Lion Head Mesa welcome to the panic room

backdated to uuuuhh haha a date

there were strangers in akashingo. zakariya didn't mingle much with the others anyway, preferring to keep to @Nazli's side as much as possible, but this disturbed him. it also made him curious. the unknown had always felt inherently dangerous to the boy, ever since the day he'd lost his eyes.
but he wondered, too, if it might be better. if people who weren't from akashingo might be different. he couldn't imagine how, and maybe he shouldn't have felt as hopeful as he did. he just couldn't help it. every day he felt more like screaming, like lashing out at everyone and running away from akashingo. he didn't know why. all he knew was that he hated every day, and he hated himself, and he wished things were different.
he wished someone wanted to love him. someone other than nazli. because as much as he loved her, it wasn't the same; they were both in this position, with no one but each other to turn to. what zakariya wanted seemed so simple, but so far away in comparison. why couldn't anyone just... want him?
but he was unwanted. and the hole left in his heart by this knowledge was what drove him to seek out @Germanicus. but when he got there, he lost his nerve entirely. though he could not see the man, zakariya sensed that his presence was vast and hard, and felt he must be much larger than he actually was. the young coywolf battled the urge to cower. if he had eyes, they would have been wide.
y-you... are you from mereo? it was not at all what he'd planned to say, but it was what came out. zakariya winced and awaited the worst.

he was taking a meal: two pigeons. the man had been offered the fruit but had turned it away. his bites were calculated. he sat in the little room where he had lived while in the palace. the room that crowfeather had been kept until the discovery was made that he was a prince.

there was a child's step and then a child's and their voice. a boy, a child with coyote blood, hesitant at the doorway. 

"i am. my name is germanicus." the soldier had stopped eating for now.

he was calm. oh! - he was eating. embarrassed, the boy backed away slightly, suddenly remembering his manners. i - i'm sorry i interrupted you. i only... his ears flattened, muzzle dipping low and slightly to the side in shame. i-i wanted to know about mereo. please. um, my lord. was that right? he couldn't remember. his face felt hot. he wished nazli was with him.

"you did not interrupt me. this is your home. i am only a visitor."

he invited the boy closer with a tip of his dark muzzle.

"mereo is a place of soldiers. we train to keep the mountains safe and keep a guard against any war that could come to akashingo." 

though they had not prevented the queen's murder, he supposed.

no one had ever spoken to him in this manner before, as far as zakariya could remember. he was immediately enchanted. germanicus, that was what he'd said, wasn't it?
zakariya crept closer again as the man spoke, unable to see his gesture but intrigued and trusting enough to take the risk. he didn't want to miss anything germanicus said. mereo was a place of soldiers, he said. they guarded against war. the boy only understood some of these things, and what little he understood was purely from context. they were fighters, he gathered. war was a fight. it had to be, if they were training to keep everyone safe, didn't it?
impulsively, he wanted to follow this man. he wanted to go to mereo. can i be a soldier? a note of hope crept into his voice despite his best attempts at masking it. before he could stop himself, he added, i don't want to be a fellahin. i hate cleaning. i would rather fight bad guys! if only he knew what he was saying, truly.

"everyone can be a soldier. not everyone can be spared at home."

the boy was little more than a servant if he had to guess.

"what else do you do other than clean?" the eagle asked. it was never inopportune to search for more information.