54 Summer 515 AV
As Cuicatl rose from a sleep so deep and comfortable, she became aware that something was different beyond the four walls of her home. It might have been the rain, pelting heavily at the roof above her. It might have been the chill in the air, informing her that the fire had gone out overnight after she'd fallen asleep. It was likely the cat, though; the little thing had managed to burrow herself into Cuicatl's blanket, nuzzling into the warmth of the Myrian's skin in an effort to be safe from what she must have found terrifying, and when Cuicatl looked over to see where the dog slept, she noted the contrast between the beast's behaviour and the cat's.
"Oh, you silly thing," murmured the Myrian as she peeled from the bed. The cat made only the meekest meow, quickly muffled when Cuicatl allowed the blanket to fall upon her again. "Rain won't hurt you here." However her words might seem to an eavesdropper, Cuicatl was fond of the little animal.
Before Cuicatl could get on with her day, she needed to light the fire to give herself some warmth. In the darkness of her home, her hands fumbled blindly along the wall at the side of her bed, seeking the wicker that would be her chest before she fished out flint and steel both and made her way to the low slung brazier. From experience, the Myrian knew that it was easy to trip on the thing. It sat so low that an unwary visitor, or even a drowzy self, would easily stumble over it, so she went warily. In the dark, the dog huffed from where its lump of shadow curled.
When she bumped the brazier, she immediately lowered herself and sought out the small bits of fuel she kept nearby in the form of dry sticks and leaves. Once she'd blindly piled them in the brazier, she began to fumble with the flint and steel, beginning to strike the flint over the brazier in the hope that sparks would ignite.
Quickly losing count of how many times she struck it, Cuicatl eventually managed to. The flame that sprung to life was small, twisting and wavering. Nurturing it as she'd long ago been taught, Cuicatl began a gentle flow of air, hoping to further it.
Chimes passed, and when Cuicatl had the flame she wanted and could see clearly again, she settled down against her bed and fished out food to eat for herself and the dog. The cat, as typical of the housecats she'd known in the clanlands of the jungle, would have eaten at some point from one of the rodents that would've likely come in during the night.
--
As she knew, it was pouring outside, no doubt a sending from Makutsi. In her chest, her heart pounded as if it were a drum, eager to take advantage of the heavy rain and find a nice muddy place to wrestle down with someone.
When she left, she wore form-fitting and light clothes without sandals. Those would just get mucked up.
As soon as she stepped beyond her door, though, the rain pelted her with all the unforgiving weight of summer's bounty, causing her to curse.
