There were three of them.
The moment that Chimbeeriun realized this was the moment that Chimbeeriun realized, with some discomfort, that he really was learning something, and it made him guilty to think that his bad moods might have actually gotten in the way of something constructive.
Still, it was hard to say when exactly it had happened that he began to make a distinction between one salamander and the next — even when he realized it, it felt not that he had realized something new, but that he had realized something that he forgot, like coming across a toy of his youth. In any case, look, there they were — three salamanders, of denser, clearer outlines than the rest of the seething mass around Skaffwory. They had more solid shapes than the typical flame, which flickered out in licks and laps; they rather resembled very finely carved coal, laced with red and gold and sapphire. One was of the textbook, reptilian shape, though more snake-like than lizard-like. The others were slightly more missaphen, resembling crude golems, one with a single claw resting on Skaffwory's shoulder, the other bobbling up and down amidst the other flames (the other salamanders?) on wings as that glimmered with the fire.
They regarded him back as one, all of them with pupils of magenta and pale cyan. The feathers along Chimbeeriun's nape rose. Skaffwory's pleasure was immediate.
"So you can see them."
Which meant that she'd been starting to lose hope in him. Chimbeeriun frowned at her and opened his beak to complain, but before he could, Skaffwory gathered the three salamanders down onto the branch before him, with an enthusiasm and happiness across her features that he had never witnessed before. He could hardly remember a time before she had started being quite stern with him, and now here she was, pointing out her favorites in delight.
"You can see them?" Skaffwory clacked at him with suspicion as Chimbeeriun squinted at the branch, trying to distinguish the figures from simple flame.
"Yes," he said, and described them. "This one...the largest...is just like what I thought salamanders would always look like."
"That's Prince," Skaffwory said.
"And this one...with the leg."
"Foot," Skaffwory introduced.
"And...Wings?" Chimbeeriun guessed.
"Pins," Skaffwory corrected, "though you were close."
Despite himself he grimaced. "You couldn't think of better birth-names for your own salamanders?"
She whapped the feathers of his crest with her knuckles.
"Don't get to thinking that salamanders need to stoop to names," she told him fiercely. "The shapes they've taken represent precisely what and who these salamanders are. They know exactly who they are. The names I've given them are only a crude description of something I can't even begin to understand of another existing thing. As crude," she continued with a snort, gathering them up, "as the names we try to give ourselves."
Still, it was hard to say when exactly it had happened that he began to make a distinction between one salamander and the next — even when he realized it, it felt not that he had realized something new, but that he had realized something that he forgot, like coming across a toy of his youth. In any case, look, there they were — three salamanders, of denser, clearer outlines than the rest of the seething mass around Skaffwory. They had more solid shapes than the typical flame, which flickered out in licks and laps; they rather resembled very finely carved coal, laced with red and gold and sapphire. One was of the textbook, reptilian shape, though more snake-like than lizard-like. The others were slightly more missaphen, resembling crude golems, one with a single claw resting on Skaffwory's shoulder, the other bobbling up and down amidst the other flames (the other salamanders?) on wings as that glimmered with the fire.
They regarded him back as one, all of them with pupils of magenta and pale cyan. The feathers along Chimbeeriun's nape rose. Skaffwory's pleasure was immediate.
"So you can see them."
Which meant that she'd been starting to lose hope in him. Chimbeeriun frowned at her and opened his beak to complain, but before he could, Skaffwory gathered the three salamanders down onto the branch before him, with an enthusiasm and happiness across her features that he had never witnessed before. He could hardly remember a time before she had started being quite stern with him, and now here she was, pointing out her favorites in delight.
"You can see them?" Skaffwory clacked at him with suspicion as Chimbeeriun squinted at the branch, trying to distinguish the figures from simple flame.
"Yes," he said, and described them. "This one...the largest...is just like what I thought salamanders would always look like."
"That's Prince," Skaffwory said.
"And this one...with the leg."
"Foot," Skaffwory introduced.
"And...Wings?" Chimbeeriun guessed.
"Pins," Skaffwory corrected, "though you were close."
Despite himself he grimaced. "You couldn't think of better birth-names for your own salamanders?"
She whapped the feathers of his crest with her knuckles.
"Don't get to thinking that salamanders need to stoop to names," she told him fiercely. "The shapes they've taken represent precisely what and who these salamanders are. They know exactly who they are. The names I've given them are only a crude description of something I can't even begin to understand of another existing thing. As crude," she continued with a snort, gathering them up, "as the names we try to give ourselves."
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