there was animal in her eyes

@Kyo

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When the fire bird laid her nest, she made sure the very edges would be as soft as possible. Her downy and ashy feathers were already burning to a crisp at their edges, the fire of her love for the eggs beneath her was hotter than even she could bare. Thus was their way. A contentedness came over her.
She had done everything she was supposed to. The bodies of freshly caught and burnt prey lay nearby- ready for her chicks to eat when they hatched after her death. They would survive- they would be thrive without her. Each one of them was precious cargo, nestled away like they were made of pure gold. Carefully under the fiery and warm feathers that had fallen from her underbelly.

When the last ember of her soul wisped into the air, a sigh of relief left her. A life worthy- her duty fulfilled.

Yet that ember traveled- carried by the winds of something new. It flew up aloft by the undercurrent and pushed high into the sky and above the clouds. It soared over the sea of white like she had a hundred times before- yet this time not carried by her own wings- yet only by the wings of fate.
The image of her nest and her land was begone to her. Lost in the various ashes that now lay about her nest. It was far away now- a distant land or a distant life. She watched with an ever-growing naivety as it grew further and further from her. Memories fading as they were consumed by her own flame.

The wind could not carry her forever. It slowly made it's way back to the ground, the final breath of her life and her fiery soul softly and gently laying onto the ground.
Though it wasn't the ground, was it? No, it was the body of a furry beast. Pelt just as fiery but soul- lacking. Like an empty corpse or a vessel unfilled. When her ember landed on it- it burst into the flames of life. Consuming it entirely. Suddenly she felt alive again, her soul screeching out in heavenly flames as it ignited the body.

Was this the true end of a phoenix cycle? Was she destined to burn this creature, to consume and be born anew? The call of life and the need to persist screamed through her- and suddenly her paw twitched.
Her flames ceased as though afraid, retracting back and almost in to the body she landed upon. It was alive and yet how? When she moved- it moved- and when she tried to open her eyes, the nose of a beast sat between them.

She startled up, jumping up from the ground and onto her feet. She tried to reside on her back legs- as was her typical form, yet her center of gravity wouldn't allow her. She slammed back down onto her front paws again. Confusion overtook her- like suddenly being awake and alive. A sort of Frankenstein's monster- a panic began to consume her.
The firebird let out a mighty screech, a scream that disturbed the birds of the jungle nearby. She hushed herself and watched them fly away, a sort of jealousy consuming her as she begged within her heart to fly as well. To fly and escape, every second this close to the earth bringing her a depressing realization. 

Anxiety and panic still coursing through her fiery veins, the beast fled- ungainly towards the trees. Thinking maybe- just maybe- if she could climb high enough and catch the wind beneath her- she may be able to glide out enough to catch flight. And though not a feather adorned her new body- the young woman still made way for the height of the canopy. 
Her claws met the bark- scrambling at them desperately as she tried her best to gain any purchase to climb. Whines escaped her, though they sounded strange and scratchy from her throat.

She was not suited to the life of a flightless bird.

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tagging in for kyo since he's swamped by work life

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The decision to claim a slice of home for herself set in more and more by the day. Uncomfortable and awkward turned to the pattern of familiarity as lesson after lesson and foundation returned to her. @Kyo Still butchered names, if he even remembered them, but he took well enough to her ramming her culture down his throat. He had even shown that he took some level of care to uphold those traditions, such as their secrecy with outsiders. There was still much to pass on, but securing what haven they had found came first.

Niawaki had been a suitable choice beyond the ounce of familiarity it brought. The land curved into the sea, protecting it and the key from nearly all sides. All they had to do was make sure no one else had some..."awakening" inside the feeble borders and guard the southern border that carved into the mainland. The dragon traveled through some of the higher peaks of the mountain range, her paws careful of the sharp ledges and jungle root underfoot. It was hardly a surprise that no one had settled here, not that she would complain. Her growing order hardly had the numbers to be called a group, let alone undertake their mission for balance.

At least patrolling was easy.

Like a jinx, a scream ripped through the trees, sending flocks of birds to the sky. Instinct took over, driving hazy paws higher to the source. Briefly, she wondered if Kyo had gotten his fangs on someone, but she didn't smell his path fresh along hers. No, what she saw was much more confusing. No Kyo, no no one, just a young wolf scrabbling to the lower branches of a tree. Kei slowed her stride, confusion plain on her face as she lurked from the shadows. She couldn't smell a threat— nothing to drive the young one up the side of a tree— and yet she looked terrified.

“You're going to hurt yourself if you don't know what you're doing.” Or wind up dead with a hard fall down the mountain. There was no reason to bring that up though, it would only make her panic more if she was unaware of the situation she was putting herself in.

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She jumped near out of her skin at the sound of a voice behind her, her desperate whining coming to a sharp halt as she turned to gaze at them. Her eyes were wild, wide, and panicked looking. Much unbecoming of something that appeared a wolf, the young woman's maw open to let out a shrill screech. It scratched at her throat as she did it, but it felt more natural than a growl or a bark. It was hardly anything intimidating, though.

Feng swallowed on nothing before she turned back to the tree, giving one last bounce to her legs, and finally fleeing up into the tree. Her balance was impeccable for an animal on four legs, let alone one that wasn't intended for climbing. She made for the branches and hunched over, down at the stranger again.

In a way she was thankful, it was the terror of a land-bound stranger that convinced her body the rest of the way up the tree. Though her face didn't show it- she looked like she clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Her voice was harsh and scratchy, but it came through none-the-less.

私の古代の顔を見て、鳥が木に登れないのかと疑問に思うのですか？ — You dare look upon my ancient face and wonder if a bird cannot climb a tree? Her voice is riddled with bewildered arrogance, like the stranger was a fool to not see what she truly was. A slight on such an ancient and powerful beast, though the youth in her yearling face showed no such wisdom nor age.

Her hackles raised like the feathers on her neck would, flashy and trying to look as intimidating as possible. Not even her feet burned into the bark of the tree like they used to- she knew something was terribly wrong, even if she wasn't sure exactly what it was. The reality of her situation had not quite settled in yet.

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Ugh...teenagers.

Kei sucked her teeth, an audible tch escaping her as her tongue parted bone. She could play along, “鳥はいつ翼を失ったのですか?最後に確認したところ、翼のない鳥は死んでいたことがわかりました。 — When did a bird lose its wings? Last I checked, I found that the bird without wings was dead.” Her switch in tongues came naturally, like a lightswitch that had been flipped. Although it had been some time since she used it so often. “木から出てください。これ以上登ると何かが壊れてしまいます。 — Get out of the tree. If you go any higher, something will break.”

Not speaking from personal experience, of course. It was just common sense. Clearly. Something a kid most definitely lacked. Let's go with that.

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The attitude on this mortal..!? Feng looked offended at just their presence, her head bouncing back to show how surprised she was that they did not stare in awe at her presence or quiver in fear of her flame.

"私は死んでいた。 — I was dead." Her eyes bore holes into the stranger, a sort of confused wrath residing inside them. She knew to be mad but, not quite about who to be mad with. She was simply an ember- drifting into peace. It wasn't this creature that caused her to be trapped inside of this form, was it?

"木登りのことは言わないでください、小さな野獣よ。 — Speak not of climbing trees, little beast." She said confidently before scrambling up to the next highest branch. Her goal was still in mind, even if it was born out of panic.


"また飛ばなければなりません。私の下に風が吹いているだけで効果があるはずです。 — I have to fly again. Just the wind under me should help." The girl mumbled, sounding quite sure of herself as she spoke. 
The yearlings eyes trailed back down to the stranger again.

"私はここに属していません。 — I do not belong here."

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私は死んでいた。 The bird turned wolf was met with an equally puzzled expression, but what wrath lingered did not burn her own stare. “死んでいたとはどういう意味ですか？ — What do you mean by dead?” Clearly she wasn't dead. The Order had suggested that reincarnation was possible, a redistribution of energy and will that followed the natural order of things, but she had never seen it, nor had any of the living Kaicho. Reincarnation was supposed to be in the form of a new life though. This girl clearly wasn't a newborn. Then again, no one spouted nonsense about flying if they just climbed high enough.

That settled things. This kid was living in some grandiose delusion. Unfortunately, you can't just pretend hard enough to break physics. Kei quickly stepped a few paces closer at the mention of wind helping her. “そう、木に属さないでください。冗談ではなく、上に行くほど枝が細くなります。 — Yeah, don't belong in the tree. I'm not kidding, the higher you go, the thinner the branches become.” A sense of urgency or maybe panic laced her voice as Kei glanced to their surroundings for where the yearling might fall. “それで、何をジャンプしたいのですか？自分自身を見てください。翼がないから岩のように飛ぶんだよ！ — So what, you want to jump? Look at yourself. You don't have wings so you will fly like a rock!”

“それにしても、なぜそんなに飛びたいのですか？ — Why do you want to fly so much anyway?”

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