When Fire Learns to Breathe

The wind whistled through broken window frames, and somewhere, water dripped from a leaky pipe hidden behind crumbling concrete walls.

“Hiro was right about this place,” said Hale as he carefully stepped over a pile of shattered crates. “No one’s going to find us here. Still, let’s try not to make too much noise.”

His voice echoed dully between the steel beams.

Koori walked beside him, her hands buried deep in the pockets of a bright yellow down jacket. It was so puffy she nearly disappeared inside it, only her slender legs showing beneath the hem of her shorts.

“And this is where you want to... train?” she asked quietly.

“For now, yeah.”

Hale set down his backpack and exhaled deeply.

“So... where do we start?”

Koori took a few steps toward the middle of the hall and glanced back at him.

“I don’t know,” she said. “What do you want to do?”

“Well…” Hale hesitated, caught off guard. “I want to use the mark... control it, so it’ll help us in a fight against the Nekos. Frost bolts or something like that, I guess.”

“Frost... bolts?” she repeated, as if the word itself made no sense.

He sighed and looked down at the mark on his wrist.

“Let me just try it out. Then maybe you’ll know what I mean.“

He raised his hand, aimed it at a cluster of empty oil drums at the far end of the hall, closed his eyes, and tried to focus.

Frost bolts… come on.

Seconds passed. Nothing happened.

“You’re thinking too much,” Koori said lazily from somewhere behind him.

When he opened his eyes, she was sitting on a rusty pipe now, chin resting in her hands, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

“I’m thinking too much?”

She nodded. “You’re trying to understand it. But the power of the mountain isn’t meant to be understood. You have to feel it.”

“I’m a teacher,” he replied dryly. “Understanding things is literally my job.”

He closed his eyes again.

Alright then. Let's feel it... the mark, the energy, the cold.

Slowly, frost began to gather around his wrist, shimmering faintly.

And now...

“Frost bolt, go!”

A gust of icy wind shot across the hall, and a slick sheet of ice spread out beneath his feet.

“Whoa!” He flailed, slipped, and landed hard on the floor.

Koori giggled. “You’re trying to force it. You just have to let it flow.”

“I have no idea what that means...” he muttered, pushing himself up.

Koori jumped down the pipe and stepped closer.

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Trust me.”

She touched the mark on his wrist, and something cold and electric pulsed between them, familiar and intimate.

Then she guided his hand upward, palm open.

“Don’t treat it as something foreign. Feel it as part of you. Like your heartbeat.”

He did as she said.

For a moment, the only sound was dripping water.

Then the air around his hand began to shimmer again, this time calm, steady, rhythmic.

Koori smiled. “Yes... like that. Let it flow.”

Ice gathered in his palm, forming into a sharp, crystal-like shard that floated just above his skin.

“Incredible...” he breathed.

But suddenly, frost spread from his hand to hers, crawling up her wrist where she still touched him.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s alright,” she said softly, studying the thin layer of ice. “It feels... familiar.”

The mark on her chest glowed briefly, then hissed, and the ice melted away into vapor.

She smiled brightly. “See? No problem.”

***

Hours passed in the abandoned hall.

Again and again, Hale focused, letting the cold flow through him, shaping it until it no longer fought him, but moved with him.

Finally, a shard of ice shot through the air, striking a metal drum with a resounding crack.

Koori clapped, smiling. “Well done!”

He turned to her, breathless but visibly pleased.

“Thanks, Koori. Couldn’t have done it without you. And on the first day, no less.”

He dropped onto an old crate, catching his breath.

“What about you? Don’t you want to practice a bit?”

Koori looked away, nudging a scrap of metal with her foot.

“I... don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

She hesitated. “It’s hard to explain. When I’m calm, the mountain inside me sleeps. But when I feel too much... he erupts. And then... I can’t hold it back.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Because I don't want to hurt anyone...”

Hale studied her for a long moment before he spoke again.

“There’s nothing wrong with feelings,” he said softly. “But if you try to bury them, they don’t disappear, they just wait until you can’t hold them back anymore.”

Koori looked at him, uncertain. 

“And what... if I don’t even understand what I’m feeling?”

“Then we’ll figure it out,” he said gently.

He folded his arms. “Let's try something. Think of something that really stayed with you, something you can still feel when you close your eyes.”

She blinked. “Something that stayed with me...?”

For a while, she was silent, lost in thought. Then her shoulders tensed slightly.

“The café…” she finally whispered, as if it were already far away.

“The scents, the lights… it was so beautiful. And then… those looks. So cold. I could feel how much they hated us.”

Hale nodded. “The café, huh? Right, you told me about that. Then maybe try to...”

But she kept talking, her fingers curling into her jacket, her voice trembling.

“Mitsuki... I could feel her pain, her despair... They... they hurt her!”

Something changed inside her.

The floor shivered and the air rippled like heat above asphalt.

So she doesn’t get angry when she’s hurt, only when someone else is...

Hale raised his arm instinctively.

“Koori… easy now. Just feel it. Don’t act on it.”

But she barely heard him.

A faint glow flared around her body, soft, but hot enough to make the air quiver.

“Why... why are these cats so cruel?”

Hale took a careful step closer, as if approaching a frightened animal.

“Because they’re afraid, Koori” he said quietly. “But fear isn’t fought with fire. It’s understood.”

Koori trembled.

Her hand lowered, the light flickered.

“I don’t want this,” she whispered. “But when someone I care about suffers… I can feel it, like it’s happening to me.”

“Then use that feeling,” Hale said calmly. “But don’t lose yourself in it. Don’t let the fire rage, let it breathe.”

Koori looked at him, hesitant and confused, but something in his eyes steadied her.

She placed a hand on her chest, where the mark lay hidden beneath her jacket.

Slowly, she closed her eyes.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, and with each breath, the light around her dimmed, becoming calmer, steadier.

Hale stepped closer, raising his hand; the mark on his wrist began to glow faintly.

A cool, gentle current flowed from him, meeting the heat that surrounded her.

A hiss.

Steam rose as the air between them shimmered.

And suddenly, the fiery aura around her stilled. 

It no longer flared uncontrollably, but glowed with a warm, steady light.

Koori opened her eyes, looking toward the empty oil drums Hale had used earlier. 

She raised her hand and a molten sphere formed in her palm, its edges dripping like liquid fire.

Effortlessly, she hurled it forward.

The explosion shattered the drums into a cloud of burning dust.

A deep boom echoed through the hall. 

Then silence.

Only the faint scent of scorched metal hung in the air.

Koori stared at her hand, then at Hale, and a small, shy smile spread across her lips.

“I think... it worked.”

Hale just stared at her, stunned by the sheer power radiating from her, tamed now, but still formidable.

Incredible.

“Uh... y–yeah. G–good job, Koori.”

That was quicker than I expected...

She took a deep breath, and the glow around her finally faded.

Tiny clouds of steam rose in rhythm with her breathing.

For a moment, there was only wind, dust, and the sound of them breathing together.

At last, Hale straightened and grabbed his backpack.

“I think that’s enough for today. That explosion was pretty loud. Maybe we should head back before someone finds us here. We'll continue training tomorrow.”

Koori nodded, pulling her oversized jacket tighter around her small frame as they walked side by side toward the exit.

“So... do you understand a little better now what you’re feeling?” Hale asked quietly.

Koori stopped and looked up at him, thoughtful.

He turned to face her, and for a brief moment, something flickered in her expression, something he couldn’t quite name.

She nodded softly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

“Yes Hale... I think I do.”

He hesitated for a heartbeat, then simply nodded back.

“Good.”

And as they walked on, neither of them noticed how quietly something between them had begun to change.