Kaira had been at it again, complaining in a loud, haughty voice how much of a disgrace I was, storming about my bedroom while telling me how she couldn't believe that I was such a slob, endlessly nagging in my ear. I didn't see what her problem was. I had done nothing more than leave a few dirty outfits laying around, strewn across the floor of our home, and forgotten to put the toilet seat down once again. Dinner had been neglected as well, but I had never been much of a cook. That was something that I would have expected her to do, although I knew it was probably too much to ask of the spoiled girl, not something that she should demand from me on top of everything else.

It wasn't as if I had barged into her world, demanding that she take me away and help her to live out her fantasy of traveling to new and supposedly exciting places, doing whatever popped into her mind, after all. She was lucky that she, at the very least, had her good moments, or else I never would have agreed to such a thing for more than a week. She seemed to be intoxicated with the idea of freedom, unable to realize that she had had everything she could have possibly wanted before joining me in my travels. Her parents would have given her anything she ever wanted, and all that she had been required to do was to marry that incredibly sensitive pansy of a rich boy. Kheanu, I believe his name was. It couldn't have been that bad of an arrangement if they'd been best friends since childhood, and the way that he had acted when we had left together had suggested a desperate sort of love. He had fallen to his knees and melted into a puddle of tears as he'd watched her walk out of her own life.

Sighing, I returned to scanning the area about myself. Only the sounds of crickets chirping wildly and the occasional bovine mooing in the distance could be heard, aside from the crackling of the torches that I held by my side, one in each hand. Similar to the kind used in the medieval ages to light up a room, hanging from a wrought iron case on the walls of a castle, they were long, blunted sticks covered in oil and flame up until the small fraction that one held onto. They had been a personal favorite of mine for quite some time, as their creators had displayed a wish for raw, barbaric power within their intricate designs.

I was far away from any real form of civilization, out in the middle of farmer's heaven, which was filled with the constantly clinging stench of manure. I crinkled my nose at it, wincing slightly, but it couldn't be helped. Only in a place like this would I find the satisfaction that I needed, the release that would help me get through yet another day with the intolerable woman. Taking one last look around and deciding that no sentient creature was anywhere near my present location, I faced the cornstalks before me with a mischievous grin.

Tilting my torches slightly downwards, I directed the flames towards the bases of the outlying corn plants, waiting until they spread onto them and started creeping up the fragile stalks before stepping around the plants, moving deeper into the forest of yellow and green. At every couple of steps, I set more and more of the things on fire, delighting in the crisp look that soon overwhelmed them all. Any greenness that they possessed would quickly turn darker and darker, fading from brown into an abysmal blackness.

It wasn't long before a roaring fire flickered wildly around me in every direction, growing bigger and brighter by the second as it stretched out its form to gather up more and more of the natural fuel surrounding it. I danced my way through it, arms outstretched as I added more pieces of flame to the mass. A huge grin was plastered across my face as I did so, probably making me look like I was insane, but I didn't care. All that mattered was the fact that I was indulging myself, yet again, in the obsession that had possessed me since childhood.

I can easily remember the first time that my curiosity was sparked by the way the small form of a flame curled and twisted, shifting every fraction of a second into something new. It had occurred during the time when I was living out on the streets as a preteen kid, having fled the orphanage that I had been abandoned at by the ones who had created me. My parents had dumped me off at St. Wren's foster home on a night not too long after my seventh birthday, right after they had kissed me good night and I had fallen asleep, having eaten only a meager piece of cheese for dinner, the best that my father could afford for me. They had left me nothing more than a dirty note scribbled on with a faulty pen, the ink nonexistent in some patches, making the writing almost unreadable. It had expressed their so-called "extreme sadness" at not being able to care for me any longer, rambling on about how they hoped things would work out better for me when they were gone. I had known we were in a bad situation, with very little to live off of every day, but that couldn't ease any of the pain that I felt as I cried myself to sleep that night, as well as several others after that until the initial shock had been dealt with, pushed aside after I realized that I had more important things to worry about.

Contrary to whatever my parents had believed, I had been even more worse off at the foster home than I had ever been under their care. Little, if any, food was given out to the hundred or so children that lived within its walls, and only to those who had minds that were completely beat down by the adults in charge, who didn't care about what happened to their physical bodies as long as they were shown fake affection and kept alive, able to dream of a new, better day that was always right around the corner, never coming any closer to reality. I refuse to go into the details, as that memory is better left unnoticed in the black box that lurks in the back of my mind, but, needless to say, our "caretakers" had been sadistic fools that got off on causing us pain, in one way or another. I left as soon as I had the strength to do so, as well as a few simple supplies amassed (a little bit of food that I had managed to steal, a pathetic knife, and a few other trinkets that I thought might be of help in the future), fleeing out a window on one summer night into the streets of the city. From then on, I knew that I could never trust adults again, or at least those that had any speck of power. It corrupted their kind far too easily.

For months, nothing other than thoughts of finding food, water, and shelter from the night's cold had been in my mind as I darted around the back streets that were forgotten and unused, for the most part. I was locked into a constant battle of survival with the harsh world around me, as the city that I had called home for all of my life had finally shown me it's dark side. Ill-clothed and covered in filthy, stinking slime on a regular basis, my hair a knotted mass of solid sweat and grease that had not seen the likes of a shower in quite some time, I was forced to take care of myself, to learn how to live on the bare minimum that life had to offer. Trash cans were an exceptionally wonderful friend in those days, seeing as, after you had cleaned one out of whatever was edible, they could be used to collect rainwater or, when placed sideways, offer a pretty solid shelter from the elements. You have to do what you have to do, even when bugs are rampant.

Ah, the bugs. It had been a particularly interesting giant beetle, its purple body riddled with black and blue markings in strange designs, that led me to the stranger with the miraculous flame. My nose had been stuck close to the ground, eyes glued on the insect in front of me as it tried to steer clear of my comparatively gargantuan figure. I refused to let it scuttle away, however, as my mouth had already started watering at the thought of a meal which would be fresh and possibly filling, for once. It wasn’t every day that you found something like this, after all. Most of the time, nothing but maggots and last week’s leftovers could be found.

The beetle scurried around a corner, darting quickly out of sight. I was right behind it, scrambling across the littered landscape of the alleyway I had been exploring at an alarming rate, the corners of my vision a whirling kaleidoscope of muted colors. Unfortunately, as I took the corner sharply, I realized that I had forgotten about my momentum. My feet slid out from under me, my body slipping sideways, right into the side of the stranger.

“Oomph,” he grunted as we toppled to the ground, together forming an odd arrangement of splayed out arms and legs, his much hairier and whiter than my own, which had been darkened by prolonged exposure to the sun. I laid, momentarily stunned, on top of his jacket for just a moment before he shoved me off, rising back to his feet and brushing off his black leather trench coat. I rose to a sitting position, but remained on the ground, rubbing the new bruises that had been added to my expansive collection.

Glancing up at his face, I noticed that he was glaring at me rather intently, his nose turned upwards in disgust at my own. Feeling somewhat ashamed of my appearance and more than a little shocked by the awkward circumstance that my miscalculation had created, my lip quivered slightly. “I’m...I’m sorry sir!” I mumbled quickly, casting a look towards the alleyway that I had came from. The beetle was long gone, having successfully made its escape while I was distracted. I sighed. “I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I’ll be on my way now.”

I pushed myself up to my feet, wiping my forehead with the back of my right hand before stuffing both hands into the raggedy pockets of my pants, my shoulders hunched and my head down as I stalked back over to the safety of the filthy world I belonged to, defeated. I was too disappointed by what had happened to take up the search for something less disgusting to eat, determined to just wait out the rest of the day alone with a random trash can.

“Hey! Wait up, kid!”

Surprised, I blinked, perking up a little and turning back to the stranger. “Um...is there something you want?” No one had bothered to talk to me before, not that something quite like this had happened in the past. Usually I would just bump into people while running through a new section of the city, whenever I was unfortunate enough to come into a crowded area. They would look at me in disgust, etching their conceited opinions of me onto my skin with their eyes before walking away in a rush, mumbling under their breath something along the lines of “Whatever is the world coming to?” As if I knew.

“Don’t look so forlorn, would you?” I hadn’t had a good look at him before, but he was actually quite young, probably only a few years older than I had been at the time. Large black rings from sleep deprivation surrounded his eyes, and, underneath the trench coat, he was wearing a black shirt with a symbol etched in neon green in its center. It was of an encircled letter “A”, the symbol of anarchy, though I didn’t know it at the time.

“What do you mean?” I asked in reply, curious. “I’ve never heard that word before.”

“Just...don’t look so sad, ok?” he sighed, his face wearing a grim expression. “That kind of look only makes people feel horrible about life. It’s better to be optimistic, you know?”

“Um...”

“Ever heard of the saying, ‘Don’t worry, be happy?’ That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Things only stay grim if you let them, regardless of what’s happened to you in the past.” He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a metallic contraption and a long white stick. Popping the stick into his mouth, he popped open the top of the metal thing, pressing a button that was located inside of it. Instantly, an orange red streak appeared, lighting up his face with a strange glow. He raised it to the end of the stick, keeping it there until its edges darkened, then withdrew the contraption, popping the top back on.

“What was that?” I questioned, eyes filled with wonder.

“What was what?” He raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to one side. “What? You’ve never seen a lighter and cigarette before?”

I shook my head. Everyone that I had ever really had contact with up until that point had been far too poor to indulge in such a frivolous habit. I watched the smoke rise off the end of his stick, the cigarette, curling up as it rose higher and higher into the air. Every so often, he would breath it in through his nose, than exhale out of his mouth, blowing out a long stream of it. It smelled horrible up close, making my own nose crinkle in disgust and my eyes burn.

“Here. You can have the lighter. You could probably make better use of it than I could. Besides, I need to kick the bucket on this habit sometime. Cancer isn’t something you want to get if you don’t have to.”

He handed me the metal contraption, flicking it open again and pressing the button within so that he could make the streak of light appear once more. I gasped, putting my own finger down on the button and bringing the “lighter,” as he had called it, closer to my face. It emitted an aura of warmth, although it kind of hurt my skin after a while.

“Pretty neat, isn’t it?” The stranger grinned. I nodded in agreement, refusing to stop looking at the ever-shifting flame. “You can use that for quite a variety of purposes...”

He had gone on and on after that, showing me how to cook, make artwork on the sides of a trash can, disinfect the objects that I came into contact with, and all sorts of other wonders with the flame created by the little lighter. I couldn’t get enough of how useful this seemingly innocent piece of nature could be. It could be a very powerful tool, used to alter my world into a more stable, suitable form.

“What’s your name, kid?” he asked suddenly, jerking my attention back from the combination of lighter and flame. “We might as well have a proper introduction, right? Mine’s Tai.”

He held out his right hand, expectantly. It suddenly hit me that it was strange for an adult to act this friendly towards someone like myself. Still, he had expressed nothing but concern for my predicament and had tried to help me because of it. He had only seemed disgusted by my pathetic form at the very start of our meeting, which seemed reasonable.

“My name’s Res,” I replied with a grin. He smiled back.

“Would you like to come with me?” he asked. “I have some extra room in my apartment, and it wouldn’t be that much trouble for me to take care of you. Heck, I could even teach you a few things that could help you make your way in the world yourself, without having to live in such a way. I’m sure you don’t like being a street kid, right?”

I had taken him up on his offer, and I have never once regretted it. Tai turned out to be an incredibly awesome guy who gave me an introduction to the world of rebels like himself. He taught me how to hack, how to make weapons out of anything, and how to survive in a world whose darkness I had only known the tip of, as well as a variety of other lessons that I can't recall at the moment. When I felt like I had learned enough, I decided to strike up my own way of life, instead of continually being under Tai's protection. He understood well enough, wishing me happy times in the future as I walked out his front door, only turning back once to offer a small wave. Even so, his return smile seemed depressed, the corners curving downwards ever so slightly. Perhaps he would miss the friendship, the partnership, and the companionship that I had given him in return for his care.

I wonder how he's been doing all this time. It seems like it has been an eternity since I last saw him, even if it has only been a few short years in reality. He would have been proud of how much I'm progressed in life since I left his side, of how much I made what he taught me work wonders. It didn't take me long to steal a decent amount of money from a local bank and use it to set up a hideout in the countryside, one which I highly doubt could ever be located, especially not with all of the security measures I added onto it. The only one who ever managed to find me was Kaira, and that was simply because I had let my guard down when first setting up the establishment.

Coming out of my reverie, I realized that I had made it to the edge of the cornfield, stumbling out of its forest and onto wide, open prairie land covered with hills. The torches had long since been dropped somewhere, forgotten, and my body was sore from all of the twirling that had commenced while I set every single stalk on fire. Obsessions could sometimes be full of intense physical activity that left the body weak, but happier in general.

Sighing contentedly, I climbed to the top of the nearest hill, sitting down upon a patch of cushiony grass and staring down at my handiwork. Lines of brilliant, beautiful fire burned across the tops of the corn stalks, creating a rather intricate pattern if one stared at it for long enough, surprisingly. I pondered whether the farmer would realize that he was looking at a piece of art when he came out to the field tomorrow. Probably not, but it didn’t matter.

I laid back, stretching out in the grass, gazing up at the partially cloudy sky full of millions of stars above me. Rainwater began to streak down my face as the sound of the fire sizzling and popping in the distance played across my eardrums. I closed my eyes, letting my spirit drift away on the breeze that passed by. It had been some time since I had last let myself enjoy this kind of peaceful atmosphere, all alone out in one random crop field or another. I had missed the feeling of being free and unhindered, limited in life only by my imagination.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, the rain was gone and there was nothing but the sound of footsteps approaching. Opening my eyes slowly, I sat up and stretched, yawning widely as I glanced around at my surroundings. The clouds had disappeared, and the moon had risen higher in the sky, drifting off towards the mountains to the south, casting a slanted light over the hilltop. Off to my right, a lithe, feminine figure was approaching, clothed in an elegant dress made of purple and orange hued silk. Kaira.

"I never would have expected something like this from you, Res," she laughed, sitting down by my side. I pretended to be asleep, but she didn't let that deter her from talking anyway. "You didn't seem like the type who would enjoy nature's wonders, let alone create something beautiful from it's decay."

She paused for a moment, the soft sound of her breathing filling up the silence. Surprised at her past words, and the lack of new ones at present, I yawned and sat up, opening my eyes slowly. She was looking at me, a curious smile on her face. Tilting my head to the side, I gave her a quizzical look, one eyebrow raised and my mouth forming the shape of an "o."

"I guess there's just more to you than I thought," she mused audibly, leaning her head against my shoulder. "You really are an interesting guy, Res. I'm sorry that I've been too selfish to see that lately. It's just...been a bad week for me, I suppose."

I grimaced. One could only imagine what she meant by that. The silly woman. I suppose that I should have guessed as much.

Turning my head, I planted a soft kiss upon her forehead, my thoughts caught up in the way her hair swirled about my face. Relaxing my body, I wrapped my arms around her waist, the same curious smile filling up my face as well. She really was a beautiful girl, and it had surprised me that she could appreciate my rather destructive habit, let alone realize her mistakes and apologize for them. Perhaps there was more depth to her than the simple spoiled princess character after all. I couldn't wait to find out more about her, but, for now, all that I wanted to do was enjoy the starlight with her by my side.