[Seasonal] Heated

Island Kela is known as the mild island of the isles; its volcanoes are dormant and lava flows restricted to its more active neighbor island Pera. It may have been a discarded piece of glass acting as a lens, stray ashes and cinders making their way to dry foliage, or one overzealous pyromaniac, but the wildfire took everyone by surprise.

The forest was just smoldering at first, thin veils of light smoke rising to the sky in one moment, but it grew hungry and destructive within minutes. Small animals and those sensitive to the smell fled to the meadows first. Some more uncaring and stubborn than others stayed. Why would they leave? The woodlands were always a safer place and fires may be rare, but not an unknown occurrence. It’ll pass, that’s what everyone thought.

Once the sky turned black and blazing red everyone was on the move.

Pressured by the rapidly spreading wall of fire and the styracosaurus herd splintered and gunned it whichever way towards the coast and any terrain that might slow the fire down. The herd was sprinkled and spread out over the woodlands when the fire started to grow into a problem, and once it did it was a futile attempt to regroup. This was now each on their own.

Three were caught in the middle of it. First came the smoke, then the heat, then the flames. Riker was adamant that just reaching the wetlands could be enough to be safe from the heat and flames, but first they had to reach it. Right at his heels were Chiska and Gwenn, before they could lose sight of him even as the thin veils of smoke blurred their vision.

No one wants to be left alone in a disaster. Not while smoke and cinders fill the air before the fire can follow suit. Not while obstacles fall in place to block their paths and creatures can take advantage of the situation.

“I have never seen the forest burn like that. So much smoke… It’s even blocking out the sun!” Gwenn exclaimed, as she kept glancing behind her as the three of them moved forward. The other two were ahead of her, with Riker in the lead. Even on familiar terrain and with the heat pressing in from behind she has a hard time reaching their top speed for long. “I hope Raze made it out in time. I really want to go and look for him, but it’s hard to breathe in here.”

Riker trudged forward unperturbed, ignoring Gwenn with a twitch of his brow. He did notice Chiska slow down behind him, but had no intention to do the same.

“A friend of yours?” Chiska asked, looking back over her shoulder to meet eyes with the darker green styraco. She briefly looked back over to Riker, who trudged ahead, but faced Gwenn again after a pause. She slowed down to fall behind just enough so she trotted by her side. The sound of burning branches, aggressive crackling and snapping, closed in on them, but so far they were outpacing the spread. “Maybe we run into him. Or you could watch out for him as long as we still hurry.”

“No shot!” Riker interjected with a sudden stop and turned harshly, now facing both females, stopping them in their tracks as well. “Chiska, she means her meat-eater friend. We’re not running towards the fire to save a predator. Are you insane?”

“Wha- That isn’t what I said!” Gwenn roared back with a sudden flash of anger. She shakes her head. “Other than you, he’s actually nice! I just can’t help but worry. What if he got stuck or something blocks the way? He isn’t that strong to push anything out of the way or climb that well. If we see him we should help!”

“Oh, really? He has his own legs, he can handle himself, and if not, that’s one less predator to worry about,” he interrupted her. “Stop thinking about that hunter and think more about keeping up.”

Gwenn just stood there stunned, eyes wide. How could he say such a thing about her best friend? Predator or not, that’s cruel. Besides, it was him who stopped walking and picking a fight over this. Tensing in her stance, her composure switched in an instant.

Caught between the two, Chiska’s eyes flicked from one to the other and back, then to the gluttonous wall of fire and smoke still closing in between the trees. Gwenn was about to blow up, she saw it in the way her beak grinded, ready to bark back. Riker stood sturdy, a glare in his eyes that dared her to do so. They don’t have time for this. They won’t make it if they argue, let alone fight.

“Wait, hold on. We- we could do both,” Chiska interjected before she had her words ready. “Uhm, we can’t go back—it’s too dangerous to go back—but we can skirt around so you can call out to your friend, Gwenn. We’ll still be heading to the marshes right? We’re still moving and we can keep an eye out for, uh- Rake? Raze? Yes, Raze!” She takes a quick breath, glancing between the two stubborn ceratopsians. “Is- Does that sound like something?”

“Can we do that? We totally can do that!” Gwenn agreed.

“No, we can’t do a detour around the fire. We’re just outpacing it right now, if we go sideways it might as well trap us.” Riker countered. Meeting Gwenn specifically with a scrutinizing glare, he added on. ”What exactly will you do when you hear your raptor fella call back to you? Jump right into the flames?”

“He is not a raptor!” Gwenn growled, more offended than she’d like to admit. She continued before he could retort how that’s basically the same thing. “I am not stupid, but I won’t leave him behind if he needs me!”

“Then- Then, we go now and come back later when it is safe to scout for him,” Chiska pressed on, nudging both to move and keep walking. “Riker is right. With the fire this big, we can’t go in to rescue anyone without hurting ourselves. It moves fast, it’ll pass fast, r-right?”

Without waiting for an answer she trots ahead, coughing as stray ash and cinders burns her nose, and speeds into a hurried canter. A blazing branch crashes into the ground a distance behind all of them, and even Riker and Gwenn agree to move on.

Riker is quick to reclaim the lead, with the girls falling back into formation. Chiska only gave Gwenn an apologetic look before focusing on keeping the tempo. Lungs aching, ashes and soot raining from the dense black clouds above, and feet rushing toward a cooler environment, Gwenn for once needed to stay focused.

(1136 words according to Google Docs)