Pyzis smiled warmly at Hiro; she realized that he still held her hand and quickly pulled away. While he was kind, and great company, Pyzis didn't want to send the wrong message. She hadn't been a human in so many years she forgot how strongly the attraction between males and females affected them. In fact, she was feeling more friendly towards him than she had planned to begin with. It was a physical thing she had never truly understood. Her first life had been cut short before she had experienced any attraction and the second filled with more pain than anything else. Ther had been no opportunities in her life to be attached to any one person. Her entire existence had been devoted to duty and serving others. 

"Hiro, I will manage on my own. I'm sure someone would trade food and lodging for work. I'm a good cook and am willing to do most labor, I know for humans money matters, but to me being free is all I ask for. I'm decent at living off the land, but not here in the jungle." she chatted. The rain was letting up, and the flame in her palm was keeping the chill at bay. As she looked at the man with dark hair, she heard a rustle in the underbrush to their left. Her eyes scanned into the high plants, but it was impossible to see far in the tangle of vegetation. Pyzis froze in her tracks as she felt something was off. The birds that had been singing moments ago had gone silent as had the tree frogs. 

Suddenly a large black shape jumped out of the bushes and tackled Pyzis to the ground. With a gasp, she felt the air rush out of her lungs as her back hit the dirt. Water dripped down on her from the canopy into her eyes. In her shock, the fireball in her hand had been snuffed out. A large jungle cat pinned her down with its paws on either side of her face. With a snarl it bared sharp white teeth, it's maw close enough that Pyzis could smell its meaty breath. She tucked her chin and set her yellow eyes on the beast, challenging it with all the courage she could muster. With her arms pinned to her side, there was no way she could summon fire to her. She only hoped Hiro was quick enough to help, lest she be forced to resort to snarling back. 

He had a feeling she would not want TOO much help.  He did feel some kind of attraction toward her, but he was trying to keep that in check.  She wouldn't have had any time in the past for any kind of love, considering she's spent much of her life locked up in a cage.  That puts a damper on one's life, and expectations for romance.

"That's fine, I'm glad you have some kind of skills, I don't know what kind of life you had before you were caged up.  I imagine you'd have an easier time in a regular old fashioned forest, rather than a jungle or rain forest like this place."  He stopped as she stopped.  He thought he heard something through the silence of everything else in the area.  A growling noise.  Uh oh.

A dark shape lunged toward Pyzis from out of the shadows.  Slamming into her and knocking her to the ground.  It was a wild cat of some kind.  A large beast with dark fur, and razor sharp claws and fangs.  Pyzis tried to stay strong, but the monster was a fierce beast, preparing to claw and mangle her.  Hiro quickly drew his blade from the sheath on his side.  He needed to move fast.  He rushed toward the giant beast, sword at the ready.

"Get away from her!"  Hiro screamed in rage as he lunged forward, plunging his sword into the beast's torso, causing it to release loud, primal scream.  Hiro wasn't done yet, he held the sword in with his left hand, and drew back his right, remembering the techniques he was taught by his father, Sabishii.  He focused his strength into that right hand, curling his fingers into a fist, roaring flames starting to leap from his knuckles, covering his whole fist.  He thrust his fist forward in a powerful, fiery punch, striking the giant cat where it's kidneys would be, knocking it off poor Pyzis, and sending it flying through some bushes and slamming into a rock.  He heard the impact.  It did not get back up.  Hiro stood there panting, sword in one hand, covered in blood, his other hand still curled into a fist, still smoking from burning the fur right off that giant cat's side.  He opened his right hand, and stared at his hand, still feeling the adrenaline rush, that should have hurt his hand, but he wasn't feeling it yet.  It was injured a bit.  He shook out his hand.

"Are you okay?  Are you hurt?"  He looked toward Pyzis, who was on the ground, and he offered her his hand.  That bruised and slightly bloody hand.

Pyzis watched the pain in the ferocious animals eyes as Hiro stabbed it. Then as suddenly as the beast had jumped onto her it was gone in a burst of flame as he punched it with a fist of flames. She gladly took the offered hand and rose, happy to see that the beast didn't. Silently she took stock of her injuries, aside from a bump on the head and a gash on her arm she was in one piece. She winced as she ripped off the bottom of her tunic and bound the bleeding wound awkwardly with one hand. 

"I will be fine, I took a nasty blow to the head from my fall and a cut on the arm, but I'll survive. Thank you for helping me, I couldn't get my arms up to light it on fire," she huffed angrily. Pyzis wasn't one to let another save her, but this was one of those moments that you are simply grateful to be alive. Though as a Phoenix she would have just been reborn again had she fallen. Pyzis shivered at the thought; it was painful being consumed by fire until you became ashes and rose again. She wasn't very keen on repeating the process so soon after having done so. 

"Are you okay? Did the creature hurt you?" she asked, a look of concern flashing across her face. It seemed strange to her to care whether the man had been injured or not. She hadn't formed any relationship with a human her whole life. Now here she was being saved by someone she would call a friend in the least. 

Pyzis brushed the dirt off of her clothes and raised her uninjured arm to the back of her head. A goose egg was forming and tender to the touch. She swayed slightly before sitting down on a large rock just off the path. There would be no way to help Hiro if he had been hurt if she passed out from her head wound. As she looked at her right hand, she noticed it came away dry, at least, her head wasn't bleeding. Blood and long hair were the worst things to combine; it would take hours to wash it out once it dried. 

"Mind if we take a break, I'm a little dizzy from my fall," she grimaced as she moved her injured arm. The makeshift bandage was soaked with blood, and she was sure it would need tending to sooner rather than later. She couldn't bring herself to care, only to sigh as she relaxed on the rock. 

She was all right, thank the Gods.  She stripped a piece of cloth from her clothing and bound the wound on her arm, which was probably a good idea for her to do.  She wouldn't want for the wound to get infected.  "Don't go thinking it's okay for you to die if you're just going to be reborn, okay?  I don't want to see a friend of mine get killed, no matter what.  That said, I'm glad you're safe."  He wiped the blood off his sword with a cloth, then sheathed it.  His hand hurt doing that.

"My hand hurts, I must have sprained something doing that."  He looked down at his hand, he had torn some of the skin off his knuckles with that attack.  He should probably wrap that hand up in cloth to stop the bleeding.  She got up and started to fall, but nearly fell over, he rushed to her side and helped her sit down.  "Are you sure you're all right?  We should take a break.  We have to take care of our wounds.  I'm afraid you may have hit your head in that fall, you shouldn't walk, or you might get hurt again."  The rain was still coming down as he looked up to the sky.  It was cold, and they needed something to keep animals away.  He pulled the backpack off his back, and pulled out a handy torch, he pointed a finger at the torch and released a small fireball that lit it up with a warm, orange flame, a puff of smoke lighting up from the torch.  "There, now we'll be warm," he said with a smile.