wrinkled in disgust as he spoke, "We'll let the smell of puke air out for a while before we come back." Draden nodded his head in agreement, he didn't want to sleep in the cave with the disgusting vomit smell either. Ketch turned around and headed through the surrounding bushes, with Draden following close behind.
Before Draden had met Ketch, he had become close friends with a large black dragon, who used to live in the cave that they stayed in now. The dragon was probably the first person that was sure to protect Draden from anything, and could protect Draden from almost anything. The cave used to be lit by magical glowing orbs that could be found along the walls of the cave, but one day the black dragon had left and eventually the orbs stopped glowing, bringing the cave to darkness. The cave had also been really warm and dry when the dragon had occupied it, but now that he had been gone for so long, the cave was cold. Thankfully the cave was still dry because of the way it was built into the hill, but now the cave was dark and cold.
The dragon had told Draden that he could use the cave while he was gone, and Draden did so. Not long after becoming friends with Ketch, Draden showed the white wolf pup the dragon's cave, and they had been living In it ever since. The cave was a safe place for them. Because it was off the road and through thick brush that only the pups could easily crawl under, people weren't likely to find it. Even though the dragon was gone, his scent had remained strong in and around the cave, warding off any feral animals that would otherwise want to live there. It was a perfect place for the two pups to hide in without worry, the only place they could truly call home. Draden didn't know if the dragon would ever come back to the cave, or if he was even still alive, but if he did, he knew that both he and Ketch would still be welcome at the cave.
Ketch and Draden peered out from underneath the thick brush by the road. They looked up and down the road several times, making sure that there was nobody on it to see them come out from under the brush. The cave was a secret that only Ketch, Draden, and the dragon that used to live there knew about, and that was how they wanted it to stay. They wouldn't risk anybody getting the idea that there might be something through the thick brush and have them find the cave. After deciding that nobody was coming up the dirt road, the two wolf pups climbed out from under the thick brush.
Ketch brushed leaves, dirt and Velcro bristles off of his and Draden's fur the best he could. He smiled at the younger wolf pup as he brushed the plant debris off and said, "Alright, I think this is as clean as we are going to get, let's go." Ketch turned and followed the road down the hill towards the city. They stayed off to the right side of the road, Draden sticking close behind Ketch, as they walked along it.
Even though it was easier to stay hidden at night time, there were plenty more feral animals out. They could hear insects buzzing, frogs croaking, and owls hooting. They stopped once as they heard a shuffling in the darkness. The pups looked up and sniffed the air; it was an unfamiliar scent to Draden. They waited quietly, even though Ketch could fight off another fur, a feral was almost impossible to win. It was best to stay low in case the creature caught on to the two pups hiding by the road. Once the shuffling in the forest seemed to be gone and the scent started to die down, Ketch looked over to Draden, who nodded at him, then nodded back and the two pups continued down the dark road. They didn't encounter any people or cars along the road this late at night, which was perfectly fine with them. They preferred to be hidden and left alone.
Eventually the light of the city was shining through the trees, making it even easier for the two wolf pups to see where they were headed. As the trees started to thin, they let their guard down some, knowing that the feral animals preferred to stay away from the city. Finally, the two wolf pups came into the city. The street lights illuminated it in a mystical golden light at night time, making it appear to be more magical than it actually was. It was late at night; the streets were empty, giving the city an eerie dead feeling. Ketch lead Draden through the twisting streets, every once in a while there was a sign of life, reminding them that they weren't actually alone in the city.
Ketch led Draden through the city to a single story building that had a cellar with windows. It was the bar that Ketch would hang around outside. This was where the group of adult furs that Ketch liked to hang around gathered. Of course they weren't there tonight. Even the most dedicated alcoholic would be at home at this hour of the night. No, the bar was closed, but Ketch hadn't shown up expecting to see his friends, he was looking for a place to stay the night.
The white wolf pup pressed his face up to the glass of the cellar windows, peering inside. It was dark and he couldn't really see anything, but whatever was in there, it was better than sleeping outside. He pushed on the window then looked back at Draden, "It's barely secured, look out for people as I work on opening it." The black wolf pup turned around and scanned the street. Ketch pushed at the window harder, then pulled the window back, wriggling it back and forth. The small latch at the bottom wriggled with the window and after a while it came undone.
Ketch pushed the window open and climbed inside as Draden looked back at him. The small black wolf padded over to Ketch, who helped him into the bar cellar. Ketch carefully closed the window behind him, latching it shut. The two wolf pups looked around the cellar, sniffing at the strange smells.
The cellar was filled with shelves and boxes. Draden sniffed along the shelves. The shelves along the walls were designed different and held bottles, while the shelves in the middle of the room had mostly boxes on them. The bottles seemed to be filled with differing liquids. Some gave off a fruity smell, while others gave off more of a flowery smell. The boxes held different things in them. Some boxes had preserved foods and nuts, while others had decorations for different events and holidays.
Ketch wandered along the shelves, sniffing at the bottles. He grabbed a bottle off the shelf and inspected it, smiling. He came over to Draden who was looking into a box of fancy decorations that smelled like pine trees. The black wolf pup looked up away from the box as Ketch approached him holding the bottle. Ketch pulled the cork out of the bottle and held it out to Draden, "Drink this, Draden, its good."
Draden hesitated, inspecting the bottle carefully. He sniffed at the opening in the top. The liquid inside had a strong fruity smell, very similar to grapes. "Hurry up already, I can feel myself growing old." Draden blinked, tilting his head and giving Ketch a confused stare. The white wolf pup rolled his eyes and pushed the bottle against Draden, "Just drink it already..."
Draden grabbed the bottle as well as he could with his paws. He opened his mouth and slowly drank from the bottle. The liquid tasted like some kind of strange grapes, he couldn't quite decide if he liked it. It was strange, but kind of sweet. Ketch took the bottle from Draden as the small black wolf pulled it from his maw. The white wolf leaned his head back, drinking heavily from the bottle and handing it back to Draden. Ketch snickered and sat down, watching Draden.
The small black wolf pup looked down at the bottle, still a little unsure about the liquid. He glanced up at Ketch who was eager for Draden to drink more of it. Draden sat down on his hind haunches and lifted the bottle up to his lips, drinking more of the strange liquid. He was still unable to decide if he liked it as he put the bottle down. Ketch took another drink from the bottle, then gave the bottle to Draden and stood up saying, "Good, huh?" Draden looked up at him, giving Ketch an unsure stare, then taking another drink from the bottle. Ketch waved the younger pup off and looked around the room.
Draden sat the bottle on the floor, deciding he didn't really want anymore. He was feeling a little strange and lightheaded now, so he decided to curl up on the floor. His dark gold eyes peered over his tail, looking at the glass bottle next to him. He didn't quite understand what Ketch liked so much about the drink, it really wasn't that great. He shivered, the room was cold and he was feeling a little sick now.
After looking around the room, Ketch decided there wasn't much else interesting in the room. He walked back over to Draden, seeing the small black wolf pup curled up on the floor, the glass bottle of wine next to him. He picked it up and looked inside, it was half empty. He snickered, thinking that Draden probably didn't really like it at all. He took a drink from the bottle.
It really wasn't that great at all, but he liked it anyways. The older furs would drink stuff like this all the time, plus it made him feel weird in a good way. Well, most of the time. Once he had drank too much and became really sick from it. It wasn't fun to wake up in the alley near a pile of your own vomit with a horrendous headache. He had stayed away from the stuff for quite a while after that.
He looked passed the bottle at Draden curled up on the floor. The black wolf pup was staring up at him. He looked tired. Ketch let out a small sigh and set the bottle down on the floor. He curled up next to Draden, hugging the other wolf pup close to him. "Let's get some sleep, Draden." The black wolf pup nodded his head and snuggled close to Ketch. Ketch smiled and nuzzled him a little, "You can't burn tonight though, okay? If you do, the whole building will burn down and you will hurt me too." Draden whimpered at the thought. Ketch hugged him, "Don't worry, Draden. If you start to get too hot, I'll wake you up." Draden nodded his head and let out a silent murr. Ketch's eyes slowly closed as he started to drift off to sleep, muttering, "Night Draden..." Draden's dark gold eyes slowly shut; the room was now darkness as the small pup fell into a deep sleep.