Y’know, I don’t know if I am getting any better at writing since no one leaves a comment. If you do, I’ll throw in a cookie and be able to thank you.
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A few more days passed, and Ornlu’s condition rapidly improved. He could now move without too much pain and his gashes healed into small scars, but while he could make his claws twitch, his leg was still in bad shape. The bones were still broken, and his paw was still half inch below normal height.

“Yo dude, can you walk?” Koga asked from outside in a cautious voice, and Ornlu knew why. During his recovery, Koga and Ornlu had tried to sneak out, only to be caught by Larka and yelled at. In secret, they had vowed never to set her off again.

“Not really, but I can either limp or hover to move.” Ornlu said back as he walked outside and looked around.

Koga caught his eye and motioned towards the burned city, where people where going in and coming out, searching for belongings and survivors. Ornlu felt a slight itch from his leg and remembered that he had it bandaged after his last round of pain.

“Come on, we need to help people.” Koga said to the surprise of Ornlu, since he had never heard Koga say anything like that…ever. Shrugging it off, he followed Koga to the burned city, where the stench of burning hit them. Bodies that have yet to be moved began to decompose, adding more odors to the air.

Koga led him to where a group of people gathered around a pile of bodies that were being cremated, their ashes lighting up the sky, turning it dark. “I never told you…Gilroy died. He was killed trying to direct the flow of people out the city…” Koga whispered to Ornlu.

Gilroy was Koga’s elder brother by three years, who was constantly watching over them when Fenris wasn’t around. Ornlu swore before replying, “How’s Alicia taking it?”

Koga sighed before saying, “She died a few seconds after him, in a different area.” Ornlu looked away, grieving for both of his friends.

Alicia was a white tiger, and she always had a happy face on, no matter how much she was depressed. Ornlu once had a crush on her, but backed off when Gilroy admitted his feeling to her.

“What about Sean?” Ornlu asked as he watched the fire.

“Saw him a few days ago. Both of his sisters are alive as well.” Koga replied.

“Xavis?”

“Dead, he was crushed by a building. His brother survived though.”

After a few more questions, they both moved away from the fire and started to aid others in lifting things off the streets and rescuing a few survivors. Ornlu found a female salamander that couldn’t be more that five stuck in a hole, and since no one could jump down and climb back up, he volunteered to go down.

“Get on.” He told her as he laid down so she could crawl onto his back. Once he was sure that she was secure, he flew back up and gave her to her parents, who kept saying ‘Thank you’ over and over.

Koga, however, managed to lift up a rock that was pinning a middle-aged Kirnen, a mixture of a gorilla and raven. Similar things happened all around until they met with each other once more while trying to free a boar who’s back had been snapped by debris, but since he could move his hind legs, he was not paralyzed.

“So, I overhear someone talking about you two and it turns out to be true.” A voice that made them both jump said. Whirling around, they saw Fenris smiling at them.

“I-I can explain!” both Koga and Ornlu said at the same time, which caused Fenris to laugh and walk closer to them.

“There is no need, for you have saved many of lives today. And don’t worry, Larka is on the other side of the city, so you have plenty of time to slip back.” He told them as he walked past them, causing them both to sigh in relief.

After a few moments, they walked to where they once lived before the inferno. A few of their neighbors greeted them with sorrow on their face, and made no attempt to talk to them after. They went inside their house, which was large since all four of them lived there, Ornlu due to being found stranded and nearly killing Koga in a misunderstanding outside the city, and Larka because of her parents. Ornlu remembered hearing her crying herself to sleep for a month after their death, and a few times he, Fenris, and Koga had offered to stay with her until she fell asleep.

“Dude, watch where you’re going!” Ornlu was suddenly pushed to the side by Koga without warning. He looked to where he was about to step and saw shattered glass there.

“Thanks.” Ornlu mumbled as he went to the upstairs floor while Koga stayed on the bottom.

Upstairs was a wreck. The ceiling had been completely caved in, exposing the red sky, which was normal for the Plane of Fire. He then noticed where his room had been and walked inside; ignoring the creaks the floor was giving.

Everything he once owned was ruined. His books, pictures, and bed had all been torn apart or burned, leaving a feeling of emptiness in the room. He took one more step inside when he stepped on something. It was a picture of him, Larka, Koga, and Fenris a few years back, near Lake Firden, the city’s biggest attraction. It was in perfect shape with only tiny burn marks here and there on it. Ornlu then absently put it in his bandage when he heard someone running up the steps.

“Nothing down there.” Koga said as he walked in Larka’s room, Ornlu following a few seconds later.

“You really wanted to get in here, huh?” Ornlu said to him in a joking way, earning a growl.

Ornlu then walked over to her bed, where an intact book lay there while Koga looked underneath the bed. A closer look at the book revealed that it was her diary. Dragons wrote by using their tail, and Ornlu immediately backed away from it.

“Dude, she’s got a freaking shrine of you under here!” Koga suddenly shouted, his voice muffled from being under the bed.

“You’re kidding…” Ornlu replied in a shocked tone as he looked under the bed, where he was met by Koga’s laughter.

“Yeah, I am. But, I did find this…” he said as he came back out, holding a necklace in his mouth. It had an onyx embedded in the front while white pearls formed the part that you put around your neck. “No wonder why she was angry, she probably missed it! What’s that?” he added, looking at her diary.

“Larka’s diary. We need to get it back to her.” Ornlu said to Koga, who started sweating nervously.

“Uh…hell no. I am NOT touching that, lest she see me carrying it. You take it, since she likes you more, and you’re injured.” Koga replied hastily, edging away from it like a demon from holy water.

“Fine, I’ll carry it under my wing so she can’t see it. But,” Ornlu said, grinning at Koga as he picked up the diary, “what are we going to do now that you put it in your mouth? It was her mothers.”

Those words seemed to have gotten to Koga, since he shoved the necklace into Ornlu’s wing before running. Ornlu laughed as he heard him yelp from crashing into the wall and walk downstairs, where Ornlu followed.

However, as he reached the bottom step, he accidentally bumped his crushed paw on the floor, sending scorching pain through him. He could hear Koga’s voice from far away as he screamed in pure agony for the next minute.

“Ornlu, you alright man?!” Koga asked as he helped him up and stuff the diary and necklace into his wing once more.

“Y-yeah, I think. Let’s get back before Larka finds us.” Ornlu said as they both went back as quickly as they could to the tent and walked inside when another voice froze them completely.

“You’re finally back, huh?” Larka said sweetly as she came from outside, which spelled death for Koga and Ornlu.

“How did you…” Ornlu asked as she growled, silencing him entirely. Koga looked like he was praying to the Anugros to help them.

“Fenris told me.” she replied simply. Ornlu vowed to kill Fenris if he lived through this.

Finding his voice at last, Koga spoke, “Then you must know that we helped a lot today, right!?”

Chuckling, Larka said, “Yes, I did, which is why no one is cremating you both. However, I need to go back and help Fenris. If I find you that you move, Ornlu…well, I won’t be as gentle as I am now.”

As she left, both of them were able to breathe easier. “Now that we have faced death herself, I’m tired. G’night!” Koga said as he flopped to the floor, falling asleep within seconds.

As tired as he was, Ornlu quickly made his way towards her tent and placed the necklace and diary on her bed, and then flew back within a minute.

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A few hours later, Ornlu was awakened by the sound of someone walking in. careful not to alert the intruder of his awakening, he glanced over to it and saw that Larka had come in.

As she came closer, Ornlu’s heart started hammering. Did she realize what he did and think he read her diary!? She was within a foot of him now, and Ornlu braced himself.

However, to his greatest surprise, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek before quickly leaving.

“She totally digs you.” He heard Koga whisper a few seconds after she had left.