Flaming Wings

Part 12

Trekking up the bare mountain, although not bothered by the heat, was taxing. Ace was mainly worried the feather head wouldn't be at the top, like he had hoped he was.  There was nowhere else to check after Burning Pyre; there was also the possibility that Sak had flown away from the island and left altogether. The thought of it hurt a bit.

There was only so long they could wait for the feather brain to return; the sea was where they, as pirates, belonged.

     Before his negative thoughts could get out of hand, Ace reached the summit.  His eyes widened at the sight.  It was like a hot springs, but filled with lava and birds of brilliantly warm colors.

He moved so that he would skid into the creator like space with the birds. The birds eyed him for a moment before returning to bathing in lava; unbothered by humans they only knew as creatures who minded themselves. Ace walked around on the less than stable ground, as he searched for Sak. He had thought he had seen the bird several times however each time it turned out to only be a similarly golden colored bird. Eventually Ace stumbled upon the wrong bird. He had wandered into her nest which upset the giant greatly. He turned into fire to try to avoid the powerful peck, but the Phoenix was still able to get him. The scene influenced the entire odyssey to begin chasing him away.

The sound of a hundred wings flapping behind him sent Ace running. He sent back his signature Fire Fist but the phoenixes' resistance to fire overcame the hardy attack. It proved to only further anger the birds as they picked up speed and the amount of furious cries picked up. The birds brushed against each other in their haste causing sparks to fly.

Ace found himself against the rocky wall surrounding the birds domain. He began to climb the steep incline, but the birds began nearing at an incredible rate; Ace could almost feel their beaks and claws grabbing at him. As the impending attack neared he began to ready his devil fruit more. Heating his body he was ready to turn into flames at any second, but a mound of orange feathers came rushing at him from the side. It was the mother bird from earlier; she rammed into his side, taking Ace by surprise, making him lose his footing and fly before hitting the ground again.

Quickly Ace got onto his knees attempting to get back to his feet, when they closed in.  Finally only a centimeter away from his face a cluster of radiant gold feathers burst in front of him.  Cawing at the other Phoenixes Sak had arrived.  Sak tried to look bigger by puffing up feathers and having wings outstretched.  Loud screeches from the other side resounding along with Sak's and it was loud enough to be heard back in the town as fierce roars.

     Not making progress on pushing the odyssey further back from Ace Sak whipped around and scooped up Ace so that he was on his back.  Taking the chance Sak flew up into the sky to escape.