The cart took a particularly nasty lurch and Eric awoke with a start, banging his head hard against a wooden crate that he was absolutely not allowed to open under any circumstances, no matter what he heard rattling around inside. He groaned and rolled over, arms now wrapped around his too human head and weirdly fragile skull, listening mutinously to the muffled tinkling inside the crate he wasn’t allowed to open, and silently grumbled about being given practically the whole night watch.
Again.
And being told he could just sleep in the cart afterwards.
Again.
Only to be woken exactly like this, yet ag-. Well. You get the idea.
He wondered if it was worth trying to argue about it tonight, but dismissed the idea, knowing what they’ll say. Something something about him being an elf, something something about them being lucky they let him ride along in the first place, something something else. It didn’t matter. He’d take the night watch again tonight for the same reason he’d taken it every night. He knew that he was the most suited, out of all of them, to protect everyone in the dark and he’d gladly take up the responsibility. He just wished someone would at least lend him a blanket for his head if he was supposed to take cat naps in the carts all day. The kind protectors in the stories always got favors from the people they protected, he thought sullenly, just like the kids would sneak him extra berries when he chase the gators out of the yard back home.
At this point, Eric basically resigned himself to being awake. He yawned loudly, not bothering to hide the flash of sharp teeth while no one was watching, and carefully picked his way out towards the back of the cart, squinting through the gap in the curtains to see outside. The sun was high in the sky, probably about midday, and when it shown on the leaves of the trees on either side of the road the leaves practically glowed. Enthralled, Eric scrambled out the back and somehow managed to land on the correct feet, quickly trotting to the side to keep out of the way of the next cart and so he could slow down and just. Stare for a bit. He needed a moment.
This was why he’d left, after all. He still missed his family, felt the distance to them like a hook under his breastbone, felt the whispers of possessive fear at leaving what was his behind, unprotected. But the itch on his back danced along his wing bones, seen and unseen as they were, telling him to open them and soar to new places, scout new territories, explore and learn and discover. That was what he was following now.
Some back home scoffed and whispered about it, his wanderings. Oh they all wandered with the seasons and the with the fruit and game as it came in season, tending their forests and swamps and crops, but not like he did. He broken tradition. The days where he’d come back near midnight with the scent of the ocean on his wings and colorful fish scales in his claws. Other days where he brought back grasses and flowers that couldn’t grow in their soil, birds that didn’t live in their trees. The larger he grew, the further he roamed, but all of that was nothing, nothing at all to how far he was now. Ma and pa had understood, encouraged him even, to take a big journey. The day everyone gathered around to celebrate his first half a century, the bag of gold dropped in his lap, it had been one the happiest days of his life!
When it turned out that he still ate more than anyone else in the village with two legs or four, well. When he’d decided to leave, that party was the second best of his memory. Some going away presents were more pleasant than others, but he carried each token close to his heart.
He’d never expected how slow it would be, traveling on two legs all the time! He only had enough gold to shift back once, you see, so he couldn’t just fly north and change forms whenever he thought he saw people. That was why, after months on his own, only running across the odd traveler here and there, many of them unfriendly, he’d jumped at the chance to join a proper caravan! He could see the world from the back of a cart! Travel with people! Learn new customs! And, eventually, they were supposed to wind up in a kingdom that trained actual knights!
The last cart rolled by as Eric sighed and breathed in deep, tasting strange air that didn’t have the faintest trace of salt, but did carry a sharp note he’d never smelled before. Some day soon, he’d meet a real knight. He could figure out the rest from there.
Again.
And being told he could just sleep in the cart afterwards.
Again.
Only to be woken exactly like this, yet ag-. Well. You get the idea.
He wondered if it was worth trying to argue about it tonight, but dismissed the idea, knowing what they’ll say. Something something about him being an elf, something something about them being lucky they let him ride along in the first place, something something else. It didn’t matter. He’d take the night watch again tonight for the same reason he’d taken it every night. He knew that he was the most suited, out of all of them, to protect everyone in the dark and he’d gladly take up the responsibility. He just wished someone would at least lend him a blanket for his head if he was supposed to take cat naps in the carts all day. The kind protectors in the stories always got favors from the people they protected, he thought sullenly, just like the kids would sneak him extra berries when he chase the gators out of the yard back home.
At this point, Eric basically resigned himself to being awake. He yawned loudly, not bothering to hide the flash of sharp teeth while no one was watching, and carefully picked his way out towards the back of the cart, squinting through the gap in the curtains to see outside. The sun was high in the sky, probably about midday, and when it shown on the leaves of the trees on either side of the road the leaves practically glowed. Enthralled, Eric scrambled out the back and somehow managed to land on the correct feet, quickly trotting to the side to keep out of the way of the next cart and so he could slow down and just. Stare for a bit. He needed a moment.
This was why he’d left, after all. He still missed his family, felt the distance to them like a hook under his breastbone, felt the whispers of possessive fear at leaving what was his behind, unprotected. But the itch on his back danced along his wing bones, seen and unseen as they were, telling him to open them and soar to new places, scout new territories, explore and learn and discover. That was what he was following now.
Some back home scoffed and whispered about it, his wanderings. Oh they all wandered with the seasons and the with the fruit and game as it came in season, tending their forests and swamps and crops, but not like he did. He broken tradition. The days where he’d come back near midnight with the scent of the ocean on his wings and colorful fish scales in his claws. Other days where he brought back grasses and flowers that couldn’t grow in their soil, birds that didn’t live in their trees. The larger he grew, the further he roamed, but all of that was nothing, nothing at all to how far he was now. Ma and pa had understood, encouraged him even, to take a big journey. The day everyone gathered around to celebrate his first half a century, the bag of gold dropped in his lap, it had been one the happiest days of his life!
When it turned out that he still ate more than anyone else in the village with two legs or four, well. When he’d decided to leave, that party was the second best of his memory. Some going away presents were more pleasant than others, but he carried each token close to his heart.
He’d never expected how slow it would be, traveling on two legs all the time! He only had enough gold to shift back once, you see, so he couldn’t just fly north and change forms whenever he thought he saw people. That was why, after months on his own, only running across the odd traveler here and there, many of them unfriendly, he’d jumped at the chance to join a proper caravan! He could see the world from the back of a cart! Travel with people! Learn new customs! And, eventually, they were supposed to wind up in a kingdom that trained actual knights!
The last cart rolled by as Eric sighed and breathed in deep, tasting strange air that didn’t have the faintest trace of salt, but did carry a sharp note he’d never smelled before. Some day soon, he’d meet a real knight. He could figure out the rest from there.
The following 1 user Likes skiesofpurple's post: SolitareLee
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Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-18-2021, 09:38 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-18-2021, 09:58 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-18-2021, 10:41 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 06:59 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 07:11 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 07:21 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 07:32 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 07:53 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 08:24 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 09:02 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 09:23 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 09:48 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 10:01 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 10:19 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 10:36 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-19-2021, 10:54 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-19-2021, 11:09 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-20-2021, 11:40 AM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-20-2021, 12:03 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-20-2021, 08:42 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-20-2021, 08:53 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-20-2021, 10:13 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-20-2021, 10:31 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-20-2021, 11:07 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-20-2021, 11:18 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-20-2021, 11:33 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-20-2021, 11:44 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-21-2021, 05:45 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-21-2021, 06:16 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-21-2021, 06:55 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-21-2021, 07:08 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-24-2021, 11:06 AM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-24-2021, 11:47 AM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-24-2021, 08:00 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-24-2021, 09:02 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-27-2021, 01:57 AM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-27-2021, 01:48 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 02-27-2021, 06:46 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 02-27-2021, 07:06 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 03-21-2021, 05:21 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2021, 05:32 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 03-21-2021, 06:23 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2021, 06:50 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by skiesofpurple - 03-24-2021, 06:21 PM
RE: Cat and Dragon - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2021, 06:31 PM