Seasonal | Burned Out | Biting Heat

“It’s cold!” The complaint was carried on a meek voice, high pitched and squeaky, a mix between a baby bird's chirp and a complaining toddler. The owner of the voice was obviously young and, unlike the siblings he was playing with, he did not have a dune feather covering. The gray cryo shivered again when another breeze brushed over his exposed skin.
“Mossa, it’s not funny” he pouted, lightly shoving his muted moss green brother, named after his coloration, with his snout. Mossa had teasingly mimicked his shivering with exaggerated movements, and clattered his teeth in mocking, it was something his feathered siblings sometimes mocked him – and his other brother Sten, who was also bald – for. Being cold. He knew they didn’t do it to be mean though, and therefore didn’t take it too much to heart.
“Stop being mean Mossa, we can find a way to warm him instead!” Socker interjected, stepping between her two darker siblings, holding out a pale arm to separate them. Not that it was actually needed, the siblings rarely fought for real, mostly it all derailed into screaming matches intertwined with bouts of crying, until their fathers came and sorted it out for them.
Mossa seemed to ponder on the decision for a while, his young mind weighing helping his cold, often complaining, brother against continuing to play hide and seek. After a few seconds he nodded, Socker had complained about the game anyway, how it had been “unfair” just because he was green and better melted into the greens of the forest that was their home, unlike her who was almost white with her leucism. To him it just sounded like she was a sore loser.

“I heard Sten tell dad about a warm ‘room’” he volunteered, nodding sagely as if he had given them the answer to the problem. Not really contemplating the fact that he didn’t actually know where this ‘room’ thing was located. He only heard Sten tell Ajax about some structure he found that was warm inside, he also conveniently left out the part where it was supposed to be a secret. Sten had told dad so, he just hadn’t known Mossa was close by listening.
 “Warm Room?” Orm echoed, intrigued by this new game, and the prospect of no longer being cold. “Where?” he continued, the inevitable question Mossa had very much hoped he wouldn’t ask. The tiny green cryo scraped the ground with his feet, stalling.
“You don’t know?” Socker accused with a squinted stare, suddenly suspicious about this very convenient solution. It sounded more like they would have to look through the whole forest, it could take all day!
“I do too!” he complained loudly, a defiant tone in his voice, and his feathers puffed out. But when they waited on an actual answer he just deflated and huffed.
“I saw where he came from” he amended finally, looking away.
“Well let’s go!!” Orm chirped, the sad, complaining tone in his voice from being cold completely erased and exchanged for excitement. He had almost forgotten about why they were going to look for the room, now just excited for the adventure of it. Being cold was no longer of any importance in the face of exploring after all.
 With Mossa hesitantly leading the group the three cryos made their way back towards their home, to be able to start from where he had seen Sten emerge from the trees.
“Which way?!” Socker asked with urgency in her voice, bouncing through the clearing that was currently empty. Sten and their fathers were on some errand or other, and their older siblings rarely hung around the home for long, especially when no one else was around. Technically one of the older siblings was supposed to look after the three youngest, but they had lost them in the forest playing hide and go seek, something the youngsters didn’t much dwell on, well why would they when they could spend that time playing or exploring?

 “Over there!!” Orm pointed excitedly towards a wooden structure further up a hill, partially hidden between the trees of the forest. They had walked, bounced and trekked all over this hill by now, and probably taken way more time than anyone else just looking for something. Periodically being distracted by sounds, movements and animals they would happen upon. Only remembering that they were looking for something when Orm once again shuddered by a stray breeze.
“It gotta be that one!” Socker immediately agreed, even though she wouldn’t know. It looked warm to her, so that was enough. Maybe just getting out of the wind was all Sten had meant? But that weird glow that seemed to come from some hole in the wall did look warm after all. Like the glow of fire, but it didn’t dance as much.
“Yeah! Looks like the thing Sten mentioned” His words sounded less confident than he wanted them too, but he weighed it up by very confidently running through the fallen leaves toward the structure.
“Last one there loses!” he shrieked, already having a headstart.
“Cheater!!” the protests from his siblings ringed behind him, together with the sound of their hurried shuffling through the leaves. Orm was the first one to run past him, but Socker soon passed both of them. She was the fastest after all, and even his cheap tricks wasn’t enough of an advantage for him to win against her.  They never were.
“Ugh you always have to win” he complained, stomping his feet in the mulch just next to the building, pouting.
 “I don’t have to, you are just slow” she retorted, sticking her tongue out toward him.
“But I’m first in!” Orm interrupted their quarrel, leaping up the wooden stairs that led to a dark wooden door that was slightly ajar, a warm yellow light leaking out into the darkening forest. He darted into the room, giggling at his siblings squealing protests behind him, both of them peeved that they had let their squabble stop them from being the first one in.

 Socker playfully pushed Mossa aside, clambering to climb up the stairs into the open building. Now that they were here it was obvious that it was something inside that made it warmer, the warmth spilled out of the door with the light, air that brought slightly more arid heat out from the house. Mossa huffed indignantly and rushed to get on his feet to follow. 
In his rush he didn’t notice that both siblings had stopped just inside the door, and ran right into them, though not fast or hard enough for any of them to fall over. They just all collectively let out a huff from the collision.
“Why are you-” just standing here. The words of the complaint died in his mouth as the completely different atmosphere sank in. The warm air seeped through his feathers into the skin, and he shivered as the cold he hadn’t realized he felt escaped him, and he could see his siblings also relax into the warmth. He was quite surprised that Sten hadn’t just found a place where the wind couldn’t reach him, and called it warm. That it was an actual place, warmer than the forest they called home, it astonished him.
“I didn’t believe you” Socker stated matter of factly, looking around the room as she slowly made her way further into the warm space, unconsciously ruffling up her feathers to let more of the warmth through her covering, shaking out the stiff coldness lingering in her limbs.

 “Where do you think the heat comes from?” Orm wondered out loud as he also started to venture further into the cabin, looking around with big eyes at the perfectly square environment they suddenly found themselves in. Following the warmer air to find it’s source.
“It’s coming from there” the green cryo pointed toward a wall with a square hole in it, covered in some invisible field that stopped air from coming in, but made it possible to look out. Under the window was some weird white metal thing. The heat seemed to radiate out of the white box. 

“What is it?” Orm wondered, as the three siblings surrounded this weird thing that created warmth. He curiously sniffed the air, that was slightly more arid in here than he was used to, closing in on the white thing. Suddenly yelping in surprise and pulling his head back as the heat bit him on the nose. Staring shocked at the inanimate object.
“What happened?” Socker said incredulously, looking from the radiator to her brother who seemed to slowly get over the shock, tears building in his eyes. Knowing it was probably a bad idea, she was still curious enough to slowly reach out a hand toward the warmth, quickly pulling the hand back when it got too hot.
“Did it bite you?” asked Mossa, also too curious to not test it out himself, sniffing at the metal, pulling his nose back when it started to burn. He quickly tapped the radiator with his hand, moving it away when it started to be warmer than he could handle. Learning that quick taps worked for a while longer than just holding his talons on the thing.
Orm broke through his shock and couldn’t hold back the tears that started to run down his cheeks. His nose hurt, it burned and he wanted his dads. He sniffled and took shaky breaths, really trying to not full on wail in the small space, but it was so hard.
“I want dad and daddy” he cried in a low tone, his voice breaking at the end.
Socker nodded and turned around as fast as she could, and ran with her short legs out the door. The chilly air felt a little nice on her still warm hands, she had held it to the radiator a little bit too long, but she had to be strong for Orm.
“DAAAAAAD” she yelled in her high childish tone as she ran through the same path that had taken them ages on the way up in just a few moments. Getting back to their sleeping place took less than a minute, when she ran straight down the hill, no longer on some adventure quest.

 Ajax appeared almost instantly, a worried look on his face as he quickly scanned his daughter for any wounds or bruises seeing none he exhales the breath he was holding, relieved.
“What is it sugardrop?” he asked, still with concern in his voice, wondering where the siblings that were with her could be. Wasn’t Pebble there to keep an eye on them? He pushed it aside.
“Orm is saaad” she dragged out the word with her little voice, feeling sad herself over the fact that Orm got hurt
“The warmth bit his nose, and he cried” she continued, tears welling up in her eyes, gesturing while she talked.
“Take me to Orm, please baby?” he urged, following her immediately as she started running again up the hill. Her little voice continuing to tell him what happened between increasingly huffing breaths.
“And then the white box bit us, and it hurt, and my hand is warm, and Orm said he wanted you and he ced” her words droned on almost with no end.
“It’s okay Socker, you’ll be fine okay? We’ll go get your brothers and then we can make the warm hurt go away, okay?”

 Mossa tried his hardest to console his brother while Socker was away, promising that she’d find at least one of their dads, and bring him back. After he himself had tired of testing the radiator out, his hands a little too warm for comfort, he had coaxed Orm away from it, the room being a little warmer than what they were used to, especially so close to the source of it.
 “Orm? Mossa?” Ajax voice made the both of them jump up, and Orm who had quieted down a little started bawling when he could see his fathers form enter the room they were in, running toward him, sniffling and pointing towards the tip of his muzzle. 
“It BIT mee” he cried, throwing his arms around Ajax’ legs, his words becoming little more than sad babbles as Ajax lifted him up with his one arm.
“Schhh, it’s gonna be okay” he hummed, reaching out with the stump toward Mossa, bringing him into an half embrace as well.
“Let’s go back to daddy and take care of this, okay?” he asked, gently herding his children out the door. While he was upset his kids were upset and hurt, even if it wasn’t anything serious, he was also excited they had found this structure. Sten hadn’t been able to explain where it had been, and they had looked all day in the wrong direction, but now that he knew it would definitively come in handy in the colder months.

2154 Words