The city is wary.

From Its perch upon Umbra’s shoulder—a position that will keep it away from anything flammable and hopefully allow the city folk to feel more comfortable—the figurative shooting star can’t blame them. It’s certain It, too, would be wary about approaching anything that destroyed Its home.

Not that It would ever face such a problem: The Void cannot be destroyed.

As the humans cautiously approach them, Umbra smiles calmingly while speaking gently. “Worry not, city folk! This is our new friend! It only wants to play!”

Whispers break out and the living flame waits patiently as the mortals talk the situation out.

As Umbra smooths down his ruffled hair, hoping to prevent it from drying awkwardly, a short woman with a round figure bravely approaches them with a microphone. Rota—according to her press pass—gestures for a boom operator to follow her; when he shows too much fear, however, she amends and asks him to simply extend the boom pole as much as he can after adding the dead wombat to it.

The fiery being fights the urge to touch the fuzzy thing; it would only burn because of It.

“Umbra!” the reporter asks into her own mic. Her voice is surprisingly calm and steady for the situation. “You say this creature is our friend; but It has destroyed most of our home!”

The dark hero nods and speaks after Rota offers him her mic, “Yes, It has; there is no denying this. However, that only happened because most of us left It here—alone. Should we all stay to entertain It, this being will not have to resort to violence or destroying our homes and city or harming us in any way.

“We must all be brave heroes, now, and remain outside when It comes.”

Murmurs break out again as Rota appears skeptical. Her critiquing eye gazes sourly at the creature and her microphone shakes only slightly as she boldly asks It a question, too, “Why should we trust you?”

The fiery being only shrugs.

“You probably shouldn’t,” It says truthfully, burning blue pupils locked eerily with Rota’s light-eating black ones. “Even if I promise to not destroy anything here, that would only cover intentional things; accidents might still happen and I will most likely throw flames if threatened or forced to run away.”

“… But?” Rota prompts, expecting some kind of positive end to the creature’s answer.

But… It only shrugs again, “There is no but. I might accidently destroy things despite any promise I make and you all might accidently run away from me despite promising today that you’ll entertain me.”

Umbra jolts as flaming fingers run through his hair, messing it up playfully.

“I think that’s a pretty fair start for us; don’t you?”

~

The city is calming.

Understanding blossoms across its people, including the disgruntled reporter, as Umbra refixes his hair. He grumbles about having to do it again and so soon as the fiery creature on his shoulder laughs at him. Some of the people in the crowd laugh, too, finding the usually calm and collected hero to be funny when irked like this. The living shadow, of course, allows this, simply grateful things are looking up.

Out in the din, however, a voice speaks up: “How’re we gonna clean all this up, though?”

The murmuring grows excited again as people begin debating the best course of action. They need to clear away the debris, of course, but should they recycle it or simply get rid of it? If they do choose to throw it out—or if it just proves too unusable—where will they get the material to replace all of it?

Amongst all the commotion, five figures make their way towards the two inhuman creatures.

The first is a woman of short stature and stern silence. She appears to be the leader of the group, walking in front with the other four flanking her sides and walking just one step behind. Her black eyes match her black hair and it is difficult to tell where her iris ends and her pupil begins. Her outfit is a robe of royal blue with black and silver hemming. A large onyx, similar to the one nestled in Umbra’s collar, sits in the hollow of her throat and vibrates powerfully when she speaks. A magical amplifier, then.

Interesting.

The second and third are much taller women with similar faces to each other. They appear much kinder, however, and offer as welcoming smiles as they can given the circumstances. They both have brown hair and brown eyes and, when they smile, they look the same. They’re twins, then, wearing robes of azure blue with the same black and silver hemming. In their case, however, the onyx jewel is in their staff.

That’s three powerful mages.

The last two are men, dressed in armor, carrying both shield and sword. Warriors, then. Opposites, too. One is wearing a smile and looks as welcoming as the tall mages while the other is as stern as the leader; one has bright red hair that’s short and spiked while the other has long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. They both have an onyx in their sword’s hilt and the little bit of clothing visible on them is sky blue.

A decently balanced ensemble of powerful people; the city’s council.

The leader is the first to speak. Her voice is clear and weighty, commanding respect, “I am Volera, Council Head and Leader of the United People. Please state your name and your business here.”

Umbra raises an eyebrow, suddenly realizing that he never asked the being Its name.

The flame on his shoulder responds quite plainly: “I don’t really have a name.”

~

The city is confused.

Volera stares up at the creature incredulously, face contorted comically. The living flame giggles at her, clearly amused. Then, It adds just as plainly: “It’s not really something I’ve ever needed before.”

Behind Volera, one of the brunettes furrows her brows, “How do you usually introduce yourself, then?”

“I don’t.” Murmurs break out once again, no one understanding how such a thing could be possible. They fail to realize that they never introduced themselves, either; they just ran away from the flames. And, if one never has to introduce oneself to anyone, why would one ever need a name?

“Would it be fine if we gave you one?” the redhead councilman asks, simply curious.

The fiery being stares at him, contemplating. Then, It nods, “If I like it.”

“Sweet!” he exclaims, excited.

Umbra frowns, “Are you sure?” He looks concernedly between the flame and the redhead.

The man groans, “Duuuuuude, let me have fuuuuuuuuuun!”

Umbra huffs, trying not to get irritated with the other male’s childishness. The fire being only laughs, however, “You sound like me.” It smiles at the redhead, sensing a companion, “Go on.”

Volera and Umbra share a tired sigh as the brunettes giggle and the redhead cheers.

The blond says nothing.

~

The city is tense.

The redhead rubs his chin contemplatively as he watches the fiery being closely, looking for a fitting name. Umbra sighs and glances up at the amused face of other inhuman being. He watches the gentle shifting of heat and plasma still going on across the living flame’s body, remembering the spitting rays.

“Flare.”

All eyes turn to Umbra in surprise. The creature’s especially.

“Like solar flares,” the living shadow explains, pointing towards the now risen sun.

Flare smiles, eyes flashing bright as It stares at Its pseudo-sibling, “I like it.”