Deep breaths, I thought to myself, body trembling slightly. I could feel that my breathing was still shaky. The adrenaline was burning through my veins, and I ached. I wanted to run more, to never stop running... I wanted to never run again. A branch snapped to my left and my breath hitches in my throat.
In. Out. In. Out. Slowly. Don’t move. Don’t talk. No noise. Nothing out of the ordinary.
My breathing finally calmed, though my mind was the farthest thing from it. I could hear their footsteps coming closer- my heart was hammering furiously in my chest, I was sure they could hear it. I tried my best to be brave, but I couldn’t help it, and my eyes shut as their shadows grew visible before me. I stopped breathing as I desperately hoped that they wouldn’t see me. That they’d move on. That, somehow, I’d make it out of this.
“We lost the kid. Boss isn’t going to be happy.. he wanted this one especially bad- could’ve been dead useful... or at least, more useful dead.”
They began to move off, and my breathing resumed with a gasp. I wish, more than anything, that I hadn’t held my breath then. That I hadn’t had to start breathing once more, that I hadn’t done so with a gasp, and moved myself, placing an unknowing hand onto a branch.
s n a p
They stopped moving as soon as it happened, and I knew i had failed. I didn’t wait for them to come back to look, I just started running again. I heard them behind me, their larger footsteps sounding in time with my heart. They were faster, but I was small with long limbs, the forest was dense. I was nimble. I was sobbing. I wanted the chase to be over. But I knew deep down, the chase would never end.
Blaze was of noble birth- only his parents, when they discovered his magic, gave him up to an orphanage. They couldn’t stand the thought of turning him in to the crown, to become nothing more than a weapon, only fit for destruction and following orders. But, with as close to that were to the royal family, they knew they couldn’t keep little Blaze with them, so they did the only thing they could. They hugged him goodbye, explained the injustice in the world, and shipped him off to a faraway orphanage by the edge of a twisted forest. And just like that, the ties were cut, and a connection in his heart broke too.
snapIt didn’t take him long to escape from there, of course, once he realized the truth in his parents’ statements. He had a mishap inside the orphanage- an older, larger bully came at him, and Blaze, in his fear, instinctively let loose his flames. Although none were hurt, the bully immediately contacted the guards and Blaze was forced to flee. Luckily for him, he was quickly taken in by someone else who lived on the outskirts of the town- an old man, wrinkled and kind, who did not share the magical prejudice that the royals tried to instill within the people. For the next six months, Blaze lived hidden within the house of the old man, and sometimes in the forest, while the Old One taught him everything he could. Somehow, they managed to avoid detection...
But all good things must come to an end.
Blaze was careless, one day, within his newfound home. He chased his “Grandpa” outside, to make sure he remembered his cloak. Unknown to the two of him, he was spotted by none other than the bully from before. Neither Blaze nor the old man knew that their deception had been seen through, so when the King’s knights appeared merely a week later, they were not prepared at all. Blaze was out preparing for a camping trip when the knights arrived. He had just found a good location and prepared to return home when the knights began to question and threaten his old man. And he had just broken through the forest’s edge and heard his old man refuse one last time to share his location, when the knights followed through on their threats.
And with that, something within the 13 year old Blaze exploded.
S N A PHe flew into a rage, and his fire responded, bursting from within him and growing quickly into a monstrous beast. It was a flame that mirrored him, and almost seemed to be living. As he charged towards the knights who had taken away his “Gramps,” so too did the living flame beside him. The knights were not prepared for this sort of power coming from a teenage boy.. they were forced to flee- those of them that could.
Blaze heard them crying out as they ran, screaming of the Inferno that he was, and took it as his new name. And as he settled down beside his old man, weeping one last time, his beast of fire slowly melted back down into him. He cried for hours, mourning all he had lost, but slowly that sadness turned to hatred, and that hatred to determination. As he rose shakily to his feet once more, he looked up into the now setting sun, and made a vow to himself. He decided, at that moment, his purpose. He would save the magic users, and all who sympathized with them. He would not fail... no matter the cost. But now, he heard them coming back- prepared, undoubtedly stronger. For now, he had to survive this race, to make it before he was taken. With only look back, he ran into the forest, the voices not far behind him, to begin his new life as Inferno. The determination came into him with a sound he was by now used to hearing and feeling...
snapextra: wrote: He lives in a time that’s more like the past, but some people are blessed with magic. Usually when they are, the monarch of the land tries to recruit them into his army, but sometimes they get lucky if they live far enough away from main cities and don’t get noticed. His name is Blaze, but when in disguise he refers to himself as Inferno- and so do those that chase him down. He is a pyromancer, and a truly gifted one at that, especially considering how young he is. Currently, he travels through forests to minor settlements, helping others out where he can (especially others with magic, for if a magic user is discovered but no longer young, the ruler of the land orders them to be put to death). He is usually rather quiet, but somewhat broody when he is on his own. He hates the fact that people are punished for having magic- so he often tries to rescue them.
Although he is still young, and some find him intimidating for his power, he has all the makings to be a great future leader... and who knows, maybe once he rescues enough other magic users, he’ll storm the castle and take over.
While he is not especially friendly, he is incredibly loyal to those he deems worthy, and especially so to those that are magic as well. He hates pain, both in himself, and in other magic users, and will fight to the death to protect them if that’s what it takes. You must simply be careful not to push him to the point where he will snap... He has a truly good heart beneath his grumpy exterior, and though you’d never know, as he only lets loose when alone, he is a bit of a crybaby.
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