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Maslin sat cross legged on his bed, looking over towards where his mother stood, at the other end of the wagon, leaning against the closed door. This was not good, she had that look on her face that had always meant a serious talk was coming. Said talks rarely contained good news or ended in him being given new instructions that he was less than happy to follow.

Maslin couldn't imagine why he'd need one of those now though. He'd recently gone on that little day trip his mother had encouraged him too, he was doing ok in his lesson's according to his aunt and he hadn't broken anything or upset any of the nearby townsfolk recently. So how could he possibly in trouble and in need of a serious talk?

" Don't look so worried, I'm not mad at you." His mother gave a soft laugh but there was still a serious look in her eyes.

"Ok, that's good." It didn't explain anything though.

"It's just, your getting older an-

" No, um please don't, I'm not, I'll ask uncle Mavros." Amber eyes grew wide with panicked and the words spilled out of Maslin's mouth. He was not having this talk with his mother right now or ever. Maslin wasn't even interested in any of that adult business so he really really didn't need that talk yet and even if he did he'd rather have it from a family member not his mother. He loved her dearly but there were some subjects that the young hybrid was unwilling to share with her.

The tall orderite woman snorted and shook her head for a moment before returning her attention to Maslin. " You're a little young yet for me to be worrying about that," she replied her voice filled with amusement. "And your uncle has already volunteered to handle that discussion when you are ready."

Maslin breathed a sign of relief at that statement. He could handle whatever was coming next as long as it wasn't going to be about that.

~~~
Evening time found Maslin chewing on a bit of jerky and reading the first of many new textbooks he'd received. They were not traditional textbooks though or at least not ones filled with the usual subjects of math, language and the like. No his books were filled with explanations on the differences between dragon types and how best to hunt them. He had books explaining magic and weapons and all manner of things he was firmly not interested in.

Not that it mattered what he was interested in. His mother had determined it was high time he learned to fight. Even if he intended to be a crafter and trader like the rest of the family Maslin was required to at least undergo basic training. No longer would he have most days to spend as pleased,they would instead be filled with many lessons teaching him how to defend himself and how to survive and win a fight.

Given how non aggressive he was by nature Maslin wasn't too sure this was going to work. All the studying in the world couldn't make him really want to kill a dragon and once he was done with the mandatory amount of proving himself he had no intention with carrying on with it. There was no fighting it though, the freedoms his age brought came with conditions and special as he might be as a hybrid he could not simply will himself to be an exception. Every older member of his family had completed at least basic training and now like it or not, it was his turn.

link: Strolling serenia

Maslin lay stretched out on his side in bed trying to jot down the day's happenings in an old leatherbound journal.


I met another Hybrid today, my very first, that I know of anyways. His name is Damian and he has Dovaa and orderite parents like I do. He's younger than I am so he was out with his mom and she seems to be pretty nice and helpful. I'm not really sure what to think of them both yet but i am excited to keep my promise to visit them sometime. For once it's nice to be staying somewhere for the winter, perhaps this one will be really interesting.

link I never asked for this

Recovered enough to make a small note in his journal Maslin writes,

Today was bad, there's going to be trouble later.

link: Stop bothering me.

link: luck of the draw
+
link: you are the worst

I really, really don't like dealing with ysali dragons and they share the same feelings it seems. I am just not made for dragon hunting and I can't wait until I don't have to do this anymore.

"Don't just stand there staring at it, I don't have all day!"

Maslin's amber eyes flicked between the old dovaa woman staring intently at him and soul filled orb he held in his hands. According to her, his being clanless at his age was a bigger sacrilege than his parentage. Maslin had stayed silent during the woman's rant about young men carelessly sowing their seed and those without the scruples to at least make sure their offspring had a decent education.

He couldn't exactly defend a father he'd never met and to be quite honest he didn't want to. Though his mother was still refusing to really discuss the issue with him Maslin did know that his father was believed alive. That neither he nor his family had ever been a figure in Maslin's life had done little to endear Dovaa to the boy. It was this lack of presence and lack of proper knowledge about how dovaa society and traditions functions that had lead Maslin to where he was now.

He and Lazuli had been sparring a few days ago when they'd heard a commotion down by the lake. Normally Maslin would have avoided any potential for a violent encounter but then he'd heard a normal sounding voice shouting and he'd had no choice but to investigate. Lazuli was developing a serious hero complex and needed to stick his pale blue nose into everything which meant making sure that whoever was shouting didn't need their help.

It turned out that the person doing all the yelling was an old dovaa woman who moved about with spryness that belied her age. Maslin had stared in shock as she had sent a log sized spear of ice into the side of a weary looking Peisio dragon. She had decidedly not been in need of any help and Maslin had been eager to create some more distance between them before she could make Laz or himself her next target.

Naturally what happened was that he tripped over Laz's tail and their combined squawks as they tumbled into the snow had brought the pale haired dovaa right to them. Thus had begun the now usual song and dance of where did he find Laz and had he stolen the egg and then what was a Kiandri doing with a peiso companion. Maslin, determined as ever to not lie had grunted that he was not a Kiandri which had in turn lead to a discussion on hybrids, the stupidity of young men and the inexcusability of being clanless.

Maslin had ended up sitting on a snowbank, listening to why clans were important and how focused magic was stronger than wild haphazard bursts of energy. Nothing in the young man was pleased to be being lectured on what he should be doing with his life and his body by a stranger. Attempts to excuse himself had resulted in his boots being frozen to the ground because no he was not permitted to just leave, what she, Ba'shiri had to say was important. Lazuli's attempts to intimidate the dovaa into freeing him had ended in the kindred being stared down into submission. It seemed that old aiskala dovaa got their own way when they put their foot down about something.

Grudgingly Maslin had accepted that he was going to spend that afternoon learning about the benefits of the various dovaa clans. Ba'shiri had seemed determined to drill the knowledge into his head until Maslin was sure there was room for no other information. Forced lessons had never worked well for him and forced lessons from an intimidating stranger did not help the situation any.

He didn't really trust Ba'shiri and her motivations were unclear to him. Why should it matter to her if he chose a clan or not, if his magic was tamed and grew or if the spark of it guttered out from miss use. His father's failures should not have been her concern and it wasn't as if he detected any real warmth towards him from her.

Still, he'd agreed to continually meet with her for the duration of her brief stay in Serenia. Kavanna was the only adult dovaa he knew and this did not seem the sort of thing he wanted to burden her with before deepening their loose friendship. The following few days had mostly consisted of Ba'shiri dispatching dragons impressively and then repetition of information of the clans and the abilities they offered dovaa.

Maslin had pried out of her that children like him bothered her. Hybrids were problematic enough in the war but ones where a vital part of their heritage was lost caused to aged dovaa serious distress. If she had to kill him one day, and make no mistake if they met on the battlefield she would, she didn't want it to be knowing that her enemy was less than what he could have been. There was nothing special in defeating someone who was fighting with less than the minimum of skills they ought to posses.

Ba'shiri had also noted lightly that he might be salvageable as a respectable dovaa someday although she doubted it. Maslin had no idea what that had been about and the older dovaa had not bothered to clarify. Maslin had made a mental note to ask Kavanna about it the next time he saw her, surely she would know how one made hybrids salvageable by dovaa standards.

After discussing things with his family it'd been determined that while no one trusted random dovaa this one seemed harmless for now. His mother had felt this woman's need to fix his clanless status was probably best for Maslin. While she was none to keen on him embracing his dovaa nature further she admitted to having been troubled for a while over how to deal with the situation, having never heard of nor seen a clanless dovaa before.

Nearly a week after he'd met her Maslin found himself standing in front of Ba'shiri clutching a large blue orb filled with peisio souls that she'd given him . He took a steadying breath and prepared to take yet another important step forward in his life which was rapidly becoming more complicated. There was a great deal that tied Maslin to the idea of becoming a peisio dovaa but in all honestly he couldn't think of anything that fit him better anyways .Firiani might have allowed him to better craft metal without the use of forges but something inside him had twisted uncomfortably at the idea of tying himself to that clan. Only peisio had resulted in his body giving no rejection to the idea.

Maslin directed his gaze back down at the orb, an excited thrum came nearby from Lazuli as he tightened his grip on it. His partially gloves hands could feel the souls inside pulse as continued to apply pressure. small spiderweb like cracks began to appear ob the orb's surface before it shattered and enveloped him in a strange yet soothing cocoon of magic.

Tag team
+
double the pain

A dejected Maslin hastily scribbled a note into his journal, not wanting to really dwell on the day's events. I slept in a bit this morning and someone ate my share of breakfast. Also Ysali dragons are impossible and I'm starting to think this is a sign from Seren that I really should be allowed to not do this anymore and just start apprenticing under my uncle as a metal smith.