The flaming orange form flickered around the tight granite cavern walls, slithering through the thin cracks, the sound of Jazz music and electronic beeping bleeding through. 

The fox squeezed and squirmed as he walked toward the underground post-apocalyptic city known as Trigo. The last living city in the Republic of Elementia, formerly known as the United States of America.

The heat pouring through the heating tubes that heated the city in the desert during the freezing winter never affected the young fox, yet it seemed to make him stronger and faster.

Finally, the fox crawled into a porcelain tube that opened up to a small cliff overhanging the city of Trigo. The fox sat there for a minute on the edge of the cliff, staring off into the distance. The sounds of people rushing around and cars honking as they zoomed past each other filled the emptiness that used to be the fox's favorite place to go to before it became a city.

Sitting there with a look of sadness and slight anger, the fox eyed a small mouse that wiggled out of another smaller hole in the wall. 

Waiting until the mouse stopped at the edge, the fox just barely flicked its tail, and a burst of fire erupted from the rocky ledge, cooked the mouse, and launched it into the air. With a quick snap of its jaws, the fox snatched its dinner in one bite, chewed once, then twice, and swallowed, the taste of mice never really appealing to him.

He then turned towards the near-half-spherical wall that encased the city. Lifting a toe on his front foot, twirling it slightly, and setting it back down, the rock wall shimmering with moisture. Suddenly steps pulled from the wall, and the fox trotted down them, as they slid back into the wall behind him, disappearing into the wall as though they had never moved.

When he reached the ground, he walked along the sidewalk, people swerving from the heat radiating off the creature strolling along the city. The fox stopped at a street vendor named Blaze, who sold Bratwursts. 

"How are you doing, little buddy?" Blaze said, smiling at the fox. The fox saw Blaze daily and knew where to find her, even though the girl sold bratwursts in a new place every day.

The fox sat down and looked at Blaze, eyeing the Bratwursts as though he hadn't eaten in days. 

"Okay, okay," Blaze said, laughing. "But just one."

Blaze grabbed the tongs, grabbed a bratwurst fresh off of the grill, and lowered it down to the fox. She tossed it slightly, and the fox snatched it out of the air.

Almost instantly, five golden flares appeared in his tip jar. Nodding to the fox with a smile, she served the next customer. 

The fox kept walking down the street, passing by other vendors who met him with smiles and words of welcome, some giving gifts of food, some taking pictures, and some even giving him money, which he stored in a pouch around his neck.

The fox continued his walk until he approached a dark alley, which he went in. The alleyway seemed to stretch endlessly until the hard, cold concrete floors that matched the rest of the city's streets and sidewalks turned to a warm oak plank floor. 

The fox reached the end of the alleyway, stopped, and then disappeared. 

Meanwhile, underground on the other side of town, the fox reappeared in what seemed to be the inside of a log cabin, where it coughed. 

"Welcome, Head Elemental," A man's voice said from a vintage chair in the middle of the room in front of the blazing fireplace.

The fox's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. The curving wooden walls resembled the fir log cabins that used to be a staple for anyone who wanted to go camping but did not have to set up a tent, and this only happened before the Apocalypse. Well, at least before the second one. The fireplace was made out of a dark, black, nearly-wet-looking, rock. It was so rare these days since it required a combination of three of the elements combined to make it, and the fox couldn't remember what it was called. 

"Obsidian," the fox said, finally remembering. "You got obsidian for the fireplace. Why does that not surprise me?"

The man laughed. He stood and beckoned the fox over, and, almost instinctively, the fox leaped onto the arm of the chair. 

Glaring down its snout at the man, the fox waved a paw at the roughly cut rocks, which were cut that way to make it seem natural, even though he knew they came from a giant slab of the stuff. 

"This," the fox said, "Could get you arrested. Fire and earth, sure, that's fine. But throw water in there? That is illegal. Where did you even get this? Wait, let me guess." The fox paused for a moment before his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you got this from the Night Market!"

"Well," The man said, "It would be a lie if I did."

The fox sighed in relief.

"I sent Flicker to get it."

"WHAT?!!?" The fox shrieked. "Obsidian, you realize how dangerous that is, and sending FLICKER of all people? DO YOU KNOW what I would DO TO YOU if she got hurt?"

"Dude, calm down," Obsidian said, snickering. "I had Cirrus help me and disguise her so she looked completely different. Even you wouldn't recognize her, and you've spent most of your life with her," he said, flicking his bushy eyebrows up and down at the fox.

The fox flicked its tail in boredom. Obsidian shrugged, sat down in the chair, and started stroking his head like he was a cat. The fox batted his hand away and glared. 

"You know that I didn't approve of this. I'm a higher rank than you, than everyone in this compound. The Element Representative must approve all missions," the fox said, shaking his head.

Rolling his eyes, Obsidian said, "Okay, okay, I know it was wrong."

"Yep," The fox said, "Rebellion rule number 12.652ab. And I quote, "All missions must be approved by the Element Representative as determined by the Head Elemental." So NEXT time you want to have a risky operation to get a decoration, let me know first and then it is slightly less likely for me to say no. I'll still probably say no, but just sayin'."

Obsidian sighed and shook his head. "Y'know, you are just like your father. Abusing your power, just like him. Then again, he wasn't Head Elemental of the Rebellion, seeing as how the Rebellion didn't exist back then."

The fox swiped at his face, leaving a light cut along his face. "Don't talk about my father like that. He didn't abuse his power. He did what was right."

"Yeah, sure," Obsidian chuckled. "He banned most magic other than defense and repeatedly broke that rule! Hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Hypocritical or not, it was what was needed."

"Try following those laws. He even got them passed by Head Elemental Vengeance. The Element of Creation! Do you think you are the strongest elemental alive? Vengeance was stronger than you ever would be. Sure, you may be the strongest Fire and Earth Elemental that has been born in the 1000 years since the ECP occurred, but Vengeance's family gets stronger every generation since the original five ECP survivors."

"Whatever," the fox said, shaking his head with a sigh. "I'm tired, so let me sleep and then I'm going back out for more investigation."

The fox leaped onto a staircase leading to the dorms, especially his special, one-person dormitory.

As he walked to his bed, he heard Obsidian say, "Sleep well, Ember."