41st of Frost, 120
Arkash had never known such warmth. The warmest he'd ever been was after soaking his hands in a pot of hot water and spending a day of Frost nigh-tied to the rickety shack's hearth. But there, among the Boydd Kinship, he soaked in the flame-heated warmth of the steamy tub. His whole body was soft, limber. He could stretch and bend at a degree he didn't think possible due to the looseness of his muscles.
Sheki, Korr, and Sharok were all quite companionable, even though he wasn't a member of their kinship. They extended him the hospitality of the grand family. Considering the story he carried and the oddness of his origin, it made sense that he had their attention for the most part of the day. They were curious of the isolated rath, and how he'd developed without the aid of a tribe. By the shape of his skeleton that showed beneath his poorly-maintained scales, it was easy to see he'd not fared well alone.
Arkash had his own curiosities, of course. He learned that Sheki, the python with a tail in place of legs, was a Beastalt, much like Korr, the hulking plated Crocodile. Sharok, on the other hand, claimed to be a neoalt but didn't show his other forms.
He couldn't be sure if such an observation were true, but he came to believe that neoalt were less common than beastalt. The explanation of why came up in conversation as 'The Sundering'; that thing that supposedly happened that screwed the world for good. He'd heard of it from the lips of Rien immigrants. Its effects were widespread and various in degrees of intensity. Daravin apparently suffered for it with vast wastelands of 'corruptive energy' while some species, like his own, mutated and diverged from the norm. The sundering was apparently caused when a Draedan, as Taelian claimed to be, tried to kill a 'god'.
Arkash wasn't sure he believed such nonsense when the Omen was so dominant in the faith of Lorien, but that was beside the point.
He learned a lot from the older rath, including remedies for his dry, chafed, scarred scales. They poked and prodded at the blemishes to his form with various inquiries. 'How did you burn your head? Is this a stab wound? What's with these lines on your palm/wrist?' He brushed off such questions with explanations of street fights and kitchen clumsiness, but they could tell something was amiss. He knew so.
"It's a shame," Sheki spoke with something of a frown. "Most dragons have armor beneath their scales; if you'd not stunted your growth, you might not have suffered such wounds," she declared as she ran her scalie fingers over the scars to his wrist. She was without claws, but then, ordinary snakes didn't have claws. "Either that, or it's a trait that missed you; I suppose we'll never know for sure."
Arkash shrugged at that and withdrew his hand carefully. If he'd just been born without that trait, he'd have more reason to believe that the universe simply hated him. Armored scales would have been incredibly useful growing up in the slums of Nivenhain. Why did he have to be cold-blooded and short-sighted instead?
"Stunted, huh?" Asmodei had suggested one such thing before. He believed it was possible; reptiles were apparently quite easy to keep small. Not enough room to grow and lack of food both contributed to such a disorder. But then, it was just because reptiles were adaptable to their environment. If food was scarce, they couldn't grow too large else they'd starve. If they were forced to live in small places for their survival, outgrowing their dens would be catastrophic. His development reflected the harsh conditions he'd lived in, he supposed.
"Sheki means no disrespect," Sharok added after a pause. "I'm sure it's not easy growing up in Lorien. Isn't it cold all year round there?"
The youngest rath nodded in response, and slipped his claws back under the water to hold his other hand. "There's lots of food if you're a citizen, though," he explained with a glance of his misty eyes. True, he hadn't had to worry about food as much since he'd become a dranoch, but he'd not always been a dranoch. The majority of his life was spent scavenging for rock-hard bread and bone marrow.
Korr furrowed his plated brow at that and tilted his head as he lifted his arms to rest on the rim of the tub. "Weren't you born there?" he asked with a tone of confusion. "Doesn't that mean you're a citizen?"
Arkash and Sharok alike shook their heads. Sharok knew of the caste system? He briefly spied the iguana before he directed his gaze to the crocodile again. "Cojack and Liu were foreigners, and never attained citizenship - so, I was born equal to a foreigner."
"Still," added Sheki quickly. "Foreigners aren't treated that badly, right? I mean, here in Tyrclaid, you're fine so long as you respect our traditions and speak the languages."
Sharok shook his head for Arkash that time, and the dragon looked to him with interest. "No, Sheki. Nameless are without rights. Lorien is a kingdom exclusive to the people of Lorien, and the rest of the world matters not to them, even down to the commoner's view." Sharok drew a deep breath, then lifted his hands to pour some of the hot water over his face. As the droplets ran, he continued "Mornoth is renown for treating people from different countries badly. Daravin is considerably worse, I think."
Arkash had heard many a horror story from immigrants on the sorts of things that had been done to them in Daravin, many of whom broke down in tears. He could believe that it was worse, despite how terrible Lorien was.
With that, Korr stretched out his arms and pushed into the rim of the tub to lift his body from the water. "I've soaked long enough," he declared as he dripped across the wooden floor on his way to collect some woven flannels to dry himself off. Arkash looked away. As the man dressed in the appropriate furs and leathers for winter, then flashed those that remained in the tub a slight, but very toothy smile. "I hope to see you again, Arkash. The chief is nice enough; you should accept what he offers."
Both Sharok and Sheki looked to Korr, then to Arkash. They knew all too well what was coming for the younger rath, considering he wasn't afforded a coming of age ceremony. "Take care, big guy," spoke the python in her usual croak, and flicked her forked tongue as the man departed.
The cold draught left by the brief opening of the door was quickly killed by the steam that filled the room, and Arkash sank even further into the warmth of the tub. "....How do you guys get away with spending so much time in here in Frost?" he asked with a contented sigh.
Sharok laughed a breath. "Oh, don't think us lazy. As ice-bloods, we don't need to eat as often as the furred ones, and we don't have to worry about overheating in Glade and Ash, so we work harder and longer."
"Searing can be tough," added Sheki with a wobble of her hand. "It's hard to cool down if we get too hot, though I suppose that's something you don't have to worry about, living in a place like Lorien."
The younger rath loosed an amused chuckle. Even something as dreadful as Von Rabe had its benefits, he supposed. It amused him that the rathor there could see the silver lining in everything they encountered. Why couldn't he share such optimism?
"I'm sure you'd hate to drag that tail of yours through snow all day every day, Sheki. Don't be daft," Sharok shook his head with disapproval, though it was easy to tell by his tone that he was teasing her. "So, little dragon," he spoke as he turned his gaze to Arkash.
"I told you I'm not little," Arkash spoke with a warning stare.
Again, both Sheki and Sharok laughed a breath or two. "I know, but you make it so easy," the iguana grinned. Arkash scoffed, though his lips bore the faintest smile. "You want to learn more of the rathor, correct? That's why you're here?"
Arkash nodded to that. "I know a little, but not enough." Cojack and Liu didn't speak much of their heritage. A little was mentioned of The Grand Family, but they spoke of such things with distaste.
Continued here.
