!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!
THIS IS A SEQUEL TO MY FIC CHILD OF SITHIS. THIS WILL NOT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL IF YOU DON'T READ THAT FIRST, NOT EVEN THIS CHAPTER AS A ONE-SHOT. EVERYONE WHO READ CHILD OF SITHIS, WELCOME BACK! I KNOW PHOENIX USED TO BE 13, BUT HE IS NOW 14 FOR... UH... REASONS. ENJOY!

"The Phoenix Bird, with emerald eyes,
Circles dark and misty skies,
Red as flames is it's coat,
Soft crimson plumage at it's throat,
It cannot die, the Phoenix creature,
And this is one fantastic feature,
When it dies, or feels too much pain,
The Phoenix Bird will arise again..." It was night in Solitude. A dark Summer's night: warm and inviting and pleasant. Stars glimmered in the evening sky, and music and the sound of voices filled the air. Anybody who was anybody in Solitude had come to the circus... The Circunse de Avis was wellknown throughout the whole of Tamriel, and for good reason. Every man, woman and child who came to watch the acrobats, jesters, magicians, animal tamers, and fighters... They certainly got their money's worth. It was a magical night: bright red torches lit up the place, and a huge crowd was already gathered around a make-shift stage just outside of the city gates. A wooden stage with shabby, velvet curtains, with a man in a scarlet tunic and bird mask taking the stage. Everyone's eyes were upon him as, in the background, mysteriously people paraded in exotic bird costumes: beautiful to the eye, as he spoke and introduced.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Men and Mer, Children and Elders, may I introduce you to... THE CIRCUNSE DE AVIS!" cheers filled the city, as the acrobats began to set up their tightropes and trapezes, dancing all the while. The odd little Ringleader continued, arms flung out wide, as he quieted the screaming cloud with a yell. They all silenced, and then gasped as, out of nowhere, a great scroll appeared in his hands in a puff of smoke. He flourished his hands and pulled it open wide, giving the crowd a knowing grin. "Today, for your pleasure and enjoyment, we have our brilliant performers! And all they want is to please you!"

More cheers, as the swell of the crowd threatened to overwhelm... The Ringleader, expecting a riot, laughed, and waved them back. Miraculously, they backed off, and readied themselves to scream for their favourite act. And for most of them, it was Phoenix. For he, truly, was a magician of acrobatics: the way he manipulated his body, the way he practically flew through the air, the way he looked like a ball of fire! The crowd loved him; they loved the other acts, but none were as fantastic as the Phoenix Bird! "First we have the mystical, the magical, the fantastic..." the Bosmer ringleader paused like a true charlatan. Then, with a huge, crazed bow, he cried, "Runar the Magnificent!" a huge flame lit up the square, and the crowd gasped as, out of thin air, a great Altmer appeared, sitting in mid-air. They shrieked their approval, as the man levitated himself, smiling and nodding his head majestically; however, his cheer was not huge, and soon enough he bowed one last time, and ducked down. More acts were intoduced this way: the Witty Jester Hilario; the troupe of acrobats known only as the Shadow-Children; the huge giant wrestlers; the Redguard man who trained Sabre Tooth cats and wolves; the dancers and, finally, the one they'd all been waiting for...

"My friends, may I introduce you to..." you could have cut the tension in the air with a knife as the crowd leaned forwards, eyes wide, and stared at the small Bosmer dominating the stage, waiting for the name... "The Phoenix Bird!" huge cheers exploded from their lips, and the cheering did not stop as a youth wearing claret, ragged trousers and a red birds mask with a long amber beak and a mane of vibrant red hair, somersaulted out onto the stage. The confidence came off him in waves, as he took a deep bow then, as one of the trapeze artists swung forwards, caught hold of her leg, and swung himself up on top of the bar, where he stood, soaking in the praise of the crowd. He took another bow and then, with a snap of his fingers, a cloud of black smoke appeared, engulfing him. And as the smoke disappeared, he too was gone! The night was torn apart with yells, catcalls, wolf-whistles, and shrieks of adoration. The Ringleader was having trouble controlling the crowd as, he began to introduce the first act to go on that night.

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Phoenix wiped some of the sweat off his forehead, breathing deeply as his green eyes followed the dancers on stage. It was a warm night, and his heavy mask made him sweat like a pig. He had a half an hour till his act, but he liked to make sure that he was always there on time. It wouldn't do for the great Phoenix Bird to be late. Peeling the mask away from his pale face, he adjusted his wig and pushed away strands of white blond hair that were poking through. Most folks thought he was a red-head, hence the whole Phoenix thing, so he wore a wig. He couldn't exactly be a blond fire bird, now could he?

"Ay, Phoenix, get away from the stage. The acrobats are coming through in a minute, and you need to be out of the way." the grumpy voice of Hilario the "jester" met his ears. It was rather amusing that Hilario was possibly the least funny person in the troupe, probably because he spent most of his time sitting in his tent smoking a skooma pipe and drinking ale. The stupid Imperial liked to lecture everyone for hours on end about the days when he was a proper court jester in Cyrodiil. Most of his jokes didn't make sense to Phoenix, but Hilario almost wet himself laughing when he compared Titus Mede to a donkey...? Turning around, the fake red-haired crossed his arms and gave the paunchy man with too much makeup a hard look.

"I am an acrobat." Phoenix's voice was low for his 14 years, but somehow had an almost girlish, sultry, mocking tone to it. Boys his age made fun of him for being a little feminine looking, especially the youths who cleared up the stage after a show, but it didn't bother the young acrobat. He had never been attracted to boys, and he'd seen them staring at his body whenever he was in his costume. Most people did, though, and most seemed to forget he was only 14. He looked older, bordering 15, but that may have just been the stage makeup that all performers, even male, were forced to wear.

"Yeah, but you ain't part of the Shadow-Children, are you? Get down under the stage out of sight, or I'll give you a fucking beating, kid. Go on!" the clown spat back at him. Phoenix chuckled, knowing that it was an empty threat, and jumped down onto the grass behind the wooden platform and the velvet curtains that hid the performers backstage who were doing certain... things. He saw two members of the Shadow-Children backed up against the city walls, kissing unshamedly, and Charco the animal tamer was toying with one of the dancers, pretending to feed her to one of his sabre-tooth cats. The boy snorted at their play, and walked towards his tent, skirting around a group of dancers practising their act; softly resting his hand on a particularly attractive (and air-headed) Breton woman dancer who didn't notice for a second then, feeling the pressure, slapped his hand away with a mock look of disgust on her face. He laughed, permitted her to cuff him round the head, before he continued his journey towards his canvas home, almost tripping over a drunk stage hand as he went.

His tent was small, grubby, and cramped too, as he shared it with two other boys. Phoenix had lived in this tent since he was four years old, and when Mercury and Thorn came along, he'd been almost annoyed that he didn't have the place to himself anymore. Mercury, who was 17, was a muscular stage hand and Thorn, who was 14 and tiny, was part of the Shadow-Children. The blond youth hadn't liked them much at first (mostly because they took up HIS space), but the three boys had developed a bond, over time. However, Phoenix would still not say no to having his own tent again... Pulling one of the flaps open, he found the cramped place empty, and threw himself down on his bedroll. It was uncomfortable and, as the shows best-loved star, Phoenix had hoped that he might get more comfortable living quarters, but apparently not. Someday, when he was rich, he'd start up his own troupe, and live in a carriage like Mitrai, the Ringleader... All that space, for one elf, and whichever of the dancers the man was having in his bed that night. Ridiculous. Phoenix would invite every single attractive PERSON in the whole troupe to share it with him. Although he was more into women.

The youth could hear the screams of the crowd already, from his tent, and lay back his head against the pillow with a contented sigh. Pulling his mask off, he threw it on the grassy floor next to him, and breathed in some of the fresh air. It was deliciously cool, away from the torches and bustling cluster of people. Yanking off his wig, he shook out his shoulder length platinum blond hair and let it fan out on his pillow. With a smile, he rubbed his cheeks, and savoured the few minutes before he had to put his costume back on and go out and perform. He loved performing, the roar of the punters, the way they screamed his name, the way the air flew past his face as the marvel on people's faces shone out at him... But it was nice to relax on his own, with no Thorn or Mercury to clog up his space. He luxuriated for fifteen minutes, then was roused by a light giggle. Opening his eyes lazily, he saw a girl of about his age smirking at him, eyebrows raised. Sylvia, one of the younger dancers, who was his personal "harpy" as he jokingly put it.

"Why do I always find you posing? I think it's personal." she teased, kicking at his spread-eagled form. He laughed, and Sylvia extended a hand to help him up. "I'm meant to be rehearsing, too, and you waste my time making me drag you up... Mitrai said you have to go up."
"What?" he frowned at his friend, scooping up his wig and mask off the floor. "It's only been fifteen minutes, Via! Damn it, can't I have any rest at all?" "Of course not... for you are..." she paused dramatically and then, doing a superb impression of Mitrai's faux Imperial accent, cried, "The Phoenix Bird!". A pause. Then, "Let me do your wig, idiot, you're messing it up..."

He stood still for a few moments while she adjusted the red mane so it completely covered his hair, and strapped his mask on over the top so it wouldn't fall off. After a couple of minutes, satisfied with her work, she pushed the mask up and took a stick of kohl out of her pocket. Seeing the little black stick, he backed away, shaking his head, mouth open.

"No way am I wearing kohl." he said, in a voice so panicked that it sounded like a small child's. A moment more of silence, and then they both burst out laughing. For a few seconds they laughed and then, before Phoenix was even aware what was happening, she'd tackled him to the ground and was straddling his waist, with an evil gleam in her eye. "Alright, boy, hold still..." she lowered the kohl to his squirming face, and began to outline his left eye. He struggled a little more but then, realising that it was hopeless, he stopped and lay back and let Sylvia do his makeup. The minutes went by agonizingly slowly as she outlined his eyes dark black, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together despite herself. Eventually, when she decided his eyes looked smoky enough, she pulled the mask back down over his face. Then, slowly, she tipped her head on one side.

"What?" he said, trying to push her off him, and failing. Her foot was pressing his wrist to the floor, with not enough pressure to make it painful, but enough to keep him pinned to the floor. He was strong, and could overpower her usually, but wasn't quite sure he wanted to move. He liked the Imperial dancer quite a bit, and he wasn't going to say no to her sitting on him. "I said what?"
"Just thinking..." his heart sped up, and he heard footsteps outside the tent. Slowly getting up, she turned his back on him, swishing her hair. He looked after her, and raised his eyebrows. "Just thinking... what?" Phoenix's stomach was full of butterflies as he grabbed her shoulder, and tried to turn her around to face him, but she shrugged him off. As footsteps got closer and closer she sighed, and shrugged. "I find you much more attractive as a bird."

And with one last giggle at his expense, she skipped off to finish rehearsing, leaving him dumbfounded. Mitrai was shouting that he was on stage in 5 minutes, but he was staring after the girl, mouth open, eyebrows raised. How could he fall for a cheap trick like that? Shaking his head and smirking to himself, he made his way up the hill, ignoring the bouncing Bosmer, and towards the stage. He had his act to do and not even Sylvia would stop him from doing that... Maybe he'd bring a couple of the fangirls into his tent, just to show her. She'd be floored! Planning out his revenge with a wicked gleam in his eyes, he jumped up into the wings, and waited for Runar to get off the stage. The Altmer really wasn't too bad: the crowd seemed to be enjoying him at least, even though Phoenix knew what he did was just cheap parlour tricks... Well, if they were liking Runar, than they'd be loving him!

Eventually, when the High Elf disappeared in a cloud of smoke to quite some applause, Phoenix readied himself. He could see the stage hands were setting up his tightrope, and the trapeze was in his hand; he was ready to swing in. He felt pressure on his back and turned around, to see Mercury attaching a pair of golden, metal wings to his back, pulling the straps over his shoulders. With a frown, the youth said, "What're they for?"
"Mitrai reckoned they'd enhance the whole bird thing you got going." Mercury finished adjusting them and then, giving him a thumbs up, stepped backwards. "On you go. Good luck, Nix."

The rabble had fallen into a hush, waiting for the act they had been waiting for all night. Phoenix could feel his heart beating in anticipation as, hooking his hands around the trapeze, he stepped up towards the stage. Then, taking a running leap as he heard the drums begin to sound, signalling his enter, he swung onto stage. Tumultuous applause rang out: people were screaming with delight as, for a few moments, he swung back and forth, doing multiple flips over the bars. He could hear the roar of the crowd and the roar of rushing air in his ears as, aiming carefully, he gracefully leapt to the ground, and landed on a block. Holding up his arms, he bowed, and played up for all he was worth: catching kisses that were blown, striking poses, and waving, before, leaping backwards, he swung himself over the tightrope and onto it. Phoenix was joyful, and felt like he truly was on fire: every time he went on stage, he felt this feeling of elation! He began to perform tricks on the wire; walking along it on his hands, doing the splits on it until, eventually, he caught a trapeze that Mercury pushed at him backstage, and began to fly again, before leaping off with several somersaults in mid-air, to land on the tightrope again. The crowd went wild as the music turned into a crescendo as, jumping down from the wire, he rolled towards the front of the stage, and began to flip backwards and, with the last flip, threw himself into the air, and caught the trapeze again and swinging backwards and forwards. The applause was so loud he thought it might burst his eardrums, before he performed a few more tricks.

His routine was now nearly done. The handsome youth could not make out faces from the crowd, but pretended he could, blowing kisses in random directions and waving to certain people (who he couldn't see because of the light shining on his face) and then, cartwheeling backwards, he did a flip to land back on the block, and bowed low. Flowers and many other things were being thrown at him as he basked in the applause and then, as Mitrai came strutting onto stage, he pulled off his mask and stood, arms held wide, to recieve more applause, as people wolf-whistled at his goodlooking, sweat drenched face. The kohl that lined his eyes was running slightly, but, struggling to keep his face deadpan, he bowed one last time, and cartwheeled off stage into the wings, where he bent over, breathing hard.

"Good show, kid," he looked up, and saw Charco grinning at him, and smiled back, pulling his wig off and throwing it onto the floor. The Redguard laughed, and slapped him on the shoulder, indicating a well done. "They love you." and, as he faced the crowd, Phoenix agreed entirely.

THEY LOVED HIM.

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Well! The first chapter of Phoenix Rising is finally out! Sorry for the wait: I've only had a week to plan this completely, and this chapter, although short, took me a while because it's the first. This is something of an epilogue: this story has more action and less soap-opera, but some good soap-opera in there too! Thank you so much, and reviews are appreciated so much! They are what keeps me going, at the moment.

Lachance xx