Fantasy Muddled Flames (Swordsman and thegreathero)

[Swordsman-of-Lorelai]

Name: Kolya Admani

Spoiler: Photo

Age: Unknown
Bio: Kolya is close with his family but fairly independent. Upon capture, he remained in his Phoenix state to avoid spilling any secrets with anyone that he had come into contact with. In order to keep his family safe, Kolya played the part of just "bird" until he believed he could get away from his captors. After bring removed from his home, Kolya struggled with keeping his location in mind and lost track of how to get back home.

 

[thegreathero]

Name: Kiyo Parker

Spoiler: image

Age: 24

Bio: Raised by his grandparents, Kiyo took over their antique collection after they passed away. He has a much larger fondness for animals than people and can't abide cruelty. Most of his time is spent maintaining the mysterious artifacts gathered in his small home and writing. He's a fairly successful writer in the fantasy genre.

 

[Swordsman-of-Lorelai]

Despite all of his efforts to break free of this hell hole, Kolya was still stuck inside this burlap bag. He knew he was being moved again, and he was definitely frustrated that he couldn't see where he was going or who he was being handed to. There were voices all around him- warnings of how hot the flames were, warnings that the "bird" bit and scratched, warnings that the "bird" was dangerous. Was Kolya dangerous? Was he truly dangerous? He didn't think so. They had taped his beak shut and stuffed him into this bag. What were they expecting?

He did his best to listen, to really listen. Maybe there would be a clue about where he was going, but there were no words of location, of route, of anything that would help him. He again attempted to break free of the bag constricting his wings and movement, but it was useless; no matter how he moved, the bag stopped him. He wanted to rip it apart, but it was impossible to use his beak at all, even though he wanted to.

All he wanted was to go home. This had all been some kind of nightmare. He had distracted the hunters from his family, and now he was stuck with that. Kolya hadn't felt his own skin in almost a week, and he missed it. He missed the use of his hands, missed the softness of his own body. It couldn't get worse, could it? Knowing his luck, they were going to some sort of slaughter house or going to another seller that would want to take him apart. There had been talk of dissecting him, of taking his wings apart, but someone had insisted on keeping him intact, even if just for a higher price at the auction.

Now, he was sitting in some sort of vehicle, still blinded by the burlap around him. There was no biting or burning it. He would just have to wait.

 

[thegreathero]

The auction had gone as well as could be expected, seeing as he'd been handed a mystical animal in a literal bag. Kiyo grimaced as he took another turn with the car, doing his best not to jostle the bag in the backseat. "What were they thinking?" He muttered to himself. The way the auctioneers had spoken of the phoenix was, to be frank, disgusting. His only consolation was knowing it was now safe in his hands. Though there were hardly resources on caring for phoenixes on the internet, he'd done his best to extrapolate from the various rare and exotic bird manuals he could find. They'd all agreed: Plenty of space to fly and foliage to hide in was essential to the habitat of any wild bird. It'd taken a week to get everything set up at home, but he had tentative hopes that his new companion wouldn't completely hate it. The enclosure took up the entire west wing of the garden, a spacious mesh wall surrounding bushy trees, flowers, and a shallow pond. Kiyo thought it was rather pretty, honestly. Hopefully the bird would think the same.

"Not much further to go," he said reassuringly to the lump behind him. "My name is Kiyo, by the way. I'm sure you have a name but since I can't exactly ask, I'll refrain from making something up for now." A creature as fantastic as a phoenix couldn't not have some way of naming itself, right? He couldn't help but think it undignified to assign a generic human name to the bird.

A few minutes later he backed into the garage of his house, flipping the engine off and carrying the bag out into the garden with careful hands. He marveled at the warmth emanating even through the thick burlap. "And here we are. Please refrain from attacking me if you don't mind, I'd like to get you properly settled first." Loosening the tie around the lip of the bag, he made space for the phoenix to clamber out and backed away respectfully.

 

[Swordsman-of-Lorelai]

At the sound of a voice, Kolya screeched, almost angry at the sound. He wasn't angry, but he couldn't help it. Terror. Really, he was more afraid than anything. Each time the man spoke, the phoenix made small crackling noises, his beak still sealed shut for the time being. There was no biting, but it couldn't stop him from making noise he damned well pleased to make. There was no way he was sharing anything with this man, not after everything he had heard and seen before being handed over. When the car stopped moving and the engine died, his heart began to race. Where was he? Was it finally time to be killed and taken apart? Being picked up made him lose it, his wings attempting to flap though his range of movement was restricted.

Kiyo. At least he had a name to remember. Refrain from attacking... How would he attack anyway? Fire. Burn. As soon as the bag opened up, the phoenix darted out and opened his wings, flames dancing off and around them. A quick flight back had placed the bird about 10 feet away from its possessor. The garden was beautiful and large, but it would be gone soon, from his sight and from existence... if Kolya could do anything about it.

The fire bounced about the wings of the bird, and his claws dug into the sand. There would be no staying, not peacefully. Kolya took to the air and set himself against a bush, rubbing against it and burying his flames into its small branches. It started to smoke, and Kolya made a screeching sound again, his gaze falling back on Kiyo. Despite his avian appearance, his eyes still burned with anger and distrust. If the fire got big enough, there would be nothing left in this god forsaken prison. As beautiful as it was, it was still his prison in some ways. The tape was tight against beak, and he began to use a burning branch to scratch at it, his beak rubbing at the pointed end of a stick.

 

[thegreathero]

The burst of light as the phoenix flew from the sack shocked Kiyo into stillness, and he found his breath leaving him in a whoosh. The bird shot through the air like a red bullet, stunning even after its obvious mistreatment with the auctioneers. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

And then it set the garden on fire. Ah.

"Ah," Kiyo said as the bird cried defiantly and shook embers onto the lovely, green plants. "That's, hmm. Oh my. I guess I should have expected that." He frowned. There was of course a sprinkler system in place in case of fires, as one couldn't possibly expect a phoenix not to light a few plants on fire. Things had unraveled a tad faster than he expected though, and the thought of setting it off with the bird within radius distressed him. It would no doubt hurt the poor thing, and upset it further even if it couldn't do more harm. He could already see the resentment alight in its beady eyes as it was.

That was when Kiyo's eyes fell to the tape wrapped around its beak. Fury briefly took over his senses. Those idiots. Did they literally duct tape the beak of a mythical creature? How long had it been since it last ate? He was going to report those poachers to the authorities as soon as he returned to the house. Which he would do after he took the tape off the indignant animal, who was struggling with a branch to scrape it off. Also there was the fire to deal with, but if Kiyo was afraid of a little heat he would have rescued a mermaid or something.

"Here, let me help you," he said gently, just loud enough to carry over the crackle of burning wood. Hands raised in surrender, he slowly edged towards the center of the flames. It was dangerously hot, his eyes stung, but he couldn't - wouldn't - let the bird injure itself. Coughs forced themselves out of his throat with each smoke-filled inhale. "I promise I won't hurt or grab you, I just want to take that blasted tape off. Dumbass poachers. Burn me up if you want," though he certainly hoped it wouldn't come to that, "just let me help."

 

[Swordsman-of-Lorelai]

Kolya certainly hadn't expected the man to come any closer. He watched as he came in, hands reaching... Was he not concerned about the fire? Did it not bother him at all? The fire flared, but the bird did not move. His thoughts were running rampant, and Kolya wanted to hide. He wanted to leave. The bird hunkered down some, tucking its head down and hopping back. Why was this guy getting closer to him?

For once in his life, Kolya was actually trying to be intimidating, and it was all for naught. It had been a while since he had truly eaten or had any water, but he could wait. He would. As the man reached through the flames, the phoenix made a warning a sound, a low purring sound as he shuffled backward some more. Let me help. Why would this human help when the others hadn't? How could he be any different than the others he had encountered...? What other choice would he have then to let this guy remove the tape? He had tried to peel it off with sticks, and that hadn't worked out.

While he remained defensive, Kolya lifted his beak a bit to let Kiyo grab the tape. If he was grabbed or harmed, Kolya would fight back. His flames got much hotter when he willed it so, and he wasn't afraid to fight back.