(Akiyal post 1)
“You lied to me.”
Aki’s hands were on his hips, his clear, crystal eyes narrowed and his pale face turned a bright shade of pink in his frustration. “You lied and you left me here alone.” Again, Xil wanted to point out that he hadn’t left him alone at all; he was with Janella and her son, but he held his tongue. “What if the monsters had gotten you? You might not’ve come back, just like everyone else. “Doezzat even matter to you? When I said- I said I wanted to go with you! Why won’t you take me with you? Mama took me everywhere with her! She trusted me!”
~~~
(Xilarn post 1)
Xilarn opened his mouth to say that he’d hardly done any such thing. After all, merely neglecting to inform his son of the length of his departure wasn’t lying. He had said he’d be leaving. And he’d left. He said he’d come back, and he’d done that too. He’d told Aki he wouldn’t be long. In the grand scheme of things, it was a shorter hunt than it could’ve been, so. All truthful things. Unfortunately, Akiyal did not see it as such. The young man continued.
Xilarn had to stop him there. “It doesn’t have anything to do with ‘trust,’” he assured the young Wind lad as he leaned down and in to try and collect Akiyal closer to himself. “I only think you’ll be safer here with-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 2)
“I don’t wanna be safe!” With a rough shove to dislodge Xil’s arm, Aki stomped away.
~~~
(Xilarn post 2)
“Yikes.” Janella let out a soft whistle, crossing her arms as she watched the younger male stalk off. “You really peeved him off, didn’t ya, Attlee?”
Xilarn rubbed his temple. They hadn’t even made it out of Jan’s house before his son lapsed from thrilled to see him to anger that he’d been left behind. Children sure were great and wonderfully terrible bundles of emotion. He turned his attention back to the woman before him. “Thank you for looking after him the past few days. He wasn’t-” ‘Moody’ sounded more like a grumpy old she-witch than a young, spirited child. “-too distraught the whole time… Was he?”
“Nah,” Janella assured him, passing over a sack of Aki’s things. “We had a couple low points, but nothing I can’t handle and didn’t expect. He’s a fine kiddo. You could maybe give him a little more credit, Xilarn. Lemme tell you, the ones born in these turbulent times come out a lot stronger than you might think.”
Xilarn wasn’t so sure, but he hadn’t the time to argue. Aki was still moving at a quick clip away from him. With another thanks and a quick settling of payment, Xil headed out after him.
~~~
(Akiyal post 3)
Kesris was not a large town. At least, not so much so that Aki could get lost traveling from Janella’s home to his own. And the few minutes he had from her and from his newly-returned father did give him time to sort himself. He was relieved, certainly. The past few nights had been worrisome. Xilarn wasn’t going off to fight any wars, so he had that in his favor, at least. But there were apparently monsters and strangers and other miscellaneous baddies afoot. It hardly seemed the time for anyone to travel alone, let alone someone Aki actually liked.
So he was angry- no, not quite angry. Maybe just frustrated that on some level, he understood where his father was coming from. Annoyed that his own small stature and inexperience kept him from doing everything with anyone who meant something to him. And hurt that even after a couple years in Xilarn’s care, he still wasn’t old enough for adventure.
His mother used to have adventures with him all the time.
Anything she could do, Aki could do too. That seemed fair. It seemed like the familial thing to do. And as Xil caught up to him, the young man formulated his argument.
~~~
(Xilarn post 3)
“Akiyal, please,” Xilarn groaned as he caught at his son’s shoulder. “You know I’m only trying to look out for you, so I don’t know why you’re throwing this fit right now-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 4)
“You think I’ll hold you back.” Despite the low tone of his voice, when Xil slipped his fingers into Aki’s palm, the young man didn’t wrench away. “It’s because I’m not fast enough or strong enough or smart enough. And so even if you don’t come back-”
~~~
(Xilarn post 4)
“I’ll always come back,” Xilarn assured him, accenting the declaration with a light tug on Aki’s hand to encourage him to maybe consider letting Xil lift him into his arms. The Wind boy was less than interested. Xil tried not to appear too disappointed. “I’m not going off to fight monsters or savages or armies, hm?” Xil murmured softly. “I’m only going to collect provisions so that we may spend the winter happy and taken care of. There’s really nothing to be worried-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 5)
“Then why can’t I go with you?” Aki demanded.
Xil blinked.
“If it’s not dangerous or too far away or too difficult a trip, why do I have to be left behind?”
He looked up and watched a thread of hesitance coil itself around Xil’s thoughts. Aki needled a bit harder. “If it’s not cause you’re worried about my safety, and you said you trusted me, and if the travel’s not even hard...”
~~~
(Xilarn post 5)
Xil rolled his shoulders. “It’s not without any danger-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 6)
“Then you should’ve told me you were going someplace dangerous and might not come back! You can’t do this to me!”
~~~
(Xilarn post 6)
Xilarn shook his head. They were going in circles. He’d known he’d been in the wrong when he’d said nothing. Of course he had. He’d known Aki would be upset, but somehow, that seemed less of a priority than making sure he stayed behind and was safe with people Xil trusted. Nevermind all the traveling an even younger, four-year-old Akiyal had done with his mother…
“Next time,” Xil grunted. The words were out before he’d fully thought them through, so the rext came tacked on hastily, “If you can prove you’ll be a good lad, listen to the things I say, don’t cause trouble…”
~~~
(Akiyal post 7)
Aki nodded along rhythmically to his father’s demands, hopping a bit in their steps either in excitement or because Xil was walking faster now. Maybe both.
~~~
(Xilarn post 7)
“I usually fly out with Gadot. It would be easier if you two got along, unfortunately, I don’t see him being particularly tolerant with you whether I’m there or not...” Xilarn groaned. Walking would take much longer. And by this point in his life, he’d become spoiled by easy riding and relatively quick trips thanks to his childishly enthusiastic and eager raptrix.
~~~
(Akiyal post 8 )
“Naeght will come with me,” Aki decided boldly, now tugging at his father’s arm. Next time, next time. He wondered when that would be. Soon, surely. He didn’t doubt his father would hunt again before the season was over, though he had no personal experience with ‘hunting,’ per se. And he certainly wasn’t experienced in guiding a raptrix in flight. But if that’s what would make his father see reason…
Aki never had flown before. He’d ridden Naeght, of course, once or twice when he’d dared to climb up on him, but never in flight. And never with full saddle and equipment like his father rode Gadot.
~~~
(Xilarn post 8 )
Still. His mother told him he would fly. And Xil could see that he wanted to. Aki glanced back to Xilarn, watching the older man pluck through his words. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Neither overwhelmingly negative or positive. But Xilarn rolled his shoulders and gave a noncommittal notch of his head. “We’ll see.”
And see they did.
It was several days after their conversation that Xilarn worked up the nerve to actually act upon it. He likely would’ve chosen to ignore it entirely, but his son remembered and was horribly excited. He wanted to go with his father. He was not prepared to be left behind again. He would not. Be. Alone. Again. And that meant learning to travel. Xil had a very minimal idea of what Akiyal knew of long distance treks, but he assumed his mother had never taken him too far at any given time. And Xilarn certainly hadn’t.
“Come here,”Xil rumbled with a beckoning hand. “I will help you up.”
They were outside early today. Both mutts were on hand, and Naeght stood before them; impatient, ears perked, tail swaying. Xil was struck again by how much larger this raptrix was as compared to his own. Bulkier, thicker, taller. Falling from Naeght’s back (in-flight or no) would not feel great.
~~~
(Akiyal post 9)
Akiyal moved over to him, and after a short countdown of preparation, Xil lifted him up and over onto Naeght’s back. No saddle, because he didn’t have one. And it was not his intention to fly today, besides. Aki’s fists bunched in the raptrix’s fur, and he gave a kick of his legs to the creature’s sides.
~~~
(Xilarn post 9)
“Easy,” Xilarn warned, his tone low and not in a mood for jest. There was no telling if the comment was directed at Aki or at the beast who’d just given a derisive, petulant shake beneath him. “Do not kick him again. They understand spoken commands well enough, and Naeght…”
Naeght was not accustomed to being ridden for more than a quick. Akiyal knew and understood that.
~~~
(Akiyal post 10)
And gods above, he was large. And furry between his legs. Akiyal could feel each ripple of muscle beneath him. The raptrix waited for his master’s guiding hand. Waited for permission to move, and Xil’s hand in front of his nose discouraged much progress. But he wasn’t uncomfortable. There were thick globs of fur around it’s neck to cling to. and he could pinch his legs in for support. Akiyal slipped a fraction lower to steady himself, like he’d seen father do when he was going very fast.
~~~
(Xilarn post 10)
“Naeght is not like Gadot,” Xilarn told him, not for the first time. “You will need to be vocal with your needs. Give directional nudges, lots of encouragement…” The Oban took a step back, bringing his stalling hand a pace back with him.
When Naeght took a step, Akiyal suddenly felt unsteady. Dragging on Naeght’s fur too roughly seemed in bad taste for all of them. He was up here and excited to be, but flying like this, once reminded of how he felt just during customary riding, felt… out of the question.
He would never say such a thing.
Xilarn couldn’t help but let out a soft, amused chuckle. His son did look uncomfortable, regardless of what Akiyal actually wanted to say. He took another step back, and Aki grunted disenchantedly at the movement. “Come now,” Xilarn hummed, flicking a beckoning finger that made Naeght notch his head forward perhaps too abruptly. “Sit up. Keep your balance. Move with him. Sway. Ah-a-a! Don’t pull on him, Akiyal.”
At least Naeght’s body wasn’t as high off the ground as some creatures. When the small Wind male tipped over the side of him and slid right from his back to the ground in a heap, Xilarn clucked his tongue admonishingly. He could’ve, and probably should’ve, moved to help him up, get him back on the beast, but per Aki’s attitude on the subject, he didn’t think it was necessary.
~~~
(Akiyal post 11)
Akiyal yelped when he hit the ground. It wasn’t hard pavement or rocky terrain, but it was uncomfortable, and Naeght walked forward like he hardly even noticed. He turned back at Xil’s command and gave a rumbling bark in Aki’s direction.
~~~
(Xilarn post 11)
The Fire male stepped from the raptrix’s side. “It’s not easy, is it?” Xilarn hummed as he crouched down to his son’s level. “There are going to be many things out there, when we’re together and when you’re alone, that aren’t easy. There will not always be someone to help you up, especially with your persistence to always be on the move. You may not always be by my side, but I will always have you in my thoughts and will always want the best for you. All the same, even if I’m not there, and even when you fall, you must get up. I still expect you to keep moving forward.”
Akiyal’s expression puckered in annoyance at the beginnings of what sounded like criticism and rebuke, but softened soon after. No, it was not easy. He was small and untrained. Very young. He knew that. And on some level, he understood that he wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be having the more dangerous adventures now. And he didn’t want ‘dangerous.’ He just didn’t want to be left behind.
For now, Xilarn rose, and offered a hand down for his son to take. Akiyal accepted, and hardly a span of moments later, he was back on the raptrix. Aki’s raptrix. Despite his size and his lack of expertise in riding, he was persistent. A good trait for anyone trying to learn anything, and Xil was able to lead him through simple motions without too much more mishap. Walking, for starters.
And then a slow trot. Naeght fluttered his wings and jumped, and Xil knew the beast wanted to get to the flying bit, but no. No. Aki was still too small for that. Much too small. And the Oban was not about to risk him falling from there. He gave a short whistle and an abrupt hand signal, and Naeght was back on the ground, wings fluttering and long tail swaying impatiently.
But walking onward toward a journey, much more acceptable.
~~~
(Akiyal post 12)
Hot on the heels of his first lesson came a dramatic change in Akiyal’s usual routine. Significantly less time was spent mulling about, wasting space and breath and time. More thought went into ‘training’ Naeght in the same way Father trained Gadot. While the older, purple raptrix knew many of the same spoken commands as Daddy’s, Naeght was not used to hearing and obeying anything the younger lad had to say.
Akiyal learned that this was a struggle, and he often found himself frustrated at the raptrix’s lack of obedience. Particularly while riding him. Naeght did not ‘stop,’ ‘stay,’ ‘run,’ or ‘slow’ as Aki would’ve liked. Only when the four of them traveled together (because once he was comfortable riding at quicker paces, Xilarn decided to allow this) and only by his Father’s word did Naeght obey.
Study was necessary. In the frozen wasteland of Zena, raptrix formed ‘packs’ that communicated vocally while hunting and bonding.
Xilarn was packmaster.
Akiyal was not. Naeght’s respect for him was significantly lower than anyone else, including the other raptrix. Aki was a pup. He was a thing to keep safe a sheltered, not someone who gave commands.
~~~
(Xilarn post 12)
They’d taken trips, multiple, to Tale and Zena alike before Aki first decided to complain about the lack of respect he’d instilled in the beasts. He was at least a capable rider now, even if he still wasn’t permitted to fly, and always growing. He didn’t require aid to mount Naeght by now.
Unfortunately, Xilarn found this highly amusing.
“He has known me longer,” Xil pointed out. “I still provide for them and clean up after them-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 13)
“Snap at them when they misbehave…” Aki grunted.
~~~
(Xilarn post 13)
Xilarn scoffed. “You are welcome to take on his care, if you think that will help. But you know I can’t promise it will… Gadot was very young when I found him. Impressionable. Naeght came in much later. He’s never bonded with me the same way Gadot has. I’ve always assumed he was significantly more feral, or maybe just not of the same mentality as Gadot.”
Xilarn was not of the firm belief that his raptrix was actually intelligent. Naeght may be slightly more so, and so less willing to put up with tomfoolery.
“It’s up to you, though.”
~~~
(Akiyal post 14)
It wasn’t like he was unaccustomed to Naeght’s presence. As a toddler, Aki couldn’t remember wanting much else, except the mutt. And now, years later, he could hardly so much as go anywhere without him being there. And as Aki took his first tentative toe-dip into teen years, he decided he wanted to go everywhere, and he began to stray farther from home, generally in the company of the Kan, the son of the woman who used to care for him in his father’s absence, and always with Naeght.
He could grow as much as he liked. Already he encroached upon Xilarn’s notably short stature, and still, the raptrix treated him as a child.
It was on one such outing, alone, this time, that Aki felt particularly bold. He wanted to fly. And he didn’t want to stop at the great expanse of lake that served as a natural boundary-line to the area which he was permitted to explore. He convinced himself that if he fell, there was water. Sharp rocks hiding in the shallows, but water none the less. Naeght wouldn’t take him high.
Riding him had grown easier as he’d gotten bigger and notably stronger. Staying upright wasn’t a struggle, and Aki was soon to find that flying wasn’t so different. Besides that Naeght used an entire different set of muscles for the adventure than Akiyal was used to. And settling his posture between beating wings was not the same as hooking his legs to Naeght’s sides.
But the wind flicking through his hair and catching at his clothes almost made it worth it. He clung, so prolly didn’t experience as much of it as he could’ve, but still. More time was spent airborne than actually adventuring the lands on the other side of the lake. And once he did touch back down, it seemed pertinent to inform Xilarn of his adventures.
~~~
(Xilarn post 14)
“You could’ve been hurt,” Xilarn snapped, irritation flaring up hardly a moment after Akiyal told him of his adventures that day.
~~~
(Akiyal post 15)
“But I wasn’t.”
~~~
(Xilarn post 15)
“What if you’d fallen?”
~~~
(Akiyal post 16)
“But I didn’t.”
~~~
(Xilarn post 16)
“You went out to the lake; I might never have found you. You’d have been lost forever until something bigger than you saw fit to-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 17)
Akiyal groaned loudly, slapping his hands to his cheeks and letting his fingers creep up to cover his eyes as he shook his head. “I wasn’ eaten. I didn’t die or get hurt or fall. I did something good. We can go farther now. Not just to Tale and Zena. I wanna see Juahar and Matori and everywhere that’s-”
~~~
(Xilarn post 17)
“You have so much time still to see those places, but for now-”
~~~
(Akiyal post 18 )
“That’s what you always say.”
Aki’s hands dropped from his face, his shoulders dipping and his expression souring. He’d been having fun that day. Maybe ‘fun’ wasn’t quite the right word. It was more of a thrill; something to do to keep him entertained, a reason to be fine with Sauti and its boring landscape and tedious lifestyle. His father did not understand. He shouldn’t have expected that he ever would.
It hadn’t even been a long day, but this conversation was exhausting. Akiyal slipped by the older man’s side and strode toward his room, brushing by and sourly avoiding contact. “I’m tired,” he grunted.
~~~
(Xilarn post 18 )
Difficult. Why were children always so predictably difficult? One rule, Akiyal. One rule (one big rule, anyway): don't purposefully try and endanger your life. Was that truly such an impossible task? Apparently so.
Xilarn sighed loudly. The sun hadn't even manged to dip from the sky, but Aki was 'tired.' So fine. Fine. He'd let him be. For now. But as minutes slipped into hours and the sun hung closer to the horizon, and his temper settled, Xil decided that they, as a family, could find some common ground.
Akiyal was not asleep when the Oban pushed into his room. He was on his bed, idely flicking through the shoddy pages of an old journal that Xilarn did not immediately recognize. It certainly didn't belong to either of them. He moved to perch at the edge of Akiyal's mattress. "You know my mother asks about you in her letters."
~~~
(Akiyal post 19)
Clear pools of blue flicked up to meet Xil's gaze. "No. Didn't know. Didn't even realize you wrote to them. I thought you disliked the whole lot..."
~~~
(Xilarn post 19)
Xil fidgeted lightly with the fabric at the end of his shirt. "We have our differences, and don't always get along, and it has been a while since we met face to face, but... I think my mother, your grandmother, would like to meet you."
~~~
(Akiyal post 20)
There was some mixture of very faint interest and deep distrust edged on Aki's face. "This is the first I've heard of it."
~~~
(Xilarn post 20)
"I never felt a great need to travel so far with you, and certainly never so far without. But if you would like to explore- It isn't Juahar or Matori, mind you..."
~~~
(Akiyal post 21)
Aki sat up, shutting the journal and earning a plume of smoggy dust for his efforts. "We'll go to Oba to meet with her?"
~~~
(Xilarn post 21)
"She's much too old to travel here."
~~~
(Akiyal post 22)
The wavering uncertainty in those shining blue orbs edged off. Akiyal gave a crisp nod, definitely not pleased-looking, but satiated none the less. "Fine," he agreed. "Yeah, sure. We can fly there."
Xil decided it was better not to comment on that particular statement.
.|| Tendaji ||.
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