Dancing Embers:
Shortie by Lone Wolf
This one's for you, Nahane Storm! ^.^

~I'll see you on the dark side of the moon~

	The campfire crackled in the late night air. It lit up the forest 
clearing, allowing no shadow to find a place to exist. It was perfect for 
making sure that no bandits, two legged or otherwise, could find a place to 
hide until her guard was down. The maned wolf sat there, watching it, 
humming a soft tune to herself. Her patchwork armor lay by her bedroll, 
which was set up and ready to recieve it's occupant for the night.

	There was a rustle in the bushes. Her hand darted to her rusty, pitted 
short sword, ready to cleave whatever it was in two. The bushes parted and 
out came a fox. He wore a pair of tattered gray shorts and a black cloak he 
had borrowed from her. In his arms was a pile of wood. "I hope this is 
enough for us," he said.
	She smiled. "It is." She put the sword away. "Thanks for collecting 
it."
	"It's not a problem." He set the pile down a safe distance from the 
blaze and sat down next to her. "So, are you ready for bed?"
	She grinned and leaned on his arm. "Nah. I'm not sleepy yet." She gave 
him a small hug. "Play me a story, Ukali. Please?"
	He chuckled. "Oh, all right." He got up and went to go fetch his 
stuff. "Say, Nahane, do you just want me to play the story or should I do 
something else?"
	"What do you mean?"
	He sat down next to her, this time holding a lute and a pouch. "I've 
found something that works well with fire and my music. I can always try 
that."
	She smiled. "Of course. I'm up for it." He smiled and shut his eyes.

	A hand went into the pouch. He muttered something as he pulled his 
hand out and cast a handful of white powder into the flames. The flames 
roared to life, causing Nahane to back up. "Ukali?" she asked curiously. He 
said nothing, keeping his eyes shut as he reached for the lute. He had used 
it earlier that evening, so he didn't have to tune it. He started to strum 
out a tune. The flames calmed down. His companion watched as the flames 
started to flicker and move with the beat. "It...it's dancing." She watched, 
totally amazed, as the flames jumped and flared. Her company merely played 
on, oblivious to the specticle that was before him.
	"It's called the Dancing Embers," he said. "It's an old trick the 
keep's bard used to perform. I had the fortune of learning how it was done, 
but could never find the ingredients for the powder."
	"But what about now?"
	"Now that I travel with you, I know what is what and which things to 
collect." He strummed a heavy chord. The flames roared up and slowly 
flickered down. "I was able to make the powder while you were out hunting. I 
wanted to give this to you as a gift."
	She smiled. "Thank you Ukali." She gave him a kiss on the cheek."
	He smiled. "Now for the finale." He started into a very powerful rise 
in tempo. The flames mimiced, slowly building up in intensity. He kept it 
going, building up as far as he could, before finishing off with the last, 
powerful strum of the strings. The fire gave one more, powerful blast, 
rising into the air. It was shaped like a phoenix, and seemed to fly 
straight into the air before disappearing. The fire died down, turning into 
nothing more than a few burning cinders.

	He put the lute down and took a deep breath. They remained silent for 
a few minutes, the fire slowly gaining it's original intensity. He shut his 
eyes and tried to catch his breath. She watched the fire silently, still 
stunned by the sight of beauty she had just witnessed. She leaned closer to 
him before finally wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. 
"That was beautiful," she said. "Thank you." He nodded with a yawn. "That 
took a lot out of you, didn't it?"
	"Yeah." He stretched and rubbed his eyes. "I think I'll hit the hay." 
He got up and slowly moved over to his bedroll, which was set up next to 
hers. She got up and followed. "You too?"
	"I had my story for the evening. I say it's time to quit." He chuckled 
and gave her a weak hug. 
	"I'll see ya in the morning then." He crawled into his bedroll and 
took his last deep breath for the evening. She stood over him, watching for 
a second, before removing her boots and getting into her bed. But before she 
fell asleep, she reached over and put an arm over him.
	"Good night, Ukali. See you in the morning."

End
Ukali is © <([ Lone Wolf Studios ])>
Nahane Storm is © herself. It may be short, hun, but it's your gift. ~.o