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It was midday, not that he could really tell. The light from the ceiling's chasm was thicker almost, a bit more opaque and moody. Larus had been napping through the morning, sequestered in the cave where Caiaphas had left him. And now that he was awake - blinking past the darkness to stare at the pale light - his attention drifted. The boy was on his feet and roaming through the catacombs between the rocks, perusing every nook and cranny, sniffing at the cache where food had once been hidden, and generally, trying to keep himself amused. But Caiaphas wasn't here. There was only the dark - the dark without eyes, he thought after a moment. The lady's seemingly disembodied specks of gold were nowhere to be found.
He was completely alone. In the dark. Neither of these aspects of the current situation sat well with the child. So he began looking for a way out - or just a way to get some fresher air. The musty aroma of dirt and more dirt was starting to numb his senses. Larus attempted to follow his nose towards the outer wall in an attempt to find the way out - but this only led to a corridor, and he couldn't remember if it was the correct avenue.
With a dejected squeal (which echoed harshly off of the cavern walls) Larus stopped his wandering and slumped against a spike of rock; he sat there for a few minutes, just listening. There was a lull within the cave - a murmuring that came through the walls, or something. It coaxed him in to a calmer state... But the eerie sound could not replace the comfort provided by Larus' own mother.
'Mummy... Where is mummy.' He thought with a grim little sigh.
'Maybe she forgot me.'
What a tragic thing for the littlest Sveijarn to think.
So is Lárus supposed to be like.. an illegal immigrant? Or...
Oh and, is Caiaphas' grotto supposed to be secret? Why is it outside of Ankyra? D:
The sun was at its highest, but damn it was freezing that day! A clear sign that the seasons were close to change into the most cold winter in a long time.
Aella spent her morning fishing in Ankyra, not that they needed it as much after the successful hunting party led by Akatie not so long ago, they still had meat to spare for days. But often, the Amazon found herself in need of physical activity to release the outrageous amounts of energy that vibed in her.
She ate the hell out of her catch, and left to explore some more in the outskirts of their recently claimed territory. But, why was Caiaphas' scent so far from the sound? It was too heavy to ignore, and she tried hard to, for real, but the intrigue was too unbearable, besides, she wouldn't miss the opportunity to catch the neophyte red handed. So she followed the trail for a while, through the sand, through rocks, across creeks and finally inside, probably, the most well hidden cave in the known lands. What a cave it was. Big enough to fit a sea monster inside. Was it her den? It was more like a mansion.
But that wasn't the only thing tat caught the Adept's eye. What the hell was a puppy doing there? The amazon turned her attention to the golden furry ball sitting on a rock with the deadpan expression. Was that Caiaphas' kid? No way.
Look at you...
she said in a somewhat intrigued tone. It was a boy she was dealing with, and if it hadn't been that way, probably the Nereid would've been more empathetic with the creature. She moved closer to him, to inspect him with her nose. Shamelessly she sniffed all over him, probably tickling him all the way through, and when she was done, she gave a step back and stared at him for a while, trying to decide what to do about him. She tilted her head with her eyes wide open, Do you have a name, kid?
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What could he do? Caiaphas wasn't here to play with him. He didn't know his way around the cavern well enough to find his way out of it, and... It was just so boring. Not much of a home at all. Larus listened to the hum of the walls and drifted with it. The little boy was lost and someone - not mummy - had found him; she wasn't so bad really, but it wasn't what he wanted. The cave wasn't home no matter what Caiaphas said.
Larus didn't think too hard on the subject. He wasn't mindful enough of how dire the situation was. His father was out looking for him, his mother was worried sick, but to Larus the only one affected was himself. Even Caiaphas didn't make the list.
While laying about upon the rocks, the boy rolled on to one side. He felt gravity begin to pull at him (belly first, of course) and scrambled as he began to lose his position - rolling off of the slight incline and nearly wedging himself in to a crevice. With a bit of flailing and discomfort, he managed to right himself -- just in time for a voice to stir the air.
Look at you...
Who was that?
The boy lifted his head, pricked his ears, and took on the expression of an alert baby owl. It wasn't Caiaphas was it? Had she come back with more food? Something better than dirtfish, he hoped with a dull thump of his tail... But no, the stranger was suddenly diving nose-first at him; prodding, testing, sniffing, and once more the child lost his balance. He rolled on to his back with his toes sliding across the stranger's face.
Do you have a name, kid?
The stranger queried. As she was looming over him now, Larus was taken with how much bigger she was than himself. Even from upside down she was intimidating - but the tickling had left him in good spirits. Yeah! 'Course I do.
He chirruped, but didn't catch on to the real question being posed to him.
What was this place? Did Akatie know about it? But most importantly of all, who's freaking kid was that?
It was overwhelming having discovered so many damn things at once, and suddenly, Aella felt an urge to lift the pup with her jaws and take him to the matriarch to expose the Neophyte's little secret, but Aella was no snitch, and there were more interesting uses she could give to such information.
Aella wasn't used to kids, she didn't even like 'em that much, but this one wasn't as obnoxious as the Adept thought they were. His little giggles were even cute, and soon the Amazon found herself smiling at him. "Nice... So is it a secret name or something?"
she said teasing. The derp was strong in this one, and Aella couldn't help but laugh a little at his inexperience.
A secret name? Such as all those things Jokull always called him? Those were secret names; he always promised never to tell their parents when the silver first-born was being mean. He kept to that promise. But what use did this big tickle monster have with that kind of information? For a moment Larus just stared up at the lady. His face squished in to a look of befuddlement and concern, and then he blurted, Jo calls me Yella'belly. And she calls me otha things too. Wha's your name?
The boy's tail began to bat against the rocky surface of the floor, sweeping grains of sand and dirt in to a cloud. Maybe he'd made a friend!
The child's poorly developed speech made the Amazon chuckle. Oh boy, youth was amazing, wasn't it? You get to be a total idiot without being looked at like an actual idiot, if that makes sense at all. Unfortunately, Aella was the only one who cared so little about males as to consider this one more than just another spawn. She was completely sure this wasn't Caiaphas' son, but unfortunately, that meant he was out of place, against his will. Had she kidnapped him? 'Course she had...
Y'know what? You can call me Aella...
The adept said after hesitating for a moment. What bad could it do to share her name to a kid anyway? "And you, Mr. Yella'belly. How did you end up in here? Did Caiaphas hurt you?"
The Nereides culture were so seclusive, too seclusive for Aella's taste. She knew there were other things out there, people who lived lives very different from theirs, and it was unfair to drag a pure soul like Lárus' to a place he didn't belong, to a place he wouldn't grow to be more than a slave.
His tail continued to bat at the dust when Aella gave him her own name, although the sound of it was so foreign that it went in one ear and out the other; he'd forget all about this little exchange in a few hours. But when Aella mentioned Caiaphas, Larus' tail stopped wagging. He didn't exactly lose his mirth, but his attention did become more rapt. Hurt? Aside from his pride and a few new bumps and bruises to his ego (which he didn't have much of to begin with, nor could he identify it either way) he was fine. No! Caiaphas saved me. She feed me and take me home.
Caiaphas, hurt him? Really? Why would Aella say something so strange about his protector. The boy's face scrunched with confusion. Caiaphas is nice!
Nicer than most of the strangers he'd met - no, the nicest - not that he had anything to compare her to. Except Aella, now, and so far Aella was turning out to be a meanie.
Nice? Was he serious? If there was something Caiaphas was good at was being a dick, no doubts allowed! Had the kid known how her relationship worked with the cur he would've understood why her first concern was if he was hurt.
So, she saved you?
she said to herself. Hard to take in too, that Caiaphas had been as selfless as to "save" a kid's life... But well, maybe she had a wrong conception of the hybrid... Did she tell you about the sisters, Yella'Belly?
she asked, this time talking directly to the golden pup. She was concerned that he was gonna be treated as the rest of the males were by them, as servants, as brainless machines, and she didn't want such a young outsider to suffer the harshness of the Nereides, she knew how that worked.
Whatever Aella was feeling, Larus wasn't aware. But she continued to question him, asking the strangest things - and naturally the boy was too dumb to realize what was actually being asked. Sistas? I haff sistas,
Oh, but this announcement brought competing emotions to the surface. Glee at the thought of them, sadness when he remembered that he was lost and they were back home somewhere, all culminating in a moment of confused silence from the child; his tail gave a wag initially but stopped as well, frozen in indecision.
Do you have sistas?
He asked next, clinging to the thought of Jokull and Maera despite the pit that was forming in his belly. He looked up at the big lady wolf and matter-of-factly explained, Are yous sistas meanies too? Mine are mean sometimes but is' only 'cause they luff me so much.
This brought a wag to his tail, but again the sentiment did not hold. He just missed them too much.
And there it goes again. Frustration traced Aella's lips with a huge sigh as she tossed her head backwards. The poor kid had no clue about anything that happened around him, he had just been abducted from his own home by a maniac and he actually thought she was nice, that must be some deep issues he got there. She noticed the obvious encountered feelings in the golden boy's eyes, and with yet another silent sigh the Amazon decided that he needed help.
I have many sisters, and they are all very loving too.
the adept explained, knowing that the pup would need a bit more of information if he wanted to stay alive. We're all daughters and sons of the sea, you see? We're all a big family and we take care of each other. Caiaphas is supposed to be a sister too,
not that she liked it, and Aktaie is our Matriarch, our leader. Have you met Aktaie yet, Yella'Belly? Did Caiaphas take you to her?
the amazon questioned. It was a really important matter, she needed to know whether Caiaphas was hiding the kid from the Siren, and if she was ever going to or if she was gonna keep acting like a bitch.
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The child's eyes grew wide, and then wider still with each new and strange word which was uttered. There was something called a maiden-arc and it's name was Aktay or... Or something? What was that about the sea? What was the sea? And finally, when the woman's questions stopped, all Larus could do was... Stare and blink. And stare some more.
In true childish fashion, he put the entire conversation out of his mind in a blip - he didn't understand it, and so it held no place there. Ding! Gone. He hurriedly rolled on to his belly, sat sprawled for a moment, then lurched his chest up and braced himself against the floor. I'm hungry.
Blink. Does the Aktay eat foods too?
Well, alright, so he was still a little on topic.
But he didn't answer her question with anything other than a blank stare, and that was kind of an answer... Right? Caiaphas bring me food sometime, but 'den she plays games and,
his voice raised in pitch as he rambled on, I don' like the game because I jus' want to eats!
And finally, with this riveting story concluded, he gave a pause and looked to the big wolf lady - imploring with his eyes. Feed me?
The little talker rambled about Caiaphas and food and in between those two points, Aella was left behind. She didn't quite get what the kid was saying because it didn't even make sense, she was talking about Aktaie and the sisters and then out of the blue they were on a completely different topic. She just wasn't good with kids, even less with boys.
A pair of big yellow eyes stared at her, asking for food, but being accustomed to be above males in every way, she didn't quite know how to take the act of, in her ignorant opinion, defiance. It was very uncomfortable and Aella was actually losing her temper with the boy so she just decided it was time to retreat, maybe even go running to Aktaie with her discovery like a snitch. Listen buddy. I'm going to go now, but I want you to keep an eye open... I've heard stories of Caiaphas being a total meanie who eats pups' ears... I don't want that to happen to you. she whispered with wide open eyes trying to knock some sense into the kid.. With nonsense of course...
The fiery amazon got up and walked away, relieved of getting rid of the kid and eager to expose Caiaphas' little secret.