The Cinders of Dezu

7th: Firas (1)

Fingers gingerly held the handle of the small paintbrush as he finished the deep black of the creatures eye. He was happy with the result, but it was the color of the body that he was most concerned with. He had searched high and low for the color ingredients. When he had seen the way the sunlight shimmered across the fox's fur, he knew he had to find the right mixture to do it justice.
His arm looked like it was sculpted from marble as he reached over and picked up the ceramic container he had collected it in. He brought it to his nose and closed his eyes as he took in the intricate scents deep inside. He'd had to harvest a few berries to get it just right. His eyes opened and his satisfactory expression escaped his face.

"Hello, Ori."

The king's face emerged from the dark, softly lit by a flickering light emanating from the open door and a fireplace just inside the home. The king observed the man as he sat outside on a stump, leaned over a small bench that held his painting supplies.

"You usually meet me half way. Did I finally sneak up on you this time?" said the king.

"I smelled you a mile away," the man said, "When you get too close the stench just gets distracting. It's awkward if I don't acknowledge you. You know, I am busy..."

Orion rolled his eyes and leaned up against the giant tree trunk that was the man's home. He looked inside. It really was remarkable how he had converted it. The fireplace was built in. It must have been handcrafted. Little painted wooden sculptures decorated the whole house. They were remarkably intricate, depicting creature after creature, large and small. They were on shelves above his bed, and a few on the table, some lined the covered windows.
The windows were also well put together. They had shutters that, when closed, made the outside look indistinguishable from an average tree. Not to mention the door which also appeared to have a similar camouflage effect when closed. Walking through the forest, there's a good chance you'd never know the tree was a house at all.

"Firas, you truly are my shame, " Orion said, smiling at his craftsmanship.

"What's the mark? " he said, his eyes still fixed on the sleek wooden fox he was turning over in his hand.

Orion squinted and turned to the back of Firas' head.

"Why do I keep coming back to you?"

"When you're good you're good, " he said, taking a larger brush and dipping it inside the wide ceramic vial, "and I'm the best."

Orion sighed. He watched him as the brush came out with a shimmering blue and silver. Firas began slowly detailing the fox.

"You know I hate it when you don't look at me while I'm speaking," the king said.

He kept painting. The bristles of the brush wrapped around the jagged ears of the sculpture. Without taking his eyes from the figurine, he reached his brush toward the container again. A loud pop rang out in the dark. Firas looked to see his vial blown into glowing charred bits on the ground. The paint was splattered everywhere, the bench, the ground, and on him.

Firas gave a very exaggerated sigh. He briefly scrunched his nose as he picked a piece of the charcoaled vial off of his partially painted wet fox. He set it on the bench and rotated himself on the stump.

"At your service, my liege, " he said, looking directly into his eyes.

Orion rubbed his temple.

"Two young men, late teens, early twenties. One is taller and black with short black hair. Clean cut. Cairo is his name. The other is... light brown skin tone. Not where you're from though. More..."

"Like, South American?"

"Sure. Also clean-cut and black hair but straight, not curly. He's called Julian."

Firas rested his elbows on his knees and cracked his knuckles.

"Anything else? Running with anyone? Weapons?"

"No weapons. No battle experience. They are fresh crossovers. I wouldn't be surprised if they still had on their clothes from the other side. Harper got to them but I doubt their staying with him."

Firas smiled.