"You brought a Gatherer to our house?" Leonie screamed, forgetting all about her plan of not alarming the girl.

"Don't you remember what they did the moment father died? Don't you care that they stole from us before our father's spirit had even had a chance to reach his final destination." Leonie yelled.

Rimar came closer to her trying to calm her down with his warmth, but she was beyond reasoning. For the first time in years, her carefully constructed mask fell, and everyone could see how raw her emotions still were.

"Leonie, she is my friend, and you are scaring her," Nald said with pleading eyes.

Leonie was furious. Those people were the very ones who dared dishonor their home, they hurt Nald, and there he was looking at her as if she was the one who hurt him.

It broke her heart to see tears gathering in his usually smiling eyes, and she had to look away. She had to find a way to extinguish the fire of rage that was burning in her heart.

For a moment, it felt as if the Gatherers were not only responsible for the theft but her father's very death. Though she knew it was illogical, she could not stop herself from thinking of them as the enemies. Not the evil that they were supposed to fight but the corruption that was worse in its ignorance, in its inability to see the pain it was causing.

"Besides, she had nothing to do with what happened. She was still a child when that happened, Leonie, just like we were." Nald said.

"How can you be so naïve? She must be here to hurt us again." Leonie said.

The girl flinched those words and completely hid in Nald's comforting hands. Yet, she did not attempt to defend herself. She was too frightened by the venom in Leonie's words, and she was not the only one.

"Leonie, I know I've taught you better than that. That's not the way to treat your guests." Amitola said, coming towards them with quick worried steps.

"But mom..." Leonie said.

"No excuses, young lady. You are scaring this poor little girl who has done nothing to you. Go and think about what you have done." Amitola said.

It was one of the rare occasions when Amitola was strict with Leonie since her father's death, and that made Leonie realize that what she had done was truly bad.

"I am sorry," she said to the little one who was fighting off tears.

The only response she got was a small nod as Autumn was too scared to find her words, holding on to Nald as if he was her anchor in the stormy sea.

"And bring Rimar with you," Amitola said as Leonie started moving away.

She looked him in the eyes, and only then realized how urgent their leave was. His enormous eyes were blazing with fire. It was only a matter of time before flames burst through. Leonie was ashamed to note that it was her rage that burned through his heart, and that she almost caused him to unleash his fiery wrath on an innocent little girl.

"Let's go to your cave," Leonie said, advancing towards the house since they had left the house portal active.

Rimar, on the other hand, used the outside one being too large to fit into the house.

"That. Is. A. Good. Idea." He said, barely restraining himself from letting out the blaze that bubbled at the tip of his tongue.

Then they hurried away eager to reach the safety of the cave before they could hurt someone. The cave that would keep others safe from them. It was a terrifying idea to face that they were a danger to others.

As soon as they entered the cave, Rimar put his emotions under control. After all, he was a dragon able to draw on the experience of all dragons who came before him. However, Leonie did not succeed in obtaining self-control.

"How could he bring her to the house? She is the enemy! Can't he see that?" Leonie said, fuming with anger.

"How is she the enemy?" Rimar asked, cautiously while he tried to transfer some of the calm he felt to Leonie.

He felt as if he was trying to extinguish a volcano with a raindrop. It was an impossibility.

"She is a Gatherer! They hate us! They were the ones who dared steal from us while we were still grieving father's death. They are evil!" Leonie shrieked.

It was rare for Rim to see his friend in such a state, and it hurt him to see fury burning in her eyes. After all, anger was such a destructive emotion. He did not wish for it to touch the pure heart of his friend.

"You know that they are not evil. Besides, Autumn is just a scared little girl. She didn't steal anything from you." Rimar said.

It was difficult to reason with his friend when she was so irrational, so human.

"Don't YOU defend her!" Leonie screamed.

Suddenly, an incredible dress of fire covered her body crackling loudly but never hurting Leonie. The flames were suddenly a part of her being, Leonie was fire itself.

One moment Leonie was a flash of fire the next she sent the fire beam into her hands. Then, she let it out towards the unexplored depths of the cave. As she did so, all the fire drained out of her. The glowing of her skin was the only sign it even happened. Even that soon went back to normal.

"Well, that was..." Rimar started to say.

"...new." Leonie finished his thought.

"Was that your fire?" Leonie asked, dazed.

"Yes. I think you were so angry that you could channel my fire. Fire is connected with emotions, so I guess it makes sense that you could command MY fire." Rimar said.

"I didn't know I could do that," Leonie said, confused.

"Honestly, I had no idea that was even possible. At least you know that there is magic in you, some active power you can use." Rimar said, grinning widely, his huge teeth blindingly white in the darkness of the cave.

"Do you at least feel a bit better now?" Rimar asked.

"Much better. I feel like myself again. I am sorry about that.

I know she is not my enemy, but I can't help but be angry at the Gatherers for being so insensitive as to steal from the house of mourning." Leonie said.

"I understand, but are you sure that you are ready to go back there, that you can control your emotions?" Rimar asked.

"Are you sure you can control your fire?" Leonie answered the question with a question of her own.

"Yes. You caught me by surprise earlier, but now that I know what to expect, I can control the fire. I think I can even prevent you from accessing it fully, at least not enough to hurt anyone." Rimar said.

"Alright then, let's go back there and be on our best behavior. We've done enough to sadden poor Nald. We better make it up to him." Leonie said.

"We? As far as I remember, it was your emotions that almost made me lose control." Rimar said teasingly.

"I know it's my fault. I can control my emotions, I was just surprised. Let's get this over with." Leonie said.

When they got back through the portal, they found the others sitting outside, enjoying milk and cookies. Even though she promised to be on her best behavior, Leonie could not help but feel a pang of anger at the way Autumn seemed to feel comfortable in the house of a Hunter.

"I didn't know we should feed the enemy," Leonie said bitterly.

"Leonie, my dear, you know that the Gatherers are not our enemies. They are different than us, but you know that not everything in life is black and white. We can believe in different things and still be friends." Amitola said.

"You know, we help animals be free. We can help your dragon, too." Autumn said.

It seemed as if the delicious cookies had managed to chase away the little girl's fear and let her hyperactive personality come to light.

The moment the words were said, every inch of Leonie's body became saturated with pure rage. Her eyes started burning bright red, and everyone at the table stared at her in shock.

Before Rimar could do anything, an enormous wave of water splashed all of them, extinguishing all the fire that had almost ignited.