FSE

Furry search engine

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Kin pats Zaiyas neck and walks over the ashen area back to the path towards the village. The bushes that once guarded the exit are no more. Just a large, dark hole in the even darker forest remains.

The last bit of the sun just disappeared at the horizon and the last beams of light across the sky aren't enough to light up the path in the forest to see.

He hesitates.

"um... no cloths.. night... forest... dark... maaaay be we should stay here for the night?"

She tilts her head and hops onto the black stone.

"I could come with you and illuminate the path in the forest, if you would like a broader path burned through the forest." She waits a moment, then continues "Not what we want, right? Or we could fly back to the village."

He stops – and shivers – her aura still tuned down as far as she comfortably could.

"Fly? You mean you can carry me? But what if I fall? I mean, not that you would let me, right? But.."

She hops from the stone, then lies down again "No buts! Sooner or later you will want to try anyway. This is something not a single sorcerer ever dares to try, its a privilege only for those we choose to offer our blessing. If a sorcerer cant cast anything to prevent them from falling to their death fast enough, they would be gone. It would be too easy to get rid of them for us. But that's nothing YOU have to be concerned about."

She doesn't move forward anymore, most likely because of the danger of burning more of the forest around them, so he walks back to her.

"Ok. This surely will be fun, right? Will you hold me? " He sounds a bit nervous not just because he never flew before, but also thinking about how easy it was for her small forms talons to cut through his leather armor and her talons now probably could cut him clean in half.

She got her cheerful, amused mood back now. "If you wish, but may i suggest my back instead, MASTER? My talons are nimble, but the danger of scratches while picking you up in mid flight is still high."

He just pokes her beak. "Stop teasing me, you overgrown fire chicken."

He has no idea how she does it, but she puts up a mock-hurt expression on her face and hisses "I dare you to try and roast THIS chicken, human! Now hop on and make sure you don't fall!"

He hesitantly climbs on her back, legs pressing against her body and into the area in front of her wing joints with his arms around her neck.

Kin enjoys rubbing his face into the feathers on her neck – they smelled like... cinder without any side smells and its again exhilarating to him to think that he should instantly be turned to ash, but she decided for him to simply feel a comfortable warmth.

"Ok, i think I'm r...YAHAAAALP! Not ready, NOT READY!"

She didn't wait for him longer when she feels him semi secure and furiously starts flapping her wings to get into the air vertically so she doesn't burn down more of the forest. Once above, she tries to relax a little.

She coughs and with a raspy voice cries at him "I told you... I still need to breath!"

She was now gliding in lazy circles over the clearing as he relaxes his grip around her neck.

"Uh.. sorry, I didn't notice I.. was holding on so tight. " He felt pretty secure like this. It probably will change if she does some quick turns or other risky maneuvers. "Its nice – the combination of your warmth and the cool breeze up here. Its really nice. Even if I still feel... exposed."

She giggles again in his head "I'm sorry. With that I cannot help. So.. where should I go?" She adjusts the general direction towards the village.

"I would like to stay up here and enjoy this a little more, if that's ok. But we should aim for that area over there, outside the village in the middle of the trees and the village."

The last beams of sunlight are all gone now, but the little light sources from the houses clearly indicate where the village is. The villagers had stopped the torrent of water by now. Very few are still on the street, with a hand full of little lights standing in front of the gate with torches or lanterns.

Most likely his friends, waiting for him – or getting ready to search for him again. It seems they were good people. She sighs sadly about the death and destruction she brought to them. Maybe she should really practice the control over her flaming aura. And be the village guardian as her human asked, pay amends for her doings from earlier. She cringes slightly as she feels his hand tickling her head again.

"You know, I keep telling you, that I'm not your pet, but if you keep doing that, I'll be anything you want if you don't stop." She tells him playfully.

Kin doesn't answer, just continues to rub her head and enjoy the flight. The night has claimed everything by now and only dark shadows of mountains and the trees on them against the sky as well as the aqueduct can be seen. He never had payed attention to any of that before – and never had the chance to experience that from this height.

Zaiya flies some more slow circles, also very much enjoying the flight and only slowly brings them closer to the village. "Kin, I cant see very well in the dark, but I should be able to land on the spot you wanted me to. Your eyes are better for this then mine."

He shakes his head “Not so much better around you. The light from your aura makes it near impossible to see anything beside you for me.” When she doesn't answer, he gets a feeling, that she wants to tell him something else with that remark. "Tethers? Meh. Ok, the first useful idea, if your aura is gone, but how often will we need that? And it should do the trick about seeing for you to land at least!"

The lights outside the gate get more and more, the villagers noticed the slowly approaching fireball in the sky. Most likely with weapons after what happened yesterday day.

The phoenix wasn't afraid of them, though. Whatever weapons they had, they pose no threat to her and will burn before they even got close except for the most sturdy ones made of steel, but she still decides to land a bit further away from the spot Kin had told her to aim for anyway. No need to scare the villagers more the necessary.

Zaiya tries to tune down her aura again, but of course, the grass around the path her carpenter took earlier immediately catches fire anyway. Some of the lights disappear right after her landing, the villagers carrying them probably getting water. The forest is too far to take damage, but the plains are full of farm land. A fire here could mean starvation for the village.

Their voices are loud, fearful and far from comprehensible, but she cared more about her head scratches, that had stopped a few moments ago then the noise from ahead of them.

"Hey.. did you fall asleep back there? We are here. And your friends don't seem to be super thrilled to see me." Her voice has a slight hint of seriousness beside her playfulness.

Kin glides of her back, then curses "oh! Rock.. darn no boots...", he stumbles a little as he removes the rock, then walks forward, followed by the waddling firebird.

"Creator, its Woodsmith – and the thing is chasin im! Get ready mates, weh gotta take it down! But aim true, lads, dun't hit him!"

Kin stops and waves his hand "Don't shoot! Its..." The rest of his voice gets blocked by fiery wings, that close around him from behind, as the first arrows rain down on them. And the villagers erupt in shouting of panic.

They are very basic arrows and she frowns.

"Your friends are not the smartest, are they? These arrows don't even have arrowheads. Just wooden sticks really. How can they think they could harm anyone but you here?"

He slightly parts her wings to stick his head out. Her aura would incinerate any arrows incoming anyway. "GUYS! Stop it! The bird is friendly! "

"What? That thing 'urned down half of the village! How can it 'e friendly, mate? How can your head 'e ok?"

Kin blinks "I um... tamed it? I didn't kill it, like I said before, sorry for the lie. But shes friendly now!That black robed woman used the bird to attack us! We freed the bird from her and it will help us from now on." He stops for a second, then adds slightly quieter "When she gets better at controlling her aura. "

She laughs in his head once more "Tamed me, hu? That's one way to see it."

“No one here ever heard of your kind let alone seen or talked to one."

She giggles more "You have, now!", she doesn't get clearer which part of their conversation she was talking about or may be both.

The rain of arrows stopped moments ago, but the villagers with the water buckets don't really dare to come close enough to put out the little fires that start to spread around the grass.

That's the moment, when lightning cracks through the sky, followed by rumbling thunder.

He looks up and notices that the fiery wings in front of him start shaking.

She shivers in fear.

It is a storm coming right at them probably with a lot of water. The fear making her loose the ability to think clearly for a few moments and she turns to her human.

For the first time since she regained her normal form, her voice looses confidence "Kin... kin.. its rain, bad rain, I can feel it. A lot of rain. I have to get away. I am still very weak from the crash, i cant take much of this."

The first drops already fall beside them to the ground – or towards them and instantly evaporate with a hissing sound.

"How is that possible? They sky was clear just minutes ago? And where would you seek shelter – the forest wont work, the village wont work..."

When she sees that he is a bit slow to come up with a solution - and wont just send her to fly away, she sits down and folds her wings and tries to make herself smaller which... doesn't really work.

"We usually are flying above any clouds, but its too far, there is no way for me to get above the storm fast enough."

Kin waves the villagers closer "She is friendly, really... the rain... it hurts her. We have to do something!"

The huge bearlike man from earlier, Akira, still carrying his hammer with one hand, walks forward to them, unafraid. "ya sure a'out that, mate? I mean... friendliness? "

Kin gets impatient and points at the shivering bird, the rain getting stronger with every moment while her aura is getting weaker. "Of course I am! Does she look like a threat at the moment, Akira? She didn't attack or burn anyone now, right?"

The giant nods slowly and changes the shoulder he rests his hammer on, his arm stump rubbing across his chin as he thinks. "We gotta talk about all that shits tomorrow, 'ut for now: ya 'ird cant 'urn stone, right? Ya could get it under the aqueduct, ten minutes on foot north of town. There es just rocks an' stones there . 'ut make sure, ya don't 'urn down the village again! An' ya really should put on some cloths, mate."

Kin just waves before climbing on Zaiyas back, but this time, with his whole body trying to cover her back against the rain.

The bird turns her head to look at him, her voice still scared "Kin.. you cant stay like this, you will fall and there is no way i can prevent it while I'm trying to get us airborne. Please hurry and tell me where... "

He immediately pulls in his legs and gets into the same position as before with his legs right in front of her wing joints. The fiery color of her plumage starts turning into a dark red already, like glowing coals in a nearly burned out campfire, as the light rain turns into a heavy drizzle. As soon as he is secure, she flaps her wings hard to get them airborne, vertically, out of habit.

She winces and coughs as the rain becomes stronger unnaturally fast. There is no more sizzling from evaporating water due to her lower body temperature anymore. But from the sound of it, the real downpour is still behind them.

At first, she accelerates straight away from where the rain seems to move in, but quickly realizes, that would directly bring them above the village, so she takes a sharp right turn around it.

"Kin.. I don't want to be hit with more water like that, it hurts and we might fall. Where should i go? Tell me, please, I cant see."

The panic growing in the voice of the so overconfident bird worries him greatly. She slightly calms down when his hand returns to its work on her head, thought.

He has to stay calm. For her. She wasn't that panicked even when the sorceress was chasing them. So he focuses on rubbing through the feathers on her head completely to soothe her AND not think about anything but how to get them to safety.

"Fly around the village, The two lanterns there are the entrance, the other lights are on the wall around it. Just follow them to the right. Good. Now look up to the long building high above the ground you should see it against the sky. That's the aqueduct. Fly there" He rubs her neck soothingly with both hands, possibly a bit overconfident himself while flying on her back, the centrifugal force is enough to keep him on her, even during large curves. "Follow that to that large pointy shadow. That's Finnegan's needle, at the foot of it, the height of the aqueduct is less then 5 meters. That will give you enough room to hide from the rain and its far away from anything that might catch fire."

She picks up speed far more quickly then he thought possible, removing the air from his lungs and making his legs arch as they are pressed painfully against her wings, which beat rapidly.

"I may have to land or we fall, if the... the rain catches up to us. I don't want you to crash with me if I get too weak to fly." There is a tone in her voice, that makes him shiver, an acceptance of a possible end he heard in the cave already, he didn't want to think about. He lightly taps her head before resuming his scratching. "No you wont. I wont let you crash OR .. worse".

If he had cloths on, by now, he would be soaked. Her fiery aura all but gone and without its protection they were constantly showered by the cold water. He starts shivering too now, and with less heat from his birds body, the cool water drains his energy even faster, much like it is for her, except: He cant produce heat as easily as she could once the water is gone.

"If you get small again, I will carry you there, ok? Don't worry!"

She still does.

At that point, they aren't even visible to the villagers anymore. All her light snuffed out by the cold rain. Just a normal, big bird in the dark sky.

"Darn, i should have asked them to bring firewood. I don't think we will find anything dry up there.

And then the rain stopped.

Or rather, she speeds bellow the aqueduct, immediately angling her wings upwards to stop in midair. He nearly falls down over her back from the short move straight up. She flaps furiously to stay at the spot before following the building above. Now she cant even see the outlines of the building anymore. Everything is dark.

“Kin, I cant SEE. Anything." Her voice trembles in panic and from exhaustion.

Kin Woodsmith always had good eyesight in semi darkness. Better then most other villagers, but the downpour outside the aqueduct makes it near impossible for any light to draw more then dark gray outlines on pitch black background. He has been around here a lot for maintenance on the aqueduct, though, so he knows the area. The combination of his experience, his good eyesight, and the fact, that the phoenix needs his calm voice right now made it easier for him to stay calm and guide her. They cant give up, so close to their goal.

"Here, stay calm. If you can see the little shadows ahead there, ..." She focuses on her eyes for a moment, then shakes her head, but the voice soothes her somewhat nonetheless.

"...they are large rocks, that's where the ground slowly rises, just try to stay right at this height. Slower. A little down, we are getting close to the ceiling, just a little. Slower. Left, more left, a pillar is in our way, we have to go around."

She cries in fear, when her left wing gets hit by a few drops, but his calming voice still keeps her on course. "Good. Very good. Now right again, the pillar is gone. Slower, we are nearly there."

She sighs in relief as she can move out of the area where the rain splashes in under the building.

Her wings start beating even more furiously again to stay airborne due to the slow flight speed. Her breathing rapid and forced from burning herself out on the way here and the fear of the water.

"There – see that tree on the other side of the aqueduct?"

“Kin, I CANT SEE. Anything." She cries, nearly loosing her mind if not for the anchor that is his voice. Then his hands find the long feathers on her head and gently tug, stroke, bend them. She relaxes slightly and coos.

“We will have a nice, flat surface to land. With no rocks, bushes or trees. Just go slow. You are safe now. A little to the left and forward. Slowly." He increases his effort on caressing her head as she pants loudly from exhaustion.

She fully concentrates on the voice. Something she had never done in her life before, she could have closed her eyes and still found the way as if her human uses her strings, except that .. he doesn't, he doesn't even know or want to know how. That's unique. She never heard of a situation like that before and never experienced it herself either. Its not meant like that. Even if its just a play for their partners to tug their phoenixes limbs, instead of the human using the phoenix as power source for their spells.

She felt safe. In one of the worst non-magical thunderstorms she had witnessed. Or... was it really non-magical?

“We are there, slower and down."

She descents slowly – now her eyes are really closed, useless as they are. Her talons stretch out to find ground. If that wasn't the promised flat surface, it might end badly into stumbling and crashing. That would still be better then dying in the rain, though.

The landing works well and as her talons touch the ground a few moments later, DRY ground, she immediately shakes the water from her feathers, then flops to the ground, exhausted.

Kin barely is able to stay on her back due to her shaking, but he does thanks to his legs being hooked under her wings and continues scratching her head, whispering soothingly to her to calm her down.

“You made it. You are safe now. No more rain. And this area stays dry, no matter how much rain there is. If we had landed earlier, water often flows in from the sides. I'm sure, that would have been uncomfortable."

Her breathing slowly calms down. Her shivering stops within moments as the water draining her strength is no longer assaulting her. Her body can slowly start rebuilding her flame aura.

The carpenter has to think of a story about trolls, when he thought of that. They are supposed to be able to regenerate any part of their body, as long as they didn't get touched by fire or in some rarer stories, acid. That would completely block the regeneration for some time. Just like water seems to do for her flames. The cold of the night hits him now, and he instantly starts shivering. Without cloths or her warmth, the water completely chilled him through and he feels the effect, now that he is no longer focused on guiding the phoenix through her fear to a safe place.

She made it. Her new human had just guided her through certain death with just his voice. Somehow. He may be a tiny, vulnerable human on the outside, but he just became so much more to her after this. That's when she also notices him shivering badly on top of her. She pushed her head up and looks back at him, not seeing anything in the dark at all. The light around her is gone with her flame aura, but it would return within a few hours of day light. She may have very good eyesight during the day, but as with most birds of prey, her eyes aren't made to see in semi darkness, or in this case, thanks to the rain around them, near total darkness.

Zaiya still can feel where he sits and gently nudges him with her beak.

"Please, get down, you are freezing."

He tries to answer, but his teeth start clattering so hard, he cant get a single word out. He was so focused on guiding her along the aqueduct, that he didn't realize how drained of warmth his body was by now. Kin slides down from her and immediately gets pushed to the ground by her beak before she flops on top of him.

"It will get warmer soon. It will take a while for me to rebuild my aura to what it should be, but at least, I can prevent the night from cooling you more."

He reaches up to hook his hands on her wing joints, needing the warmth under wings badly – even if its only on his arms for now. He cant reach them from his position, they are too far above. So he grabs a few feathers in each hand to hold his arms there and at least let his arms dwell in the warmth from beneath her wings. The coldness of the ground biting his back, but her soft belly feathers helping already. Her beak nudges his shoulder, then rubs against his head comfortingly.

"Thank you again. I was certain this night would be my last one. That rain wasn't natural. I am certain, that the sorceress saw us flying and summoned it. But I am worried about her reasons. I am lost to her, there is no spell or ritual that can cancel our bond unless I'm weakened to near death again, and then she would have to be nearby to take control of the tethers. Or attack you directly, and completely redo the tedious ritual. She cannot lay claim to a phoenix at full strength that is already bonded, just like I could not offer a bond when she controlled the curse that bound me until I was as weakened." She grumbles thoughtfully for a moment. "You are still shivering." He tries to answer, ask her about him being her weak point, but his teeth prevent him from forming a single word.

She shifts to the right, nearly squashing him bellow her form. He notices her wing pushing itself between the ground and him, then pressing him against her body, before she rolls onto her other side, scooping him up with her wing. He can feel the effect immediately. He shivers harder for a few moments, as his body tries to help from the inside when the warmth from under her wing slowly pushes the coldness from his body.

He breathes heavily, now sandwiched between her wing and body, while she rests on her other wing. It works, with the cold of the ground gone, he quickly stops shivering, even without her aura. Only part of his head is looking out, the rest of his body completely covered by the wing. He didn't realize how long they really are when they were flying. Or the form, slightly bent to fold against her body. It helps now to keep him warm. The feathers on her body tickle him, but he doesn't care, just longing for warmth. She relaxes her wing muscles just a little, making it easier to breath but still impossible to slide and fall out from under it. Not that he wanted to, the warmth is just enough to stop him from freezing, but far from a comfortable level yet doe to his under cooling.

"Can.. you sleep like this? Zaiya? "

Zaiya freezes for a moment. She never heard her name very often, especially while being on the ground. She will get used to it.

The bird nudges his head with her beak. "Of course, its only slightly uncomfortable, but it will do until my aura is back and you are safe." She stares back into the rain "Why is it so long? If I would have been caught in there for that long, I would certainly be dead now. That can not be what she wants, or is it? May be she will leave us alone then, if she thinks so. Lets hope she will."

Kin already is asleep, neatly tucked under her wing, when she finally rests her head on the ground to sleep too. It is uncomfortable like this, resting her head sideways on the ground instead of under her wing or on the ground while on her back, but it has to do for tonight.

She cant finish the thought, as the exhaustion takes over and sleep claims the phoenix.

He slept decently for the awkward position they were in. The pressure from her wing is gone, its nothing more then a blanket now and he sticks out his hand to pet through the feathers on her belly.

They are so soft, it feels good to just rub through them and she would enjoy it too, if she wasn't asleep right now. He felt warm again, thanks to his spot, but her aura still is not noticeable. Still cool and dark. May be a slight improvement, but not much.

Kin starts thinking aloud. "Are you still asleep? I wonder, how many like you exist. No one ever talked about phoenixes, not even the bards coming through here pretty often on their way to the capital. The route is safe with all the villages not more then a days travel away from each other."

She shivers and raises her head, staring at him without seeing anything in the dark. The rain still is continuing on. Her wing presses him against her a bit harder again. “Kin? Are you better?”

He rubs her chest from bellow her wing. “Yes, I was just thinking about yesterday. What about you?”

Her shivering form is all the answer he gets, while she slowly nudges his head.

She was still feeling very cold. The water in the village and the night in the cave took a lot from her and even with the concentrated beam of sunlight for a little, it wasn't enough to fully renew her energy. Before she got drained again. On second thought. It might be helpful, she thinks.

“Kin? Do you think, you could help me get warmer?”

He wiggles out from her wing a bit. “Of course! What can I do?”

She rolls on her back, barely holding on to half of her human still under her wing to not drop him to the ground.

“That which my kind usually comes down to the ground for.”

He is confused for a moment, then crawls out from the wing fully and nudges her neck “you mean.. I should..? “

She stays still “Yes."

He gulps, then starts rubbing through the feathers on her belly, but her size is just too much to effectively help her warm up like that. He still takes a little more time, caressing her while walking around before he steps behind her, spreading out as much on her body as he could.

The only witness to them now is the still ongoing rain, and the water does not not care at all.

Even though, the rain stops completely in an instant shortly after both fall asleep again.

They rest afterwards, with him spread out over her belly. The cold that touches him from above makes it far less comfortable then under her wing, but at least, he could share some warmth with her now, while they sleep until the morning.

Both wake up nearly at the same time. He sits up on her chest, while she looks at him, warmer now.

The few grass bushes around them start turning darker already. She is finally recovering to a comfortable level for both of them.

“Do you think... we did it .. during the night?” He blushes at her. She is still exhausted, but smiles at him genuinely. The phoenix cant hold back at least a hint to her usual playful comments “Your face...color... my feathers...”

He really wonders if the last night gave her the egg she wants. He wants to help. Yes, he enjoys his time greatly with her, as does she with him obviously, but he still wants more of those beautiful birds in the world. If he can help, he will do it.

Then she notices him thinking about something and she stares into his eyes again.

"You are really sweet. And your willingness to help is appreciated, but you have no duty. Do what you like because you want to and enjoy it – not because you feel like you have to."

Her voice has a new undertone added to her usual happy, playful one. You can trust someone and you can TRUST someone. He earned the second one yesterday. Several times. The race against the storm made her regard him even higher and his dedication to her well being brought back feelings, she thought she would never have again.

He starts stuttering "I didn't. I mean.. I want.. both?" He pokes her beak.

“Zaiya? You said, you are only coming down to the ground to hatch your young. But per bond, you only can get one egg. What if we cancel our bond and .. redo it? I mean, after an egg.”

She tilts her head and thinks about it. She is unsure of what side effects it might have, but it should be possible. Rebonding doesn't happen often, but it happened to other phoenixes before and works.

“It should work, do you really want to do that? “ She sounds partly excited, partly insecure at that.

He smiles at her “If it helps you, of course!”

Her head shots forward and her beak wraps around his head, the dry stubby tongue poking his nose once, then his forehead, then pulls back to look at him. If he wouldn't know better, he is sure he can see a fondness in her eyes, love. A Surprised shout stops them. Zaiya raises her head and focuses on something behind him where the shout came from. Dawn breaks and light returns to illuminate the landscape around them completely by now. Kin turns around to look what caught her interest, then slides down towards her tail.

"Good mornin' fellas. Did.. ya 'ird just try to eat ya face? That was scary ta watch."

Its Akira, the village smith, that lost his left arm to the altar. He still had more strength in his right arm alone, then most people had in their whole body combined, though. He starts laughing.

"Ya face.. matches finely with ya 'irds feathers too. Mate, " He sighs as he inspects him " ya really need some cloths!"

Her amused voice doesn't help "Told you! Now.. my tail feathers please?" She rolls on her feet, once he steps of them, flustered, trying to hide himself with his hands. He is too embarrassed to talk for a few awkward moments.

"We.. just woke up! What are you doing up here this early?" He finally gets out.

The smith grins at him "Ya mates down there thought ya needed some 'reakfast after all that yesterday – and i wanna know what happened tat 'urned down those homes. And took the trade caravan out." He stares some daggers at the phoenix, then focuses back on Kin.

"I got some 'read and honey for ya, 'ut we have no idea what ya 'ird eats, so i 'rought some meat from 'revin, I ..."

He stops and his eyes grow wide. Kin is a bit perplexed and stares at him, then the phoenix, then Akira again. Zaiya starts grooming his hair, as if nothing happened.

But Akira seems a bit more relaxed now. "so.. ya 'ird can talk, can she? Never heard of sumthin like that 'efore. That makes it easier to 'elieve that nonsense ya 'een feeding us"

He bows slightly "I'm Akira – da village smith. So, ya two, what is going on now?"

Kin blushes, then sighs and steps behind the bird, hiding the lower half of his body and rests his arms on her back. Zaiya doesn't seem to mind and just nestles down and starts grooming the feathers on her other wing.

"You remember the falcon that fell down outside my kitchen window, that i thought, got caught in the water and wanted to get it out of town. "

Akira laughs "Of course, I am glad ya got it out 'efore we found that fire thing, so ya wont get traumatized by what sum of ya villagers would do to it" then quickly adds "i mean, ya 'ird".

"Turns out, the falcon was the phoenix here and outside some woman was waiting for us. Said something like 'the bird belongs to me, give it to me or else', then did some glowy magic trick to freeze my cheek and I kinda knocked her out then."

He looks sideways to the ground, embarrassed and feeling guilty.

"Ya mean.. you hit a woman? Mate, tats not right, ya know? Ya don't do that! Never. Meh didn't think ya kind heart could do sunthin like that."

"But she was behind the attack! She took control of the phoenix here and used her to burn the village!"

He exclaims. "And then attacked me!"

This time, both of them could hear Zaiyas very serious voice "She would not have hesitated to kill him. I was too weak to do anything, a mere " He nudges Kin's shoulder "What did you call me back then? A falcon? And I was wet. Very wet." at the last part, she sinks to the ground again like a picture of misery. "He just surprised her, else he would not be here talking to you right now. She is very powerful. We were lucky, that she didn't find us in the forest and cave.”

Kin nods enthusiastically, thankful that the firebird helped instead of making a funny comment before he continues "and after sleeping in the cave, we went to the altar, I thought the clearing might help her warm up in peace. It turns out, sun is all she needs."

He wraps his arms around her neck, the morning breeze starting cool him down uncomfortably.

"I asked her to help and be some kind of village guardian for us, but we need to find a way around that fire aura."

The smith looks at her thoughtfully "ya mean, like.. heatin ma forge? That could 'e an experiment. Meh's gonna talk to the others in the village a'out it, but what if she decides to 'urn down our village again."

Zaiya shakes her head at the smith, sadness in her voice. "The sorceress controlled my actions. I did not and never will mean you any harm. I by myself, am no threat to you. And your Woodsmith here, can seize full control of me if he wants to."

"Ya realize the irony, right? Woodsmith? In league with a fire'ird? "

She giggles in her humans head, then coos as Kin starts stroking along her neck and head again. He stays quiet and stares at Akira.

The one armed giant shrugs and sets down the basket with the food, then leans the cow leg over his shoulder, as if it weighted nothing.

"Good enuf fer me, alrighty, mate. Meh will go 'ack and tell that the others. May 'e someone has an idea about cloths too. Ya are embarrassing yourself if ya keep strollin' around as the creator made ya and hiding 'ehind ya 'ird wont work in town. No worries, not telling 'em ALL the details of what I saw."

He smiles genuinely and waves the cow leg while turning around and leaving.

Kin quickly retrieves the basket, which starts changing color when he gets closer. Zaiyas aura returns slowly, but still wasn't back to even half what it was after the visit at the altar, let alone when she was flying into the village two days ago. Then he sags against the birds side "That was SO embarrassing, I thought I'll die." She pokes his head with her beak, seeming honestly curious "Why?" obviously not bothered by human standards and morals.

Her aura makes it more troublesome to get the honey to stay on the bread, though, as its just too runny when warm. The phoenix watches him curiously, even sniffs at it as he offers her some. “It tasts good, sweet and is supposedly good for your health. At least, that's what my parents used to say."

She tries one bite and smiles. As he offers her another piece, she shakes her head. “Where are your parents?"

He munches, while explaining “Akira knows them, they are wandering folks. Some in the village say, they were merchants, others insist they are bards. They left me with Akira, because they thought the life of wandering wasn't good for a child. Some day they will be back."

She nods, then rests her head on his lap, while he finishes off his breakfast. The crumbs that fall on her head turn black the moment they touch her. With her aura slowly regaining strength, there would be no problem for them to keep her clean. Or himself. The furnace like heat will just incinerate every piece of dirt on them.

"I also don't like talking to humans, but I felt it was necessary here."

"I am human too, you know!"

She rubs her head against his chest "Yes, but you are MY human."

He looks at her, stunned for a moment "Thank you.".

Those 5 words hit him deeply. He always liked the villagers, working with them, living with them. but now, after these words, he felt like he REALLY belonged somewhere. To someone.

Then looks at her more intently, his eyes turned to slits “What was the talk about seizing control again."

Zaiya is back to her cheeky, amused mood now "You could, if you wanted to, its not that hard. And it would have helped a lot yesterday!"

He presses his hands to his ears "Not listening!", but she just nudges him "You are one silly human. You know, your ears aren't how you can hear me, right?"

Then her voice takes a worried tone "What is that sound? Of rushing water?", at which he places his hands on her head and pulls it down on his lap again "We are bellow the aqueduct."

He holds on to her head trying to calm her, as her eyes grow wide with fear "You mean, there is a river flowing above us?" She flaps her wings, about to dash. If she wanted to, she could easily run away, but somehow, Kin's hold on her head made her stay, even though, he gets dragged to his legs.

"You don't need to worry, really, its safe"

Her head twitches out of his grasp and up, then at him, then up, then to the sides where she could flee. "Its WATER. Cold water. The water that hit me yesterday!" She shivers again.

He reaches out for her again, soothingly caressing her head as she calms down slightly. "...and its above us. With a good amount of stone holding it away. Look, not a single trickle of water all the way".

She stares at him, then seems to inspect the building for quiet a while. With her bird vision fully functional again in the daylight, she inspects the aqueduct to the point, where the smoke of Akira's forge hides it partly from her view.

"It is very stable and I'm pretty sure, your heated aura will melt the stone together even more in time. Believe me, its the strongest building we humans ever build. We need water to survive, and this building brings the water all the way from Tacoma Peak to the capital. Most of us humans rely on this makeshift river to bring water, that's why our village and many more are there – to make sure that any possible damage is instantly fixed. We could find another spot nearby, but this one has enough space, close enough ceiling to protect you from splashing rain. And it's close to the village, so I can go to work and return up here later. This place did protect you from the rainstorm yesterday, did it not? See it as a cave with a waterfall beside it – except – you can safely come and go as you please without touching the water"

"If we find another place, I could fly you to the village in the morning, and back after you are done." She calms down some more, but the cheerful, happy sound of her voice still feels forced.

"And then, when you go to the village, I shall inspect the lands I am to protect!” She blinks and stares towards the village “Your friend is back."

Kin turns his head to Akira.

"Hey mate, I brought ya something to cover yaself with, meh will just put it down here, so it wont burn, right? Cant wear ya 'ird down in town, can ya? " he AND Zaiya both laugh heartily at that. They surely are becoming good friends in their jokes. "Now get a hold of yaself and come down. There are a lot of people that need ya skills to repair or re'uild their houses!"

He nods. Its strange. He got used to being around the firebird without cloths. It definitely wont work in the village without them,though – and he has work to do.

"Alright, thank you."

He gives the bird another hug "May be I should make cloths from your feathers? But how would they hold together?"

“The feathers would stay for a few days only, if you are lucky. Until then, it could work. Regrowing them is easy, so just say if you need any!”

“I will think about it. See you later!

She tilts her head "You sure don't want something to get my attention from afar? Yet?" before returning to sort out her feathers, not pushing the subject any further, for now.

Kin sighs "May be, some time, but not yet."

He puts on the simple linen clothes Akira brought him and follows the smith back to the village.

The next few weeks and months were full of work in the village, mostly to repair or rebuild the burned houses and lost items. Zaiya spent most of her time in the clearing on the black stone, fully regaining and fostering her power. Whenever he wasn't working, she showed him the wonders you can only see from above – and the ones that need the knowledge and wisdom one can only achieve with time and experience.

When he asks about her plans with the altar, though, she changes the subject quickly, but keeps ensuring that she is fine and back to her full power.

The phoenix was happy with her choice of human. He was caring, kind, loving, smart and he loved spending time with her. He would make a fine mate for her egg and she would enjoy the time with him. Her human still refuses to fully use her blessing, though. Something she hopes, it would not be needed due to her age and the surprising fact, that she cared deeply about him, even after just a few weeks. Usually, humans only share a short amount of time with a phoenix (short in phoenix standards), enough to become good friends, but rarely more.

The phoenix decided, she would stay for the next decades or how ever long he would live and not try to convince him to leave with her for a more secluded place, even after she laid the egg, that was growing inside her. Their time together was foreseeable as was his lifespan, but she would make sure both would enjoy it nonetheless.

That they did: Enjoy their time together. Even the villagers got used to her very quickly. They didn't forget the attack, but even the last one of them quickly saw the truth in what Kin told them. When after a week still nothing happened in town, the first villagers came up to see the strange couple. It was.. a bit annoying for Kin, since he always felt very awkward being without cloths in front of the villagers. Zaiya didn't care much about it, but for his sake, she got used to get in the way to block their view if he couldn't fast enough.

Sadly her usefulness in the village mostly stayed at helping with the forge at special occasions for one-of-a-kind works from Akira and glazing over the bricks for the aqueduct making this villages part of the waterway far more sturdy then it would be without her help. Her worries about the aqueduct seem to mostly disappear over time too. Not just because she was carefully inspecting her work with the building, but also because of her rapidly increasing power. Their 'nest' bellow the aqueduct stayed just where it was, beside the slight scrape she melted in there over time. He usually slept on her back or belly. Mostly her belly, while she got used to sleeping on her back, so her human could safely rest in her soft belly downs. It also made it easier for her to preen him. With heat conservation not being a big deal for her now that she was back to her full power, it didn't really matter that her wings were half open at night and that she couldn't hide her head below her wings.

Kin insisted in her practicing the control of her aura and she became better and better in turning it down at will, but she still was too careful to walk through town, yet. The memory of her bringing fire and destruction to it is still fresh and her walking through the village would reawaken that memory in the villagers too.

All in all, life was good for both of them and their village.

The black haired sorceress seemed to be gone, or is she?