Of Storms and Sidequests
Lura laid out on the branch as he reflected on a few things. First was as usual, his birth mother. He knew that he would never meet her unless he asked. Did he want to? Not really. She helped his Dad start the family they wanted, that’s great. He and his brother existed thanks to her. Though his family was far from ‘normal’...which by the account of one snobby brat in town, meant that you had to have a Female Mommy and a Male Daddy. He rolled his eyes thinking about that. He had two Dads. That was fine. Well, honestly he called his more energetic parent Dad, while the calmer parent was Pops. He heard about his birth, it was during a wicked storm that shook the whole house!! That was pretty cool. He and Lycothyyr, his twin, came in crying in time with a thunder crash. He felt like the storm was a perfect symbol of their family. High energy and a force to be reckoned with!!!
The other thing he thought about was his parents. He blinked as he swung his legs up so he was sitting. His Dad was awesome!!! He was always playing with him and his brother. Always moving like the lighting that shook them. While his Pops, well…Pops was calmer. Like the clouds that hold the storm together. He smiled at the thought. Yeah. His Dad was like the Lighting that shook the earth, while his Pops was the cloud that held him. That made sense. He blinked a moment, if that was the case…what were he and Lyco? Oh he knows!! They were the Thunder! The crash after the Lighting. He fist pumped. That’s what they were, they were the real fear. He giggled as he leapt down to run into the house. A whirlwind of childish energy as he found Dep, the Janarim that his Pops raises.
“Dep!! Let's go play!!!” He called out. Giggling when the beast got up to follow after him. Dep was a good adventuring buddy. Lura could go anywhere he wanted to as long as he had one of the Radaku’s or Dep with him. He liked that his parents were trusting in the beasts they raised. As he walked out he found a note left for him by his Dad.
‘Your Pops and I put this bag together. Make sure you take it with you. We’re out in town and will be back in a few hours. If you're not home when we get back, I’m coming to find you.’ Lura squeaked as he turned to grab the pack nearby. He shifted it to look inside and let out a happy squeal. Some of his favorite snacks were tucked away inside as well as a few pouches he used for collecting small items. Lura called out as he dashed out with Dep. “Dep let's go climbing!!!”
The Janarim barked twice as it followed the youngling out into the woods. The two went down a well used path that they carved out themselves. Lura had done many small quests with the bigger beast over the past year. Climbing the rocks was to find more interesting rocks to bring home. Though everyone had said between the twins, Lura was the calmer one. That was only because Lura had always taken to watching others. He liked to watch people as well as the beasts. Watching people allowed him to see things others didn’t. Like how when Pops was nervous he would play with one of the smaller braids he had in his hair. Or when his Dad was really upset he had a tendency to clench his fists into his pants. Lura had only seen his Dad mad, once.
He had been really reckless on one quest. The youngling had gone into a tree with a new thing in it, only to find out it was something sticky. When a weird big bug came at him and he saw his Pops use his bow for the first time, he then saw his Dad angry. Pops had brought him home, both males were bloody. Pops had a shoulder wound from that bug, while Lura had hurt his hip. A mark he still had to this day. He learned that the bug was called a Menzuri, a deadly beast that had killed younglings before. He was lucky that his Pops was nearby. He was lucky that Dep was too, the Janarim’s howl was what tipped his parents off that he was in real danger. He was crying as he was tended to by the Healer. His Pops didn’t let him go as the elder was rocking him.
When Lura had looked over to his Dad, he saw the fist in the pant leg first. Then he looked up to the elder’s eyes. He knew later that his Dad had gone out to take care of all the Menzuri within a certain range of the homestead after that. The one that attacked Lura had escaped his Pops, but not his Dad. That one’s mandibles were on display above one of the training pens his parents used. A reminder to the youngling to never wander too far. He learned that lesson the hard way. Any time he tried to apologize he was told that he wasn’t at fault, that he was okay to be a youngling.
He blinked as his mind wandered. He was snapped back into reality when Dep nudged his hand after he had slowed to a stop to look at a nearby flower field. Lura jumped. “Sorry buddy…”
He petted the beast before he looked to the path. “I know, we’re nearly there. Let’s finish the walk!”
He smiled as they finished the 20 minute walk to the rock path. It wasn’t a long path, just a big pile of rocks that weren’t good for house building. Lura had found a few cool looking rocks over the months here. He started to look around a few smaller piles. What he meant by ‘climbing’ was really just him walking up some of the bigger piles. He longed for the day that he could climb a real cliff. He would have to do that with his Dad. Pops might have a heart attack.
The youngling started to shift through the smaller piles, oh that was a cool shape. Looking like the moon at the end of the month. It was pitch black for some reason. Nearly a perfect circle. He held it up to notice that it was actually a glass orb. Oh that was neat!!! He moved the pack to his front so he could put the orb in the small pouch inside of it. Taking out a mini loaf of bread he nibbled on it, giving some to Dep as he used his other hand to move a few pebbles. He found another dagger shaped rock, followed up by a rock that looked like Dep’s paw. He smiled at that one. He matched it to the beast’s paw. “It looks like your paw!!”
Dep huffed at him as he looked unimpressed with the comparison. His paw was far better looking than some dumb rock. He rolled his eyes as the youngling put the rock away anyways. Lura chuckled as he finished the loaf off, taking some of the water from the waterskin that was also in the bag. His Pops really did look out for them a lot. He packed a good snack bag, made sure his collection pouch was there so he could keep his treasures hidden, and made sure that the waterskin was filled. He smiled. His Pops was the best. He went back to digging at the edge of the pile again. Trying to see if he could find something cool to bring back to his Pops. He gasped when he found something shining.
Aha!!! It was another glass orb, this one was clear!! Those were really cool to look at. He held it up to see it catch the light. Oh this was awesome!!! He looked back to the pile where he got it from. Seeing more glass orbs of various sizes. He reached in for a few more to take home as treasure for his family. He could give Lyco some as well. The biggest ones he’d give his parents. Like that big black orb and the big clear one. He smiled as he got quite a haul of those orbs. “Sweeet!!!”
He got up seeing that it was getting darker. Uh oh, he was out of time. “Come on Dep!!! We gotta run back. I got caught up finding these orbs.”
He and the beast started to book it back down the trail. The youngling laughed as Dep was trying to outrun him. As they got closer to the homestead, Lura saw lights lighting up the windows as well as the open door.
“Come on Dep, let's clean up before food!!” The youngling called as he dashed in. He could hear his Fathers in the kitchen. Giggling as he could hear his Pops squeaking at something his Dad was most likely doing. He stopped to point at the Janarim. “Stop! You have mud on your paws!!”
Dep slid to a stop at the front door. Moving to the wash basin by the door itself to wash off his paws. Once done, the beast pranced in like a brat. Lura was in the wash room to clean himself up, humming as he got a basket to wash his new treasures in. Once that was done he picked up the two largest orbs. Smiling as he turned to Dep. “Dad gets the black orb, because he’s the sneaky one. Pops gets the clear orb, because he’s bright!!”
The childish mind was one of love and adoration for his family. This was a good sidequest indeed.
Word Count: 1641
