• Solo • Playing with Fire

[Rei'sari]

1st Cylus, 719


"Wish me luck, Shadow. With the celebration totrial, the kids are going to be all worked up. It's all they've been talking about for trials. And excited children are...a handful."

To put it lightly. The younger kids at the orphanage had been bouncing off the walls with excitement and anticipation over this festival for trials. And even the older children had been easily distracted from their lessons as they made plans for the trial, and talked about other bonfires they had been to. Ari'sora thought totrial was going to be exhausting...but it was going to be a lot of fun as well. She was looking forward to it as much as the kids were.

Shadow purred in amusement.

"Good luck, Ari'sora. You are going to need it. Those kids outnumber you, you know."

Ari'sora resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her friend...barely.

"Yes, but I won't be alone with them. Felicia, Nats, and Chris are going to be there too."

Chris Jonson was the gardener at Luna's Dream. The kids loved him, and he seemed to love them just as much since he was often seen telling them stories. There were rumors among the rest of the staff that he was the son of Cassion, but since he refused to comment on the subject when asked, there was no proof either way. But he was quite skilled at telling stories, and he never seemed to mind if Ari'sora listened in when he was telling one whenever she could.

"I think that the four of us can handle the kids."

Shadow purred again.

"Maybe. But I still say better you than me. I'll think of you out in the cold with the kids while I'm curled up by this nice fire."

Ari'sora did stick her tongue out at Shadow this time.

"We'll be plenty warm around the bonfire, Shadow."

"Talking to the cat again?" Mi'zuri asked with an eyebrow raised in amusement as she walked into the room.

"If it's any of your business, then yes. Are you sure that you don't mind babysitting Rin'saia?" Ari'sora asked anxiously.

Ari'sora didn't really like the idea of leaving her daughter for the trial when she was so young and helpless. But she did trust her sister to watch over her...sort of. If something more interesting didn't come up. If it wasn't Cylus, Ari'sora would just take her daughter with her, but the healer had warned her that babies shouldn't be exposed to the cold unless there was no other choice. And in this situation, there was.

"I don't mind. She is my niece, after all. Besides, it will be fun for me to get a chance to spoil her when you're not around."

Ari'sora hesitated for a few trills more. But it really was better to leave Rin'saia safely in the warmth of their cottage rather than drag her out to the loud festival even if the bonfire would ensure that she didn't get too cold. Her daughter was taking a nap, so she peeked in on the tiny infant and gave her a quick kiss before heading over to Luna's Dream.

Excitement filled the air. As soon as Ari'sora walked through the door of the orphanage, she could feel it. Within trills, she was surrounded by happy children who chattered at her excitedly as they pulled her further inside.

"Did you know that Felicia is going to dance around the bonfire with us? She said she would! And Chris is going to tell us stories! And..." Allanor said excitedly.

Ari'sora laughed.

"And I am sure that everyone is going to have lots of fun when we get there. But we have to get there first. Why don't you run and tell the other kids that we'll be leaving soon while I help Felicia get everything we need to bring with us?"

Ari'sora could almost see the thought process going on in the young boy's mind. The faster all of the kids were ready to go, and the faster the grownups had everything they needed, the faster they could get to the beach. And the faster they got to the beach, the faster the fun would begin. Allanor nodded eagerly, and raced out of the room with an excited cry. Ari'sora watched him go with an amused smile, then went to find Felicia and ask what she could do to help them get ready to go.

[Rei'sari]

They weren't the first group to arrive at the beach, but they had gotten there early enough that the people who had gotten there ahead of them were just starting to get things set up. Without needing words to split up the tasks, Chris pulled the children aside and offered to tell them a story while they waited. That left Felicia, Nats, and Ari'sora free to go help the others who were building the bonfire.

"Do any of you guys know how to build a bonfire?"

Ari'sora and Nats shook their heads, but Felicia nodded.

"I have helped to build them in the past, but only when someone who has more experience than I do with them was there to tell me what to do."

"Why don't you go help the others gather rocks then, while I give these two a quick lesson, okay?"

Felicia nodded, and hurried off to join the others in gathering stones.

"My name is Luthur, by the way. I know Felicia and Nats because I volunteer at Luna's Dream from time to time. But I don't believe that I have ever met you before."

"I'm Ari'sora."

"It's nice to meet you, Ari'sora. So the first thing you need to know that when building a bonfire, it is of absolute importance that you build a ring of stones or bricks around the area you plan to build your bonfire. It's a safety precaution, just as digging a fire pit for a regular fire is."

"What is the difference between a bonfire, and a regular fire?" Ari'sora wanted to know.

"A bonfire is a lot bigger than a normal one is. You might use a normal fire for heat, or to cook on, or even to keep animals away if you are camping out in the wilds. But a bonfire is to big to be used for those things. You could use it to send signals, though. If you were trapped on a deserted island, you might be able to signal for help from passing boats if you built one on a beach. Of if you have searchers looking for you from the sky, the smoke from a bonfire might catch their attention and tell them where you are. For now, though, we need to build our bonfire for the celebration. And the first step in doing that..."

"Is to gather stones and bricks to build a ring around it." Ari'sora and Nats said in unison.

They quickly joined Felicia and the others, and got to work.

[Rei'sari]

Once they had finished making a circle of stones, Luthur called everyone over to where he was standing.

"For those who do not know, the circle of stones you just made is the first step in making a bonfire. It is used as a safety precaution, just as digging a fire pit for a normal fire is. Now that we have that done, we need to gather our kindling. This is another thing that both types of fires have in common. A fire won't burn if you just throw a few sparks at a huge piece of wood. You have to start small. Moss, twigs, grass, and the like. These kinds of things burn quickly, but they also burn hot. And that heat will enable the fire to spread to the larger wood. We will also need big logs for the bonfire, but those are being brought in as we speak."

Luthur paused as he gestured at a group of men who were carrying in a bunch of large logs.

"While they're doing that, we can help by gathering the kindling so that everything will be ready once the logs are all here."

The group split up once more to look for kindling. Ari'sora, Nats, and Felicia worked together as a group. Luthur moved freely among the other workers, helping as needed.

"Don't take that one." he told Ari'sora as she started to pick up a small twig.

Ari'sora looked at it in confusion.

"It isn't too big for kindling, is it?" she asked.

"No, but it's still green, see?"

The man broke the stick in half, but Ari'sora wasn't sure what she was supposed to be seeing. To her, it looked like a stick.

"Green wood like this produces more smoke, smaller flames, and less heat than dried wood does. If we were making the bonfire to send signals, that would be a good thing. But for what we're doing, the smoke will only make things worse."

Luthur looked around and found another twig so that he could show her the difference between a green one, and a dried one. Then he let them get on with their work. Once Ari'sora had gathered several armfuls of kindling, she went to check on the kids, but Chris seemed to have them well in hand. He was entertaining the younger ones with a story while the older ones helped out by looking for kindling in the nearby area. Satisfied that the kids were okay, she went back to the task at hand.

With as many people as they had to share the work, it didn't take them all that long to gather up enough kindling.

"Now that we have everything we need to build the bonfire, we can really get started. This next step is one of the biggest between building a bonfire, and a normal sized one. With a normal sized one, you would set the kindling on fire, and gradually feed larger pieces of wood to it until it really got going. But with a bonfire, we are going to place our kindling in the center of our circle here. Then we are going to build the structure for our bonfire. Once we have that in place, we will set the kindling on fire, and the heat from that will help cause the fire to spread to the larger wood."

Luthur took charge of the group. He had the people who had the most experience in building bonfires begin by sorting out the logs by size. The medium ones were used first. Some were planted in the ground in such a way that one end was buried in the dirt while the other rose towards the sky in something like a triangle. As more of the wood was added to the structure, the tops rested against each other in a shape that looked a little like a teepee type tent. Once the first several logs had been planted into the ground, others were leaned up against them. When Luthur gestured for the others to begin helping, Ari'sora was quick to obey.

"You want to make sure that the structure is as stable as possible, but you also want to leave room between the logs so that air can flow between them. This will help to get the fire going when it is time to light it. If the structure is built correctly, then when one of the logs burns through, the rest will collapse in on itself."

Once all of the medium sized logs had been used up, the process was repeated with the larger logs. As they worked, Luthur explained that once the tinder and kindling was lit, the fire would spread first to the medium sized logs, then to the largest ones as it got bigger and hotter. When Luthur was satisfied that the structure for the bonfire was ready, he used his flint kit to light the fire himself. Ari'sora felt a deep sense of satisfaction as she watched the fire grow. She had been a part of the group effort that had built that fire.

It didn't take long for the bonfire to really get going, and once it did, so did the celebration. People laughed and talked as they ate the meals they had brought with them. Ari'sora listened in amusement as Allanor and the other kids made bets on who would finish eating first. As people finished eating, they began to dance around the bonfire. Ari'sora held Lira's hand as they danced around in a ring, listening carefully as the younger girl taught her the steps to the dance.

The celebration was every bit as exciting as the children had hoped it would be. Ari'sora didn't know which she enjoyed more; the celebration itself, or watching the children have so much fun. When some of the younger children began showing signs of being exhausted from the events of the trial, Felicia began rounding them up so they could go home. Ari'sora, Nats, and Chris saw this, and between them, they made short work of the task. Kelf was already asleep on his feet, so Ari'sora picked him up; it wasn't surprising that he would be so tired since he was only three arcs old. As they walked back to the orphanage, and got the children settled into bed, Ari'sora thought that she and the others who worked at Luna's Dream must have the best job in the world.

[Pig Boy]

Comments

This was a sweet little story. Very well constructed and flows well enough. From time to time, it's fun watching ordinary characters doing ordinary things like attending festivals, classes, working, etc..

Ari was so nice to bring along the kids from the orphanage where she works, and ensure their safety as they return.

The details on the fieldcraft stuff checks out as far as I can tell. There's some good information there. Well done!

Points

10 (These points may not be used for magic)

Knowledge

Caregiving: infants shouldn't be exposed to the cold unless absolutely needed
Field Craft: green wood produces more smoke, smaller flames and less heat than dried wood
Field Craft: fires are used for heat and cooking, bonfires are used for sending signals
Field Craft: the importance of having a fire pit for a normal fire or a circle of stones for a bonfire
Field Craft: how to build a fire
Field Craft: how to build a bonfire

Non Skill Knowledges

NPC: Chris Jonson
Chris Jonson: works at Luna's Dream
Chris Jonson: is a gardener
Chris Jonson: loves kids, and is adored by them in return
Chris Jonson: is a good storyteller
Chris Jonson: might be the son of Cassion

Loot

n/a

Wealth

n/a

Renown

5 for taking part in a festival/celebration.