When she saw him her face lit up and she beckoned him to her, arms extended. He was single minded as he made his way across the room and when he reached their mother she scooped him up into her arms. Their mother cooed at him for several minutes, her face glowing with joy and pride, before she placed him back on the ground. Malkadian shot a glance her way and gave a smile that could only be described as smug. It was at this point Idika saw that a few of their siblings had taken notice of their activities and were now attempting to raise themselves up onto all fours and a couple had even tried sliding a hand forward. Though none of them look close to crawling yet. Malkadian, now happily mobile, was crawling in a wide circle around them. She wasn't sure, but his smile looked almost smug.
Idika raised herself up, eyes fixed on their mother who was checking on one of her brothers. She slid a hand forward, then a knee, then the other hand. Her balance was a little unsteady but her limbs were already stronger than that morning. Focused on her goal she made her way steadily toward their mother, slowly establishing a rhythm to her movements. Malkadian crawled nearby, keeping a respectable distance, gurgling happily as he watched her progress. Once she knew she would make it she let out a shrill cry in an attempt to alert her mother.
She had been crouched near one of the younger boys who had fallen over and hit their head on the floor. When the golden eyed woman herd Idika’s boisterous cries she gave a quick glance over her shoulder, likely to check she hadn't been hurt, but when she caught site of her the woman broke into a wide smile. Turning, she faced Idika arms extended toward her just as she had done with Malkadian, seeing this Idika moved faster focused solely on her mothers bright eyes. As soon as she reached her she was scooped up in a tight embrace, her mother spoke excitedly and walked them over to a table where more parchment was spread out.
Idika watched as she scrawled notes on several pages, speaking as she went, her tone jovial. She was placed on the ground with her siblings and their mother proceeded to circle them, examining each of them intently. She animatedly spoke as she continued to make notations, likely about their progress. At one point their mother even took out a piece of string and appeared to measure them. Watching her mother flit around them, talking in a thrilled tone and jotting down notes got her thinking again. Was all of this normal? It had to be, at least to some degree, as their mother didn't look at all surprised at their rapid progression; their mother had also been the one to expose them to the various items that triggered their sudden change from newborns to crawling toddlers.
This gave Idika an idea and now that she was mobile she could test it out. Maneuvering to all fours she made her way over to a small side table where her mother had several pieces of parchment and odds and ends laid out. Progress was slow, but steady and within a few minutes she was at the table. With one hand grasping along a table legs she reached up with the other, finding the paper just out of reach. She tried again this time attempting to raise herself up on one foot. The new position was unsteady and unfamiliar to her infant body, but with a death grip on the table she held firm and reached up. It gave her just enough height to touch the corner of one of the pages, she swung her chubby hand at it several times making contact briefly, finally her tiny fist wrapped around the paper. Victorious she pulled and the paper came free, along with everything else that had been precariously stacked on the table.
A collection of half written pages, a few charcoal pencils, a quill and sealed ink bottle and book now littered the floor. Idika lunged at the items with excitement, laying her little hands on each for several minutes, but nothing happened. Her disappointment didn't last as she picked up the book. It was leather bound and fairly small, likely designed to be carried and she clumsily flipped through the pages. They were filled with a hand written script the same as what was on the loose parchment pieces, she figured it was some sort of journal her mother kept. What was interesting was the pictures. The little book was filed with sketches of weapons, tiny landscapes and what looked like blueprints for odd mechanisms she couldn't make heads or tails of. Was their mother an inventor?
She flipped through the pages and saw that along with the sketches it looked like some of the notes were written in a different language. Some of the lines of symbols looked less organic and had sharper edges and some looked more like stand alone glyphs. Idika was so entranced with the pages she didn't hear the footsteps approach till she was suddenly rocketed upward and found herself face to face with her mother. The woman's expression was stern, and when she spoke her words were hard, she held Idika in one hand and picked up the scattered supplies with the other. Once everything was placed on top of a much higher chest of drawers, her mother brought them face to face, a stream of agitated words leaving her mouth. No matter the language a scolding from a parent sounded the same.
Idika reached out her little hands touching the woman's face and looked up at her mother with a small smile, babbling in a manner she hoped sounded cute. There was a minute of silence as the two stared at one another, then the crease between her mother's brow relaxed and the corner of her mouth curled ever so slightly upward. The woman let out a sigh, stroked the top of Idika’s head and muttered under her breath before placing her back on the ground, urging her to the corner of the room where her brothers were. She did as instructed and clumsily crawled her way over. While her experiment didn't glean the results she wanted, it still provided what she felt was some valuable insight. What else could she learn from what was right in front of her?
Feeling almost giddy at the prospect she began her survey of her new home. With her much clearer vantagepoint she confirmed her earlier observation from the basket. The structure was clearly temporary, similar to a tent it was comprised of wooden lattice and cloth so it could be taken apart and put back together again. The room was circular and appeared to be the main living area, in the center was a large fire pit surrounded by dark stones laid in a brickwork pattern. A fire smoldered quietly within and a massive iron cooking pot hung above it, steam slowly rising from under the lid, drawing her eye to the large opening in the roof that let smoke out an light in. There were several spits for roasting over the open fire, a few smaller cooking pots and what appeared to be a teapot. The various cooking tools encircled the fire and all of it looked well loved, but in good condition.
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Idika’s eyes wandered to what looked to be a kitchen tucked against the curved wall. It had several tables for food preparation, judging by the plethora of knives that varied in shape and size, accompanying thick wooden boards covered in gouges. Above hung dried herbs and strips of salted jerky, various bottles and jars decorated the clusters of small shelves suspended by ropes from the lattice. Across from the kitchen was the bed she recalled from before, now dressed in clean linens and ornate pillows. Looking at it now she never would have guessed it had been a birthing bed just a couple days ago. It was flanked by small chest of drawers to either side that were topped with books. The space she and her siblings occupied was closer to the kitchen and consisted of an open section of floor that looked to have extra rugs and furs placed over it. Nearby the massive wolf laid contentedly on a large quilt, head resting on her front paws as she watched them.
In between the three main spaces every nook and cranny was filled with dressers, tables, trunks and baskets, all of immaculate quality. Surfaces were covered in tools, books, scrolls and various loose papers. The walls were lined with hanging odds and ends, small shelves or ornate tapestries and small lanterns for extra light and the entire space was filled with the smell of fresh herbs, incense, cooking stew and something else metallic and slightly sweet. Despite the temporary nature of the structure it was clear their parents had made it a well loved and well used home. It radiated an air of comfort and while not opulent it was clear they wanted for nothing.
Now that she had observed the room in its entirety Idika saw that aside from the main door, witch their mother had boarded up and locked, there were two other doorways leading out of the room. She recalled how their father had disappeared only to return in full armor. Maybe they had store rooms for other items or food. Perhaps they even held more books. The thought had her almost vibrating with excitement despite not being able to read yet. The two exits had no doors, only a leather flap obscuring the view into the next room. Raising to all fours she crawled with purpose toward the nearest doorway that stood between where her siblings were gathered and the kitchen. Now that the action was becoming more familiar to her developing muscles she made quick work of the distance and arrived before her destination. Maintaining her shaky balance she reached out for the leather flap with one hand, when she was simultaneously pulled backwards and lifted into the air.
The action had not surprised her, she figured their mother would attempt to corral her from going too far. What had been a shock was being grabbed by the head and the distinct feeling of teeth against her flesh. Idika dangled head first from the mouth of the massive canine as it happily trotted over to her mother. She didn't move, too afraid that doing so would cause the wolfs dagger like teeth to pierce her very tender flesh, but when she locked eyes with her mother she felt her lip tremble. Then she started to cry. The older woman shook her head and gently extracted the crying infant from the wolf’s jaws, given them a loving pat on her rust colored head. Idika’s mother gently rocked her while speaking sternly, likely scolding her for attempting to leave the room.
Her sobs slowed and her breathing evened out as she looked up into her mothers golden eyes. The woman smiled slightly, even as she continued her tirade, no doubt about the dangers of leaving the room where she could see her. At this Idika jutted out her lower lip in a blatant pout. While she was physically an infant, mentally, she was more than capable of determining what was dangerous and how to avoid it. All she had wanted to do was explore and learn, it wasn’t like she was going to crawl headfirst into an oven or a crate of knifes. Being forced to stay in this one room felt unfair and so limiting.
In response to the sullen look on Idika’s face, her mother smiled and her eyes danced in amusement. Shaking her head, the woman walked over to the rug's where the others were attempting to crawl and set her down. Sullen and rather annoyed with the situation, Idika found her self approached by Malkadian. He was crawling quickly and looked as if he had been doing so for weeks, not hours, this observation only furthered her annoyance. Stopping in front of her he adjusted himself to a seated position then babbled incoherently at her. It appeared neither of them had figured out how to speak yet, but something about his tone and the expression on his face told her she was being mocked. This feeling was only reinforced when her brother started giggling.
That was the last straw for her, Idika reached out and shoved her chubby little fist into Malkadian’s center mass, channeling all of the strength she had in her tiny body. Her strike lacked the force to do any real damage, however it was enough to compromise her brothers meager balance and he toppled over backward. Seeing the boy laying on his back, arms and legs flailing in surprise, she noted how much he resembled a turtle on its shell, and she couldn't help but laugh. What started as a giggle grew until she was shrinking with laughter, it took her a second to realize she wasn't alone. Through fits of giggles she spotted her brother laughing just as hard as she was.
The laughter stretched on for several minutes and as it did Idika felt a warmth in her chest. It was a strange feeling, vaguely familiar in a way she couldn't place but also completely foreign somehow. Once the laughter was finally gone the two looked at each other, she wasn't sure how, but a connection had been made. Malkadian shifted to all fours and started crawling to a corner of the room, he looked over his shoulder at her and called out. Despite not having words the meaning was clear, ‘follow’. So she did. They made their way to one of the large chest of drawers. Once Malkadian positioned himself in front of it he reached out a small hand, grasped ahold of of the brass handle, then reached out his other hand and did the same.
When his grip was secure he did something Idika did not expect, leveraging the heavy piece of furniture he pulled himself up to a standing position. She stared at him in shock. When had he figured out how to stand up? He stared at her, expression expecting, she crawled over to the neighboring drawer to his and reached out. It was easy enough to grab the handle, and she teetered only slightly when she reached out and grabbed hold with her other hand. Once her grip was secure she focused on the muscles in her short legs and forced them to straighten. The process was slow and her muscles cried out in protests, she just barely managed to lift her rear off the ground before her legs gave out. Idika plopped unceremoniously onto the floor.
Annoyed but undeterred she tried again. For a second time her legs gave out. Malkadian babbled at her incoherently, but she felt like his tone was egging her on to try again. How he had managed to stand so easily was lost to her. Just how strong was he? Idika refused to give up, she made the attempt over and over, just like with crawling each time she got a little farther and her legs felt just a little stronger. It took nearly a dozen attempts but with all the strength her infantile body could muster she pushed with her legs and pulled on the brass handle. She was eye to eye with Malkadian who smiled brightly as the two of them stood side by side. The two exchanged giggles and excited babbling.
Then Idika smirked at her brother, she reached out her right hand and grabbed hold of the drawer handle of a small table that stood next to the chest of drawers. Once her grip was secure she slowly side stepped till she stood in front of the little table, then carefully released her hold of the chest of drawers and shifted her grasp to the small table. She gave her brother a smirk and called out to him. Malkadian got the message, as he too slowly adjusted his grip to walk along the furniture, the two giggling and babbling the whole way.
Unbeknownst to either of them two golden eyes watched intently. Their mother casually watched the other infants out of the corner of her eye, unconcerned as they had yet to figure out how to crawl. Several of her children had caught her attention, but her two oldest stood out even among her unique brood. Watching them circumvent the yurt while clambering over the furniture, laughing and calling out to one another she couldn't help but smile. She sent up a small prayer to Ignis, she had no doubt those two were going to be a handful.
Her smile faded somewhat as she watched them, there progress was remarkable and it made her uneasy. They were the oldest, it was natural, but deep down she knew there was more to it. She had seen it whenever they looked at her, there was an awareness in their gaze she couldn't place. Harvester and Warrior. What did Ignis have planned for her oldest son and daughter? For the first time in her life, she was unsure.
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Seasons Greetings and a wonderful end to the year!