The Great Fire

Houb and Zadie were as close as two siblings could be. When Houb was just an owlet, he would make the cutest little hoot, according to Zadie. She couldn’t quite pronounce the W sound in his little whos so she began saying Boo. It became her special name for him.

During the early years of Wahid, the siblings visited often. They would witness the miracle of birth and mourn the passing of a friend. They learned from others as they discovered new things.

They were very interested in medicine and ways to improve the lives of the various creatures. The inhabitants of Wahid were kin after all.

Every year on the first day of summer, Houb and Zadie met at their secret spot in the forest to review what they had learned. Since Zadie was the storyteller, she wrote the tales of the year. Houb collected the recipes of medicine for nourishment and healing, along with most other practical knowledge.

As time passed, their little spot in the woods grew to a library. They had books on quite literally everything. This was early in Wahid’s existence, so they were still actual books, the paper kind.

The local village would make blank books for the gods to use for their summer ritual throughout the year.

By the time of the Great Fire, there was a house full of books for them to use. The library was the size of a major metropolis. The devastation to civilization was great.

Houb was off in the woods visiting friends when he smelled the faint odor of smoke. His head moved around to catch the scent from different angles. It was definitely a fire. He flew high above the trees to try to spot the fire. It wasn’t hard. It looked like the whole library and surrounding area was ablaze.

Houb called down for the alarm to be sounded. He did that at each alarm station along his path. When he got to the library, he saw Zadie. She was lying among her stories.

He dove to her and worked to revive her. When she awoke, Houb told her to fly away with him. Her wing had been injured though. She couldn’t fly.

Zadie started to panic but Houb easily calmed her before taking flight. He changed into an enormous pelican to scoop up water from the ocean and dump it on the fire.

Once the fire was out, Houb returned to Zadie. She was now soaked and weak. He went to work getting her dry and warm. When Houb went to get wood for, ironically a fire, a few ne’er do wells happened upon Zadie, looking for treasure in the ashes.

Zadie tried to pretend that nothing was wrong but it was difficult in her condition. She couldn’t fight them or run away. She only had her words to protect herself. She talked until her voice became hoarse and they were getting wise to her deception.

They were closing in when Houb spotted them while flying overhead. He swooped down and attacked them but they easily tossed him aside. Houb was momentarily stunned. When he opened his eyes once more, he saw Zadie in their clutches, screaming a blood curdling scream that he had never heard before.

Houb was overwhelmed with love and fear for his sister. He instantly charged after her captors. He didn’t even realize that his owl frame would be no match for them. It was during this charge that a miracle happened. His form began to morph to match the feelings deep within him.

Zadie closed her eyes and awaited her seemingly inevitable fate.

When it didn’t come, she opened her eyes to see an enormous bear standing over her. The bear was facing her attackers, snarling and growling at them with incredible rage. The attackers quickly fled.

Zadie’s eyes closed once more as the bear turned to face her next. She shook in fear but was met by a large lick from the bear. She opened her eyes to gaze into the eyes of the bear above her. The form was new but the eyes told all. He noticed his error and returned to his normal owl form and gave her a loving hoot.

That is when Zadie screamed, ‘Boo Bear’ and flung her wings around him.

It was at a ceremony to commemorate the Great Fire when the Bear Clan anointed Houb as Prince Boo of Bear. Making him a member of the Bear Clan for life.