Summer Day 89 Year 511 AV "C'mon. Open up," Canali coaxed, voice smooth and low for the little boy sitting in front of her; gnawing on one of her shirts which was clutched tightly in chubby little fingers. Canali's own hands were trying to pry his one open, and failing miserably. Since when did little munchkins have inhuman strength? The little boy had taken up residence in Canali's tent after she had brought him home from a scary night in an alleyway. Katahr, after one small instance with a growl and a boxing of the toddler's ears, had decided Nasib was his new little plaything. Katahr followed Nasib around, even dealing with rough pulling of his tail and ears. The little boy was delighted by the cat, ambling after him on unsteady feet and a wide, toothy smile on his light lips. Canali was often left to scramble after the pair before they were lost on the sidelines of camp or tumbled into the fire. Even though Kattahr often batted him with his hairy paws, Nasib paid no mind as the kitten never used claws. Instead, he would giggle a contagious laugh and clap his hands. On one occasion, Nasib disappeared for several bells. Frantic with worry, Canali just about pulled her hair out and burst into tears before she found Nasib calmly sleeping in a ball on her bedroll, Katahr curled up around the young boy who was using his tail as a pillow. "Nu," came from Nasib's childish lips, voice high pitched and unhappy. Features set into a frown, Nasib's eyes were a swirling mess of deep blues with flickers of golden yellows beneath long, black lashes. The first time she saw his eyes change, Canali freaked out and wondered what was going on. Fortunately, she managed to find information on Vanthas who had mysterious eye colors and often showed their moods through them. So far she had come to realize deep blue meant unhappy and sad, green meant gleeful, yellow was hungry, blood red was mad or frustrated, purple was interested, light apple green was relaxed, pink was fear, and deep yellow was excited. There was probably more and often times Canali had to decipher them as they mixed together and blended like paints on a canvas. If now was any guess, Nasib was hungry and unhappy. One most likely played off the other. Perhaps if some food were to be put in the boy, he would cheer up. And let go of her shirt, which he still was gnawing on. The book she had glanced also told of them worshipping a goddess Morwen, of winter and ice. Though she, herself, had no knowledge of this ice queen, Canali wondered if Nasib might have been taught anything about her. Judging from his young age, Canali figured the answer was a solid no. Sure, she might have been mentioned once or twice around his young ears, but Canali figured the boy didn't remember the goddess. Not to mention he was born on the run. Even though the toddler spoke only a few words, he knew many in another language. Perhaps… It was. The main language of the city he was originally from? Vani, if she called correctly. The little boy spoke it fluently with what numerous words he knew. A light sing-song tone graced each word, twisting into a lyrical opposition. Letting go of Nasib's clenched fist, Canali dug through her backpack quickly. Aha! The jerky. Yes, the beef jerky. Holding it in her hand, she watched as Nasib's eyes turned quickly to a light yellow. Therein lay the evidence. Nasib's unhappy, unruly behavior which didn't match his peaceful personality was caused by hunger. Reaching out with chubby fingers, Nasib tried to grab the jerky. "No. Let go of the shirt." Whether he understood or not, he gave an unhappy cry and released it, pushing to his feet to toddle towards her hand. "Say please." It was a long shot, but Canali knew the boy had to learn manners one way or another and it was just plain courtesy to say please and thank you. Watching as red leaked into his irises, Canali still withheld the food until, "pwease?" popped from Nasib's salivating mouth. Nodding and giving a small smile, Canali handed him the small slice of jerky. Immediately, Nasib burst into what he had been doing to her shirt, chewing and sucking on it. Dark green chased the red away and Canali knew Nasib was satisfied for now. Reaching down, Canali picked Nasib up by his armpits, settling him against her left hip with a leg on each side of her. Brushing out of the tent, Canali carried the happy child away from camp. Even though she couldn't take him into town very much lest he be spotted, she knew of a watering hole close to the Crimson Edge Camp. Katahr loped on ahead of the pair, scoping out in case they wandered upon any sleeping creatures. One pheasant was spooked, which made Nasib giggle in return as it flew and ran away. "Bird," was spoken in another language completely from the ones Canali knew, but she got the main gist and repeated it back to him in common. "Bird!" Nasib yelped in Vani, eyebrows coming together in confusion as he pointed after it. Nodding and doing the same, Canali repeated it again in common. "Bird," Nasib repeated slowly after her in common, lips and tongue forming the word slowly. He had trouble forming the R's, Canali realized with a gentle smile. It came out more like a "w" than anything else on most cases. Content with leaning against her shoulder, Nasib went back to chewing on the jerky noisily. A drip of drool landed on Canali's sleeve and she couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. Oh baby. |