Fire in the Night [FINISHED]

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya had never been able to sleep at night, she'd been an insomniac for as long as she could remember. But it was good, it meant she could keep a lookout for things as her brother slept deeply behind her. She was sitting with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them as she looked out into the darkness with her big, wide eyes. Nighttime was beautiful but she was always scared that something would come and kill her brother before she was able to wake him, he was a very heavy sleeper. He didn't know she spent her nights keeping watch.

But she didn't keep watch alone. Yuliya had been heartbroken to have to say goodbye to all her animal companions when she came here...her dogs, her cats, her birds...her horse. One day she would get back to them, but for now she made friends with any animal she could. One of her now constant companions was a beautiful little fox whom she had named Ember who was also staring out into the forest. She unwrapped one arm from around her legs to scratch his head softly. Her eyes widened slightly as she heard the howling of wolves in the distance, but hopefully tonight nothing would happen. They were close enough to the edge of the forest to be safe, she thought...

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather sniffed around the tree, her white pelt gleaming. It was night time, but she hadn't eaten at all today. Her belly grumbled and she had to find something, even just some nuts or something. She was in her feline form, a small white cat with light blue eyes. Her fur was long and her form dainty, as it was in her true form. She spotted a bush not too far away and she ran over, looking for berries or something. This was indeed a raspberry bush, but all the ones in the outside had been eaten. She could see a few in the middle, but she couldn't find a way in.

Suddenly she hear a howl, and it wasn't far away. No, no not a werewolf! she thought, trembling a little. She could hear it tearing through the undergrowth of the forest and she squeaked, running in the other direction as fast as her little legs would carry her. Leaves slapped her in the face but she wasn't going to let the werewolf get her. She ran for a few minutes until she was almost out of breath, so she listened. The werewolf was close, but it seemed to have ignored her trail for now, as he wasn't running along it. So she took off once more to put more distance between them. She ran and ran until the trees began to thin out.

Then she stumbled on something, a bag of some sort, and landed on her side in a pile of white fur and dust. She shook herself off, but looked up and realized there were people. One was even awake, the other sound asleep. Her eyes widened and she backed away a little, her fur fluffing up. "Sorry! Sorry!" she said out of habit, before realizing that they wouldn't understand her, as she was a cat at the moment.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya's eyes widened when something came out of nowhere and shot right at them. Was it a wolf? No...it was too small. Then she heard a voice shouting, “Sorry! Sorry!” Werewolves usually didn't say things like that, if they said anything at all. Yuliya looked down to see a small white cat and her eyes softened. She hadn't seen a cat here before. She missed cats. She had had many cats back home. This little girl must have slipped in through a fence or something and got scared by something. Ember seemed unimpressed though, looking down his long nose at the animal.

“It is quite alright,” Yuliya said softly to her, reaching her hand out so she could sniff her out of her own accord. Hopefully she would come. Animals usually came to her. Though around here the animals were more scared than usual and so often she didn't bother. She wouldn't want to trouble them. “My name is Yuliya and you are safe here.” A thought came to her and she opened up the bag beside her and rooted through the cans to find a can of tuna. Both she and her brother were vegetarians so they had no use for it. She popped off the lid and set it down. “Hungry?”

But before she could listen for her response, if she gave one, Ember darted down and snatched some of the fish. She could sense there was something he didn't trust about this newcomer but she couldn't ask right in front of her. Or maybe he was just hungry for some tuna, that was also another possibility. She nudged the can towards her.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather blinked, she understood her? How was that...? Oh wait, she constantly forgot how many diverse species there were of supernatural. She must be one of those... what were they called... Animal Elementals. She had met one or two before, mostly in The Earth Circle. They were usually nice, and softer towards shapeshifters such as herself. She was technically more animal than human, but they sometimes seemed jealous of her because she could become an animal. Rather than just have an affinity for them.

Heather looked at the can of tuna, and her mouth began to water. She took a step towards it, her whisker's twitched as she smelled it. Her current feline instinct told her to gobble it down, but her more prominent, human instinct told her not to. Heather also was a vegetarian. Her parents were vegan, but Heather, having so much feline in her after being in her transformed state for so much, loved milk and just couldn't do away with dairy. So her parents let her drink milk and have cheese and things like that-as long as it was all organic. In here, Heather didn't have much choice when it came to organics (other than things she scavenged herself)-but she always made sure she stayed true to her vegetarian lifestyle.

So, as she sniffed the can of tuna and her cat senses began to go wild-she gulped. She didn't want to betray what her parents had taught her but... she also didn't want to starve to death. She was approaching it when the fox snatched it up and she scrambled back, her fur standing out so she looked twice her size-but her eyes were wide. At first she hadn't even seen the fox, and she was easily frightened by the wild creature. She could tell he didn't like her, and she wondered if he could tell she wasn't all she seemed. "On second thought, no thank you." she said, her voice faltering slightly.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya sent a look at the fox, “Ember, do not be rude to our guest,” she reprimanded softly. She loved the fox but he could be rather stand-offish and was a rather possessive creature. He was even possessive of Amri and seemed to enjoy being the only constant animal companion in their lives...but she loved all animals and she couldn't deny one so obviously in need of care her attention. It wasn't like she'd completely ignore him either. He'd helped her through this first year here and kept her company when Amri had to leave and acted like a watch dog when she dozed off in the day because of her insomnia. She owed him a lot.

So she scratched his head in his favorite spot as she nudged the can closer to her. “Please, it is quite alright,” she coaxed gently. It wasn't that Yuliya selfishly needed the animal to interact with her to feel good about herself, she was just worried, knowing that in all of the camp a place right next to her was probably the safest place for an animal of her size. She could understand her and give her what she needed, and though she hated to even think about it, she knew some other people here would be desperate enough to try and eat her. No, she needed to stay here for her own good.

“It is safe here, I will not let anyone hurt you.” Her eyes flicked towards the sleeping form of Amri. How would he feel about another animal hanging around them? It could actually be helpful, they wouldn't have to carry around cans of meat they didn't know what to do with but didn't want to waste. Ember ate it sometimes but he preferred catching his own food. But it was a selfish thought to want her to stay forever, because she missed her own cats. But she should at least stay until morning...then she could decide.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather twitched her whiskers, looking from Yuliya to the tuna with uncertainty and cautiousness in her gaze. She let her fur lie flat once more and walked up to the can of fish. Slowly she walked over to the tuna and peered into the can, she had never eaten meat before. Not once, not ever. She decided then and there not to start now, she could find something else to eat. There was plenty of berry bushes and nuts she could scavenge for.

"It's okay, he can have the rest. I..I don't need it." she said, her voice faltering at the lie. Heather wasn't the best liar, and she hated doing it-but sometimes it was necessary. Especially in here. Her parents wouldn't approve of so much Heather had to do in here, but she was sure they would understand it in her situation. Heather missed her parents dearly, they were her best friends and they were good people.

Heather approached the young girl slowly, curious to see her-and to help her forget about the tuna. "Your name is... Yuliya?" she asked, blinking in curiosity. She wondered if she should tell Yuliya her own name, but the thoughts again only made her think of her mother. Her beautiful, kind mother. She had named them after the heather plants in the greenhouse. Her mother loved them so much that her father had made an entire section of them with a lovely bench for her to sit and enjoy. Later, more flowers were put in, one new kind for every year Heather lived. Ivy vines, daffodils, lilies, white chrysanthemum flowers and so many more were added to the section. It was Heather's favourite place to read, and even the single thought of it made her heart heavy with homesickness.

Still, the girl was offering her safety. This was a rare opportunity for her. To have the chance to be completely safe had not happened since she was put in here. Always, she slept with one eye open, scared to sleep and never wake. She found spots as hidden as she could, but still had troubles feeling safe. Now here was a completely safe place she could stay-these people did seem nice enough, even one night of safety could really give her some needed rest.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya didn't understand her hesitance. She must be hungry, there was rarely a time when creatures in this place weren't hungry. Most of the time Yuliya was hungry, though it didn't really bother her as much what with her small frame, whereas her brother got extremely grumpy when he was hungry. He had punched their groundskeeper in the face when he didn't get his lunch on time. But Yuliya...if Amri didn't remind people that she was home (She was always home), then the cook would forget to make her lunch and she'd gone hungry many days.

A thought came to her...maybe she didn't like tuna. Most people wouldn't think that a cat couldn't like fish but Yuliya had once had a cat whose favorite thing to eat was cantaloupe. She nudged the can towards Ember who threw her a questioning look that said he still wasn't satisfied with the situation but nonetheless started eating the rest of it, and she went through their bag to find a can of what she thought was kidney beans. She popped open the lid and tossed a couple into her own mouth to see if they were still good, and nodded to herself before setting the can on the ground. “Try this,” she suggested.

“Yes, I am Yuliya, and the sleeping beauty is Amri. He will not hurt you if I tell him not too,” she affirmed. Many animals had run away from her in fear of her older brother who was practically the size of a bear. Yuliya could understand, after all, he was nearly a foot and a half taller than her. But he would never hurt an animal, especially if Yuliya told him not to. The only “animals” he hurt were werewolves but Yuliya was unsure if that really counted since werewolves were primarily human. Point was, a cat was safe here.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather's eyes brightened at the kidney beans, running up to her so she could see. It was perfect, lots of protein for her (which all vegetarians needed extra of). She let out a soft purr and mewed, "Can I really have some?" she asked, looking up with eagerness in her eyes. She stuffed her rather small head in and licked up a few beans, chewing them happily and gulping them down quickly. She loved how everything was so much more flavourful in cat form. It was probably the enhanced sense of smell, but everything tasty was delicious-but then again, everything yucky was just plain disgusting.

She gestured to the large, snoring but sleeping man aside from them. His name was Amri. What interesting names they had, Heather had heard some interesting names before but they were still rather interesting. Heather remembered studying Shakespeare, he had some interesting names. Like Romeo. Who had ever heard of a name such as Romeo? Still, Heather thought they were nice names, for nice people. They hadn't scared her off yet, and they even fed her. They were the nicest people that she had met out here, besides a few at the Earth Circle perhaps.

After a few minutes of her eating, Heather was full. One of the reasons she ate in animal form was because she didn't need to eat nearly as much to be full-but would still have the energy as if she had eaten enough. Actually, Heather tried to stay out of human form as much as possible if she could. It was weaker and more conspicuous than any of her animal forms-as well as less productive, as she could not climb nor fly nor breathe underwater. So she preferred her cat form-as she was comfortable with it. Sometimes she'd be a mouse, or an owl or even a rabbet. She always noticed though, that her eyes were their same blue and any fur or feathers were always pale white. It was her soul that had those colours, but Heather didn't mind at all.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

A rare smile came across Yuliya's face as she watched her begin to eat. Smiling was an uncommon expression for his face to take as it usually had some sort of fear or nervousness on it, due to years of “therapy” and doctor visits and medications and being locked away inside. She'd been told that she was wrong, she needed to be fixed, she did not act how a person was supposed to act, she did not reflect well on her parents. Amri was the golden boy, of course he was, he made everybody feel happy and he was so brave and talked to everybody. He helped her and beat up people who were mean to her. He and animals were the reason she was ever able to smile.

When Ember had finished his meal of tuna, he started glaring at her again and Yuliya had to wonder why again. She'd have to talk to him later, but for now, she just wanted to make sure their guest was warm and comfortable. “What is your name?” Yuliya asked, shifting slightly to pull a blanket out from under Amri who didn't notice at all. She frowned playfully at her brother's ability to sleep through anything. She could probably punch him straight in the face and he wouldn't even flinch. With a sigh she arranged it on the ground like a nest and pat it slightly to let her know that she could come and curl up on it if she wanted to. “Oh, and this is Ember.”

The fox leaped onto her lap, still acting suspicious as he said, “Hi,” in a very adolescent voice.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather finished her meal happily, but didn't eat all of it. She didn't want to take more food than she needed from the kind and gentle girl called Yuliya. She asked for her name and gave her the fox's name. Ember, what a nice name for a fox. "Name? Oh yes. My name is Heather. Like the plant." she purred. Yuliya was so relaxing, it was probably her affinity for animals. Since she was an animal, it must apply to her too. No wonder she had seemingly tamed a fox, which would be easy for almost any other species.

She looked to the fox with soft, solemn eyes that hinted with wonder. Did he know she was a shifter? It was quite possible that he did notice a strange scent on her... Would he tell? Probably, if she wasn't aware of his voice at the moment. She flicked her tail a little and gave a little purr, "Hello, Ember." her feline voice still hinting the cautious and gentleness of human Heather. Feeling his hostility towards her she turned to Yuliya instead-preferring her gentle, friendly vibe towards her. "So I can really stay the night? Truly? It's so unsafe out there, in the night." she felt a shiver through her pelt, "It would be nice to get a full night's rest." she mewed sadly.

Heather would have understood if she didn't want her to. She had known the fox longer and the fox didn't like her. But she had to ask, because if not she'd have to find somewhere else to sleep. She hoped though, prayed really that Yuliya would let her stay. Just for the night. She needed a good sleep badly and her calming, animal friendly vibe was already calming the usually shy intensely shy girl. It was quite a strange sensation, but Heather didn't really mind.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

“Of course you can stay,” she said with a nod as she pat the blanket beside her, “And you do not need to worry, I stay up all night and Amri can protect us from anything.” The only person in the whole world who was more confident in Amri's skills than Amri was Yuliya. She had no reason to doubt him, he'd always protected her from things and he always brought back food, and it helped that her whole life she'd heard the whispers of her parents wishing she'd been more like Amri, well, except when he fought with them. Yuliya didn't know what they fought about but she'd heard their voices raised before. But he was perfect, and he was her only human friend.

“Would you like to be stroked?” With her close animal companions, like her dogs and cats and horses, she knew they all loved being pet so she never hesitated to do so, but some animals didn't, especially wilder animals, so she always asked beforehand. She remembered walking in the city with her mother when she was very, very little, and seeing a fluffy dog she wanted to pet. Her mother told her she should ask the owner, and Yuliya, in her so-very-young youth, had said, “Why would I do that? I will ask the dog.” Of course her mother had punished her for saying something she didn't think was true. And she had never told anyone that she could talk to animals since. Otherwise the doctors would say she was even crazier and then she would have to stop.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather looked to the ground, thinking for a moment. Her mother had pet her when she was a cat, sometimes her father too but he never quite understood it. I guess you had to be a shapeshifter to understand. The feeling of your fur being pet was quite nice, like lying at the edge of the water and feeling the waves against her skin pulling her towards the sea. It was comforting and soothing, but she had never been pet by anyone other than her parents before. It was a strange idea to want to be pet by a stranger-but she guessed it was the feline in her talking. The feline in her drawn to Yuliya by her own powers.

She walked up to her slowly, looking at her curiously. "o...Okay." she said quietly, though it felt awkward doing so. She was going to add to be gentle, but then figured that Yuliya was already a gentle person-she wouldn't need to bother. So she laid on her belly, her chin on her two paws and her long, rather fluffy tail curled around her body.

From here she could see the sleeping man, his snoring echoed in her ears. He seemed big, and rather intimidating to Heather. But he was asleep, so she didn't have to worry just now. But she thought it might be best to ask... "So who is Amri?" she purred, turned her blue eyes to the Elemental.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya nodded and lifted her hand to gently stroke her down her back. She often wondered what it would feel like to be pet, and what it would be like to be able to purr. She had always been a bit jealous of cats' ability to purr, it seemed like a much better way to display happiness than smiling. She'd also always wished to have a tail, they were very useful in body language. If people had tails she wouldn't be so awkward around them because she would have a much better idea of what they meant if they had tails. Animal body language was just so much easier to understand that was one of the many reasons she preferred their company.

“Amri? He is my brother.” People often didn't believe that she and Amri were related, since he was so dark and she was so light, but Amri took more after their father and Yuliya looked like their mother, and she had also spent more time indoors than Amri even though she hated it. But maybe that was why her parents liked Amri better, maybe she wasn't a part of that family at all. But no, Amri had to be her brother because he was all she had. If she didn't have him she'd be alone in this place except for the animals and they were all very scared here. If she'd come here alone...she didn't know what she would've done.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather nodded, her eyes going heavy at the soothing feeling of her pelt being stroked. "Oh, right..." she purred, her voice faintly slurred as exhaustion fell upon her. She curled up into a tight ball next to Yuliya, a faint, rippling purr vibrating in her chest as she closed her eyes and her tail swished slightly. The safety and soothing feeling of the moment still made her think of home. If her conciousness hadn't been rapidly fading maybe it would have made her feel sad. But her thoughts became slurred along with her voice and everything was blurring together.

Her thoughts brought her to a long forgotten lullaby, snuggled in her mother's arms as a young kitten. She sung it every naptime when she was calming her down. In those days, she could only shift once every few days-so she spent weeks in the same transformation. It made her mother have to put her to sleep in all sorts of forms, but the little kitten was her favourite-Heather remembered. She always sang that little song, what was it? She couldn't remember the words, and the tune was a little blurry in her head, but the it was all the same to the sleepy Heather. Her body began to slowly relax until her eyes closed in sleep. The purring trailed off into silence and her tail laid still.

☯NOTES ooc notes
☯LYRICS Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
☯CREDIT by Goldy.

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[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya smiled as she felt Heather drift off to sleep, satisfied that she had given another animal here comfort for at least one night. But it did remind her of how much she missed the cats back home...Willowfire and Night Eyes and Indi...she missed all of her animals...Apollo and Luna and Malakai and Streak and Black Jewel and Midnight Moon...they were all of her closest friends for all of her life until she'd been forced away from them. A tear came to her eye as she realized it had been a year since she'd even touched the coat of her beloved black Arabian mare...it was because she could talk to them that she'd been forced from them.

She wiped the tear quickly from her face and pulled Ember to her a little more forcefully than she usually would have. Thoughts of sadness pulled her down until she could barely think and the world spun around her and tried to grab at her and pull her down into a whirlpool where she wouldn't be able to breathe. She was drowning and the only solid ground she had was Amri but he was sleeping now and she couldn't wake him, that would be selfish and she couldn't be selfish. Selfish was bad. The doctors told her selfish was a bad thing and she shouldn't do it. But sometimes she wanted to, sometimes she wanted to feel better.

She stared off into the dark forest, suddenly feeling much smaller, and sang a song her mother had sun to her when she was very small just to try and distract herself and prove to the world that she existed.

“Can you hear the night's deep song?
All the shadows say
Telling you when you're asleep,
Tears will fade away
Dream of morning's golden light
When you and I will leave the night ...
And when the moon is high and bright,
Stars will shine on you

Dream of morning's golden light
When you and I will leave the night ...

Make a wish and when you close your eyes
I will come to you

Dream of morning's golden light
When you and I will leave the night ...

Make a wish and when you close your eyes
I will come to you.”