Blinking on a rock, I find myself once again thinking of words from the other day. There's a fundamental truth to it all that I cannot really ignore. Nin Urtuan, of the city-state of Tobaballe. Right at the very edge of the Civil Mountains, forming its gates. He's a human, was.
My people were the humans of those lands. Magicless entirely, at least for the most part. A hard-working people. I know I am so little of that these days.
Just a bug cursed to always hide, always run... I look up as Einervaene approaches, a sweet smile to her lips. She waves at me and I offer her a spot on the down bag. She finds somewhere where its contents are soft and pillowy. Almost sinking into it when she finally goes down.
"Would you like to change the topic of your head?" she asks, her wisdom certainly something when it comes to my mind as of late. Then again, I've not been a quiet ruminator.
"If you want, I don't mind particularly what we talk about." I huff, fed up with the endless overthinking.
"Well, okay then... What is your home like? Looks-wise?" she asks and I regret giving her the answer that I did. Maybe there are some things I'd rather avoid. Like tangents about my home!
"Do you have bird cages where you're from?" I ask back, a common saying about Tobaballe spontaneously remembered. As a bird cage keeps your avian from danger, as does Tobaballe, keep man from the wastes.
"There are, yes. Though, I imagine that compared to Jherikra, they're far stranger. The needs and wants of my homeland's birds being so different. I doubt I'll hear anything of lightning-chasing falcons over here, for example." she explains, her magic sparking to life as she giggles over who knows how many memories. I bet, as someone with a Crown-upbringing like hers, she probably had flocks of birds as pets.
"Why not explain one to me, then?" I ask, curious as to how dangerously such falcons live. I imagine they'd be a pretty expensive thing, something that chases storms is no doubt fast. The catching costs alone... Never mind the patience needed.
Her hands make a box-like shape, "A common style of cage that I know of. Has a frame like this, with bars holding a central orb up. The bird will generally rest in there, safe from harm and from endangering us."
"That doesn't sound like a cage at all." I say, the concept of an orb at its core sounding extremely off for such an otherwise simple construct.
"Of course it is a cage! It has bars for the most part, that's what makes it a cage, no?" she rightly asserts, losing herself in her own self-doubt and thought habits.
"Well, cages for birds from where I am from don't restrain them to one spot. I mean, I guess it technically does. But, you know, they're free to move around. Sometimes, they even have little swings." I almost giggle over, my thoughts jumbling up over the silly topic. I manage to get some laughter out of her as my claws imitate the motion of the swing.
"So, your home looks like a birdcage?" she asks, setting some of her bangs aside and she crosses her legs. My eyes dash over the stretching softness of her exposed thighs. Only to end up on her bare tummy and then her under-boobs. I settle on her face, a little surprised by myself. Rose-sweerui needs to try hard to get this out of me.
I shake my head clear of thoughts and get back on topic, much to her bewildering amusement, "Yes, we've even nicknamed the city the Bird Cage on occasion."
"So this mask then fits you very well?" she giggles out some more, her body leaning forward so her hand can reach its end. My head moves along with exaggerated nods even as she barely touches the beak's tip.
"Much as it helps me hide my... Features. I actually chose it because the founder of my home wore a mask like this. It was actually quite surprising to find something like this in Rose-sweerui's flower. A world apart but similar enough to converge." I explain, moving my head back and leaving her with a brief, cute pout. It shifts to a huffing smile and I look away. Some birds happen to enter my field of view and I watch their wings flap.
Red and black, they appear to be?
"What was this leader's name?"
"Mar Cro's." I quickly get out, a fountain coming to mind. A glare hardens across my brow, my memory swift to focus on a certain woman. I should've never listened to Iishar.
"I don't think I can repeat that." Einervaene laughs, and I blink as I realise how I shifted to a Tobaballian sounding word. Huh, I've been speaking so much of what Vadei did to me that I was forgetting the sound of my home. Such a subtle shift you barely notice, I guess.
"You won't need to, fortunately. As no one around here is likely to talk about him other than me." I say with a hollow voice and an ending huff.
"Is your home very far away, then?" she asks, and I shrug. I do not know the answer. All I know is that my home comprehends none of this. Even someone like her might as well be a myth. What I am now but a legend.
"No, I'm... I don't know how far it is, actually. I just know I am the only one here. At least... An alive one." I tell her, pointing out one of the rusty iron anklets dangling from the bag. The pair I took from a bug.
"What is that? Old... Jewellery?" she asks, her tone wavering as she struggles to comprehend its function. Maybe she's trying not to offend me, too. She certainly seems abruptly on shells.
"It is the mark of our station. This goes on our ankles. Or would've for me. And it is made of a simple pig iron. One that you legally cannot maintain to a good enough degree." I explain and her brows cocks with a question.
"So it is intentionally left to rust?" I nod at her question.
"Yeah, I am a little surprised we do it as it leaves this orange-brown powder on your legs. But, I suppose it is a good memory keeper. Probably helps keep track of criminals, too. Gives you an idea of where they're from and all that."
"Is this what your poor wear, then?" she asks further and my head sways from side to side.
"Technically yes, technically no. While people of the lower floors of my home wear this. This is actually what is worn by those who have moved up at least a few. I used to have a pair like these, but I lost them." I explain to Einervaene as my eyes go off to follow the still strangely distant aelenvari. While I hold no ill will over it, my loss of home has made me clingy to anything that will remind me of it.
"So if you were to go up more floors, what would you be wearing then?" Einervaene asks, snapping my attention right back to her.
"If I was to go up high enough, I might get a golden necklace. But, that is very high up. I'd be more likely to end up probably with a polished steel thigh band or something." I say, though I am not particularly sure where I would've ended up. As my life right now shows, a lot can happen in only a year. Not even that... Months.
"I'm sure you could have got to gold!" Einervaene cheers, her optimism appreciated. Though, I find it hard to share. After all, maybe doubts I rarely or never expressed are what motivated me to listen to Iishar on that fateful day. I start to laugh to move my mind away from the topic of her.
"Oh, no I wouldn't have," I loudly laugh, "I'd probably give up like most when I am allowed to brace my knee. As that is when you can really start to live a comfortable life."
"How much better would it be, getting that high up socially?" she asks, her legs uncrossing and her knees coming together. She rests her weight on a pair of flat palms and rotates gently.
"Well, when you are below having a rusty anklet. You have to share a building with a few others. A stitched-together family. Your reward for good service is a similar room, only you have a bed with a metal curtain to keep you isolated. Work the hours and you get... Privacy. Aside from that, when you reach the knee, it's more like a proper house. What Tryhpeltzweig has, though, less magical."
"Would you not want to get a better home for your family?"
"I mean, sure. Sure. But, I think I would be too worn out by that point to care. For a lot of people, it's their first chance in a long time to finally kick back and relax."
"I suppose that is fair. Mother used to tell me about how my grandparents were like that. When the title of The Lady Bosphama passed down to her. To Mother. Their working years were over. Grandfather didn't even want to spend time in the Senate like he would've been entitled to. They just slept, ate and drank, enjoying life for what it is," she explains and I raise a claw, shaking it as if it is a nodding little thing.
"Actually... That as the topic. When should we set up camp for the night?" I ask the metallic-haired woman, and I glance around to spot the other two. Baltanthan's already asleep, enthralled by a light nap and an acceptably comfortable tree.
"Well, we are keeping up the movement to stay out of the way of any riders, no?"
"Yeah." I nod.
"So maybe we should find another cave or something? Like where you left me..." Einervaene suggests, a shiver shooting through her body.
"I suppose that makes sense..." I mutter, joining in with the wayward cadence.
"Now we just need to find on," Einervaene says, hopping up to her heeled feet to look around, "You won't have an issue with me going up for this, will you?"
"As long as you are patient about it and don't just go all over the place." I say, cautioning her choice as I neither want to nor am in a position to keep being a net for her. She starts to wave, a smile shaping her lips.
"I understand. See you in a little while, then!" she says, disappearing into the sky with the flash of blue lightning. A curve comes to the ends of my mouth and I enjoy trying to trace her impossibly fast path. She disappears over a mountain range. I blink and sniff burning grass melding with the air.
She walks back to us, a wobble to her steps and a shake to her pointing arm, "There is an open area in that general direction."
"Well, it is high up." I say, going to our stuff and picking it up so we can get moving to this place.
"Will we be stopping now?" Einervaene asks, a hand clutching the opposing arm. I linger my eyes on her and she nods with a closed eye smile. She'll be alright.
Moving away, I head to my former luggage as he's the only one who's not aware. Up close, I find little in the means of disturbance to his face. His nose crinkles at the change in smell, but not much else. Priming a claw against a thumb version of it, I adjust the pressure.
I flick him!
"OW! What!?" Baltanthan yelps, a right nasty look to his face as he hops to his feet. He tries to bring up his fists but then brings them back to his sides.
"We're going." I explain, huffing my amusement as he starts to swear under his breath. Just clear enough for me to hear, but not much else. I approach Rose-sweerui to make sure she understands fully if she's only been half paying attention.
She's always too many steps ahead, however. I stop trying to catch up with her and frown at her self-imposed isolation. Not being noticed is so very different when it's by someone who's normally willing to look. Though my blood does not boil or even simmer. Perhaps a single bubble, nothing more.
"We're going to go and set up camp in the..." I start to say, turning quiet as I feel like it's not worth it. Rose stops, looking back my way, though not properly. She nods only a little and carries on walking.