The day begins to grow hot.

A pale form lolls beneath the shade of a lone palm tree, idly watching whales breaking the horizon. Wings itch with the urge to meet these gigantic creatures, to stroke their mighty heads. Their distant song reaches the shore with strange melodies, echoing through the barren beach with a tone as brassy and majestic as the creatures that sing them. The sand proves to be a worthy cushion to deal with such a divine weight, soft and cool, pleasing to recline upon. Israfel nibbles on a rather sad stalk of beach-grass, vermilion eyes intent on the antics of the aquatic mammals. It is brittle and briny on her tongue, but she likes the fishy taste of it, how she has to chew for the longest time before it disintegrates. It lasts long enough in her mouth, so she does not have to keep grasping for more. Anyways, she never really liked the dry cliff-grasses of the Edge; they are too soft and too bitter - she much prefers mother's milk, but those days are long gone. Childhood is swiftly leaving the young demigoddess, and the only fitting way to begin a new era would be to crown herself with a quest from her father, new magic. Amulet, zephyr feather, ruby from the Deep Forest. Absently, pink lips stroke a cool red facet nestled between two alabaster limbs, its color reflecting on her colorless hairs in bloody light. Where would she find the zephyr, or the amulet? They are rare things, mother said when Israfel asked her. Moodily, she slaps her (already) long tail on the sand, sending the tiny grains in a salty spray.

Israfel won't go actively looking for anything today, though; the growing demigoddess is busy watching whales. She needs whatever peace she can find - who knows what the future holds for her.

"Talk talk talk."

The whale song begins to wane as the day dragons on, and still the fire child lays in repose upon the shady beach sand. Breaking the silence, a sea-bird begins to caw raucously as he skim over the water, greedy beak held open to catch any stray fish. He does this for a while, and Israfel is quite surprised when she catches a silvery body slide easily inside that wide yellow mouth. With an expression of sheer contentment, pale wings sweep away from shore, the gull's belly filled happily to the brim. Vermilion eyes follow him as he sails over the beach, toward a distant shoreline. A lazy ear flicks backward, and the bird disappears completely, enveloped by the welcoming green of the forest. Sighing, unappeased and bored, the girl regards the ruby jewel between her knees with deep uncertainty; she does not want to make father wait - she does not want him thinking that she is slow and useless. Cloven hooves dig into the dry sand, and idly, she watches the grains trickle away from the gilded horn of her feet, until there is nothing but the mesmerizing glow of sunlight on pure gold. Pink eyelids snap shut, long, pale eyelashes keeping the brightness from her eyes. Where will she find a zephyr? Who will care to spare her a precious amulet? But she desperately wants to please him - her father is her god, her idol, the sun of her sky and the light of her life. She cannot, will not, make him regret her creation for a second, even if that meant tossing every last creature into the sea and making sure that they drown.

In that same moment, a cry pries apart the silence and her frantic thoughts. It is almost like a scream, most certainly of the avian variety. She opens her eyes quickly, clambering frantically onto her feet and searching the skies. Lo and behold, her sprawling blue dress is no longer empty; suspended between the cosmos and the earth is a black and white thing, too large to be a gull. With it, there hangs the slightest, unmistakable trace of fire rolling off broad pale wings. Eyes widen - can it be? She unfurls her wings into the sunlight, the elaborate motifs sprawling across them glistening in the way only untarnished gold can. Israfel brandishes her pink nose towards the sky, flapping her wings until she begins to gain altitude. "Hey!" she calls, bolting as quickly as her feathers and the air below her allow toward the duo. They become clearer within a few moments; a piebald pegasus and a phoenix, a zephyr! It intrigues her instantly - how beautifully formed the bird is, how lovely are the flames rolling off her scrumptious cream-colored feathers!

Feeling as if she should prove herself to this fellow child of fire, the daughter of light summons the magic dwelling inside of her. Flames unfurl themselves from the markings on her wings, enveloping them entirely. Soon, when she draws close, Israfel appears a true child of divinity, like fire in the flesh. She is a firebird, a new goddess entire with twings that seem to be made entirely of fire (of course that isn't true; they are merely set alight, the flames riding on top of her feathers). With blazing orange eyes, the child meets the stallion and his zephyr with a bold smile and an inferno riding on her wings. "Hello," she chirps, angling herself so that she is flying parallel to the paint, noting his golden hooves with approval. "Your friend is lovely." Eyes drift toward Fina, admiring the bird, letting her gaze trace the sheer beauty of the phoenix. "My name is Israfel, and I was wondering - could you help me with my quest?"