The secluded cave at the bottom of the Dragon's Valley was a place no one dared to visit, a perfect place for its sole inhabitant. Fire Spirit Cookie sat hunched on a jagged rock, his form almost hidden by the shadows. The Red Dragon's Bead, clutched in his staff, offered no warmth, only a constant reminder of the power he felt slowly dimming, a distant echo of a life he barely clung to. Dying. The thought was an unwelcome guest in his mind.

Picky Pyro-tiger paced restlessly near the cave's mouth, its low growl the only constant. The deep marks on its fur were a testament to battles fought, much Fire Spirit Cookie's own. A faint tremor rippled through the ground, dust sifting from the ceiling.

Fire Spirit Cookie merely sighed. "Third time this day." He didn't bother to look up, his gaze fixed on the empty floor. What was the point? Every distant flicker of green-red flame, every gentle tectonic shift, only served to remind him of what he once was and what he was destined to become: nothing but ash. Alone. Always.