47th of Ash, 112
Wrapped from head to toe in furs of various colors and thicknesses, Arkash reentered the city through the southern gate as he normally did. What was different about this time was that he had neither Cojack nor Liu with him. It didn't happen often, but sometimes the family was forced to split up into different jobs, as they were assigned based on the amount of work that needed to be done and the number of hollows the overseers had available.
More often than not, there was a large empty space in the workforce that needed to be filled on short notice. It was a space that he and his family sought every week, and usually made the cut. It would normally be Arkash and one or both his parents assigned to the same job, but if the overseers planned their resources well and rounded their hollows evenly, then Arkash would wind up alone. It was one of those weeks, but the young rathari didn't mind too much.
The weather wasn't too bad. It had snowed the day before, as was typical of Lorien, but Arkash had the pleasure of walking home without the impediment of the cold, except for on his leather-wrapped toe-claws, which were numb. Though his hands were tucked into his hides, he hazarded exposing his scales to the cool air to feel around his belt. As expected, he'd drank the last of his water in the mines, as his waterskin was empty. the lizard frowned beneath his mismatched linen scarf, then spied the street for some clean snow.
Standing against one of the cracked stone walls of a nearby home was some of the good stuff, and Arkash scooped it up with his dirtied claws on his way past. The coal dust in his mouth had irritated his senses long enough. So, after a brief look over the ball of snow, he takes a careful bite of it and swirled it around his mouth. It wasn't common practice, but he didn't plan to be out long. once his palette was numb with cold, he opened his mouth and spat its grayed contents to the side of the road.
With a sigh, he let the snowball drop to the floor, then turned over his wet palm to run it over the dark grey scales of his muzzle. The water managed to remove the majority of the dirt and dust from his scales and left him looking at least a little bit cleaner. Once he was done, he promptly raised his scarf, then tucked his arms into his furs again and rolled his shoulders. Another satisfied sigh followed a pop in the bones on his back, and he looked over the few people that wandered the streets of Lower Nivenhain.
Most of them were as dirty as he was, some were worse. They all had one thing common: they were dressed in actual clothes. For Arkash, the way he dressed wasn't a matter of money, but rather the fact he prioritized his warmth above everything else. He didn't mind if that meant that he looked like some sort of patchy forest savage while he walked home.
Something that some might consider curious was the lack of horses and carts on the street, which were bountiful through the higher districts, but most of that was due to the poverty of those that resided. Additionally, the broken cobble streets were littered with potholes that could have easily liberated an expensive wagon of its wheel, but now only served to soak the unfortunate souls that trod upon them with slush-filled ice water. Arkash had done so a number of times when he was little, but he knew the streets well now.
He only occasionally glanced to the ground. Most of his looking was spent on the rooftops of the stone buildings he passed. Missing tiles left wide open patches in roofs, some of which had caved in from the snow. The bodies of the homes shared similar wounds, which took the forms of cracks and crumbling corners that stretched across the faces of buildings, all of which were in a horrible state of disrepair. Wooden boards and iron bars lined the windows of nigh every house he passed, but Arkash paid them no mind.
A deep exhale saw a wispy cloud of breath flow from his scarf, and he directed his gaze back to the nameless he lived among. The streets weren't all that busy, and there were only two or three people in view at any one time. Arkash stayed far clear of them, for good reason.
Wrapped from head to toe in furs of various colors and thicknesses, Arkash reentered the city through the southern gate as he normally did. What was different about this time was that he had neither Cojack nor Liu with him. It didn't happen often, but sometimes the family was forced to split up into different jobs, as they were assigned based on the amount of work that needed to be done and the number of hollows the overseers had available.
More often than not, there was a large empty space in the workforce that needed to be filled on short notice. It was a space that he and his family sought every week, and usually made the cut. It would normally be Arkash and one or both his parents assigned to the same job, but if the overseers planned their resources well and rounded their hollows evenly, then Arkash would wind up alone. It was one of those weeks, but the young rathari didn't mind too much.
The weather wasn't too bad. It had snowed the day before, as was typical of Lorien, but Arkash had the pleasure of walking home without the impediment of the cold, except for on his leather-wrapped toe-claws, which were numb. Though his hands were tucked into his hides, he hazarded exposing his scales to the cool air to feel around his belt. As expected, he'd drank the last of his water in the mines, as his waterskin was empty. the lizard frowned beneath his mismatched linen scarf, then spied the street for some clean snow.
Standing against one of the cracked stone walls of a nearby home was some of the good stuff, and Arkash scooped it up with his dirtied claws on his way past. The coal dust in his mouth had irritated his senses long enough. So, after a brief look over the ball of snow, he takes a careful bite of it and swirled it around his mouth. It wasn't common practice, but he didn't plan to be out long. once his palette was numb with cold, he opened his mouth and spat its grayed contents to the side of the road.
With a sigh, he let the snowball drop to the floor, then turned over his wet palm to run it over the dark grey scales of his muzzle. The water managed to remove the majority of the dirt and dust from his scales and left him looking at least a little bit cleaner. Once he was done, he promptly raised his scarf, then tucked his arms into his furs again and rolled his shoulders. Another satisfied sigh followed a pop in the bones on his back, and he looked over the few people that wandered the streets of Lower Nivenhain.
Most of them were as dirty as he was, some were worse. They all had one thing common: they were dressed in actual clothes. For Arkash, the way he dressed wasn't a matter of money, but rather the fact he prioritized his warmth above everything else. He didn't mind if that meant that he looked like some sort of patchy forest savage while he walked home.
Something that some might consider curious was the lack of horses and carts on the street, which were bountiful through the higher districts, but most of that was due to the poverty of those that resided. Additionally, the broken cobble streets were littered with potholes that could have easily liberated an expensive wagon of its wheel, but now only served to soak the unfortunate souls that trod upon them with slush-filled ice water. Arkash had done so a number of times when he was little, but he knew the streets well now.
He only occasionally glanced to the ground. Most of his looking was spent on the rooftops of the stone buildings he passed. Missing tiles left wide open patches in roofs, some of which had caved in from the snow. The bodies of the homes shared similar wounds, which took the forms of cracks and crumbling corners that stretched across the faces of buildings, all of which were in a horrible state of disrepair. Wooden boards and iron bars lined the windows of nigh every house he passed, but Arkash paid them no mind.
A deep exhale saw a wispy cloud of breath flow from his scarf, and he directed his gaze back to the nameless he lived among. The streets weren't all that busy, and there were only two or three people in view at any one time. Arkash stayed far clear of them, for good reason.
