It was raining fire. Both Raidha and I were completely astonished in the middle of such a storm. The jungle was already hot, but adding those flames just literally turned it into hell. Both Raidha and I dared not move a single muscle. No, perhaps it would be more correct to say that we had forgotten how to do it.
The huge bursts of fire and burning balls did not stop falling. However, the fire itself did not seem to want to harm anyone, neither us nor those apes. Rather, it was as if its sole purpose was to make the animals flee without causing injury to either side. It was accomplishing it without fault.
When the last ape escaped, the flames stopped falling, giving way to a terrifying as well as fascinating spectacle. Above us, the bird made of fire illuminated the place as if it were the sun itself. Golden embers escaped from its small flaming body, creating little lights wherever it passed. From its tail, five long feathers were dancing freely among the sparks. A magnificent animal, that was all I could think of when I saw it.
"Woooow!" The princess barely managed to vocalize.
"Yes, I thought exactly that… I couldn't have said it better myself…"
That was the real image of the bird capable of being reborn from its ashes that I had always imagined. Well, it wasn't exactly what I expected, but despite being so small it was still impressive and its power overwhelming.
"Let's go, Raidha."
We moved a little closer to him, but the heat he gave off was so great that I even needed to cover my face with my hand to mitigate it a little. Realizing that, that little guy put out the flames on him.
The majesty that it had disappeared with them, leaving only a small and exotic bird that was already familiar to us. I extended my arm a little and he calmly landed on top.
"It's the same bird you released in the village!" Raidha shouted when she saw him.
"You realize it a bit late…" I replied as I tapped her on the forehead with a finger.
"I guess we'll have you to thank for this." I turned back to the bird.
"Yes, you arrived just in time. Thank you for helping!"
[You helped me too, it's the least I could do.]
"We can really talk normally. Honestly, it seems a bit strange to me" I laughed wryly.
"Did you ever get to talk to other people?" Raida asked.
[No one.]
"Normal, we're the weird ones."
—You certainly are.
Yes, especially me, who talks to himself…" I muttered. "Anyway, it's lucky you stopped by."
[With all that noise I figured someone was in trouble.]
"Those damn apes…"
[Those guys are terribly territorial. They attack without hesitation anything that enters their territory. Because of them this place is always on fire.]
Raidha and I laughed wryly at the same time. Surely if those apes attacked anything that entered their territory… well, it was easy to imagine the result of encountering a pyropo.
'He seems quite intelligent. It is hard to believe that he is a pyropo. Although…'
"You just displayed incredible power. I get the feeling your fire is more than enough to melt metal. Couldn't you have escaped from that cage easily?"
[Oh! I didn't think about it.]
'I take it back... he may be smart, but he still has a bird's brain…'
[But that would have been dangerous. I was too scared and wouldn't have been able to control the flames well. I might have harmed people unnecessarily during the escape.]
He could be right. Still, it seemed like a pretty stupid reason not to run straight away.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore... Anyway, what are you? I find it hard to believe you're the same as that," I said, pointing to a pyropo who had just foolishly fallen from a tree.
He was silent as he watched the silly bird get up and hopped off like an idiot.
[They didn't used to be this way. Before they were different, both physically and mentally.]
"As I thought, something happened to them… And that temple…"
[You already saw the ability to revive that we have. Some people believed they could take that power for themselves, so they started looking for ways to get it from us. We were hunted down and used as experimental material. They killed us over and over again in strange rites in a futile attempt to gain the power to escape death, and each time they died they degraded little by little, until they became mere empty shells moved simply by instinct.]
"Well, it's not a great instinct… Instead of trying to survive, it seems that they want to die over and over again."
[As they continue to die meaninglessly they continue to get worse.]
"Didn't they chase you?" Raida asked him.
The little bird was silent for a few seconds and although normally it is practically impossible to see the emotions of a bird I felt his face grow sad.
[No, they also chased me. Despite what they look like now, they used to be quite large. I have always been very small in comparison. It was much easier for me to escape and hide in the jungle. Also, the others always protected me.]
"With the power you displayed… How did they allow themselves to be hunted to such an extreme?"
"It 's true. I myself wouldn't dare to come close to anyone going up in flames."
[Their flames weren't that strong and I… prefer to avoid using my flames. Once when I almost got caught I ended up incinerating half the jungle.]
'It's a joke, right?'
[Besides, they never meant to harm anyone. Despite everything that happened, they asked me not to hurt anyone.]
"I see... well, it's lucky that you were at least willing to hurt those apes for us..."
"Attacking an animal is not the same as attacking people," Raidha replied in what seemed to be an attempt to comfort the bird.
"Raidha, he is an animal… and the people here are also half animal."
[I don't want to hurt anyone, but if it's necessary to help a friend I won't hesitate.]
His gaze seemed filled with determination as he said that.
—Listening to the nonsense of a bird is the greatest stupidity of the day.
"Probably the stupidest thing of the day is listening to you," I muttered.
—Moron , where are his friends now? He says that he won't hesitate to do harm for a friend, but it doesn't seem like he helped any of them.
"I suppose not…"
He probably felt quite guilty that he hadn't helped his friends at the time... and now it was too late.
"So all your friends ended up like this, right?" I asked.
The little bird nodded silently.
"Do you live alone in this jungle?"
He nodded again with a clear expression of loneliness.
"And there are no other people around that you can approach?"
[Most of the people here just see me as another animal or want to hunt me for one reason or another. Besides, we don't even understand each other.]
—I see…
It seemed a bit surreal to me to be talking to an animal as an equal, but using rational thought, humans do not stop being animals. So where was the line that separated a person from an animal? Could an animal with intelligence equal to that of a human be considered a person?
I had had that problem ever since I came to this world. I was able to consider the other inhabitants as people thanks to the fact that they were basically humans with animal characteristics, but if instead of being more similar to a human it had been the other way around, would I think the same?
'Apparently, for Raidha, a person is a humanoid being. To this bird, anyone with a modicum of intelligence seems to fall into that category. My colleague… I don't know if he even considers anyone a person.'
And for my part I was not even clear what to consider a person. Probably, taking into account the different species that I could find both in this world and in others, that would be an issue to take into account from now on.
"Well, I think it's time to get back on our way. We need to get out of this jungle as fast as possible...or at least get out of these guys' territory."
[I understand. I can accompany you until you are safe. Once out of their territory I don't think they'll give you trouble again.]
In a few minutes we were out of what seemed to be the territory of those apes.
[From here you should be fine. There is still a lot of jungle ahead, but with some care you shouldn't run into anything dangerous anymore.]
"Ehhhh, still a lot?! I see… Thanks for helping us get here," Raidha answered while she looked at me resentfully.
"Yeah, thanks for guiding us…"
Raidha waved good-bye and we started walking, leaving behind the little bird peering from a branch. I could still feel his eyes on the back of my neck even after taking a few steps.
"But you know… If you're really alone in this jungle…" I stood on the spot, "would you come with us?" I turned a little towards him.
I couldn't help a small smile from forming on my face.
[Come with you?]
"Hey!" Raidha hit me on my shoulder.
"I know…" I protested at Raidha's blow. "We… We're not exactly from here. Following us could be a problem for you, "I replied, scratching my head doubtfully. "But if there is nothing that ties you here, you can come with us… Honestly, it would help us a lot."
Seeing the state of his kind and how the inhabitants of this world treated him, I could understand quite well how lonely he was. Also, something inside me was reluctant to part with him. Apparently, despite having seen it only twice, I had already grown fond of the little animal. However, it's not like I want to force him to follow us.
"Let's see… if you come with us you'll probably never be able to come back here… but at least you'll have a couple of friends who can understand you."
I extended my hand to him, who stood silently watching it.
[Yes, I will come with you!]
The little bird flew straight at me, landing on my outstretched arm once more.
"Are you sure of this?"
"You don't like the idea, Raidha?"
Raidha stared at the bird for a few moments, until finally she smiled too.
"No, if you don't mind, neither do I."
—My opinion doesn't count?
"No."
"Eh?"
"No...no nothing...well, if you're going to come with us we'll have to know what to call you. I don't think calling you just 'bird' is very comfortable. Do you have a name?"
[I have never had one.]
"Then we'll have to give you one."
I was never good at giving names, but it couldn't be that hard either.
"How about... Pyro?"
"Amazing, your brain cells burned thinking about the name, right?" Raidha criticized me.
"At least I had brain cells to burn, not like a certain person," I countered.
[Pyro... My name, Pyro...]
A strange silence fell between us. I assumed he didn't like the name, but…
[Yes! Yes! Pyro is fine. Pyro will be my name! Pyro is Pyro's name! Pyro!]
I could practically see his eyes light up…literally… His joy was such that he took flight and started screaming his name everywhere. I never thought anyone could enjoy it so much that someone put a name to it.
"Right, I don't think we've introduced ourselves. You can call me Drayd and this is Raidha. Welcome to the group, Pyro."
Pyro landed back on my shoulder and jumped right into my hood. He was just the right size to fit in it, except for his long tail feathers that were left hanging behind my back. It looked like a bird that was returning to its nest. At the same time, it felt to me
as if a very dear relative had returned home. It made me happy that he had decided to come with us and I wanted him to stay by our side forever.
'Who knows, maybe I've finally found someone I can truly call a friend.'
"Okay, let's get out of this damn jungle."
"Yes!" Pyro and Raidha yelled at the same time.
And so, with our new companion acting as a guide, we resumed the path, leaving behind us a not so small fire... Nobody cared in the least.