"We have a—" The harried defender put a makeshift bullet into their gun. "—thriving community going on here. Get out with your nonsense!" They fired at a raider trying to scale their walls. "What even keeps things like you motivated?!"

Spring flared up, flames leaping all around her as she advanced on the wall, eyes on the nearest raider. "Burn!" She let herself go, and her flames lashed out for the nearest target. Her blue-black flames wrapping around them in a rising crescendo of burning and screams. "Burn." She stomped them to the ground, landing outside the gate, not that the enraged nirik seemed to care.

Kit's eyes went wide at this change. "Oh." He raced for the gate, but it was closed tight. He could only knock and bang on it, not that the defenders moved to open it for them in the middle of the attack.

"Burn." It was one word, and it was the only word she had as she raced around the attackers as bullets flew around her. Those aimed properly barely touched her with metal hot enough to bubble away from her burning form. The pain of the contact only served to infuriate her further.

The attackers recoiled and tried to fall back as Spring flared brightly and burned them all. They had little defense against her, but they had each other, and one managed to get off a shot that slammed right into her. The bullet didn't do much, but the impact was felt and forced her to falter.

With a roar of apex fury, she smashed into the marksman, driving them to the ground as they and the ground around them burned under her furious flames. "Burn!"

The attack was off. The raiders were fleeing for their lives instead of trying to get inside the town. She chased them, stomping down any she found until, eventually, her flames ran out. Her pelt was a mess of scorch marks, ash clinging to her, and her mane and tail were little more than ragged ends. She wobbled in place before collapsing into the ash, huffing for the breath she had lost a few minutes back.

Kit bolted out the moment the great clunk of the lock was undone. He raced across the stirred ash to Spring's side. "You're okay! I thought you were going to be shot dead!"

She panted heavily. "That was crazy! They didn't get hurt by your attacks?"

Kit inclined his head. "My attacks? You were the one to take care of them all this time." He gathered her close, hugging gently. "You were very brave, but maybe a little thoughtless."

"Scary," Spring mumbled, ears flat. "Thoughtless and scary." She looked at him. "They would have come for me if I had done nothing. I have to defend myself." She shivered gently. "And our new friends. I couldn't let them get hurt."

"Shh." He slowly rose up, her in his arms. "You did fine, Spring." Lucky, he thought to himself, but he kept that quiet. "In fact." He didn't need to say another word. As he carried Spring back into the town, the cheers of the residents were loud enough to do all the talking.

They had seen what she did, and they were happy enough to call and holler as she was brought back in. They reached with hands and hooves to brush her on the way past, calling out their compliments and thanks.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Kit whispered to her.

She looked around with a broad smile. "Did that really just happen?"

He nodded, hugging her gently. "It did. Can you tell me what exactly was that?" He flipped an ear back. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Oh, ha. That's a kirin thing, actually." She looked away, curling in Kit's grip. "When we get really mad." Her eyes shut. "We get all burny." She shivered gently, then looked at him. "Sorry."

He laughed softly. "I'm happy you're okay. You did well, protecting these people." He kicked open the door, hoof to metal, to gain access to the dorms. "Just be careful. What's amazing today can be scary tomorrow. We don't want them getting nervous you might turn on them."

She shook her head as he put her onto the bed. "Thank you." She licked across his face, her eyes on his. "I was worried, but I had to do something. It got so bad, I couldn't hold back." She cringed, teeth clenched as her thoughts went back. "When a kirin gets that bad, it's real hard to do a lot but let it go."

He smiled and gently nuzzled against her face, trying to relax her. "I was worried. I don't want you to get hurt, and that was very dangerous." His ears flattened. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I hurt a lot, actually." She felt over herself with her cloven hooves. "But not that sharp real hurt. Just a lot of sore, like I ran too long." She laughed gently and rubbed her chest as he nuzzled back. "Thank you for coming after me."

Kit smiled, eyes closing as he breathed deep, then looked into her eyes. "Of course. I said I'd be with you until you were safely home." He brought his ears up. "I meant it. We're stuck together for now." He touched his nose to her cheek. "And I'm enjoying our time. Rest, for real. Stop talking with me."

She giggled gently, curling her legs under her chest and neck as she lay on her side. "Night night." She shut her eyes.

He settled down in the bed beside her, a paw on her back. There he waited patiently until her breathing was slow and even. For safety, he waited a bit longer before he slowly crept to the door and snuck outside. "Brave little thing."

Kit started, realizing there was a large form looming over him. "Oh, um, hi Miss Mayor. Can I help you?"

The hippogriff nodded firmly, looking down at him. "That was quite something, seeing the little kirin fight like that." She rubbed her beak-like mouth. "Reminds us that there's a world out there beyond this little town of ours." She leveled a finger at Kit. "The way she said it, you were the scarier one of the two. Can you do more than that?"

Kit's eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly as he rose to all fours. "No! She was exaggerating. I'm not scary at all."

"You don't look very scary," she admitted with a shrug. "But then, neither did she." She suddenly pat his head. "What, are you scared I'll chase you out of town? Pah. You saved our asses and we don't have the luxury of choosing who our allies are. You want to survive, and you want us to survive, so we all have a common interest, hm? I came here to ask her a question, but I guess you're just as good a target."

He rubbed his head where she'd tapped him, eyes on her with confusion. "A question?"

She nodded firmly. "It's simple, really. What would it take for the two of you to stick around?" She pointed at him, then beyond the wall to where she imagined Spring was. "Scout, guards, you two could do either I imagine. And we'd be lucky to have you at either assignment. As their mayor, they're looking up to me to see if we can't make that happen. They'd rest easier, knowing I had your word you aren't just blowing on through."

He looked away. "We want to help. But." He gestured to Spring with a paw. "We don't belong here, we need to go back home." He looked into the room towards her, his ears flicked forward again. "We're waiting for a clear day."

"That could be a long time." Mayor folded her arms. "Or it could be tomorrow, blast it all. Got a few that think they can predict it, but they only get it right half as often as they get it wrong, so I don't put much word in that." She clacked her beak. "Still, thanks. Figure a lot would have lied right about then. You shot straight. Don't like where that bullet landed, but I'll take it. Until that clear day comes, you'll be here?"

"That's right," he agreed, looking her in the eye. "And we'll do what we can until then."

The hippogriff nodded. "Great to hear." She turned and walked off, tail lashing behind her. "All I can ask." She reached the front door and opened it to reveal a host of hopeful eyes.

"Are y'all waitin' that badly?" She slammed the door shut, but Kit could hear her shouting all the same, "They're stayin' 'round until the next clear day at least. Want to earn their favor? Tell 'em when it's a clear day. After that, up to them!"

He could hear soft mutterings, muffled by the walls, and things became quiet.

Kit backed against the door leading to their room as others began to enter. They nodded towards him on the way past, but mostly just minded their own business as they took up other rooms or crashed in the common area. He turned to go back inside and almost bumped into Spring as she opened the door from the other side.

"You should have stayed sleeping." He sat on his rump, looking into her face.

She giggled softly, shaking herself off. "But I didn't." She slipped into the main room with a bright smile. "A little powernap really changed things. I feel a lot better now." She shook herself out, just to freeze. "Ow."

Kit saw something on the ground, shaken off in her last motion. He reached for it and held it towards the light. "This is one of your scales, isn't it?"

"Oh!" Spring reached for her neck and rubbed it gently with a hoof. "Yeah, that's mine. Why was it on the floor?"

He frowned with a soft muttering. "Because your scales were strong enough to stop you from getting hurt, but not enough to stay whole." He reached for her, turning her around. "There." He tapped just beside the bald spot on her back. "Here's where it came from."

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Oh. I guess that makes sense. They fall off eventually, anyway. It's just fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled and turned to face him directly, nuzzling his chest. "You can keep it, if you want. A little souvenir."

He made quite the face, but he second-guessed himself quickly. "Actually." He tucked it away into a pocket. "I think I will. But you need to be a little more careful. That could have been you being hurt, instead of one of your scales. You're lucky you got hit there." He imagined the force it took to knock a scale off applying to the rest of her soft and fuzzy form. "I want you to get back safely."

She looked down at her hooves. "Sorry. I don't have any practice fighting. And they were all running from me, like I was scary or something. I guess that was scary."

Kit barked out a laugh at that. "You were very frightening. They ran away." A few cheers went up. "And they liked that." He waved at those that had cheered. "Saved the day, almost got yourself hurt. Congratulations, you're a hero." He pressed a finger against her snout. "Cut that out."

She giggled, then turned away from him. "We should probably check on the others. See if they need our help. We're heroes now, they might have something else they need help with."

He gaped at her a moment before chasing after her. "I just said to cut that out." He followed alongside her onto the street. "Besides, what can you do? You're not a doctor."

"No." She shook her head, horn glowing along its curious lines. "But I can help in other ways." She flagged down a passerby. "Excuse me, where do they bring creatures that are hurt real bad?" That got a point, which was good enough for her. "Thanks!"

She trotted down the road with Kit close behind. "Spring, please, listen to me."

The two arrived at a building with several smaller outbuildings that looked more like sheds or shanties than actual homes. It was where they had set up a quick triage for injured defenders. Medics were doing their best to apply ointments and bandages as needed to their suffering patients.

Author's Note

Spring wants to help, but how will she? A smile is good medicine, perhaps?

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