The flames were so close, they practically licked her skin, stretching to get a taste.

Rose was nine when her house caught fire.

She could barely breath through the thick smoke that overtook her room. Her little lungs tried their best, but the fire spread quickly and violently.

In her young mind, she thought, I am going to die.

She was much to young to die. Her mom would be sad. Her little sister wouldn’t really remember her. She wouldn’t get to hug either of them ever again.

Just as she was losing hope, her body scrambled as far away from the fire as she could get, something happened. Like an angel was sent down straight from heaven, a woman appears through the flames.

Literally.

If it didn’t make her eyes water, her eyes would have widened.

Her mom told her about Strangers. How they were dangerous people with dangerous powers. It’s why her older sister went missing. Because a Stranger took her.

But this woman was unharmed. The fire curled around her like it respected her. Like it listened to her.

“Hi, little one. I’m going to get you out of here.”

That was exactly what she did. The Fire Woman saved her. She walked her straight through the scorching flames and set her down in her backyard.

In the darkness, the Fire Woman glowed. Her skin a golden color. Her hair moved as if it were kindlings. Her eyes, fiery orange.

She didn’t say a word more to her and vanished. Not literally this time. The mysterious Stranger just strolled away.

When the firefighters found her, they asked her what happened.

No one believed her. Strangers didn’t do nice things. Not out of the kindness of their hearts. They were destructive and violent. Manipulators and psychopaths. They didn’t save little girls from fires.

But this one did.

Rose didn’t know much, but she knew one thing.

Not all Strangers were bad.

You don’t know what they will be when you come across a Stranger, if they’re good or bad. But for Rose, there’s another option. They can be heroes.

It’s not that I’ve chosen To live nearly frozen With frostbitten toes n’ Sniffling red noses But that’s just my lot Not something I’ve sought I’ve just found my self caught In this wintry draught I’m perpetually chilly I’ve sure had my filly Of snowmen so silly Built round willy-nilly I’d love a get-away A tropical vaycay On the beach where I would lay Basking in the sun’s rays Instead I’m trapped, locked Where icicles mock My home is a rock In this solid ice block

(an ode to this freaking blizzard outside-anyone else getting this?)

Guys let’s go we need to speed up we will be late SHAROL! Yells John okay geez I’m trying I’m going 100 miles per hour that’s as fast as we can go! Says mom. Guys stop fighting mom go slow we’re near a mountain so you need to relax and make sure that the car is heated. Max don’t worry your DAD wants to speed so here we go. Mom says in a worried and upset tone as she glares at dad angrily.

I yell as mom speeds stoooop and then the car stops. Mom says Oh No the car broke down WERE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF MOUNTAIN SAGA AAAAAAAHHHHHH! Mom we’re okay the car is heated so we won’t freeze. Dad turn the heat up why is it off! Son the heats all the way on? Oh no the heats off we all say in unison.

Okay let’s just walk we’re only a few minutes away for us 13 minutes at least if we don’t stop. Dad complains max why don’t we just have a picnic here?! No dad stop being lazy we need to get there! The mountain is fourteen minutes high walking so we have to walk 13 miles to get to the camp so please just start walking as we walk it will get easier just cmon dad… ever since you and mom divorced-… Maybe.. NEVER-MIND YOU GUYS NEVER GET ALONG! As I walk away angrily mom and dad question their parenting.

John mom says maybe we need to show at least some affection to him he’s been not himself ever since we you know… Honey cmon lets go find him.. As im an hour away my parents go to find me but its too late im already too deep. The scorching cold night the saddened howling wolves and no shielding shelter. Thats possibly the worst the conditions a man I mean boy could be in. As im sitting in the cold snow with clothes that barely shield me from the harsh coldness of the snow. Finding a solution I take it finding food was easy their were a lot of things that I could find to cook and seeing that there were trees it was easy thinking it was easy to make a fire hint hint it wasn’t. I caught two hare to fulfill my empty stomach growling for more. As I finish my parents find me and I think to myself I am in for it. And just as a flinch they hug me. Max we are so sorry we never meant for you to feel that way its hard we will stick together no parting. ok? Ok lets go i got hare want some. Hair son don’t eat your hair you could have hunted for something. No dad hare not hair sigh just sad plain sad.

PT.2?

I was so cold. So very cold.

I couldn’t see anything around me, just pitch blackness, my body was frozen. I couldn’t even open my mouth to scream for help.

I remembered how I had got here, driving late at night, the skidding of tires, the brakes screaming as I spun out on the deserted road. I had hit a patch of black ice and lost control of my car.

The pain I felt thought out my entire body confirmed I had survived the crash…for now.

My body was far to cold to move and soon hypothermia would set in. No one knew I was out here. I had no one waiting for me at home, no one that would be concerned for me.

I would die out here.

The road was an empty rural lane,no houses or street lights for miles.

I could no longer open my eyes, the cold promising blissful oblivion. I welcomed it.

My body was no longer my own, and I grew tired of fighting the pull of death.

But it didn’t come.

Strange.

All I wanted to do was sink under, surrender to the icy cold, but something wouldn’t let me.

I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. I tried to open my eyes, move make any kind of movement but nothing worked.

What was going on?!

Then I heard a disembodied voice come from far away, a voice that sounded eerily familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“Any change nurse?”

A second voice. “No doctor.”

I screamed, but no one could hear me.

I woke up with a monstrous headache and a terribly sore elbow. It took me some time to remember how I arrived at this moment. I slowly sat up, holding my head with my good arm, and took stock of my situation. I may have a concussion—best to move slowly. Did I fracture my elbow? It is terribly painful to move, but I can move it—probably not broken. How did I manage to injure myself? What am I doing in the middle of the forest? I was on my way to meet someone…but, who? Sara! My friend, a Catawba healer…we were going to forage for medicinals. I do not usually walk to her…my horse! I was on Juniper, I must have fallen. She must have seen a snake; I know no other cause for her to throw me from the saddle. That would also explain why she did not stay close by.

Damn!  I am in the forest, alone, with no mount.  Though I have traveled to Sara’s village often, nothing looked familiar…sure sign of a concussion, I suppose.  It is difficult to determine direction or estimate the time of day, since the forest blocks the sun so completely.  Oh, I do hope Juniper is not captured and pressed into military uses!

“Think, Abbie, damn you,” I said to the forest.  I never swear in front of others, it is not ladylike, but exceptional situations call for exceptional language.  It is oppressively hot, my hair around my face is plastered to my damp skin—it must be afternoon.  I have half of a canteen of water—that is good.  There is only fetid, still water in my immediate vicinity—best not to drink that unless I have no other choice.  I have my haversack with a few supplies, but most of my vials and jars are in my saddlebag, along with my lunch.  

I set out walking, slow enough to keep my head from pounding, and disturbing as little foliage as possible, lest I alert something—or someone—that might want to kill me.  I wonder, which is more endangering:  venomous snakes, panthers, Redcoats, or militia?  I thought of the men that would often accompany Sara from the Catawba village, stalking through the forest with absolute silence.  I attempt to copy their measured footfalls, the manner in which they scanned their heads side to side, looking and listening.  I rarely take notice of the frogs and cicadas with their ever present din, but now I curse them for their noise, camouflaging potential threats.  

With each passing hour, I grow more tired, more thirsty.  My canopy is empty…can hold out a little bit longer…maybe I will find a suitable fresh water source soon.  “God, can you please send me one of your glorious summer rain storms?”  My clothes are drenched from sweat and mud.  I must sit and rest, for just a moment.  I sit upon a fallen log, my throbbing, blistered feet sending jolts of pain up through my legs.  My elbow does not hurt so much as long as I keep it still.  It feels so good to close my eyes, relieves the tension in my head.  

Crack!  The sound of thunder jolts me out of my slumber—how long have I slept, I wonder? The  rain was already falling when I awoke—big, fat drops of marvelous, delicious water.  I turn my face to the heavens, mouth wide open to slake my thirst.  “Thank you, God!” Low, rolling thunder reverberates in my chest.  Though the quandary of my thirst was solved, slogging through the mud slows my trek.  Instantaneously I am blinded—a tree a hundred feet in front of me glows white hot and bursts into flames.  I wondered, will I die here?

The ice was so cold it burned. Tiana sat behind the now upside-down car, rubbing her hands together. She was going to be late, there was no doubt about it. Her sleeveless dress was already soaked with melted snow and torn up from the crash. Blood ran down the side of her face where she had slammed her head against the wheel of the car. The airbags hadn’t worked. Tiana shuddered as she remembered the screeching tires, a car that grazed her, scared her into a ditch, a car that left her there to die. She was gonna die. She was gonna die. She didn’t want to die. A silent prayer played over and over in her mind. Keep me alive. Let me survive. Keep me alive. Let me survive. I don’t want to die. My life is yours if you keep me alive… Car lights flashed nearby and cop car sirens blared. Saved. Tiana jumped up and waved her hands frantically at the car, but it had already seen the wreckage and had parked nearby. A cop with dark blue aviators stepped out of the police car and started walking toward her. Tiana subconsciously brushed the dirt off her ruined dress. He looked around her age. In his early twenties or so. “If your looking for directions, the nearest Sonic is sixteen miles that way.” She said. The cop laughed. “Need help?” “No I’d prefer waking sixteen miles to Sonic.” He laughed again. She liked this cop. “Well where do you live? I can drop you off.” Tianas face fell. Right. Home. The dance was over. The night, ruined. “Actually, I want to dance.” The cop raised his eyebrows. Tiana shrank back a little at her boldness. “I-“ whatever she was going to say she didn’t get to say it. The cop twirled her in the moonlight. She laughed a sweet and surprised laugh. His dark blue eyes held stars she wanted to be lost in. His smile was warm and innocent. She felt safe with him. Thank you. Came the whisper in her mind. Thank you. She knew who was to thank. And she knew that those who didn’t were destined to be cold and lonely. For she knew. She knew and she was no longer cold. The cop laughed as Tiana twirled him. And she was no long lonely.

They thought they had disposed of my body easy enough; assumed they’d picked the smart, calculated choice.

Who would think a girl as skinny and fragile as me could survive not only a close escape with death but being plunged into a thick coat of snow somewhere she did not know?

I doubt any slimmer of karma could salvage this. I have the thinnest grey jacket with a hole in the pockets. Snowflakes are already attacking my eyelashes and cheeks. The fine observations would be the ones to save me. At this current moment there is not a single doubt in my mind that my survival is next to zero.

And it’s so cold. Exhaustingly cold. I have no phone, no lighter. Hell, they even took my watch.

My toes are scratching at the bottom of my shoes just waiting to snap off. It’s like ice has replaced everyone in the perfect resemblance.

I barely have the power to make it a few steps before a wave of tiredness and fragile dread overwhelms me. I cannot register my plunder back into the snow; the snow encasing my feet like a blanket; the dog-strewn sleigh, nor the person traversing with it.

Right now my tongue tastes of what I can only describe as solid frost from the freezer. My ears burn red. My limbs I barely recognise as blue, stiff and immobile.

I cant register anything soon enough. All I process is the white landscape and sinking into an abyss. I’m so out of it that I hardly recognise the person and their steed carefully manoeuvring a coat onto me and then cautiously moving me onto their sleigh.

I wake in a daze. A drug- like state. I’m somewhere warm, warm, warm. There’s distant noise of a fire crackling absentmindedly and a low purr from by my feet ( which I am stunned to find are wrapped with the rest on my body in a thick quilt. )

Of course my poor survival skills have led to me requiring some foreign help instead of traversing the snow myself. I can only be grateful I suppose.

It’s hard to notice the flicker of a light, a swish in the breeze when I’m being pulled back into unconsciousness…

“Not far now, Bren. That’s a good girl.” Maisie brushed a gloved hand over Bren’s neck. Hard, smooth ruby scales bulged beneath the thin layer of wool, and Maisie patted her dragon once, twice. Warmth radiated from Bren’s body, and Maisie was glad for the comfort her companion gave her.

Six days they had been travelling north, six nights of make-shift snow caves and dehydrated chicken strips—what she wouldn’t do for a nice hot bowl of freshly made tomato soup.

Snow-capped mountains had become a constant feature of the landscape. The jagged toothed peaks protruded from the ground far below, the sparse sprinkling of fur trees lost in the haze of swirling, grey clouds. A numbing chill burned her cheeks, and Maisie tugged her woollen gaiter further up over her nose, pushing it under the rims of her leather goggles.

The cold had begun to harden Bren’s saddle, making it brittle and uncomfortable, and Maisie regretted using the last of her balsam wax to waterproof her boots. Fidgeting, Maisie repositioned her feet in the stirrups and tightened her hands on Bren’s reins.

Breath caught in Maisie’s throat. A blur of purple sprinkled the side of the mountainside, a delicate kiss of colour against the blinding white. Maisie patted Bren’s neck. “See them, Bren?” she asked, and the dragon blew a plume of hot air from her mouth. “They’re Bitter Lilacs.” she whispered, “It means we’re close.”

An hour passed, and sightings of the Bitter Lilacs increased until the very mountaintops looked like the Goddess herself had dipped each one in the most vibrant of wines. Even through the shield of her gaiter, Maisie could smell the sweet, floral tang of the Lilacs.

Maisie leant forward in her saddle, the leather groaning under her weight. “Should we go a little lower?”

Bren swung her head left, and Maisie jolted, her boot slipping from one of the stirrups. “Steady, girl! Hey! We don't have to, it—”

Without warning, Bren dived, her red, blazing wings tucked tight into her side. “Bren!” Maisie screamed. Icy wind whipped the fabric of her coat, pulled at the cords of her rucksack. Her hat blew off and vanished into the blank void. “What are you doing! Bren! Go up! Go up!”

The dragon spiralled. Maisie tugged on the reins, squeezed the heels of her boots into the soft of Bren’s belly, but still, she descended. A volcanic roar erupted from Bren’s jaws, vibrating through her body and sparks of golden flame spurted out, sizzling into choking black ash. “No, no, no! Quiet!” Maisie hissed, “You’ll start a….”

The world seemed to slow down, and goosebumps—that had nothing to do with the cold—prickled Maisie’s skin. Static buzzed. The a deep rumble convulsed through the air. Convulsed the ground. Convulsed through Maisie’s whole being. An avalanche. White powder burst from below. Bren roared as the force thrust her upwards. Maisie flew back, her hands slipped, and the reins slid from her grasp. Pain snapped through her thigh, and she tumbled, falling. The last thing Maisie saw before her body hit the ground was the brown curve of the saddle above her, the broken girth beating like the taunting, leathery wings of a bat.

Maisie blinked. Darkness consumed her sight, and a biting chill pinched at her lungs. Hadn’t it been daytime before?

Maise shivered. Something wet clung to her mouth, pulling tight around her face. Hadn’t she been in the air...on something?

Her head rolled back, heavier than lead, smacking into something hard, uncomfortable. Silence howled, a haunting whistle in her ears. She tried to move, to wiggle her toes, her fingers, anything, but nothing shifted— they didn’t even feel cold. If anything, she felt a little warm. Hadn't she fallen into snow?

A dull ache pulsed behind her eyes—the steady beat of a ticking clock—and she so desperately wanted to go to sleep, to curl up next to...to someone. Who was missing?

She couldn't think. Nothing made sense or maybe did it, and she was simply tired. Yes, that was it. Tired. She would take a nap, rest up, and when she woke, everything would make—

“You do not have long. I can feel it.” Maisie thought the voice had been a dream, a cruel illusion of words, but the voice spoke again, and a blast of icy-blue light flickered from above. “Sleep now, child.”

Glistening snow surrounded Maisie in a cocoon of frozen ice, burying her deep, deep down—so why did she feel so hot? “Save me,” Maisie slurred, her words no more than a jumble of noise, a vibration of her lips. “Why?” “Please,” she said weakly. The light above flickered, and the shadow of a shape grew. A sweet aroma—a scent she knew—a floral tang wafted from the darkness. The smell of Bitter Lilacs

“Goddess Morana,” Maisie said, “Please.” “You know me?” Yes, she thought she did. No, she knew she did. Hadn’t it been the reason why her and...and…someone had— “Yes,” Maisie said, her eyes stinging, brimming with unknown tears. “Yes, I know you. Your… your story… your br.. brother’s something, his…his...” “His betrayal?” Goddess Morana offered. How kind. “Yes. I came...find you. We… we need you.” “We?” “The kingdom.” Maisie mumbled, “Your...your sister. Queen Tana. Please!”

Arms reached around Maisie’s head. She watched through blurred goggles as the snow dispersed, disappearing in formed clumps of white. One after the other, the chunks flew into the air and steadily, her shoulders reappeared.

Although she couldn't feel it, Maisie knew the woman—Goddess Morana—had lifted her from the cage of ice. A blanket of silver wrapped around her shoulders, and cradled in the Goddess’ arms, Maisie scanned the onyx sky. Stars scattered the black, but something—no, someone—was missing.

“Where’s my Bren?” Maisie mumbled. “Safe.” Goddess Morana said, “For now.”

This is going to be fun. I’m being sarcastic. I hate the cold. I get very cold very easily and one time I got frostbite when I was skiing and I was 11 years old. I hate this. I’m going to die out here in the freezing cold.

Yehan had always loved the sun. It was what eased him as a child, the warmth in the ground and the breeze. The smooth heat sunk into his skin, a welcome familiar sensation.

Maybe the heat of the sun wasn’t too bad of a way to die.

He lay before the sky in a long stretch of sand, warm and soft. It clung to his back, his hair, and his limbs.

He was aware he was dying.

There was no way he could’ve survived this, the all powerful god known as the sun. It had sent out to destroy him and he had accepted it.

How could he not? It was so beautiful. Even if it was painful.

Yehan had always loved the sun. There was no better way to die, in his honest opinion, and even in his last breathe under the rays of sunshine, he had no regrets.

A/N

It turned more into an acceptance of death prompt but I wanted my character to feel at peace in his death :)