//------------------------------//
// Two 
// Story: Tending the Embers 
// by Kiernan 
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Ember returned half an hour later, dragging four dead trees behind him. While he was tall and lanky in appearance, what he lacked in muscle mass was made up for in muscle density. Again, he wished his strength was reflected by his body type. In that time, Perry had cleared away all of the debris, set up the clay and stone firepit, and had almost finished the tent. Usually, Ember would sleep in one tent, and Perry and Somber would share the other. This time, however, there would be nothing separating Perry from his son.

They spent the next hour chopping the trees down into an excessively large stack of firewood for their purposes, stacking it up beside the tent. There was a tradition they always followed on these hunting trips, apparently something that Perry had learned from his own father. The first night's dinner was always fish. This was because when Perry's father had first come to the Everfree Forest, the only thing he could find to eat was fish that he'd caught in the river. As the pond they were staying next to fed the same river, they would have little issue catching something. 

Spear fishing was the method of choice for them. This was in part because it was the way Perry's father had done his fishing, but more so because it was a quick and easy way to catch a fish, if one knew what they were doing. One of the big drawbacks to this method was that it didn't really work on small fish, but neither Perry nor Ember were prone to shying away from a flame roasted trout fillet. 

Ember slowly trudged into the pond with his trident. He had forged the prongs for it himself, though Perry had provided the wooden shaft. When Ember was happy with his location, he gave Perry a silent signal, and he jumped into the water. Perry splashed around a bit, sending the fish away from him. He was quite a distance from Ember when he started out, but gradually came closer and closer, drawing the fish toward his son. As the fish came closer, Ember sunk his spear down into the water in front of a fair-sized trout, skewering it and lifting it out of the water. 

With the trout gutted, skinned and filleted, Perry seasoned it with a bit of salt and the juice from a lemon. They each threaded a fillet onto a long green wood skewer and placed them over the fire. It was late in the afternoon by this point, meaning that they were ahead of their usual schedule by about half an hour.

"Why were you fighting in school?"

The question caught Ember off guard. Perry hadn't said very much since their arrival. He usually didn't say much anyway, preferring to use his actions instead. 

"I didn't start the fight..."

"That's not what I asked."

"He swung a baseball bat at me. By then he had punched out two other students. I felt that, since he had armed himself, somepony needed to disarm him."

"And that somepony needed to be you?"

Ember shifted uncomfortably. "No, but I was his main target. He was after me, the other two were innocents who were caught up in the whirlwind. They never should have been hit in the first place."

Perry nodded. "I'll agree with that statement."

"So I sought to end the fight before anypony else was hurt. I just wanted to knock the wind out of him, that's all."

"A single blow to the chest, according to eyewitnesses."

"That's right."

"So what made him want to come to blows with you?"

Ember rotated the fish so they would cook more evenly. "I don't entirely know. I was trying to ignore most of it, and I guess I succeeded. I knew he was angry about something, I just didn't listen to what it was."

"Could it be that you weren't listening to him that made him angry?"

"I don't think so. Maybe, but I doubt it. He and I had never had a conversation up to that point."

Perry grew silent. He would need to consider this new information before continuing this line of questioning. Ember was glad to have the silence back, as it was better than reliving the fight.

In truth, Ember had a thought as to why the fight started. While he had never spoken to the other stallion before, it was well known throughout the school who he was dating. Ember had been assigned to work with his girlfriend in their chemistry class. The day prior to the fight, Ember had given her his address, wanting to study with her. Or rather, he wanted to make sure she studied. His grade for that class depended on her passing as well, and she was dragging him down. Part of the agreement he had made with Princess Luna said he had to keep his grades up if he wanted to keep his job at the smithy. He was dropping dangerously low, so he wanted to boost her grades for his own gain.

Apparently, she had taken it the wrong way, or her boyfriend had. It was possible that this fight could have been avoided had he responded, had that been the case. Instead, Ember had taken the advice he had received from a teacher, which was to not engage in conversations where the pony greeted him introduced themselves by calling him offensive slurs. Now two stallions and a mare were in the hospital, and Ember felt responsible for it all. 

It wasn't long at all before the fish was done. Perry removed the fillets from their skewers and plated them, giving one to Ember. It was a simple meal, though it lacked any vegetation. While this wouldn't phase Perry at all, Ember knew he would feel a bit sluggish tomorrow. They had a large sack of fruits and vegetables, but they would wait until tomorrow to dig into that. Ember was glad that the sack of vegetables wasn't following the traditions, as that would mean they would have to come out here without any vegetation at all. They would need to scavenge for it, as Kai had done before them. Ember was not a fan of scavenging for food, as he'd found it to be unreliable.

The two didn't speak again for the rest of the night, aside from short snippets, such as "I'm going to the bathroom," or "I'm going to call it a night." Perry was the first to go to bed, leaving Ember to keep an eye on the hot coals for another hour. Only when he could hear Perry's soft snoring did he decide it was his turn to go to bed, putting out the fire with water from the pond. While most ponies would be covering up with a blanket in the chilly autumn air, Ember had a secret way of keeping warm. He had discovered on his first winter hunt with Perry that he and Somber both emitted large amounts of heat. That night had been particularly cold, but when nestled between his father and uncle, Ember hadn't even needed a blanket. Nor would he tonight. He lay down next to Perry, basking in the warmth that emanated from his father's body.