34th of Ashan arc 702
Nzi was so very happy at that moment. He sat in the mud beside the mossy side of a great tree, his back bent as he examined the life that roamed and thrived beneath every rock. He took out the small Videnese looking-lens that his parents had gifted him on his birthtrial just 32 trials prior. With the naked eye, beneath that little, mossy boulder, he could easily see the ants, roaches, and other little lifeforms. But with the magnifying glass, he could see so much more. A whole new world of maggots opened up to his eyes, as he examined the larval chambers of the ant colonies. The tiny legs and cilia of these maggots fascinated him, how so many small feelers could propel them across the ground as they squirmed.
He was in rapture, to say the least. He loved his parents for giving him that magnifying glass.
Not everything had been ideal during those days, however. There were certain children, and one girl in particular, who were giving him a hard time when he tried to involve himself with them. They mocked Nzi cruelly, holding their nose when they talked to him, or making buzzing noises whenever they spotted him. Still, Nzi was a friendly boy, and never gave up his efforts to befriend these children. But there was one boy in particular he took exception to. Something about the boy frightened him. Perhaps it was a sense of atavistic revulsion a prey feels for its natural predator, but Nzi felt a sudden sinking in his stomach whenever he saw him, heard his voice, or felt the vibrations of his feet plodding across the ground.
He tried to put all thought of his difficulties with the other children aside though, now, and focus on his activity. From time to time, he looked over his shoulder, to make sure they weren't watching him, waiting to stomp his face into the mud, or do something equally mean.
In the corner of his senses, he thought he could hear something nearby. It wasn't any animal noise, nor bird. He could barely hear it, but hit his ears like a ringing of the eras after one of the local bullies beaned him in the head. He resumed observing the bugs after lifting his head for a moment to try and locate the noise.
He marveled at the way the roaches crawled and moved their tiny legs. Could almost hear the clicking of their joints as those tiny cilia and legs struggled, when the bugs were turned belly up. Nzi didn't like hurting the bugs, but on occasion used them for food, bringing them home for the family to cook.
"What are you doing, Bugboy?" A deep voice sounded from behind Nzi, it's familiarity striking fear into the young Sevir. It was the Lotharro boy that had grown up along side the rest of the tribe. Nzi had nothing specific against him, far from it. He wanted to be friends, but the boy was insufferable, and only wanted to fight with other children. And by fight, that meant to torment and pick on the weaker kids.
The boy walked past Nzi, patting him roughly on the back as he knelt beside him. "What're you lookin' at?" Said the boy. Nzi knew his name to be Selvig. He was the son of another Lotharro and one of the tribeswomen. His father had gone native after landing somewhere in Desnind from a boat.
As Selvig knocked Nzi on the back, his magnifying glass went flying onto the ground.
The magnifying glass landed with a 'clink' on the ground. Nzi'fuma almost winced, but was relieved when he saw that the glass was still intact. Nevertheless, he was too slow to grab the precious treasure before Selvig picked it up for himself. He took a look at the thing, holding it all wrong and looking as if he hadn't seen anything made of metal or glass before.
"Careful!" Nzi urged Selvig, begging him almost. "Don't break it!"
A flash of sadism evident in his eye, Selvig gave a look to Nzi, and then held the handle of the glass between his thumb and forefinger. He dangled it over the ground, as if threatening to drop it. "What... Like thi... Oh huh?"
Nzi was sure the bully would threaten to drop it, but instead, he picked it back up with his full grip, and began brandishing the glass with intent. Confused, Nzi'fuma followed the Lotharro boy's eye, to the ground about ten yards behind him. There, he saw a strange sight. A flash of light on the ground, illuminating the flying dust like a sunray as it shot from the glass to the ground.
"Hey, that's kind of neat!" Selvig said, chortling as he whipped the sunray all around. He began playing with the glass in earnest, as he pointed it this way and that, finally bringing it to his eye to look at Nzi. "I found a Bugboy... Haha."
Having said that, the Lotharro pushed past where Nzi knelt on the ground, bowling him onto his back without even really trying. Then, he began kicking over rocks.
Nzi'fuma rose from the ground, lifting himself up on his legs before dusting his deer-skin rags off. He looked to Selvig with a crooked brow, "What are you doing?"
"Shut up, Bugboy. I'm going to look for your cousins."
"W...what?" Nzi stammered, taking a few steps with shaking legs toward the other boy. He wrung his hands, hoping that the boy wouldn't ruin his Nashaki looking glass in the process of... whatever he was doing.
"Looking for bugs, now piss off, Bugboy or help me find some roaches or ants."
"Selvig... I'm not sure that's a great idea to disturb their nests..."
But Selvig wouldn't listen, kicking over rock after rock. Lisirra... how Nzi'fuma couldn't stand Lotharro. Always messing about and knocking things over, and kicking up dirt. Plus they were disrespectful of nature, treating it as something to be conquered rather than feared or revered.
The boy kicked over one particularly wet boulder, and then alighted to the ground, kneeling on it. Nzi drew closer to where he was, and looked at what he was peering into. A colony of army ants... Of course Selvig only saw a few of them on the surface, but Nzi'fuma knew from experience that they tended to travel in much greater numbers beneath the ground... "What are you doing Selvig?"
Once more he ignored him, but giggled as he held the magnifying glass to the sunlight, and angled it in such a way to cause it to burn the ants. "Hahaha, watch them burn Bugboy!"
Nzi'fuma panicked, but before he could try and draw Selvig away from there, he was called by a strange, ethereal voice. "Come away, Nzi! We must go before the Legion goes on the prowl for blood!"
Nzi'fuma lifted his chin up, looking for the source of the voice. There, behind him, in a branch he sighted a monkey. But it was no ordinary monkey. A creature with monkey's body but the fly's eyes and wings. Its wings fluttered and landed on the ground near Nzi, and it began capering about, trying to get him to move away from the dangerous situation about to unfold.
"Hahah, ow! Damned bug bit me!" So the army ant attack had begun. Nzi'fuma would have to move swiftly if he was to avoid the same fate.
The spirit he took to be his Ose'bori (he knew it would be his calling one day to find the Ose'bori someday, but he didn't suspect it would happen with he being still young!). Thus, the young Sevir was led over the hardened ground where the Army ants couldn't burrow. He got far enough away that he could only faintly hear Selvig's screams from far behind him, as the ants overtook him.
Before long, he returned to his village on the outskirts of Desnind. There, he chatted sullenly to his Ose'bori. "Ma and Da will be mad at me for losing the Nashaki Glass..." He kicked a twig on the ground as he went along, to face the music in his family's hut.
The Ose'bori floated around him, fluttering on its insectoid wings. Finally, it landed on his shoulder, and patted him on the head. "Better angry parents and alive than sad parents and dead." The chipper Ose'bori said. Then it smiled and introduced itself, "I'm Motsi, by the way. I'm sure we'll become very fast friends."
"What about Selvig... is he..."
"Oh yes, lunch for those army ants. You didn't seem to care for him before? But there was nothing you could've done to save him."
Nzi'fuma sighed, he would have to keep it quiet that he'd been with the other boy when he was finally found by the scouting parties that would inevitably form. Little did he remember, he'd left his Nashaki glass in the boy's possession...
Nzi was so very happy at that moment. He sat in the mud beside the mossy side of a great tree, his back bent as he examined the life that roamed and thrived beneath every rock. He took out the small Videnese looking-lens that his parents had gifted him on his birthtrial just 32 trials prior. With the naked eye, beneath that little, mossy boulder, he could easily see the ants, roaches, and other little lifeforms. But with the magnifying glass, he could see so much more. A whole new world of maggots opened up to his eyes, as he examined the larval chambers of the ant colonies. The tiny legs and cilia of these maggots fascinated him, how so many small feelers could propel them across the ground as they squirmed.
He was in rapture, to say the least. He loved his parents for giving him that magnifying glass.
Not everything had been ideal during those days, however. There were certain children, and one girl in particular, who were giving him a hard time when he tried to involve himself with them. They mocked Nzi cruelly, holding their nose when they talked to him, or making buzzing noises whenever they spotted him. Still, Nzi was a friendly boy, and never gave up his efforts to befriend these children. But there was one boy in particular he took exception to. Something about the boy frightened him. Perhaps it was a sense of atavistic revulsion a prey feels for its natural predator, but Nzi felt a sudden sinking in his stomach whenever he saw him, heard his voice, or felt the vibrations of his feet plodding across the ground.
He tried to put all thought of his difficulties with the other children aside though, now, and focus on his activity. From time to time, he looked over his shoulder, to make sure they weren't watching him, waiting to stomp his face into the mud, or do something equally mean.
In the corner of his senses, he thought he could hear something nearby. It wasn't any animal noise, nor bird. He could barely hear it, but hit his ears like a ringing of the eras after one of the local bullies beaned him in the head. He resumed observing the bugs after lifting his head for a moment to try and locate the noise.
He marveled at the way the roaches crawled and moved their tiny legs. Could almost hear the clicking of their joints as those tiny cilia and legs struggled, when the bugs were turned belly up. Nzi didn't like hurting the bugs, but on occasion used them for food, bringing them home for the family to cook.
"What are you doing, Bugboy?" A deep voice sounded from behind Nzi, it's familiarity striking fear into the young Sevir. It was the Lotharro boy that had grown up along side the rest of the tribe. Nzi had nothing specific against him, far from it. He wanted to be friends, but the boy was insufferable, and only wanted to fight with other children. And by fight, that meant to torment and pick on the weaker kids.
The boy walked past Nzi, patting him roughly on the back as he knelt beside him. "What're you lookin' at?" Said the boy. Nzi knew his name to be Selvig. He was the son of another Lotharro and one of the tribeswomen. His father had gone native after landing somewhere in Desnind from a boat.
As Selvig knocked Nzi on the back, his magnifying glass went flying onto the ground.
The magnifying glass landed with a 'clink' on the ground. Nzi'fuma almost winced, but was relieved when he saw that the glass was still intact. Nevertheless, he was too slow to grab the precious treasure before Selvig picked it up for himself. He took a look at the thing, holding it all wrong and looking as if he hadn't seen anything made of metal or glass before.
"Careful!" Nzi urged Selvig, begging him almost. "Don't break it!"
A flash of sadism evident in his eye, Selvig gave a look to Nzi, and then held the handle of the glass between his thumb and forefinger. He dangled it over the ground, as if threatening to drop it. "What... Like thi... Oh huh?"
Nzi was sure the bully would threaten to drop it, but instead, he picked it back up with his full grip, and began brandishing the glass with intent. Confused, Nzi'fuma followed the Lotharro boy's eye, to the ground about ten yards behind him. There, he saw a strange sight. A flash of light on the ground, illuminating the flying dust like a sunray as it shot from the glass to the ground.
"Hey, that's kind of neat!" Selvig said, chortling as he whipped the sunray all around. He began playing with the glass in earnest, as he pointed it this way and that, finally bringing it to his eye to look at Nzi. "I found a Bugboy... Haha."
Having said that, the Lotharro pushed past where Nzi knelt on the ground, bowling him onto his back without even really trying. Then, he began kicking over rocks.
Nzi'fuma rose from the ground, lifting himself up on his legs before dusting his deer-skin rags off. He looked to Selvig with a crooked brow, "What are you doing?"
"Shut up, Bugboy. I'm going to look for your cousins."
"W...what?" Nzi stammered, taking a few steps with shaking legs toward the other boy. He wrung his hands, hoping that the boy wouldn't ruin his Nashaki looking glass in the process of... whatever he was doing.
"Looking for bugs, now piss off, Bugboy or help me find some roaches or ants."
"Selvig... I'm not sure that's a great idea to disturb their nests..."
But Selvig wouldn't listen, kicking over rock after rock. Lisirra... how Nzi'fuma couldn't stand Lotharro. Always messing about and knocking things over, and kicking up dirt. Plus they were disrespectful of nature, treating it as something to be conquered rather than feared or revered.
The boy kicked over one particularly wet boulder, and then alighted to the ground, kneeling on it. Nzi drew closer to where he was, and looked at what he was peering into. A colony of army ants... Of course Selvig only saw a few of them on the surface, but Nzi'fuma knew from experience that they tended to travel in much greater numbers beneath the ground... "What are you doing Selvig?"
Once more he ignored him, but giggled as he held the magnifying glass to the sunlight, and angled it in such a way to cause it to burn the ants. "Hahaha, watch them burn Bugboy!"
Nzi'fuma panicked, but before he could try and draw Selvig away from there, he was called by a strange, ethereal voice. "Come away, Nzi! We must go before the Legion goes on the prowl for blood!"
Nzi'fuma lifted his chin up, looking for the source of the voice. There, behind him, in a branch he sighted a monkey. But it was no ordinary monkey. A creature with monkey's body but the fly's eyes and wings. Its wings fluttered and landed on the ground near Nzi, and it began capering about, trying to get him to move away from the dangerous situation about to unfold.
"Hahah, ow! Damned bug bit me!" So the army ant attack had begun. Nzi'fuma would have to move swiftly if he was to avoid the same fate.
The spirit he took to be his Ose'bori (he knew it would be his calling one day to find the Ose'bori someday, but he didn't suspect it would happen with he being still young!). Thus, the young Sevir was led over the hardened ground where the Army ants couldn't burrow. He got far enough away that he could only faintly hear Selvig's screams from far behind him, as the ants overtook him.
Before long, he returned to his village on the outskirts of Desnind. There, he chatted sullenly to his Ose'bori. "Ma and Da will be mad at me for losing the Nashaki Glass..." He kicked a twig on the ground as he went along, to face the music in his family's hut.
The Ose'bori floated around him, fluttering on its insectoid wings. Finally, it landed on his shoulder, and patted him on the head. "Better angry parents and alive than sad parents and dead." The chipper Ose'bori said. Then it smiled and introduced itself, "I'm Motsi, by the way. I'm sure we'll become very fast friends."
"What about Selvig... is he..."
"Oh yes, lunch for those army ants. You didn't seem to care for him before? But there was nothing you could've done to save him."
Nzi'fuma sighed, he would have to keep it quiet that he'd been with the other boy when he was finally found by the scouting parties that would inevitably form. Little did he remember, he'd left his Nashaki glass in the boy's possession...
