PM to join Silver Secret Pt.2

[Mayra]

77th of Summer, 515AV
9th Bell, Morning
Mayra's Tent

It took the half-blood a few ticks to realize what was coming out of the leathery egg. Fearful of trying to help the reptile break free and hurting it, Mayra set the egg down on the grass gently, crouching and watching. Another fear, a fear of what it was, popped in her head, but it was quickly subdued by the simple fact that it was an infant.

A small chirp met Mayra's ears and she watched as a grey scaly head poked out. Wide black eyes blinked a few times, and then she saw them focus on her. Hesitating no longer, Mayra reached forward, helping peel the egg back for the creature. Once she did so, he pulled his two front legs out, and with visible effort pulled the rest of his body out of the egg.

It was an Ixam.

"Petch." She whispered to herself, disbelief crossed her face before a full on grin showed. "Hey lil'un," Mayra curled her fingers in but gave the Ixam her hand, still curious about the world around him, he turned to look at her hand curious. The reptile strained his neck, soft newborn scales bending easily to adjust, and sniffed her hand. And then he bit it. Mayra flinched, but then chuckled, he had only the barest hint of his herbivore teeth. The bite was mere pressure, rather than pain. "No, no, little guy. You can't eat me, I'm no good for you."

The Ixam let go when she spoke, and she moved her hand forward to see if he would allow her to touch him. The Ixam followed her hand with his head but didn't block it. One he could no longer reach her hand, he ignored it, looking back down at the grass. Gently, she smoothed a palm over his scales on his back. Rough and spiky, but still relatively soft, like her finger-nail.

The newborn Ixam below her took lifted his foot, and took a step. The action was much more calculated than the step of a newborn calf, as she had seen from afar at the Pride. Although slow, it seemed as if the Ixam had found it's balance before it chose to walk. Mayra would have thought the creature was more intelligent than the dumb calves at The Pride, but it would be too soon to tell. Still crouched, Mayra scooted backwards to give the lizard more room to experiment, satisfied with watching him start out, sure that he could find his way.

In then, in an instant, the Ixam was moving forward. "Oh!" Mayra was surprised as small legs waved back and forth pulling the Ixam over the grass with ease. Glancing back at the chest, she reached in and snagged the silk sling, turning after the Ixam. Worried that others would see the creature, she leaned down to scoop up the newborn, one hand under each of his front arms. A trill sound echoed from his mouth, but he didn't struggle. "Now, now, calm down lil'un." She cooed to the creature, glancing around the lane of tents nervously. The man who had just spoken to her was sitting in the front of his tent, focused on lighting his pipe and for the moment the lane was empty of people. The Ixam was easily already the sise of her torso, which for a lizard was huge. Uncertain of exactly how to hold him, she shifted so that she could support his body weight with one forearm and cradle him in one place with the other, draping the silk over his tail in-case anyone looked on from behind. "I'm going to get you home, get you some water, and you can run around all you want." She whispered to the creature, ducking between the tents one more time, caring less if she was heard or not. Once she broke to the open field just by the stream that this district used, she walked a little faster.

[Mayra]

The Ixam wiggled a little bit, not fond of being carried, before calming down a bit. As she approached the stream, the Ixam gave a good fight. But his newborn muscles were not strong enough to break her grasp as she plunged into the stream, not particularly worried about wetting her boots now. "I know, I know, being carried sucks. I'm small, I know. Look, if you stay calm until we get home, I'll show you the tastiest treat ever."

Almost as if the Ixam was listening to her hushed words, he calmed down. Confused, Mayra slowed to a stop, looking down at the Ixam before shaking her head at the insane thought of him being able to understand her. Walking forward once more, towards her tent, which she realized from afar was very crooked.

Still worried about what the barbarians would think of her smuggling a creature into her tent, Mayra ducked under the canvas flap, gently depositing the Ixam on her bed. With a sigh, she flung the silk sling from his tail and suck to her knees.

"They might kill me because of you. They might not." Not really sure where they stand on Ixam. She thought to herself, moving towards her food-chest. She had mentioned them to Dravite, and the uncertainty of how to read his response worried her. Did he look eager because he wished to hunt the creatures? Or what? Brushing off the worrying thought for now, she pulled out head of lettuce, turning to look at the Ixam. "Eyy?" She raised the head, expected to see a curious Ixam looking back at her. But he was gone.

Frantic, Mayra dropped the lettuce on rug, scrambling thorugh the dim enclosure towards the entrance flap. Scared, she stuck her head out, whipping it around to look for any sign of the reptile. When she saw now, deciding he must still be within her tent, she quickly closed and tied the flap so he couldn't get out. The prospect of someone finding him wasn't something she wanted to think about. Instead, she found the newborn had found the lettuce head and was trying to pick it up with his mouth. Relaxing with a sigh, she stepped back over to him, gently picking up the lettuce. She tore a leaf off and placed it in front of the Ixam. "Let's see if you can eat that." She leaned back onto her food chest, watching the newborn test the leave with his blue tongue before snapping it up as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Strange, how quickly it learned. She almost forgot the thing had only been alive for a few chimes. But why was it there?

It couldn't be the Gods. They weren't real. It must be some magic that neither she or the old horseman had seen before. It was the only explanation. Someone had created a portal of sorts... right?