Theme 74: Everything burns

[failegaidin]

Today's theme:

Everything burns1. Submit your drabble that fits this theme as a comment to this post. It should be between 100-300 words, if you go over/under a bit that's fine! If it's longer than say 400 words, I ask that you post on your journal or fanfiction.net and then submit the link to this post. If you find that your story is going to be

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[rattyjol]

Fandom: Animorphs
Claim: Elfangor & family
Rating: PG
Drabbles completed so far: 24/100

It's an ancient Andalite tradition that upon his death, the body of a great warrior is burned into ash and then borne on a small shuttle into the nearest sun. My father used to tell me that Andalite heroes bear flames in their hearts, and only by allowing the inner and outer flames to meet can they truly be honored.

I always wondered what it might be like, to have fire in my hearts. On the homeworld, our flames burn yellower than they do on Earth, a result of the atmosphere as well as altered chemical makeups through separate evolution. I imagined my veins warming, lighting up my fur with yellow aura.

I was only a child then, of course. I know now that's it's only a legend -- what you on Earth would call a fairy tale.

When you first showed me an image of your human religious icons, I was shocked. Yellow flames circled their heads, licking at their hair; you told me it was called a halo, used to distinguish saints and angels from the rest of humanity.

The first time I saw you in Earth's yellow sunlight, Loren, your hair was loose and long, and it shone golden in the sun. I recalled the old legend, dredging it up from childhood memories. Watching you dance, flickering and glowing like a flame of your own, I thought maybe you didn't need to be a warrior to be a hero, and I discovered that it's not only Andalites that burn bright.