It was a rare occurrence for Smoldering Ember and his siblings to gather together, but at the behest of their father Viper's Nest, they all came together in an open clearing to spend time and have a meal together on a nice warm day.

Being the only boy in the litter of 5, he was expected to entertain the twins Bite of Eighty Three and Bite of Eighty Seven while his older sisters Deathpact and It Doesn't Matter sat in their own little corner to chat and gossip. He didn't really mind seeing as the twins were typically receptive to his stories. Today he decided to teach them something he learned while going around and helping others.

"Do you know why I choose to go around offering my help to other kin whenever I get the opportunity?

That's because it is said that the effort of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Whenever two kin help each other to achieve a common goal, waht results is not just the effort of the two kin that is being exerted to do a thing, but there is something more--something in excess of what those kin can do if they were exerting their efforts separately--that makes their combined effort become better.

Smoldering Ember sees the familiar vexed expression that Bite of Eighty Seven makes when she's about to express her annoyance at something that's too hard for her to understand. Before she can say anything, he decides to give an example.

"Think of it like every kin is a burning branch. Eventually, the fire will go out because, of wind, or because of rain, or because the wood is already too burnt. But when one burning branch--in this scenario another kin--touches another and decides to help, it's not just the fire of the one that is going out that is rejuvenated--the fires on both burning branches burn anew because they touched each other. And when they separate, they are both stronger than they would have been had they never touched.

Basically, the lesson I want you to leave with is that when we have the opportunity and capacity to help someone in need, it is a natural obligation for us to reach out and offer to help because our efforts are better--more effective--together than what the results would be had we not helped. And that somehow, in some way, our act of helping others will be better for us in ways that we may or may not ever know."

The twins look to each other as Smoldering Ember finishes his little lecture and proceed to giggle at his earnest attempt to explain his own logic. He doesn't know if they'll take his story to heart, but he knows deep down that what he said is true.