Message of a Phoenix

As dawn floods the room with its magnificent light, a phoenix flies in through the window. Tallia already awake from a nightmare looks at the bird curiously and wakes up Navi. "Do you see it too, or am I still dreaming?" she groggily asks.

Navi slowly turns his head, but squeals in delight when he sees it. "That's a phoenix! Wow! I've never seen one in person before!" He is suddenly wide awake and doting over the bird sitting on his desk.

"What is it doing here?" Tallia curiously interjects. Her interest piqued at the confirmation of its existence.

"There's a note on its leg. I wonder who sent it," Navi reaches out to grab the note but jumps back when the bird nips at him. "That was mean! Bad phoenix!"

"It probably didn't like you just grabbing for it. You have to be nice," Tallia gently reaches towards the bird and asks, "May I please have the note?"

It reaches down and undoes the note from its leg with its beak. After placing the note in Tallia's hand it turns around and flies away.

"I wanted to pet it," Navi sadly pouts while staring out the window after it.

Tallia reads the note and gets excited to see it's from the Priests of Sun offering their help to fight against Dracome. She excitedly runs to t hbk e training ground to find Donae.

"Donae! You have to read this!"

Donae stumbles and gets smacked full force by the person he was training with. "Ow! What are you thinking distracting me while I'm training?"

"A good warrior cannot be distracted when they're fighting an opponent," she mocks him.

"Whatever," he puts his wooden sword away and walks toward the cafeteria.

They get their lunch as Tallia explains what happened this morning. "So I need to go and meet these priests to see what kind of help they can offer," she states.

"I'll not be able to come with you," he mutters. "There is too many people that still need to be trained and we aren't sure when Dracome will start attacking us."

Tallia slowly chews her food, "I should be okay without you coming. I've been training and studying about this place."

"That is exactly what I'm worried about! You only know this place from books and stories," he snapped. "There is more to the world than what makes it onto paper, and people can sugar coat or lie about their experiences. How can you be certain that you will know what to say if you run into someone whom you've never encountered their species or culture before?"

"I can't be certain, but I also cannot ignore an offer of help just because you are uncomfortable," she hissed back. "You can't keep me under your watch forever just because you're worried that I'll mess up."

He chucks his tray at the wall shattering it and storms out of the building. People silently look at their meals and avoid eye contact with Tallia as she walks out of the opposite door to pack for the journey.

When she arrives at her room there is a small satchel sitting on her bed with a note. She rolls her eyes as she reads it, "I am sorry for my outburst. Please take this jerky and book on some of the less common cultures of the area. It might be useful to you."

"Donae, you're annoying," she mumbles and folds the note up to place it in the satchel. Grabbing a second satchel from the trunk at the foot of her bed, she began packing herself a couple changes of clothes and some blankets.

Navi runs in the room and hugs Tallia by the waist. "Promise me you'll come back!"

"Yes, Navi, I promise. What's wrong?" She looks at him worriedly, "Was it a vision?"

"Yeah, but I can't tell you what it was," he stammers. "I just want you to promise that you'll come back."

"I promise," she hugs him tightly and rubs his hair. "I'll come back no matter what."

He nods quickly and runs back out to go play with the other kids. Tallia finishes packing her satchel and goes to the kitchen to get some food and canteens for water.

Nilicas, having recovered from his latest drinking binge, marched into the kitchen and slammed his hands on the counter. "Where is my breakfast? If I could, I would replace every one of the people in here!" he bellowed at any person within range. Then he spotted Tallia packing her satchel, "What do you think you're doing? Get my breakfast!"

"Nilicas, I don't work in the kitchen. I'm getting ready to go get more allies for the battle that is inevitably going to happen very soon," she states.

"Don't talk back to me! I'm in charge here," he grabs the nearest alcoholic beverage and chugs it. "You listen to me. Not the other way around!"

Tallia just rolls her eyes and puts her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you when I get back, Nilicas." She walks out of the kitchen as one of the cooks brings him food.

"Hello, Shadow," Tallia calls in a sing song voice. "Are you ready to go meet the Priests of Sun?"

'No, I wasn't even consulted about this at all,' he snorts. 'You just forget I exist until you need me.'

"Oh I don't forget you exist," she stammers. "Sometimes I just get busy and don't want to think too much."

'Whatever, you can make all of the excuses you want. I know how it is.'

Tallia straps the satchels to his sides and mounts the saddle. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, Shadow. We have this entire trip to make up for it, and I promise to pay more attention to you when we get back."

Shadow snorts and starts walking towards the gates of the fort. The guards at the gate start to open them when shouting from behind them gets their attention.

"I told you that you cannot leave without my permission!" Nilicas booms across the courtyard.

The door to the fort is open enough that Shadow just leaps out and starts leaving the fort behind in the dust. 'I really did not want to deal with him today,' he chuckles and just keeps going until the fort is barely visible on the horizon.