The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
Fireflies always brought Harvey back to the Lion King movie–one of his favorites of all-time, critics be damned. Specifically, it brought him back to Timon’s line, when Pumbaa was asking about the “sparkly dots” in the sky.
“They're fireflies. Fireflies that, uh... got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing,” he said in his best Timon-voice, then followed it up with Pumbaa’s accurate description of a star in Pumbaa-voice, and then Timon’s next line, again in his best Timon-voice.
“Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.”
He chuckled at that, though it probably made him look like a crazy person to any passersby, had there been any at that time of night in the middle of the trail Melody had brought him to just a few days prior. Not that he would have cared one way or the other; Harvey was never one to pay them any mind anyway. The fireflies, which in the summer were always in abundance in Destiny City, had a better chance of catching his attention than another person, actually.
“It always feels like they’re trying to swarm us in the summer,” he thought out loud, now in his regular voice, as he walked a bit further along the trail. He was walking to exactly where Mel had stopped them before they powered up and she brought him to her wonder. It had been a fascinating experience, and he was hoping to finally visit his own tonight.
He had mixed feelings of concern and curiosity regarding his wonder. He didn’t know what to expect but, given the state of the only wonder he’d seen so far, he didn’t exactly have high hopes for his own. He hoped it was, in its own way, beautiful, though. Einhornhöhle definitely was, at least what he’d seen so far.
When he finally came upon where they’d stopped the first time he glanced around. With the number of fireflies, and considering the time of night, he almost felt like he had some kind of spotlight on him. It gave him pause, and he had to take a good, slow look around to be extra sure. When he was satisfied, he closed his eyes and focused on the now very familiar white cone.
When he next opened his eyes he was once again clad in the very bright pink garb he’d come to very strongly dislike.
“I should have sunglasses nearby whenever I do this,” he muttered.
Thankfully the more he became Kiringul, the less time he needed to get past his issues with the outfit, so he was able to get to the task at hand very quickly: how exactly does he get to his wonder?
“She said something back then,” he said as he took up a post against a nearby tree to look at the fireflies while he tried to remember. They floated about, flickering or sometimes dancing together. Most of them looked normal, he thought, and the sight honestly felt a bit surreal. Still, others looked a little bit different. Maybe not in a bad way, but just…off. It was so hard to place, but it felt like he knew what it was and it was right on the tip of his tongue…
“Don’t get distracted, you idiot,” he muttered to himself some minutes later, then sat down and closed his eyes. If he couldn’t see them, he couldn’t be distracted by them. Of course, this also meant he was sort of a sitting duck, but…well. Sitting duck that manages to get to his wonder (assuming he isn’t attacked), or ready to defend himself but distracted by the floating bugs with lights on their butts around him and ultimately failing to get to his wonder?
Even if he did get attacked, it’d be a losing battle. He had a cone for a weapon, after all.
It was closing his eyes that helped him remember. Or…well, maybe it was that. But the instant that he closed his eyes and focused, really focused, he heard it–a strange, oddly familiar whisper of a pledge–and upon hearing it he repeated it out loud.
“I pledge my life and loyalty to Cosmos, and to Kiringul. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.”
The fireflies went on undisturbed as their audience in pink vanished into thin air.
719 (gdocs)
