From what he'd seen during his fall, the river's a large one. If the stranger's body was comparable in size, yes, he's more than large enough to sweep the displaced earth back over the hole with Gaja inside. Nam seems eager to protect this land (unsurprising given how territorial many sedentary creatures are. Gaja has no idea what that feels like, personally. His only home is the sky and that spans the world. But this creature, his home is this river and the adjacent lands. Of course he wants to protect it from destruction.

And destruction is all uncontrolled phoenix fire brings.

It may have been a comical sight under different circumstances. The bird in a human form, the upper half of his body draped over the crater's edge, fingers digging into the ground to keep himself from sliding back into it. But there's real concern, real fear in those gold-flecked dark eyes. Sweat dots his brow from the effort to keep himself from letting go to fall back into the hole. Washed-out blond hair clings to his face and every breath sounds ragged.

"When the fire starts, bury me." It's not an order by any stretch of imagination. Gaja wouldn't dare try to order anything around when he's at his weakest. It's more of a suggestion, one he's pretty certain Nam will agree to if it helps protect his land.