Welcome to Gaia! ::

To say that Saraf was feeling frustrated at the moment was likely the understatement of the century as he went through the various drills with his sword that he'd been taught while still a part of the army. He didn't feel as though he were moving fast enough, not to mention his vision in his eye was still not completely healed despite the healers telling him to give it time. As though he had time to be screwing around! He wanted to get back to full strength, to get to the point where he could finally gain the rank and weapon he so desired, then he meant to go back North, find that Shifter, and see how much he liked getting knocked around!

Bunch of worthless scum, bad enough that they even existed but to have them actually win the war? For them to actually go about trying to systematically ruin Oba as they had? They were screwing everything up and it was something he found himself cursing to himself about often. He would just continue to pray to Nerad and Jonal, Gods of Judgement and War, for some sort of sign of what it was that he should do next. To have the back water filth from up North actually win? It grated on him, made him just want to... want... hit something! He gave a growl, bring his practice sword against one of the training dummies before him as hard as he could and much to his delight its stuffed head went flying.

Said head went a good distance before it hit the ground, bounced a couple times, and came to lay at the feet of a woman who was standing there watching with a small Shifter along side her. It was only as Saraf looked her way that the woman clapped her hands together and in a delighted voice said, "Saraf! Look what I found in the market? Since we can't have slaves anymore they were just giving the rest of those captured away to anyone who wanted to 'take care of them but enslave them' isn't that nice! He's so cute! Like a little kitten!" She squealed in a happy manner, something that made Saraf facepalm before he started toward her.

"Mother... we don't need a... a Shifter kitten running around." He said, dropping his gaze to glare at the kid, instantly disliking him if only because of what he was. Damn it, another Shifter underfoot? As though he already didn't have them filling up his thoughts! Lifting a hand he rubbed his temples before he said, "You should just bring it back."

The woman gave a bit of a pout, shaking her head, "Come on, Saraf! Mommy wants to keep him! A new, cute baby to raise since you are all grown up now and since I probably won't be having another of my own any time soon since I am no longer with your father." She said, patting the little Shifter on the head, "I want him and i will be keeping him... though, you know, in a non-slavey way." Her words were final and Saraf could only sigh.

Saraf crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing as he starred down at the boy that was remaining... well, silent much to his surprise. Somehow he'd thought the brat might open his mouth, to complain or to cry, and yet that wasn't the case which at least made him better then most of the Northerners that Saraf had met thus far. Too many of them spent their time whining about the fact that they had been taken prisoner, as though it wasn't their own fault for being so weak he thought to himself before giving a sigh, "You really shouldn't have bothered, I am sure there would have been someone else to take the little brat in." He muttered, though mostly to himself since his mother was already fawning over the boy.

The woman glanced toward Saraf, hearing him speak but not really catching what he said, she just knew that he'd said something but decided it wasn't important. Instead she ruffled the boy's hair, "I think he's quite cute! I just can't wait to see if what they say about him is true! I was told that Shifters get their name because they change colors at night, isn't that interesting? I bet it's a sight to behold, don't you think, Saraf?" She said, cooing over the boy as though he were the most fascinating thing in the world due to the fact that he could change colors.

Giving a grumbling sound Saraf locked eyes with the kid before him and demanded, "What's your name?" He asked, then looked at his mother, "Do you even know his name?"

The woman opened her mouth, paused, closed it again, then seemed to be thinking on it for a while before she gave a bit of a chuckle, "I... ahh... oops. I can't say that I even thought to ask him. I was just so excited to get him home so that I could introduce him to you." She said, sounding quite amused by the fact that she had forgotten about something so simple in her haste to get the little kitten back home to show off to her son. It were as though she had completely forgotten that Saraf had a bit of a grudge against the Shifters due to the run in with a particular one. It was something he was used to though, she tended to act on her whims, a bit childishly, leaving him stuck being the more logical and mature one most days.

"Issaly." Saraf said, taking note of the name, not that he exactly cared. If he had his way the kid would be pack up and returned to... well, anywhere but here. He couldn't say that he wanted a Shifter brat underfoot while he was recovering from injuries that one of the brat's people gave him. At the mention of an 'elder brother' he was instantly shaking his head, "No, I don't care, your brother isn't my problem. If he's sick to the point that he might die then he isn't bringing that sickness here so he can spread it. I won't put my mother at risk."

The woman sighed, resting her hands on her hips, "Saraf! You should be nice!" She scolded her son, giving another pout, something the woman was quite good at before she looked down at Issaly, "I will send a note to a doctor friend of mine, he can always look in on your brother, see if what he has is contagious or not." She told the boy, giving him a pat on the head. She then turned to her son and said, "You look after little Issaly, I am going to send a servant to bring the message."

With that she was on her way, leaving Saraf standing their, mouth agape, with the youngling apparently in his care. Giving a muttered curse under his breath Saraf lifted a hand to rub his temples, "Really Nerad, Essd? I am starting to think that the two of you are just laughing at me now." He muttered to the King and Queen of the Gods before he turned his attention to the kid standing in front of him. There was little that made Saraf want to keep the brat around, especially if keeping him around meant that there might be a second one added to the collection of sorts. He'd much rather his mother just... sent them somewhere, North, maybe? Call it a 'measure of goodwill' and give them their brats back.

Walking back toward the practice dummies Saraf said, "You'd best behave while she is away."

Saraf gave the youngling a glance before sweeping up his practice sword in one hand, turning to face the training dummies once more, ignoring the fact that one was still missing a head. He would just have to practice landing blows against various limbs with that one was all. He couldn't very well stop training just because one of the dummies was without its head. He swung the big, two-handed training sword a few times at the targets, landing blows in various areas, some killing blows, others more along the lines of crippling blows. All the while he remained quiet save for the occassional murmured to himself about one thing or another, most things pertaining to his training which he felt would be forever in progress until his eye healed.

That or until he finally gave up and decided that he would just have to deal with the wound, learn to fight despite half his vision being messed up. It wasn't ideal but it might be something he had to live with because of that accursed Shifter. How he would just love to hit him in reply just as hard... if not harder. If he could land even one blow against the b*****d, it would be so nice. How he hated that man. His sword struck against the dummies a few more times before he lifted a hand, rubbing the back of it against his forehead, before he glanced over at Issaly. After a long moment he motioned to where a pitcher of water and some goblets sat a short distance away, "Pour some water and bring it to me." He ordered him before going back to his training.

Deep down he knew that the kid wasn't one of the slaves or servants, especially given they weren't allowed the former anymore, but that didn't mean he was going to be nice or anything. His mother left the kid here and Saraf would be sure to put him to work so that he was actually useful instead of just a worthless lump. He might not be a slave but he wasn't family either, as such he'd consider him more along the lines of servant status, meaning he could be bossed around so long as he got paid or something. Given he was a kid that probably meant... what? Room and board, meals, that sort of thing? Not as though kids his age would even know what to do with money if it were offered after all. Giving a shrug he went back to what he was doing, waiting for his drink to be brought to him by the Shifter whelp.

Saraf stopped his practice swings when the boy came over to him, just as he was told, offering the water that he had poured for Saraf. Reaching out he took the goblet from him, lifting it up to take a sip from it, before he said, "Not Master, Sir or Saraf, we don't keep slaves anymore due to the idiots up North meddling in our affairs as though they have the right." He said, less then pleased with the fact that they thought they could just screw with everything that the Obans had built until this point. Not to mention did they really even understand what their demands wrought upon their people? Probably not, as if they really cared.

"You're more of a servant, someone who serves the family because you want to... well, more because my mother was nice enough to take you in." He said, giving a half shrug, not wanting him to think that it mattered if he wanted to serve the family or not, it wasn't as though they had any idea what to do with him other then look after him at this point. Where he belonged, who he belonged to, that was all lost on Saraf. What a huge pain in the backside, how he wanted to just tell his mother to bring the kid back to where she'd found him but he knew that would probably end up with her crying about how mean he was, how she wanted Issaly, and that she would take good care of him.

Finishing off his water he handed the cup back to Issaly, "Go put that back for now." He told him, turning back to the practice dummies before he added, "Get the dummy's fallen head while you're at it, Issaly."

Saraf looked at the stuffed head as Issaly returned with it, giving it a once over, before looking at the practice dummy that he'd knocked it off of. After a long moment of though he finally shook his head, "I... suppose just next to the dummies? It will be a pain to put back on but I don't want it just laying around where someone could trip over it." By someone he meant his mother, knowing the woman might very well come rushing back into the room at any moment now and the idea that she could trip over it didn't sit well with him.

"Once you're done with that you can..." He trailed off, giving Issaly a once over, then shook his head, "I am not sure then, you're a lot smaller then our normal servants. I can't say I know exactly what I should have you do." He might very well break things if he was set to work cleaning, get loset if he was sent on errands, or get stolen if he left the house for any reason since there were those that out there that lacked the integrity of his own household. There would still be those who wanted slaves, be they foreign or just those from Matori, and it wouldn't be a business that would be closed down over night. If anything it would just become more shady and end up as more of an underground thing at best. At least when it was out in the open it was better regulated he thought to himself.

Giving a grumbling sound he set to pounding away at the dummies once more with his practice sword. Those from the North were a bunch of idiots if they thought everything would be abolished at their whims. They were blind and ignorant, they knew nothing of how Oba worked, and yet they tried to force their ideals upon them, "Your people are rather stupid, you know that right? Hopefully you will grow up with brain in your head." He told Issaly between swings.

Saraf starred at Issaly for a long time, saying nothing when he spoke of his 'family not waking up again' something that didn't make any sense until the kid went into it in a bit more detail. He gave a snorting sound, looking away, "I see." So the kid's brother was lying to him, huh? Telling him his family was asleep when he doubted highly it was something like that. It wasn't really his place to say anything though, even if he thought the kid's brother was an idiot for lying about such a thing. It was sure to come back and bite the guy in the backside later... well, provided of course he made it through whatever illness he had. The brat made it sound bad, as though he'd keel over from it.

Shrugging it off he turned back to his training dummies, "I suppose you should count yourself as lucky that you didn't... 'fall asleep' as he calls it." He told the kid before he gave the dummies a once over, then did the same with his sword before setting the wooden sword down, letting it lean against the the now headless dummy and said, "Come on, we are going to go and see what is keeping my mother." Surely she must have sent the servant off by now to deliver the message about the kid's brother, right? That meant that she could come back and take over when it came to caring for this kid. It wasn't Saraf's thing and given she was the one that wanted the kid so much she should be caring for him instead of just handing him off he thought to himself as he led the way in the direction his mother had wandered off in.

Saraf remained quiet as he lead the way, down the hall, and to the front door of their place. Upon reaching it he found his mother just seeing the servant off. She'd probably been chatting with him, something she did a lot, likely forgetting about the fact that she had left Saraf to deal with the youngling that she had taken in. Did she knew that taking care of some kid was low on his list of priorities at the moment? If she wanted him so bad she should be leading him around he thought to himself in a grumpy manner, arms crossing over his chest, waiting for her to turn around.

When she finally did so the woman perked up and said, "Ah! Saraf, Issaly, I see that the two of you came to see me!" She chirped, seeming quite pleased as she walked over to them, petting Issaly's hair before asking, "I hope Saraf was nice enough? He can be a bit grumpy of late, seeming to always be busy with that training of his. No matter, we will just have to have fun without him, huh?" She looked up at her son and gave him a bit of a grin, something that had Saraf sighing a bit.

"I am not a grump, I am just trying to get back to where I was before I was injured." He told her, tapping a finger against his arm. He had things to do was all and training was the best way to get himself back on track to attaining those things, the most important being the rank that he so desired. He might not be able to rise in the ranks of the army but he would rise in rank, would find his place amongst his people. He was just a touch uncertain where that place might be now that the war was over and their people felt seemingly neutered, "So, if you're done chatting with the help can I leave him with you then?" He asked of his mother, hoping to escape before she thought of another way to waylay him and keep him from continuing his training.