Reunion.

Chapter 3.

Heat. Smoke. Sweat. No air.

Snufkin coughed as he looked up. His mind was a blur. He couldn't remember what had happened. The last thing that he could remember was that he was in the glade with Moomin and the others. He remembered how peaceful it was. It was so cool and green. Then there was the-

Snufkin's mind suddenly had reawakened. He gasped, only to cough what little air he breathed back out again. It didn't stop there. His chest heaved as he coughed. It felt like someone was squeezing the air right out of him. It was so painful that he feared that his ribs would crack from the tight pressure. His lungs felt like they were going to burst. He contained what he could in order to look around. The fire had gotten worse from before he lost consciousness. The flames were so bright that they were almost blinding. Snufkin could actually feel like his eyes were on fire themselves the longer he kept them open. Even when he blinked they didn't exactly stop burning. His skin and clothes were drenched in sweat. Ash and smoke made dark patches on his clothes.

Feeling like he was going to choke again, Snufkin knew that something that he had to do was to prevent anymore smoke from getting into his lungs. He didn't know how much he breathed in already, but he didn't want to risk anymore getting into his system. He took his scarf and wrapped it around his mouth and nose. Once he tied the knot, he steadily rose to his feet. The world spun around him in an instant. He felt incredibly dizzy and almost felt like throwing up. He fought that urge, not wanting anything else to slow him down. He needed to find shelter as far from the blaze as possible. He started running.

The forest had changed so dramatically. All the forest animals had already fled. Snufkin prayed that all of them got out safely. They surely should have since animals have better instincts when it came to disasters such as these. What was once green was nothing more than the cruel, creeping, crawling colours of the blaze. The fire was a bright mixture of orange, red and yellow. The roaring was so deafening that Snufkin wasn't sure if could even hear himself think. The silhouettes of the trees were lean and looming over Snufkin, like as though they were waiting to reach out and grab him. Black smoke covered the sky, blocking out the sun. It blocked out his vision, almost making him run smack into the fire.

Snufkin choked as he ran to find a clear path. He tried to navigate his way through the forest, but what with the state it was in now, it made it impossible for him to do so. Just about everything looked the same. No matter where he looked all he could see were flames. He tried to make a clear sense of direction from it all. He remembered back when there was one time that he had to run this fast and had so much to gain from escaping. That day back when he was a child, that day when he had to run from the Park Keeper. That day he was fighting to keep his freedom. But this was almost like nothing compared to that day as he was fighting for his life. However, as the heat grew more and more intense, and the smoke became as thick as anything, his hope of ever escaping the wicked fire was diminishing.

Snufkin felt his lungs were ready to burst again. He was forced to stop for a couple of minutes, coughing profusely. He tried to breathe but it was impossible. The heat grew worse and more intense. Snufkin could feel the whole world spinning because of it. It was hard for him to focus on something. He wasn't even sure of what was in front of him anymore. There was an obnoxious ringing in his ears, preventing him from hearing anything other than the flames and the crashing of trees falling. His head felt like it was going to burst. He tried shaking it to get his vision to be more clear, but it only seemed to make his headache and vision worse. Ash stuck to his hair, making the normal light brown a dark greyish colour. He was so hot and sticky that he practically felt the back of his coat sticking to his sweat soaked skin.

Subconsciously, his mind wondered back to the day that he ran from the Park Keeper. He didn't know why, and he hated himself for thinking about that at a time like this. All he could think of was the fear that he felt when he was running and when the Park Keeper had actually managed to catch him. He remembered being that tired that day from all of that running. He remembered how safe he used to feel before his most hated enemy intruded into his safe area. All of those events seemed to be repeating themselves in a very similar way. The only difference is that no one was around to help him this time. He had a feeling that no one was coming. No one would be that stupid to risk everything to save him. 'At least the others got out before the fire got to this stage. I hope.' He thought, his mind now only thinking about the safety of his friends. They should've gotten out by now safely. They have to be safe. Snufkin choked on the air, feeling sick to his stomach. A small part of him wished that there was some way out, but with his blurred vision mixed with the heat weakening his mind, that small ray of hope was dying.