Between Loyalty and Love

"You dare threaten a Spirit," the wolf frowned and snorted. "Very well. You've sentenced your kingdom to death," he said and stormed out. He howled a long, angry howl, letting any nearby Spirits know that there was going to be a fire. Letting his temper flare, he was soon engulfed in flames. He growled and snarled at those who tried to stop him as he ran though the city, spreading the fire to burn it down. This king was unacceptable. Kegan wouldn't let him continue to rule this way.
 
The kingdom burned easily, as nothing was all that well kept in the first place and late into the night, it was all ash, a few of the poor and some of the slaves from the castle being the only ones able to escape the flames, and they were burned in places, cut and bruised as well as frightened. They no longer had a home and the fire spirit scared them slightly, though they were slightly grateful for the spirit killing their horrible king, they wished they'd been able to keep their homes.
 
The Fire Spirit, being done with his deed and letting the Death Spirit and his crows handle the rest, wished the peasants well. "You will be safe now. If you travel to the Kingdom of the West, my king will welcome you with open arms," he nodded to them. With that, he left to go find the tiger he had run into earlier that day. He finally found the feline. "My friend," he said, announcing his approach.
 
He jumped, tail fluffing even under the dampness of the river he now stood in at the board of the desert. He dunked down into the water, only eyes, ears and messy red hair visible, his ears pressed back against the sopping curls.
 
"Oh," he said and looked away politely. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I came to tell you that you are free. The king of the East was corrupt with power, and even went so far as to threaten the Spirits, and enslave one of them." He glanced back at the tiger to see his reaction to that one. Did he know he might be the missing Water Spirit?
 
He stood carefully, making sure to keep his waist hidden under the water, tanned skin glistening and violet eyes narrowed. "What on earth are you talking about? What are these spirit things that you speak about? You do not look dead to me, why do you give yourself the title?" He demanded, not all to pleased by meeting this person once again.
 
His ear twitched in annoyance, turning to face him. "Your ..master.. has not taught you about the Spirits..." He unsheathed his dagger. The handle was made of wood, inscribed with a summoning circle for the Earth Spirit. Knealing down, he sketched the same circle into the dirt and stabbed the dagger into the center of the mark. The leaves on the nearby trees rustled and a large cloud of dust and leaves came from between the nearby trees. A lioness with a dark brown mane appeared as the dust and leaves settled.

"Fire," her voice was soft and low. "You are in need of assistance?" She glanced over to the tiger in the water, and raised her brow. "Water. You..." she stopped, seeing his collar. She frowned and looked at Fire sharply. "Why does he have a collar," she snapped at him, her tail flicking angrily.

"The King of the East had enslaved him. He is free now," the Fire Spirit assured her. "And his master," his teeth bared at the term, "has not taught him about the Spirits. He thinks we are supposed to be ghosts."

Earth sighed and perked her ears towards the tiger. "What is your name, dear," she asked him gently. "You may call me Earth, or Terra."
 
Mairah sank back into the water with a soft hiss. He didn't trust others easily and these strange people were not getting into his good graces quickly. He looked between the two, scenting the air to maybe see what these two were about but couldn't find much. He didn't like that at all. "Stay away." He hissed defensively and sank into the water to keep safe from the two, able to see their wavering bodies up through the swiftly moving water, the water caressing him in a loving way as he sat in the muck at the bottom.
 
The lioness's ears twitched. "What crawled up your as* and died," she hissed. "We're trying to help you. You don't want it? Fine. You could be more polite, cub," she snorted and turned her back on him, swishing a few bits of dirt towards him with her tail in the process.

Kegan blinked and cleared his throat. "Yes, well. Anyway..." He looked back at the tiger. "You can take your collar off now. You are free."
 
He perked at that and popped his head back out of the water. "I can? How do you know I can touch it?" He looked down, not much trusting what Kegan said as the only time he'd touched his collar, he'd fallen unconscious from the pain the collar had inflicted.
 
"Your master is dead," he said simply to the tiger, taking his blade out of the ground and putting it back in its sheath.

The lioness sighed, looking at the wolf. "You haven't burned down a kingdom in a long time. He must have been a real jerk," she noted.

"Yes, well," he said, looking at her. "He threatened me, as well as took Water as his own slave. He didn't give a shit for his kingdom, and so it is gone."

"Death by Fire," the lioness sighed, leaning against a tree. "You can have such a temper sometimes."

"Says the woman who yelled at the cub for not trusting us," the wolf smirked. It earned him a pebble to his forehead.
 
He watched the two of the interact, curiosity not letting him sink back into hiding for a moment. "The kingdom? You... you burned down a whole kingdom?" He asked, ears flattening against his curls worriedly. "You killed master?"
 
The wolf looked at the tiger. "You.. You are sad your master is dead," he asked, shocked. "The man didn't feed you," he snapped. "His entire kingdom was a dump! He didn't take care of any of his subjects, how can you feel sorry that he is gone," he asked, the tip of his tail flaming as he paced to try and control his temper.

"Kegan, that isn't helping," the lioness growled.
 
Mairah shrank back into the water, ears back with fear instead of defensiveness. He was scared when others got angry, he always got beaten when he angered some one, and Kegan controlled fire... he could burn off his tail... burn his face...

Her shuddered in fear, biting his pale lips worriedly, fangs slightly digging into his lower lip.
 
The lioness snorted at Kegan and went to the edge of the river, wisely ignoring that the tiger was naked. "It's alright," she told him gently. "It's okay to be scared. You're free after a long time, you're probably lost. We're here to help you, I promise," she told him soothingly. "All the Spirits are."

Kegan huffed and got his temper under control, his tail no longer flaming. He sat on the ground, looking at the ground.
 
He stayed where he was, just out of arms reach. "How could I get it off? They... they melded it around my neck... There's no latch." He murmured, shuddering when he remembered the horrible burning sensation at his throat and the horrible infection he'd gotten.
 
"Metal is included under my element," she told him gently. "I'll be able to get it off of you without hurting you. But I'll have to touch it. Would you trust me that much," she asked him gently, sitting down on the edge of the riverbank. The tip of her tail played with the surface of the water as she waited patiently for his answer.
 
Mairah looked over at Kegan. "Y-you promise that master is dead?" He asked softly, scared to go through the pain again, it showing through by his flattened ears and trembling body.
 
Kegan looked at him. "If you want to see his corpse, I will show it to you," he told him, nodding. He stood and walked over to him. "Your master can't hurt anyone any longer," he told him, looking into his eyes. "I made sure of it."
 
"Okay... Please take it off..." He squeaked, coming closer until he was kneeling unabashedly in front of Terra.