From the Ashes (w/ Holey, M)

[PendragonXeno94]

As the day dragged on, a young Phoenix had made her way through the trees to keep out of the sun. She had almost slipped off the branches once or twice, but she was able to keep her balance. Her white hair held red and orange highlights and was tangled from not being brushed for some time. Her coppery freckled skin was dotted in dirt. Silver eyes remained vigilant as she made her way down, being careful not to damage her tail feathers.

Moving along, the Phoenix found herself by the small waterfall she frequented. She discarded her tattered clothing in favor of jumping into the water, vigorously scrubbing her skin free of the dirt. She tried her best to detangle her hair but without a brush, she was unable to. Her necklace rested upon her chest, showcasing a white elephant in fire topaz. She started swimming around, letting her tail feathers be on display. Her feathers showed a white hue with red and orange eyespots as she dunked her face in the water. Soon, she was simply swimming around rather than bathing.

[Holeypaladin]

There were reports of flying creatures burning villages in the area. With the dragon war now raging the world, a red dragon slayer was dispatched to seek out the menace in the area and slay it. Some of the reports were varied and conflicting... did the creatures have two legs or four? Were they human, bird, lizard, or something else? Regardless, they were in fact a real threat, so a real warrior was sent to deal with them.

At this moment, however, the knight was weary. His water supply had run low, and hearing the sound of a waterfall in the distance, he decided to make his way over to the source of the noise. As he arrived, however, he saw that he was not alone... someone else was apparently using the water as a pool, swimming around without a care in the world. It was quite obvious that it was a woman... a very attractive woman... but what was most unusual was the fact that she had feathers. A harpy? But he didn't sense any malice from her... so he approached and sat on the edge of the water, watching her swim.

[PendragonXeno94]

She hardly noticed the knight that had approached as she dove under the water, letting her tail fan out. Her father had mentioned before that their fathers were highly valued and that other races hunted them for them. But she managed to stay away from everyone so far. Now that she was alone, she just... let herself wander. She had always wandered, but with her freedom she could explore to her heart's content.

Surfacing, she shrieked as she covered her body by submerging it once more with her head poking out. The human in question was just sitting on the edge of the water. Maybe he was one of those that hunted Phoenixes like her father had warned her about. Moving to the side with her body still concealed, the woman glanced at him as she went to hide herself in the thicket. After drying herself off and redressing, she slowly began to approach him, tail feathers fanned out. She had crouched to his level to tap on his helmet and armor. She even looked at her own reflection in it. Once she determined that he wasn't going to harm her, she giggled as she disappeared into the forest, wanting him to chase after her.

[Holeypaladin]

Chuckling at the girl's reaction to being seen swimming naked, the knight just casually sat still, filling up his water skins in the waterfall. He managed to steal a few glanced of her whenever he could, but she seemed a bit shy, so he was content to leave her be for the time being. Her feathers were rather interesting... not harpy feathers, but something more unique. He scanned her with his spirit sense to figure out her true nature... phoenix. Well, that explained a lot. She was walking with phoenix down on her butt.

Before long, she had dressed and seemed to slowly approach him, tap him, and run off. That was... odd. What exactly was that for? Was she... playing? "Oh..." he said, "Does this mean I'm it?" He was suddenly reminded of a children's game... she didn't look like a child, but if she wanted to play tag... well, he had nothing better to do at the moment. Standing to his feet, he chased off after the girl, navigating his way into the forest after her.

[PendragonXeno94]

As she scurried through the bushes, she climbed back into the trees, her feathers swishing as she vanished into the canopy. Perching on a branch for a moment, she watched as he came through. The Phoenix kept to the trees, wanting to hide for a few moments longer. Silver eyes followed him as she went deeper until she positioned herself behind a fallen tree.

She wasn't exactly sure what her father meant since the human was playing with her. Getting as close as she could, she held her feathers down as she crept behind him. It was so hard not to giggle as she peered over his shoulder. Backing up, she released her feathers, letting them fan out as she slipped into another part of the forest before folding them once more. This went one for another five or ten minutes before finally she went back to the trees to prepare pouncing on him.

[Holeypaladin]

The girl was playing with him... this much was obvious. The knight noticed the way she hid, climbed trees, and snuck up on him... but for the time being, he decided not to make it obvious that she noticed his presence. She seemed like a cute, playful, mostly harmless creature... he certainly didn't feel like he was in any real danger, nor did he portray the impression that he was hunting the girl down for malicious means. "Hellooooo," he said out loud, knowing she could hear him, "You knoww you can't hide forever..."

Pausing for a bit, he heard sounds from a tree behind him. So, she was climbing it... but for what reason? Still pretending not to notice her, he glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye. It looked like she was about to pounce... waiting until the last minute, he would turn as she began her pounce in order to catch her in his arms and hold her. "Gotcha!"

[PendragonXeno94]

Leaping to pounce on him, she yelped in surprise when he caught her in his arms. She was held in his arms, she reached and tried to stick her fingers into his helmet to see his face. This was the first time in a few years that she had seen a human up close. They looked like her but they lacked feathers and most of them didn't have powers. Her plumage flicked as she wanted to peek inside the thing.

She knocked on his armor lightly as she peered down at his weapons. What would he do with those? Did he mean to catch her so he could finish her later? Curiosity got the better of her as she ignored the possibly fatal alternative as she climbed down and inspected his personal arsenal. Once she was satisfied, she looked back up as she tried to read his face. The helmet seemed to block it, though.

"H-Hello?" she asked timidly. As she circled around him, her tail feathers twitched in agitation as she kept looking him over. She even had her hands running over him, not really meaning anything by it. She was touching an actual human! "Hello?" she asked again, tapping on his armor. "What are you doing out here? How did you find me?"

[Holeypaladin]

Catching the girl in his arms, he gave her a closer look. It was unusual to him to see a phoenix in a humanoid form... typically, they only used their bird forms. Well, he supposed that if dragons and beastfolk could take a human form, it wasn't too much of an exaggeration to think that some phoenix breeds were like another type of beastfolk... after all, the world was very, very big.

He let the girl examine him for a bit. She was a curious one... cute, too. She seemed overly fascinated by his equipment... such as his armor and weapons. Well, he had a lot more weapons at his disposal than the ones she was able to inspect, but she didn't need to know all of his abilities. Chuckling as she inspected him, he removed his helmet so that she could see him a bit better.

"Hi there," he said, giving her a brief wave. "Would you believe that it was coincidence that lead me to find you? I'm actually out here investigating reports of red dragons in this area..." he shrugged. "You wouldn't happen to know of any giant scaled lizards with wings flying around burning villages with their fire breath, would you? Also, what's your name, pretty girl?"

[PendragonXeno94]

She did have a bird form, but she was informed when she was younger that she put herself in more danger if she took that form. So she stuck with her humanoid form. The Phoenix paused for a moment. Red dragons? She hadn't seen any. Shaking her head, she reached up to touch his cheek. It felt like hers! Her hands hastily went for his hair, which she had ruffled all over the place.

"I haven't seen them," she said, "but they're probably closer to where I used to live." She paused when asked for her name. "It's Tati. Well, actually it's Tatiana, but I've always gone by Tati." Continuing to caress his hair, she marveled that how it felt like hers as well. His hair was even darker than hers. And his eyes! They weren't silver, but she always wondered if humans could have the same colored eyes as Phoenixes. "What's your name?" Excitedly, she moved her hands over his body, trying to figure out why the rest of his body was hard and cold but his face was soft and warm.

[Holeypaladin]

The phoenix girl seemed very interested in touching and examining him. To give her a taste of her own medicine, he reached out to touch her cheek as well. He touched her hair, as well, stroking and sliding his fingers through it as he gazed into her eyes. Her eyes were of an unusual color, but most of her features were indeed quite humanoid. With a shrug, he continued to touch her as he felt her hands over him.

"Nice to meet you, Tati," he said, continuing to stroke her hair, feeling how soft it was and sliding his fingers through it. "You're pretty, Tatiana," he said with a chuckle. His name? Pausing bit, he gave it some thought. "Hmm... Wilhelm," he said with a nod, pronouncing the W like a V. "I'm a dragon slayer. Where is it that you used to live?" As he felt her hands roam over her, he let his own hands wander hers, and eventually they settled on her breasts, gently caressing them. Soft, squishy... very feminine, for sure.