Pyzis felt the burning agony begin deep within her belly, a slow smoldering pain that began to roil out consuming her entire body. Flames erupted from her feathers and she knew the hardest part was over, once she was aflame the inner heat began to lessen. It had been what felt like an eternity since her last rebirth, she had managed to live for forty years serving her previous master. He had kept her in her Phoenix form the entire time, chained in his study in a large golden cage. She had been coaxed to shed tears over his crippled, slowly dying body, healing the sickness of his skin but not his mind. This rebirth was freedom, she relished as the flames grew brighter and seared white before her eyes. 
  Suddenly it was over, her burnt blackened feathered body lay on the dirt beside a beautiful waterfall. A moment later a red glow Emanated from her corpse and she transformed became human again. Pyzis lay there, every nerve still tingling with pain while she caught her breath. She was covered head to toe in black soot, but all she wanted was relish in the soothing waters before her. After donning her small clothes, Pyzis stood and absorbed the view before her. A small pool with a trickling waterfall flowing over large rocks spelled out sanctuary to her over sensitive nerves. Taking a tentative step forward she felt the cool water on her toes. 
  Pyzis had forgotten what it as like to have such long awkward limbs, after spending years in her bird form the sight of the ground being so far away was almost dizzying. She took a few large strides forward and began to wash the soot off of her legs. Her long dark brown hair fell across her face and she began to giggle. There were tiny fish in the pool! They were assisting Pyzis in her cleaning efforts but it tickled. The sound of the waterfall mingled with her laugh made her realize that she no longer served a master. She was free to roam the world again, to heal those in need and to make her own fate. It had been a lifetime ago since she had had the liberty to even stretch her wings and fly. Obviously that would have to wait but for now she enjoyed splashing about the pool, washing away the dirt and confinement. 

Finally, after wandering for what seemed like forever in the forest, Hiro finally found his way to a river.  He'd been lost for a awhile, and was hoping he could find somewhere to take a break, get something to drink at the least, maybe wash off his body at the most.  The river had lead him to a large waterfall, into a pool of water.  He rushed to the water, taking a gulp of water from his hands, then dunking his raven haired head into it.  The water was so cold against his skin, it felt refreshing, and so good.  He opened his blue eyes after he raised his head out of the water, and the sight he saw with his sapphire eyes shocked him.

He thought he saw an angel.  She was beautiful, with gorgeous curves, and long brown locks.  Was he drooling?  No, it was just water dripping from his face from when he dunked himself under the water.

"Wow, so pretty.  Gorgeous!  Are you an angel?"  She was nearly naked, just in her under clothes.  Then he realized he was staring at a half naked woman who was probably going to kill him for catching her like that.  "Ah!  I'm sorry, don't hit me!  I'm sorry!"  He found himself stumbling to stand up, afraid this angel was going to strike him down for catching her nearly naked.  Isn't that was angels did?  They were known for their beauty, but also their holy rage.

  Pyzis was enjoying the cool water against her overheated skin, the lingering effects of having just been entirely consumed by fire. The little fishes that nibbled at her skin tickled her bare flesh and the sunlight streaming in from the canopy above, reminded her that she was free to go where she pleased. While splashing around she must have been deep in her own thoughts because suddenly there was a young man on the banks. He was raven haired and had very pretty eyes. She tilted her head to the side and stared at him curiously. He was falling over himself and calling her an angel. While she was completely confused as to why he would think she was some sort of holy being a smile crept to her face. 
 "I won't hit you, why on earth would anyone do that? This isn't my river, nor my waterfall so you can feel free to enjoy its beauty too." 
  She moved deeper into the pool so that the water came up to her breasts since obviously her lack of clothing was bothering the youth. Maybe if she talked a little more he would feel more comfortable.
 "I'm Pyzis, no angel that's for sure. I'm a phoenix. I came here because after being reborn hurts like a bitch and these waters seemed a good place to recuperate. What is your name? Why are you here in the jungle?" 
  Pyzis looked at the young man again, he was younger than she by at least a few years, not to mention a few lifetimes.She hadn't been in human for in so long she forgot what it was for a man to see a woman bathing. All the silly customs didn't' matter when you had spent a life in bird form. She felt no sense of shame, only joy that she was finally free.
  "I promise I won't bite if you want to join me. The water is very refreshing or if you will turn around I can get dressed if that makes you more comfortable. How old are you? Where do you hail from, and why on Earth would you think me an Angel?" She knew she was peppering him with questions,  but this was the first time she'd spoken to anyone in forty years. The sound of her own lilting voice made her want to start singing! It was a wonder she was still even remotely sane. The prayers she had sent to her patron had been the only thing that kept her together. Now she was here watching this startled young man and probably scaring him off with her inquiry.

Hiro seemed to calm down a bit when she said she wouldn't hit him.  She didn't seem like an average woman who freaked out when a man who was not her lover saw her in barely anything.  But he still couldn't hide that crimson blush on his face.

"Well, long story short, I accidentally stumbled upon a girl who was bathing once, she was a childhood friend, she screamed and threw stones at me.  She called me a creep and a pervert.  I had no ill intentions.  She got over it eventually, but she never let me forget it."

He scratched his head, trying to figure her out.  She introduced herself as Pyzis, and she was a phoenix, not an angel.  She explained she just was reborn and that it hurt.  She started asking him a lot of questions.

"Well, to begin with, my name is Hiro Kouen.  I'm an adventurer, just starting out.  I'm looking to find a name for myself.  For a phoenix, you sure look like a human, but my father could transform into some kind of phoenix-hybrid form.  He used to say he had a phoenix soul within him.  I inherited his fire magic, but I'm not as skilled as he is, at least not yet."  He was getting a little overwhelmed by so many questions.  "Honestly, I thought you were an angel because your beauty is dazzling.  I haven't seen such a . . . beautiful woman in my home village, which was some distance from here.  I'm sixteen years of age, I'm seeking adventure and to perform acts of heroism.  I want to surpass my father, and the rest of my family.  So I started off from home and started my journey."  She asked if he would be more comfortable if she got dressed, or if he joined her.  "Been wanting to wash off, so I'll join you, if it's truly okay with you."  He took off his crimson coat, with the golden phoenix crest.  "You know, my father called himself a Phoenix Knight.  Are you truly a phoenix?  He was obsessed with them, but I too find the flames they give off beautiful.  Can all phoenixes turn into humans?"  He then took off his black shirt, his boots, and his pants, but stopped there, having nearly taken off his undershorts.  He was so nervous, and he nearly fully disrobed in front of her!  "Calm down, Hiro, she's not asking you to sleep with her, she just wants to bathe with you . . . right?  It's just bathing with a beautiful, almost naked, older woman, nothing to fret about . . . right?"  He started wading into the water, rubbing some of it onto his arms.  "Oh, it's cold, but it feels good, Pyzis."

Pyzis listened to the enthusiastic youth, his explanation as to why he thought she'd hit him made sense. If she had been chased off in such a flurry it would be hard to forget. She listened as he nervously told her of his parentage and ambitions. Pyzis was so consumed with the fact that she was free that she hadn't given a thought to what comes next. She had no home, no family, no friends nor wealth, but it didn't matter because here she was. She had legs, she was bathing in a pool in a jungle breathing humid tropical air. What would come would come and Pyzis would take it in stride.

As he undressed Pyzis turned to give him privacy, though he wasn't unattractive it was that she had never been in human form long enough to understand the difference between male and females. She was interested however in the fact that his father was a Phoenix night. This she had no knowledge of, her first life cycle had lasted a mere 14 years before she perished during a hunting trip. After that she had been held in a dungeon, so there was little she knew of her people along with the world.

"To be honest I don't know much of my own race, I do know what I am and if I grow old enough in Phoenix form or die early I am reborn. In my human form I am a master of fire." She said as she raised one palm above the water line and conjured a small ball of fire. "I know I can heal with my tears only in my Phoenix form and I can only produce tears of my own accord or through torture. I must admit Hiro, you are the first person I've spoken to for forty years. My last master held me captive and forced my tears to heal his frail body from a wasting disease that kept returning. So if I ramble or ask many questions it's simply because I crave the conversation of another human being. I also know that yes all of us have a human form though not many use it since they cannot heal. Also most serve a family for centuries and many lives. I was freed because the alchemist was the last of his line, thank the Gods."

Pyzis watched as the young man entered the chill waters and felt so much comfort in having her conversation returned. Instead of one sided prayers she knew helped but she couldn't hear the response. He was answering her menial questions and wanted to spend more time with her. She couldn't be happier, finally she was not stuck listening to internal thoughts or a crazy alchemists mutterings. Even if he was barely of age, at least he was willing enough to entertain a Phoenix who had brushed with insanity.

He moved through the water to get closer to her.  She displayed her fire magic to him, and explained about herself, maybe a little too much.  Her tears could heal people, and she told him how to produce them.  She was locked up for forty years, force to heal an old man with her tears over and over again until he died, and she was set free.

"Wow, that's terrible that someone would do that.  It doesn't matter if you're a person, or a phoenix, or even a dog, you don't treat living beings like that.  Though I would be careful who you tell about your tears thing about.  I would never want to hurt you, but other people are not so trustworthy.  Be lucky you came across me instead of someone who would lock you up again, and do terrible things to you again.  You could've been stuck right back in a cage like you were before," he warned her with a firm tone.  She seemed innocent, she wasn't luring him in or anything.  He started rubbing water against his body to wash away the dirt on his skin.  "Cheer up though, you've got me here, and I can protect you from harm.  I'll oblige your chatty nature."  He took his hand out of the water and ignited a flame.  The flames danced and flickered from his fingers.  "We might have some things in common.  I also learned the art of fire magic," he smiled at her and laughed happily.

  Pyzis hadn't thought of it in such a way. Her first life had been very short so she hadn't had any real relationships and her second her been so hostile she had assumed it was rare in a person. Human nature was still so new to her, at least she knew for now that she couldn't transform into a phoenix anyway. There was a flame deep within her breast she could always feel raging when the Phoenix part of her wanted out, right now it was hardly smouldering. Since this was only her second rebirth Pyzis had figured it was simply a matter of time before she could take her other form again. She cocked her head quizzically as she peer at Hiro she was happy that he was willing to help her and in all honesty she was beyond exhausted. The act of being burned alive was a tiring one to say the least. If he was as honorable as he seemed maybe she could get some rest while she regained her ability to fly.

  "Although I appreciate your help and honesty I can't change into a Phoenix for now. I'm not too worried about being captured in human form since there isn't really a way to tell I'm a Phoenix. But tell me about yourself, you said your Father was a Phoenix Knight but I have not heard of this. What are they? Where do they come from? Tell me about this realm, do you know anything about this area. I've been held captive for so long I don't know anything of the world." Pyzis said as she dipped her long chocolate hair into the cool water. She brought the strands over her shoulder and began working the soot and tangles out. The tiny fishes were still beneath the surface, tickling her belly in particular. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sound of the running water, trying to remember the last time she had had a real bath. Hiro was a helpful youth and Pyzis was grateful that she had come across someone as valiant as he. Had her over excitement for company been in the presence of another it was true that her freedom may have been very short indeed. 

She explained that there was no way to tell she actually was a phoenix until she had enough strength to actually turn back into her phoenix form.  She asked him to talk about himself, and about the whole Phoenix Knight thing his father was.

"Hm, where to begin?  My father came from a faraway land, he told me he trained with a group of elemental knights before making it here.  He said something about my grandmother being saved by a phoenix when she was pregnant with him, and some of that magic rubbed off on him, or maybe it was something like it sacrificed itself so she and my father could both live.  But I never got to meet her, she passed away from sickness some time ago, so I couldn't ask her for an explanation.  Dad is really strong, he's human, but became like a fire elemental, he'd mastered fire magic, light magic, and learned the other elements.  They say he couldn't be burnt by mortal flames despite being born a human.  He trained in volcanoes, and the heat didn't bother him.  I saw him transform once, into some kind of phoenix hybrid form, where he had feathers all over his body, and looked like a phoenix, while still remaining humanoid.  He's a great swordsman and blacksmith, he made a sword that could take on any element.  It's amazing.

"My mother is a fire elemental that Dad saved in his journeys, she's not as strong physically or magically as Dad is, but she's really nice, she's kind and loving.  She said she owed Dad her life.  I don't know anything about her family though.  I decided to move out on my own, since I recently became sixteen years old.  I can't learn everything about life from my parents, I can't leech off of them forever, so I need to stand on my own two feet and become a true man.  I know I have great potential at fire magic, because of both of my parents, and Dad taught me swordsmanship.  But I need to be someone different from him.  The chivalry he talked about seems too limiting though, the knightly honor he had, if I can't attack an enemy by surprise, how can I gain an upper hand against someone who's stronger than me?  I wouldn't want to die in a fight just because of certain rules that were self-placed on me."  Hiro continued to wash his body, getting the grim off his skin.  The cold water, the waterfall, everything seemed so peaceful here.  It was enjoyable.

"I hope I'm not boring you with that rant there, it's something I picked up from Dad, I guess, being talkative."  He looked toward Pyzis and smiled.  She was so pretty, but would she understand any feelings he was feeling right now?  Was it just the close proximity to her, or was there something there?  He'd never had a girlfriend before, just some friend who happened to be a girl, but didn't seem to show interest in him, preferring to throw rocks at him because he stumbled upon her bathing.

Pyzis listened intently to the story, anything that involved her own race fascinated her. Since she lacked memories of her own hearing others was all she had. It sounded as if Hiro's father was an amazing man and that Hiro felt that he had a lot to live up to. She let her body float up upon the water, the feeling almost reminiscent of the sensation of flying. Her first instinct upon being freed had been only to fly, to feel the rush of the wind through her feathers. The flight hadn't lasted nearly long enough when Pyzis had felt her body heat up to the point where she couldn't stay in the air any longer. She knew what that heat meant and she had landed here among the beautiful tropical trees and large flowers of the rainforest. 

"That is amazing, I have never heard of a side effect from being healed by a Phoenix while pregnant but if one sacrificed their life then that may do it. Hiro, the sound of another human being's voice is music to my ears. To have my conversation returned by something other than my own internal voice is heaven. Solitude is something that does not befit me." Pyzis floated her way over to the shallows of the pool and sat half in the water with her slender legs drawn up against her chest to cover anything that might leave Hiro uncomfortable. The chill had finally seeped into her bones and she wanted to feel the sunlight caress her skin and mirror the warm embers that always emanated from within her. She brought her wet hair over her left shoulder and ran her fingers through it separating the strands so they would dry in the long curls she liked. 

  "I do have to say, thank you I haven't had a conversation in forty years and I also haven't had anyone look out for my best interest in even longer. You are great company to be keeping. But you have told me of your family, what of you? Why are you here in a jungle and where are you headed?" She asked. Pyzis breathed in the thick moist air and watched as a vibrantly colored frog hopped up a fern a few feet away. It was so strange to her to be seeing living things again. It was strange to be so excited to be seeing things that are so simple. 

HIro didn't know much about phoenixes besides what his father had told him.  "He always said he thought part of the phoenix was still within, and that was why he was born with such powerful fire magic, because Grandpa Kenshiro was a swordsman with no magic, and Grandma Sasha was a healer-cleric of some kind.  Maybe some of that magic made its way to me too, because I have fire magic as well, though Mom IS a fire elemental too, after all."  She seemed really happy that she had someone to talk to.  Being stuck for forty years with no one else to talk to must have been a drag, insanity even.  "So the guy who had you locked up didn't even talk to you?  Kept you locked up like some kind of lab rat?  My dad had a pet phoenix, but he talked to him and kept good care of him, but he never talked back.  I guess all phoenixes aren't born equal.  What a bastard to keep a beautiful phoenix like you locked up like that."

She asked him about himself, since he talked so much about his family.  He gave it a moment of thought before talking.

"Well, I'm here looking for adventure, looking to make a name for myself, to surpass and prove myself to my father.  I want to be a great warrior, in the long line of Kouens.  I set forth from the house, after turning sixteen, got some equipment from the house, a sword and shield, some supplies, and found a mage that could teleport me anywhere, I ended up around here in this forest.  Dad was surprisingly okay with me going out on my own.  Mom wasn't as happy about it.  I don't know where to go exactly, other than to big towns, to find jobs to do, questing to accomplish, adventures to be had.  I'll go anywhere the wind blows."  Hiro moved through the water and sat up next to Pyzis, smiling.  "Do you have any plans?  What goals do you have?  If you just resurrected or were reborn, or whatever, I imagine you have things you've been dying to do since being locked up."