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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 14:37:14 GMT -6
Badrani hums in response, a low noise from her throat. They could figure it out together. It was an odd sensation; thinking about time. She'd almost told Shahrazad that they had all the time as sand in the desert; but did they really? Badrani was getting old. This sensation was worsened by the fact that Ssashirk from her home clan rarely made it past sixty. She'd heard that the soft-skins had it so easy in the Lab City beyond the desert that they lived boring lives and died of old age; a hundred years or more sometimes. She shuddered, just thinking about that. She hadn't really ever wanted to live long enough to be infirm.
However, she felt a little sad when she looked at Shahrazad. The youngster was so tiny; how terrible it was that Badrani's lifespan could never really match the natural one of the Draconic people- if rumors were true.
[15]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 15:40:41 GMT -6
Badrani's guilt was something that they hoped to keep away from the youngster for as long as possible; but the hatchling was already so good at 'reading' her that she wasn't entirely sure how long that expanse of time would be. Instead, she reaches out and pats the young draconic on her head again, trying to be comforting to what must be a very disorienting beginning to her existence than simply being hatched in a draconic clan; but finding much comfort herself in the gesture for whatever reason. "Don't worry, we'll find it out together." She said, her older, more seasoned voice quite gravely with the decisiveness of it.
"I wasn't worried." Shahrazad says, her voice tiny in comparison. The young draconic knows who the response was actually for; and it was not for herself. She seems pleased enough in the moment though, sitting among the soft green grass below the expanse of the sky.
[16]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 18:18:31 GMT -6
The day passes peacefully. They make mostly small talk, with each one of them giving the information that they had been able to glean to the other. Even though Badrani felt the weight of years on her shoulders, talking to Shahrazad felt like a weight was being taken off of her shoulders. There was something about being able to trust to any small degree. Had she ever really trusted? Trust was dangerous. Even in this case, no, perhaps especially in this case. It would be a concern that they were going to have to consider over some timeframe.
Finally, the two sat in quietude, feeling the dry cold air of autumn begin to seep in to the area in only the way that the draconic canyon and other already quite arid places could manage to feel. Shahrazad turns once more to Badrani, catching a bit of wind in her face that kept her from breathing for a moment. She shook her head, and snorted after the wind had passed.
[17]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 18:30:14 GMT -6
Badrani chuckles, a low two-note thing, and then draws her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She runs a claw along a slightly duller scale than the others on her calf. Undoubtedly she was going to molt a few of them soon (a large patch on her calf, actually); she'd have to find some salt to run a bath to help it along. "What were you going to say?" She asks the hatchling, not quite giving her a smile; more a toothy 'suggestion' of one.
Shahrazad sneezes, and then blinks. Apparently she'd gotten some irritant into her nose. After she stops machine-gun sneezing she affixes Badrani with a bit of amusement at herself evident in her features. Badrani was just finding it quite interesting that she had already learned quite a bit about Shahrazad's expressions in the short amount of time that they had been together thus far.
[18]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 18:38:39 GMT -6
Shahrazad seems to forget what she was going to say, and she voices so in a surprisingly timid tonality that tickles Badrani a tad. Her voice promised to be quite powerful in the future, but it faded in and out of velveteen purring, and timid cat-like mewing, and Badrani had only seen felines a few times in her life and felt interested in her ability to be able to make that connection. She simply hums in acknowledgement though before turning her attention back to the sky. The sun was beginning to descend already, fairly low on the horizon at this point. They had gotten quite lost in a conversation about something simple; something about weather over the desert, by the time that Badrani had truly noticed it. Shahrazad had never seen the sunset, so she was hoping to be able to show her the sight of it and enjoy seeing how she reacted to it.
[19]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 21, 2021 18:45:01 GMT -6
Hatchlings never really got the true chance of seeing the sunset for the first time and understanding truly that it was their first time. Beings are born, and then at some point their memory folds over and over on itself and is lost in the shuffle- little glimpses from the earliest years mostly dredged up by the sensation or smell that is attached to it the most. The smell of the spices in the market the first time you are permitted to go with the rest of the Clan; the sensation of the mat on which you slept as a baby. However, Shahrazad was intelligent; and moreso than most. Badrani could tell that already; so she truly believed that she'd get to see a youngster see something as simple as the sunset for the first time. Shahrazad could tell that the Ssashirk was excited about something that she was keeping from her- a secret? A surprise?
[20]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 28, 2021 18:51:37 GMT -6
Badrani stays quiet, waiting in the grass for the sun to set. Shahrazad took a bit of a nap in the meantime, sleeping more soundly than Badrani perhaps ever had in her entire life. Badrani felt a quite familiar protective urge, and kept an extra eye out to the point to where she nearly forgot to wake up Shahrazad whenever the sunset began to show brilliantly. She gently reached out to put her fingertips (claws carefully minded) on Shahrazad's shoulder and shook her as delicately as she could. "Shahzrazad, wake up." She says, voice a little haggard. She wasn't used to talking too often anymore, not since her trek across the sands towards the so-called Labs-City.
Shahrazad wakes without any fanfare, not frightened in the slightest. For some reason, that makes Badrani's heart ache a bit; how long had it been since she had been woken up without startling like that? The youngster had so much trust.
[21]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 28, 2021 19:03:04 GMT -6
It was hard to imagine trusting anyone implicitly anymore, and the fact that it bothered her that Shahrazad did made her sullen. She wraps one of her arms around her knees, tucking her feet in as close as her joints would allow without smarting, and then she pointed up to the sky. "Observe." She managed, having a bit of trouble finding a word that might work better than that one in common. Shahrazad looks confused for a moment, her pale violet eyes focusing more on Badrani's face than on the sky beyond it. The Ssashirk was able to notice the exact moment whenever the young draconic began to focus on sky beyond her face instead of just on her face.
That gave Badrani the moment she needed to give a very understated smile at the wide-eyed astonishment that was painted across the young draconic's face. It was better than any sunset; she decided.
[22]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 28, 2021 19:17:34 GMT -6
Badrani wraps her other arm back around her knees and she turns towards the sunset herself, giving herself a small moment to enjoy the wonderment on the young draconic's face. She picks up another piece of long sawgrass that was near her left hand, and she tears it to bits between her hands, keeping her arms in place. She focuses on it as hard as she could before glancing back at Shahrazad. She was still raptly staring at the sunset, so Badrani takes a moment to gaze at the sunset approvingly herself. It was a particularly pretty one; far enough away from the Labs City that the lights were not obstructing anything at all.
That was what made the Ssashirk the most baffled upon her having migrated to the City proper; no one could stargaze there. One could not even properly see the milky way until they traveled a decent way outside of the city itself.
[23]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 28, 2021 19:42:53 GMT -6
With a sunset as painterly and magnificent as this one, Badrani knew that the starry nightscape would be amazing here, too. Perhaps she should move her permanent residence out to the Canyon itself? The prospect was both a frightening one and an exciting one- though they had creatures to care for now, and that put a damper on the idea regardless of how much Badrani had liked it in the first place. Instead, they immerse theirself in the moment- looking at that beautiful sunrise.
"What do you ... think of it?" She manages to get out, tilting her head to glance at Shahrazad again. The youngster doesn't take her eyes off of it, and instead gives a nice rumbling noise from her chest, a little deeper than Badrani would have expected from her small size.
"It is beautiful!" She exclaims. "Such a simple phenomenon!"
Phenomenon, huh? Badrani thinks that she has heard it before. A large word for such a small person.
[24]
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Post by Badrani on Oct 28, 2021 19:47:46 GMT -6
Badrani doesn't say anything in return at first, feeling more than awkward about her entire situation. It was... More than she could have asked for, to have a soulbond; and already she had infinitely high opinions of the youngster. However, she was also quite a bit scared. Draconics... If the knowledge that she had was at all true, they could live for far longer than she ever could. She was coming up on the end of her lifespan, her whole life had felt like a blink up to this point in comparison to the now; as it tended to be for elderly individuals. Would her shorter lifespan, made even worse by the fact that she was towards the end of it already, cut this magnificent person's life short before she even knew it?
She holds the blade of grass between two fingers, glancing down at it again. She felt almost... Shy. She hardly even noticed when Shahrazad moved to look her in the eyes.
[25]
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Post by Badrani on Nov 1, 2021 15:52:40 GMT -6
"Have you been listening to me?" Shahrazad asks, concern clearly behind her eyes, though Badrani wasn't entirely sure how she knew that. It wasn't like Draconic facial expression styles were at all similar to any sort of people she had ever run into before- let alone her own. Badrani gives her a slight eye cut and then glances over to the side carefully. "No. Sorry, I was..." What was the word again?
Shahrazad comes up with it for her. "Distracted." She said, pleased with herself. "It's okay." She raises a small paw, and places it on the elder Ssashirk's knee. Something about this strikes Badrani; it was so odd, the way that the youngster was somehow such an old soul, in such a young body.
Badrani brushes her off, and then stands. "How about... We go, night... Ah, Fishing?" She asks. "I traded for one of these 'fishing' poles, and have done some... Reading." She stumbles all over the words.
[26]
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Post by Badrani on Nov 3, 2021 19:49:30 GMT -6
If Shahrazad is bothered by Badrani's lack of mastery of the Common Language than she does not show it. How she came out speaking common so naturally, the poor Ssashirk could never know. Draconics were a mystical people indeed, and she couldn't go two seconds without feeling uncommonly blessed to be in the presence of any draconic, let alone this practical 'twin' of her soul. Shahrazad gets up as well, following Badrani as they begin to go towards the nearest rope bridge. They were quiet for a moment, but it was obvious in Shahrazad's implicit movement that she had agreed to go with her.
Badrani knows that it is going to be a decent walk to the tents. They hadn't quite been 'home' yet. Badrani had just barely gotten them set up, and the fishing pole delivered, before the entire... Well, she didn't remember it well. Dream, or something like that.
[27]
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Post by Badrani on Nov 3, 2021 19:53:07 GMT -6
Badrani smiled, but turned to face away so that Shahrazad couldn't see it, before she regained her composure. "We'll drop by... Home." She began explaining. "To fetch this fishing pole." She had indeed been reading up on how to fish, but she had no practical experience with it in the slightest. Before she had migrated here, she'd never seen so much manaah in one spot; let alone whole rivers of it that never really dried up. It was indeed something called the 'dry season'; where it did not rain nearly as much- but she didn't have a lot of prior knowledge to go off of. Apparently the river would be 'muddy'. Which she had come to understand meant that it would be something she hadn't really seen before.
It had been the tail-end of the 'wet' season when she had set up the tents that were to be their home. So she was about to get to see something up close (from up here it didn't look any different to her) that she had not seen before.
...And neither had Shahrazad, of course.
[28]
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Post by Badrani on Nov 3, 2021 19:57:12 GMT -6
The idea of going through all of this newness was a daunting one. She'd been so desperate to leave her old life that she had never had a chance to really consider what an amazing task it would be to learn so much so quickly; having been tossed in the thick of it without any prior knowledge. However, it was a much less monumentous task now that she was not going to be doing it all by herself. She would never admit that out loud, at least not at this current point in her life. Would she go soft, like the soft-skins, living like this? Even though a part of her didn't like that idea, having a bit of a resentfulness that she realized now was a little shameful- from her own people's Pride at that (she'd have to rethink that), this was the point, right?
Badrani had wanted to have an easier life. She was thinking about this on the way home, enough that it seemed to give Shahrazad pause.
[29]
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