The Lead Crown: Ch 3a, "Your Highness" or "By the Spirits" (Pt 1)
Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 3-1, "Your Highness" or "By The Spirits"
Despite the fact that the previous night's ritual was at an end, the Tribals continued to be just as welcoming (though, thankfully, not as touchy-feely). As the group gathered together in their guest yurt they compared notes: according to Nicholas, Keiara had issued an invitation for the group to join her and her father for breakfast while Sanmer was convinced that the party would be better served joining Roaring-Flood, who had also extended an offer to host them.
Theo mumbled something about how a nice, quiet morning would be pleasant while Tobias' previous reservations seemed to disappear with the last of the ritual, and he was eager to accept either offer, even going so far as to check then double-check his recording device. At first, Kesst thought the party was of a mind to dissolve into their own respective mornings but, at length, the group was finally driven to a like mind... by Sanmer.
"You'll like his place." the Fox continued to encourage the group, leading them through the collection of tents, huts, and yurts, "It has lots of room... well lit... furs all over..." Sanmer licked his muzzle, "Roaring-Flood said he'll have at least six different kinds of fish too... can't beat that!"
"Well... that doesn't surprise me." Tobias acknowledged, next in line behind the excitable Fox, "Enarork DID say he was a fisherman."
"Feh." Nicholas responded with a huff, and accentuated it with a spit off to the side, "Most fishermen get one or two kinds a fish... if you're out on the ocean you take whatever your net gives you... and you aim for the largest schools. If someone's pulling up one fish at a time that's a lot of wasted energy." Several eyes made their way to him and he clarified simply, "Fishers always say more fish is better than different kinds of fish."
"I would suppose stream and river fishing may differ from sea fishing." Tobias offered amicably, a faint twitch of his left ear the only indication that the contrary nature of the sailor was even acknowledged.
"Yea... and SIX." Sanmer returned himself to the focus of discussion, "I mean... six different kinds of fish means that even someone who doesn't usually like fish might find something they like." the Fox glanced over his shoulder toward Kesst who, as usual, remained toward the back of the group, "You like fish, right, Kesst?"
"I... uh..." the Dragon paused, "I... don't think I've ever had fish." The admission, meant to help the conversation pass him by unfortunately had the opposite effect.
"NEVER had fish?!?" Nicholas' question was practically a statement in and of itself, "What kinda person's never had FISH?"
Kesst responded with a half-shrug, "I've never been anywhere near the sea... the merchants in Altenburrough always said fish goes bad fast enough that it doesn't make sense to transport... so the closest thing we had was fish jerky."
"Can't blame him then." Theo spoke up, "Nobody in their right mind would eat fish jerky unless it was the only thing available."
If Kesst had expected Nicholas to bristle at the Ermine's comment, he was mistaken, "Well now..." the sailor chuckled, "First sensible thing I've heard a scholar say in a long time." and he gave Theo a firm slap on the back.
The Ermine rolled his shoulder to recover from the impact of Nicholas' open-handed smack, "I'm guessing you don't like fish jerky either?"
"Not compared to real fish anyway..." the sailor paused, "Well... not NORMALLY." he corrected himself, "The Merchants in Jiuyan sell some damn good stuff down by the docks in most cities. Guess it makes sense though for an island kingdom to know how to make anything with fish good... even jerky."
"I thought the Jiuyani doesn't like outsiders." Tobias noted, raising an eyebrow as he regarded Nicholas.
"They get along with sailors from any kingdom... we're a special breed ya know, Toby." the human responded, letting out a definitive *hock-ptui*, "If you live with rolling timber under your feet ya may as well be from Jiuyan."
"At least that explains how all those Jiuyani crafts get to the mainland." Sanmer acknowledged simply, "I mean... if they hated EVERYONE they wouldn't really be doing that much trade, now would they?" he smirked, pausing outside a singularly large yurt, "Well... we're here." his smile grew even wider, tail twitching happily.
Tobias approached the wood-framed archway that led into the building and gave a double tap against it using his palm, "Oani, Waka'Mine-hamah."
Roaring-Flood's unmistakably deep voice practically exploded with exuberance in his reply, "Oani, hamahni!"
"Heh..." Sanmer grinned, tail wagging, "it rhymes." the Fox winced, and his tail calmed, but he was still grinning.
"Hello, friends!" the enormous Bear repeated the greeting in the common tongue, and a large, black paw pulled away the leather blocking the passage in, "Come... come..." he waved them inside, standing to the side of the entryway, still holding the flap open.
"Already did..." Sanmer mumbled to himself, though hardly in a low enough tone for it to go unheard, "...a few times."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Waka'Mine-hamah." Tobias inclined his head as he stepped into the bear's home. To Kesst, it sounded almost ritualistic in tone.
Roaring-Flood nodded at that, "You make my home..." then paused a moment, obviously in thought, "... ah... harder... for being here." and he followed it up with a welcoming smile. Like Tobias' comment, it seemed almost ritualistic.
"Hotter." the prong horn corrected the Bear patiently.
"Or both." Sanmer announced, sliding past the scholar so he could stand next to their host, seemingly as giddy as a young kit as far as Kesst observed. The Dragon's attention, however, was not on the Fox much longer as the aroma within the confines of the structure hit him like a solid wall.
During Kesst's many months on the road he had, on more than one occasion, been privy to lewd, downright crass tavern discussions. During these discussions one or more men would comment about a specific scent associated with sex. The Dragon had no particular idea what they meant until that moment. The heady, thick scent of male musk hung in the air like a fog and every breath Kesst took was laden with it. If there had been any doubt in the Dragon's mind what had happened between the Fox and the Bear last night, the unmistakable aroma dispelled any doubts; he could honestly say he understood the tavern side discussion of the 'stank of sex'.
"Sit." the Bear proclaimed, motioning to several hide bags positioned in a circle on the floor. They created a ring around Roaring-Flood's fire pit, a section of ground lower than the rest in the yurt. The fire was crackling softly, most likely being built up from whatever embers remained after the prior night, but what most of his fellow travelers were gazing at was the large wicker basket piled high with fish.
Kesst had seen fish before, of course; during his travels he'd seen fishermen near the rivers plying their trade with rod and line, but he'd never spent any great length of time around sea food of any sort. Even as he took the seat furthest from the basket, the scent of the morning's uncooked breakfast somehow managed to peak through the still-overpowering wall of Bear-on-Fox; combined, it was enough to make the Dragon ill. Offering a quick excuse, Kesst made his way outside.
Nicholas, the only one to really pay any attention to the Dragon's departure, and he followed Kesst out of Roaring-Tide's home, "Hey... you okay?"
"I don't think I'm going to like fish." the Dragon offered, rubbing at his nose as he tried to dispel the scents that could not be unsmelled.
The sailor chuckled, "Not sure all you're smelling in there is fish, Kesst."
"I'm not really hungry." he shrugged, still holding his nose. It took a moment for Kesst to realize that the human hadn't responded, and was just staring instead. The Dragon sighed, "Yes... I could smell THAT too... it's so obvious I'm pretty sure even a human could." He waited a moment to see if Nicholas would respond to his declaration, but the sailor just remained right where he was, staring. The whole situation made Kesst doubly self-conscious, but it only got worse when the human finally spoke up.
"You... you got wings."
The announcement caused the dragon to freeze. It took less than a second for Kesst to realize that his recent shrug loosened his cloak; with his talon rubbing at his snout he had been unable to keep the clothing in place... which meant that his charade was at an end. Before Nicholas could say anything else or, more importantly, DO anything, the Dragon clutched his cloak close, about-faced... and fled.
The Valley Tribe village became a blur as Kesst sprinted through the spaces between the homes. Bears here-and-there paid him little mind, some even going so far as to glance toward him as he sped by, but little else. The dragon didn't know the exact layout of the village but he remembered the rough path the group had taken to get to the guest yert. Kesst aligned himself in that direction and continued onward.
He figured if followed the path's general direction he would be able to continue with that road and eventually arrive on the side of the village opposite Newport and, from there, he could get back to the open countryside. Kesst was ready to put his plan into action... right until Enarork walked into his projected route. Already prepared to flee, the Dragon was forced to make a split-second decision based on whether or not he figured the Bear knew what was going on. In the end, it didn't matter, as fate had a different plan for him.
"The Shaman wants to see you." Enarork announced. It was not a greeting; it was not an accusation; it was not a shout... but it was enough to get the Dragon to stop.
"E-everyone's still..." it was a feeble attempt to sidestep the issue, trying to get the Bear's attention on the fact that the party wasn't present rather than the fact that the Dragon was. It didn't help.
"He wants to see YOU." Enarork stated simply.
"I..." Kesst pulled his cloak closer.
"You do not need to be afraid." the Bear noted calmly, "The tribes do not fear wings." The Dragon's talon spasomed at the announcement, letting the hem of his cloak fall loose. Even more disconcerting, the ursine merchant followed up with, "And you are in no trouble for having the inner fire as long as you do not use it here."
"...h-how do.."
"All men carry secrets." spoke a voice off to the side, a tone confident and firm, but devoid of any tribal accent, "But they cannot hide them from those who know where to look."
Kesst turned to regard a Bear of no particularly amazing build. His dark brown-with-gray-streak fur was well kept, but neither shaggy nor short, curly nor straight. In all, he could have passed for any average Bear... a kingdom Bear. The aging man wore breeches and a tunic of Lesunian make, but had a sash and belt that was distinctively tribal, "Who are you?" the Dragon demanded, still far too concerned to be calm.
"This is our Shaman." Enarork announced.
"You're not a Tribal, but you're their Shaman?" Kesst challenged.
"You're not with the Church, but you have God's Breath and wings..." the older Bear stated with an unconcerned tone, "If I can accept that and not judge, can you do the same?"
The pure silliness of comparison in their two conditions was enough to shake the Dragon out of his fight-and-flight instinct, "...how did you know about me?"
The Lehsunian Bear smiled, "Trust."
The response didn't make sense to Kesst... perhaps it wasn't supposed to. What the Dragon DID understand, however, was that the ground was rapidly rising up to meet him. The Dragon didn't have enough time to consider the cause of his affliction before everything went black... but 'trust' wasn't exactly something he was feeling.