Frostburn

Winter was coming to the islands. For many this was a harder time- herbivores struggled to find enough food as vegetation withered and died, and the cold weather posed a serious risk to those unadapted to deal with it. On the occasion snow would even fall, coating the world in a thick white blanket that many could not deal with. It was a time of weakness, of harsh reality- however, some thrived in it.

Deep in a thick pine forest lurked a family of albertosaurus. They possessed a unique adaptation to survive and thrive within the colder weather, just like the evergreen thickets they inhabited. The family of three were best fed during the winter, ambushing weakened creatures who sought out the shelter of their forest and breaking the illusion of safety. The forest was what helped ensure their survival- along with their pale brown and white coats of scales and feathers that gave them amazing camouflage. It was perfect.

Was being the keyword. There was no warning to it when it happened- the three had been gathered around a fresh kill of a deer after a hunt well had, socializing and grooming each others scales. Boreal, the male, was finishing up the remains of the kill while his mate Glory groomed their daughter Flurry. Everything was relaxed- everything was at peace. But it changed with the black shadow that flew over the sky, the faint beating of wings. None of the three paid much attention to it- flying creatures were neither threats nor food, and were not worth much attention in that case. Boreal noticed something fall from the sky and land in a thick patch of trees nearby- however, he thought nothing of it. Flurry squawked as Glory gently nipped her feathers, causing the albertosaurus to turn back to his family and put it out of mind.

Flurry was the next to notice something was wrong as she darted away from her parents in mock offense, attempting to prompt a bout of chase- but stopped dead in her tracks as an odd scent made itself known. The adolescent snorted in confusion, attempting to shake her head to clear the scent- but it only got worse. Irritated, she huffed and looked towards the source of the odor curiously- a nearby patch of trees was smoking slightly, and strange sounds were coming for it. Curious, she approached. Was that… orange? Alarm bells were ringing in her head as the orange spread across the green pines, consuming them and producing more grey. The albertosaurus let out a low growl, which became a yelp of alarm as an orange branch fell from the canopy and smacked her on the head. Instantly pain radiated outwards, causing Flurry to wail in pain and turn back to her parents.

Glory and Boreal’s heads shot up as they heard their daughter cry in pain, panic only increasing as they spotted the cause- the back of her head was on fire, flames flickering out and scorching the white feathers. Quickly they spring into action, leaping forward. Boreal reached Flurry first, in his panic doing the first thing that came to mind- biting the burning flame. However, this clearly did not work, leaving him keening backwards with a burn of his own as he howled in pain.

Glory was more experienced in the concept- if only a little. She was quick to hip check her daughter, no time for gentleness in a case like this. Flurry let out a wail as she hit the dirty forest floor- but that was the plan. Glory was quick to scrape dirt and dust over the flames, quickly extinguishing them but leaving behind blackened feathers. Her own feet suffered minor burns from the flames- however, Glory ignored it and kept scraping dirt until her daughters feathers were more dust than ash. She was quick to nudge at Flurry's nose, cooing an apology at her daughter's whimpers. Boreal let out a sound of pain from his burnt mouth, miserably resting his head against Glory. The albertosaurus let out a low sound, before turning to face the burning patch of trees. The fire had only grown stronger, burning and withering away at the pines. Glory was quick to nudge Flurry and Boreal away- they had to leave before the fire grew stronger. Wincing at the burns on her feet, she was quick to lead them towards the dirt field nearby- a small river ran through it, and it would be perfect to soothe their burns.

Boreal was quick to submerge his whole head in the half dried river (more like a creek, really) when they arrived, opening his mouth to let the ice-cold water soak in. Flurry chose a more extreme option, fully dunking herself in the water. Glory simply stood in the shallows, letting out a sigh of relief as the cool water washed over her feet. The three sat in silence, quietly watching their part of their home burn. At least this, too, would pass… the winter cold would be sure to put it out. Still. One thought left them confused- where had the fire come from? Would it be back?