Like A Candle Flame, Or Like A Forest Fire
Written for the prompt 'lit candle' on story_lottery. Kanako and Taiki are from the same project as Haneul and Leidian from Lifting The Fog and For Want Of Power, and Akio and Kuwabara from Children At Play. Taiki has appeared before in Something Of His Own and Kanako has been obliquely mentioned. However, these scenes take place before Something Of His Own.
Kanako concentrated on the bowl made by putting her hands together, visualizing what she wanted. She could nearly feel the heat on her hands-
“What are you looking at, burn-hair?” came a jeering voice behind her. “Little burn-hair is talking to the spirits with her hands, is she?”
She tried to ignore them, but she was, after all, a Fire child, with the usual personality that came with her Sign, and she was quick to anger. She spun around and punched him in the stomach, so he folded up quite neatly.
There was an admiring gasp from the other children, some of which were his followers, and most of which didn’t really care about either of them. In fact, many felt a mixture of awe and fear towards Kanako, who had just that spring been declared a Fire child at her first horoscope ceremony, and had returned after six months with newly reddish-black hair and was apparently going to gain mystical fiery powers as she grew up. A quick bop on the head from Kanako’s twin brother cemented the deal and reaffirmed their opinions; Taiki was tall for his age, and strong, and despite not being a Fire child he had to have something going on since his hair was changing too.
Unfortunately, being the elder, he regarded it as his job to criticize his sister and keep her in line, and he now exercised this privilege. “Why are you playing around with your powers now?” he lashed out angrily. “You’re not in the caverns with the Elementals! You’re with people! Mama said you were s’posed to play!”
“Oh, like you’re playin’ anyfing either,” she retorted, her voice rougher than any girl of five’s should be. This was the most startling quality about her: her voice that sounded just like a bonfire, hissing and spitting and crackling. “You’re just sitting there mooning after Ai.”
There was an “ooo” from the onlookers. Ai wasn’t one of the children, but rather an older girl of about thirteen. She wasn’t, in fact, particularly pretty- another girl of the village, Seiza, had the informal title of being the prettiest- but she was kindest, and most willing to play with the younger children, and she had a most engaging smile.
Taiki went very red, nearly as dark as their red-black hair, and clenched his fists. “I-I’m not… I wasn’t…”
“Yes you were, Ueda Taiki, you asked me what plucking daisy petals was for and when I told you, you were playing ‘she loves me, she loves me not’ while staring at her!” came one of the girls, slightly older at age seven. Kanako gave a triumphant cackle, although it was really more of a crackle.
“See! So if you don’t hasta play, I don’t hasta either.” And with that, she turned her back, plopped down and began concentrating on her hands again. One of the boys just a year older gave a little giggle, and the onlookers broke up, returning to their own games.
Taiki, embarrassed beyond words, stood alone.
-
“Oh, look, it’s miss Oo-eh-dah. So amazing that she earned her family a rank and a family name when she was only five. Oh, but your parents still work in the fields, don’t they, burn-hair? Wouldn’t’ve thought people with a rank would still be farmers.”
Kanako, age sixteen and two summers short of earning her status as a Fire lady, turned around, her hands aflame, hissing like a wet fire. She was a striking figure, mainly because of her height- she was as tall as a full grown man- and her red-gold hair. Her face was twisted in an ugly frown. “Take it back or I’ll take your face off.” Her voice had gotten even more like the sound of fire as she had grown, and it was only because she had practiced and practiced that she could even be understood.
He took a step back, faking bravado in his voice. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes I would.” She matched his step, the flames in her hands growing ever higher. “Take it back. Now.”
When she was close enough that he could feel the heat, she brought her hands up, closing in on his face. She was moving slowly, giving him a chance to admit his mistake; despite her anger, she had been taught quite specifically how not to hurt people with her flames, beginning with herself.
He finally gasped and jerked away, putting his hands up and yelping, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Immediately, the flames died away, and she turned away, her attention already on other things. If she was quick to anger, she was quicker to calm down once the matter was solved. And she never held a grudge.
“You’d think that after ten years you’d learn a thing or two.” He turned to his left to see her brother, Taiki, his arms folded. His hair, as red-gold as his sister’s, was neatly twisted into a topknot, and though he wasn’t as tall as his sister, he could still be quite menacing when he wanted to.
Kanako might burn you if you had provoked her, but she would always stop if she thought she had gone too far. Taiki, on the other hand, regularly left the village to learn interesting and painful things to do to people, using knives and rope and whatever else might be on hand.
And yet, proving again that his sense of self-preservation was sorely lacking, he said, keeping his voice low and his manner scornful, “Your sister would have been better off without being a Fire child. She’s so terribly uncouth and rough and ugly now. Such a waste.” Everyone in the village was well aware of the rift between the twin redheads.
“A waste,” Taiki, said, overly agreeable. “My dear sister is so important that even lords must acknowledge our family, and yet the only difference from before is that we now have a family name. Still,” and here his voice grew soft and silky and dangerous, “she is my family, and I’ll not have her insulted.”
He took a step back, his eyes fixed on the small, star-shaped blade that had suddenly appeared in Taiki’s hand. “I-I…”
“Learn your lesson and apologise before I put this in your forehead.”
Once apologies had been made, Taiki put his shuriken away and patted him amiably on the head. “You know, teasing girls was fine when we were children, but you can hardly offer for her if you keep up this behavior. Not that I would accept you as a brother-in-law. But I’m just warning you.”
He gaped at Taiki; it had not occurred to him that he could have been read so easily. Taiki patted him again, this time on the shoulder, and walked away with a jaunty wave.
Author's note: The title and cut text are a nod to the chapter of Endless Nights featuring Desire.
Kanako concentrated on the bowl made by putting her hands together, visualizing what she wanted. She could nearly feel the heat on her hands-
“What are you looking at, burn-hair?” came a jeering voice behind her. “Little burn-hair is talking to the spirits with her hands, is she?”
She tried to ignore them, but she was, after all, a Fire child, with the usual personality that came with her Sign, and she was quick to anger. She spun around and punched him in the stomach, so he folded up quite neatly.
There was an admiring gasp from the other children, some of which were his followers, and most of which didn’t really care about either of them. In fact, many felt a mixture of awe and fear towards Kanako, who had just that spring been declared a Fire child at her first horoscope ceremony, and had returned after six months with newly reddish-black hair and was apparently going to gain mystical fiery powers as she grew up. A quick bop on the head from Kanako’s twin brother cemented the deal and reaffirmed their opinions; Taiki was tall for his age, and strong, and despite not being a Fire child he had to have something going on since his hair was changing too.
Unfortunately, being the elder, he regarded it as his job to criticize his sister and keep her in line, and he now exercised this privilege. “Why are you playing around with your powers now?” he lashed out angrily. “You’re not in the caverns with the Elementals! You’re with people! Mama said you were s’posed to play!”
“Oh, like you’re playin’ anyfing either,” she retorted, her voice rougher than any girl of five’s should be. This was the most startling quality about her: her voice that sounded just like a bonfire, hissing and spitting and crackling. “You’re just sitting there mooning after Ai.”
There was an “ooo” from the onlookers. Ai wasn’t one of the children, but rather an older girl of about thirteen. She wasn’t, in fact, particularly pretty- another girl of the village, Seiza, had the informal title of being the prettiest- but she was kindest, and most willing to play with the younger children, and she had a most engaging smile.
Taiki went very red, nearly as dark as their red-black hair, and clenched his fists. “I-I’m not… I wasn’t…”
“Yes you were, Ueda Taiki, you asked me what plucking daisy petals was for and when I told you, you were playing ‘she loves me, she loves me not’ while staring at her!” came one of the girls, slightly older at age seven. Kanako gave a triumphant cackle, although it was really more of a crackle.
“See! So if you don’t hasta play, I don’t hasta either.” And with that, she turned her back, plopped down and began concentrating on her hands again. One of the boys just a year older gave a little giggle, and the onlookers broke up, returning to their own games.
Taiki, embarrassed beyond words, stood alone.
-
“Oh, look, it’s miss Oo-eh-dah. So amazing that she earned her family a rank and a family name when she was only five. Oh, but your parents still work in the fields, don’t they, burn-hair? Wouldn’t’ve thought people with a rank would still be farmers.”
Kanako, age sixteen and two summers short of earning her status as a Fire lady, turned around, her hands aflame, hissing like a wet fire. She was a striking figure, mainly because of her height- she was as tall as a full grown man- and her red-gold hair. Her face was twisted in an ugly frown. “Take it back or I’ll take your face off.” Her voice had gotten even more like the sound of fire as she had grown, and it was only because she had practiced and practiced that she could even be understood.
He took a step back, faking bravado in his voice. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes I would.” She matched his step, the flames in her hands growing ever higher. “Take it back. Now.”
When she was close enough that he could feel the heat, she brought her hands up, closing in on his face. She was moving slowly, giving him a chance to admit his mistake; despite her anger, she had been taught quite specifically how not to hurt people with her flames, beginning with herself.
He finally gasped and jerked away, putting his hands up and yelping, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Immediately, the flames died away, and she turned away, her attention already on other things. If she was quick to anger, she was quicker to calm down once the matter was solved. And she never held a grudge.
“You’d think that after ten years you’d learn a thing or two.” He turned to his left to see her brother, Taiki, his arms folded. His hair, as red-gold as his sister’s, was neatly twisted into a topknot, and though he wasn’t as tall as his sister, he could still be quite menacing when he wanted to.
Kanako might burn you if you had provoked her, but she would always stop if she thought she had gone too far. Taiki, on the other hand, regularly left the village to learn interesting and painful things to do to people, using knives and rope and whatever else might be on hand.
And yet, proving again that his sense of self-preservation was sorely lacking, he said, keeping his voice low and his manner scornful, “Your sister would have been better off without being a Fire child. She’s so terribly uncouth and rough and ugly now. Such a waste.” Everyone in the village was well aware of the rift between the twin redheads.
“A waste,” Taiki, said, overly agreeable. “My dear sister is so important that even lords must acknowledge our family, and yet the only difference from before is that we now have a family name. Still,” and here his voice grew soft and silky and dangerous, “she is my family, and I’ll not have her insulted.”
He took a step back, his eyes fixed on the small, star-shaped blade that had suddenly appeared in Taiki’s hand. “I-I…”
“Learn your lesson and apologise before I put this in your forehead.”
Once apologies had been made, Taiki put his shuriken away and patted him amiably on the head. “You know, teasing girls was fine when we were children, but you can hardly offer for her if you keep up this behavior. Not that I would accept you as a brother-in-law. But I’m just warning you.”
He gaped at Taiki; it had not occurred to him that he could have been read so easily. Taiki patted him again, this time on the shoulder, and walked away with a jaunty wave.
Author's note: The title and cut text are a nod to the chapter of Endless Nights featuring Desire.