Tragedies Written Under a Midnight Sun

Chapter 1 - Two Worlds: Part 1 - Inside the Fire

His hands were still warm, Auk nearly drained all of his elemental energy from his body with one fluid motion. The copper furred Husky panted heavily, resting a few feet from the border of the Tlavian Village in the Northern Tundra of Mobius. The fairly gaunt canid scarcely could hold a bow longer than a half hour to hunt prey let alone use his powers for more than a few minutes. Auk sighed contently upon breathing normally. Soon every igloo in at least a five mile radius of the Village would begin to melt. Auk sneered and softly chuckled; his voice had never sounded so cold.

"Revenge can also be served heated..." The Tundra itself would shiver at his utterance.

The Husky scanned at the night sky. The customary darkness had a single star ruling over it. The Midnight Sun was the perfect time of year for vengeance. The air was less chilly than usual, which gave Auk's plan an advantage, and the sky was clear of any potential snow-filled clouds that might ruin it. Auk knew that every igloo in the Village is scheduled to sleep around sundown; not a soul would dare to step out into the Tundra's silence unless they are out on a hunt around the dead of night. Especially when there are guards prowling about. Auk did not care too much if he was found out, he could merely make up an innocent and believable excuse as to his shifty behavior. What worried him was if his intent was discovered.

A snowy scuffle from behind one of igloos piqued Auk's ears. He turned his head to the source of the sound. A voluptuous Snow Leopard rounded the bend lugging another Snow Leopard, less voluptuous than she, toward Auk. The sight of the inert felid's characteristically large ears, big and bushy tail, and tear-mark stripes at the corner of her eyes repulsed him to the point of nausea.

He shook off the shiver of looking at her visage. "Hurry, Anana!" Auk called out in a sotto voce to the Snow Leopard dragging the unconscious body of the other.

"Hold your bowstring! I'm dragging this pile of waste as fast as I can!" Anana replied reflectively in voice tone. Auk eventually rushed over to help in order to speed up the process.

A few moments later, the body was placed further away than where Auk stood originally. Anana glanced at Auk.

"Now what?"

"We wait." He replied.

The two of them witnessed a single ember become crackling flames that consumed every bit of snow and ice the heat could touch. The igloos didn't stand a chance against the upsurge of inferno. The village of the Tlavians was in a pandemonium. Once the inhabitants of an igloo noticed the fire, it was too late. One after another, canines and felines ran for their lives as far away as possible from the destruction.

"Anana, stand your ground," He whispered to his partner in crime. "We must make this look genuine." He told her. The female nodded and loomed over the Snow Leopard lying on the snow. By the time the Chief's igloo had succumb against its will to the firestorm and fell to its knees in submission, it ultimately became slush. The overlord himself boldly and calmly departed from his once massive abode alongside his family and towards the three individuals at the Village's margin with a furrowed brow.

"Who was responsible for this catastrophe?" Chief Sangilak thundered authoritatively. His brow softened with unease, anguished by what had to be done as head of his people.

The drowsy Snow Leopard who been knocked out finally stirred, smelling the usual crisp cold air wrought with a crisp burnt stench. It was this that became perceptible and energized her.

"It was her! She created the igivattattiq*1! Iluq-Ikkuma is the cause for these flames!" Auk proclaimed accusingly.

"I assisted in halting her heinous actions!" Anana fed the lie that Auk commenced.

Sangilak's forehead creased with a painted snarl on his face as his head snapped to the suspect at hand.

"I knew you would be trouble the moment you took your first breath and opened your eyes..." Despite his harsh words, the Chief was in remorse. The trembling Iluq-Ikkuma rose to her feet, matching her afore mentioned heterochromia iridium fire-orange and ice-blue eyes. "As Chief and Overseer of Tlavian kind-" Sangilak walked slowly to her as to not spook her.

The indicted Snow Leopard's breathing wavered. She was clenching her chest. "No, please by the Aurora, don't..." She muttered under her breath.

"-It is my sad duty to say that you have committed a treacherous crime against the Tundra and her people. You were once Klin*2.1 and now, you are Naklin*2.2-"

Iluq-Ikkuma's eyes welled up. She looked to the aloof crimson-hued Husky standing afar off from her. "Brother, please, help me..." He only stood there, unmoving with a wicked countenance. Anana mirrored his facial expression albeit more subtly.

"-Under normal circumstances, you would be sentenced to death. But with my blessing, you shall not die this day. I hereby exile you from our territory. Go, now. Be in peace while it still remains, even among the ashes."

"Sentence to Tonrar-Nutaralak*3 to death! Kill the Devil-Child!" Screamed a frightened Snow Leopard. The residents of the usually-peaceful Village would have formed as a mob to rip Iluq-Ikkuma's throat but instead, to not incur the wrath of their beloved Chief, they quietly hissed and growled at her in the Tlavian tongue, much to the frightened and confused feline's dismay.

"Please, Auk, I am your kin!" The tears rushing down her face began to stick and freeze on her cheeks, chin, and her lips. There is a saying in the Tlavian Tribe: 'If you have to weep, stay inside.'

The loathing in her sibling's eyes grew with every second they shared glances. Iluq-Ikkuma backed up a few steps. She couldn't fathom her own flesh and blood standing idle while her life was in danger. And why the animosity?

"Run. Run away and never return." He finally said, putting the muteness between them at rest. Without disinclination she took off with adrenaline still kicking in her veins, too afraid of the crowd whose eyes burned with hatred.

A male Russian Blue feline, the oddball of the Village, and a Husky, the Chief's son, wriggled their way through the crowd watching Iluq-Ikkuma kick up the snow behind her.

"No, Iluq-Ikkuma!" The Russian Blue called out, ready to run after her. The Chief's son, Snejok, grabbed him at the waist, pulling him back.

"Let her go, Boaz. Her fate is sealed." He said gravely, just as torn up as Boaz. The silver feline squirmed in his grasp, putting his hand on Snejok's arm to try and escape. He breathed shallowly. Boaz paused to mourn, watching her become one with the horizon, then he gave up stomping away and fleeing the scene. Snejok gave the skyline one last look before departing himself.

Frostfire sprinted for yards on end with the sweltering whipping of the blizzard's chilly bite at her back. Yards turned miles and she was beginning to crawl. Miles turned into acres and she had could move no more. The only sound that comforted her was the wind that was thrashing against her pelt. Even the wind left her alone to die.

A light crept into her eyes when they could reopen them, and a voice called her, slowly becoming louder and closer to her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*1 - Igivattattiq is Inuit for flames.

*2.1 and 2.2 - Klin is Inuit for remembered snow, representing the individual is a part of the community and Naklin is Inuit for forgotten snow, representing that the individual is no longer part of said community.

*3 Tonrar-Nutaralak is Inuit for Devil-Child.