For Mira-Charma13 and Louis duLac ONLY!



Why, why, why did she insist on going out alone?

Pyre knew she had no sense of direction. She knew she got easily distracted. So...why did she volunteer to go searching for some berries today?

Her big brother Charmase wanted berries. Charmase had been born three days before his twin, Harcle, and was very frail. He was often bed-ridden, and he was diabetic at the ripe old age of sixteen. He had a distinct love for woodland berries. Usually, Harcle would step out to fetch some for him. But Harcle was out on a date today, with his girlfriend. So Charmase was left alone with Pyre...and she agreed to fetch him the berries he liked so much.

Pyre grumbled, not in the proper attire for hiking through slightly dense forest. She often wore loose, small, bright-colored clothing. Something that didn't require much washing once she'd finished with it. Her bunny-like ears, directly on top of her head, were bent, flattened a bit. It was a sign of distress. She had no idea where she was, or where she was headed.

Devadas was heading toward the river where he knew the ducks gathered at this time of day. He personally hated duck meat, but he had heard Neha was found of it. Hopefully catching one for her would break down her cold demeanor toward him. That alone was more than enough motive to hunt ducks.

What he was really craving though was some well seasoned rabbit meat. His stomach rumbled at just the thought. Rabbits were far more skittish than ducks though and if any of them had been around they had most likely cleared out long before he had come this far. He glanced around him once and froze. What in the Great Nymph's name was that? Through the berry bushes several feet off to his left bobbed a pair of long rabbit ears. Either someone had slipped him some hemp earlier or he had just run across a mutated rabbit. It was probably an ill rabbit too since it hadn't run from him yet. He took a few steps toward it to test it.

Pyre seemed elated when she finally reached some good berries. Charmase only ate pink berries, and they were the most difficult to locate. She began to pile some in the basket she had, smiling. Surely her brother would feel a little better after having his favorite berries! Her ears perked up in excitement.

Then, suddenly, they twitched. That...was an odd noise. Pyre didn't pay much attention to little noises she heard in the distance, seeing as her sensitive ears picked up just about everything. But that sounded like footsteps...

Ah, well. She had work to do--she had to get these berries back home, washed, and to Charmase before they lost their flavor! Pyre filled the basket up to the brim, trying to get as many of the petite, pale little berries as she possibly could. Carefree and spacey, she wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around her.

Devadas raised his bow and fired a warning shot just short of bush the rabbit thing was hiding in. That should at least scare it out so he could get a look at it.

Immediately, Pyre jumped a foot in the air, managing to save the berries, and scuttled away a bit to hide behind a nearby tree.

What was that? It felt like something whizzed past her back...an arrow? Was somebody shooting at her?!

As she clung to the tree and glanced around, quickly, Pyre had the feeling that eyes were burning into her back. She didn't dare to move, at this point.

A girl with rabbit ears? That was the first time he had ever seen something like that. Where had she come from? Devadas walked closer and peered around at her small form clinging to the tree. "Sorry to scare you. Are you alright?"

Pyre spun around, arm cocked back to lash out at the threat, but she paused when she saw a stranger there. A stranger with almost animal-like qualities, like her.

She sighed, reaching down to scoop up a few berries that had fallen out of her basket. "I'm fine..." She seemed to be calmer, now--she'd felt like panicking earlier.

She'd been shot and hit with arrows before, by hunters mistaking her for a large rabbit. Usually, her kind didn't have any animal-like features...they only changed into animals. She was a bit of a mutant, in that sense. She also acted more like her animal...she was jumpy, and could run extremely fast. She also tended to stomp her feet when she was upset, scared, or trying to make a point.

Devadas helped her pick up a few stray berries and place them in her basket. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you?"

"A Forme," Pyre replied simply, smiling to show her thanks for him helping her with the berries. It didn't occur to her that he might have never heard of her species. She rarely ventured out of home, just like her siblings.

"Huh, never heard of them. Sorry again for scaring you. Hope you put those berries to good use." Devadas bowed slightly and went to walk off into the trees. He still had that duck to catch and not much time left before dark.

Immediately, Pyre bounced up and down a bit before following him, poking his arm.

"Heeeeeyyyy! Don't you try to leave just yet. Tell me your name, first." She looked cheery, the fear from before completely dissipated. "I'm Pyre. Pyre Basia! I live just outside the forest, in a little house with my siblings. We run in here sometimes to escape our father...but never this far."

It pained Pyre to talk about her father--he was an awful man.

Devadas turned and smiled at her. She sure did have the energy of a rabbit. "Devadas. You can follow me if you want, but I'll busy hunting ducks."

"There are a bunch of ducks that swim around in the pond outside of our house, if you want to check that out," Pyre offered, ears straight up. "I have to take these berries back to my oldest brother. He's frail, see, and these are his favorite berries. So I came out to fetch some for him."

"Really? Thanks," Devadas said, his mood brightening. He couldn't pass up an easy find like a tame duck.

"Follow me!" Pyre skipped back the way she'd came, through a less dense area, and emerged from the brush at her home, a modest little house that looked almost more like a shed than anything else. A bit away from it was a semi-large pond, filled with ducks. They appeared to be wild ducks, but they were used to people.

Wow. That was a lot of ducks. "Mind if I take one?" Devadas asked as he gestured to the pond.

"They're wild ducks, and a lot come here. Every day. They're tame, so if you're going to kill one, please do it painlessly and away from the rest of them. Then they'll keep coming back."

Pyre set the basket of berries down for a moment before heading over to the pond. She surveyed the ducks and reached in. She picked up a large male duck without a fight, though he did quack a bit. "See? They like people. So please humor me, okay?" She seemed okay with one or two of the ducks dying, but she didn't want them to die painfully, when they were so kind and friendly with people. "If there aren't any ducks around, you're always welcome to take one from here. As long as you don't kill them while they're in the pond, and you kill them in a...sort of nice and respectful way. If you want to make it look like you've shot them, just for these ducks, I guess you could shoot them afterward, for show..."

She wasn't quite sure what his customs were, but she liked these ducks, so she wanted them respected, if possible.

Devadas took the duck in his arms and gave Pyre a smile. "Of course. I'll take it out in the forest first. Thank you," he said with a nod. He would give it a wound mark afterward, in according to her wishes. It was only fair for how nice she was being.

"Thank you," Pyre retorted playfully, ears twitching. "Come by any time! I'm sure my brothers would love to meet you."

"Alright, I might come by again later," Devadas said as he waved goodbye and went off into the trees. Far away from her home he quickly broke the ducks neck to kill it. He then stabbed it in the side with one of his arrows and tied it by the neck to his belt.

Later on that evening, after he had brought Neha the duck, he returned to Pyre's home to see if she was still awake. It was dark out by the time he reached her home, so he knocked softly on the door just in case her and her family were sleeping.

Pyre was still awake, as were the other three siblings, so she bounced to the door and opened it. "Hi, Devadas!" she greeted, cheerily, opening the door for him. "You wanna come in?" Inside, it was somewhat plain, but filled with all of her and her siblings' belongings.

By the far wall was a cushy-looking bed, and it was occupied by a frail, sickly-looking...boy? Girl? It was very hard to tell, though he was indeed a boy. He was sitting up, just finishing the basket of berries that Pyre had brought him earlier. He waved, flashing a dreamy smile--his rainbow-colored eyes stood out.



Kneeling by the bed was a much taller boy, with shockingly red hair and a lot more muscle than the boy in the bed. He grinned, stole a berry from the other boy's basket, and waved. "Howdy."



Far away from both of them, sitting in a corner all by himself, was a much younger boy, arms curled around himself. He didn't look too friendly, for he didn't look around the room...he just glared. Flat-out glared. He didn't greet Devadas.

Devadas stepped inside and looked around at the odd group that was gathered in the room. "Interesting family," he commented. Honestly, they looked more like a group of vagabonds. He raised one hand an waved slightly. "Hello," he greeted them with a smile.

Pyre danced around a bit, twirling until she stood in the middle of the room. "I'm Pyre, of course!" She motioned to the bed. "This is my oldest brother. Charmase. Charma's a little frail, so he's bed-ridden most of the time. He's the one I was out picking berries for." She playfully konked the redhead on the head. "This is his twin, Harcle. Harc's our bodyguard, basically...he's a tough guy. He also tends the garden we have around the back of the house. And..." Pyre glanced across the room, towards the corner, and sighed. "Sorry for his antisocial vibes...that's Hardee. He's not friendly towards anyone. He barely tolerates us. No idea what his issue is. But he's still family...so we love him, anyway. He keeps the house clean. And I cook! And that's us!"

Devadas nodded toward each of them in turn. He was curious about one thing though. "Don't you guys have any parents?"

At the mention of parents, Hardee, all the way in the back, snorted and turned to face the wall.

Pyre sighed, scratching her head. "There used to be an old house in front of this place--this used to be a shed. It's cramped, as you see. We...all of us...we ran away from home."