tales of umber [umber's fantastic journal entries]

Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived far away. He was terribly lonesome, and wanted a friend with whom he could play.

The only problem was that no one left the town. Why climb up the mountain, after all, when one could more easily just climb down?

"Why must we live so very far out here?" The boy asked his mother before bed.

"Magic like yours must be controlled first," she said, "just like I've always said!"

He did not like this answer. He never liked it one bit! He could control his magic plenty, he thought, and now he was going to prove it!

His mother gave him a big hug goodnight, and then without ever touching the switch, she turned out the light!

Once the door was closed, the boy's lips curled into a frown. He crawled out of his window and then ventured into town.

In the dark, all alone, the boy could not see. So the boy took out a lump of coal, then two, then three!

He struck them against each other and sparked up a flame. And from it all around him, trees' shadows began to wax and wane.

Once, a noise made the boy trip over and fall. Another not long after, an owl swept down and stole his backpack, snacks and all. But he made it to the bottom of the mountain at last, and when he looked back up, he saw that the distance he'd come was wide and vast.

He marched his way up to a castle of stone. At the very top, he saw a princess sitting all alone.

Excited for a friend, the boy flew up to the top. The princess didn't notice until it was too late- his "Hello!" made her slip, and then she began to drop!

He raced against time to swoop down and save her. There was no time to say sorry- that would have to come later.

Just before reaching the bottom, the boy caught the princess's hand. This meeting was all wrong; not at all what he'd planned!

"I am the coal mage," he said at last with a bow. He'd never met a princess before, but there was no time like now!

The princess seemed guarded, or perhaps still unsure. But the boy knew what would fix it, he knew just the cure! He pulled out another piece of coal, this one bigger than those before.

With a flick of his wrists, the flames began to dance. Thank goodness he was being careful; he nearly burned his pants!

He rolled over a log so the princess could take a seat, and then the boy did the same for himself, finally resting his feet.

"What do you want?" the princess asked with a squint, "Do you mean to harm me, or are you innocent?"

"I came looking only for a friend," the boy explained in careful time, "Everyone has theirs, but I wanted mine."

"You can't control your mage power," the princess guessed, "Why else would you come at this late of an hour?"

The boy's cheeks went redder than the other's- now this princess sounded just like his mother!

"I can control them just fine, you'll be happy to know," the boy said it with a nod, then he tipped up his nose.

"If what you say is true," said the princess with a thought, "then maybe you can help me, and maybe I can help you! I could be your friend, Coal Mage, but I need magic really bad. You see, the ice mage gave my mom a cold, and then she froze my dad!"

The Coal Mage thought, and the Coal Mage considered. Ice Mage magic? From thought alone, he shivered!

He struck some coal and produced a floating flame. The fire wasn't wild this time, it was actually quite tame!

He used the dancing flames to make the queen a bowl of soup. For extra warmth he draped her with his shawl and tied it in a loop. Then he turned to face the king, frozen crown and all. In a swirl of Coal Mage magic, the king began to thaw.

"Good work," the Princess said, and then she said "my friend! Because of your hard work, I have my parents back again!" And as the king and queen all began to grin, the Coal Mage smiled too, and this story came to an end.

once upon a time this was a wip bc dars wanted to post it before anthem