(no subject)
So it took me an entire year to continue working on this, but I'm glad I did. I really want to finish it. This is the next four thousand words. This isn't counted in NaNo cause I did it last year, but the next part about halfway through will have what I picked up this year. There may be a few off bits, cause I can't remember what I wrote last year and don't have time to reread, but this is a first draft for a reason, am I right? And as usual, un-beta'd.
Without further ado:
Sylph had his very own house, Phoenix saw. When he first met the other Outcast, Sylph had been traveling with a very nice family who showered him with warmth and affections, but it seemed that Sylph had actually become of age since then, so he lived alone.
Although, Phoenix couldn’t exactly say he was alone. They were in the middle of a bustling city. Voices and music traveled through the cavern, giving them a background of white noise to listen to that should have been annoying but that he, instead, found somewhat peaceful. It made him kind of sleepy.
Right now, while they were eating, Sylph and Koala were engaged in a very rousing conversation of reeds and which kind made the better sound when weaved together into instruments, or something weird like that. He hadn’t seen Gryph in awhile, but he wasn’t concerned about him too much because the man could easily take care of himself, as he had proved more than once before.
Koala was feeling better too, thankfully. The moment they arrived at the house, and she had woken up, Sylph gave her a nice warm drink and a fluffy bed to sit down on while he fixed them a meal. Now she seemed as bright and chipper as she had been when he first met her, thought there was an exhaustion that lingered at the edges of her eyes that he doubted would ever be dispelled. With the loss of her brother, her only family left to take care of or depend on when things could be so down, she had also lost a lot of the energy she had when they met. It made her look older, somehow, more mature, but Phoenix knew that he liked his spunkier friend better.
They’re ‘catching up’ talk mainly happened on the walk to his house, or flight rather since Sylph didn’t walk and Phoenix wasn’t too keen on traversing all of the winding paths and getting lost. Phoenix had summed up his entire life since he last saw his friend in those few words back in the hall they were waiting in. Mostly it was just Sylph going on and on about people he knew and creatures he’s seen and ‘oh did you know?’s. It was an entertaining conversation to listen to, Phoenix just wish he had more to contribute, so that his friend didn’t seem like he was talking to a wall.
Sylph seemed to be doing very well for himself. Even thought he lived alone right now his family was just two blocks away. He saw them every day, and helped out with their work often, even if he originally intended to just stop and say hello. He aided a lot of the people in the city with any little things, his ability to control the wind currents and fly without transforming helped him perform tasks and carry heavy things that other Aerobyrds might have had troubles carrying.
They loved him to pieces, and Phoenix was jealous of that, since back home he was a wanted man, pretty much. Other than this view from the outside of Sylph’s life, seeing people wave hello and greet him by his real name instead of his Outcast title, Phoenix never even knew that this sort of place could exist. It astounded him and made him wish almost that he could live here when all the trouble with his mother was sorted out.
Although the city’s height up on the canyon wall made him nervous to walk around on the paths, or even just look down from them. The canyon bottom was so far down below them that he couldn’t even see it through a veil of fog that must be created by a river of some sort. It would be a nasty fall, even if he was sure he could get his wings out, or even transform before he hit the ground. Of course, the paths had no railings either.
Perhaps he would just stick to Pisaan Djevel instead, he mused, poking at his empty plate. No dramatic heights, no possibility of cold weather, and some peace and quiet after awhile. Not to mention no nosy neighbors.
Sylph moved around the kitchen, the previous conversation having ended while he was thinking, and cleaned up their plates, humming softly. When he was finished, he came back as sat down, lowering his voice so Koala could get some rest.
“Phoenix, what you said earlier implied that you were in some serious trouble. I admit I assumed it was a bad joke, but knowing your mother, even as little as I do: You’re serious, aren’t you? Something is going on and you are in big trouble with your family.” Sylph was serious now, frowning slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. Phoenix could see in the closer lighter that there were hints of blue in the ends of his friend’s hair.
Swallowing hard, he nodded. “I ran away and stayed away this time, Sylph. Now she’s determined to get me back, and I get the feeling that more than one brother is actually going to want to kill me instead.” He gripped his hands together, fingers linked. “They attacked the desert city I had run to, and kidnapped my friends.” Gesturing towards Koala, he shivered. “They were the ones who caused those wounds, and they killed her brother. They’ve gone too far, just to capture me.”
“Will they come here?”
The two of them were silent a moment and Phoenix shook his head. “You want me to be honest? Well, I really don’t know. I wouldn’t think they’d chase me here. Mostly because I’m sure they have no way of knowing that I’m here unless they had enough people to watch every edge of the forest to keep an eye out for me. I wouldn’t put it past them, but the clan isn’t that big. Still, there are a lot of Aerobyrds here. Would they really just welcome a troop of Firabyrds with open arms?”
“Nope!” Sylph chirped, grinning from ear to ear. “No Firabyrds allowed. The only reason they let you in is because I told them to.” He ruffled his hand through Phoenix’s hair obnoxiously. “Years ago, I asked that if the Firabyrd Outcast ever showed up that they welcome his as if he were family. Cause you are. Dad backed me up on it too. Otherwise Firabyrds would be bullied out of the area.”
That made Phoenix feel so much better. “I can’t stay here though. I actually came to ask for your help. I don’t want to run anymore, I just want to end this soon so we can go back to living in peace. I can’t stand being hunted like this, where they hurt my friends just to get at me. It’s too much, and it needs to end.”
Sylph nodded. “Of course I’ll help.” He agreed. “I have been wanting to give that woman a stern talking to for years.”
The two of them stared at each other for a moment and then started laughing. The idea that Mei Hui could be given a ‘stern talking to’ was completely outrageous but Phoenix knew it was something the Aerobyrd would try in a heartbeat. Koala smiled at the sound, curled up on the fluffy bed, not having heard Phoenix laugh very much since they first met.
After several moments passed by, Sylph wiped his eyes and stood up. “Speaking of friends, you came with someone else, right? Where did he go? I haven’t seen him since I said hello.”
Phoenix thought about it. “Gryph isn’t the most social person I’ve ever met.” He explained sourly. “He probably went out to find something green to talk to. We should find him.”
“Let me grab a bag.” Sylph said. “If we’re heading out, we might as well actually head out. The sooner we deal with your mother, the better, am I right?”
He nodded in agreement and waited while Sylph packed a small bag, moving over to sit next to Koala. “We’re leaving then.” He murmured, petting her fur softly. “Will you be okay here on your own?”
Koala smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m not going to be on my own. They’re Aerobyrds. I can be confident that someone will check up on me every once in awhile.”
“Right.” He smiled shakily. “I’ll come back.”
“You’d better.” She curled up further into the warm blanket she had been given and drifted off to sleep, leaving Phoenix officially in Sylph’s expert loving care.
--- break --- awww, I love Sylph, he’s so cuuuuuuuuuute, now I gotta have to introduce more evil drama to balance out the nice and somehow work it into a four thousand word speal, what fun! ---
Meng Kai moved the glass tube away from his eye, his vision going back to normal from the magnified sight the contraption gave him. That annoying earth Outcast had left the city, and was now strolling along the grass, without a care in the world, glancing now and then over to the forest in the distance as if keeping an eye on it. The Firabyrd bit his bottom lip angrily and turned around; taking a count of all the elementals he had summoned to do this job.
That Gaiabyrd had earned a place on their hit list, for taking out all of the soldiers they had sent after Phoenix. With how few the Firabyrds were, every death was a serious hit against their people, and a death count of at least four was unspeakable and not something they could let go. It didn’t help that apparently he had decided to put in his help with Hai Jinn, which that in and of itself put a nice big red shiny target on his back for Meng Kai to look at.
The mission felt weird to him, because Mai Jian wasn’t by his side. He had no fast hitter to knock an enemy out quickly with various poisons and pressure points, just his own mediocre fighting abilities and an army of elementals at his back. Which, considering he was up against a tree hugger, who tended to burn easily when it really came down to it, a league of fire elementals was really all he needed. But it was still uncomfortable to do something this fun without his brother with him to share the satisfaction.
Shaking his head to dispel the uneasy emotions, he climbed to his feet and made a swift motion with his hands. Three of the elementals took to the air, obeying the silent order, while the others moved to either side of their master, swarming past him and down the hill towards the Gaiabyrd, half to one side to cut off any possible escape back to the canyon and the other half forward to keep him from running that way; burning the grass in their wake.
Meng Kai followed swiftly, making no attempt at hiding himself from his target as they got close enough to see him with their own eyes. The Firabyrd could tell just when he was spotted, the other avian stopping and turning on his heel to run, noticing the three elementals overtaking him from the sky. Feeling a sense of glee, as his target tried to find and escape and couldn’t, Meng Kai slowed his pace as he got within speaking distance of the Outcast.
“Well well, it looks like we finally meet, Gaiabyrd.” He sneered as the elementals penned their target in, careful not to touch him, but at complete and total alertness in case he made a move. He was standing warily, one foot carefully set back behind the other so that he could move quickly if he had to. Meng Kai just wanted to laugh. No one could outrun his elementals. It was an impossibility that he could never hope to bypass.
Gryph spit at Meng Kai and took a step back, twisting slightly in an attempt to keep all of the elementals in sight. He was sweating slightly in the heat, the burning creatures, and the grassfires they started raising the temperature considerably.
Meng Kai laughed and followed through with another step forward. “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. You either come with us quietly, or we could keep you here until the smoke reaches us and you suffocate in the ashes of your own element. You are from a tree clan, aren’t you? Of course you are, I can see it in the color of your hair. Better hurry, those fires will reach us pretty quickly. And if you think you can hold out for the Aerobyrds to come and put out the fires, you’re wrong. We’ll just turn the hard way into us knocking you unconscious and bodily carrying you back; which I wouldn’t advise, personally, since I wouldn’t be the one carrying you.”
There was a silence that filled with the crackle of flames as Gryph seemed to think about that, then, pulling out a stick and slipping it between his teeth to chew on, he smirked. “You’re long winded, did you know that?” He asked, mockingly. “You could have just left it off at ‘easy way or hard way’. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens in each choice.”
Meng Kai stared at him, and then fumed silently, his face contorting in anger. “How dare you! You’re life is in danger and yet you MOCK me now?”
“Oh no, spitfire, I was mocking you from the beginning, you just weren’t smart enough to see it. You think I didn’t see your little party of elementals up there?” Gryph leaned back on his heels, seemingly completely at ease.
The Firabyrd growled and made a quick gesture with his hands. “The hard way it is.” Two of the elementals surged forward to grab Gryph, their bodies crackling excitedly with the opportunity to do some damage to the enemy.
Gryph dove forward at Meng Kai, grabbing him around the middle at barreling them both back into the ground. The grassfires were closer now, the smoke curling across the ground, eagerly eating the oxygen with a hunger that could not be matched by any living creature. The Gaiabyrd gripped Meng Kai’s throat with one hand and hit him hard in the chest with his open palm, using the momentum of the attack to push himself back to his feet.
Winded, Meng Kai couldn’t follow, but he reached out, grabbing Gryph’s leg before he could run, forcing him to trip into a path of smoke. Taking a gasping breath of air, he coughed and nodded to the elementals in the sky. “Get him!” He wheezed the order, surging to his feet. He jumped to avoid a kick as his enemy recovered, spinning to connect his heel to the side of Gryph’s head, cursing when the attack was blocked. By then the elementals had fallen upon their target.
Meng Kai knew that however well Gryph fought, he couldn’t escape from this many elementals, and his thoughts were proven within moments as he was dragged out of the smoke, his arms and legs caught in the grip of his minions. Walking over, Meng Kai grabbed Gryph’s hair and resisted the childish urge to spit back at him. He could smell the Outcast’s clothes burning and was reassured that before long he would have the injuries to make up for him trying to escape. “Mock me now, I dare you.”
Gryph laughed loudly, the voice somewhat strained from breathing in the smoke. “How could I not?” He said, even as he knew he was caught. “It’s just so easy to needle your temper. Have you realized how similar you are to your older brother? I can tell that you two are exactly alike.”
His eyes turned cold as he looked down at him, pulling his hair painfully to tilt his head back. “I…I am nothing like Hai Jinn. I would kill you right now if you were not needed to draw me dear brother out of hiding. But, for this, you will suffer, be sure of it. Take him back to the camp.” He ordered, letting the Outcast go. He turned to the canyon as they left, barely able to see it anymore due to the smoke. It was thick enough that his own breath was painfully short, but the hiss and fury of the fire burning around him made him very happy. The Aerobyrds would be arriving any moment to put out the fires and steer the smoke away, so he transformed quickly, using the cover to gain altitude without the risk of being seen.
There would be no more playing around. There was no deal this time. The Gaiabyrd would pay for all that he had done, and then Hai Jinn, too, would suffer when he arrived.
--- break --- And now we get into the part that I had in my head for at least a year now, where the ultimate showdown (of ultimate destiny) between the Firabyrds and Phoenix comes to an epic close, or so it should in my head, but I am terribly bad at fight scenes so I’m afraid it won’t be as epic as I’m planning on it being ---
Sylph stared in horror at the smoke coating the entire field, the grass fires moving swiftly towards the canyon and further out. They’d noticed the smoke as they were heading up out of the canyon, moving faster to see what was wrong. What they saw was just absolutely terrible.
Phoenix looked at his friend and grit his teeth, knowing that this had to be his fault as well, a result of his decision to get out of his life as fast as he could. Moving quickly, he dove into the smoke, ripping the end of his shirt to wrap the cloth around his face. The fire didn’t burn his skin so he ran right into it, wrapping it around his arms and away from the grass. He whispered soothingly as he moved, calling the fire in close and calming its rage. The task took several minutes, forcing him to run far to reach all of the flames, but finally he calmed the flames down until he sat in the middle of the destruction, a small fire sprite sitting in his palm.
He nodded softly, listening to the sprite’s anger as Sylph moved around, doing the same with the smoke, coaxing the air to move up to the sky and dissipate. The breeze he called from the canyon to help was cooling after the severe heat, and Phoenix let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes. The sprite sat in his palm, finally at ease after it had explained what had happened. Phoenix thanked it and sent it home, the creature spinning once and disappeared in a small puff of steam.
Cold, he stood up and moved over to his friend, boots scuffing in the burned grass. It looked so barren here. Other Aerobyrds were here now, helping clean up, hauling grass seeds and water to scatter back over the dead ground. “It was one of my brothers.” He said, fully convinced that they would now stop at nothing.
“We should find your friend, then.” Sylph agreed. “So we can go.”
Phoenix froze, looking at the ground. “Actually,” He interrupted, moving over to what he had seen, picking up a thin stick that managed to avoid any of the fire. “I think we just missed him. That must be what they were here for!” He swore loudly, upset that he didn’t expect they would pull this trick again. Maybe he just thought Gryph, of all people, would be the last person they’d manage to get. “We have to go.” He started running due north, knowing he had to get there as soon as possible. Sylph caught up easily, grabbing his arm.
“Wait, we should fly. We could get there much faster than if we ran.”
Thinking about it, Phoenix agreed and transformed into his avian form, his anger causing his feather to burn brightly, reflecting the sun in a blaze of glory, yet harmlessly, powerful, yet not scorching the ground any further. Sylph didn’t transform, he didn’t have to, but he pulled his gloves off, keeping his hands closed as they jumped into the air, using the winds to gain altitude quickly.
The Firabyrd had a feeling that he knew what was going to happen, so he swallowed his nausea and braced himself, making sure his wings were extended up when Sylph released his power, short white wings extended from the Aerobyrd’s back, palms faced up. He concentrated hard, heavy winds picking up swiftly and, without any other warning, a large gust swept around them and caught them in its grip.
He winced as the strain hit his muscles and wished he actually knew how to prepare for potential whiplash, but had to admit afterwards, seeing Sylph twist around him like an otter in water, that they were moving a heck of a lot faster than anything he could have done on his own. The wind was cold as very rough, but he could barely see the ground rushing below them. Before long, a flight that would have taken most of the day was merely a few hours. They landed just out of few of the town, Phoenix breathing hard and Sylph struggling to keep the wind contained while he put his gloves back on.
Their power was stronger without the gloves holding it back, but as well as they could control it, it was still unpredictable, and dangerous to use. Already he could see that Sylph was tiring out. On the bright side though, they seemed to have beat whoever had attacked the plains to the village. Unfortunately, they also didn’t see a war party on the way here either. Which meant one of two things; only one of which would be that they were flying so fast that their vision was impaired.
He had a thought, though, while they were getting their energy back, that if it was Meng Kai on the raid, then they were still too late anyway. He would have used the elementals to travel, which meant he could have returned home almost immediately, through the other world that the elementals lived in. Phoenix hoped that wasn’t the case. Shaking his head, he gestured to Sylph, who nodded and followed him, walking swiftly through the brush towards the edge of the camp.
Biting his lip, he noticed that the soldiers were patrolling the perimeter more than he had ever seen before: Preparations for war, perhaps, or the knowledge that at any moment they could be attacked. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and ducked down low, bringing Sylph with him. “Okay, here’s my plan. I have to go in alone. With luck I can get far enough in to see what they did with Gryph.” He waved to keep Sylph from protesting to the plan before he heard it all the way through.
“They have less chance of attacking me if I don’t try and fight, but you they will take in a heartbeat. I can’t have another friend at their mercy. However, you can be my back up, just in case, okay? Take to the sky, keep an eye out me, and make sure I don’t get into too much trouble. If everything goes wrong and you can’t help, go to the desert city, Pisaan Djevel. Ask about Swan. He’s the Aguabyrd Outcast. You two can spread the word, because if we can’t stop them here, chances are they’ll go to war soon. She always planned on taking over the world.”
Sylph frowned and moved his hand so he could speak. “I hate your plan.” He hissed. “And if you know where the Aguabyrd Outcast is, why can’t he help?”
Phoenix winced, feeling a stab of guilt. “He can’t help right now because one of my brothers poisoned him. I don’t know if he’s even alive right now.” He looked down and wiped a hand over his face, feeling a cold sweat break out over the back of his neck. This was it, he was going up against them officially. When he ran away so long ago-was it really only a few months?-he never expected to go to these lengths just to change his life. He’d only expected to be gone for a short while. Take a break from it all, but from there it just flew right out of proportion and now he didn’t know where he was going anymore. He was just running faster and faster towards his future. His life could end this very day, and what did he end up accomplishing? A lot, actually, from the looks of things.
Sylph put a hand on his shoulder and pressed his forehead to his friend’s. “You’re burning up.” He whispered, and then sat back on his heels. “All right, I’ll do it. In return, though, you have to make sure you don’t do anything stupid where I’d have to go find help, okay? I’m not going to sit back and lose you back to that woman after finally seeing you free from her tyranny.” He flicked Phoenix’s nose and got to his feet. “You go in there and don’t lose your strength, Phoenix. I’ll have your back, okay?”
He shivered and stood up as well, nodding, feeling for all the world like a little boy again, just find a friend for the first time in his entire life. “Right.” Wiping his eyes, he summoned up his determination. “Right, I can do this. She can’t control me anymore.” Sylph hugged him and vanished into a patch of bushes around the side of a wall.
Without further ado:
Sylph had his very own house, Phoenix saw. When he first met the other Outcast, Sylph had been traveling with a very nice family who showered him with warmth and affections, but it seemed that Sylph had actually become of age since then, so he lived alone.
Although, Phoenix couldn’t exactly say he was alone. They were in the middle of a bustling city. Voices and music traveled through the cavern, giving them a background of white noise to listen to that should have been annoying but that he, instead, found somewhat peaceful. It made him kind of sleepy.
Right now, while they were eating, Sylph and Koala were engaged in a very rousing conversation of reeds and which kind made the better sound when weaved together into instruments, or something weird like that. He hadn’t seen Gryph in awhile, but he wasn’t concerned about him too much because the man could easily take care of himself, as he had proved more than once before.
Koala was feeling better too, thankfully. The moment they arrived at the house, and she had woken up, Sylph gave her a nice warm drink and a fluffy bed to sit down on while he fixed them a meal. Now she seemed as bright and chipper as she had been when he first met her, thought there was an exhaustion that lingered at the edges of her eyes that he doubted would ever be dispelled. With the loss of her brother, her only family left to take care of or depend on when things could be so down, she had also lost a lot of the energy she had when they met. It made her look older, somehow, more mature, but Phoenix knew that he liked his spunkier friend better.
They’re ‘catching up’ talk mainly happened on the walk to his house, or flight rather since Sylph didn’t walk and Phoenix wasn’t too keen on traversing all of the winding paths and getting lost. Phoenix had summed up his entire life since he last saw his friend in those few words back in the hall they were waiting in. Mostly it was just Sylph going on and on about people he knew and creatures he’s seen and ‘oh did you know?’s. It was an entertaining conversation to listen to, Phoenix just wish he had more to contribute, so that his friend didn’t seem like he was talking to a wall.
Sylph seemed to be doing very well for himself. Even thought he lived alone right now his family was just two blocks away. He saw them every day, and helped out with their work often, even if he originally intended to just stop and say hello. He aided a lot of the people in the city with any little things, his ability to control the wind currents and fly without transforming helped him perform tasks and carry heavy things that other Aerobyrds might have had troubles carrying.
They loved him to pieces, and Phoenix was jealous of that, since back home he was a wanted man, pretty much. Other than this view from the outside of Sylph’s life, seeing people wave hello and greet him by his real name instead of his Outcast title, Phoenix never even knew that this sort of place could exist. It astounded him and made him wish almost that he could live here when all the trouble with his mother was sorted out.
Although the city’s height up on the canyon wall made him nervous to walk around on the paths, or even just look down from them. The canyon bottom was so far down below them that he couldn’t even see it through a veil of fog that must be created by a river of some sort. It would be a nasty fall, even if he was sure he could get his wings out, or even transform before he hit the ground. Of course, the paths had no railings either.
Perhaps he would just stick to Pisaan Djevel instead, he mused, poking at his empty plate. No dramatic heights, no possibility of cold weather, and some peace and quiet after awhile. Not to mention no nosy neighbors.
Sylph moved around the kitchen, the previous conversation having ended while he was thinking, and cleaned up their plates, humming softly. When he was finished, he came back as sat down, lowering his voice so Koala could get some rest.
“Phoenix, what you said earlier implied that you were in some serious trouble. I admit I assumed it was a bad joke, but knowing your mother, even as little as I do: You’re serious, aren’t you? Something is going on and you are in big trouble with your family.” Sylph was serious now, frowning slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. Phoenix could see in the closer lighter that there were hints of blue in the ends of his friend’s hair.
Swallowing hard, he nodded. “I ran away and stayed away this time, Sylph. Now she’s determined to get me back, and I get the feeling that more than one brother is actually going to want to kill me instead.” He gripped his hands together, fingers linked. “They attacked the desert city I had run to, and kidnapped my friends.” Gesturing towards Koala, he shivered. “They were the ones who caused those wounds, and they killed her brother. They’ve gone too far, just to capture me.”
“Will they come here?”
The two of them were silent a moment and Phoenix shook his head. “You want me to be honest? Well, I really don’t know. I wouldn’t think they’d chase me here. Mostly because I’m sure they have no way of knowing that I’m here unless they had enough people to watch every edge of the forest to keep an eye out for me. I wouldn’t put it past them, but the clan isn’t that big. Still, there are a lot of Aerobyrds here. Would they really just welcome a troop of Firabyrds with open arms?”
“Nope!” Sylph chirped, grinning from ear to ear. “No Firabyrds allowed. The only reason they let you in is because I told them to.” He ruffled his hand through Phoenix’s hair obnoxiously. “Years ago, I asked that if the Firabyrd Outcast ever showed up that they welcome his as if he were family. Cause you are. Dad backed me up on it too. Otherwise Firabyrds would be bullied out of the area.”
That made Phoenix feel so much better. “I can’t stay here though. I actually came to ask for your help. I don’t want to run anymore, I just want to end this soon so we can go back to living in peace. I can’t stand being hunted like this, where they hurt my friends just to get at me. It’s too much, and it needs to end.”
Sylph nodded. “Of course I’ll help.” He agreed. “I have been wanting to give that woman a stern talking to for years.”
The two of them stared at each other for a moment and then started laughing. The idea that Mei Hui could be given a ‘stern talking to’ was completely outrageous but Phoenix knew it was something the Aerobyrd would try in a heartbeat. Koala smiled at the sound, curled up on the fluffy bed, not having heard Phoenix laugh very much since they first met.
After several moments passed by, Sylph wiped his eyes and stood up. “Speaking of friends, you came with someone else, right? Where did he go? I haven’t seen him since I said hello.”
Phoenix thought about it. “Gryph isn’t the most social person I’ve ever met.” He explained sourly. “He probably went out to find something green to talk to. We should find him.”
“Let me grab a bag.” Sylph said. “If we’re heading out, we might as well actually head out. The sooner we deal with your mother, the better, am I right?”
He nodded in agreement and waited while Sylph packed a small bag, moving over to sit next to Koala. “We’re leaving then.” He murmured, petting her fur softly. “Will you be okay here on your own?”
Koala smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m not going to be on my own. They’re Aerobyrds. I can be confident that someone will check up on me every once in awhile.”
“Right.” He smiled shakily. “I’ll come back.”
“You’d better.” She curled up further into the warm blanket she had been given and drifted off to sleep, leaving Phoenix officially in Sylph’s expert loving care.
--- break --- awww, I love Sylph, he’s so cuuuuuuuuuute, now I gotta have to introduce more evil drama to balance out the nice and somehow work it into a four thousand word speal, what fun! ---
Meng Kai moved the glass tube away from his eye, his vision going back to normal from the magnified sight the contraption gave him. That annoying earth Outcast had left the city, and was now strolling along the grass, without a care in the world, glancing now and then over to the forest in the distance as if keeping an eye on it. The Firabyrd bit his bottom lip angrily and turned around; taking a count of all the elementals he had summoned to do this job.
That Gaiabyrd had earned a place on their hit list, for taking out all of the soldiers they had sent after Phoenix. With how few the Firabyrds were, every death was a serious hit against their people, and a death count of at least four was unspeakable and not something they could let go. It didn’t help that apparently he had decided to put in his help with Hai Jinn, which that in and of itself put a nice big red shiny target on his back for Meng Kai to look at.
The mission felt weird to him, because Mai Jian wasn’t by his side. He had no fast hitter to knock an enemy out quickly with various poisons and pressure points, just his own mediocre fighting abilities and an army of elementals at his back. Which, considering he was up against a tree hugger, who tended to burn easily when it really came down to it, a league of fire elementals was really all he needed. But it was still uncomfortable to do something this fun without his brother with him to share the satisfaction.
Shaking his head to dispel the uneasy emotions, he climbed to his feet and made a swift motion with his hands. Three of the elementals took to the air, obeying the silent order, while the others moved to either side of their master, swarming past him and down the hill towards the Gaiabyrd, half to one side to cut off any possible escape back to the canyon and the other half forward to keep him from running that way; burning the grass in their wake.
Meng Kai followed swiftly, making no attempt at hiding himself from his target as they got close enough to see him with their own eyes. The Firabyrd could tell just when he was spotted, the other avian stopping and turning on his heel to run, noticing the three elementals overtaking him from the sky. Feeling a sense of glee, as his target tried to find and escape and couldn’t, Meng Kai slowed his pace as he got within speaking distance of the Outcast.
“Well well, it looks like we finally meet, Gaiabyrd.” He sneered as the elementals penned their target in, careful not to touch him, but at complete and total alertness in case he made a move. He was standing warily, one foot carefully set back behind the other so that he could move quickly if he had to. Meng Kai just wanted to laugh. No one could outrun his elementals. It was an impossibility that he could never hope to bypass.
Gryph spit at Meng Kai and took a step back, twisting slightly in an attempt to keep all of the elementals in sight. He was sweating slightly in the heat, the burning creatures, and the grassfires they started raising the temperature considerably.
Meng Kai laughed and followed through with another step forward. “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. You either come with us quietly, or we could keep you here until the smoke reaches us and you suffocate in the ashes of your own element. You are from a tree clan, aren’t you? Of course you are, I can see it in the color of your hair. Better hurry, those fires will reach us pretty quickly. And if you think you can hold out for the Aerobyrds to come and put out the fires, you’re wrong. We’ll just turn the hard way into us knocking you unconscious and bodily carrying you back; which I wouldn’t advise, personally, since I wouldn’t be the one carrying you.”
There was a silence that filled with the crackle of flames as Gryph seemed to think about that, then, pulling out a stick and slipping it between his teeth to chew on, he smirked. “You’re long winded, did you know that?” He asked, mockingly. “You could have just left it off at ‘easy way or hard way’. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens in each choice.”
Meng Kai stared at him, and then fumed silently, his face contorting in anger. “How dare you! You’re life is in danger and yet you MOCK me now?”
“Oh no, spitfire, I was mocking you from the beginning, you just weren’t smart enough to see it. You think I didn’t see your little party of elementals up there?” Gryph leaned back on his heels, seemingly completely at ease.
The Firabyrd growled and made a quick gesture with his hands. “The hard way it is.” Two of the elementals surged forward to grab Gryph, their bodies crackling excitedly with the opportunity to do some damage to the enemy.
Gryph dove forward at Meng Kai, grabbing him around the middle at barreling them both back into the ground. The grassfires were closer now, the smoke curling across the ground, eagerly eating the oxygen with a hunger that could not be matched by any living creature. The Gaiabyrd gripped Meng Kai’s throat with one hand and hit him hard in the chest with his open palm, using the momentum of the attack to push himself back to his feet.
Winded, Meng Kai couldn’t follow, but he reached out, grabbing Gryph’s leg before he could run, forcing him to trip into a path of smoke. Taking a gasping breath of air, he coughed and nodded to the elementals in the sky. “Get him!” He wheezed the order, surging to his feet. He jumped to avoid a kick as his enemy recovered, spinning to connect his heel to the side of Gryph’s head, cursing when the attack was blocked. By then the elementals had fallen upon their target.
Meng Kai knew that however well Gryph fought, he couldn’t escape from this many elementals, and his thoughts were proven within moments as he was dragged out of the smoke, his arms and legs caught in the grip of his minions. Walking over, Meng Kai grabbed Gryph’s hair and resisted the childish urge to spit back at him. He could smell the Outcast’s clothes burning and was reassured that before long he would have the injuries to make up for him trying to escape. “Mock me now, I dare you.”
Gryph laughed loudly, the voice somewhat strained from breathing in the smoke. “How could I not?” He said, even as he knew he was caught. “It’s just so easy to needle your temper. Have you realized how similar you are to your older brother? I can tell that you two are exactly alike.”
His eyes turned cold as he looked down at him, pulling his hair painfully to tilt his head back. “I…I am nothing like Hai Jinn. I would kill you right now if you were not needed to draw me dear brother out of hiding. But, for this, you will suffer, be sure of it. Take him back to the camp.” He ordered, letting the Outcast go. He turned to the canyon as they left, barely able to see it anymore due to the smoke. It was thick enough that his own breath was painfully short, but the hiss and fury of the fire burning around him made him very happy. The Aerobyrds would be arriving any moment to put out the fires and steer the smoke away, so he transformed quickly, using the cover to gain altitude without the risk of being seen.
There would be no more playing around. There was no deal this time. The Gaiabyrd would pay for all that he had done, and then Hai Jinn, too, would suffer when he arrived.
--- break --- And now we get into the part that I had in my head for at least a year now, where the ultimate showdown (of ultimate destiny) between the Firabyrds and Phoenix comes to an epic close, or so it should in my head, but I am terribly bad at fight scenes so I’m afraid it won’t be as epic as I’m planning on it being ---
Sylph stared in horror at the smoke coating the entire field, the grass fires moving swiftly towards the canyon and further out. They’d noticed the smoke as they were heading up out of the canyon, moving faster to see what was wrong. What they saw was just absolutely terrible.
Phoenix looked at his friend and grit his teeth, knowing that this had to be his fault as well, a result of his decision to get out of his life as fast as he could. Moving quickly, he dove into the smoke, ripping the end of his shirt to wrap the cloth around his face. The fire didn’t burn his skin so he ran right into it, wrapping it around his arms and away from the grass. He whispered soothingly as he moved, calling the fire in close and calming its rage. The task took several minutes, forcing him to run far to reach all of the flames, but finally he calmed the flames down until he sat in the middle of the destruction, a small fire sprite sitting in his palm.
He nodded softly, listening to the sprite’s anger as Sylph moved around, doing the same with the smoke, coaxing the air to move up to the sky and dissipate. The breeze he called from the canyon to help was cooling after the severe heat, and Phoenix let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes. The sprite sat in his palm, finally at ease after it had explained what had happened. Phoenix thanked it and sent it home, the creature spinning once and disappeared in a small puff of steam.
Cold, he stood up and moved over to his friend, boots scuffing in the burned grass. It looked so barren here. Other Aerobyrds were here now, helping clean up, hauling grass seeds and water to scatter back over the dead ground. “It was one of my brothers.” He said, fully convinced that they would now stop at nothing.
“We should find your friend, then.” Sylph agreed. “So we can go.”
Phoenix froze, looking at the ground. “Actually,” He interrupted, moving over to what he had seen, picking up a thin stick that managed to avoid any of the fire. “I think we just missed him. That must be what they were here for!” He swore loudly, upset that he didn’t expect they would pull this trick again. Maybe he just thought Gryph, of all people, would be the last person they’d manage to get. “We have to go.” He started running due north, knowing he had to get there as soon as possible. Sylph caught up easily, grabbing his arm.
“Wait, we should fly. We could get there much faster than if we ran.”
Thinking about it, Phoenix agreed and transformed into his avian form, his anger causing his feather to burn brightly, reflecting the sun in a blaze of glory, yet harmlessly, powerful, yet not scorching the ground any further. Sylph didn’t transform, he didn’t have to, but he pulled his gloves off, keeping his hands closed as they jumped into the air, using the winds to gain altitude quickly.
The Firabyrd had a feeling that he knew what was going to happen, so he swallowed his nausea and braced himself, making sure his wings were extended up when Sylph released his power, short white wings extended from the Aerobyrd’s back, palms faced up. He concentrated hard, heavy winds picking up swiftly and, without any other warning, a large gust swept around them and caught them in its grip.
He winced as the strain hit his muscles and wished he actually knew how to prepare for potential whiplash, but had to admit afterwards, seeing Sylph twist around him like an otter in water, that they were moving a heck of a lot faster than anything he could have done on his own. The wind was cold as very rough, but he could barely see the ground rushing below them. Before long, a flight that would have taken most of the day was merely a few hours. They landed just out of few of the town, Phoenix breathing hard and Sylph struggling to keep the wind contained while he put his gloves back on.
Their power was stronger without the gloves holding it back, but as well as they could control it, it was still unpredictable, and dangerous to use. Already he could see that Sylph was tiring out. On the bright side though, they seemed to have beat whoever had attacked the plains to the village. Unfortunately, they also didn’t see a war party on the way here either. Which meant one of two things; only one of which would be that they were flying so fast that their vision was impaired.
He had a thought, though, while they were getting their energy back, that if it was Meng Kai on the raid, then they were still too late anyway. He would have used the elementals to travel, which meant he could have returned home almost immediately, through the other world that the elementals lived in. Phoenix hoped that wasn’t the case. Shaking his head, he gestured to Sylph, who nodded and followed him, walking swiftly through the brush towards the edge of the camp.
Biting his lip, he noticed that the soldiers were patrolling the perimeter more than he had ever seen before: Preparations for war, perhaps, or the knowledge that at any moment they could be attacked. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and ducked down low, bringing Sylph with him. “Okay, here’s my plan. I have to go in alone. With luck I can get far enough in to see what they did with Gryph.” He waved to keep Sylph from protesting to the plan before he heard it all the way through.
“They have less chance of attacking me if I don’t try and fight, but you they will take in a heartbeat. I can’t have another friend at their mercy. However, you can be my back up, just in case, okay? Take to the sky, keep an eye out me, and make sure I don’t get into too much trouble. If everything goes wrong and you can’t help, go to the desert city, Pisaan Djevel. Ask about Swan. He’s the Aguabyrd Outcast. You two can spread the word, because if we can’t stop them here, chances are they’ll go to war soon. She always planned on taking over the world.”
Sylph frowned and moved his hand so he could speak. “I hate your plan.” He hissed. “And if you know where the Aguabyrd Outcast is, why can’t he help?”
Phoenix winced, feeling a stab of guilt. “He can’t help right now because one of my brothers poisoned him. I don’t know if he’s even alive right now.” He looked down and wiped a hand over his face, feeling a cold sweat break out over the back of his neck. This was it, he was going up against them officially. When he ran away so long ago-was it really only a few months?-he never expected to go to these lengths just to change his life. He’d only expected to be gone for a short while. Take a break from it all, but from there it just flew right out of proportion and now he didn’t know where he was going anymore. He was just running faster and faster towards his future. His life could end this very day, and what did he end up accomplishing? A lot, actually, from the looks of things.
Sylph put a hand on his shoulder and pressed his forehead to his friend’s. “You’re burning up.” He whispered, and then sat back on his heels. “All right, I’ll do it. In return, though, you have to make sure you don’t do anything stupid where I’d have to go find help, okay? I’m not going to sit back and lose you back to that woman after finally seeing you free from her tyranny.” He flicked Phoenix’s nose and got to his feet. “You go in there and don’t lose your strength, Phoenix. I’ll have your back, okay?”
He shivered and stood up as well, nodding, feeling for all the world like a little boy again, just find a friend for the first time in his entire life. “Right.” Wiping his eyes, he summoned up his determination. “Right, I can do this. She can’t control me anymore.” Sylph hugged him and vanished into a patch of bushes around the side of a wall.