Heron Lake Plateau I guess I keep a-gamblin'

Raleska had never seen cinders or ash; for that matter, she had never seen fire. Its ravaging capabilities were lost on the girl, who simply regarded this new piece of information as something useless. Dribble to think back on during a rainy day.

Perhaps later on in life, if she was woefully unlucky, she might stare fire in the face and realize its raw power; its absolute, overwhelming fury. It was a good thing she was a babe and had not witnessed the ruin fire was capable of yet - it was likely she would not be able to handle it.

Cinder remained unaffected by her moodiness, either unaware or choosing to ignore it. Raleska frowned, wondering what ash was - to her, he looked like the color of a tired old tree, or maybe the color of the rocks she had seen when they first left her home. Thinking of home made her suddenly cold and lonely -- if she had been unwelcoming before, she was downright frigid now. "Cinder's a stupid name." Raleska mumbled, subjecting poor, sweet Cinder to her mulishly unkind side. She knew as soon as she said it her anger was misdirected, but it was too late to turn back so she stared at him in a daring, almost challenging way.