on this fated night (private, kiran)

The night. The sun god sleeps. The turning of the globe hides Kiran's god's precious rays from him, reflecting them in poor imitation from a frigid rock floating up in space that dictated the ocean's tide. It brought darkness, cold, and controlled water. So basically everything he fundamentally wasn't fond of on principle alone. Phoenixes of any alignment could still draw strength from these accursed recycled rays of light, but his own talents waned under it. The flames and sun-like light and heat he wielded shrunk like testicles in cold water. Water doused his flames, the ocean had once been a torturous watery prison, and his own talent waned in the false glow. Basically, his blessed flames, light, and heat shrunk like testicles in cold water.

The sun phoenix gazing out his dorm window much preferred to be getting up to either distracting activities or sleeping at these literally ungodly hours, but tonight was one of those. A terror had woke him, robbed him of his blissful sleep. Even after calming, reclaiming it was eluding him. His jealousy over his roommates light breaths of slumber put him in a bit of a mood, enough to give up for the time being. Quietly he pulled his legs up into the windowsill and leaped off. Bright wings appeared instantly on his back, glowing and warm, and plenty big to handle his weight and size. Their hues were just as warm as suggested, like feathery flame with the oranges, reds, and yellows. The tattooed boy took to the sky, hoping to clear his head enough to return to sleep before the sun rose once more and called him to his morning jog.

Reaching back to tie long ebony locks into a bun to keep the wind from tangling it, his eyes noticed another figure in the sky. Something ethereal and fluffy white. If his eyesight hadn't been literally as keen as a bird's, he might not have recognized the now horned individual, but he could swear the soaring being was the kid he'd met on his first day. Seth, wasn't it? Well, he'd soon find out if he was right or wrong. "Hey, Seth!" he called, waiting to see if his classmate would acknowledge him.

"Despite most of my other meetings here, announcing my species status generally isn't on my list of first things to do upon greeting," Kiran quipped good-naturedly, though he did suppose an explanation was in order. He was only showing his bird wings in a partial transformation, since any more than that usually got him labeled a flaming chicken or turkey. Who was he kidding? That happened anyway as soon as they found out. Couldn't he just be a majestic, immortal bird and be respected as such? Really, comparing him to food was so uncreative and rude. He didn't go around calling humans annoying meat bags, now did he? Maybe Seth could relate, now that it was revealed he wasn't human either. But...what was he? "I'm a phoenix, so you're right. Not human," grinned the boy with fiery pride. "but please, don't call me a roasted chicken. It gets old, but remains a very common tease for some reason."

Kiran never really minded prying questions. He wasn't the type to walk on eggshells around people and their feelings, though he did recognize some things were off limits. For him it was talk of the war, since he'd lived through it and remained haunted all these years later. However, explaining why he was rarely out at night wasn't skirting too close to war territory. It's not like he was obligated to tell the also not-human boy he shared the airspace with that his nightmares of days long past had driven him out under the moon god's mocking gaze. "I'm more of a morning person than a night person. The more sunlight I can get, the better. But I couldn't sleep, and I hate staying still for too long. Maybe some fresh air will help," mused the fire bird, giving his orange wings a few healthy flaps so he could maintain his altitude. Seth's introspective comment didn't go unnoticed, so he turned curious peridot eyes on him. "Why are you outside, Seth? I'll admit, I'm a little surprised to see you with wings soaring up here as well..."

Kiran wasn't one to have prejudices, but the mention of the moon god had him wondering if it was the same one that attempted to taint a phoenix's rebirth with evil and lead them to break phoenix law. What the pegasus described didn't smell of malfeasance, so he'd just assume there was more than one moon god in the world, or else one of their religions was wrong. He didn't like dwelling on that idea, so he'd just keep in mind to be a little wary. The kid seemed pure enough, but perhaps some thing were engrained into him whether he liked it or not. Losing someone close to the consequences on bad rebirths and moon god shenanigans, perhaps he was too close to the situation to reliably pass judgements.

As the boy bathes in moonlight suggested they continue their flight, he nodded and followed closely, finding company to be a great distraction. "Yeah, phoenixes are pretty fiery. We were created and been blessed by the sun god, so we draw strength from its rays. We're like opposites," the tattooed boy joked, a brash smile creeping onto his lips. He was partially serious, but he meant no threat or shade. It was more of an observation. "I guess our most obvious trait immortality. Rebirth by ash and flame. It's pretty handy," Kiran grinned idly doing a barrel roll in the air to the left and basking in the wind against his skin. While he generally disliked night time, he couldn't deny that the silence and privacy it afforded was nice. "Generally we're pretty fearless, since even if we take a fatal blow we just turn to ash and an egg forms to give us life again. I mean, we do have some tricky rebirth trials and high expectations from our leader, but otherwise we can do what needs done no matter how dangerous. Not that we're easy to kill, mind you," he explained, obviously proud of his species. "That comes with its own...hazards. Others feel less bad about trying to use us for alchemy ingredients or other nasty ideas since they have no death on their conscience, but for the most part no one has tried for a long time." Now Seth knew a super simple, watered down version about the glorious firebirds, but it was plenty of knowledge to work from.

Had he met any of Seth's kind in the war? He couldn't recall. It was hectic back then, and who knew. Maybe the pegasus people were too isolated to take part at the time, or maybe they were even too new. Plenty of new species had evolved in the last three hundred and twenty odd years. The fluffy white wings and .l;op0- horn from his head were interesting, but was that all an alatum was? Maybe he should ask. Perhaps if he made sure, he could recall if he knew any in the past. "So...phoenixes are birds," the teen commented, momentarily turning into a giant, human sized bird painted the colors of the sun and flame, and clothed in impressively lengthy feathers dancing with fire. The full transformation was only a moment before he reverted back to his human form with just the wings remaining. "What is an Alatum? Are they from Mistere?"