41st of Frost
Continued from here.
"Well, what do you know of the ceremony?" Asked Sheki. Indeed, the fact that he'd not had one quickly became the talk of the kinship. He was five years overdue, after all.
"I know it's important and you're supposed to have it at eighteen, but-"
"-It's very important, Arkash," Sharok interrupted with a stern furrow of his brows. "No rath will see you as mature until you've undergone the rite."
The tone of the conversation turned stern, dreadfully serious. Arkash held his tongue for a moment and thought to what Sheki had said not too long ago. 'You're fine so long as you respect our traditions'. Had she said that in preparation for the talk they were having? They'd been so kind to him; he didn't want to risk upsetting them, so he had to sit it through. "Alright, well, what's it like? The Ceremony? I think I can change shape if I get it done, right?" It had to be worth his time, naturally. Doing something like transforming into a human would be incredibly useful in Lorien.
"No 'ifs'," Sheki added with a frown. "This is something you must do," she warned.
Arkash blinked. Neither of them allowed any wiggle room out of the conversation, and both were adamant about his participation in the ritual. "Okay, but how? I'm not against it, I just want to know," he pleaded. It felt almost hostile to the rath, their attitude. Would they force it on him if he refused?
As though the iguana could sense his budding distress, he shook his head and looked to Sheki with a softening to his scalie brows. "As long as you're willing," the reptile replied and pursed his lips briefly. "The chief is bound to offer you the ceremony. You said Tavlin spoke with you on the subject?"
"More like interrogated me, but yeah," Arkash returned, somewhat scorned.
Sheki waved a hand. "Forgive his curiosity; you're quite an unusual Rathor," she explained. Arkash moved his gaze to her with visible, heartfelt pain in his eyes. It was as he feared, he was weird, even among his own race.
"Unusual...?" His voice came quiet.
"BUT!" Sharok added suddenly, "that's not a bad thing, Arkash. You're interesting, and I'm sure most of the kinship wants to meet you," he spoke in assurance, but Arkash fixed his gaze on the ripples of the water without paying mind to the iguana's words.
There, he sniffled. His eyes began to water and his throat burned to herald the flood to come, and he began to cry. His claws lifted to cover his eyes as he streamed tears. He thought to a time in his youth where a young girl he'd met in Outer Nivenhain quizzed him on his tail. She'd been interested in him, but he was still unusual, an outsider. Even there, he was different. He didn't want to be something the rath gawked at and questioned, he wanted a place he could belong. Somewhere, anywhere where he could exist as himself.
Though he tried to be strong, he still fell into despair at the first hint that he'd not fit in with the Boydds. They were so kind and accepting of him; they treated him with hospitality like he'd never known, but he didn't want special treatment for being a freak. He wanted to be normal. "I'm sorry," he spoke as the Iguana put an arm over his shoulder, and pulled the meager weight of his skinny form into a hug. Sheki was there on his left, and she did the same.
"No, Arkash," Sheki spoke lowly, pity and remorse in her voice. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you upset," she spoke sincerely. "Shar is right, though. There's nothing wrong with being different."
"I don't wanna be different," he sobbed and wiped at his eyes. "They all stare at me like I'm some freak, they treat me like shit 'cause I'm not human..." he rambled and coughed while he wheezed in his ugly, suppressed cry. "I just... wanna be normal..."
"Arkash...." Sharok spoke softly and ran his clawed hands over the back of the dragon's head. "No one will treat you that way here. Sure, a lot of us might want to hear the stories you have to tell, but that's because all us normal folk are boring. Your origins, your experiences; good and bad, they're exciting... You're bound to be popular among the kinship, but that doesn't mean you don't fit in. You can belong, I promise."
He breathed out then, sniffled, and swallowed hard. At the realization of what he'd done, he got up and pulled free of the hugs. He dared not let his claws fall to the water, not with his tears on them. The dranoch curse was laced with them, he couldn't let it fall into the water with Sheki and Sharok. Again, he sniffled hard as he stepped out of the tub, then flicked the water off himself. Finally, he looked back to the python and the iguana alike. "Thank you, both of you," he started with a bow of his head. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to cry."
He wasn't sure if their words helped him feel better, but it was at least comforting to know they didn't think harshly of him. They at least liked him, he believed. And if the others in the tribe also liked him, then what was the problem? He stood there dripping while Sheki and Sharok waved off his apology. "Life is hard," Sharok spoke sympathetically. "Yours, I would wager, has been harder than most."
He smiled a little at that; they meant well and tried to understand him. When he looked at it through Sharok's lens, he found some comfort. He'd never be normal, but he was at least interesting. So, he bowed his head in acceptance just as the door to the bathhouse opened.
"You two are still in here?" Rang a deep voice.
Sharok's eyes widened to saucers in tandem with Sheki's, and the two reptiles quickly leaped out of the bath and scrambled to collect their things. "Chief! Sorry!" Sheki called as she brushed down her coils quickly in an effort to dry them.
"We were just talking to the new ice-blood!" The iguana explained in a hurry. Arkash looked between them with uncertainty. Had he gotten them in trouble?
"Is that so?" Spoke the strange shape of the chief in the door. "Korr is already back at it with the axe. You two shouldn't be this far behind him, slackers." With about as much speed as the wind, the two were dressed and out the door. Arkash squinted hard as he looked upon the shape in the door. What animal could inspire such terror? The plap of feet met the floor as the silhouette stepped further into the room, then shut the door behind themself to keep the heat in. "Arkash, right?" Asked the same bass-like voice.
The rathor nodded in affirmation.
"I've heard a lot about you already; You got Garrel up in a tizzy this morning, and Korr has loose lips for a crocodile." As the supposed chief stepped further into the bathhouse, Arkash's spine ran with shivers. Then, in the misty white of the fog, Arkash beheld the chief. They were a goose with distinct markings; a black feathered head and long neck, brown feathered body, and grey stalk-like legs ending in webbed, clawed feet. Patches of white to decorate around his cheeks, chest, and belly all the way around to his tail. His arms were wings with barely-formed hands at the second joint; he doubted such hands were good for clasping anything. "My name is Dorn, and I'm the chief of this tribe and leader of the Boydd kinship," he explained. "Is it true you've not had your ceremony yet?"
Arkash swallowed, then nodded hesitantly. He couldn't stop staring at the bill of their mouth, and the little teeth that lined the inside when they spoke. He'd not seen a bird rathari before.
"I'm told it was not your choice to forgo the rite, but you have the choice to take one now. Do you accept?"
Arkash furrowed his brow. The goose was offering to give him his coming of age ceremony just like that? "Well, what would it cost?"
The goose laughed at that, then shook his head. "Forgive me, it's strange to hear such things from another rath, but I know you're not familiar with the grand family. The ceremony is free, so long as you're willing. It's such a crucial part of our culture, of your culture; you're not fully matured until you've undergone the rite." The chief stepped closer then, and Arkash marveled at the proportions of their body. They barely resembled a human at all; they must have been a beastalt. "It would be wrong to bar you from such a thing on any basis..." he continued.
"...What if I don't want to?"
Dorn stopped at that, then shook his head. "Then I'll have to ask you to leave. Such a thing is disgraceful and immature. If you're not ready to grow up, no one will force you." Arkash winced a little. That was harsh, wasn't it? banishing someone for failing to adhere to customs? "...Do you mean to refuse the rite?"
"No," he shook his head quickly. "Sorry, I... I'm just not sure about all of this. I don't really know anything about your... Our people."
Dorn bowed his head at that and tucked his hands behind his back. it seemed that the goose was unable to smile or show much expression given the hardness of his beak, but Arkash could feel an air of relief around him. "That's fine, I don't fault you for that," the goose assured, then lifted his gaze to the dragon. "I'm happy to teach you all about our people, the purpose, and our origin, if you're willing to listen." Arkash smiled at that, then rubbed at his natural eye before he began to pick up his raggedy clothes.
He didn't quite feel as though he belonged, but that could change. Everyone there, from the workers to the chief seemed to accept him. Even if it was conditionally, it was better than anything he'd had before.
