Otter Creek burn the streets

the movement — of the butterscotch boy's paw tightening on his treasure — does not go unnoticed by khepri who finds a familiarity in the other boy's actions. it is how he clings to his precious petrified sandpiper, after all. a fixation that could've cost him his life even as the waves pulled him under and spit him back out, threatening to drown him in it's icy depths as the salt water burned his lungs. before his trip to rusalka's new claim upon the plateau it had been all khepri had thought had been left of his family. now, it is a reminder. a promise. that the plagued golden prince would return to them once his debt to the lalin of his life was fulfilled.

alas, khepri could not be fully distracted from his whole reason for being in this territory in the first place and as he listens to the boy concur with his assessment and admit that he likes the designs, khepri gives each paw a shake to dispel the trickling tickle of the icy droplets that slide thru the spiked fur of his ankles. reif the introduction, like everything else the other boy has spoken thus far is soft and draws half of khepri's attention, acknowledged by a flick of his ear in his newfound companion's direction as he remains intent on inspecting what he dug from the silty creek bottom.

the sound of quieted footfalls tells khepri that the other boy draws nearer — but the ominous visage of the spectre draws the brief rise of khepri's gaze as the omen paces back and forth, disappearing and then reappearing in a wisp of smoke that khepri finds more distracting than he'd like to admit. once more, determined to ignore the creation of his imagination, he swings his head towards reif as the other comments — proudly, it sounds like — on a smoothy, shiny stone. the following comment causes khepri to draw back in slight offense. it was like saying that his petrified sandpiper — the crowning jewel of his once magnificent collection! — hadn't been worth nearly dying for ( it wasn't ),

in khepri's line of thinking the boy is wrong. treasures are always, always worth the risk; and if there wasn't a risk attached to them then they were boring and frankly, not worth having.

treasures are always worth the risk. spoken in a pompous manner as a glimpse is given to the other boy. he noses the others and draws a pale moonbeam colored rock — a smoothed flat stone — towards himself. i like this one. compared to some of the other its almost plain ...but the bone coloration is what attracts khepri to it the most. you can have that one, if you'd like. khepri gestures to the one that reif had commented on. it was rare ...khepri did not have a reputation of sharing his spoils — in fact he'd went to great lengths to hide them after the great reyes disaster of his very first menagerie. this ...kindness, if indeed it could be considered that, wasn't something that khepri was all that interested in looking too deeply into.

nanowrimo: 535