68th of Frost 112
Cojack, the boy's father, wasn't well. He hadn't been faring brilliantly for some time, which Arkash knew. But Cojack only grew worse. He, mother, and father had all been sick before, and it wasn't usually anything too disruptive. Hell, the family worked during most of their illnesses.
The father's illness had surprised both Arkash and Liu during the night, however. Cojack barely slept, and pained groans were the ambiance that Wolf and Lizard alike had to sleep to. So, they were exhausted.
It was clear that the illness was something that wasn't going to heal itself; at least not soon, anyway. So, Liu and Arkash made the most of their day off to visit the market in Outer Nivenhain. Visiting the cleaner streets always put Arkash on edge and a strong sense of not belonging followed as closely as his shadow.
Turning around was not an option, however. They went to the market in Outer Nivenhain for a reason. There wasn't any medicine for sale in the lower district, nothing they could use, anyway. Cojack needed 'serious medicine' as Liu called it. The higher districts were the only places they would find such a thing.
Arkash was dressed in crude winter attire that mostly involved animal pelts, scarves, and his father's thick coat. The furs he wore had been bought, then were later modified for the shape of his body. But in the past, the family had scavenged pelts from animal carcasses when they were worse for wear. He didn't mind, of course. The furs were warm regardless of where they came from. Of course, the smell wasn't always pleasant, and that had reflected on the Savants and Lustrians in their last journey to Outer Nivenhain.
Arkash didn't suffer the same anxieties that visit as no one seemed to react as badly whenever they passed the wolf and the lizard. That was the one positive he could find on the trip; he didn't smell as bad as last time.
"Mom?" Asked the younger Rath as he ran a little through the snow to catch up to her. He'd needed to lift his legs high to catch up, but managed fine in the end.
The wolf looked down to the dark scaled reptile and tilted her head. There was something in her eyes that day, something aside from the sleep deprivation and exhaustion she normally harbored. For once, she was worried, and Arkash caught a glimpse of it. "Yeah, Ark?" She asked rather plainly, and Arkash licked at the points of his teeth in his maw.
"...Dad's gonna be fine after we get his medicine, right? Like, he'll sleep better?"
The wolf held her distant gaze on the lizard for a moment or two after his question, then smiled for the first time that day. "I think so, hun. Try not to think about it too much, okay?"
Somehow, her words didn't put him at ease. It was the look in her eye, he thought in the back of his head. Was it selfish to seek comfort during times of uncertainty? Liu must have been equally afraid, after all. Arkash didn't want to be selfish, the least he could do was allow Liu to think she'd helped her son. So, the reptile smiled a bit beneath his scarf. Liu's grin only grew, and she rubbed against his head from the outside of his hood.
Before too long, the pair stopped outside a rather plain-looking building, and Liu's grip fell on his shoulder before they proceeded through a wooden plank door, into the cover of cobbled stone walls.
The air inside smelled of sickness and felt as though it stained the inside of his nose whenever he breathed. Just a few moments of lingering in the office had him nauseous, but he spoke nothing of his discomfort. The interior had clean wooden floors, and empty beds lined up against a wall, save for one. A human man laid in one of the rickety-looking bedframes, wrapped in filthy-looking blankets. He didn't move much at all, and though Arkash hoped that the man was just sleeping, his mind wandered to darker paths. A pull of Liu's hand snapped him from his thoughts, and guided him deeper into the room As he turned his head forward, he found a younger-looking human man, healthy in appearance, sat at a desk. He looked up from his notes to see the masked beast people and tilted his head.
"What the bloody hell am I looking at?" he asked, almost furious in his tone.
At once, Liu lowered her scarf, and Arkash followed her guide. "Can we talk wif th' doctor, ser?" Asked Liu with her thick common accent. Arkash was just as bad as she was with common, but even he cringed at the sounds of their voices outside of Vithmi.
The human only appeared more put off by their revelation, and half sneered at the two. "I don't know what you are," he spoke with nearly perfect common and rose to his feet, "but this is a medical practice, not a veterinarian clinic." the human pointed a single digit to his desk as if to emphasize his point.
Though Ark didn't understand the hostility, the way the human spoke and moved put him on edge. He looked to Liu, who had curled her lip into a snarl. With wide eyes, the boy pulled on his mother's arm, and she looked to him with a drop to her expression. "Let's just go, mom..."
Liu's ears were flat against her head, and her eyes were soft. With a sigh, she nodded to the boy and turned away when the sound of a clicking door stopped them in their tracks.
"Veterinarian?" asked an older woman's voice, "did I hear you right, Jacob? Someone brought pets here?" Liu and Cojack turned around to see a much older woman, gray of hair with a pair of circular glasses to rest on her nose. Her clothes were in a similar state to the sheets of the bedding along the walls. the lady adjusts her glasses as she looks over the two rathari. "Stupid boy, those aren't pets. They're Rathari." She looked to the young man with a glare, and he simply turned over his hands while leaning back from her.
"What even is that? And how do you know?" Nagged the younger man.
"You'd know a thing or two too if you went for a walk outside the city," scolded the older woman with a shake of her head. With that, she turned to the two Rathari and adjusted her glasses again. "How can I help you two lovelies?"
With that, Liu knelt before Arkash and looked him in the eyes. "Wait right here, okay? Don't go anywhere with anyone until I get back." The smaller Rathari nodded to the excessively tall wolf, then watched as she followed after the doctor into what he assumed to be the office of the building. As promised, Arkash stayed put, ad his eyes fell on the man in the corner, the one who hadn't moved in his bed. In all the time Liu was gone, he didn't move at all. For some reason, it unsettled the Rathari. What if the man actually was dead, and he was just staring at a dead human for the entire time that he waited for Liu to return?
An awkward glance was cast to the human at the front, who was busy writing something or other. Of course, that didn't stop him from looking up to catch Arkash's gaze for the split second that it held before the lizard looked away. Why did the human hate him? Arkash hadn't done anything wrong.
A few more minutes passed, and Liu emerged from the office with a sullen look all over her face. Misery was in her eyes, and defeat claimed her posture in the form of a depressed slouch. "Mom?" Asked Ark as he stood from his seat, then quickly ran to close the gap with her. He wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug, and she returned it with a loving embrace of her own., which saw Arkash's head wrapped. The hug went on for far longer than Arkash had anticipated, and it began to worry him. So, he pulled away a bit and looked up at the wolf. "Mom, what's wrong?"
The wolf sighed, then pulled away from Arkash, only to rest both her hands on his shoulders. She gave a sad smile to the boy, then proceeded to the exit with the lizard in tow. On the way home, Liu explained that Cojack's sickness was potentially incurable. They needed to bring him with them to the office in order to know for sure, but aside from alleviating the pain, there was nothing they could do.
Cojack, the boy's father, wasn't well. He hadn't been faring brilliantly for some time, which Arkash knew. But Cojack only grew worse. He, mother, and father had all been sick before, and it wasn't usually anything too disruptive. Hell, the family worked during most of their illnesses.
The father's illness had surprised both Arkash and Liu during the night, however. Cojack barely slept, and pained groans were the ambiance that Wolf and Lizard alike had to sleep to. So, they were exhausted.
It was clear that the illness was something that wasn't going to heal itself; at least not soon, anyway. So, Liu and Arkash made the most of their day off to visit the market in Outer Nivenhain. Visiting the cleaner streets always put Arkash on edge and a strong sense of not belonging followed as closely as his shadow.
Turning around was not an option, however. They went to the market in Outer Nivenhain for a reason. There wasn't any medicine for sale in the lower district, nothing they could use, anyway. Cojack needed 'serious medicine' as Liu called it. The higher districts were the only places they would find such a thing.
Arkash was dressed in crude winter attire that mostly involved animal pelts, scarves, and his father's thick coat. The furs he wore had been bought, then were later modified for the shape of his body. But in the past, the family had scavenged pelts from animal carcasses when they were worse for wear. He didn't mind, of course. The furs were warm regardless of where they came from. Of course, the smell wasn't always pleasant, and that had reflected on the Savants and Lustrians in their last journey to Outer Nivenhain.
Arkash didn't suffer the same anxieties that visit as no one seemed to react as badly whenever they passed the wolf and the lizard. That was the one positive he could find on the trip; he didn't smell as bad as last time.
"Mom?" Asked the younger Rath as he ran a little through the snow to catch up to her. He'd needed to lift his legs high to catch up, but managed fine in the end.
The wolf looked down to the dark scaled reptile and tilted her head. There was something in her eyes that day, something aside from the sleep deprivation and exhaustion she normally harbored. For once, she was worried, and Arkash caught a glimpse of it. "Yeah, Ark?" She asked rather plainly, and Arkash licked at the points of his teeth in his maw.
"...Dad's gonna be fine after we get his medicine, right? Like, he'll sleep better?"
The wolf held her distant gaze on the lizard for a moment or two after his question, then smiled for the first time that day. "I think so, hun. Try not to think about it too much, okay?"
Somehow, her words didn't put him at ease. It was the look in her eye, he thought in the back of his head. Was it selfish to seek comfort during times of uncertainty? Liu must have been equally afraid, after all. Arkash didn't want to be selfish, the least he could do was allow Liu to think she'd helped her son. So, the reptile smiled a bit beneath his scarf. Liu's grin only grew, and she rubbed against his head from the outside of his hood.
Before too long, the pair stopped outside a rather plain-looking building, and Liu's grip fell on his shoulder before they proceeded through a wooden plank door, into the cover of cobbled stone walls.
The air inside smelled of sickness and felt as though it stained the inside of his nose whenever he breathed. Just a few moments of lingering in the office had him nauseous, but he spoke nothing of his discomfort. The interior had clean wooden floors, and empty beds lined up against a wall, save for one. A human man laid in one of the rickety-looking bedframes, wrapped in filthy-looking blankets. He didn't move much at all, and though Arkash hoped that the man was just sleeping, his mind wandered to darker paths. A pull of Liu's hand snapped him from his thoughts, and guided him deeper into the room As he turned his head forward, he found a younger-looking human man, healthy in appearance, sat at a desk. He looked up from his notes to see the masked beast people and tilted his head.
"What the bloody hell am I looking at?" he asked, almost furious in his tone.
At once, Liu lowered her scarf, and Arkash followed her guide. "Can we talk wif th' doctor, ser?" Asked Liu with her thick common accent. Arkash was just as bad as she was with common, but even he cringed at the sounds of their voices outside of Vithmi.
The human only appeared more put off by their revelation, and half sneered at the two. "I don't know what you are," he spoke with nearly perfect common and rose to his feet, "but this is a medical practice, not a veterinarian clinic." the human pointed a single digit to his desk as if to emphasize his point.
Though Ark didn't understand the hostility, the way the human spoke and moved put him on edge. He looked to Liu, who had curled her lip into a snarl. With wide eyes, the boy pulled on his mother's arm, and she looked to him with a drop to her expression. "Let's just go, mom..."
Liu's ears were flat against her head, and her eyes were soft. With a sigh, she nodded to the boy and turned away when the sound of a clicking door stopped them in their tracks.
"Veterinarian?" asked an older woman's voice, "did I hear you right, Jacob? Someone brought pets here?" Liu and Cojack turned around to see a much older woman, gray of hair with a pair of circular glasses to rest on her nose. Her clothes were in a similar state to the sheets of the bedding along the walls. the lady adjusts her glasses as she looks over the two rathari. "Stupid boy, those aren't pets. They're Rathari." She looked to the young man with a glare, and he simply turned over his hands while leaning back from her.
"What even is that? And how do you know?" Nagged the younger man.
"You'd know a thing or two too if you went for a walk outside the city," scolded the older woman with a shake of her head. With that, she turned to the two Rathari and adjusted her glasses again. "How can I help you two lovelies?"
With that, Liu knelt before Arkash and looked him in the eyes. "Wait right here, okay? Don't go anywhere with anyone until I get back." The smaller Rathari nodded to the excessively tall wolf, then watched as she followed after the doctor into what he assumed to be the office of the building. As promised, Arkash stayed put, ad his eyes fell on the man in the corner, the one who hadn't moved in his bed. In all the time Liu was gone, he didn't move at all. For some reason, it unsettled the Rathari. What if the man actually was dead, and he was just staring at a dead human for the entire time that he waited for Liu to return?
An awkward glance was cast to the human at the front, who was busy writing something or other. Of course, that didn't stop him from looking up to catch Arkash's gaze for the split second that it held before the lizard looked away. Why did the human hate him? Arkash hadn't done anything wrong.
A few more minutes passed, and Liu emerged from the office with a sullen look all over her face. Misery was in her eyes, and defeat claimed her posture in the form of a depressed slouch. "Mom?" Asked Ark as he stood from his seat, then quickly ran to close the gap with her. He wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug, and she returned it with a loving embrace of her own., which saw Arkash's head wrapped. The hug went on for far longer than Arkash had anticipated, and it began to worry him. So, he pulled away a bit and looked up at the wolf. "Mom, what's wrong?"
The wolf sighed, then pulled away from Arkash, only to rest both her hands on his shoulders. She gave a sad smile to the boy, then proceeded to the exit with the lizard in tow. On the way home, Liu explained that Cojack's sickness was potentially incurable. They needed to bring him with them to the office in order to know for sure, but aside from alleviating the pain, there was nothing they could do.
