Like moths to a flame

Rascal is a brown, dark pointed piebald anteo who surely lives up to his name. He's mischievous and often up to no good. Today was, of course, no different. He had discovered that if you dip a stick in lava, it starts burning. A bigger stick means more fire, but a whole log would be too heavy and ruin the fun. He was on the hunt for a perfect branch to dip so he could spread some chaos. 

As he entered the nearby woods, broad steps and all, he spotted another anteo in there in a very similar shade of brown. The both stopped dead in their tracks, staring at each other for a moment. Brother from another mother? Sister from another mister? Rascal took the first step and puffed up his chest a bit to look impressive. 

“Introduce yourself, stranger.” he demanded with a huff. 

The other anteo, who had a dark tail with a bright orange dimorph, looked at him with slight disgust. 

“You should introduce yourself first.” he responded and stomped with one of his feet. “I will not tolerate any disrespect.”

Rascal scoffed. He had never been met with such an attitude before. He wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. 

“Fine. My name is Rascal. Why are you here?” the piebald anteo reluctantly said. 

“Nice to meet you, Rascal. My name is Järker. I am here because I want to be. What about you?” the other anteo replied. 

“I want to start a fire!” Rascal exclaimed, he figured that being straightforward was the best. 

“Say no less!” a third voice chimed in, a female one this time. 

The two males turned and spotted a mud coloured anteo with darker patterns on her face and a lighter belly, as well as glowing spots in her face. When she spoke, you could also see that her mouth had the same unnatural glow. 

“And who are you..?” Rascal asked the newcomer. 

“I go by the name Tarantella! Anyway you mentioned starting a fire, I want in!” the female eagerly replied, stepping fast on the spot in excitement. “Let's get started!”

Not that Järker had said he would join them, but he figured why not? He has nothing better to do than ruin some unlucky stranger's day and what better way than to burn a burrow or something? 

Tarantella initially grabbed a rather thin stick but immediately noticed it burned to a crisp way too quickly. She noted the thicker size of Rascal’s stick and made sure to look for a similar size herself. Järker grabbed a branch full of tree sap and other gunk, and the three collectively noticed how much better and longer it was burning. 

“Woahh, we need more of that stuff!” Rascal exclaimed after throwing away his burning branch into some bushes, causing all the try leaves and branches to catch fire. 

“Where did you find it?” Tarantella excitedly asked, preparing to sprint there as fast as she could to replace her now seemingly inadequate branch.

“Under that big tree over there.” Järker replied, nodding towards a very large fir nearby. 

Both Rascal and Tarantella turned and rushed towards this magical, sap leaking tree for more firepower. Tarantella got there first and grabbed the very first branch she could get her teeth around, immediately running back to dunk it in some lava. Rascal followed not far behind, but his branch was not as impressive, he thought to himself. 

While the two of them seemingly competed, Järker was proudly marching along some dry shrubbery, making it catch fire as he walked. Wildlife and other dinosaurs alike could be heard screaming and panicking as the flames spread and grew taller, but there was beauty in chaos, Järker thought to himself. 

Tarantella smiled and happily laughed as she jumped around with her burning branch. She was having the time of her life, with not a care in the world for whoever might get harmed by her actions. 

Rascal was chasing some nearby vultures, flailing the burning wood towards them, and then he proceeded to throw the stick away after they left. 

The trio reunited to admire their deadly piece of art with pride. 

“Well that was fun. We should do it again in a few years after the forest has regrown.” Tarantella giggled. “We must give it time to heal, after all.”

“Or we just pick a different spot.” Järker suggested, which made Tarantella’s eyes widen.

“That's a brilliant idea!” she exclaimed.

“I will have to agree.” Rascal chuckled. “This was revitalising. I have not felt this alive in a long time, let me tell you.”

“Hey, do you two happen to live nearby? I would love to hang out sometime. We don't have to burn down a forest every time, I promise.” Tarantella asked, eagerly awaiting their responses. 

“Somewhat close, yes.” Rascal said. 

“Yeah, me too.” Järker also replied. 

“Oh that's perfect, let's meet up here in a few days and scheme, I have to go now, bye!” Tarantella chimed as she rushed off, chasing the flames they created.