Burned away home…
We sat there for about half an hour. It was mainly just me hugging Emerald to death, but I guess after 30 minutes she got bored since she tried to stand up. I reluctantly let her up and she licked my nose, I smiled and hugged her before standing up. I helped Kendi up then we started walking back to the Fields. When we got there Clover walked over to us.
Clover: “I see you guys found Emerald.”
“Yeah…-”
Suddenly there was a loud siren coming from- who knows where- we all turned and saw several guards running towards the redwood forest- and in the distance, there was what looked to be smoke….
Kendi’s ears went back and she started following the guards. She didn’t say anything- she just turned into her cat form and followed them. I looked over at Clover who was just as confused as I was. We(Lyra, Clover, and Emerald) Ran after her. We got to the edge of the forest and there was smoke everywhere… Kendi without a second thought ran into the forest despite the guards telling her not to. Me and Emerald followed her while Clover stayed behind, probably to ask what was going on. We ran through the forest and through what should’ve been the overgrown path… all the bushes were either burnt or on fire… We ran out into the clearing where the redwood tree was. My eyes widened as I saw the tree was on fire?!- Kendi flew up to the top to where her Balcony was.
“KENDI- WAIT-”
Emerald flew up and tried to keep her from going inside but failed miserably. Without a second thought, I turned into my wolf form and flew up to where Emerald was. I stepped down onto the Balcony which was about to burn with everything else- I looked inside and saw Kendi running around her room trying to grab everything. I ran inside and tried to drag her outside.
“KENDI- THIS ENTIRE PLACE IS GOING TO BURN DOWN-”
Kendi: “YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?!- I KNOW THIS PLACE IS GONNA BE TURNED TO ASHES- BUT I NEED TO GET ALL OF THE POTIONS AND HERBS OUT OTHERWISE THIS ENTIRE FOREST AND EVERYTHING AROUND IT WILL BE GONE.”
I looked around at all the potions and herbs and it took me a minute before I realized that they could have a chemical reaction to the fire. I quickly started running around the room and helped her grab all the potions and herbs and put them into a few bags. We managed to drag the bags out onto the balcony, and then Kendi ran back into the room and grabbed a large box. She ran back out onto the balcony and before we could grab the bags, the balcony caught fire and one of the support beams fell, causing the balcony to fall, only hanging by one support beam. We grabbed onto the railing. I looked over at Kendi. She seemed to be fine, thankfully... But, then the box she was holding fell.
Kendi: “NO- NO!!”
She was about to jump down and grab it but a burning branch dropped in front of us. I looked down at the box and breathed in deeply before going back into my wolf form and jumping down.
I wasn’t flying… just falling... I tucked in my legs and arms to try and fall faster, even though that wouldn’t do anything. I was getting closer to the box- I could almost grab it… but I was also getting closer to the ground. I breathed in sharply and grabbed the box. I held it close.
{box.. Check, landing-...}
uh oh…- I tried to fly but I couldn’t- I just kept falling- reaching the ground faster. I closed my eyes tightly.
Kendi’s POV:
I watched as Lyra jumped down to try and grab the box I had dropped. I watched and after a few minutes- she got it! But-.. she was still falling…
{Why isn’t she stopping-... wait…}
I thought for a minute then realized she couldn’t stop. I climbed up to the top of the balcony railing, Emerald managed to teleport the bags somewhere else. I looked down at the fire at the base of the tree and breathed in heavily. I hated fire- I was scared of it... But.. I looked back at Lyra and sighed. I breathed in again then jumped down, catching myself in midair and flying down to where Lyra was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blaze flying towards us.
{Oh no you don’t you little…}
I fly in front of him, cutting him off and causing him to almost fall mid-air.
{Serves him right…}
I turn back to Lyra who’s still falling. I glided down and grabbed her.
Lyra’s POV:
For a minute, I was just falling. Then, I felt someone grab me and pull me up. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Kendi. She brought us down to the ground and for a few minutes, Even after I was on the ground- I just stayed next to her. I wasn’t scared of heights. Not really- I just didn’t like the idea of falling to my death. I looked at her and turned back into a human.
“T-thanks-..”
I said, my voice a little shaky from the shock of nearly falling to my death.
Kendi: “No problem…- But- why did you do that?-”
“...it’s just-... it seemed like the box was important to you... So-...”
I trailed off for a minute then looked back at her and handed her the box, which was perfectly fine. There weren’t any burn marks on it. She smiled and grabbed the box then hugged me.
Kendi: “Thank you..”
I smiled and hugged her back. After a few minutes, Emerald appeared and jumped into my arms, causing me to fall back slightly. I laughed lightly and hugged her, then Clover walked over to us while some guards put the fire out.
Clover: “Are you guys ok?..”
“Yeah- we’re ok…”
Clover turned and looked at Kendi.
Clover: “I’m sorry you lost your home…”
Kendi smiled softly.
Kendi: “It’s alright, I’ll just find someplace else- It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Clover nodded.
Clover: “But- where are you going to stay now? There are no empty dens that I can think of and all of the large oak and redwood trees are burned- any redwood tree or oak tree still standing most likely already has some animals calling it home-...”
Kendi’s ears lowered, and then I spoke up.
“....She could stay at the sleeping house.”
They both looked at me confused.
“We have a few vacant rooms that were gonna be turned into storage rooms right-? Well, there’s no reason we can’t save one of them-”
Clover: “That's-... true-”
Kendi: “No- guys it's fine-”
Clover: “Nope! It’s decided. You’ll stay at the sleeping house until further notice.”
Kendi:”But-...” *Sigh* “fine…”
{Time Skip: back at the sleeping house}
We finally made it back to the sleeping house and I ended up showing Kendi where her room was going to be, which happened to be right across from mine. The rest of the night I helped her get settled in since everyone else was asleep and Clover said she was- “Busy”-... and then she laughed-... Anyways-
Kendi “..thanks for offering to let me stay-”
“It’s no problem.”
I say as I help her unpack the last few potions and herbs and set them on some of the shelves she put up.
“I’d do it to help any of my friends.”
She smiled lightly and nodded.
“Anyways- I’m gonna go to bed now, Goodnight.”
Kendi: “Night Lyra…”
