Welcome to my first Coraline Fanfic. I have been in dire need of writing one since I watched the movie. Don't get confused by the POV's in the story. It starts out with a slight introduction by Wybie, followed by the actual story he's telling. The story is in the third person. Every other chapter Wybie may feel the need to tell you something important, but he won't appear in the middle of a chapter. Anywho! I hope you enjoy the story! If you fear Coraline x Wybie fluff, turn away now.

I, regrettably, do not own Coraline.

Sky Fire

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Hey, I'm Wybie Lovat. Well, Wybourn, Lovat, but I try not to say my full name, especially in front of Jonsey. It reminds her of the similarities between my name and her latest phrase for me, "Why-were-you-born." It's hurtful, you know, but for some reason, I can't entirely bring myself to be mad at her when she says things like that. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's because I like hearing her laugh so much when she sees me get slightly irked. Or maybe it's because somehow I know she never really means it. Anyway, I've been through so much lately that my head feels like it's been on this constant overload that empties of one tiresome vexation, only for another to immediately cram into place. It feels like someone is unceasingly poking at the crook of my neck with the utmost of pressure. It makes my neck twinge just thinking about it.

Many people think I'm strange. That's a fact. Even Jonsey does, but she thinks I'm weird in, well, a weird way. She likes it, or maybe she just tolerates it. In any case, I think that it's currently one of the things that are causing these headaches; The fact that I can't tell whether Coraline thinks of me as a friend or an amusement is constantly nagging at me, and I don't want to ask her in fear of her thinking that I doubt her friendship. Yes, I know I helped to save her from the thin metal claws of death that detached from the Other Mother herself as it tried to drag us down a well and rip the very flesh off our bodies, but you can't count that as an instant friendship. How would you know? It never happened to you!

That's not the only thing bothering me, though. Coraline wouldn't believe it, but I can be a very deep person. Sometimes I wonder what the answer to a previously asked question would be after the asker fore mentioned were caught in a life-threatening situation. Such a single situation could leave the respondent in a state where rushed decisions lead to honest responses, instead of ones hidden by bitterness and stubbornness. I feel a little guilty using this knowledge to my advantage though. Hey, I'm not just going around putting myself in danger just to know if the kid I was talking to at lunch was lying when I asked if they had a dollar I could borrow! I'm talkin' about the basic principle! Uh… I guess I'll just have to explain what I mean from a different approach. Maybe you should just observe a normal day in the life of a boy from Ashland, Oregon.

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The blue-haired girl stared, eyes narrowed in annoyance and silent frustration as the bumbling brunet stared down from the front of the motor bike, knowing that this time, he had truly screwed up. She began to tap her fingers in line against the hard seat of the bike, and he could feel her gaze boring through the back of his head. Wybie cringed noticeably and peeked over his shoulder, daring to look into the eyes of the girl sitting snugly behind him.

"Um…" he lamely began, "…i-it looks like the, um, bike is, ah…" She raised an eyebrow, eyes unmoving. He swallowed audibly. "… Dead." He finished.

"UH!" Coraline caved into her fermenting displeasure and jabbed her fist into his side, letting it linger, not pulling it away. Wybie yelped in pain. "You said that the bike was one hundred percent FIXED! You told me as you were bragging this morning, 'Not-to-worry!'" She said mockingly, pushing harder into his ribs with every word.

When she unexpectedly swung her fist away from his body, he flailed to dodge the other fist that he had prepared for, only to fall backward onto the hard pebble-scattered ground. Wybie looked up at Coraline, hesitantly pulling himself up. She had already gotten off the bike and was pacing on the other side of the narrow dirt road.

"Uh, my mom is gunna kill me," She mumbled to herself. "She didn't even want me going on the bike. When she finds out that I went on it anyway and on top of that missed school…! GAH!"

Wybie stretched out his back and watched the girl mutter and grumble. It was obvious that she was an only child. She always so openly spoke to herself. It was actually quite amusing. It was then that she had apparently ceased rambling, and had now focused her attention on him. Uh oh…

"WYBOURN LOVAT!" She ran toward the petrified boy whose eyes had suddenly become wide with fear within a split second of hearing his full name. He screamed as she proceeded to bound toward him, hands in a strangling position aiming for his neck, and he immediately turned on his heels and scampered off clumsily in the opposite direction.

"AAAH…!" He darted around clownishly flailing his arms searching for something, anything to help him hide or lose her. A tall tree, a large boulder, a deep well with a broken homicidal hand and a key… anything would be better than to face her wrath! Finally he found that he had been running much longer than he thought, and that he was a great deal down the dirt road from the bike and Coraline. Slowing down his pace, Wybie began taking great breaths as he slowed to a halt. He bent his knees in exhaustion and closed his eyes. What had he done this time? The defeated boy looked back over his shoulder and could faintly make out the form of his disappointed friend sitting on the ground with her back against the side of his broken down bike. He decided that going back over to the bike was probably not the best idea as of yet.

There wasn't a chance of going to school or back home right now. The school was too far away, and the buses never had to take a route to the Pink Palace before Coraline came. Wybie was home schooled, partially because he had to take care of his gramma, and mostly because he never quite fit in with the kids there. More importantly, no family with kids had ever been allowed to rent out the Pink Palace. When Coraline came, Wybie thought that there just might be a chance of him feeling more comfortable and fitting in at school. So much for that social experiment.

Wybie sighed and looked around until he saw a large stump by the side of the route and went over to rest on it. This could take a while.

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Coraline had given up on catching the green-eyed, graceless boy after she had realized that overall it would be pointless to threaten or hurt him, especially when they were stranded in the middle of scenic nowhere. She looked above her head. It was already becoming a thicker shade of grey, wind slowly dragging the masses of clouds across the vast sky. The cloud directly above her roared in its throat, and she lowered her head, exasperated. What else did life need to throw at her today? She already had her fill of broken bikes, useless boys, and still had to deal with the conniption that her parents would have when she got home. If she got home, she added.

The sky bellowed, and the ground trembled slightly at the sound. The girl flinched and held her legs closer to her chest. Coraline Jones wasn't scared of many things, and after facing a demented, terrifying, form-changing being like the Beldam, she thought that nothing else possibly could. However, one fear still stuck; her fear of lightening. Rain? Rain was fine. Rain brought mud, drinking water and life to a wilting garden of red tulips. Lightening was random and unpredictable. It struck and lit trees and homes afire without remorse. With every sound of the migrating lightening she felt every bit more uneasy.

Suddenly she remembered something. "Where did that boy run off to?" The girl squinted through the building wind whipping at her blue locks. The scattered trees at the edge of the road did absolutely no favors in protection from the brewing weather. How could he leave her alone in these conditions stuck with his broken bike? Oh yeah, she chased him off trying to strangle him about an hour ago. Well, he deserved it… didn't he? He's an annoying, blundering jerkwad… isn't he? Guilt suddenly crept up on her unexpectedly, and she hung her head. She couldn't deny her mistake. He didn't deserve it, and she knew that. No matter what he did, he was always kind, and had the best intentions. Now all because she couldn't control her temper, they were both alone in this terrible weather

An ear-shattering crash shook the ground violently and lit up the sky no more than ten miles from where Coraline sat. She jumped out of her skin, eyes wide in terror, and pulled herself closer to the motorbike behind her. The frightened girl clutched part of the cold, metal body of the bike between her palms and locked her eyes shut. Thin trickles of water were beginning to spill from the sky. The wind picked up from multiple directions. Another loud crash boomed and her hairs were sticking on end. Suddenly, something heavy fell atop her back. It must have been a coat that had been ripped away from its owner in the harsh wind. Either way, she welcomed the extra protection from the elements. It was a long, black coat, and looked like it had been worn and dirtied from being thrown around in the rain, and it was also… warm? Oh no.

Coraline gripped the coat tightly between her fingers, recognizing the texture of the thick clothing. Panic rushed her to her feet. The girl's eyes darted around, coat wrapped firmly around her form, and the thunder that exploded directly behind her went almost completely unnoticed. Through a voice broken from the ripping wind, she desperately called out through the storm,

"Wybie!"

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End of Chapter 1

Oh no! Cliffhanger! Sorry about that. I have a lot in store for this story. I'm not quite sure exactly how long it will be yet, but in any case please let me know what you think so far.

~AltheanFlame