41st of Zi'da.
Continuation of here.
Sleep wasn't something that came easy, following the revelation of the death of a childhood friend. Well, perhaps not friend, if he was honest; both his cousins Mal'pau and Yer'or had always looked down on him somewhat. Never enough to be actually cruel or degrading, but enough to severely hinder any really meaningful relationships from forming beyond occasionally playing together as young children, being 'that kid who's going to sleep on the floor for a few weeks', at first a new friend to play with, later a distraction, perhaps even an annoyance, though politeness kept them from saying as much to his face. He didn't harbour any bad feelings towards either of them; he would have likely felt the same if a strange boy routinely came to their house, eating food and sleeping on the floor. Beyond that, they'd always seen him as family, defending him when others spoke out about his erratic behaviour, whispered behind his back of his mother.
But now Mal'pau was dead, by accidentally drinking some dirty water in a stream. It all felt so horribly surreal, like if he walked back to their house and knocked on the door, Mal'pau would answer it and it'd all turn out to be some strange dream. At one point during the night he stood up and nearly left to do just that, but it was dark and late. They might not even live in the same place he'd once known.
The next morning, early as he dared, he disassembled his camp and made for Nani's. It wasn't far; this far out from the city, he felt reasonably comfortable setting up tent only as short a walk away from the house as it took to find a prime location to set up a reasonably-sized firepit and warm up some of his last rapidly-dwindling rations, mixed in with a rabbit Greyhide had caught during his late evening prowl. In the haze of what little light of dawn could filter through the overhead trees, he could see not a candle was lit, yet the fresh smell of soup drifted across his senses as he drew near; there was no mistaking the stuff as Nani's cooking. She made a damn good wild mushroom soup when she put her mind to it. She didn't know how to make much else, but she knew how to make that, and it'd been so long since he'd actually managed to sit down and enjoy some good Desnind mushrooms. Rynmere mushrooms tasted far too spongy.
Greyhide lengthened his stride, pulling ahead and, of all things, slipping into his spirit form. Surely he knew that Nani and Ganda didn't mind the wolf, Nir'wei thought to himself as he picked up his pace, but the spirit wolf rematerialised as they reached at the foot of the stairs, halting and preventing Nir'wei from climbing up after him. "I can hear arguing. Shouting. Definitely coming from their place." Had his unexpected arrival caused it? Ganda certainly hadn't seemed pleased by his arrival, for whatever reason. Immortals, he felt embarrassed now.
"We should probably come back in a few breaks, then." The last thing he wanted was to intrude on them now.
Greyhide's ears perked. "They're arguing about you. And Mal'pau." He fazed back into spirit form and crept up the stairs, turning back at the top to look back at him. "Seriously. You're going to want to hear this." A deep part of him, the niggling rational voice in the back of his mind, told him that it'd be better for everyone if he didn't stick his nose into matters that he couldn't possibly understand at the moment. He'd been gone for what, five arcs or more? So much had happened to him in such a short span of time, who knew what he'd missed back over here. But this was his family. He'd been left out of the affairs of his own family for far too long, blanket after blanket thrown over his head to 'shield' him from understanding what they were doing, ignoring him while at the same time making all of his decisions for him. Whatever was happening here, he was a part of it. This was his cousin!
He crouched, making as little sound as he could while climbing the stairs and crossing over to the small platform jutting out around the boxy tree-house hut. Their voices were clear through the front door - they must've been in the living room.
"I can't believe you told him!" Nani all but shouted, her voice a mix of outrage and astonishment. "He's only just arrived. You can't. You know what he's like, what do you think he'll think now?" There could be no doubt they were talking about him now.
"He needs to be told, it had to be done sooner or later and getting it over with now is better for all of us in the long run." A clatter of metal, then another, much louder. He couldn't believe it. Were they actually arguing on whether he should know if his cousin dies?!
Nani astonished him the most, though. "No, he doesn't. You never should have told him. It was downright stupid, and honestly I--" He'd heard enough. With a fierce shove, he pushed open the front door and marched in, much to the astonished stares of both his grandparents. A half-boiled kettle of tea was still steaming on the side, with fresh ceramic mugs laid out. Nani was still throwing the occasional sharp glare towards Ganda, as if blaming him for all of this, but her attention quickly latched onto Nir'wei as he turned to face her alone.
Continuation of here.
Sleep wasn't something that came easy, following the revelation of the death of a childhood friend. Well, perhaps not friend, if he was honest; both his cousins Mal'pau and Yer'or had always looked down on him somewhat. Never enough to be actually cruel or degrading, but enough to severely hinder any really meaningful relationships from forming beyond occasionally playing together as young children, being 'that kid who's going to sleep on the floor for a few weeks', at first a new friend to play with, later a distraction, perhaps even an annoyance, though politeness kept them from saying as much to his face. He didn't harbour any bad feelings towards either of them; he would have likely felt the same if a strange boy routinely came to their house, eating food and sleeping on the floor. Beyond that, they'd always seen him as family, defending him when others spoke out about his erratic behaviour, whispered behind his back of his mother.
But now Mal'pau was dead, by accidentally drinking some dirty water in a stream. It all felt so horribly surreal, like if he walked back to their house and knocked on the door, Mal'pau would answer it and it'd all turn out to be some strange dream. At one point during the night he stood up and nearly left to do just that, but it was dark and late. They might not even live in the same place he'd once known.
The next morning, early as he dared, he disassembled his camp and made for Nani's. It wasn't far; this far out from the city, he felt reasonably comfortable setting up tent only as short a walk away from the house as it took to find a prime location to set up a reasonably-sized firepit and warm up some of his last rapidly-dwindling rations, mixed in with a rabbit Greyhide had caught during his late evening prowl. In the haze of what little light of dawn could filter through the overhead trees, he could see not a candle was lit, yet the fresh smell of soup drifted across his senses as he drew near; there was no mistaking the stuff as Nani's cooking. She made a damn good wild mushroom soup when she put her mind to it. She didn't know how to make much else, but she knew how to make that, and it'd been so long since he'd actually managed to sit down and enjoy some good Desnind mushrooms. Rynmere mushrooms tasted far too spongy.
Greyhide lengthened his stride, pulling ahead and, of all things, slipping into his spirit form. Surely he knew that Nani and Ganda didn't mind the wolf, Nir'wei thought to himself as he picked up his pace, but the spirit wolf rematerialised as they reached at the foot of the stairs, halting and preventing Nir'wei from climbing up after him. "I can hear arguing. Shouting. Definitely coming from their place." Had his unexpected arrival caused it? Ganda certainly hadn't seemed pleased by his arrival, for whatever reason. Immortals, he felt embarrassed now.
"We should probably come back in a few breaks, then." The last thing he wanted was to intrude on them now.
Greyhide's ears perked. "They're arguing about you. And Mal'pau." He fazed back into spirit form and crept up the stairs, turning back at the top to look back at him. "Seriously. You're going to want to hear this." A deep part of him, the niggling rational voice in the back of his mind, told him that it'd be better for everyone if he didn't stick his nose into matters that he couldn't possibly understand at the moment. He'd been gone for what, five arcs or more? So much had happened to him in such a short span of time, who knew what he'd missed back over here. But this was his family. He'd been left out of the affairs of his own family for far too long, blanket after blanket thrown over his head to 'shield' him from understanding what they were doing, ignoring him while at the same time making all of his decisions for him. Whatever was happening here, he was a part of it. This was his cousin!
He crouched, making as little sound as he could while climbing the stairs and crossing over to the small platform jutting out around the boxy tree-house hut. Their voices were clear through the front door - they must've been in the living room.
"I can't believe you told him!" Nani all but shouted, her voice a mix of outrage and astonishment. "He's only just arrived. You can't. You know what he's like, what do you think he'll think now?" There could be no doubt they were talking about him now.
"He needs to be told, it had to be done sooner or later and getting it over with now is better for all of us in the long run." A clatter of metal, then another, much louder. He couldn't believe it. Were they actually arguing on whether he should know if his cousin dies?!
Nani astonished him the most, though. "No, he doesn't. You never should have told him. It was downright stupid, and honestly I--" He'd heard enough. With a fierce shove, he pushed open the front door and marched in, much to the astonished stares of both his grandparents. A half-boiled kettle of tea was still steaming on the side, with fresh ceramic mugs laid out. Nani was still throwing the occasional sharp glare towards Ganda, as if blaming him for all of this, but her attention quickly latched onto Nir'wei as he turned to face her alone.
