Writing Prompts I Found

2: Familiar

All my life I've waited to summon my familiar.

Literally. Every child at the age of thirteen summon their familiar for the first time. My parents and four older siblings have. Dad has a raven, Mama has a lamb, Aubrey has a sparrow, Rosa has a calico cat, Noah has a mink, and Annie has rabbit. Not the most big and bad familiars to exist.

Out of all of them, I like Noah's mink better. It's so cute. It's fluffy dark fur always feels soft and clean, even if it's been rolling around in goddess knows what. And ever since I was a baby, I've always been guilting of tugging at it's tail. I hope I get something like that. But it's unheard of for two people, especially family, to have the same familiar. But, a kid can dream.

It was a real same I was born at 2 am. Well, 2:17 am to be specific. And it was currently 2:16. My parents were beyond excited, my Mama mostly, and woke everyone up so they could all witness the summoning of my familiar. We sat squished on the couch, me being sandwished between my parents as we waited. My Mama squeezed my hand, kissing my cheek with a grin with my father smiled sleepily down at me, clearly half conscious. My other siblings at on the other sides of the couch, curled against my parents. Still, we wait.

Finally, phones began to buzz, including mine. Those of us who had phones had of course added the birthdays of our family onto our calendars. And the alarm for my birthday went off. The alarms were turned off and we waited, everyone now awake and alert. The air is still and quiet, not even the sound of breathing cut through it. Suddenly, I tensed.

A pool of warmth spread throughout my insides. I gasped sharply, gripping my Ma's hand as my Dad's hand wrapped in mind as well. The warmth spread from the pit of my stomach as though it was my blood. I don't remember the summoning of my other siblings' familiars and at this point couldn't remember what I was taught to expect.

The warmth spread underneath my skin, the heat so much I was sure my skin was beginning to flush. I shut my eyes, the only thing coming to my mind other than "Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod" was.. Flames? Roaring, hot flames. It felt like my body was engulfed in said flames, something I was strangely okay with.

After a moment I heard a sharp gasp from my family surrounding me. I forced my eyes opened to see.. A small form resting on my lap. Flames burned around it as it curled in on itself. What seemed like a head raised to look at me, black obsidian eyes gazing into my emerald green ones. It took me a moment to process what I looking at. A flaming fox laid on my lap, a charcoal nose somehow being set on the flaming ball that was it's head. The rest of the body looked simply like an expanded fire ball with a fire fluff as a tail. It was truly a beautiful sight. I couldn't help but let go of my parents' hands, taking the fox into my arms.

"This.. Is my familiar..?" I look up at my parents, confusion and surprise written all over my features.

Everyone was silent. All eyes were frozen on my fox. My.. Fire fox? Mystical familiars were rare. Very rare. The heat the flames gave off didn't bother me. The charcoal nose pressed again my cheek as the obsidian eyes shut in content. The body was much more solid than it looked. The touch was an almost uncomfortable warmth, making me begin to sweat a bit, but other than that it was fine. I hesitantly scratched at the head, the flames curling around my fingers feeling like soft fur.

"I.. Wow.." My dad was obviously speechless, staring at my familiar in awe.

"I.. Congrats, baby!" My ma grinned, arms wrapping around me but also shied away from my flaming friend. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Hi..." I whispered to my familiar that leaned forward and nuzzled my chest.

They say you immediately know the name of your familiar the moment you lay eyes on it. No questioning. No second guesses. It's an immediate thing that you just know. Dad's raven's name was Dzuma, Ma's lamb name was Una, Aubie's sparrow was named Wren, Rosa's cat was named Tortie, Noah's mink was named Dinky, and Annie's rabbit was named Berry. Looking at the fox on my lap, their name was suddenly burned into my brain as bright as the familiar themself.

I smiled softly at the flaming fox, breathing out their name. "Ichirou.."