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Phoenix - noun
: A legendary bird which according to one account lived 500 years, burned itself to ashes on a pyre, and rose alive from the ashes to live another period.
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Phoenix, one of the rarest species known in the Unstable Universe. They were known for gathering in colonies, rarely ever coming out due to fear of being hunted or poached. If you ever managed to spot one, you were considered to have been given a blessing of life. They say you would be freed of all illness or injuries and granted a fresh start, the same way a phoenix does once it has risen from ash.
They were widely hunted, yet widely feared creatures, able to spark fire with nothing but emotions and burst into flames within seconds. As much as they’re considered a blessing to find, you may be doomed to die if you meet one.
Flame was a phoenix, sent away from his colony from a young age due to his inability to fly. He never knew that. All he remembered was being hunted as a child, yet never dying. How he gained the title of “immortal demon” because no bounty placed on his head could ever be cashed in.
Flame was alone for most of his start to life, until he wasn’t. Until Manepear found the boy, originally just wanting the bounty he held, but took him in and raised him as his cub. He was 8, Mane was 16.
As Mane raised him, it fell onto Mane to care for his wings most of the time. Flame never learned how to manage them and his brother didn’t know much better, just that they needed to pluck feathers that are wrong, straighten all the feathers out, and take anything that shouldn’t be in the wings out.
Flame never had to learn because he always believed Mane would be there to do it for him. They did everything together; hunting, shopping, exploring, even sometimes sharing a bed on colder nights.
His life looked up with Mane in it. He wasn’t alone anymore, he had a home, he had a brother, what more could he need?
People always want more. Baby birds are always bound to fly away from their nest. Flame left Mane on bad terms, he obsessed over a title, meanwhile Mane was concerned for his safety. The brothers lost contact for a long time.
Flame didn’t know about his phoenix origins, being too young to remember his colony. Mane had suspicions on what he could’ve been, but neither could confirm it. Instead, they just assumed he was some sort of nether creature. A blaze was the closest thing they could ever think of. But blazes didn’t have feathered wings. They also didn’t have tails that constantly spewed fire at the ends.
Flame always knew the description was wrong, he never cared though. His brother said so, so he believed it.
Maybe he should’ve questioned it, pushed for more research. He only found out about his true origins after an outnumbered fight, his totem popped, yet did nothing. He thought that was his end, this was his fate. Then fire overtook his vision and he could fight again.
The people around him yelled about how he was a phoenix, and it shocked Flame. He’d finally gotten that last piece, and now everyone was running and the tides had turned. He won that fight easily, and his wings were overtaken and covered in a thick, black ash. That fight was his rebirth.
Now whenever he fought, flames burst over his wings, lighting them fully on fire. Sometimes other parts if he was upset enough. The truth is, it burned. He didn’t care about that though. All he cared about was holding that title, but now he was truly immortal. It was his forever.
Then he lost his title to Wemmbu. Then he lost his chestplate—his identity—to Wemmbu. Then he lost his dignity to Wemmbu. Then Spoke left him. He lost everything that day, his once strong fires reduced to embers.
Then he lost Wemmbu.
He spent months being called crazy, being called weak, being called terrible things, all because he refused to believe his rival had died. Flame went months, barely even touching his wings and letting that ash build up. No fight was truly enough to cause enough of a fire to provoke preening, so he never did it. He just needed to prove Wemmbu was alive. He was right in the end, as always. Wemmbu was alive, standing across from him and Parrot. His wings finally burst into that fire again. His tail burned brighter.
Now everything started again. They are fighting against the Law, but this time they took Lomedy, his only friend. He fell back into that position of not preening unless it’s really bad enough, but it’s never bad enough anymore. The fires are getting bigger on his wings, but the after pain isn’t enough to make Flame willing to waste time preening. What’s the point if he’s just going to ruin it a few hours later because some Lawmen jumped him?
So Flame didn’t waste his time. He ignored the discomfort that radiated in those ash-covered wings and continued to push through. He trained hard. He had to beat the Law—had to save Lomedy.
The training with Swight went well. He thinks that Swight and him got along pretty good if it weren’t for the fact that he actively wanted Flame dead. He told him to stand proud, and gave him advice. It was a mutual respect between each other. A deal that allowed Flame to escape and move on.
Next was Mane. It was rough at first, trying to apologize to his older brother. Eventually Flame got his training and the two made up, but he could see how Mane looked at his wings—how he looked at Flame. Not much has changed since the day he left after all.
Third was Itzrealme. That was… Interesting. He taught Flame about “the zone” and what it was, and it honestly helped. He got a lot of useful advice and thought that it went well, he got Lomedy’s mace back in the end. Flame could genuinely see improvement in himself, and he was a bit proud.
The last person he was going to was Theo. Parrots friend. Their past interactions weren’t the best, but the past is the past; all is forgiven. There’s no point in holding grudges when Parrot apologized. It’s also been months and Parrot had clearly changed since then. Theo wasn’t ever really bad towards him either, he was honestly just a normal guy.
—
Theo had agreed to the training. Now, Theo was leading Flame into a clearing inside of a jungle. A place Theo used to train his students before Flame. He was mindlessly explaining basics about insta-carting, walking ahead of Flame and occasionally sending glances back to other. Once he reached the center of the clearing, he stopped and turned to face Flame.
“Did all of that make sense?” Theo asks, tilting his head instinctively. It’s a bird habit he has, constantly tilting his head when asking questions or when confused. Flame takes note of the small movement, giving a single nod, “Yeah bro, that’s easy work.”
Theo gives a small smirk at that with a chuckle, stretching an arm over his head, “That’s great news for me then, less work. You ready to get started then?”
Flame nods, a spark moving up the base of his horn and flickering at the tip. They’d been walking forever, he was beyond ready, “Absolutely.”
“Alright, then let’s start with a simple duel, just so I can see how well you’re getting the basics.” Theo says, opening up his inventory and beginning to sort out his kit, “Do you have carts or should I grab you some?”
“Nah, I got some.” Flame says, joining Theo in organizing his inventory, his tail idly swishing behind him. He hasn’t done a cart duel in a while. It’s bow, rail, cart. He just needs to remember that, “I should be ready whenever.” He says, walking back to the opposite side of Theo to give them a distance to start from.
Theo makes a hum in acknowledgement, sorting the last few things before turning and walking to the side Flame isn’t on, “Okay. Start on go.” Theo waits for Flame to nod before starting to count down.
“Three, two, one.” Flame exhales, just focus on the fight and what you know.
“Go.” Theo finishes, immediately rushing over with confidence. His wings offer a small flap, allowing him to gain a bit of extra speed.
Flame meets him in the middle, the two immediately starting to cart each other. He can’t use his wings for speed, so Theo is a bit faster there. His accuracy with carts isn’t the best, but it also isn’t terrible. He has a good way of keeping an eye on his opponent, even with a disadvantage. His tail moves quickly to dodge the attacks with him.
The spar is pretty fast paced, though Theo is getting the most hits on Flame. Flame has been very good about staying closed off and not letting Theo get behind him, that’s a risky move to let happen.
Flame carts, popping Theo. Theo lets out a laugh, surprised, “Nice one!” He says, slightly pulling back in order to grab more carts and another totem.
“Thanks.” Flame says, chasing after Theo, tail beginning to pick up its swaying speed behind him. He gets a few more carts, though they aren’t exactly good hits. He has the ability to cart, he just needs to figure out where to put them. That thought distracts Flame for a moment, being dragged right back to reality once smoke fills his vision. He sees Theo use his wings to bat the smoke away, meanwhile he has to use his hands. It gives him a disadvantage.
It registers that he’s lost track of where Theo went until he feels that fire creep up his wings and hears his totem pop. The fire is really weak, not much steam being left in his body after such a lack of care for the limbs. The next part is weird though. Theo isn’t attacking him anymore, he’s just paused behind him where the cart he’d just pulled off was. The weak fire fades out, it was barely there anyways, and Flame forces out a single cough at the smoke. That’s when it hits Flame. Theo is staring at his wings.
Theo is an avian. Of course Flame’s unkempt wings would pose an issue to an avian.
“Your wings,” Theo says, carefully talking a step closer. His voice has lost the playful edge it normally carried, “I- Void below man- When’s the last time you took care of them?” His voice was shaky, mainly out of disbelief. Theo doesn’t know how he didn’t notice it sooner. Their state is terrible.
The once red, orange, and yellow vibrant feathers are basically dyed black with ash. The feathers are all in different directors, shapes, some broken, some bent, with many different things sticking out of them. Flame knew their state was bad, but he never cared enough to constantly make an effort to fix what would inevitably be broken once again.
“I.. Don’t really remember, bro. It’s not a big deal though, they’re fine. Can’t use them anyways” Flame says, trying to play off the horrified look on Theo’s face as something that he can lie his way out of.
“Just because you can’t use them doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of them?!” Theo says, dumbfounded. He walks closer to Flame, constantly glancing back to the wings on his back.
“I’m a phoenix, bro. They’ll just light on fire then get messed up again. It’s not worth it to spend hours brushing them or whatever just for me to have to do it again right after because I got jumped.” Flame is still trying to play this off. It’s easier to play it off than admit that it is uncomfortable to not take care of them. It is uncomfortable to deny his instincts, but that’s how he survives.
“Dude you still have to take care of them! You’re in no condition to fight like this.” Theo determines, putting his carts back into a shulker. He’s not going to train someone when they are clearly having an issue with their body. Especially one that he can literally see, “I will literally preen your wings for you if it means that you’ll take care of them, but until they’re preened, training is off.”
Theo is firm when he sets his mind to something. He won’t drop what he puts his mind to ever. Flame knows this and hates this, it’s not even Theo’s body! Your body, your choice or whatever the saying was!
“Bro don’t do this, just train me. It’s fine.” Flame pleads, his wings twitching on his back. He just wanted to get trained, not yelled at about self care!
“Nope,” Theo says, popping the ‘P’ as he says it, “Not until your wings are fixed. They’re in a bad state and I'm not fighting an opponent who’s injured.” He says firmly, his wings pulling in close to himself. Flame glares at him under his blindfold.
“I’m not even injured bro! My wings are fine!” Flame argues back, wings trying to flare out, but they don’t extend much. The feathers are all kind of tangled within each other.
“Biggest lie I’ve ever heard. You want to get trained? Either fix your wings yourself or let me preen them.” Theo says firmly, trying not to wince at the way Flame’s wings attempted to move but failed.
Flame can either accept this or end his training permanently. Theo won’t back down; he's an avian with instincts. When an avian sees an avian in need, they get very pushy. Theo won’t be backing down from this point, so his options are to let Theo preen his wings because he doesn’t know how to, or to not learn cart.
Not learning cart isn’t an option, so he has to suck up his pride and let someone do something that only his brother has done.
Preen his wings.
Flame sighs, “Can..” He pauses. How does he even say this? Admit to being a phoenix who doesn’t know how to preen his own wings? “Can you preen them for me..? I don’t know how to..” He speaks hesitantly, not making eye contact. He can’t meet Theo’s eye.
Theo’s gaze softens, his own wings lowering slightly, “You… You don’t know how..?” He asks, immediately stopping, “You don’t need to answer that.” He figured it was probably something personal. It also probably had to do with why his wings were in such a bad state, “Yeah, I can. Follow me, I have a house set up ahead.” Theo says, using his wings to signal for Flame to follow as he starts to walk off.
Flame follows silently behind Theo after a moment of hesitation. The walk is filled with thick, tense, silence that’s uncomfortable to sit with. Flame is about to put a lot of vulnerability on display for someone who technically isn’t even in his “flock.” He’s never been one for vulnerability at all, even with people close to him. This feels more like a walk to his execution rather than a walk to something meant to help him, the weight of this is a lot more heavy than either want to voice out loud. Regardless, Theo opens the door to the house and it’s warm despite its lack of use. At least he won’t be cold during this.
“I have a nest upstairs, let’s go up there.” Theo says calmly, turning right as he enters and guiding the two up the stairs. Flame pauses at that. Nests are very sacred spaces, only ever reserved for flock. Entering another avian’s nest is a lot more personal than Theo is making it sound, “Are you sure..? We aren’t exactly flockmates, do you really think I should be up there?” Flame questions, eyeing Theo. Theo turns around, “Yes, I’m sure. Now hurry up before it gets worse.” He says, that teasing tone starting to return to his voice. Flame exhales and follows.
Theo leads Flame into a dimly lit room, mainly illuminated by fairy lights. There’s a nest in the center of the back wall, clearly well made, yet it seems rather unused. There’s a bunch of pillows and blankets around it, with different clothes or items that clearly mean something to someone, just not Flame. His nose can pick up on a few other scents, though all of them are very faded and the only prominent one remaining is Theo’s. He waits on Theo to go in and nod before following and hesitantly settling in the middle. He’s never actually been in a nest before, though this looks similar to the dens that Mane made when they were kids.
“Okay, so have you ever had your wings properly preened before? I just want to see how…” Theo does a weird hand signal to his head, probably referring to instincts, “You’ll get.” Theo asked it casually, he didn’t make a big deal out of it, even if it was. Someone Flame’s age should’ve been preened before, but judging based on how Flame was acting before, he already knows the answer. It’s honestly kind of sad to Theo, but he doesn’t let that sadness show on his face. He instead just lets the silence fill the room after Flame responds with a sigh and a, “My brother used to back when I was younger, but he’s a lion, not any sort of avian. I’ve had them done somewhat before I guess? Probably not the proper way.”
Theo hums with a nod, “Got it. I’m going to go grab some stuff then I’ll start. Just get comfortable and have your wings spread out.” And with that, he walks off leaving Flame alone. Flame adjusted how he was sitting so he was curled in a ball, much like how he was as a child when this happened. He rested his chin on his knees and hugged his knees to his chest. His tail curled around to be resting atop his feet. Flame took off his hoodie, leaving him in just his white t-shirt, and spread out his ash-covered wings. Then he waited.
If he allowed himself the thought, he’d feel like a child again. He was strong, even as a malnourished phoenix living on the run, yet barely knew anything about himself. Once Mane took him in, he only learned from there. So much of Flame developed because Mane was there. Mane was the one who taught him about the fact that he needed to take care of his wings, but Flame could never reach, so Mane always did it. He always thought he and Mane would be like that forever, then they fought and drifted apart. Even if they are brothers again and talked it out, that gap still has to fully be filled. They’ll never be kids again sitting in Mane’s den preening Flame’s wings. They’ll never be those kids again and Flame has to accept that.
Flame is dragged out of those thoughts by the sounds of Theo approaching behind him, “I’m back!” He says, placing a bucket of water down next to him. He grabbed a few things, around 4 towers, a few wash cloths, the water bucket, something that looks kind of like a brush, and some sort of oil? Seemingly reading Flame’s confusion, Theo says, “The brush and the oil are things I can skip if you want, but the oil would help stop the ash from clinging to your feathers.” Flame accepts that answer and nods.
“Okay, I’m going to start now. Tell me if something hurts. You’re probably going to be really sensitive because you haven’t been preening them and the feathers are a little bit burnt on parts, so it’ll probably be a bit uncomfortable, but I’ll be gentle.” Theo explains, waiting for Flame to say a quick, “Go ahead,” before gently taking his left wing’s far edge into his hands and starting to softly run his calloused fingers through the feathers. They’re quite dry from all the fire, but that’s expected.
Theo begins a pattern of working on a small part of the wing, then washing the ash off with the wash cloth. The first time the cool cloth is run along the edge of Flame’s wing, working through the primary feathers, Flame makes a startled chirp, horns sparking up in surprise. He immediately puts a hand over his mouth, putting his forehead onto his knees and hiding his face in shame. Theo has to suppress the urge to laugh, which he fails at, “Dude- chill. You’re fine, I already knew you were going to make noises, it’s natural.” That seems to help Flame a little, as seen by his hand dropping back down to his side as his tail wiggles slightly, but the smaller noises that do come out are clearly being quieted. Theo sighs, at least he isn’t fully suppressing those instincts.
He shifts his focus back to the wings at hand, straightening a few feathers and plucking a few that are just plain wrong on his back before going back in with the washcloth to clean the ash off again. He enjoys seeing how that ash starts to wipe away to show different warm colors. Phoenix wings truly are beautiful when well maintained. The more he worked, the more relaxed he noticed Flame was getting beneath him. Theo wasn’t very surprised; falling asleep during preening was something very common. He also wasn't going to complain about how Flame slowly lost his fight to quiet his chirps and trills. They’re instinctual noises, varying in pitch. Suppressing them isn’t very good for you, so at least he’s letting them out now. Even hearing Flame’s was making him release a few noises himself. Theo just allowed the background to fill with the bird songs.
Some parts were harder to get through, especially with how some feathers got tangled. Most of his converts were twisted or so dry to the point Theo just had to pluck them rather than make Flame live with the discomfort. It took over an hour for Theo to get through the first wing. By the time he was done, the water in the bucket was pretty much fully dyed with ash. Flame was beginning to doze off at this point, both of the wings beginning to lower in height. The wing that was done was such a stark contrast to the other wing, it being in beautiful bright oranges, yellows, and reds, compared to the blackened wing next to it.
“I’m going to go change the water and grab a clean washcloth,” Theo says mostly to himself as he stands up, grabbing the dirty materials. There's a giant pile of broken and plucked feathers that had to be taken out. It was rough getting some out; stubborn ones that didn’t want to leave his wing yet, but they got them out. They were always painful though; it sometimes hurt him to have to harm another, even if the feather was going to hurt him. That’s mostly his instincts talking on the matter.
Theo hums as he dumps out the dirtied water and wrings the washcloth, leaving it to hang on a wire. He quickly refills the bucket with fresh water and grabs a new washcloth, bringing it back to the nest, where Flame is fast asleep, his cleaned wing draped unevenly over his body. He softly chuckles at the sight, setting the bucket back down and settling behind Flame again. This time may be a bit harder for him to do if Flame is asleep, but void knows how much he needs this rest if his wings are this bad. He can handle a bit of extra time, he doesn’t mind preening someone else’s wings anyways.
As he worked, Theo began to take to softly humming to fill the silence. Occasionally Flame would make small hisses of pain or stir from a feather pull, but it was mostly going well. The wing seemed to be coming out just as well as the first one. Theo made a small pleased trill at his work before continuing his pattern, watching as those feathers began to gain their color again.
Flame slowly stirred awake at the trill, more so out of instinct than wanting to wake up. He felt like he was floating, in a daze from how overtaken his brain is by instincts. At first he’s confused and considers reaching for a sword, only to distantly remember he doesn’t have any weapons on him. Oh yeah and the feeling of a hand in his wing. Flame lets out a small warbling sound at it, confused. Theo’s wing twitched at the sound, tilting his head, “Flame? You up?” He asks, pausing his movements for a moment before continuing. Flame has to take a second to process that, before opening his mouth to respond and.. A chirp comes out. Why isn’t his mouth letting him say words? He’s the immortal demon and he can’t say the word “yes”. Theo makes a small hum in response, seemingly understanding it.
“Instincts are probably getting to you.” Theo says as he works, “It’s normal, don’t worry about it. Happens a lot when an avian gets preened by another avian. Us being in a nest adds to it a lot too.” He explains calmly, like this is common knowledge. Which it is, to normal avians. But Flame is not a normal avian. He makes a small trill in response and then the two fall into silence.
Theo is almost done at this point. He’s working on the last of his primary feathers. He’s taking his time with it and making sure that each feather is perfect, and Flame doesn’t understand why. He doesn’t understand why Theo cares so much in the first place. He can’t use his wings, so even if they look beautiful, there’s no real purpose. He knows they have spent hours on this, hours that could’ve been spent training, but instead they aren’t. They’re here preening Flame’s wings. He appreciates Theo a lot for doing this, even if he won’t say that out loud, but he still doesn’t get why he would ever care. Flame hasn’t done anything for him—rather he’s actually been more of an inconvenience. So why would Theo insist on helping?
“You done thinking yet?” Theo says, a teasing edge to his voice, though there is some hidden concern if you look deeply into it. Flame chooses to ignore it. “Yeah, what’d you say?” He says, brushing it off. Theo sighs with a small laugh, “I finished them, I’m just going to go and put the oil on them now.” Flame looks back at them and is in awe. He’s glad he wears a blindfold because he thinks that stars would glitter in his eyes if he had it off. They have a slight glow to them, they’re in bright and fiery colors that stand out and look strong, not dead. Everything a phoenix’s wings should look like. Flame chooses to ignore the way his tail thumps against the ground in front of him as it goes back and forth and instead chooses to glare at how amused Theo looks.
“Sorry, sorry,” Theo says with a laugh, he’s not sorry, “I’m gonna brush the oil in quickly, then you’re good.” He says, still slightly chuckling. He grabs the wing oil and pours some onto the brush, it’s much like a horse brush in a way, but the bristles aren’t rough and glide across the wings easily. Theo begins to gently brush all the feathers downwards with the oiled brush, occasionally straightening a few feathers he may have missed along the way. By the end, there’s a shimmer to the wings. They’re actually soft, not that dry feeling they had at the start. They actually feel like normal wings again.
Flame pauses as he takes them in. Theo smiles, “I hope you’re happy with it? I’m sorry it took so long.” Flame just stares at them. Throughout his life they’ve never looked this vibrant. He’s never looked this… Alive. They’ve always been covered in ash or not maintained correctly—it’s not Mane’s fault; he's not an avian after all—but now? They’re literally shimmering under the lights. They are moving freely and it isn’t causing an ache to settle in and it leaves Flame speechless. He doesn’t know what to say, he feels almost free. This is how a phoenix should look.
While Flame is silent, Theo has to wait in anxiety as he just stares at them. Does he hate them? He really hopes he doesn’t because Theo just went through a lot of effort for that. They look really nice, at least in Theo’s opinion. The fiery colors suit the wings a lot more than ash-black does, but they’re Flame’s wings after all. Theo inhales a breath and Flame turns around, “Thank you, bro.” His voice is quiet. Not sad, just quiet. It’s genuine, “I don’t remember when the last time I saw these properly colored was.” The confession is quiet, easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. But Theo is paying close attention. He cares a lot about the person he just spent hours preening! That’s why he let Flame in his nest in the first place!
“Anytime, Flame. I mean it. Your wings are gorgeous, they suit you a lot more than the ash-covered ones do.” He says, softly laughing at the end, a laugh that Flame ends up sharing. Flame looks up to his eye and hesitates before reaching out and pulling Theo into a hug, wrapping his arms around his neck, resting his face on the side of Theo’s neck, his horns gently bumping against Theo. It’s a rare time where they aren’t sparking or making flames. Theo freezes, more so in shock. He never took Flame to be touchy, though he does suppose he just spent hours preening him and basically just called him flock. After relaxing, he returns the hug to Flame, allowing his wings to wrap around him.
“You’re lucky I’m such a kind soul and was willing to fix those things” Theo teases with a smirk. Flame playfully bats Theo’s leg with the non-fire part of his tail, rolling his eyes under his blindfold, “Believe what you want bro, you’re the one who insisted on doing it.”
The two burst out laughing against each other, allowing their laughs to fill the silence. The nest isn’t empty anymore.
—
From the ashes, a Phoenix will always return to keep living. Sometimes you need help to see why it’s worth it to continue though. Now, the Phoenix sees why it’s worth it.