[Memory] Frosty Rien Days.

[Arkash]

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.

[Elizana Celamyrsa]

Frosty Rein Days
23rd of Frost, 106

The children of the Celamyrsa house didn’t come to the capital often for any number of reasons but they did occasionally come and Elizana was excited by their current presences here. She could have stayed with with her mom in the warmth of the town home but she had wanted to see the city and not stay at home reading or drawing. Not that she didn’t like both but here was the chance to explore to see the city at large. So it was that she followed behind her father and twin brother as they trudged towards there destination.

Ella wore a warm coat over her full skirts. One would think her legs would be cold but those people had seen the thickness of the under clothing of a lady. The ten year old honestly though her mother had over bundled her for this trip. It was only as they walked into a new neighborhood that she paused to wonder where they were going. The buildings around them seemed so plain and run down. The blue eyes girl child could see faded paint on some the buildings instead of the bright fresh colors she was used to. She briefly wondered how old could these buildings be to have such faded paint.

She couldn’t contain me it anymore and slid up to her two . “How old do you think these buildings are.” She asked and pointed at a faded building. “I mean that building paint is so faded. Maybe it’s five hundred years”

“Ella clearly that building is only two hundred years old.” Vincent said.

“Do you think so?”Ella asked her eyes wide at how smart her brother was.

“Children please keep up.” Their father said from where he had out paced them. The two children rushed up to there father and Ella took her fathers hand.

“Papa, I think these buildings are five hundred years old” Elizana said looking up into her father’s face. A resigned look came to his face as he looked down at his daughter. His blue eyes held both the resignation but also a fondness for his daughter.

“No Ella they are about fourth years old.” Her father said in answer.

“But they look so old.”

“They aren’t old.” Her father Octavian said “This is just were regular people live and sometimes they wait longer to repaint their buildings.” He said as they turned another corner. “Okay children. I need you to stay out of trouble while I talk with distributor.”

The two nodded their head and stood there while their father approached a group of men moving food boxes. Suddenly Vincent was in her face and loudly whispering. “You and your stupid ideas. Why do you always want things to be old.”

Elizana pulled back and instead of saying anything back she just turned and walked away her chin high in the air. Back home she would do this instead of fighting with her brother when he was in this type of mood. She didn’t stop to think that this wasn’t the Dawn Palace and she didn’t exactly know her way around. Especially since in this case she wasn’t sure where she had been to begin with.

These thoughts did really enter her thoughts until well after had made several turns. The pretty human girl paused and turned around to try and see if she could find her way back toward her father. It was after another ten minutes when she realized she had not idea where she was. Elizana felt a bit torn her she was with a chance to explore the capital. Then again she was here alone. It was while she was in this conundrum that she turned about her corner and saw another child sliding straight towards her. Elizana instead of getting out of the way just stood there staring as the other child bumped into her.

The young lady started wide eyed into the face of the other child. After a moment she did step back and looked over the fellow child. She wasn’t really sure if it was a boy or another girl. They appeared bundled against the cold including some type of thick scarf around their face. Elizana thought there seemed to be something different but her curiosity go the better of her and she said.

“Hello my name is Elizana. Were you trying to skate?”

[Arkash]

That was to say that he would have fallen flat on his tail, if it hadn't been for the wandering girl that he bumped into. His whole body tightened rigidly as his yellow eyes widened, and stared cautiously at the human. A stranger was speaking to him. Hell, he'd bumped into the stranger.
What was more, she appeared to be about his age. Liu had told him many times during their outings not to speak with strangers, but it had always been when he was talking with adults. There were so few children in Lower Nivenhain, and though he'd seen some, he'd not spoken with them. Children played together all the time, he knew. Perhaps the rule of strangers didn't apply?
"Uhh-" He stammered at her question. What did she ask? Something about skating? He looked down then, and his oversized hood followed with his gaze. Below, the points of his gray keratin claws were spread thinly on the hard, slippery surface in an effort to keep himself in place. The stretch was strenuous, but it was the lesser evil to falling.
He'd got a good look at her while he considered his response, and she was nothing like he was familiar with. Her skin was flawless and clean, unlike the people in Lower Nivenhain which was shiny with layers of grime. Her blonde hair was well kept, styled with some sort of series of ties, while it was rare to see anyone comb in the slums. Finally, her clothing was like nothing he'd seen before; it was clean, devoid of scuffs and patches - brand new in condition, but it also went well with the rest of the things she was wearing. there was no mismatch between her coat and long skirt. Gods- She was wearing a skirt? Wasn't she cold? Humans are warm, the Rathari reminded himself. Perhaps it was more bearable for them?
"Skeht?" he asked at last, with his thick common accent. Wait, no. She'd given her name. The Rath shook his head. "Mine's Arkash," he quickly added. "And uhh... I weren' tryin' ta, but that's a good idea! I sorta jus' slipped."
The final difference between her and the humans he was familiar with set in, and it was a thing that Arkash also did. Her words were all individual with proper pronunciation, while his and many other Nameless blurted sentences in long strings that all seemed to weave together into the same muffled mumble, with little definition to decipher the start of a word and the end.
The reptile slurped again, but the production of his venom had slowed drastically; that would be the last for a while, unless he found some other reason to freak out. The flecks of drool were cold once they entered his mouth again. He'd have to be careful to swallow more frequently, or the chill would siphon his precious body heat.
The Rath held out his arms then and gripped the ice hard with one of his sets of toe-claws as he moved the other to take a step, then gripped the ice there too. Step by awkward step, he managed to grip the wall of a nearby building with his sleeve-veiled hands. "D'ya kno' how ta skeht?" he asked while gripping the wall for dear life. For a moment, the urgency of finding his way back to Lower Nivenhain receded to the back of his panic-addled mind.

[Elizana Celamyrsa]

Frosty Rein Days
23rd of Frost, 106

Ella tilted her head and looked at the boy who she had run into just a moment before more intently. He was very covered against the clothing it stretched from head to foot but it was only as she looked longer while he was studying her that she noticed that his clothing seemed to big for him like the tailor had just thrown something on him regardless of how it fit and that scarf didn’t match.

Her wide blue eyes watched as the yellow eyes continued to studying her. Those eyes were something that was different. Elizana wasn’t sure she had ever seen eyes that color. The girl felt curiosity and not fear at this difference though and with a wide smile she waited to hear this fellow child’s response.

Unlike this child, Elizana hadn’t been taught some basic survival skills in the city. She had been taught not to talk the servants but these people weren’t servants they were well regular people. Besides this was a child and she didn’t often get the chance to interact with other children so they were different. Elizana wondered if the child knew their way around the whole city or maybe just this neighborhood. There was something that Ella had been taught and that was how to wait but she didn’t do it well. She did remain silent waiting for a reply but her hands fidgeted and she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Finally the boy spoke and told her his name. Arkash he had said. She still wasn’t sure exactly if she was talking with a boy or a girl, but based on the name she guessed a boy and also based on the clothing. It appeared that he had just slipped on the ice and they had run into each other. “It is nice to meet you Arkash, and I hope you didn’t hurt yourself while slipping.” The boy’s accent a bit hard for her to understand right off, but it took only a moment’s pause to follow what he was saying.

“No I don’t know how to skate. My brother knows how but my mother says.” She got a disgusted look and in a bad imitation of her mother’s voice said. “ ‘It is not something Ladies do.’ She says that a lot.” Ella grinned and looked at his conspiratorially. “I am very good at sliding across the marble floors at home. They are especially fun right after they have been polished.” She looked down at the ice. “I wonder how different it would be to try it one ice.”

She looked at her new companion to see if he was up for trying. “Its all in balancing your body. It could be fun, do you want to try together?” She asked reaching out to take his hands. They weren’t exposed as the sleeve of the shirt covered them, and Elizana could tell that something was off thought the cloth hid much of it, but she was more excited to try skating without skates then some oddity about Arkah’s hands. “I would be willing to got first.”

[Arkash]

The entire thing was quite bizarre; running into a human child his age on the streets, talking to her as an equal, and forgetting the anxieties of being lost, if only for a short time. A dream-like film clouded the Rathari's mind as he went through the proceeding motions. And indeed, it felt like a dream. While he didn't know if it was due to the cold or if he'd attained a level of panic so high that it somehow returned to zeo, he didn't particularly care. His venom glands had stopped producing entirely, and his slurping noises had stopped altogether.
With new, unforeseen levels of clarity and composure, arkash nodded to her question. "Aye, am fine." He was, too; nothing was out of place or broken. "Might've fallen if y'hadn' shown," he added, then bowed his head in unspoken gratitude.
"Wha-?" The lizard furrowed the ridges of his brows at her story, which showed in a notable irritated glare in his eyes. "Wha's bein a lehdie gotta do with skehtin'?" The word 'lady' didn't seem to strike Arkash as notable; as if it were just another word for a girl and didn't connotate her status as a noble. After all, the nobility was not something a nameless would likely ever encounter on the streets. "Why not learn for youerself an' sho' 'im up?" Asked the lizard, who still clung to the wall.
The amount of common Arkash could speak surprised even him. He'd had almost no outside influences aside from his mother and father, who weren't the most well-spoken outside of Vithmi, and he'd only been learning for a good three years or so. Arkash learned quickly, it was perhaps his greatest strength. But learning to skate? With no experience aside from the many times he'd slipped while running? It seemed precarious.
Still, he'd preached to her about teaching herself, even besting her brother in ice skating with her own efforts. Arkash had to put his money where his mouth was. "Uhh-" he stammered. "Shore, wha's tha worst 'at can 'appen?" Balancing his body? She claimed to have experience of her own on marble floors. Granted, Arkash didn't know what marble was, but supposed it must have quite slippery to be worth bragging about.
The girl then offered her hands, and Arkash hesitated. It would mean peeling himself from the wall if he accepted, and the lizard didn't entirely trust his footing. She'd caught him once, so what was a second time? he bared his teeth beneath the curtain scarf, then pulled away from the wall and wobbled a bit as he took a step toward her, but he quickly regained his balance when he gripped the ice with his claws.
He couldn't show his scales; it was the golden rule of surviving in the cold. The moment he pulled down his sleeves to hold her hand would be the moment all the warmth in his body steadily bled from the scales through the cool air. So, he placed the sleeve of his oversized coat in her hand, then gave her a nod of affirmation. "Go ferst?" he asked with a slight tilt of his head. He then looked to the ice-covered street and furrowed his brow. It was certainly broad enough for both of them to slide across...
"Why not together?" Offered the lizard. If he were honest, he felt better about hazarding the ice if she was there to catch him when he fell. Of course, he wouldn't admit that but tried to pull her along anyway. If she followed his lead, they'd both step fully on the ice, and Arkash would focus entirely on maintaining his balance. Despite his efforts, he still wabbled and stuck out his other hand to hold onto something, but only succeeded in using the counterweight for balance.
"O-oke! Now wha'?" he asked with clear uncertainty. They'd gotten the balance down, but... "how d'we move?"

[Elizana Celamyrsa]

Frosty Rein Days
23rd of Frost, 106

Elizana found that she was liking her new friend more as they talked, especially as he felt the injustice of her now being able to learn to skate. She gave him a found smile at the comment of showing up her brother. The boy was clinging desperately to the wall clearly worried about slip on the ice. Elizana sighed though and said, “I wish that were the case but it is rare that I could sneak away to be by myself or just play with friends.” She said grinning at Arkash. It was very true, she was a child who rarely got to spend time with other children, and even her brother was kept to his own lessons so they had to steal away to spend time together.

It was really nice to be here even if it was cold, doing what she like and making friends with someone who wasn't afraid of her, or didn't treat her with deference. Elizana really didn’t have many friends and her closest was kept away from her most of the time. There were not many children her age among the local nobles and while there were a fair amount of child among the servants they were basically taught that she was the boggy man, or girl.

So it was that Elizana was grinning broadly, not having realized that this boy had no clue who here parents were, not really caring. He proposed that do it together and Elizana could tell by his voice and he was very nervous. The girl didn’t mind helping at all so she took firmer hold on his hand. It was now that she really took notice of the differences in their hands, but she didn’t pull back or say anything. There were more important things to do like. Together they carefully took their first steps on to the ice. Ella could feel the difference in the ground under her, and also felt herself wobbling, but brought herself under control by not moving forward even as her companion shot out his arm to balance himself.

Now that she was on the ice she realized several things. First that this felt different then the marble, but more important she was in boots, winter boots. Well that was going to stop her. She looked down at her feet and frowned and looked up and said. “I think we slid our foot forward, and then slid the other foot forward. Trying to keep balanced” Holding tightly to Arkash’s hand she moved her own foot forward not stopped to see if he would do the same. Ella loved to try new things and felt hesitation only delayed the pleasure of the adventure. Her foot slipped forward but the traction on the boots hampering the smoothness of the effort, but it still slid forward though not overly gracefully. Elizana was smiling though as she worked to make sure she was stable.

[Arkash]

It was such an alien concept to Arkash; being denied something on the basis of gender. Cojack and Liu both did the same work as one another and enjoyed the same things. Granted, Liu was a meat eater and couldn't eat the same food as Cojack, but that wasn't because she was a lady. Then again, Arkash was without siblings. Perhaps what was acceptable for a son wasn't acceptable for a daughter? He didn't know.
"Well..." he started, and his yellow eyes drifted to his forehead head in thought. "...I dunno, tha's tuff, ye." As much as it sucked to admit, he didn't know how to help her. "Well, if y'get a lotta practice nowe, mehbe youer mum think abou' lettin' ya skeht proper?" No, that didn't make sense. "Like uhh, if ya show thatchya really like skehtin, mehbe she'll let 'ou skeht?" It was a long shot, and Arkash didn't know the family dynamic or even the roles and rules of nobility, but he offered a possible solution all the same.
Even if he wasn't aware of the girl's noble heritage or the customs expected of her, he couldn't help but notice the way she spoke compared to the people around where he lived. It was so alien, but clear, elegant. She was with grace, something that he'd never really been exposed to. The entire encounter should have been intriguing; he should have been quizzing her on who she was and how she came to speak with such elegance. But the retire time he was with her felt ordinary, quaint even.
She didn't treat him differently or look at him with disgust as most humans did. He was at peace there, despite the creeping cold and the separation anxiety he was previously wracked with. Even if his common was subpar, he could relax without fear of being shamed or humiliated.
So, they stepped onto the ice; she was sure to feel the shape of his caws through his coat, but she didn't seem to mind. There, she described the motions to him, and he nodded. "Sor'a like walkin'?" he asked, unsure. Slide one foot forward, then slide the other foot forward? Easy enough, or so he thought.
As she moved a foot forward, Arkash did the same. Though, his leg moved somewhat sluggishly. It was there Arkash felt it; the cold was catching up to him. He'd stopped moving for a bit, and the tattered, patchy pants he wore could only hold so much heat. It wasn't at a point that he should panic yet, but soon enough, he'd need to find some fire.
Nonetheless, his foot glided forward, and he waved his free arm about again to keep his balance. He looked to her legs, then to her before he pulled his other stiff leg forward in the same motion, and pushed forward off his back leg. Already, the lizard had some sense for his center of balance. The key was the momentum, or so he believed. If she followed him, he'd go in for a second push, one that would see them pick up a little bit of speed on the long stretch of ice. "'Ey! Wer doin' it!" he called, and his tail began to sway beneath his long coat; a behavior he'd picked up from Liu.

[Elizana Celamyrsa]

Frosty Rein Days
23rd of Frost, 106

Elizana was pleased as her friend Arkash skated with her. Between each and their spare arms they were managing to keep from slipping across the ice. There as they awkwardly skated down the ice in a secluded ally they were both free from society and is preconceptions. There was a feeling of bliss as the two of them when hand in claw together.

In all honesty Elizana had noticed Arkash speech and it was different than most of the people she talked to, but she listen and talked to so many different people that she was kind of used to just going with it. The boys clothing was what actually made her more curious because even the other children she knew wore clothing that fit and were quiet so old. As she looked at the boy she wondered if he was cold.

Elizana felt a grin spread across her face as they moved across. Suddenly there balance was throw into question as something caused Arkash to shake. Throwing her arm Elizana was able to keep from falling, but with a inquisitive expression on her face she looked behind them to see what was the problem, and it was then that she noticed Arkash had a tail. With a squeal of delight Elizana grabbed her friends other hand and said. “Ohh you have a tail. That must be wonderful.” She would have jumped up and down but realized in time that they were on a sheet of ice. “Is it fun having a tail.” Elizana had heard of creatures who weren’t completely human, and in her every curious nature Ella hand wanted to see one but has expected to never see one. So this was a pleasant surprise.

It was then that as she looked at her companion she really wondered if he was cold. He blue eyes were wide with a range of emotions on them. “I am so sorry Arkash I have thought about only me and my never been skating. Are you cold?” She said and began to removed her coat. “You can wear my coat if you need something warmer.” The last thing she wanted so for her friend to freeze.

[Arkash]

The fact that she didn't mention his speech helped ease the young Rathari's insecurities. Maybe she didnt even notice his poor common? She didn't bat an eye at him. Perhaps she was just used to people in lower Nivenhain? The last thought brought him to doubt.
Regardless, he had fun skating down the alleyway. The high walls gave him shelter from the leeching winds and allowed him to keep hold of his body heat for longer despite not being all that physically active. The motion of pushing from leg to leg helped a bit, but there wasn't enough strain in his legs as was necessary to generate heat. So, he steadily grew colder. Eventually, his heat loss showed in the form of a stumble, and Elizana didn't miss it.
She caught herself, of course. Arkash would have felt terrible if she'd hurt herself because of his clumsiness. When she turned to look at him, he feared the worst. He'd messed up so bad that she was mad at him... but no, that wasn't the case at all. In fact, she was quite pleased, for she'd noticed his tail. His yellow eyes widened a little in the dark of his hood, and his round black pupils dilated a bit. Did she not notice it before? Was it really something that spectacular?
When he really thought about it, he hadn't really seen any rathari besides Cojack, Liu, and himself in Lower Nivenhain. Perhaps the rest of the city was like that too? How could that be? Liu spoke of many tribes of Rathari in their past... Were they really all so far away? Still, he couldn't deny that it was strangely nice to be praised simply for having a tail, and a smile pulled at his lips.
"It's super fun!" Declared the Rathari as she took his other caw. His eyes reflected her own excitement for a moment or two. "I cun wag it an' everyfin'! But muh mom tells me not to 'cause I keep knockin' thin's ova." Whenever Liu wagged her tail, it was of no consequence. Her tail was bushy with fur, while his tail was mostly stored fat and muscle. So, he knocked things over often when he tried to wag it like hers.
The thought to mention his gradual loss of heat didn't occur; he didn't think there was much his new friend could do anything about it. After all, it was impossible to make fire out of thin air. She must have seen him shivering, as her intuition was spot on; he was cold. "Nah, youer fine- s'not youer fault." he started as she blamed her selfishness for his coldness. Then, she offered her own coat, and he looked at her with wide eyes.
It was a generous offer; he could certainly use the insulation but... "Won't 'ou be cold? Mom says humans dun like it eifer." But then, humans bodies worked differently to his. "I... can't mehk my own warmth... I gotta sit by the fire all day 'n all night in frost or my arms 'n legs stop workin'... An' I get tired an' slow, so..." What was the question again? Arkash paused and stared as he tried to collect his thoughts, but it was difficult to make sense of things.
"I don' wanna stop skehtin' tho-" he hadn't said it, but the earlier point left no time for playing or meeting friends. Elizana was his first and only. If they stopped skating, who knew what would happen next?

[Elizana Celamyrsa]

Frosty Rein Days
23rd of Frost, 106

Elizana didn’t waste a moment as she watched her new friend begin to fade. She pulled off her coat and threw it around her friend and closed it up to keep the heat in. Elizana had actually been plenty warm so the coat was nice and warm. Elizana didn’t stop there she slide up next to Arkash so that her warm body was pressed against his. As she did this she kept talking. “That is so cool. Don’t worry about knocking things over I do that all the time and I don’t have a tail.” Once they were close she said. “Tell me about your mother.”

The girl was fairly well bundled against the cold even without her coat, but she did notice a difference in how warm she was without the coat. The noble girl was stubborn and not about to become a wimp because of some cold. She realized that maybe it was time to find her brother and father, they could help her friend get home. She didn’t want the fun to end either so she decided to make the next part a game.

“Let’s see who is better at spotting something. My brother can help us get warm. So who ever spots him first gets the best seat by the fire.” Ella said with a grin. She was inside growing very worried as the way he spoke seemed even less clear. Not his words but just general talking. She was wondering if he was going to try and fall asleep which was a bad thing. Elizana didn’t know why it was a bad thing but it was. So with care she heled them scoot towards the ally she had come as she worked to hold his close and keep him moving. “My brother looks like me but a boy.”

It was slow moving at that point, but luckily Elizana would have recognized her brother’s voice anywhere. She could hear the sound of her name being shouted in the air. Vincent’s high voice was firm, with just a hint of fear in it. Elizana paused and shouted, “Vincent.” Then she smiled over at Arkash. “Shall we see who spots him first?”

Elizana continued to call as the moved closer. She felt like they had moved so far but in reality Elizana wasn’t that strong and while progress was made her father and brother came around another corner and then came to a stop. Elizana blue eyes flashed with relief and excitement. She watched as her father’s face became a battlefield of emotions even as he walked forward and dropped to his knees.
“Sweetheart,” was all he said as he hugged her. Elizana was a bit confused, she was fine why was her father so worried.

“Father we need to get Arkash warm.” She said semi bouncing even as her father hugged her. She was a bit chilled herself but her focus was more on her friend who was clearly very cold. Her father pulled back and looked at the bundled boy next to them. He raised an eyebrow even as Elizana continued, “Come one papa.” The stern looking man looked at his daughter and his expression softened then he turned to his daughter’s friend.

“Arkash, thank you for taking care of Elizana, how about we get you home?” If he said yes the members of the Celamyrsa family would lead him down a few more streets to where there carriage was waiting. Elizana stayed by her friend side the whole time.