Fireside

Chapter one - It all begins

Two months of Sonya's leadership pass, and people are starting to get used to their 8 year old god. Maji has been teaching her fire-arts in the teaching home. The teaching home was a small house made of stones so it couldn't catch on fire when teaching. Sonya was taught how to set sparks with her fingers and summon her own fire companion when battle is too rough, but she was rusty. "Like this, mommy?" Sonya said as she snapped her fingers and rubbed them together to light a spark, then she guided the spark to her other hand quickly and captured it in her hand, but the spark blew out before she could summon her companion.

Maji chuckled softly. "If you're going to be a god, you must try a little harder" she told her daughter "here, watch me". Maji lit a spark with her fingers, then shuffled it carefully, but quickly to her hand, as she captured it. Then, she moved her hand in a circular motion, and opened her hand after a few seconds. A small cat made of flames jumped out, and let out a short and quiet mew, before growing bigger than Sonya (who was 4'1 feet tell). Sonya gasped and tried to pet the cat, but Maji held out her hand in a panic and the cat was sucked back in.

"Don't touch it!" Maji said, slightly panicked "It's pure flames. You don't have enough training". Sonya looked away, her face a deep red. "We're done for today. I'm sure Gota would like to see you spark your hands, hm?" Maji said, going to exit the pure stone door "Go along to the cave, alright? He'll be waiting, I'm sure of it". Sonya sat down on the dirt and rock floor covered in ashes from the fires. She was still a little embarrassed that she tried petting a fire. "I need to get my training straight" she said, pouting. Sonya pushed her shiny, short black hair out of her face and went to show Gota her sparks.

"Messanger Gogo?" Sonya called as she stepped into the dark cave "Are you there?".  A scratching noise could be heard on the walls inside the cave. "Just a minute!" Gota called, very loudly echoing throughout the long cave. Putting her ear up to the wall, Sonya could hear Gota humming, with very quiet clanging and scratching noises. "what's he doing..." Sonya thought to herself. Suddenly, the elderly man came out and took Sonya's hand, pulling her inside. "Gota! I came to show you my sparkies!" Sonya said, jumping. "Oh hello, Sandra!" Gota said, smiling at her. Sonya giggled and snapped her fingers, then rubbed them together.

A hundred sparks shot out of her fingers, a few touching the cave roof. "Easy there!" Gota said, and grabbed her wrist. The sparks stopped shortly after. Sonya patted a small fire set on her dark red t-shirt, as she saw her mother do many times before. "That was very good, you're getting better every day" Gota praised "would you like some tea? I was just making myself a new teapot".  Sonya nodded, and walked to sit on a large rock caked in dirt, about 7 feet away from where Gota was about to make the tea. "Don't get your chaita dirty! Maji can't afford anymore silk from the water craftsmen" Gota said as he ground up some petals and leaves with a rock and a stick. 

A chaita is a long skirt made of silk, only worn by fortunate children or the children of gods. It must be hand sewn by the parents, and the silk must be bought from the water craftsmen, the finest silk crafters in the world. But, the water craftsmen demand a lot of money for their silk, and will not settle for anything less. "What kind of tea are we going to be having?" Sonya asked, trying to be as polite as possible. "Ah, we are just having rose petal and tree leaf tea. I'm not sure if there's a name for it" Gota stated as he dunked his old tea kettle into a pail of water he sat next to.

"Samantha, my dear, could you light a spark on my stone to warm it up?" Gota asked "Be careful, it's the flattest, most delicate stone I have". Sonya nodded politelty and lit a spark with her hands, then guided the spark to the stone and set it on fire. "Thank you dearest" Gota said and after a while, he blew out the fire and set the stone down. Sprinkling the ground leaves and petals into the water, Gota had a little chat with Sonya.

"So, Sally, my dear" Gota said, looking back from the tea for a little "you are the new god, right?". Sonya nodded, trying her hardest not to correct her name. "You are awfully young. Haha, well, you are Maji's daughter." Gota chuckled a little bit, but then the laughter quickly turned into thinking. The cave seemed to spin and turn from a playful environment to a serious environment as Gota spoke his next words.

"But who's your father?"