[Memory] Flee.
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:02 pm
78th of Glade, 113
Frost had been harsh; harsher than it normally was. Cojack, Arkash's father, had fallen ill. He hadn't bee able to return to work at all and struggled to even leave the house most days. He and Liu had tried to hide Cojack's worsening condition from Arkash, but the boy had seen the rust-colored phlegm that the horse coughed up more than once, even blood on some occasions. It wasn't long before they agreed, as a family, that Arkash would stay home to look after the sickly horse while Liu worked. Arkash was honestly glad for it.
Though he'd been excited to help Cojack and Liu in his younger days, he hadn't anticipated that work would be so hard. They filled in jobs where there were hollow shortages most of the time. Most of it was outdoors in the elements, but for things like mining, they were able to hide in the shelter of whatever tunnels they dug. It was selfish of him, but he wanted to avoid working in those conditions for as long as possible, and the opportunity arose when Liu offered that he stayed home to watch the horse. Of course, he accepted in a heartbeat.
That meant more strain on Liu, however. She couldn't miss days of work, not if she wanted to afford Cojack's medicine, food, as well as Arkash's scale moisturizer while saving money. Of course, the lizard could always tell the wolf not to worry about the moisturizer. Though the chafing and cracking were painful on his scales, it wasn't as if he couldn't live with it. To some extent, Arkash recognized his selfish decisions, but he wasn't prepared to live in the time. He'd not faced hardship like that and sought to bury himself in the delusion that everything would be fine.
No matter how badly he wanted to escape, he would be plunged into a new way of life. While the family normally made trips beyond the walls together, Arkash had been sent on his own to gather firewood and tinder. He'd done it a number of times before then, but he'd always had his family to support him with... Just about everything. Now, he was alone. The day was almost pleasant, at least, like others during the glade season. Of course, more days like that were sure to follow as the seasons changed.
In his claws, he carried their old hatchet. It was a tool they'd been using for years, and though the rope-wrapped handle was frayed and the blade was rusted, they had yet to replace it. They'd sharpened it time and time again, but it wasn't likely that the tool would last much longer. The young rath looked down at the tool and ran his thumb over its metal surface, which sounded a dull scrape of his scales on the coarse metal.
He didn't consider the axe further, as he soon arrived at the woods. All the trees toward the outskirts of the woods were too thick for him to reasonably cut down, so he proceeded deeper into the woods to find a thinner tree. It took exponentially more time to cut down a tree the thicker it was and even required some degree of skill and tact whenever the tree was too big. Not only was Arkash lazy, but he had his body heat to worry about. He wanted to get the tinder and firewood without having to set up a campfire to regain his lost heat. For that, he needed speed.
A glance to the sky revealed the thick grey overcast that blocked out the sun and darkened the woodland below. If it was going to rain, then he had to be even quicker. That being said, it had rained in recent days, and the ground was still wet on Arkash's claws. Even if it rained again, they still had some logs and tinder to last them until the materials dried. Another reason for targeting a smaller tree was the situation with his borrowed body heat, which he didn't want to lose. the rain was a nightmare for quickly cooling him, and if he got too cold, he lost the ability to move... which didn't suit him in the middle of the wilderness.
Mud clung to his claws while he traversed the forest floor. The grass had long since resumed its growth in the patches where sunlight could pierce the canopy, but the majority of the woods were barren of brush and overgrowth. Outside of the evergreen woods was always vibrant and green, with plentiful flowers to steal the attention of travelers, but that was something Arkash had long since forgotten about. Going beyond the walls was just another chore in his mind.
With mud as high as his knees in flecks on his patchy pants, Arkash finally came to rest at one of the smaller evergreens. It would take him maybe ten minutes to fell it, or so he estimated from past works. So, he felt the ground for a slope and made sure there wasn't any lean on the tree before he took his stance at its trunk and swung sideways into the tree's body. A had clack sounded and some scraps of tree flung from the impact, but he had some ways to go before the bark was stripped from the area.
By the time he'd chopped through the tree's softer layers, it began to rain. He heard the shower sweeping over the canopy, and before long, it began to drop into the grounds below. Condensed droplets of cool water rained on the lizard while he worked, and he quietly cursed under his breath.
The ground below him grew slippery and made it difficult to hold his stance and swing at the same time. It consumed all his focus to hold his ground in the mud and forced him to dig in with his claws just to keep his legs in place. The rain only ramped up and came down harder. Arkash found himself growing tired in the warmth-leeching weather, so he took a step back to rest. There was no use; he had to go home and recover his heat. It was disappointing, and they'd probably lose the fire for a day, but they'd survive.
As Arkash turned, which was when he met with the bared yellow teeth of an incredibly large, raggedy wolf. His chest seized up and his breath stopped as he stared at the beast, which snarled as it prowled closer. The thing was about as tall as he was, and several times his weight in muscle. Just a moment or two after his eyes met with the beast, venom began to pool in his mouth, and drool ran from his lips in the face of the very real threat.
Though he wanted to run, he couldn't move. Step by step, the sopping wet wolf drew closer, and its snarl grew all the more fierce. Finally, Arkash found the will to move. His untested survival instincts shifted to fight, and he rolled his axe back only to hit the animal as hard as he could with it. The beast yelped and reeled, and arkash dropped the weapon with his clumsy, tightened grip. Run, resounded a single thought as his self-preservation took another shift. At once, the lizard spun on the spot, and skidded and slipped in the muddy ground. He couldn't find a grip.
The wolf snarled behind him and Arkash attempted a hard and sudden leap only to fall and land in the mud he'd kicked up. The fall wasn't hard, but it gave him a chance to look at the giant wolf, which was matted red around the side of its head, with thick wet mud clumped in its face. The beast widened its stance and began to shake the obstructing debris from its coat. Arkash loosed a sound of startle as reality returned, and crawled out of the mud using his hand claws, scrambled to his feet and began to run. He was going deeper into the woods, but the wolf was in the direction that led back to Nivenhain. The water and mud in his fur clothing weighed heavily on his legs, which were already tight in the cold.
A glance over his shoulder showed the wolf gaining on him quickly. He screamed as he looked forward again, and quickly scanned for some sort of obstruction, something that would give him an edge. A thicket to the left! Arkash made a mad dash for it and gripped the ground with his claws to turn hard. The wolf skidded just a second behind him, regained its balance, then broke into another hard run as it bombed toward him.
In the nick of time, Arkash barreled into the tightly packed, dense saplings and fell to the ground. The wolf followed after but wound up caught between the two surprisingly strong baby trees. It snarled harshly and snapped its jaws viciously at the lizard while it continued to bleed from the neck. Drool continued to pour from his trembling lips as he quickly turned, gripped the ground and bolted through the thicket. His legs were incredibly tight and exhausted with just that small distance running, but his fear carried him.
His breathing turned hard as he continued through the dense thicket, and he clambered through the winding obstructive trees with general ease. His effort was to move as far away from the scene as possible. As he trembled with adrenaline, cold, and exhaustion, the muddied lizard looked over his shoulder. Was it still after him?
Frost had been harsh; harsher than it normally was. Cojack, Arkash's father, had fallen ill. He hadn't bee able to return to work at all and struggled to even leave the house most days. He and Liu had tried to hide Cojack's worsening condition from Arkash, but the boy had seen the rust-colored phlegm that the horse coughed up more than once, even blood on some occasions. It wasn't long before they agreed, as a family, that Arkash would stay home to look after the sickly horse while Liu worked. Arkash was honestly glad for it.
Though he'd been excited to help Cojack and Liu in his younger days, he hadn't anticipated that work would be so hard. They filled in jobs where there were hollow shortages most of the time. Most of it was outdoors in the elements, but for things like mining, they were able to hide in the shelter of whatever tunnels they dug. It was selfish of him, but he wanted to avoid working in those conditions for as long as possible, and the opportunity arose when Liu offered that he stayed home to watch the horse. Of course, he accepted in a heartbeat.
That meant more strain on Liu, however. She couldn't miss days of work, not if she wanted to afford Cojack's medicine, food, as well as Arkash's scale moisturizer while saving money. Of course, the lizard could always tell the wolf not to worry about the moisturizer. Though the chafing and cracking were painful on his scales, it wasn't as if he couldn't live with it. To some extent, Arkash recognized his selfish decisions, but he wasn't prepared to live in the time. He'd not faced hardship like that and sought to bury himself in the delusion that everything would be fine.
No matter how badly he wanted to escape, he would be plunged into a new way of life. While the family normally made trips beyond the walls together, Arkash had been sent on his own to gather firewood and tinder. He'd done it a number of times before then, but he'd always had his family to support him with... Just about everything. Now, he was alone. The day was almost pleasant, at least, like others during the glade season. Of course, more days like that were sure to follow as the seasons changed.
In his claws, he carried their old hatchet. It was a tool they'd been using for years, and though the rope-wrapped handle was frayed and the blade was rusted, they had yet to replace it. They'd sharpened it time and time again, but it wasn't likely that the tool would last much longer. The young rath looked down at the tool and ran his thumb over its metal surface, which sounded a dull scrape of his scales on the coarse metal.
He didn't consider the axe further, as he soon arrived at the woods. All the trees toward the outskirts of the woods were too thick for him to reasonably cut down, so he proceeded deeper into the woods to find a thinner tree. It took exponentially more time to cut down a tree the thicker it was and even required some degree of skill and tact whenever the tree was too big. Not only was Arkash lazy, but he had his body heat to worry about. He wanted to get the tinder and firewood without having to set up a campfire to regain his lost heat. For that, he needed speed.
A glance to the sky revealed the thick grey overcast that blocked out the sun and darkened the woodland below. If it was going to rain, then he had to be even quicker. That being said, it had rained in recent days, and the ground was still wet on Arkash's claws. Even if it rained again, they still had some logs and tinder to last them until the materials dried. Another reason for targeting a smaller tree was the situation with his borrowed body heat, which he didn't want to lose. the rain was a nightmare for quickly cooling him, and if he got too cold, he lost the ability to move... which didn't suit him in the middle of the wilderness.
Mud clung to his claws while he traversed the forest floor. The grass had long since resumed its growth in the patches where sunlight could pierce the canopy, but the majority of the woods were barren of brush and overgrowth. Outside of the evergreen woods was always vibrant and green, with plentiful flowers to steal the attention of travelers, but that was something Arkash had long since forgotten about. Going beyond the walls was just another chore in his mind.
With mud as high as his knees in flecks on his patchy pants, Arkash finally came to rest at one of the smaller evergreens. It would take him maybe ten minutes to fell it, or so he estimated from past works. So, he felt the ground for a slope and made sure there wasn't any lean on the tree before he took his stance at its trunk and swung sideways into the tree's body. A had clack sounded and some scraps of tree flung from the impact, but he had some ways to go before the bark was stripped from the area.
By the time he'd chopped through the tree's softer layers, it began to rain. He heard the shower sweeping over the canopy, and before long, it began to drop into the grounds below. Condensed droplets of cool water rained on the lizard while he worked, and he quietly cursed under his breath.
The ground below him grew slippery and made it difficult to hold his stance and swing at the same time. It consumed all his focus to hold his ground in the mud and forced him to dig in with his claws just to keep his legs in place. The rain only ramped up and came down harder. Arkash found himself growing tired in the warmth-leeching weather, so he took a step back to rest. There was no use; he had to go home and recover his heat. It was disappointing, and they'd probably lose the fire for a day, but they'd survive.
As Arkash turned, which was when he met with the bared yellow teeth of an incredibly large, raggedy wolf. His chest seized up and his breath stopped as he stared at the beast, which snarled as it prowled closer. The thing was about as tall as he was, and several times his weight in muscle. Just a moment or two after his eyes met with the beast, venom began to pool in his mouth, and drool ran from his lips in the face of the very real threat.
Though he wanted to run, he couldn't move. Step by step, the sopping wet wolf drew closer, and its snarl grew all the more fierce. Finally, Arkash found the will to move. His untested survival instincts shifted to fight, and he rolled his axe back only to hit the animal as hard as he could with it. The beast yelped and reeled, and arkash dropped the weapon with his clumsy, tightened grip. Run, resounded a single thought as his self-preservation took another shift. At once, the lizard spun on the spot, and skidded and slipped in the muddy ground. He couldn't find a grip.
The wolf snarled behind him and Arkash attempted a hard and sudden leap only to fall and land in the mud he'd kicked up. The fall wasn't hard, but it gave him a chance to look at the giant wolf, which was matted red around the side of its head, with thick wet mud clumped in its face. The beast widened its stance and began to shake the obstructing debris from its coat. Arkash loosed a sound of startle as reality returned, and crawled out of the mud using his hand claws, scrambled to his feet and began to run. He was going deeper into the woods, but the wolf was in the direction that led back to Nivenhain. The water and mud in his fur clothing weighed heavily on his legs, which were already tight in the cold.
A glance over his shoulder showed the wolf gaining on him quickly. He screamed as he looked forward again, and quickly scanned for some sort of obstruction, something that would give him an edge. A thicket to the left! Arkash made a mad dash for it and gripped the ground with his claws to turn hard. The wolf skidded just a second behind him, regained its balance, then broke into another hard run as it bombed toward him.
In the nick of time, Arkash barreled into the tightly packed, dense saplings and fell to the ground. The wolf followed after but wound up caught between the two surprisingly strong baby trees. It snarled harshly and snapped its jaws viciously at the lizard while it continued to bleed from the neck. Drool continued to pour from his trembling lips as he quickly turned, gripped the ground and bolted through the thicket. His legs were incredibly tight and exhausted with just that small distance running, but his fear carried him.
His breathing turned hard as he continued through the dense thicket, and he clambered through the winding obstructive trees with general ease. His effort was to move as far away from the scene as possible. As he trembled with adrenaline, cold, and exhaustion, the muddied lizard looked over his shoulder. Was it still after him?
