To start a fire, you need Kindling. A bundle of dry wood found clustered under older trees usually. To keep the fire from burning out initially you need dry leaves. To make the fire stay aflame you need branches or logs maybe even bits of some strange looking black soft stones. This is what I told the children.
"Grand Mother!" A child ran up and tackled into me before she noticed how rough she was being with her excited embrace. I kept my calm and smiled down at her. "What is it young one?" She pulled away and with a serious but adorable round face looked up at me. "What's a volcano?"
I remember when I first asked how the world came to be to my own Grand mother and then focused my gaze back on the young child. "A mountain full of hot liquid stone that can remove the earth's impurities. Much like how our bonfire purifies darkness." The young girl thought about it for a moment then her eyes lit up. "So, the volcano is just a big fire?" I look her in the eyes and notice just how much she is like her mother. "No, but if you offer the Volcano something maybe you'll get an answer?"
Young Fire had always been one of the more curious children even since she was but a toddler. Traits she had inherited from her father among many more. Every few days or so I would see her come up to another of the elders in our Clan and ask questions. "Why does the Fire in the sky always go in one direction?" and "Why does the Volcano Mountain thing smoke?" We should've noticed the signs that could've saved our head houses but then again how could we have?