Struck by the sight of an exotic bird while tree climbing, Wesley is left with an experience that haunts his dreams.
But the bird is something far more than what Wesley could have ever imagined. In fact, the bird isn't a bird at all. It's a phoenix, a rare and magical creature who has been bonded with Wesley and can take the form of a man.
After a while, Wesley falls in love for the phoenix named Shojuno. But with the world turning against the phoenix, can Wesley make the love he feels inside him grow? Or will the greed of man end Wesley's relationship with Shojuno before it has even begun?
The next day, as soon as the sun's rays peeked over the forest's canopy, Wesley returned to the ghost gum. It was a stunning white magnificence that defied everything around it by its size. To him, its roots united the Earth and its leaves held up the heavens. Its peaceful branches were his salvation from the busy world beyond the forest, a world where he had to endure his everyday life as an eighteen-year-old fashion shop assistant and the endurance of those that didn't understand him. Even his last boyfriend, Alfonse turned out to be a complete jerk, only wanting him as his handbag, his arm candy to be paraded around like an object.
Wesley shook his head and began the long climb to the spot where he saw the fire-bird yesterday. Hoping and praying as he did so that he would encounter it once more.
As he pulled himself up onto the branch he had nearly slipped from yesterday, he felt a presence. His eyes focused from the closest branch to what lay beyond, and as he edged his way onto the limb, he saw what it was he was hoping to, the fire-bird.
This time he swore it was waiting for him.
"What are you?" he squeaked, not only breathless from the physical exertion of the climb, but also elated by the discovery.
