51st of Searing, 107
He was almost ten years of age. The small lizard had grown plenty, but not as much as he could have due to a consistent feed of light meals. None of them knew it, but in the family's effort to save money, Arkash's growth had been stunted; it wasn't as apparent, as he stood at the average human's height.
Even so, Arkash was big enough now to hold a significant amount of heat, and hold it for longer than he could while he was younger. So, that searing, he was allowed to follow his parents into the woods on one condition; he had to stay wrapped up in a blanket until they started a campfire. Eager to venture beyond the walls as he had while he was younger, boy Arkash accepted Liu's terms.
So, Arkash waddled along behind Cojack and ahead of Liu. The blanket he wore was a gray-beige color of woven hemp. It had a few stains and sewn patches, but so did most of the clothes in the family's possession. Considering they rarely wore much clothing outside of Frost, that wasn't saying much.
Cojack led the way as Arkash expected. He was big, strong, and would scare off any bad guys with the ax he carried. Meanwhile, Liu traveled from the back. Her sharp hearing and sense of smell would help her detect if anyone tried to sneak up on them from behind. Arkash? He waddled along between the two with a blanket pulled over his head like a hood and wrapped around his torso and upper legs like a coat. Like that, with his patchy hemp pants and scraggly leather foot wraps, he trapped most of his heat in his body. Even so, Liu sometimes closed the gap to ask how he was faring.
While the young Rathari was glad to be out of the house, he didn't really know how he would be of help to his two parents. They were both a lot stronger than he was, and he couldn't really use his arms due to being wrapped up. If anything, he could carry some tinder with his mouth? But he didn't really want to do that.
The trio eventually reaches their destination; the border of a lush forest, blooming with flowers of all shapes and hues. Arkash widened his yellow eyes. "Wow!" He called, then rushed ahead. He slipped a little on the dew-laced grass but quickly regained his footing. He couldn't remember his last visit to the wilds all that well, it was years ago. Seeing so many vibrant colors after being in the stone streets for so long was... almost overwhelming.
Cojack watched with a smile as Arkash ran ahead. Liu took a jog to catch up. As soon as he arrived at the flower beds of the wilderness, Arkash lowered into a crouch with a bounce, then shifted his claws from the confines of his blanket before he reached out to feel the petals. The flower was soft, pliant against his scales. So, he treated the plant with the utmost care... That was until Liu snatched him up off the floor, and drew a squeal from his parted maw while she spun his blanket-wrapped form.
"Raaaa! You ran off again, now the monsters are gonna eat you!" Declared his mother's voice in a low growl. Even as she stopped spinning, she held the squirmy lizard in a tight hug off the ground.
Arkash's eyes were wide. In his excitement, he'd forgotten the other condition they laid out for him; no running off. "Mom! Monsters aren't real!" he begged.
"They're not, huh?" quizzed the wolf as she lowered the boy to the ground, and released her hug. "Well, it's just as well, otherwise one might have really snatched you up!" She warned and her tone turned quite serious.
Arkash lowered his gaze as he steadied his feet. "Sorry mom, I won't do it again." But, Arkash had already said that after the last time he ran off.
"Arkash," Spoke Liu quite sternly. The boy looked to her eyes. "We're going into the woods; it's very easy to get lost. Okay? You have to stay close to me." She maintained full eye contact with the lizard while she next spoke. "I'm serious, Ark. Do you understand?"
The young Rathari held still while he looked into his mother's eyes, then nodded. It wasn't the time for playing games; if he got lost in the woods, he didn't know how to make a fire. besides, this was his parents trusting him on an outing. If he ran off into the wild, they wouldn't trust him again, even if they did find him. "Yeah, I'll stay with you. Promise."
Liu seemed to smile a little before Cojack caught up at his own pace. He'd heard the scalding from a distance, and didn't feel the need to remind the boy twice. "You two are gonna get the tinder, right? I'm chopping the wood?" he asked in confirmation. Liu simply smiled and nodded, then rose to her feet and wrapped her hand around the side of Arkash's blanket-wrapped head. "Alright, we'll meet up here when we're done, then," declared the horse with a puff as he positioned himself near a tree.
Liu grinned a little, then looked to the lizard before she spoke a short "come on, then," and moved toward the treeline. Arkash followed closely and watched his footing as they proceeded down a hill. The decline increased quickly, and Arkash was made to mind his footing as he proceeded. It was difficult, as his head didn't have much range of movement.
"We have to head a bit further down to get to the dried grass and leaves," she explained. "Because most of this forest is caught between the two ridges, all the dead leaves fall to the bottom... But there's a creek there that sweeps all the gunk away, so we need to take the dead leaves from the ridges. Does that make sense?"
Arkash tilted his head a little while caught in the blanket. "Sort of," he replied. "Why can't we just use living leaves for tinder? Trees burn all the time when storms hit."
Liu pursed her lips and widened her eyes with her gaze pointed forward. Arkash made a good point; why didn't they just use living leaves? "Well... the only reason those trees burn is-" was all she managed to say before she slipped on her descent, the product of an unsteady rock giving way to her weight. She grunted as she hit the floor, then slid down the slope a little before she turned over and began to roll. Arkash screamed.
At once, he took to the hill and began to jog down it. It was very steep, so he had to lean the majority of his weight backward while he partially skidded and took long, leaping bounds downward in an effort to catch up to his mother, who rested at the bottom of the hill. The weight of the blanket only seemed to carry him down quicker- Or did it make him lighter? He'd never really run down a hill before. Finally, he came to a stop beside her, and called out a desperate "Mom!"
"I-I'm okay, Ark-!" She spoke through a growl and curled her nose to bare her fangs. Arkash paused, taken back by the threatening visage. When she realized she was bearing her teeth, she dropped the unpleasant face and pushed into her hands to lift her upper body. "Sorry, Mommy's just hurt a little, baby."
"What's wrong?" he pleaded with his big eyes full of sorrow.
"Ah, my foot; I might have sprained it when that rock gave way..." She thought out loud. One thing was almost immediately certain, the wolf wasn't going to be able to climb the steep hill by herself. "Do you know your way back?" She asked after she'd steadied the adrenaline in her veins a bit.
Arkash gave a quick od, then asked "What should I do?" And, he listened intently.
Liu tried to move her leg, as she needed to rule out if climbing was an option or not. As pain ran rampant through her limb, she hissed, then loosed a shaky breath. No, she didn't have a choice. "...Okay, Ark, I need you to listen carefully," she answered at last. Arkash bent down a bit to be more level with her. "You need to head back up this hill, then take a right on the footpath to get to your dad. Just follow that trail all the way back to the tree he's chopping, then tell him I've fallen and hurt my foot. Understand?"
Arkash looked unsure. Could he remember all of that? He had to. "Run up the hill, follow the path to the right, and get Dad. Got it."
"And if you get lost?"
"Wait where I am and call for help."
"Good," she shut her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. "Get going, and be careful," warned the wolf. Arkash nodded, then turned and rose to his feet in the same motion.
The lizard supposed that he looked quite ridiculous while wrapped up as he was, but he didn't care. Liu needed his help. He looked back to her as she managed to get to her knees, then nodded briefly before he started to run up the hill.
It was a little awkward, as in order to run upward, he had to lift his legs high. He couldn't really, not with the blanket wrapped around him. By the time he made it to the footpath, he was almost completely exhausted and panted hard for breath.
It took him a moment to gather the air he needed but he eventually turned to the right to run along the path. Up ahead, where they left him, Cojack stood with his ax rested at his side, panting. He'd made some progress on the tree, but it could wait. Arkash quickly explained that Liu had fallen, and the two left at once to retrieve her.
He was almost ten years of age. The small lizard had grown plenty, but not as much as he could have due to a consistent feed of light meals. None of them knew it, but in the family's effort to save money, Arkash's growth had been stunted; it wasn't as apparent, as he stood at the average human's height.
Even so, Arkash was big enough now to hold a significant amount of heat, and hold it for longer than he could while he was younger. So, that searing, he was allowed to follow his parents into the woods on one condition; he had to stay wrapped up in a blanket until they started a campfire. Eager to venture beyond the walls as he had while he was younger, boy Arkash accepted Liu's terms.
So, Arkash waddled along behind Cojack and ahead of Liu. The blanket he wore was a gray-beige color of woven hemp. It had a few stains and sewn patches, but so did most of the clothes in the family's possession. Considering they rarely wore much clothing outside of Frost, that wasn't saying much.
Cojack led the way as Arkash expected. He was big, strong, and would scare off any bad guys with the ax he carried. Meanwhile, Liu traveled from the back. Her sharp hearing and sense of smell would help her detect if anyone tried to sneak up on them from behind. Arkash? He waddled along between the two with a blanket pulled over his head like a hood and wrapped around his torso and upper legs like a coat. Like that, with his patchy hemp pants and scraggly leather foot wraps, he trapped most of his heat in his body. Even so, Liu sometimes closed the gap to ask how he was faring.
While the young Rathari was glad to be out of the house, he didn't really know how he would be of help to his two parents. They were both a lot stronger than he was, and he couldn't really use his arms due to being wrapped up. If anything, he could carry some tinder with his mouth? But he didn't really want to do that.
The trio eventually reaches their destination; the border of a lush forest, blooming with flowers of all shapes and hues. Arkash widened his yellow eyes. "Wow!" He called, then rushed ahead. He slipped a little on the dew-laced grass but quickly regained his footing. He couldn't remember his last visit to the wilds all that well, it was years ago. Seeing so many vibrant colors after being in the stone streets for so long was... almost overwhelming.
Cojack watched with a smile as Arkash ran ahead. Liu took a jog to catch up. As soon as he arrived at the flower beds of the wilderness, Arkash lowered into a crouch with a bounce, then shifted his claws from the confines of his blanket before he reached out to feel the petals. The flower was soft, pliant against his scales. So, he treated the plant with the utmost care... That was until Liu snatched him up off the floor, and drew a squeal from his parted maw while she spun his blanket-wrapped form.
"Raaaa! You ran off again, now the monsters are gonna eat you!" Declared his mother's voice in a low growl. Even as she stopped spinning, she held the squirmy lizard in a tight hug off the ground.
Arkash's eyes were wide. In his excitement, he'd forgotten the other condition they laid out for him; no running off. "Mom! Monsters aren't real!" he begged.
"They're not, huh?" quizzed the wolf as she lowered the boy to the ground, and released her hug. "Well, it's just as well, otherwise one might have really snatched you up!" She warned and her tone turned quite serious.
Arkash lowered his gaze as he steadied his feet. "Sorry mom, I won't do it again." But, Arkash had already said that after the last time he ran off.
"Arkash," Spoke Liu quite sternly. The boy looked to her eyes. "We're going into the woods; it's very easy to get lost. Okay? You have to stay close to me." She maintained full eye contact with the lizard while she next spoke. "I'm serious, Ark. Do you understand?"
The young Rathari held still while he looked into his mother's eyes, then nodded. It wasn't the time for playing games; if he got lost in the woods, he didn't know how to make a fire. besides, this was his parents trusting him on an outing. If he ran off into the wild, they wouldn't trust him again, even if they did find him. "Yeah, I'll stay with you. Promise."
Liu seemed to smile a little before Cojack caught up at his own pace. He'd heard the scalding from a distance, and didn't feel the need to remind the boy twice. "You two are gonna get the tinder, right? I'm chopping the wood?" he asked in confirmation. Liu simply smiled and nodded, then rose to her feet and wrapped her hand around the side of Arkash's blanket-wrapped head. "Alright, we'll meet up here when we're done, then," declared the horse with a puff as he positioned himself near a tree.
Liu grinned a little, then looked to the lizard before she spoke a short "come on, then," and moved toward the treeline. Arkash followed closely and watched his footing as they proceeded down a hill. The decline increased quickly, and Arkash was made to mind his footing as he proceeded. It was difficult, as his head didn't have much range of movement.
"We have to head a bit further down to get to the dried grass and leaves," she explained. "Because most of this forest is caught between the two ridges, all the dead leaves fall to the bottom... But there's a creek there that sweeps all the gunk away, so we need to take the dead leaves from the ridges. Does that make sense?"
Arkash tilted his head a little while caught in the blanket. "Sort of," he replied. "Why can't we just use living leaves for tinder? Trees burn all the time when storms hit."
Liu pursed her lips and widened her eyes with her gaze pointed forward. Arkash made a good point; why didn't they just use living leaves? "Well... the only reason those trees burn is-" was all she managed to say before she slipped on her descent, the product of an unsteady rock giving way to her weight. She grunted as she hit the floor, then slid down the slope a little before she turned over and began to roll. Arkash screamed.
At once, he took to the hill and began to jog down it. It was very steep, so he had to lean the majority of his weight backward while he partially skidded and took long, leaping bounds downward in an effort to catch up to his mother, who rested at the bottom of the hill. The weight of the blanket only seemed to carry him down quicker- Or did it make him lighter? He'd never really run down a hill before. Finally, he came to a stop beside her, and called out a desperate "Mom!"
"I-I'm okay, Ark-!" She spoke through a growl and curled her nose to bare her fangs. Arkash paused, taken back by the threatening visage. When she realized she was bearing her teeth, she dropped the unpleasant face and pushed into her hands to lift her upper body. "Sorry, Mommy's just hurt a little, baby."
"What's wrong?" he pleaded with his big eyes full of sorrow.
"Ah, my foot; I might have sprained it when that rock gave way..." She thought out loud. One thing was almost immediately certain, the wolf wasn't going to be able to climb the steep hill by herself. "Do you know your way back?" She asked after she'd steadied the adrenaline in her veins a bit.
Arkash gave a quick od, then asked "What should I do?" And, he listened intently.
Liu tried to move her leg, as she needed to rule out if climbing was an option or not. As pain ran rampant through her limb, she hissed, then loosed a shaky breath. No, she didn't have a choice. "...Okay, Ark, I need you to listen carefully," she answered at last. Arkash bent down a bit to be more level with her. "You need to head back up this hill, then take a right on the footpath to get to your dad. Just follow that trail all the way back to the tree he's chopping, then tell him I've fallen and hurt my foot. Understand?"
Arkash looked unsure. Could he remember all of that? He had to. "Run up the hill, follow the path to the right, and get Dad. Got it."
"And if you get lost?"
"Wait where I am and call for help."
"Good," she shut her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. "Get going, and be careful," warned the wolf. Arkash nodded, then turned and rose to his feet in the same motion.
The lizard supposed that he looked quite ridiculous while wrapped up as he was, but he didn't care. Liu needed his help. He looked back to her as she managed to get to her knees, then nodded briefly before he started to run up the hill.
It was a little awkward, as in order to run upward, he had to lift his legs high. He couldn't really, not with the blanket wrapped around him. By the time he made it to the footpath, he was almost completely exhausted and panted hard for breath.
It took him a moment to gather the air he needed but he eventually turned to the right to run along the path. Up ahead, where they left him, Cojack stood with his ax rested at his side, panting. He'd made some progress on the tree, but it could wait. Arkash quickly explained that Liu had fallen, and the two left at once to retrieve her.
