[Memory] Frosty Rien Days.
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:48 pm
23rd of Frost, 106
Arkash had always wanted to help Cojack and Liu at work. It was where they spent most of their time, after all. Meanwhile, Arkash was left at home for almost the entire season of frost every year. But, before the two could leave for their daily duties, they promised Arkash that he would soon be allowed to join them for work.
It was about time; he was nine years old now, after all! The thought had him excited, and his mind ran in circles while he paced around the burning hearth in the middle of the room.
The ambient glow of the fire was warm against his scales, but the further he strayed from the fire, the less he felt its effects. So, he stopped his pacing and sat at the edge of the hearth where he occasionally turned to warm the other parts of his body.
The Rathari was bored, of course. There were only so many times that he could count the planks in the house, and the promise of soon doing something productive with both his parents had him wiggling in place, unable to sit still. Ideas began to creep up in his head, and Arkash looked to his father's spare winter coat which hung from a hook beside the door.
It would be a better use of his time if he went to find them, and watched them work. That way, he could some idea ahead of time on just how he was meant to work. Granted, he wasn't allowed to leave the house at all without Cojack or Liu with him, but...
He stared for a moment or two longer before he threw his inhibitions to the wind and began to dress. He piled on his patchy brown pants, leather footwraps which did well to conceal the scales that framed his dark grey claws. Next, he pulled the one curtain they had off its railing and covered his long mouth, neck, and shoulders with it like a scarf to conceal as much of his bare scales as possible before he adorned his father's dark gray, mottled coat. It was massive on him, and the base fell to his knees while the sleeves covered his entire arm, then another foot or so which hung toward the ground. He was ready to face the Rien winter... he thought.
Fully prepared, he extinguished the hearth fire, then quickly dashed for the door, and slipped out into the cold. The muffled crunch of snow sounded below him, and he looked to the fine white quilt that had been laid out in his path. It called to him, ss if it was begging to be picked up and shaped to his will... But he snapped from his distractions. He had a limited amount of body heat and had to be quick.
The impressions of Cojack's and Liu's footprints were still visible from earlier that day, if not for a little misshapen due tot he snowfall, so Arkash began to follow the trail. They merged into a busier street where several pres of tracks overlapped with the two Rathari's prints, but Arkash kept his eyes focused squarely on the tracks. He wasn't going to be distracted. A turn to the right followed, and Arkash crossed the street with a short jog and slipped a little on a patch of ice. A wave of his arms caught his weight, and he didn't fall.
Though he remained on his parent's trail for the entire trip, some details were starting to feel off. For one, the two trails had merged into one, and the tracks were a lot longer than Cojacks hooves, and Liu's paws alike... To add to the lizard's confusion, they were fresh. Arkash snapped from his idle thoughts and looked up from the tracks... He hadn't been paying much attention to the passage of time as the cold did weird things to his brain, but he didn't know where he was... The houses there weren't covered in boards and the windows weren't barred. The people wore clothes without patches and stains and watched him with curious eyes. What was more, they were all human.
He could feel the beat of his heart pick up a bit with panic, for he'd started to believe that he was lost. An idea struck, and momentary relief washed over him. He would just follow the tracks he was following before backing through the city to return home. Easy enough, right? But, when the lizard looked down, he saw only the muddied snow, which had been trampled by several people that walked the street earlier. The last tracks were indistinguishable, and the longer he waited there, the more his sense of direction deteriorated. What was going on? Had he imagined it? Was he still going the right way?
True panic set in, and the komodo dragon's mouth began to fill with venom, which resulted in awkward slurping noises as the toxic fluids leaked from his mouth in flecks of drool. Wide eyes searched the streets for anyone that looked like they might be kind enough to show him the way, but there was no one there that looked as though they wanted to help him, just confused, puzzled glares.
Still, he had to do something, so he began to run. His claws thudded the ground as he bolted through the snowy streets, and splashed the slushy ice whenever he stepped in a puddle by mistake. Eventually, he learned to watch the ground and made leaping bounds over the puddles. Whenever the snow got deep, he lifted his knees higher to better navigate the encumbering piles of frost. And when he finally came to a sheet of ice, he skidded, flailed his arms, then fell to the floor with a hard and sudden thud, then slid across the iced street as his momentum continued before he slowed to a halt.
Arkash had always wanted to help Cojack and Liu at work. It was where they spent most of their time, after all. Meanwhile, Arkash was left at home for almost the entire season of frost every year. But, before the two could leave for their daily duties, they promised Arkash that he would soon be allowed to join them for work.
It was about time; he was nine years old now, after all! The thought had him excited, and his mind ran in circles while he paced around the burning hearth in the middle of the room.
The ambient glow of the fire was warm against his scales, but the further he strayed from the fire, the less he felt its effects. So, he stopped his pacing and sat at the edge of the hearth where he occasionally turned to warm the other parts of his body.
The Rathari was bored, of course. There were only so many times that he could count the planks in the house, and the promise of soon doing something productive with both his parents had him wiggling in place, unable to sit still. Ideas began to creep up in his head, and Arkash looked to his father's spare winter coat which hung from a hook beside the door.
It would be a better use of his time if he went to find them, and watched them work. That way, he could some idea ahead of time on just how he was meant to work. Granted, he wasn't allowed to leave the house at all without Cojack or Liu with him, but...
He stared for a moment or two longer before he threw his inhibitions to the wind and began to dress. He piled on his patchy brown pants, leather footwraps which did well to conceal the scales that framed his dark grey claws. Next, he pulled the one curtain they had off its railing and covered his long mouth, neck, and shoulders with it like a scarf to conceal as much of his bare scales as possible before he adorned his father's dark gray, mottled coat. It was massive on him, and the base fell to his knees while the sleeves covered his entire arm, then another foot or so which hung toward the ground. He was ready to face the Rien winter... he thought.
Fully prepared, he extinguished the hearth fire, then quickly dashed for the door, and slipped out into the cold. The muffled crunch of snow sounded below him, and he looked to the fine white quilt that had been laid out in his path. It called to him, ss if it was begging to be picked up and shaped to his will... But he snapped from his distractions. He had a limited amount of body heat and had to be quick.
The impressions of Cojack's and Liu's footprints were still visible from earlier that day, if not for a little misshapen due tot he snowfall, so Arkash began to follow the trail. They merged into a busier street where several pres of tracks overlapped with the two Rathari's prints, but Arkash kept his eyes focused squarely on the tracks. He wasn't going to be distracted. A turn to the right followed, and Arkash crossed the street with a short jog and slipped a little on a patch of ice. A wave of his arms caught his weight, and he didn't fall.
Though he remained on his parent's trail for the entire trip, some details were starting to feel off. For one, the two trails had merged into one, and the tracks were a lot longer than Cojacks hooves, and Liu's paws alike... To add to the lizard's confusion, they were fresh. Arkash snapped from his idle thoughts and looked up from the tracks... He hadn't been paying much attention to the passage of time as the cold did weird things to his brain, but he didn't know where he was... The houses there weren't covered in boards and the windows weren't barred. The people wore clothes without patches and stains and watched him with curious eyes. What was more, they were all human.
He could feel the beat of his heart pick up a bit with panic, for he'd started to believe that he was lost. An idea struck, and momentary relief washed over him. He would just follow the tracks he was following before backing through the city to return home. Easy enough, right? But, when the lizard looked down, he saw only the muddied snow, which had been trampled by several people that walked the street earlier. The last tracks were indistinguishable, and the longer he waited there, the more his sense of direction deteriorated. What was going on? Had he imagined it? Was he still going the right way?
True panic set in, and the komodo dragon's mouth began to fill with venom, which resulted in awkward slurping noises as the toxic fluids leaked from his mouth in flecks of drool. Wide eyes searched the streets for anyone that looked like they might be kind enough to show him the way, but there was no one there that looked as though they wanted to help him, just confused, puzzled glares.
Still, he had to do something, so he began to run. His claws thudded the ground as he bolted through the snowy streets, and splashed the slushy ice whenever he stepped in a puddle by mistake. Eventually, he learned to watch the ground and made leaping bounds over the puddles. Whenever the snow got deep, he lifted his knees higher to better navigate the encumbering piles of frost. And when he finally came to a sheet of ice, he skidded, flailed his arms, then fell to the floor with a hard and sudden thud, then slid across the iced street as his momentum continued before he slowed to a halt.