Blue Fire sat on the porch outside his house, looking up at the starry night sky. He had just tucked Tia into bed in the extra bedroom. Many things were racing through his mind. Would he have to hide Tia from Shining Spear? Would Red Flame be able to keep the secret? Was he going to keep Tia forever? If so, how do you raise a Reaper? If not, how was he going to bring Tia home?
Red Flame came out onto the porch, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Brother! I brought you some hot chocolate! I, the Fantastic Red Flame, made it myself!" Red Flame exclaimed as he put one of the mugs down in front of Blue Fire.
"Heh. Thanks, bro."
"What'cha thinking about?"
"1,000 things. But it's okay."
"Isn't the Reaper just the CUTEST thing you've ever seen?!" Red Flamed raved.
"Sure."
"So are we, like, adopting her?" Red Flame asked.
"I'm not so sure. I'm pretty sure Reapers have parents, so…"
"Oh…"
"We'll be something more like… long-time babysitters."
Red Flame smirked at Blue Fire.
"B-but it's not like there's any other option." Blue Fire retorted, blushing. "And I'm planning on getting her home someday."
"Yeah. So, what are we doing for Hearth's Warming?"
"Oh yeah. You're on break."
"Yep! A whole week of quality brother time!" Red Flame exclaimed excitedly as he hugged Blue Fire.
"Yay…"
After Red Flame had gone to sleep, Blue Fire went on a walk through Snowfall Woods. Snowfall Woods was his favorite place to go for a midnight hike. It was a little ways away from the town, and the scenery was magnificent. Snow-covered trees were at every turn, and you could hear the chirps of birds while you enjoyed the scenery. However, Blue Fire couldn't hear any birds chirping the in the distance. And the usually pure white snow on the trees was now pitch black.
"What's going on?"
"Blue… F-fire…"
Blue Fire jumped back.
"W-who's there?!" He called out.
"Blue… F-fire…"
The black substances on the trees starting crawling towards him.
"I don't like the look of this…"
Breaking into a cold sweat, Blue Fire ran back to the cabin, while, unknown to him, leaving a black hoof mark with each step he took.
Blue Fire woke up to the sun, shining in his eyes. The stretched his hooves and looked out his bedroom window. It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, the snowbells were blooming. On days like these--
Suddenly, Tia burst into his room, slammed the door shut, and hid under Blue Fire's blanket, with leftover Alfredo all over her coat.
"Come back, Reaper!" Blue Fire heard Red Flame shout.
"Kid, what's going on?" Blue Fire asked, peeking under his sheets.
Red Flame burst into the room, and launched himself onto Blue Fire's bed.
"What are you doing, Red Flame…?" Blue Fire groaned sleepily.
"Well, I was just trying to teach Tia some words, but she kept shaking her head -- maybe the Fantastic Red Flame was too complex for her at the moment -- so then I tried to feed her, and then--"
"Of course." Blue Fire sighed. "Listen, Red Flame--"
"The Fantastic Red Flame." Red Flame corrected.
"Tia doesn't need to be feed. She's, like, ten years old! And now that I think of it, she'll probably stay ten years old here in Rainum for 1,000 years…" Blue Fire shook his head. "We don't even know how to take care of her! We aren't Reapers! We aren't her parents! In fact, I think it's best if I try to get her home…" Blue Fire trailed off as he saw Red Flame guiltily looking down at his hooves.
"What's been getting into me?" Blue Fire thought. "At first, I just thought I was grumpy because I had to leave my job, but now…"
Blue Fire sighed. He put his hoof on his brother's shoulder.
"Sorry I shouted. I just… haven't been feeling like myself lately. Ever since..."
"It's okay." Red Flame sniffled.
Tia peeked out from under Blue Fire's blanket, the Alfredo on her head gone. She leapt out onto Red Flame's lap and smiled him. Red Flame grinned back.
"I'm going to see if I can find a way to get her back home." Blue Fire as he led Tia out of the room. "But I don't think she's leaving just yet."
Blue Fire put a spare coat on Tia and put his own coat on. He went outside to the spot where he found her.
"Was it somewhere around here?" Blue Fire asked.
Tia shook her head.
"Well, well, well. Turns out you did know where the Reaper was."
Blue Fire turned around to face Shining Spear. Her dark turquoise mane was in a ponytail and she was wearing a black short sleeve shirt.
"H-hey, Shining. Aren't you cold?" Blue Fire said nervously as he pushed Tia peeked out from behind him.
"The whistling wind is no match for the captain of the guard! But I didn't come here to talk about the weather." Shining Spear glared at Tia. "I came here to face the Reaper."
Shining waved her horn and surrounded Blue Fire with razor-sharp spears.
"Just you and me, Reaper." Shining said as she took out her spear.
"Shining, no! She's just a little girl!" Blue Fire cried as he attempted to get past the spears.
"I'm so sorry, Blue Fire, but this is for Pops!" Shining yelled as she hit Blue Fire's left leg, which was bandaged, knocking him out. "Heh… His leg's never been strong ever since…"
Shining slapped herself. She turned to Tia again and pointed her spear at her.
"Come at me, Reaper."