The storm did not clear for a long while,
and when it did, Chimbeeriun hadn't noticed. When she hadn't spotted him for a while, Kuhyo'ur left her business to go searching, though didn't have to look for long -- another sibling of their hatch had brought her news that Chimbeeriun was on one of the highest ironwood boughs and hadn't stirred.
Even if she hadn't been told, he would have been easy to see -- his body gave off a heated aura that made the air around him shimmer in waves as long as a wing-length all around. She came as close as she could, until the heat made her feel like her feathers were curling -- and even from the distance she was she saw that his feathers were glowing. His skin seethed with fires creeping in and out around his skin, peeking out in glimmers like embers twinkling on a charred log.
"Chim," she called uncertainly. She knew that Skaffwory had been teaching him how to master the salamanders, but she hadn't witnessed until now, nor really quite grasped, that this meant Chimbeeriun would be crawling with fire. In curiosity, branchers from nearby, who had already been watching the silent Chimbeeriun and occasionally throwing paper and wood balls at him for fun, neared closer than they had before. One experimentally tossed a wad of moist newspaper at him with her beak, and the branchers all crowed and raised their wings in surprise and delight as the wad disappeared in a flicker and hiss of steam.
"Stop that," Kuhyo'ur snapped, and then called again, more loudly -- "Chimbeeriun. Come on. Wake up. You haven't eaten. I know you haven't. I brought you your favorite even, look."
She unstrapped the basket from her back and pulled the blanket from its mouth, revealing rich dirt, a teasing glimpse of the glowing skin of a wyrm nestling within.
He glanced up at her, finally, and she swallowed as she saw his eyes -- bright blue. Just as Skaffwory's had been.
"Chimbeeriun?" she said nervously. What if his transition into an elementalist had gone wrong -- what if he had gone crazy? She pinched the basket between two boughs and stretched her wings, preparing to flee. The shimmery waves around him began to lengthen --
"No," he said, and there was something about it that made the air pucker closer to him. The waves shortened -- tightened down, so that now the air around him didn't shimmer anymore. The light began to fade too, become more contained against his body.
"Chimbeeriun," Kuhyo'ur said in amazement.
"No," he repeated again. "No."
He looked down at himself, and then at her again. "I am Skaffwory."
Even if she hadn't been told, he would have been easy to see -- his body gave off a heated aura that made the air around him shimmer in waves as long as a wing-length all around. She came as close as she could, until the heat made her feel like her feathers were curling -- and even from the distance she was she saw that his feathers were glowing. His skin seethed with fires creeping in and out around his skin, peeking out in glimmers like embers twinkling on a charred log.
"Chim," she called uncertainly. She knew that Skaffwory had been teaching him how to master the salamanders, but she hadn't witnessed until now, nor really quite grasped, that this meant Chimbeeriun would be crawling with fire. In curiosity, branchers from nearby, who had already been watching the silent Chimbeeriun and occasionally throwing paper and wood balls at him for fun, neared closer than they had before. One experimentally tossed a wad of moist newspaper at him with her beak, and the branchers all crowed and raised their wings in surprise and delight as the wad disappeared in a flicker and hiss of steam.
"Stop that," Kuhyo'ur snapped, and then called again, more loudly -- "Chimbeeriun. Come on. Wake up. You haven't eaten. I know you haven't. I brought you your favorite even, look."
She unstrapped the basket from her back and pulled the blanket from its mouth, revealing rich dirt, a teasing glimpse of the glowing skin of a wyrm nestling within.
He glanced up at her, finally, and she swallowed as she saw his eyes -- bright blue. Just as Skaffwory's had been.
"Chimbeeriun?" she said nervously. What if his transition into an elementalist had gone wrong -- what if he had gone crazy? She pinched the basket between two boughs and stretched her wings, preparing to flee. The shimmery waves around him began to lengthen --
"No," he said, and there was something about it that made the air pucker closer to him. The waves shortened -- tightened down, so that now the air around him didn't shimmer anymore. The light began to fade too, become more contained against his body.
"Chimbeeriun," Kuhyo'ur said in amazement.
"No," he repeated again. "No."
He looked down at himself, and then at her again. "I am Skaffwory."
Labels: chimbeeriun, skaff
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