火 (Huǒ meaning Fire or Temper)

I shifted. Why was the sun so bright? I stuck my head in my paws and tried to shift the rising sense of panic.
"She shouldn't exist. She can't exist." Oh, great. I've only lived a week and people are already doubting my existence.
"But she does exist." My mother, Cape, muttered. "I'd rather you just accepted I have a daughter and stop yapping."
"The fifty years are not up for another year or so." Another voice. "So how?"

I opened my eyes and…


Colours sparkled and danced in my eyes like a kaleidoscope clicking into place. Oranges and reds were rich and sharp, greens and blues duller. I swept my gaze around, ignoring the flutter of wings as I took my first glance at the world. It was so clear, so sharp, that even my muffled, blurry dreams did not come up to scratch. Detail like nothing I'd smelt in my sleep.
"Wow." My first word. I almost scoffed. Wow. What kind of word was 'wow'? I could have picked any of the witticisms that rose up in my throat, only to pick 'wow'? I was ashamed.
"Her eyes are peculiar." Another wolf murmured. "Amber. Very clear and focused for someone as… young." Young. Well caught, elder one. Well caught indeed.
"She has your pelt, Cape." Another spoke. "But her fathers eyes and… Ehem. Wings." Wings? I turned and looked.
Fire. I stretched them experimentally. They obeyed. Flames licked mother's fur, but it did not catch light. No-one kept it a secret my father was a phoenix. I decided to take some steps. I felt weak on my paws, but a strong burst of strength helped me. My father did not want to be apart from me, even if he was stuck in the volcano.
"Her father indeed. His blue sparks dance in her eyes." Talking in riddles, again.
"Could you please stop talking in riddles? I'm not foolish but you can't keep secrets from me." I snorted.

My next few days were a waterfall of experiences I still cherish. My first drink, cool, crisp water that parched my thirst. My first meal, the sweet, meaty scent clinging to my fur. My first game, chasing the tails of the other pups who scampered around. With every step I could feel my muscles toughen, harden, become more wiry. My wings grew almost explosively, doubling their size in the first two days of opening my eyes.
And my first flight. Twitching my long, broad wings in response to the clawing wind. I was built to soar, to glide higher than any wolf had before. Each flap taking me higher and higher, higher than I had ever dreamed. Wing tugging at my fur, squinting against the warm sun as I looped and curved, dived, then rose again, twisting, corkscrewing, enjoying each and every flap of my wings. I enjoyed every single minute, and even as my chest and shoulder muscles burned with the effort, I wanted to spend forever up here.
Never tire, my daughter.
The words were so sudden that I faltered, and as I scrambled for the wind to snatch me back up. I gave a shriek.
Tight jaws clenched around my scruff, my mother's tawny wings keeping us both aloft. She dropped back to the earth, a dust cloud exploding sharply around me.
"Don't ever, ever frighten me like that!" She scolded. I had offended her.
The next day, she disappeared. I found her scent mingled with crow garlic, and I decided to investigate. My sharp nose tracked the scent of garlic up to the volcano, beyond the line of trees that lined the Faia clan den. I twitched my tail. My mother was watching the volcano, a silent conversation passing between my mother and father.
Please don't interfere, Brooklyn. Wiry blue flames entrapped my limbs, pinning me down. I will release you if you promise to leave.
"I'll leave." I whispered. The flames dissolved.

I never forgot the encounter, and it thoroughly scared me. I decided, if my mother went to the volcano, never to approach it again. I blocked out my father, half of fear, half of simple annoyance. He tried to get through, but eventually, he gave up.

I first met a Dusk Wolf whilst hunting by the coast. I didn't like water. My entire nature told me to keep away. I was a creature of fire and fire only.
The Dusk Wolf was wandering up and down the coast. Her coat was a soft blue-grey, mauve wings held taut above her body. She was older than me by three years or so. Her body was covered in scars. She was murmuring something about Astic. Or something like that.
"What do you want, elder?" I snarled. She looked up, her navy eyes drilling into mine.
"Get away, little one." She snapped, then continued her lumbering search. That was it. This was Faia territory. She did not belong here.
I leapt on her, digging my claws into her shoulders and wings. She howled, rolling over and squashing me beneath her. I snarled, getting a mouthful of ragged, dirty fur. I bit down, and she howled again. Then she was gone.
I leapt up, casting around. She was walking off as if nothing had happened. I growled, leaping on her again and tearing, and tearing, and tearing, digging my claws deeper and deeper, and she howled louder and louder…
"Alright, I'll leave!" She said suddenly. I let her go, and she shot off like a bird. Like a bird that I was about to eat.

My first love was the Moon.
Oh, not the moon itself, you morons. Tsuki. Tsuki was part unicorn. I know, I know. I fell in love with a part unicorn. But I did.
He was the closest thing to a friend I had. We were... we were whole. He let me forget all of my lies and my life. We were... I dunno. We just were.
It began with a hunt. Almost dead with exhaustion, I went to the lapping pool for a drink when a soft touch on my shoulder made me look up, and there was Tsuki, with that soft look being part horned-horse gave him.
"Erm, Brook? I was wondering... erm.. if you'd like to.. you know, go hunting with me?"
I'd had something of a crush on him for a while, and I couldn't say no despite the lack of energy in my limbs.
You could say, the rest was history.

A few months later, my mother was reported pregnant again. This time, the 50 years were up. She was going to have the phoenix's true daughter now, the one that never aged, the one with unlimited wisdom. I had all but obliterated my parents from my head. Wounded at their ignorance, I blocked them out.
Mother's pregnancy did not last long. I was full grown now, and by time I heard she had given birth, I was exhausted with work. I worked as a hunter, and I hunted longer than could have been good for me, trying to avoid the clan. I gained an almost cynical sense of humour, dark and scary. Wolves ignored me.
So, instead of go and look at the phoenix's 'true' daughter, I fell straight asleep in my den and refused to come out until I had rested.
Something disturbed me though, I could feel something like a tumour, but not, resting on my mind. Something dark, flickering with menace. It was making me grumpy, and sapped my strength.
I stayed aloof for three days, then gave in and went to see her. She was golden all over. Her wings were small and were almost shiny, and she had a tail of feathers. I remained unimpressed. Mother called her "Taiyo".
Taiyo's appearance only stunted my defence against the tumour-like thing. It was now a fully-fledged demon, born from my hatred and cynical beliefs. The creature was purple and vicious, and appeared to be able to defend itself unbelievably well.
Taiyo did not grow, and with that I found that Taiyo could not enjoy the experience of growing up. Her wings did not grow explosively, she could not enjoy the feeling of her muscles growing. I found myself content with that much. For all my mother and father's pride, she could never be like me. Never strong and big. She was stuck as a down-chasing pup her whole life.
That much, I could be happy with.
Spring, then summer, then autumn past in a flurry of colour. I was as cynical as ever, and the demon on my mind grew. It was almost controlling. Sometimes, it was it that spoke, not I. I was terrified.
Taiyo was kept in the clan whilst I worked even harder. I was two years old, considered fully grown in the wolf world. The demon, if anything, made me angry and determined. I caught more prey that winter than I had in the summer. The clan was not starving.
When spring came, disaster struck for Taiyo. I was resting in my den, watching Taiyo play in the blossoms that fell like snow. One of the females turned around to Cape and snarled at her -
"She doesn't deserve the tail-feathers of a phoenix!"
I sat upright. My side, the side not crouched on by the demon, felt a tad concerned.
"She deserves it more than you." Cape replied calmly.
"My cub deserves it more than Taiyo does!"
The argument escalated. Mother took Taiyo by the scruff, and trotted off with the other wolf yelling curses and names across the clearing. I broke my promise not to follow mother to the volcano. I didn't care about the consequences, but looking back, I wish I had not.
"Go, Taiyo. Fly off." Mother said. There was a pause - the phoenix speaking.
"Alright, dad. I will." She said. Then, with a nod, she took off.

I followed her.

I suddenly gave a startled cry and fell to the ground, a rip occuring deep within me. I knew what was coming. Why now? Oh god...
I gave a sharp cry, and a ball of fur appeared. Oh god oh god ohgodohgod. I licked the ball, too driven by my motherly instinct to care. I licked and licked the ball until it mewled softly.
Another rip, followed by another scream, followed by another, darker ball of fur. Ohgod.
"Brook!"
It was Tsuki. He raced at me, eyes wide in terror. I looked at the stubby little horns on their heads. Oh god...
"They're yours." I murmured. I'd had the moon's children. I was confused, then... "Take them, please."
"What?!" He cried.
"Take them!" I scrambled for an excuse. "I'm too young to have pups."
"What?" He cried. "You're... abandoning them?!" I nodded numbly.
"I have to." I mouthed softly.
"No you don't. You can stay. Me and you, we can run away." He scrambled, terrified of... losing me?
"No. I can't love you anymore." A lump appeared in my throat. "I-I can't. Goodbye." I turned on him and my pups, and began to walk away. With a thump, I was bowled over.
"I won't let you!" He cried.
"I have to! For Taiyo!"
I went beserk. I let my power go. Flames rolled up my throat, and then, onto Tsuki. When they died down, I recoiled. I'd burnt half of him beyond recognition.
I turned and fled.

Wind battered me from all sides. Taiyo had already taken for the mainland hours ago, and I regretted leaving it so long. A storm whipped me, left to right, right to left. My wings were not for endurance. They were for soaring. I felt myself tire more than I had ever felt. I felt my father reach for me, but the demon made me pull away.
Something plucked me from the air and crashed me into the water. I opened my mouth to cry out, and water rushed inside. The demon made my legs pump, but for what, I didn't know. My vision was darkening. I could feel myself dying.
My head broke the surface. How disorientating. I gulped down air, then I was pulled back under. I span and span around.
My wings beat quickly. They were still a pair of flickering flames, and I broke the surface of the water. The storm threw me, my fur damp, against the cliff. I lay in a wet heap for several minutes. Then I shook the water from my fur.
Something strange happened. A rock had sliced my shoulder up when I hit the cliff, and a small flame flickered across the wound. When it extinguished, the prickly pain was gone. It had healed.
That was strange. My power was the power to create and manipulate fire. That, until I was no longer the daughter of a phoenix, would be. Not healing. But the demon couldn't make itself care.
The demon grinned, a wild look in my eyes. And as it took off, I knew that my legacy had begun.