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Likes: Trees, Snacks, Upbeat Music, Swimming, Birds, Fungi, Laundry (it's soothing), Public Performances, Magic Displays, Babies, Flying, Free falling Dislikes: Cold, Being Alone (especially in the dark), Meat, People who think they're better than him, His mother's family, Idle threats, Being yelled at, Being woken up before he's ready
Despite his tender age, Ezrah had already discovered key elements about himself that were critical to forming the adult he would one day become.
Within the confines of his home Ezrah could only dream about the same deep, dark jungle that his brother, Mahikel, so often roamed. The dangers his brother took in his explorations had already been engraved into his mind, exploited, even, at times by his parents and elder sisters to scare him away from following in Kel’s footsteps. Jauhar was a vast, thriving mecca of entities that would rather see him dead than alive, and yet, it called to him, all the same. From the plants would swallow him up, the radaku who would tear him limb from limb, and Alkidike warriors that would spear him on sight...it was all just too much. To say that Ezrah wasn’t afraid was an understatement; he would often have nightmares about these stories, and worry endlessly about his brother when Kel wasn’t by his side. What was he doing? How was he doing it? Did he need help? Was he okay? Sometimes the worry would make him sick, but it was hard to explain to his mother that his weak stomach wasn’t because of bad food or another nightmare.
And yet….the call remained.
There wasn’t anything his brother could do to stop these things from attacking him, and while Kel was discouraged from going at all, there was an added emphasis placed upon Ezrah. As the youngest he was the smallest, the slowest, the most naive, and above all else, the least likely to survive on his own. It was frustrating beyond all belief. Ezrah knew in his heart that he needed to be out there with Kel, but what could he do when his own brother left him behind? In the beginning it was the two of them, fighting against the restraints placed around them by their father, and then, it was down to him. Kel had given in; he still left, but instead of bringing Ezrah, he went on his own. And as far as Ezrah was concerned that made him just as much of a problem as their papa.
He knew he was weak. He knew he was slow. He knew that Mahikel was better off without him.
But he didn’t need for his own brother to remind him of that.
His father didn’t know Jauhar like they did. He wasn’t from here, nor had he ever lived here before the two of them were born, so what did he know? And then there was his mother...Dris’rynne’s rules were a little harder to rebel against simply because her warnings came from experience. She told him stories about children going missing, or coming back without their limbs. If she was hoping that a little ‘shock’ therapy would work it did; for a while, anyway. Ezrah had been terrified to leave their home for a full month after one of her tales, damn near shrieking every time one of his parents would so much as attempt to get him near the door.
There was no way for his mother to win; if Dris’rynne pressed her views on him too much he simpered, but given too much freedom he would chase after Kel. In the end she decided to let Ezrah choose on his own; the jungle was his home, just as much as it was hers, and while Dris didn’t approve she wouldn’t stop him.
Instead, she gave her youngest son a dagger.
It was a simple blade; one that could be easily worn around the waist of runt like him. The blade itself had been forged by Dris’rynne’s own grandfather, and had been a gift to his eldest grandchild in the hope that it would keep her safe. After returning to Jauhar Dris’rynne discovered the artifact among her things still left behind in her parents home, and thus, had planned on giving it to one of her youngest.
The bearer, as it turned out, was Ezrah.
Wielding such a thing came with three basic rules; Only use it in defense Never go out without it Never tell his father
The last was said with an amusing smile, one that Ezrah thought of as a joke, but he took it to heart, anyway. If his father found out about the dagger Tes would no doubt try to take it from him. Ezrah couldn’t have that. This blade was the only thing separating him and his brother in terms of abilities. Kel was bigger, faster, smarter, a better climber, but he was powerless against anyone that wanted to hurt him. He could run, which is as much as Dris’rynne had told Ezrah, but sometimes you can’t run and when that happens, you need to fight.
So long as Ezrah practiced and trained like Dris’rynne wanted him to he would be alright. The young boy was constantly reminded of the power his dagger held every time he felt that familiar weight on his hip. A dagger like this could protect life as well as it could end it, and sometimes, that scared Ezrah. He didn’t want to ever be placed in a situation where he would ever need to do something like that. He much preferred skinning fruit and cutting rope, like his mama taught him. But Ezrah wasn’t stupid; he knew the world wasn’t that simple and at some point, things might not be that good.
With this he wasn’t afraid of his home, and perhaps, that was the start of his undoing.
The next chance Kel got to escape, Ezrah took his chance and bailed. Instead of following his brother, however, the little hybrid went in the opposite direction. A rare spark of independent bravery ran hot through his veins, and spurred him into an adventure all his own.
This was the first time in his life that Ezrah had been away from home on his own, and while he knew the paths well enough, there was still that sense of unease in his gut. ‘Go home’ it warned, tinting any semblance of confidence with enough hesitation to make him skittish. Even the flutter of nondwa wings was enough to startle him, regardless of how many times he’d heard that very same sound over the years. The fact of the matter was that he was alone, and no matter how invigorating that actually felt it was still...more than a little daunting. His hands would frequently flutter to his dagger, clutching at the hilt like a lifeline in his more panicked moments. Ezrah had to remind himself to breath, and just...pretend like he had more of a spine than he actually did.
If he could fake it out then eventually he really would be brave, and if Kel could do it, then so could he.
When Ezrah picked through the trees it was painfully obvious just who and what he was. At a time of day when the shifters were at their darkest he was still as pale as the moon itself. It was with this in mind that he climbed higher into the trees, close as he could to the light beyond the leaves, in the hope that he would be less visible than he would be on the murky jungle floor. Ezrah’s light clothing kept the heat off his milky skin, but provided little in the way of protection from the sun. He was sure to burn; that much was to be expected, though at the moment a sunburn was the furthest thing from his mind.
Ezrah’s nails scrapped against the rough, scarlet bark as he pulled himself further and further into the canopy. Occasionally he would stop, craning his neck to see into the foliage, straining to find the source of an unsettling noise. He was far too paranoid; his sister, Adenah, had said as much. ‘Jungles make noise, stupid.’ And those noises he knew, but this didn’t sound natural….
Ezrah waited, scrunching his features before shaking them out and continuing. When someone was scared they heard things that weren’t really there and- There it was again! This time Ezrah hauled himself up onto the thickest branch he could find and huddled close to the bark. In an instant the boy regretted going away from home, and his frenzied mind wanted nothing more than to leave but there was no way to do that now. The branch itself was barely sturdy enough to support him; had he been a little bigger it wouldn’t have been able to hold his weight, but as it stood, it was the perfect place to catch his bearings. He’d definitely heard something this time. The little hybrid pressed his back flat against the tree, and cautiously peeped around the sides, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was making those noises.
He knew what climbing sounded like, especially when it was that close. It was so much different than the chittering of insects, and scampering lizards. He could heard feet - or boots? Shoes? - shifting on a branch lower down, and -
-Ezrah’s eyes widened.
Sitting prim and proper in the next tree over was a saddled kinfa. He’d seen the avian a few times before in the market. It belonged to the baker’s son, and the avian seemed just as curious about him as he was about it. At least there was no reason to be scared anymore. All the skittering must have been the big, feathered beast trying to maneuver through the leave to catch up to him since it couldn’t outright fly. Ezrah sunk down to sit on the branch, the relief washing over his anxieties. ”You scared me.” The kinfa seemed perplexed. It tilted it’s head to the side, as if it were studying the words. The act was just too cute and Ezrah smiled. ”I wish I could have a birdy like you. I’d give you all the treats you could ever want, and then some!” He wanted to see if it would let him pet it, but he was to far away and-
-crick-
His smile halted, brows furrowing once more. That...wasn’t the bird...so where had the sound come from? Ezrah looked down in time to notice the last crack in the branch before it snapped completely.
In an instant he was free falling from one of Jauhar’s tallest trees.
There was no time to scream. If he’d had enough air in his lungs then it would have been robbed the first time his back slammed against one of the thicker branches, followed only by the few that his head cracked against on the way down. There were simply too many for Ezrah to avoid. Each hit sent a fresh round of pain through his body, but every short lived stop was interrupted by a period of free falling that brought him closer to the ground. In a panic, Ezrah snatched at every vine he could. The one time he managed to snatch one was let go quickly, after the immediate rope burn rubbed his palms bare.
With every passing second the ground was coming close and closer, stretching it’s great gaping maw up at him to end it all. On one of his harder collisions, Ezrah’s hand brushed against the dagger and in an instant, an idea was born. He scrambled to unsheath the blade, then jabbed it into the thick branch before his body could be bounced off once more.
Ezrah held fast to the hilt as his weight was quickly slung over the side. All at once there was a loud pop!, followed by a shriek and a fresh flood of pain in his right arm. His shoulder burned like fire, but he held onto the dagger, fearful of what might happen if he let go. The little hybrid was openly sobbing as he clutched the blade. He moved his left arm up and grasped the branch, lifting some of the weight off his right arm, but it still wasn’t enough to fully take the pain away.
Ezrah stretched his toes to the closest branch, swinging his body just enough to give himself the footing he needed to pull himself over completely. The moment the pressure was taken off his right arm the child slumped down. As fearful as he was to look at it, Ezrah had to know….Tentatively, he turned his head, preparing for the worst...and being met with it head on.
His shoulder didn’t look right at all. It was distorted, shaped funny and swollen. Even the slightest of movements caused him to cry out, so he decided early on to stay as still as he could. If he didn’t look at it, didn’t touch it, then it couldn’t hurt him.
He screamed for his mother, for his father, his sisters, his brother- anyone!
But nobody came and the day was growing long.
As the shock started to wear off Ezrah’s whole body was consumed in a shaky sort of unease. His back hurt so bad that he was openly sobbing and as badly as he wanted to hunch over he couldn’t for fear of angering his shoulder. There were cuts and bruises that hadn’t been there before, leaving his skin a mottled mixture of angry indigos and horrid blues. This...wasn’t how this was supposed to go at all, but at least…..Ezrah craned his head to look at the forest floor. It was so much closer now than it even had been, and he was keenly aware that if he hadn’t had his dagger he could very well have died today.
And yet, his dagger couldn’t take away the tears. It couldn’t erase the fear that was quickly consuming him as he waited, alone and hurt, in a darkening jungle. He cried out for his family until his voice cracked. Why didn’t he go the same way Kel had? If he did then at least his brother would have been able to hear him. Or if he’d just stayed home, like papa wanted, then he would be hurting like this and….and….
Ezrah leaned back against the tree, and as badly as he wanted to outright wail, the howl of a radaku silenced him. The packs were waking for the night, and if he didn’t want to be found out, he needed to stay quiet. But they couldn’t get him in the tree, right? Maybe not but if he fell again…..
The boy closed his quivering lips and tried his best to keep his tears quiet. M-maybe they would come find him before long….maybe he wasn’t meant for adventuring like Kel was and maybe he wasn’t as tough as his mama, but he was smart, like papa, right? He could endure it; he could stay quiet and figure something out, right?
No, I can’t. I’m not smart at all and I want to go hoooommmeeee.
The night was unbearably long for Ezrah. As his mind went through periods of panic, self-depreciation and fear it would also lull into calmer states. There were moments when left by himself that he was able to fully examine the sprawling darkness around him. There wasn't an area of Jauhar that wasn't tinted with it, and while the lower levels were always dark, trapped away from the sun as they were, he'd never really noticed just how encompassing they could be. Were it not for the bio-luminescent fungi he may not have seen the forest floor at all!
All at once it was the most spectacular and horrendous thing he had ever seen.
It was almost enough to bring him to sleep when he heard the same clicking and clattering that had sent him into his intial panic. This time, however, the fear was replaced with pure relief. When Ezrah lifted his head to the canopy above he could see the great kinfa picking it's way down to him. It glided, when the space allowed the avian the ability, but for the most part it was being far more careful in it's descent than he had been.
When it landed on the same branch as he the beast crowded into his personal space, giving a little aggrieved chirp when his shoulder was jostled. "G-go away, you're too close, I can't move-" And yet, the creature remained. It huddled up next to him, raising it's wings just enough to block any view of the outside world and simultaneously, keep him blocked as well. When it nested next to him Ezrah could see several layers of muscle moving like an undulating serpent beneath all those fat feathers and all at once, he felt a little smile creep up onto his face.
He may have been scared and hurt, but at least he wasn't alone. The little hybrid leaned closer to his feathered friend, allowing the beast to take his tears into it's body and for that, he felt safer. He'd only ever met this goofy bird once in his life, and that had been in passing, but Ezrah clung to it as if he'd known the thing all his life. "Are you lost too? Don't'chu got a rider? Got a saddle and all," His voice was a low, sleepy murmur. Now that the adrenaline was draining with him, the boy started to lost his grip on consciousness. What he got in return was a little shhing sort of chirp, followed by a very loud 'caw'. It was enough to jostle him for a moment, but not enough to wake him fully.
After Ezrah's eyes closed to the world he woke only once, when the kinfa made another loud, piercing 'caw', only to find himself drifting back to sleep. He was unaware of the earthling shouts that followed that caw, nor of the villagers, his mother included, that came to them. All he remembered from the latter part of that night was the warmth and comfort provided by those big, fat feathers and the feeling of being taken away from them. It was almost a dream, but one he didn't want to wake from. To have come so far, to have it all shoved into his face and then to be regifted with something more...a bond with an animal...it was all Ezrah wanted to get back.
And yet, that feeling wouldn't return to him for some time.
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