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Chapter Two: Growth

Being bedridden was insufferable. It was tormenting , unyielding and merciless. The incessant itching of my injuries was driving me mad. The medicinal balms used to treat them did not help. If anything they only served to exasperate the constant itching and discomfort I was to endure for the next week. After that Baka finally let me stand and move about. My leg was still in a splint and would not be fully healed for another week or two. But at least I could move around and stretch. Most of my minor injuries had healed, leaving me stiff and tender. I also had a nice, clean scar on the side of my neck which Baka said would fade given time. The village was actually rather simple. Mostly just large clay huts with canvas awnings and some minor stonework here and there. It was very clearly a fishing village, not just because it was situated by the sea. The people here, they looked different, they had duller hides, webbed hands and feet, webbed spines on their tails and needle like teeth. I remember reading something about adapting to one's environment in Master Virgil's library. It made sense to me, if you live on the water, you'd adapt to be more at home there. The fresh air was something to relish, it was cold and crisp. It reminded me of Dragonholme. Mirodel was a land I had never learnt much about. I knew the basics, that in the south it was hilly and green, with wide sweeping coasts made of soft sand. In the north it was rocky and mountainous, steep Cliffside shorelines and snow. According to Baka, Ashwood cape was in the highlands, the north, near the great Iron Keep. I thought about making the trek there, maybe the people there would help me? But Baka said the journey was too far for me with my still injured leg. She assured me that once I recovered, she would take me there herself. So, I was set to work in the village until then. It was odd because of all the time I had spent in my new skin. I had not really experienced much of my own culture. Luca and Tahl had shown me some steps to some traditional dances back in Caprii, but that was it. So Baka had all the females of the tribe together for a cultural display of fire dancing. That night the moons were big and bright and the skies were clear, there was nothing but the thrumming rhythmic glow of twirling fire batons and flails. I sat gathered around with the others, sat on a carved log enthralled by it all. I ate fresh caught snapper fish that was cooked in the ground and Baka sat beside me. "Because of your leg, there's not too much you can do here I'm afraid." She said flatly. My ears went lazy. I sucked in a breath through my nose and sighed. "There's got to be something..." Baka thought for a few moments, before tilting her head to one side and looking at me with a raised brow. She turned back to the performance after a few seconds. "Well. I suppose you could help incubate our eggs." He said a bit hesitantly. I however bore a look of confusion. I knew we laid eggs, but, well. I'm only fourteen. This sort of stuff has never even been close to being on my mind. "I-incubate."? I repeated. Baka nodded and stood, offering me a hand to help me up. One that I accepted, albeit it tentatively. I limped steadily as Baka led me over to one of the larger huts, one with a raised stone foundation, but a dugout floor on the inside. Inside were several figures, laid curled up in nests made of woven reeds and packed with clay and wild animal furs. I immediately felt anxious and a might uncomfortable as Baka ushered me inside. "In our culture, the male's tend to the eggs. Often in shifts, each family cares for their respective eggs as a whole." She explained quietly. Looking around most of the nests were full, dull coloured Vermian coiled and curled around small clutches of smooth eggs. "But aren't I an outsider,"? I asked. Baka nodded, moving over to one nest far at the back, tended to be a young reddish coloured fellow. She crouched low beside him and gently shook him awake, speaking softly. Sleepily, he slipped out of the nest and then out of the hut, stretching and yawning as he did. Baka then gestured to the now unattended nest, she had a coy smile on her lips. I gulped. "Is there nothing else I can do..."? I asked as I limped gingerly over to her. The nest only had two eggs inside, roughly six inches long and four, maybe five at their widest. "With your leg as it is, no. You can't gather, you can't fish, you can't hunt, you don't know how to weave or cook or pack and treat clay properly. These two eggs are orphans. So they must rely on the village as a whole. If there is no one willing to tend to them, they won't hatch." She explained. I just stood there, looking down at these two what objects. One thought running through my head. One that I never wanted to think about. Was I mentally well enough to care for another living being? It had been nearly half a year since I had first laid eyes on Master Virgil. Those memories of what happened to me were still there, they were fading. But still there. "Then why doesn't someone else step forward? Why me? An outsider..." I said, I guess Baka could see it in my eyes. Confliction or maybe my unhealthy mental state. But she just smiled, and guided me into the nest. The eggs were as smooth as pearls. Warm to the touch, nearly hot in fact. I wore nothing, just Tahl's gift, my small shoulder cape, and the splint on my leg. I swallowed hard. "I can tell you're not one of us Kaiber. Your name alone is a giveaway. You're a made one. This is part of our culture. Your culture. You obviously haven't learnt much of it so far." I nodded in agreement. Unsure of what to do. My heart was beating fast, I felt a knot in my stomach and at that moment I thought of my little sister Orion. Mother had renamed her after Emet saved them. Anna, my sister. My younger sister. Who had grown up not knowing me. I did not realise just how much I missed her until now, as I stared down at these two eggs now only inches from my bare scales. "Just lay with them, hold them close and keep them warm with your body. It will give your leg time to rest and heal. And it will teach you a bit about us as a people. I don't know who you were before. But I can see in your eyes that it's not who you are now." she said with a soft tone and smile. She then stood and slowly made her way out of the hut. Leaving me alone. My gaze fell back down to the two eggs, my claws gently caressing over them. I felt nervous, I had no clue how fragile these were. I did not know if I had the ability to do whatever it was I was supposed to do. My brow furrowed for a moment as I cursed under my breath. Why could nothing just go to plan? Why did it always have to wind up as a mess? I was supposed to be back at the Claw Keep. With my mother, my sister. My family. I was supposed to be done with all this. I looked back up, toward the entrance of the hut, contemplating. I could just slip out and be on my way. I was scared here. I wanted to go home. But I don't have one. I felt guilt wash over me, or maybe it was shame, my gaze falling once more to the eggs before me. They had no family. In that way, I was lucky. Even though I had endured what I did, and lost my humanity, at least physically. I still had a family. I swallowed, and gingerly scooped both eggs up. They were heavier than I had expected. I laid myself down with my back along the inside rim of the nest, I curled up as much as possible with my leg being how it was. I tucked both eggs in close to my body and stashed them away under my cape as I lay down. Even if I was scared. Even if I did not know what to do here. Even though I wanted to be with my own family. I would not leave these two white stones without care. For the next few hours I laid there, my eyes tracing every slight detail of the Hut and the nest I was in. I shifted my weight a little until finding a comfortable position. I was thinking about what I was going to do. The plan had been to find who was hunting me. But that had fallen apart quickly. Now here I was, in some place new and unfamiliar. With no friends to guide me. Why hadn't I asked Master Virgil about this sort of stuff? The hours wore on and eventually dozed off. I dreamt a familiar dream. One that had settled my thoughts countless nights now. Visions of a beautiful green mountain with a black peak. A small cabin nestled away on its side. Figures running around in the sun. Though I could not make out who they were. I slept deeply and happily. Waking some hours later as the sun was barely just peeking over the horizon. The hut was dark, I could hear soft breathing and light snoring all around me. Still half asleep and without much thought I ducked my head in toward my chest and breathed hot air out against the two eggs I had. Deep in my thoughts I was wondering where Emet and the others were. Surely they had survived right? I did not want to think that they had drowned and were now somewhere on the ocean floor. I looked down at my leg for a moment before staring at the wall of the hut. Listening to the chirping birds as they sung their morning songs. I began to plan. Firstly, as soon as my leg was healed, I was going to stay. Just for a week, no longer. Secondly, I wanted Baka to teach me how to swim, fish and scavenge. I would need to know these things if I was going to make the trek to either Keep on my own. Thirdly, I was going to take these two eggs with me. On that I had made up my mind. They were orphans after all, so why not? I'd take them with me to the Claw Keep. To my mother and sister and we would leave. We would go somewhere quiet and secure and be a family again. That's what I wanted. I already knew how to fight, how to defend myself. I wanted to learn how to survive and how to provide for others. For my mother, and my sister, and for the two I now held close to me here in this nest. Maybe I could start a small village of my own? That thought made me smile and chuckle a little. But before any of that, I still had one thing to do. One thing that would keep me from any thought of peaceful living. I still had to find out why someone wanted me dead. And if it came to it. Find that someone. And kill them.