Fire Heart
Legacy Name: Fire Heart

Fire Heart's home is bordered by a rainbow parade of flower bushes with a yard well shaded by oaks that were acorns at the time Riverside first began to colonize. The house would not suit a Zentu or velosotor but for its terracoon inhabitants, it is ideal. Each room is designed for comfort, with furnishings that are easy to clean shed fur. Each of Fire Heart's three children has a room all their own. Rachel has decked every wall in horse posters and has every lifelike legeica doll lined neatly on a shelf. Steven's bed is in the shape of a red racecar, a gift from his grandfather who is skilled at carving all manner of wonders out of wood. Little Alyssa's walls are a mural of fantastic fairytale creatures and she never gets tired of tales about knights, princesses and dragons. Her dearest companion is a red rreign doll Fire Heart brought home one year during Fireside.

Fire Heart's workshop is to the right of the house, reached throughout the year by a small door painted sunny yellow. There is not a resident of Subeta who has not set eyes on the pottery of the master Fire Heart. He makes everything from flower pots to fantastically shaped bowls, and from delicate tea plates to fine porcelain vases. He can create glaze patterns and colors never before seen in the markets of Subeta. His finest pieces seem almost to move, so readily do they capture the eye with their graceful curves and impossible attention to detail.

Behind the house is the barn that opens into a grassy paddock for Glory's small prize ponies. His wife has never taken less than a silver medal at any of the horse shows where her beauties were displayed. She trains them with a feather-light touch and a great deal of kindness and never condones mistreatment of any kind. A horse that is raised with love and kindness is one that will never throw a rider or panic, even in the midst of a storm. The barn also holds their two carts, one specially designed for training purposes and the other a standard load-bearing cart which Fire Heart uses to take his goods to be sold.

There are currently six ponies occupying their stalls. Star is Glory's own mare, a sweet-tempered paint with a black and white coat and a black spot over one eye. The star on her forehead is brilliant white against black. Wick is Fire Heart's personal favorite, a stout and reliable little fellow who often fronts the cart. Jingle is adored by the girls though it will be a few months yet before he is taught to take the bridle. Rusty, Cotton and Brandy will soon go to new homes. Rachel makes it a point to spend time with each of them when her chores were done. She once told her father solemnly that she doesn't want them to forget her scent, in case their new owners are mad and they need to find their way home again. Fire Heart could not hide a smile, though he knows Glory would never allow one of her darlings into bad hands. Rachel has been promised a pony of her own when she turns sixteen, four years from now. She already rides like a pro.

Fire Heart works well into the morning, grabbing the mail on his way to the door. The fancy cream envelope from the Museum at Delphi catches his interest at once.

He leaves a note for his family. The children are still in school and Glory is in town buying supplies for the horses. He had insisted at breakfast that she take Wick and give the fellow a chance to stretch his legs. It is very likely they will beat him home, though he is lucky to get a ride from a friendly farmer.

The Director of the Museum is a rather intimidating cadogre. Fire Heart once saw her handing out candy on Morostide and cannot unsee the huge grin on her face that transformed her into a doting grandmother. Not even her clipped tone as she describes the latest find can wipe the smile from Fire Heart's face.

He enjoys restoration work not only for its challenge, but for the knowledge that by his efforts, valuable artifacts will be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. The three vases he is taken to see are clearly from the Quinn Lu dynasty of Shengui Guo's golden age. A true rarity, since the iron age that followed was anything but friendly to fragile objects. Fire Heart oversees the packing of the vases, telling the workers how to wrap the treasures just so, to offer support at those points where the vases are structurally weak.

The Director is good enough to loan him one of the Museum's carts. He shares his family's preference of ponies over horses though the bay mare is a mellow creature that follows his instructions well enough. She will have hay and good oats once the vases are safely settled onto his work table.

The potter's wheels along one wall each have a name, designating their rotation power. Little Wind forms the most fragile pieces that will collapse at the least provocation until they are baked. Stiff Breeze is the one on which he makes most of his standard dinnerware items, the kind that serve as family dining sets for multiple decades. Hurricane is only for the biggest and hardiest of pots. It is the wheel that shaped the massive flower vases used by Esther in her greenhouse.

Fire Heart glances at the clock, deciding to get a little work in on a dozen flower pots that will be carved with scenes from each land of Subeta. They are to be a birthday gift to Emma from her good friend Sarah.

He loses all track of time when he works. The gentle tap of a paw on the edge of his work station startles him though his own paws never falter in evening out the edge of the pot. Alyssa's blush is as pretty as the pink dress she is wearing as she whispers that supper is ready. Fire Heart cleans up in the sink, pausing to kiss his youngest child's head on the way out the door. He loves his shy little blossom.

His son Steven is more challenging at times. The lad's dusk coat puffs out in all directions when he puts a paw over his nose and blows hard. Rachel shares her father's reborn coat. She is trying to act the lady but it is clear she's on the verge of a giggling fit.

Glory carries in the turnip and bovine roast, giving Steven's hand a gentle slap when the boy tries to grab one of the skewered olives off the top. "Greedy paws lose their claws, Steve." She tilts her head up for Fire Heart's kiss as the children roll their eyes. He loves the way her light blue fur over her darker dusk looks like swaying tendrils of water when she moves. She is the most beautiful terracoon in all of Subeta, a shape not even the master potter would dare try to capture in clay.

They all bow their heads and hold paws as Glory mutters the little poem that has come to be known as Shinwa's Blessing. Nobody really knows the blessing's origin or if Shinwa even wrote it, but they have never failed to say the words that are a thank-you for the food and fun and family they are so grateful to have.

Credits

Profile design and Code by Ringo | Edited by: Chrysariel
Overlay by: Rah | Recolor Overlay by: Chrysariel
Background by: iphone X Wallpaper | Story by: Pureflower
Name by: Chrysariel