Near one of the Eastern Junkyards (Asche, Kier, Shade)

Before Shade was able to reply to Asche's question, they heard footsteps coming towards them. It was Kier. The two older figures began a conversation, making sure the other was fine and confirmed their health by adding a dash of sarcasm in their words.

Things had finally settled down. Asche suddenly felt a strange burning sensation on her right hand. The adrenaline rush had left her and her calluses weren’t enough to stop the extreme heat emitting from the bottle. Her left hand hadn’t completely felt the torridity thanks to her gloves, but she felt the heat burning more and more. She refused to let out even a single yelp, but her fumbling arms were equal to screaming out that something was wrong. She didn’t want to cause further disturbance to the two so she hurriedly bent down to place the bottles on the floor. Asche cringed as her right hand had slipped in the process, tipping the bottle over. The fire, without hesitation, quickly engulfed the fuel that had paved a road in the direction to Shade and Kier. The red-head and hooded girl had quickly dodged the incoming flames right before the young girl had screamed, “Watch out!” The speed of the fire diminished greatly just a few feet shy of the man wrapped in shadows. Either Shade had forgotten to move the man when she dodged or she preferred the man to surfer a bit longer. Asche was incredibly embarassed and look to her right, too flustered to face the two, “Opps…”


“Gaah!! Why hasn’t the rain put it out?!” The man was struggling to get away. The fire had not yet stopped and was inching its way closer towards the man. Asche knew that the fire of a simple molatov cocktail would’ve probably diminished by now, but this molatov was made from Asche’s special concoction. She tilted her head once again, thinking of a way to explain such an event. After thinking of an elaborate explanation, she had shortened it to two sentences. “The fuel is special. I made it.” It obviously wasn’t a satisfactory answer, but the man could care less about the explanation and was trying to caterpillar his way to safety.

"Watch out!"

Kier stepped away from the flame in two large strides back. Even with the pouring rain, though, the fire didn't show any signs of dying down as it continued to spread towards the piles of garbage. "Why the hell isn't a stopping?" he asked the teen. Behind her the bottle of Molotov lay on its side with a trail of fire spitting out from the opening.

"The fuel is special. I made it," was the only explanation the girl gave. Kier suspected it was much more complicated than a simple mixture, and was even a little impressed at its water-proof quality, but that wasn't the problem at the moment. The thugs on the floor were scrambling to get away from the blaze.

The blonde who had made the offer was already a safe distance from the flame, arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face. "If you don't put that out we're going to really have some explosions." Kier shot him the finger. The blonde only laughed.

While he was no boy scout, he had a couple ideas about how to put it out. Since they didn't have a tank of dry ice, he settled for shoveling on dirt with some scoop lying in the dump. It killed the fire. For, like, 10 seconds before it flared right back up. He was obviously not a science whiz but wasn't fire supposed to stop when it's cut off from an oxygen source?

"If you don't put that out we're going to really have some explosions."

Asche wasn't aware that there were more explosives and regretted that she had brought highly flammable molatovs into the mix. She observed Kier attempting to suffocate the fire with dirt. Then plan itself was well thought out, but the dirt in and surrounding the dump has high concentrations on paint solvents, pesticides, oil, kerosene, turpentine and, and dry cleaning agents. Okay, maybe the dry cleaning agents was pushing it, but, the main point is, the dirt wasn’t the best choice to stop an already persistent fire.

Hm…The best solution would be to trap the fire by creating another ring of fire. That can be quickly done, but that doesn’t guarantee that the second fire wouldn’t spread, especially if we’re using my fuel. The pools of water were just another express road for the fire to spread. We’d most likely either have to make a barricade of something to prevent the fire or dig a pit to prevent the fire from spreading. Maybe smother the fire with something not flammable. Asche quickly absorbed the situation and tried to conjure up more solutions in her mind. The junkyard was her extra source of income and she wasn't able to lose that, especially one in a close proximity to her home. Taking the Metro to other districts on a regular basis is too pricy.

“If either of them make any funny moves, use the other one on them both.”

Acshe nodded at Shade’s instructions. Asche swiftly took off her scarf and began wrapping the yellow plaid fabric around her left hand, her throwing hand. Once wrapped, she picked up remaining bottle and was prepared to toss it at any moment. The heat barely bothered her this time, the layers of cold soaked fabric made it difficult for the water to transfer heat.

The hooded girl seemed to have something planned, but there was something that Asche couldn’t quite understand. Asche soon understood Shade’s plan after overhearing the older girl’s demand. Without breaking away her attention to the two men in front of her, Asche scowled when the man in Shade’s grasp released a chortle. The young girl wasn't troubled at the laughter of the other man, but something entirely different.

"Does wriggling count as 'funny moves'?" Asche asked to no one in specific.

"Does wriggling count as 'funny moves'?"

"Depends what the guy is wriggling from," Kier responded to the teen's rhetorical question. He had given up on suffocating the fire and was slid his phone out to call the fire department. 9-1-1 hotline answered on the second ring, asking calmly for his emergency. He always wondered how the person on the other line always remained calm no matter what the crisis. "Yeah, there's a fire here- Near one of the city's outer junkyards."

As he gave the lady more specific directions, he saw Shade strangling the blonde recruiter. Well, if anything, the police would have to deal with the explosives assuming there were more hidden. The blonde kept watching him though, paying no attention to the hooded woman grasping fistfuls of his shirt. "My name? Uh, Tam. Okay thanks." He hung up his phone and put a hand on Shade's shoulder, lightly this time as not to startle her. "Let's get going. The fire trucks and police will be here in fifteen minutes. My place is sort of close-by if you want to crash there for a while and dry off."

Gesturing to the recruiter and teen, he continued, "Offer's up for you guys too. Although the pathetic ones on the floor can stay and face the wrath of the law system. Don't take the other bottle." The blonde smirked at the invitation and nodded, prying off Shade's fingers. Kier turned to the other two, waiting a moment for their answer.

His apartment room was a good twenty minute walk, full of shortcuts and jay walking. The outside was slightly worn, but the inside was pretty new and unused. He pushed the door open for his guests before entering himself.

They stepped into the living room, small kitchen to the left and a corner that turned into the hallway straight ahead. The walls and furniture were nondescript with a universal color scheme of beige and black. The bright red two-seater couch was the only piece that seemed out of place among the neutral tones. It must have seemed strange for Kier to live in such a normal, and fairly clean, home.

"Since you guys are wet, don't sit down. Restroom's down the hall to your right. I'll try to find some dry clothes to fit you all." Particularly the teen, who couldn't have been more than five feet.

Random Rant:

The men froze from Kier’s comment. At least now Asche didn’t have to think what was considered ‘funny’ or not. Well, she also had mixed feelings starting another fire that would increase the likelihood of starting the explosives.

She was surprised with Kier’s tone as he spoke to the emergency dispatchers. Most people are frantic or scared when they call, not that is helps or anything. Asche wondered if she'd be able to do that if the time needed it. She gave a puff of amusement when the red-head stumbled and gave a fake name to the person on the other side of the phone. I guess giving out his real name would be troublesome. The red-head said they had to leave before the firemen and police arrive. Yup, giving out your name when the police are involved is not a picnic I would want to join. But, will the firefighters be a good idea? Will they aggravate the fire more instead of abate it? What happens if they’ll get caught in the explosion? Kier extended his offer to dry off at his place. As much as she admired their fighting capabilities, Asche wasn't too keen on the idea of coming with the red-head without a good reason. The only time she's been invited to another person's house was just a distasteful prank amongst middle school girls. Before she gave the offer more thought, she went scanned for the nearest dumpster. No dumpster's, but a whole lot of barrels. That'll do.

Asche knelt down to the two guys quickly telling them to give the firemen some helpful info. Of course using water on the fire (which should be obvious) would be bad. If the rain can't put the fire out, their high-pressured hoses wouldn't be the best choice. No, the best choice would be to deprive the fire from oxygen. Asche spoke loudly, making sure they would hear her words over their own whimpering, "Tell fireman, okay?Fire worsens with water. Suffacate it, but not with soil around here. Fire extinguisher or baking soda. They'll know. Asche quickly got up. and hoped that the men would stick around long enough to tell the firemen. She doubted it. Asche noticed the red-head was waiting for her reply which made her give an absentminded nod. Crap... just because she wasn't used to people waiting on her and let out a resigned sigh. She exhausted her people-interaction-limit, and wasn't sure how to go about taking back her agreement.

Before she started following, she decided to dispose of the bottle. The bottle started bothering her hand again and was surprised the bottle lasted this long. The glass was thick, but she doubted the bottle was made of pure glass. Thick glass made the appearance of a bigger bottle, but not a lot of ounces inside. Probably added cheap chemical alternatives...too cheap to be clean, green and healthy. Not a company she'd trust anytime soon or later, but maybe use their bottles again for a molatov. She tossed it in one of the least rusty barrels in her sight and reluctantly trotted to catch up to the group at front. As she followed the group, Asche imagined the explosives taking out the firemen and policemen and it was her fault. laksd;salk;jdoiw; She didn't want to think about it, but the images kept popping in her head.

Before she realized it, they were already at the front door, but Shade made sure the blonde entered the room first. Kier was still unusually calm, the red-head pointed them in the direction of the bathroom, but Shade stayed behind most likely to keep an eye on the blonde while Kier was in the other room. She gave a quick glace back before she entered the bathroom and saw that Shade had taken off her sweater. Asche saw weird circular scars on her arms and briefly wondered how she got them. Oh yea! Asche'll have to ask Kier to borrow the phone later. She didn't want to worry her grandpa. She did tell him that she'd go salvaging, but she hadn't told her which junkyard.

After standing alone, drenched, in the bathroom, Asche felt a bit uncomfortable being alone so she decided to wait with Shade in the living room instead, only to find the older girl keeping a close watch on the blonde man in front of her. The tension was a bit uncomfortable until came back to distribute the clothing.

“I hope you fit this,” Kier said as he handed Asche a bright red tee and orange sweats. Asche gave a curt nod and softly replied, “Thanks.” She didn’t feel comfortable changing in front of everyone as much as Shade so she went back to the bathroom, listening to the voices fade away – the blonde man had was calling Kier by something else and something about an answer.

She had a bit of trouble changing because the wet clothes stuck to her and it was difficult moving around a in them. Nonetheless, she moved as swiftly as possible to undress herself of her clothes: tank top, scarf, jeans, socks, everything except her underwear. She wasn’t sure were to put the clothes so she decided to neatly pile them on top of the sink. Better than having someone trip because the floor is wet. She pulled the tee over her head and quickly put on the sweats – a bit big, but nothing to complain about. They were quite comfortable after all.

She slowly approached the three figures. The atmosphere seemed tense, no doubt that the discussion was something important. I think I’ll ask Kier to borrow the phone later A sullen expression occupied her face as they continued talking.

The blonde man maintained a shrewd smile as he spoke and slightly turned his head to Shade, "Well, I'm sure you'd have no trouble piecing the answer together from our conversation here."

Asche raised her hand in response to Shade’s question. “You, can fuck off.”

Asche momentarily froze. Did I do something to piss her off? I know that I haven’t done much to help them in the situation earlier and maybe even a bit worse by starting those fires. The blonde man shrugged nonchalantly, “Fine, I’ve already had enough water for today anyways. Oh…I guess it wasn’t me

Knowing well enough that he wasn’t going to get any amiable treatment from the other two, his gaze fell on Asche. “Hey kid, I’m Tam. What’s your name? His overfamiliar attitude made Asche a bit uncomfortable.“ That was some impressive fire you had going there. How’d you make the fuel?”

Before attempting to reply to his questions, Asche had given a lot of consideration to reply to this man or not. The way the other two were treating him, she gathered that this person wasn’t very trustworthy. In the end, she decided to answer one of his questions. Afterall, she didn’t want to be called kid for the rest of the night. “Asche.”

Oh! This might be a good time to ask. Since their conversation seems to be over. Her head turned to Kier, “Can I borrow your phone?”

Kier had handed Asche his cell phone and before she had a chance to thank the red-head, he went off towards the bathroom, grabbing Shade’s wet clothes along the way. To appease her inability to express her thanks, she gave a nod towards Kier’s direction and began dialing her house phone. It’s more than likely that grandpa is awake.

If she was going to lie to her grandpa, she had better calm herself. She dialed the number and her grandpa answered the fifth ring with a stern, “Hello.” Asche took a deep breath and closed her eyes to imagine herself in her living room, temporarily erasing the presence of everyone in the room as best as she could. 1…2..—
Click! Graaanpaaa! You didn’t have to hand up so quickly! Asche immediately hit redial and this time the phone was answered on the second ring.

“Whoever this is, I don’t want to deal with prank calls right now.”

Before giving him a chance to hang up the phone, Asche called out, “Grandpa! it’s me, Asche. Im going tocome home soo—

In a deep low voice, her grandfather hissed, trying to shout to the best of abilities which turned out to have a somewhat raspy effect, “Asche, where are you?! Do you know how late it is?”

The previous mishap had made Asche calmer. She knew the best way to deal with her grandpa and quickly formulated a response. “I was walking back from the junkyard, but I saw a couple of classmates of mine from middle school and decided to take a detour. Then it just started raining.” Lies, but grandpa knew how Asche wasn’t too fond with associating with her classmates. She managed to convince her grandpa that she had ran into Ms. Allan, a former teacher of her elementary school whom Asche occasionally visited because she was quite fond of her, and is now staying at her place. Asche insisted that she’d come home when the rain would let up knowing that it’d have the opposite affect to her grandpa.

“No, just stay there for the night. It’s already too late. Can you put Ms. Allan on the phone? I want to at least say thank you for putting her through all this trouble”

“Um…She’s taking a shower right now. Don’t worry, she let me go first so that’s why I couldn’t call you until now.”

Everything was going as planned until Kier’s voice popped in, “Wait, don’t use the tap; it sprays.”

Crap. Did grandpa hear that? “Oh…okay then. Tell her thank you for me when she gets out then. Remember to be coherent in your words and don’t cause too much trouble.” Phew. Good thing the phone didn't pick up Kier's voice. Well, grandpa's hearing isn't doing so well either. At most it would've sounded like white noise to him. She wasn’t able to imagine herself in her living room anymore so Asche couldn’t help but stumble her words as she said rushed a goodbye before anything got loud enough for her grandpa to hear anything from the other end.

She let out a large sigh. Grandpa will definitely be wondering about the rushed good-bye... She'll probably have to tell Ms. Allan what really happened. After all, she did sort of bring her into this. At least it wasn’t as bad as she had thought. Noticing that the blonde's gaze had been following something, Asche decided to turn around to see what had taken in his interest since she was curious (and wanted to distract herself of from the conversation she had with her grandpa), but immediately whip-lashed her head to its original position. She blushed and stared at her lap. SHADE!!! SHIRT!!!!!! PUT THE SHIRT BACK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flying soap came crashing down Tam's head and a curse and foul hand sign followed soon after. Kier began steering Shade down the hall, out of Tam's and Asche's view, to get more clothes. There’s a moment of silence until Tam, who was still rubbing his eyes, softly cursed Kier using his full name. Asche bit her tongue and reluctantly decided to give the blonde some advice and meekly said, "Use warm water."

The blonde was still rubbing his eyes and gave one more curse before saying, "What was that, Asche?"

Having Tam say her name sounded weird. She wasn't fond of it, but that wasn't much of a priority. "Soap...ch-chemicals! Eye ducts, tear glands and meibomian oil glands, burned. So, uh…warm water~" Asche waved her arms in a desperate attempt to help convey her message. It worked…kind of, but the blonde didn’t seem too concerned with the probability of having his meibormian oil glands getting burned. He attempted to compose himself by trying to revert to his usual cunning smile, but his red, slightly twitching eye didn’t give quite the effect he might have wanted.

“Why not share how you make that fuel instead?”

Tam was quite serious, but the twitchy red eye was hard to ignore. Absent-mindedly, Asche said, “Red eye needs warm water.”