|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 2:51 pm
The further they ventured into Oba the more Ai was coming to grips with the fact that she was utterly surrounded by earthlings. When she woke they were in the halls of the inn, mingling around the common areas, laughing out by the stables, crowding the streets...Even when the alkidike managed to find an alcove that didn't completely reek of their scent one would inevitably appear like the pests they were and she found herself happy enough to spend what free time they hand in their room.
One morning, however, she'd woken before the sun and decided to take a walk. It was early enough that the sun hadn't risen in the sky which meant, thankfully, the streets were empty. At least, so she'd thought.
A cry from a nearby alleyway caught her attention. Antennae flickering, the alkidike crept closer, one hand on the hilt of her sword to inspect. What she found was a basket propped up atop a crate with a...squalling infant inside. At some point during it's rest it had kicked the blankets off it's puny body and was crying hard enough to bring a flush to it's cheeks. A note was pinned to the basket, but it didn't take Ai more than a second to realize the thing had been abandoned.
By all accounts she should have left it there. It was something the old her would have done. If left alone it would either starve to death or another earthling would claim it. And yet...here she was, opening the door to their room at the inn, the basket hooked over her arm. The child had been bundled, this time much tighter than before and was blessedly quiet. Seeing Lucijah's sleeping form gave Ai no pause at all; she merely walked up to shifter, settled the basket next to her on the bed and shook her arm.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:14 pm
It was sort of like they were living in Oba now. Weirdly enough. Ai and Lucijah were slowly getting closer to the place where her sister lived, but they couldn't just sleep in alleys now (even if Ai acted like she'd prefer it). They had to get inn rooms - and that meant, sometimes, working to get enough money to afford room and board. Which Ai wouldn't do, of course, since she'd rather just beat up an Oban to take their stuff, which Lucijah had to explain would NOT work here because Oba had soldiers that would come out to enforce the law--
So. Lucijah was back to working as a work hand some days, offering help at butcher shops, or encouraging Ai to enter some of those underground Oban fighting rings that Nera used to be so fond of.
It had worked out, for the most part, and they'd earned themselves a nice little cache of gold to make their trip easier. But Lucijah was tired and--
And Ai was just gonna wake her up. Mmkay. "Wuh?" Lucijah grunted, blinking her eyes open blearily. Once, finding Ai hovering over her upon waking would have elicited terror into her, but now- she just glowered at her companion, nudging at her with her foot. "Why'd you get me up? What did you--"
There was a sound of shuffling beside her, and Lucijah took that moment to look over, staring uncomprehendingly at the wiggling infant in a basket on her bed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:25 pm
Most mornings Ai was content to just let Lucijah sleep. If she'd worked hard the night before Ai herself was generally curled up in a corner somewhere, peacefully checked out of the waking world, but that night she hadn't been able to sleep. Now, of course, she was here with a glowering shifter and a problem.
"I found this."
As if it weren't completely obvious what was in the basket, Ai pulled back the blanket to reveal a chubby little face. The infant was small, too small by alkidike standards to tell exactly how old it was, so she just assumed Lucijah would know. It was one of her kind, after all.
It cooed up at the alkidike, making a little gurgled noise, despite the obvious look of disdain being tossed back it's way. Despite the fact that she'd brought it back to her room it was clear that Ai's 'affection' didn't go much further than that. Unpinning the note, she unfolded the bit of paper to read it aloud;
"Please look after him as I no longer can. I left a pouch of gold underneath him to help with his care." Ai lifted the note to look at the infant and as one would move a lump of rice she shifted him in the basket, spotting the bundle of gold. "Huh."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:14 am
[2/10] ...Ah. Lucijah stared at the infant for a long moment, her sleep riddled brain trying to spark a reason as to why it was, suddenly, in front of her. It wasn't a newborn, but was still little. Now, Lucijah properly sat up, alarmed as Ai read the note. "And you brought it here? Wait- nevermind." Right - leaving a baby wherever it was Ai had been skulking about, it might have been... I dunno, eaten up by starving alley perzi or something.
Lucijah grimaced as she moved closer and reached into the basket, lifting him awkwardly into her arms. He was warm, at least - heavier than she expected, and (thankfully) didn't seem to have made a mess of himself in whatever length of time he'd been sitting in that basket.
But - lifting him was a mistake, because he took a huge handful of her hair and pulled. Yelping, Lucijah angled her head awkwardly to try and lessen the pull of it, wiggling. "Ow ow ow-- help! Make it stop--!!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:53 pm
Perhaps it was unfair of Ai to expect quickened responses from Lucijah this early in the morning, but a part of her was growing impatient by the whole thing. "Would you have rather I smothered it? It's still an option." Ai mused, looking over the top of the note at the infant. She'd expected a 'softer' reaction, but honestly if that's what the shifter wanted then she wasn't entirely opposed.
Still, just as quickly, she was lifting it and Ai knew the time had already passed for swift decisions.
And yet...something about seeing an infant, of all things, tearing into Lucijah...It brought a small grin to her face. "It's your fault for having so much to pull." Stepping forward, the alkidike bent a little at the waist and used her fingers to help pry his death grip away from Lucijah's hair. When he seemed keen to grab onto anything Ai let him hold her own hand instead.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:12 pm
[3/10] Of course it was. Lucijah shot a sleep-addled glare at her travel companion, then turned her attention back to the child - namely, getting it to let GO of her! "Well." She sniffed, hurriedly flipping her hair back as soon as Ai freed it. "First thing I'm doing when This is finished is cutting it off." Which was tempting, honestly, because with how hot it was in Oba she was tired of the weight and heat of it.
Once she was freed, she dropped her eyes to where the baby's fingers were wrapped around Ai's massive ones, pausing to take in the image with an amused, even fond look.
It seemed like such a gentle motion, from someone who had just joked about smothering it.
"It's probably starving." Lucijah pointed out intelligently, frowning. It was still so small it needed milk, right? Which neither of them could provide. And she had no idea how to even START looking for some. "... Cities like this have things called 'orphanages. It's where they collect children. Best thing we can do is seek one out."
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:44 pm
Ai simply shrugged her shoulders. Just because it didn't suit the shifter's delicate sensibilities didn't mean it wasn't an option. She 'gently' maneuvered the child's fingers into a better suited position away from Lucijah which left her in a sticky situation. Now that it was no longer tugging on her it was suckling on hers and...failing, horribly, given the size difference. "I could cut it for you. Can't be that hard." The infant gurgled and she curled her lip.
She could probably just jab it's windpipe with one finger and end it right here.
"A space to collect children?" Ai raised her brow and looked up at the shifter with something akin to amusement. "And you call me cruel. At least I was going to make it peaceful before I ended it. That sounds like a space to slaughter them." Earthlings would never cease to surprise her. One moment they were ontop of their moral compass and the next they were just as 'barbaric' as the extremists. "Well, come on then, let's go find one."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:27 pm
[4/10]
Really? Lucijah eyed the alkidike, lips quirked briefly into a playful smile that she paired with a speculative look that clearly said 'I wonder if I should trust you that close with a knife--'
But then she sighed and rolled her eyes, shuffling carefully out of bed, with the child in her arms. "Doesn't happen so much with other tribes. But Oba is just so big - family units aren't like they are everywhere else. There's no elders or extended family to take in all the kids left behind. It's better than setting them out for the beasts to have, I guess." Not that she found the idea very appealing, herself. But she'd heard of enough infants in the north being left to die by exposure, to avoid having another mouth to feed - so she couldn't say they were all perfect.
That was probably the benefit of Aisha, really - every child was supposed to be wanted. That wasn't always the case, for earthlings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:37 pm
Oh. Well, that was a little different than what Ai had assumed an orphanage was. Hearing that it was a place to raise children that had been left behind was...admittedly somehow sadder than anything she'd concocted up til that point. "So it's where foundlings go?" Orphans, foundlings...it was the same concept but a different word. She shifted away from the bed and while contemplating it all her eyes kept taking in the child.
"Zinris is still small enough that those without mothers are left with elders or sisters old enough to care for children. That's how I got Fiya." She couldn't imagine a country so vast that children were placed with others that weren't connected to the family at all. The concept was absolutely mind boggling.
"I can...hold it if you need to dress yourself."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:12 pm
[5/10] It wasn't the first time that Ai had mentioned having a kid, but it was just as surprising as the first time Lucijah heard it. The term 'foundling' was a surprise to her though - the alkidike put out such a united front, that she'd never thought they could have 'orphans'. And, if Ai was telling the truth, they didn't - they just made sure that any unclaimed kids went somewhere.
"That sounds... nice." Lucijah admitted, appreciatively, gazing at the kid with a sad look. Maybe, if she'd been in a more stable position, she'd take it back home - maybe see if her mother wanted to care for it, or... even dabble in child rearing herself. But she'd spent so long rejecting the idea of marriage, or children, that she balked at the idea on principle, even if holding this kid now made her feel protective.
...Children weren't things to be played with. The newest, greatest familiar to teach tricks, and feed treats. She nodded and passed the child to Ai, taking the time to hurriedly dress out of her small clothes and into her normal gear.
Together, the two headed back outside, with Lucijah stifling a yawn as she peered around. Oban cities were usually set up logically, with sections for commerce, living, and government functions. She didn't know where orphanages fit into that, but had an idea where to check - so she started walking, not thinking to take the kid back from Ai. "I guess in Alkidike culture, there's no such thing as just 'not wanting kids', huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:22 pm
"Her mother was slaughtered by Yaeli when I was...eighteen summers? Nineteen?" It was hard to remember, honestly. It had happened when she was still young enough that the elders had fought against the decision initially, but with a general lack of bodies they couldn't afford to be picky in those days. "She took care of me after the exile so I was next of kin." Ai shrugged. It just...happened. She'd never seen herself taking care of a child, but then again, Fiya's own mother hadn't planned on adopting a fourteen year old exile either.
So, for all her hatred of earthlings, holding the infant wasn't a foreign thing to her. It was much smaller than an elarian babe, but the form was still the same. Protect it's head, make sure the body stayed wrapped and if it fussed rock it. She moved a little from hip to hip, easily shifting into some locked away maternal instincts that hadn't been touched since Fiya was an infant.
Even when they were outside she held the child as easily as a loaf of bread which either spoke to her ability to 'mother' or her ability to prioritize food over a baby.
"No, there isn't." The sun was bright that morning and when the infant started to fuss Ai simply raised him so that he was laid up against her shoulder instead with her large hand under his rump. "Every bloom is an answered prayer. Occasionally a bloom will sprout without being asked for, but it's a rarity and even then she's always taken in by a family." She'd only ever seen it happen a few times, but even then the child always had a mother before the bloom was even close to opening.
"I don't see how earthlings could abandon a child." She admitted with no small amount of confusion. "He doesn't look to any deformities, he's not a hybrid, so I don't know why he was left behind." It...actually bothered her a great deal, if she was being honest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:38 pm
[6/10]
Who would have thought that for as horrifying as Ai was, she was... good with kids? Lucijah watched her the way any unmarried, or childless adult would a parent, partly intimidate and partly impressed. She made it look so simply, so easy - but when Lucijah held him, she'd felt she would smash him into pulp, or drop him. It had been terrifying!
As they walked, with Lucijah's eyes looking for hints as to where to go, she listened to Ai talking, feeling a knot of conflicted appreciation in her chest. Her settlement... her family had thought of the alkidike as daemons for so long, and Ai had only served to reinforce had terrifying the bugs were, in many ways. But then Ai would surprise her, like this.
It only made her appreciation for the other woman go up, if she was honest. Could she have done that? If some... cousin had an orphan, would she have felt she could take them in?
"Who knows. Maybe they had too many kids to feed already. Perhaps his mom was too young? Or he came from a mistress or lady of the night? Maybe his mother died giving birth to him." Probably, that was the reason she hadn't married and had kids herself, like her mother had always wanted.
"... But it'd be fine if he was a hybrid, huh? Would you have brought him back if he was? He's already an earthling."
Lucijah didn't know why she was being so... contrary today, but babies... marriage. All that had been a sore spot for her, ever since she was young.
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:03 pm
[7/10]
Too many kids? Earthlings reproduced with such reckless abandon that they didn't care as to what happened to their children so long as their lust was satiated. It was horrifying. Little ones whose only purpose in life was to seek help from their parents being left behind because the ones who were supposed to protect them couldn't. It was one thing if the mother died, but to willingly set the child up for failure...
How cruel.
"It's hardly his fault if his mother is someone's whore." Was that...anger on behalf of the child coming through her tone? "Or that she couldn't contain herself long enough to close her legs. If she was forced then perhaps...." Ai snarled out a groan. "There are too many 'what ifs' with your kind." If she thought about all the reasons why the boy was abandoned he would be a grown man by the time she was done! "Is it so common for mothers to pass having a child?"
And then came the thought. A hybrid? "Why would that have changed? He's already an earthling; that wouldn't have changed."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:19 pm
[7/10]
Lucijah grunted. There wasn't much she could say - Ai's disgust was probably right on the money, and her frustration was warranted. It was why the shifter felt a sort of ... wistfulness for the simplicity of Alkidike culture, on that front. "Less common, if there are good healers around. But not every family can afford that." Hers could, since her father was a merchant and, whatever infidelity he partook in what with her half-sibling and all... he did at least still send his wife money reliably.
Ah. So that was it. Ai didn't detest earthling hybrids, just... hybrids within her kind. It was Alkidike or Earthling. Which... made the fact she had rescued an earthling child feel all the more... meaningful, for whatever reason.
Lucijah looked away from Ai, only to jolt a bit - there! They'd gotten closer to the part of the city where nobles, and other officials worked - and though she could only passably read Oban script, there was common language written on the signs that directed them to the right place.
She nudged her companion and hurried along, looking at the child to make sure he was still comfortable. He seemed so, within Ai's large hands, but he was probably starving if he hadn't eaten since she found him--
"When you put it like that though, I can sort of see why your people think mine are so terrible. Can you imagine, how horrified the first Alkidike were when they realized what pregnancy was?" She laughed, somewhat bitterly, turning to Ai, hands held out. "I can take him now, if you want."
|
|
|
|
|
|
scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:25 pm
"Then why bother having children at all? Or so many, at the least, when you stand to lose so many women?" Females were clearly so much stronger than the male earthlings so what reason could they possibly have for torturing them like that? "I didn't realize birth could be so dangerous." She'd always just assumed that it was painful, which seemed to check out, but beyond that...well, Ai hadn't given it too much thought. Earthlings simply spawned like creatures in the wild and she was always surprised there weren't more litters.
Ah, so there were getting closer. She'd moved to shift the boy once more as they started down the path to the orphanage, but upon Lucijah's suggestion Ai simply shrugged. With a fragility that didn't seem possible for the alkidike, she handed the babe off.
"Have you ever considered being a mother?" It was bound to come up, whether Lucijah broached the topic naturally or not. They couldn't very well talk about the perils of earthling reproduction without Ai asking the earthling female at her side. "I can't imagine you being...that round."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
