let it burn

August had come out here to think originally, but just thinking had quickly turned to boredom when he ran out of things to think about. After about ten minutes of kicking pebbles at the half-frozen water of the lake, August had turned around and looked for things to burn up. He found a couple dry twigs and leaves, setting them ablaze without too much effort on his part. His small flame grew brighter, and he knew that it would soon be needing more fuel. He hauled a broken log over, gently setting it over his flames. His cheetah curled near his feet and close to the fire, nearly tripping him. Cursing quietly, he poked her thin frame gently with the toe of his shoe. She was used to being tripped over, and only gave a small purr in response to his irritation. August left her there to look for something dry to sit on, satisfied with a slightly smaller log that he had found close by where they other was.

Dropping his make-shift stool close to Gisa, his hand rested on top of her head, gently stroking the fine fur that lay around her ears. He really was lucky to have such a pet, but occasionally wished that he could find someone else with a large cat as a pet. He had heard of another student having a tiger but whether that was rumour or not, he could not tell. The heat from the flames was nice against his skin, and August almost wanted to curl up and sleep with Gisa. She seemed to rather enjoy it, and he mildly envied her for being able to curl up anywhere and nap. He thought he could hear something approaching, but since Gisa didn't seem too concerned about it, August let his head drop back into his hands, and he stared off into his tiny fire.

Of course, just as he was right about to fall asleep, he was jerked back to alertness by a heavy crunching among the forest. He looked at Gisa, silently questioning whether it was a friend or foe. The beast only gazed back at him with wide eyes, unwilling to leave the safety of the fire. Frowning at his cat, August stood and folded his arms in front of his chest. He stood guard at the fire until a girl emerged from the woods. She was smaller than he, and seemingly alarmed by the sight of his cheetah. Good.

August squinted at this intruder suspiciously. Why did she need help? Looking back at Gisa for reassurance, August twitched his fingers at her and she came trotting to his side. Thankfully, as long as he was next to her, she didn't have any issues with becoming a guard cat. Approaching the stranger cautiously, Gisa loped ahead, stopping a couple feet away from her. Her tail flicked, and her tongue flickered out to taste the scent on the air. Faintly, in the back of his mind, August could feel her confused thoughts swirling around. Unfortunately for him, Gisa couldn't form words properly, and could only think in pictures and emotions. It was left to him to decipher what she was thinking. From her thoughts, it seemed that she had no major concerns about the character of this person. Satisfied, August closed the distance between them. His arms tucked tight into his chest, August drew himself up to his full height, staring reproachfully down at the girl. "Why do you need help?"

He was feeling edgy still. The smoke had invaded his senses, and he felt like a dragon. It really was a shame that he hadn't been born one-- he could really use a pair of great leathery wings right now. Most of all, August just wanted to burn things, to watch everything wither in his path. Perhaps he could even have a bit of fun with this newcomer while he was at it.

A sly smile slowly crossed his mouth, and August stepped closer still, until he was hovering directly above the small female. His voice lowered, coming out in a velveteen purr. "Are you sure you're not afraid still?" He pushed his thoughts toward Gisa, encouraging her to act threatening towards the girl. She wouldn't do anything too dangerous, but that wouldn't stop her from growling, too.
By now, Gisa had circled behind the pair, lurking at a small distance. Her eyes burned like two small flames, and she let out a quiet growl every now and then. "You never know with strangers, some of them might have a bloodlust for little girls like you."

August grinned wickedly, watching the girl hide her feelings. He was pretty impressed with her, though. Many girls would either fling themselves at him or squeak and take off. He liked neither of those reactions, although Gisa enjoyed playing with the runners. August raised his eyebrows at her responses. Well, at least she wasn't a wimp. "Might be. You'll have to find that one out for yourself." To be perfectly honest, he didn't have much of a lust for girls at all. He enjoyed their company well enough but they were just too soft. He always felt like he would break them as soon as he touched them.

Backing up, August shrugged as he gave the girl space. "I'm here to burn things, I never asked for company." Prickly as always, August found his way back to his fire, taking great care to ignore the strange girl. As with most of his problems, he's found that if you ignore them hard enough, they tend to go away. Gisa trotted back to his side, looking first at August, and then settling back down. August could tell that she was still on high alert, and he patted her head lovingly.