Hako can't fly? Yes he can!

Hako was born into one of the larger communities of phoenix, living amongst older and wiser birds. He grew up with only a few other birds that were around his age, which wasn’t a lot but enough to make friends.

As he grew, like his peers, he learned how to adopt his winged form. Excited, he climbed a tree to test his new ability and with a leap, he majestically flew fell. Well, he managed to glide a bit, neglecting a small portion of the fall damage he endured, but it didn’t change the fact that he was unable to fly. His peers and elders tried to help him, and he also spent a lot of alone time trying to flap his wings, yet he never succeeded. It was a weird phenomenon, as most phoenixes learned how to fly as soon as they acquired their winged form.

As stubborn as he is, he kept trying, again and again. He mastered gliding, and that was a good beginning. However, what’s more important to a bird was flying, and he still hasn’t learned to do so.

His community encouraged him to join the Academy as it was pretty unusual to see a phoenix that cannot fly. They hoped that someone could help him with his odd problem. Attending the school would also be beneficial for learning how to handle his own fire magic, which has already started to reveal its power. Hako wasn’t too fond of the idea, since everyone knows birds should be capable of flight. What if people aren’t as nice as his community? He made sure to only let the staff know of his debuff, and hopefully the other students won’t find out and make fun of him.

Q&A Time!

• Q - How are you doing, Hako? "Oh! I’m feeling good today. Everyday is a good day! Except when it’s literature blabla day. I can already talk, why do I need to learn more?? >:T”
• Q - Can you fly? "Yeah. I can show you my wings, but I'm too tired to fly. Flying is sooo exhausting... //sigh" (Lie)
• Q - What sport do you dislike the most? "Uhhhhh... Maybe swimming? It might be because of my species, but swimming makes me sooo tired. I thik it's the water! Something about water makes me feel weird."
• Q - What is your goal in life? "I want to f- ffff? Fry... fish!! Sorry, I was thinking about food.. HUH?!?! FRY MERMAID?? But, do mermaids taste like fish?? //chuckles to himself"
• Q - Who's someone you look up to? "!!! You don't know him but... he's an elder in my home, and he often uses his true form. Uhh a true form, for a phoenix, is when we turn into an actual phoenix!! Bird form!! And when he does, he gets super big and strong and when he starts flying, there's a lot of wind around him. He's also super good with magic!!! There was a time where- huh? Oh, was I talking too much??? I swear he's cool :T"
• Q - Can you use magic? "Well yeah. I'm a phoenix!!! Apparently, we're supposed to learn how to use magic with books here. I saw people in my home use it without books though?? They must be so strong, they don't need books!!!!"
  (Because of their affinity with fire, phoenixes can use fire magic without any items. However, when it comes to other elements, that's a different story.)
• Q - What's your favorite food? "Every food. Ever. Wait, actually, no. I don't like meat. The meat that walks. I mean, every meat except fish. Fish is so good!🤤🤤"

The Phoenix Species

Legends say that the phoenix is a mythical bird that has the ability to be reborn from its ashes. This story isn’t far off from reality. Being rare creatures, phoenix birds live hidden in the highest mountains, hiding inside caves no human can ever hope to reach. These birds live in small communities, minimizing the chances of hunters finding them. Although powerful, more often than not, these hunters come equipped and ready to obtain their feathers, often through inhumane methods. These feathers, afterall, are valuable on the black market since it's said they bring luck and wealth, and provide an everlasting source of heat and fire magic.

A phoenix usually has three forms: a human form, which is an attempt to blend in with the crowds; a winged form, which provides the ability of fast travel to their human bodies by adding wings to it; and finally, a true form, which allows a phoenix to majestically reveal their true appearance and power. From a young age, they naturally learn how to transform from human to winged at will, as the ability to fly is crucial for a bird. However, the true form can only be reached with wisdom and immense magical power. The youngest phoenix to have reached its true form was 26 years old, which proves how difficult it is to attain it.

Once a phoenix reaches the end of its lifespan, its body combusts in a magical display of flames, emitting a dangerous amount of sparks. After the fire settles down, only ashes remain. The phoenix is then reborn from the ashes, young and with no memory of its previous life. During the resurrection process, any bystanders have to abide by two rules: ( 1 ) Never touch, or throw the ashes away; ( 2 ) Never remind a phoenix of its previous life. Nobody knows why these rules exist, nor what would be the consequences of breaking them, but all there is to know is that awful stories surround transgressors.

Finally, what’s not mentioned in any legend is the bird’s affinity to fire magic. A fully grown phoenix is said to be capable of causing dangerous tornadoes of fire, or even extreme heat, being able to destroy its surroundings. Of course, these are stories told from generation to generation from thousands of years ago. This species of birds is usually passive and harmless, which led to many believing these stories as false. But, who knows what the phoenix truly hides?

First impressions! (These are only his thoughts, he probably won't ever say this out loud + probs got ur species wrong)

• Entering the Academy for the first time “So bigggg 😳😳😳 So many creatures I’ve never seen before!!! Am I really allowed to be here?? I don’t see other phoenixes…”
• Shiri first impression “So they allow humans here too?? Can humans even use magic? She seems like she can help me with that stupid literature blabla class though. Hmmmm🤔”
• Seiya first impression “THAT’S AN ELF???? Does his ears help him hear better?? Woahh I wonder if his species lives with humans… I should ask him about elves!!!”
• Ichiro first impression “!!!! He has wings too!! Definitely not a phoenix though… what is he??? I want to ask but… he looks a bit scary. Or maybe he’s just focused? I’ll ask later……………” (He says that but he’ll never ask ‘cause he is too intimidated by him.)
• Orion first impression “LOL what’s that thing on top of his head?? Wait, I’ve heard that some ogre species have horns… but I thought they looked scary. Oh, he’s falling asleep. How silly. //chuckles”
• Nimue first impression “Oh!!! A zombie!!! Huh?!?! Water?!?!!? Are zombies supposed to do that?? Did she… PEE HERSELF?!!?!?! //Looks away and laughs”
• Flon first impression “Wings!! Wait, those are fairy wings!!! His wings look so thin though… Ahh, what if someone broke them?😰 I hope he takes care of them. Being unable to fly is uncool. 😭😭”
• Penny first impression "SO SMALLL!!!! I didn't know there were creatures that small!!! What if she gets stepped on????😨😨😨 I hope it never happens!! //looks down & scans the floor"
• Jia-sensei first impression “😳😳😳Their wings… They look so strong... Why are my wings so weak?? 😢😢 I just wanna fly too. 😭😭”