Pyre Unearthed {MOVING TO Ao3}

Chapter Two: The Forest

Pele was back at Ignitium. He was inside the incinerator room, all doors and windows shut and boarded up. No scientists around, only he, him, and himself. The incinerator itself was open, and Pele peeked over. There Ignus was, covered in blood and scars. Flames surrounded him, and he looked up to Pele. His eyes were pitch black, bleeding and flaming. "You did this. This is your fault," Ignus said in a glitchy and deep tone. "N-No," Pele whispered to himself in horror, tears forming as the weird new emotions came back. Flames suddenly erupted in the room, quickly surrounding Pele. "You are why I am dead," the voice continued as the flames grew closer. "You are the worst partner for me to have ever have." Pele bent over, sitting down- looking down and holding his head in terror as the flames ingulfed him. 

 He jolted awake in a cold sweat- It had stopped raining, and it was morning. The sky was clear, and the teepee kept him surprisingly dry. Just a nightmare. He shivered, getting up. He picked up the sticks and the two rocks he brought inside. He was going to make a fire with the sticks and light it with the rocks. He hadn't done this before, but he had to attempt to survive, right? He put the sticks in their own stacked form, just without something holding them together like the hut. He kept trying until they balanced, and used the rocks to make sparks. He rubbed them together like a flint and steel a couple times- and there was a small sparkle from the rocks. He continued, until there was a small flame on the base of the sticks. He blew on the flame to increase its lifespan, continuing until it grew. Soon enough, he had a small campfire in the woods. He then realized the smoke from the fire could be used as a distress signal. This made him smile a bit, but he was still worried... was it really his fault for Ignus's demise? What truly happened to his best friend? These swirling thoughts occupied his mind. Then he opened his eyes, and felt fire smoke not just coming from in front of him- but he could tell there was some behind him, too. He turned around, sparks and flames surrounding the trees and his small hut. He was sent into panic, getting up. There was a forest fire, no, this was not his fault- this was nature. Was this the Earth spirit's doing? If it was, this was a sick joke. He began to run again- but this time, a tree had fallen over and blocked his path as it lit on fire too. The trees, leaves, sky- everything was burning. He worriedly looked around, tearing up again. He knew he couldn't escape, no, not this time. He was going to die here, nearly identically like Ignus. "Ignus, I'm sorry!" he yelled, knowing not a single person on the Earth would ever hear his last words. The flames had engulfed him, making his death a slow and painful one... Until the flames seemingly didn't hurt anymore. He was confused. He opened an eye, which just put ash in his eye- he got up, pushing a tree trunk off of himself. He was fairly shocked at his... newfound strength? He rubbed his eyes before looking around. This was when he realized it was now noon, and the fires were all out. The entire area was blackened, covered in ash and dust. He scratched his head, seeing a small flame in the corner of his eye. He turned slowly, realizing it was his arm that was flaming. He jumped, looking at his whole body. His entire body was morphing ever so slightly that it wasn't noticeable enough to feel, but noticeable enough to see. His ear was a bit in pain, and there was a small gash in his chest. All of his body was flaming, but he didn't feel pain from it. Not anymore..? He was confused, and crawled over the darkened trees on the ground and out into a path that had been formed by the fire. Most trees were gone, and the remaining had small flames on their branches. He decided to think back, trying to remember what happened. Earth spirit, Ignus dies, got lost, burnt. Did he pass out? Is he in purgatory? Is this just a nightmare that's surprisingly realistic? Thoughts flooded his mind again. He decided to explore, trying to figure out what happened to him.