Hunter Adapts - EBV3 Excerpt

Unfortunately, there were some spoilers right before this part, so I had to cut the stuff before this out. It was really good though!

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Hunter had not taken Keel’s possessive inflection askance and presently he made a face at it. His poor brother; surrounded by people who thought that he was livestock. It was disgusting. Hunter had to rescue him somehow. He had no idea how he could ever accomplish that, but he would rather his brother be treated like a person, not like a cow. Grouchy from his empty stomach and Keel’s natterings, Hunter started tromping back to the cave, shoving aside ferns from his path with careless vendetta. Nothing was good in Sloveniska, not for him or Ki. He had hoped the place would be an improvement for his brother, but thus far it seemed more like Ki was being held captive, for all that he was apparently a prince.

“Sloveniska, you’re a horrible place.” growled Hunter, then he questioned why he was talking to a country. Water dripped constantly on his head, dribbling down his greasy hair into the prodigious new beard that he had been unwillingly growing. Hunter didn’t like the beard, it was too itchy, but his knife was too scarily sharp for him to risk shaving it off. He thought he might cut himself bad enough to bleed to death, knowing his luck. Hunter slipped a little, as if to prove his ill luck. Yes, his luck was horrible. Just the fact that he was wintering in the world’s wettest environ was proof of that. His socks had not been dry or clean for a month and if he could have gotten new ones, he would have burned the ones he had. Within those dreadful socks his feet were always waterlogged, like overcooked vegetables. It was horrible. Sometimes he sniffed his feet and thought they smelled bad enough to provoke fainting.

“Hensynaik!” cursed Hunter as he stumbled over a root. His day wasn’t going well. That he was stumbling proved that. Hunter resisted the urge to kick vindictively at the root and stepped over it, then in a whirl of confusing green, painfully found himself on a smarting rump, his metal shod heel having slipped in the soft loam. Swearing liberally, he struggled up using his spear, rubbing his muddy posterior and wincing, not really noticing around the sound of his own cursing that the forest had gone unexpectedly silent. The animals had gotten used to his harmless passage through this area and usually ignored him, whereas they squealed bloody murder for Keel. But Keel wasn’t with Hunter, he was back at the cave, so the forest should not of gone silent, yet it had, as unnervingly silent as the nerveless silence that proceeds the knowledge that somebody you know is dead.

“Stupid root!” snarled Hunter, turning and whacking at the invisible annoyance with the butt of his spear through the covering veil of leaves. “Flaming thing! Stay out of my w…”

Hunter’s anger turned to fear in an instant. Something didn’t feel right; something was horribly wrong. Something big, that made him feel like perhaps he should run. He couldn’t place what it was. There was no obvious cause for the feeling; it made the back of his neck prickle. Hunter took a firmer hold of the spear in both hands and whirled around, looking in all directions, half expecting to see Keel, but Keel wasn’t there. Nothing was. It was silent - too silent. Hunter realized that now with dread. Something very bad was very close by. Something watching him, its eyes burning into his head.

He looked around again, not just side to side and behind, but up and down, but nothing was there. Everything was telling him to run, yet all he had ever been taught about predators was telling him he should go up a tree. Most four-legged animals cannot climb, but it didn’t matter anyway, because all the trees around him were slick bark trees, the kind that Ki had once been caught in, the kind which was impossible to climb and which Keel favoured for his traps, even morbidly joking once that he would never catch anything as good as what the enemy Cyslo had caught that day in his when Ki had been trapped. Hunter looked up a nearby tree, hoping he could shimmy and thought better - no. No there was nothing really that he could do - besides pray.

Hunter started walking again. Maybe if he walked fast enough, he could avoid whatever was stalking him somehow. It was a struggle not to burst into a run; Hunter was too afraid to walk slowly, but he was also too afraid to bolt. His school teachers had all taught him that if he ran from a predator he would be dead. Running made a predatory animal want you more; it made them excited. He mustn’t run.

He stumbled and nearly had a heart attack, then he looked around in a shock of paranoia, but again nothing was there. Nothing was nearby, yet something was watching him. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it like its teeth were already grasping his throat. Something was there. He started walking again, struggling even harder not to run. He was only about a kilometre from home, but that kilometre might be too far. He wasn’t sure if he could make it with the creature chasing him. His heart was flip-flopping, his stomach twisting with the knowledge that something unseen wanted to eat him. Something big. He wished he knew what it was.

Hunter froze as something rustled up ahead, then a familiar long black face nosed out from a patch of ferns into his path.

“Keel! Keel it’s you! Hensynaik, that almost killed me!” gasped Hunter in relief, running up to the drakoon and feeling like the sun had come out, for he was undoubtedly saved. What if it had been Keel stalking him all along? Hunter wouldn’t of been surprised. He laughed; he was okay now. The nightmare was over. “Keel, were you sneaking up on me? That’s a bad trick bo. Nearly scared me to death!”

Keel wasn’t looking at him for some reason. He was looking past Hunter, back the way Hunter had come and his tail was twitching, his focus on the trees from which Hunter had came, as deviously sharp as if he were shooting arrows with his eyes there. As Hunter passed him, looking back, Keel peeled back his lips and growled, narrowing his eyes.

“What is it?” asked Hunter, his heart pounding again. Whatever it was, it was still there and now that Keel was growling, Hunter knew it was real. Hunter gulped and levelled his spear, just as he had been taught, yelping as Keel started slowly stalking towards where the unseen monster was. Too scared to run home without the dragon, Hunter scurried after him, keeping his spear ready, his stance apart. Keel half spread his wings over his back as if to make himself look bigger, growling ever louder, stalking purposefully. Whatever something was there, it should be ready.

A monstrously shaggy head, yellowed white on top and black on the bottom, a huge muscled skull with short round ears pushed out of the leaves. To Hunter it almost looked like a doggish or Fallan creature, but for the fact that it was so big, as big nearly as Keel. The big stocky beast waded out of the brush on legs that seemed as thick as young trees, a long tail like a fern leaf fanning after it, bicolour like the rest of it. Hunter had never seen such long ugly claws on any animal, nor such long carnassials or fangs as the beast opened its mouth, roaring back at Keel. Its underside was muddy black, its top stained white, making it one of the strangest looking animals that Hunter had ever seen. The beast’s furry hackles stood up in a spiny looking ridge, seeming to make it twice as big as it really was and as Keel lifted a paw to step closer to it, Hunter felt a horrific sense of foreboding. This thing was almost as big as Keel; it was going to kill him if they fought, which Keel seemed to intend to do.

As the beast roared again, Keel answered back with a long, low keen, a shrilling sound that seemed more scared than brave, yet the monster seemed to pause at it and
Keel spread his wings higher, thrashing his deadly tail around their legs.

“Keel. Maybe we should go yes? Keel!” squeaked Hunter. The drakoon wasn’t listening. He snarled again, every single one of his teeth ferociously visible, lashing the air with his tongue, half crouching, legs apart. The beast flattened its ears and came closer, yowling furiously, shaking its head aggressively. It came so close that Hunter could see the whites of its menacing beady yellow eyes and then it paused, its lethal gaze shifting from Keel’s angry face, to Hunter’s and suddenly Hunter knew which of the two of them it was going to go for. Who would he have attacked, if he were a hungry predator?

Hunter just managed to get the point of his spear up at a proper angle before it charged, its claws ripping towards his arms. It tried to ducked under the swipe Hunter took at it and whirled as Keel charged in, snapping at its shaggy throat. The smell of the thing’s breath was ghastly on the air and Hunter scrambled out of the way, watching as the forest titan turned snarling upon Keel, their teeth slashing together, the pair of beasts grappling. For some reason, as Hunter watched, the animal trying again to go for Hunter, Keel instantly distracting it with a nip, it seemed to Hunter that he was supposed to do something. He had never been so dangerously close to such a vicious animal confrontation before and it was scaring the tar out of him, Keel’s furious shrills stinging his eardrums, the beast’s yowls echoing to terrifying effect all around them.

As the Keel forced the beast to back towards Hunter, Hunter suddenly knew exactly what he should do, which was surprising because he was so terrified. The big feathery tail hit him in the legs and with barely any hesitation, Hunter gritted his teeth, then drove his spear point down through the base of the monster’s tail with all of his strength, the beast screaming in pain. In a flash the animal was spinning around to get at him, but in that moment, that bizarre, shaken moment as Hunter stumbled back, falling on his rump again, drawing his pitiful little knife, Keel jumped onto the back of the beast before it could remember that it had a greater foe. Hunter just managed to get up as Keel grappled the screaming beast that vainly tried to throw him off, Keel’s hooked claws loosing rivulets of scarlet across the beast’s thick disgusting fur. Snarling, the animal tried to get him off, but it couldn’t with its tail stuck; it couldn’t even buck. It screamed and moaned, the cries of its pain the worst sound that Hunter had ever heard.

Then Keel got his jaws clasped around the back of the beast’s head and with a violent jerk punctuated by a crackling of snapping vertebrae, the animal collapsed, a limp mountain of hair. Hunter stared at it, shocked that anything so horrifically animated, so real, could suddenly look almost fake. Keel bent around its throat and almost casually bit its neck, making its blood flow in a sheet across the muddy, trampled forest floor, blood mixing in with the damp cake of the loam. Keel let go of the creature’s neck and looked up at Hunter, licking his chops.

“Gods.” intoned Hunter, this time in English, his knees shaking. He was so relieved. The thing was dead. Keel transformed and Hunter mutely watched him pull his spear out of the ground and the beast’s tail, making it bleed heavily again all over the prior drenched tail.

“Catch.” said Keel, tossing Hunter the spear. He barely caught it. The drakoon unsheathed the knife he had with the engravings on its blade and started butchering the carcass, skinning the hide off. “Good pelt. We didn’t ruin it too much. A few holes, but it’ll do for lining your cloak. Those can be patched.”

Hunter almost felt sick at the very mention. Why did Keel always have to make so much morbid sense about things like this? Why was he obsessed with Hunter using hides for things? They worked; they were very warm, but still… it was rather creepy. He had seen the animals who gave them die - he had eaten parts of them.

Yet back home he used leather all the time. That wasn’t any different, but it felt that way.

“W-what is it?” yelped Hunter weakly, relieved at least that Keel wasn’t making him skin the animal.

“Fugara. You should be grateful I came out looking for you, or you would be the one losing your hide now and getting eaten. Good job with the spear yes?” said Keel, hacking off a chunk of flesh, then tearing it with his teeth. He ate it, blood dripping down his chin and Hunter flinched. Keel grinned at Hunter, a horrible red smile that made him sick. “Did you have any luck with the foraging?”

“No.” said Hunter. Keel snickered.

“Ready to stop starving yet human, or do you actually want to die? I heard your species has a perchant for suicide. It makes me wonder, what kind of species would evolve an ability to be self destructive? What a flaw in evolution.” mocked Keel, hacking off another piece of meat and gobbling it. Hunter grimaced, yet his stomach growled. Even raw meat looked good now. Keel smirked and cut out a piece. “Want some human? You helped kill it. You should have some. It’s better than starving yes? Better than eating plants!”

“Mystaya wouldn’t agree.” said Hunter weakly.

“Mistaya’s a horse idiot. Mystaya will never agree.” said Keel, eating another piece. “But you Hunter - you’re an omnivore. You have a choice yes? Be smart. You’ll die if you refuse to eat.”

“In my society, meat is for dogs.” said Hunter. Keel snorted and cackled at him.

“Meat is for dogs? Perfect! Here Dog - eat some! It’s disrespectful to the animal if you don’t!”

Hunter walked a few steps closer and stopped. “That thing was stalking me.”
Keel smirked. “That’s the best part isn’t it? It wanted to eat you, but now you will eat it. Come here Dog-human. Live. Vininiska would eat it.”

Hunter wrinkled his nose. “Not after he’d seen that.”

“Yes he would.” said Keel nonchalantly.

“You don’t know him.” said Hunter, grimly taking the grisly piece of muscle meat, his stomach heaving at the sight of it.

“No, not yet.” agreed Keel, some of his bravado fading away. “Let’s not talk about Vininiska.”

Hunter closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then put the end of the meat in his mouth, biting down hard in order to tear off a piece of it. The meat was extremely bloody and tough and he had to chew it repeatedly to make it go down, his gag reflex making him ill. But he survived that first horrible piece of meat. When he opened his eyes, Keel was holding out another one to him.

“Here human. Eat more.” ordered Keel. Hunter did, staring at the ground this time, sitting in the drenched ferns beside the corpse. It was disgusting if he thought about the body being a corpse, but that was what it was. He chewed and Keel had another piece for him.

“N-no. I’m full.” lied Hunter, not wanting any more to do with the ordeal.

“Here Hunter. Eat.” said Keel, as if he hadn’t heard. The drakoon leaned closer, smiling putridly into Hunter’s face. “Eat or I’ll make you Dog-human. Don’t forget what I was willing to do with Vininiska.”

The memory of seeing Keel’s arm buried in Ki’s mouth made Hunter choke and so he kept eating, thinking that his throat probably would not handle such a happening. He ate, grinding at the meat with his teeth until his jaw ached, then and only then did Keel let him go, piling the raw pelt around his shoulders.

“Aren’t you coming?” Hunter had fearfully asked.

“No. I’ll be eating the rest now.” said Keel. Hunter stared at him.

“The rest? You can’t possibly eat that entire fugara.”

“Maybe not all at once, but there won’t be much left, Dog-human. Go home. I’ll bring some more for you later.” said Keel.

Hunter did not think he could ever eat any more of the gristly fugara meat, but he nodded and went, preparing the pelt as he got home, then stoking the fire up to try to warm up the cave while he washed the fur along with his clothes. Wrapped in furs and shivering he laid visual to the slight twisted pain in his stomach, knowing that it was probably food poisoning from the meat. He wanted to be ill, but he was scared Keel would find out and there was nothing else to eat, besides the meat. He tried to make himself feel better with water and bundled himself in hides beside the fire, watching it flicker, thinking about life. He did not think that he was doing very well. It had been a long time since he had been dry or full or since he had enjoyed his food. Keel wouldn’t help him. Keel was trying to force him to live the way he lived, but from Hunter’s aching stomach, he knew that way of living was impossible for him. A human could not eat raw meat like a carnivore. He had heard it said that carnivores could eat carrion because the hydrochloric acid in their stomach was strong enough to burn through nearly anything. Humans had hydrochloric acid in their stomachs too, but it was weak, water compared to what predators had in theirs, acid capable of killing all but the strongest of bacterium that entered their digestive tracts.

He had to find a way to live. He had to find a way to live that pleased Keel, but which wouldn’t kill him. Hunter gritted his teeth; there had to be a way to do it. A way to soldier on and make the best of what was around him better. His eyes fell on the spear, fugara blood staining its wood.

“I can make this life better. I’m a human - I can do this.” said Hunter firmly, bolstering himself. “Humans can do anything - I’m here on Rimer aren’t I? Humans didn’t come from here! They came from Gaia! I’m living with an alien shape shifter thing and his alien horse. He’s right - I can do this. I can adapt!”

Hunter looked out side and scowled at the rain. “Do you hear me rain? I CAN ADAPT!”

In the distance, there was a thunder rumble.

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Actually Hunter, considering Big Hairy and Ugly only JUST died, you're probably safe from the food poisoning this time, though I do question what kind of residue might be on Keel's gloves when he handed you that meat!

The upset stomach Hunter has is from his vegetarianism; his stomach is shocked by the meat. Escavians, like I said, only rarely eat meat, though in Hunter's area they do have some fish, so he's not completely new to this animal flesh thing.

Also, coincidentally did you know that most deaths by choking result from choking on meat and that most people who are choking are found dead in the bathroom, because for some reason they're too embarrassed to admit that they're choking, so they go hide and then nobody is there to help them, so they die? Yep. Great fact for you.

Keel's so hilariously snobby and racist to Hunter in Emperor's Blood. I love writing him. He's definitely got a 'higher than thou' complex going on. Luckily he's got a lot of redeeming qualities or he'd be one gigantic asshole.

I hope you guys enjoyed this sequence from Hunter and Keel's side of the story!

Safe - EBV3 Excerpt

This one's especially for you Rachel! I've been at a loss lately for finding pieces that I can post on here, because I'm past the sequences where I can really post things for a lot of the characters, but here's a part early in Ki's living with the Everska Sxyarne that is a bit of a very small turning point concerning how he views his new world. Also, this is the first time in a long time that I get to post a scene in its entirety! Hopefully you enjoy.

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It felt like his stomach was boiling, the walls of his stomach oozing with almost painful discomfort. Ki’s feeling of being healthy had evaporated the moment he had fainted and woken up to the smell of blood still heavy on the air. Limp in the mound of blankets with Kelveniska standing over him, Ki had felt well enough at first, considering he had just fainted, only really feeling confused, but as he had remembered why he smelled blood, he had started feeling sick again. The door to the room had clattered open then with such brusqueness that he had jumped, his heart almost stopping and in through the doors had come Sukra and Alkane, covered in scarlet. They had turned to look expectantly at Ki, blood smeared on their bodies so liberally it was as if they had rolled in it, their hands gripping the hilts of swords wet with fresh greasy redness.


Ki had been transfixed. Not even the butcher had ever had that much blood on himself. He certainly hadn’t had it around his mouth, painted on theirs like gross icing. They could have been eating something messy, like stew, but Ki knew, staring at them, that they hadn’t been, the arterial stench of them making them look even more like murderers. He had never seen anything so grotesque or terror-inducing. Thick in his mind like the smell of the blood was the thought that the two drakoon had just killed somebody and from their slight smiles, they had liked it.

He had been unable to stop staring at them, his body beginning to shake, the world seeming to move around him more slowly than usual and in silence. He had a vague idea that Kelveniska had started yelling at the guard pair, that he was telling them off for something, but he could not hear anything, his ears ringing. Sukra and Alkane had looked startled, then almost insulted and they had walked off into the privy, miffed but they had moved slowly, so slowly that they almost stood still. Their departure had not helped Ki. He was still frozen, the blood smell bitter on his tongue. He could taste the blood. Instinctually he recognized the wretched smell of demise. Kelveniska had crouched down to watch him, blocking Ki’s view, but the sight of the two men covered in blood had already been embroidered into his memories. Shivering, Ki had scrambled up to Kelveniska like a terrified baby puppy and the drakoon had let him, holding him close until the blood smell had started to go away. Feeling weak, Ki had leaned up against the man until he had fallen asleep and he had awoken with the drakoon still watching over him.

Almost, he had been okay, huddled under several blankets and a mat like he was still five but something had felt wrong with his stomach. Kelveniska, noticing that he was awake had made to touch him and Ki had abruptly found himself facing the personal reality that he was not human. Hunter probably would have felt okay after a bit of sleep after smelling and seeing what Ki had seen, because Hunter just adapted to those sorts of things. Hunter had always been easygoing and positive. He would have tried to figure out the reason why the drakoon had been killed in the night and wouldn’t agonized like Ki on the point that it was dead, that Sukra and Alkane had killed it. Hunter would have agreed that it was bad that it had been killed, but maybe it had been done for a reason, maybe in defence?

Ki didn’t think like that, though for a long time he had been trained to. Now Ki was afraid, in a place where strangers who were killers lived and he was trapped with them as his cavalier neighbours. As Kelveniska reached for him, Ki shrank back, becoming as-dragon without even electing it and hissed, curling under a ball in his den of blankets. He forgot reason. The scared little animal that had always been inside of him was instructing him to hide away from the predators of his world. Other drakoon, specifically older ones were his mortal enemies. His panicked mind told him that he was in grave danger.


Hours passed, then two days and Ki remained perpetually terrified. Every move, sound and smell made his heart race. Kelveniska kept whispering to him, trying to reassure him, but Ki had not been rational enough to believe him even when he had been sane. Ki trembled constantly in his blanket den, eyes wide, heart hammering against his ribs. His stomach felt like it was twisting inside of him he was so sick with fear. Kelveniska offered Ki food again and again, but the smell of it was too alike to blood and Ki was too nauseous let alone mistrusting to take it. He growled at it and flicked his tail, seeing the meat not as food, but as a predator. He had no interest in food or water, even though his belly was empty and his throat was parched, his body weak. Ki’s muscles ached from being poised so long and at some point his injured hindleg had started bleeding for a while, but he ignored it. His bodily discomfort mattered not when he was so afraid. Everything was a predator, poised to kill him. Ki would not have trusted his own shadow if he had been able to see it. His entire being was focused on avoiding being killed by a predator and in his mind he was cornered. If he moved, if he broke cover, he would die…

Kelveniska laid down on his stomach in front of him and watched him worriedly. The emperor was not doing his paperwork today nor had he done it yesterday, not that Ki remembered what paperwork was. He watched Kelveniska with extreme suspicion, his muscle twitching half into a growl.

“Vininiska. Vininiska qytqe yz.” said the drakoon, but his attempt at easing Ki’s mind was again lost. ‘Qytqe yz - it’s okay’ just sounded like a nonsensical rival noise to Ki and he curled back his lip, voicing a livid threat.

The door opened and Ki smelled Sukra come in, but he did not look. He and Alkane had been banished by Kelveniska for scaring him and he could smell that they were annoyed, which only made him more petrified.

“Kelveniska.” said Sukra in a short voice. “Kelveniska qoai hensimk…”

“Na.” growled Kelveniska, disagreeing with whatever Sukra was saying without looking at him.

“Kelveniska.” snapped Sukra, arguing something. Ki heard his name and the word ‘kinton’ a lot, then Medyq mentioned several times, but he did not register the meaning. Sukra came into his view, a syringe cocked in the drakoon’s hand, its lethal point glistening and Ki remembered Medyq drugging him to transform. That had hurt… Ki slowly and unsteadily got to his paws, shaking off the blankets to free himself, twitching out his lethal tail, watching the syringe from under the bone ridges that scuted out over his eyes. He raised his wings, trying to make himself look bigger and stretched his legs, ignoring the twinge in his sore quarter. He would not be hurt by a syringe again. He would attack first and destroy it. The drakoon stopped arguing and Sukra muttered a pensive warning, pulling from a pouch on his sword belt a coil of leather and chain that Ki’s sharpening brain knew as a lead. Kelveniska got up slowly, staring at Ki.

“Vininiska, hana…” said Sukra, the words sounding like a challenge. Ki bared his teeth and growled louder, his voice a menacing rattle. Sukra’s expression hardened and he seemed to ready himself, the clip of the brutal braided lead in one hand, the end of it and the deadly looking syringe in the other. Sukra might as well of been holding a knife, for how Ki took the sight of it. Kelveniska backed out of the way, back behind Sukra, looking alarmed.

“Qoai Vininiska.” muttered Sukra dankly. Ki shifted his weight, almost kneading the blankets beneath his paws like a cat and then went still. All he could see now was his enemy. Sukra smirked, baring his teeth. “Qoai…”

Ki jumped, snarling as he leapt towards the syringe, jaws wide open, reaching paws hitting Sukra’s arm. Ki swung his head, distracted as he felt Sukra wrap his other arm with the lead around his neck, the adult drakoon growling something in his ear, then he felt the needle point pierce his hide and he thrashed, trying to get away, but he had miscalculated. Ki’s animal mind reeled. He had not thought Sukra would be so fast, faster than him and as his hurt hindquarter gave under his weight, he realized drearily that he had not counted on that either. He should have been panicking, trying to rip into Sukra’s face with his teeth, but the shaft of the syringe’s point was being pushed deeper under his skin and suddenly he was only nervous, the blind panic pushed away then conquered by the new sedative in his blood. Sukra gently put him down on the floor and Ki stood shakily by his leg, staring dazedly at a random crate along the wall, shivering. Sukra held the needle in his neck for a moment longer then pulled it out of Ki’s flesh, putting it away then calling to Kelveniska, who came and hugged Ki tightly about his shoulders.

Overcome, Ki started to whimper as the painful knot in his stomach came undone and unbidden he tried to get as close to Kelveniska as he could, huddling against him. The fear trickled away, the scared animal becoming less scared until it was calm enough to smell the creature holding it and relax. He leaned against Kelveniska until Sukra muttered a suggestion that Kelveniska transform, then the drakoon did, but Ki was not afraid. Kelveniska smelled no different as-dragon or as-elf. He was the same creature. Instinct, strong and undeniable made him scramble close, holding still as the drakoon turned and roughly licked his face. Ki was hardly aware of Sukra bending over his injured leg to look after it. Pinned under one of Kelveniska’s front paws and his wing against the drakoon’s side, Ki started to feel what the drakoon had been insisting that he was.

Safe.

Sniff Him on The Nose (EBV3 Excerpt)

After three posts for Sunny, I thought I should treat you brave few readers with an excerpt. In honour of Sunny, it's cat centered and as such, hopefully you'll find it amusing, as cats can be pretty charming animals. Elven cats may be able to speak in mindspeech, but they're still quite alike to the fiendish little house devils that cat lovers adore. Dansen, in particular, is very idiosyncratic and deserves his own youtube channel, but unfortunately, he's not a real cat, so I can't film him. In this part, Ki tries to get information out of Dansen, but Dansen won't budge, not unless Ki plunges his head in the cold waters of culture shock... slightly edited.



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Sukra got up and he followed him out the door and Sukra let him follow him all the way across the office to the doors at the other end of the hallway, where there was some mail waiting, pushed under the door by the guards on the other side. Ki stood beside Sukra and watched him sort through the mess of letters, tossing some aside to Alkane who looked disapproving, opening others to read them while not looking at some of the letters at all. He held an unintelligable letter up in front of Ki’s face and said something the man obviously found personally amusing then went to his post by the door, leaving the messy stack of letters waiting for Kelveniska on the desk. Ki looked at the letter again and felt a little ill as he realized that human hands had written it, for in the bottom left corner there was stamped the Escavian Coat of Arms. Under that was the name of the Escavian Viceroy, Samuel Fletch.


The letter was very long, the hand writing cramped and rough compared to the more fluidly written drakoon letters around it. Ki felt a hollow feeling inside looking at it. This was a communication from home, but he couldn’t even read it to figure out what was going on because it was written in a language that he still couldn’t understand. He couldn’t even write anything back. He couldn’t send anything, any message asking for help to save him and his brother from this place. Ki couldn’t look at it anymore. He looked up and Sukra was smirking at him maddeningly, Ki comprehending at once what the drakoon had found so funny about the letter. All at once Sukra seemed incredibly cruel; how could any decent person find it amusing than another being was trapped somewhere where they did not want to be, that they couldn’t even call for help when a letter from their homeland came?


“I hate them all.” muttered Ki crouching down in his place beside the desk and glaring over his knees.

Kelveniska scolded Ki for sitting the way he was and told him to transform when he came in. On went Ki’s halter, then the day persisted, Kelveniska answering all of his letters including the human one (Ki noticed he took a little longer than usual reading that one, grimacing as if he found reading it painful) and then went to work again on his machinery schematic. Ki was intensely bored, every single hour a torment. Was sitting here going to be his existence for the rest of his life? Didn’t drakoon ever go outside? He was sick of being inside and of seeing these walls. He wanted to see something new and he wanted to run. All his keepers ever let him do was eat, sleep and follow their commands. It was an immensely dissatisfying life and since it was always dark in the dreary barren windowless office, Ki felt rather depressed. He could almost feel himself going insane from it. No wonder he was so grumpy, when he was essentially living like a prisoner in captivity.

SERIOUSLY, do you ever do anything other than write or draw? Ki growled at Kelveniska halfway through the painful day. Kelveniska told him to be quiet and gave a sharp reinforcing tug on the lead. Ki rolled his eyes and flopped down, putting his head between his paws. That man never does anything interesting. Doesn’t he have secretaries or something who could do all this writing for him? He’s rich. He should.

Yet Kelveniska did not have any secretaries and except for mail retrieval, the sketzine did almost nothing to help him in his never ending flow of paperwork. Ki pitied Kelveniska, but he knew that he himself actually had it worse; his only current job was to eat food and, evident from their imposed lack of activity upon him, to get fat. Ki drearily cast a look across his thin hindquarters and ribs, every bone in his body seeming to stick out to him. Yes, he needed to get fatter he supposed, but he also needed excersize too. He didn’t want to turn from a weak scrawny creature into a weak portly one. He looked across at Sukra and Alkane. How do they keep so trim, when all they do is stand there?

“Vininiska, larx!” ordered Kelveniska, shaking the lead at him. Ki had been growling under his breath. He turned his head as he smelled Dansen coming and hissed at the cat, who dared to come and rub up against him anyway.

Vyze Vininiska, you seem to be growling a lot. Why are you in such difficulty? asked the cat, sitting down infuriatingly in front of him.

Why is it that a stupid cat is the only thing I have to talk to? grated Ki mentally. Dansen cocked his head.

I, stupid? I don’t think so. You should put a better guard on your thoughts Vininiska, thinking like that isn’t seemly. said Dansen. Ki growled. I can’t help but hear when you think so loudly.

I think loudly? demanded Ki, feeling violated at having his thoughts read.

Oh yes. You should think much quieter and be more specific about if you’re just thinking to yourself or not, or else anybody can hear. said Dansen, looking as smug as the Cheshire cat. Obviously though, growing up in that dreadful human place you never had to learn because nobody there had the capacity to listen to you. From what I’ve heard, humans don’t have magic like us.

The cat licked a paw. You never had anybody to talk to who understood, did you?

I don’t want to talk to you. snarled Ki. Get away from me.

No, I don’t think I will. I had news, you know, considering that human, but since you’re so rude, I don’t think I’ll tell you. said Dansen, still cleaning himself, wiping his face with his dampened paw.

That human? repeated Ki, his heart suddenly pounding.

The only one in Sloveniska. said Dansen amusedly, licking his back leg and tail now. My mate knows all about that one. She’s been following him with quite a lot of interest.

Is Hunter alright?! cried Ki, the sound he made a high pitched keening shriek.

That hurts my ears. said Dansen, getting up and stretching exuberantly, curling his fluffy tail over his back. The cat padded over to Kelveniska and pawed at his leg. Kelveniska, Kelveniska, let me into my den please.

Kelveniska pulled open the biggest bottom drawer of the desk and Dansen jumped inside, sticking out his head for a moment. Thank you Kelveniska. I’m going to sleep now, you have a nice day. Don’t worry about keeping Vininiska quiet for me, you know I can sleep through anything.

“Aya Dansen, cwid hensin.” said Kelveniska and as Dansen popped his head down Kelveniska pushed the drawer closed, then immediately went back to work. Ki stared.

Alright, that might have just been the most peculiar thing I have ever seen. thought Ki, trying to say it to himself. A cat that lives in a desk…

Ki tried to be patient waiting for the cat to finish his nap, but after only ten minutes he couldn’t stand waiting anymore. He sidled up beside Kelveniska and pawed at the desk drawer where Dansen was, trying to wake him up.

Dansen! Dansen what about Hunter? Please tell me! said Ki, switching paws to scratch with his other as the first got too tired. Dansen didn’t answer. He didn’t even meow.

DANSEN! chirred Ki. Dansen! Wake up! Please! I can’t stand it, I need to know! Is Hunter okay?

For at least a minute, nothing happened, then an aggravated, drowsy yowl echoed from within the drawer. Stop scratching, you’re hurting the desk. Kelveniska; open the drawer. I must speak to Vininiska where I can see him.

Kelveniska sighed heavily and opened the drawer, Dansen slowly peeking his head out until he and Ki were nose to nose.

Alright Vininiska, I shall admit now that you have a stupendous capacity to be greatly annoying. said Dansen levelly. He seemed tired. If I tell you something of what my mate Manuska told me and you do something for me, will you leave me alone?

Ki cocked his head. That didn’t sound like a good deal. He wanted to know everything that Manuska knew about Hunter.

Oh I can’t tell you all of that. Some of it’s quite controversial, Sukra would have a fit if he discovered I’d told you and Kelveniska isn’t very pleased with the idea either. said Dansen. But I can tell you a little. Now, will you agree to that?

What’s so controversial about Hunter? demanded Ki.

Well firstly, the fact that he’s in our territory. Humans don’t belong here Vininiska. It’s very dangerous. said Dansen. The cat cocked his head. So?

Ki shifted his weight and looked aside. He really, really needed to know about Hunter. Even if it was only a little bit of information, it would be something right?

Fine. What do you want me to do? asked Ki.

Dansen inclined his head towards the blandly watching Kelveniska. Stand up on your hind legs and sniff noses with him.

Ki recoiled, disgusted. I’m not doing that!

Dansen flattened his ears. You are if you want to know about the dog-human! Why are you disgusted by it? It’s how your species says ‘vyze’ when they’re dragons you dolt. It’s like both individuals saying ‘Vyze, how are you’ and answering ‘oh fine’ without actually speaking it. You have to learn this Vininiska, it’s how you can gage health in another animal.

Why would I want to know that? snapped Ki.

Well, firstly because it’s a way that you can determine where you yourself stands within the hierarchy of a group and secondly because if they’re an opponent you can learn whether or not you have any advantage. Also, every animal species in the world but humans do it.

Ki grimaced. How badly did he need to know?

Really badly; Ki turned towards Kelveniska and tensed his hindquarters, ready to stand on them, then it occurred that he had no idea what he was doing. He looked back at Dansen. What do I do?

Sniff him on the nose. Isn’t it self explanatory?

____________________________________________

Easier said than done Dansen! Humans don't sniff noses with each other, so while what Dansen is asking of Ki is completely innocent, Ki has a habit of thinking of everything in human terms - in this case, innocent nose snuffling gets turned into something more akin to a kiss in Ki's poor humanized brain, so the prospect of sniffing noses with Kelveniska - another dude and an older one - freaks the hell out of him. One of the best things about Ki is his ability to tell right from wrong - surprising amongst drakoon - but at the same time, he often gets things wrong, especially when cross culture stuff is concerned. Eventually though, with a lot of pushing and shoving, the little guy adapts and conquers the strange situations that he encounters...

Blood - Emperor's Blood Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 37 of my manuscript Emperor's Blood. (As you can tell, this one's a cliffhanger!) Fifth (or sixth?) draft of EB arc 2, unedited. (Written today.)

I'm sorry that I haven't had much to post lately. Most of it's been too spoilery for public eyes!

I'm having a lot of fun writing Ki's POV in this draft so far. I think it's going to work (hopefully) and that I'm not going to do another bloody version of this arc in six months. (EB arc 1 is finalized.) I want to move on to writing Kill Copper (the next book in the trilogy) damnit! I've a great deal of hope for this draft though. The characterizations are a lot better, there's more equality in the distribution of writing for the protagonists (though Ki obviously still gets the most screen time, being protag #1) and things are a lot more true to the very first draft. (EBV2. The (two?) versions before V2 never made it even into the second arc, which is okay, because those ones sucked. Tech problems gloriously killed them.)

Yay! Enjoy!

All material (c) Rosanna P. Brost.
________________________________________________

A scream of pure unadulterated agony slashed the still silence, making Ki leap awake, heart pounding. Had it been real? Or his imagination? He’d heard a scream once upon a time and Eva had told him that he was just dreaming as he had ran shaking to her bed. He looked around, then remembered that he couldn’t see, that there was no light and he shrank back, further under the blanket, straining to listen, flinching at the light sound of the rain outside, which should have helped him calm down under normal circumstances.

“EEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRERR!”

Ki nearly fainted at the shrill, animalistic call that rang through the corridors of the keep, then the snarling that followed, beastly and harsh. Something pinged metallic out in the halls, then there was a fierce cry and another animal snarl, then a gargled scream of pain, then something metal hit the floor as more growls sounded.

“Lys! Lys, yin Sketzine! Lys!” snarled Kelveniska. Ki jumped at his voice, suddenly realizing that the drakoon had left him, that he was somewhere near the door, shouting through it like he was goading on attack dogs. “LYS!”

There was a ferocious reeling animal snarl, then a disturbing sound like a breaking egg, then cruel quiet for a moment before a chorus of angry sounding whines accompanied by excited shouts, then whispers. Somebody was being praised like they were heroes. Ki huddled deeper under the blanket, pulling a mat overtop of himself too. He had the feeling that somebody had just died. He had a feeling that they had been murdered.

“Cwid Sketzine, cwid.” said Kelveniska breathlessly through the door. “Cwid yin Sketzine, hana…”

Ki closed his eyes, grimacing. He wanted the sounds to stop. He wanted to know for sure what had just happened and why it had just happened. He wanted - blood. Ki smelled it, as heavy as perfume on the air. Blood. Rich, full of iron and scarlet, cloying, so potent that he could practically taste it. Blood, not the stuff you get when you cut your finger, but blood, arterial blood, blood straight from the heart -

Somebody was definitely dead. Ki fainted.

Alternate EB Intro - Part 2

And now for the second half of that alternate opening of my book Emperor's Blood in which we meet Syke. This half was the part that really killed this opening and not only because of the way I did the accent on Syke, though I did enjoy the idea of Hunter feeling drab next to him, but that is an idea older than this piece. Anyway, this is unedited, unfinished and here we gooo!


In northern Escavia the heat of summer faded swiftly as autumn came, the season of the harvest and gather. In the forests and wilds animals sought out food from the land so as to build a life sustaining layer of fat for the cold winter ahead. Beyond the forest, on the coastline where for the summer children had been idle they now helped their parents and neighbours in the harvest. The weather was temperate, perfect for the hard work which took place in the fields. Horses and oxen pulled against harnesses, digging hooves deeper into the crisp sod for a better grip. On the seashore the teams of fishermen worked hard to bring in one last good winter store of fish to be salted and dried. Potatoes were forcibly dug from their hiding places in the earth and thrown into wooden storage bins. Squash and pumpkins were hacked free from confining vines, collected in carts then carefully stored away.

The climate of hard preparation was everywhere and Hunter couldn’t help feeling a little guilty as he rode his horse along the coast road beside Ki away from Seamist. This year Eva and Mattie would have to deal with the harsh labour without their precious boys, helped by neighbours instead. It felt quite off-putting to Hunter, being exempt from such important work. He gathered the leather reins in his hand tighter and tried not to watch field after field go by, in nearly all of them waving farmers. Hunter tried to concentrate on his horse’s ground covering amble and the warmth which radiated up from her body. She was a good horse, this one. A few scars here and there from where harness had chafed too much, marring her dark brown hide, but nothing Hunter really cared about. Like Ki’s horse Griffin, Sprite had been a present from Hunter’s uncle Cen who bred morgans for use as stagecoach pullers. Sprite was an old girl, past her prime, but with just enough spunk to still be a good saddle horse in her retirement. Cen had told Hunter that Sprite was infertile, which was why he had been so willing to give her away.

Looking across the gap between their horses, Hunter studied Griffin, a mare who was barely five years old. She should have been perfect for the stagecoach, young and strong as she was, a perfect bay morgan with a single drop of white between her eyes. But something had gone wrong somewhere along the path of her training and Griffin had learned to fear the full harness of a stagecoach horse. Cen had fired his trainer instantly when he found out and realizing that there was nothing he could do with Griffin, he had given her to Ki, thinking that perhaps Ki might make something of her where he could not. At first, Griffin had been nervous of Ki, but Ki had soon earned her trust, so much that most of the time, Ki didn’t even need to hold onto the reins when he rode her.

Like now. Seated comfortably in the english saddle with one leg propped over Griffin’s withers in what looked to Hunter as rather precarious, Ki was simply watching the scenery go by, his arms crossed as Griffin moved amiably along. Feeling a pang of jealousy, Hunter looked away and was just in time to see a road marker go by.

“Only another k’ to Serenity.” Hunter reported.

“Then we get the highly awkward and terribly exciting experience of meeting four random people who for the next four years we’ll live with.” said Ki dryly, finally sitting properly astride and bending to check his saddle bags.

“Sounds good to me.” grinned Hunter. “No more parents getting in our way.”

Ki grinned and nodded back, then in a tone of long term suffering under his breath. “No more damn salad.”

Hunter broke out laughing. “You really hate it, huh Ki?”

“Makes me feel like I’m going to puke my guts out whenever I eat it. I swear it gives me food poisoning.” grimaced Ki, making a silly face by sticking out his tongue. Hunter sniggered appreciatively at it.

“You’re the only person I know who actually does get sick whenever they eat a lot of veggies Ki.” joked Hunter, though it wasn’t really a joke at all. He had seen Ki dump tablespoons of salt into his own water cup before, then run off to the outhouse after drinking it. Eva and Mattie had always complained that for people who lived so close to the ocean, there wasn’t nearly enough salt available. Hunter could never bring himself to tell them that Ki was using it. At first it had disgusted him, but once when there had been nothing but salad for dinner and Hunter had hidden the salt, Ki had ended up reeling in bed hours later, so nauseous that he couldn’t even get up. Hunter had regretted hiding the salt then and afterwards had always tried to make sure the container was full.

Because Ki didn’t use the salt to make himself puke because he was starving himself. He did it because for whatever strange reason, eating too much plant matter made him sick. By using the salt, Ki was actually helping himself.

It made absolutely no sense to Hunter. ‘Eat your vegetables! They make you strong!’ But all they did to Ki was make him weaker. Once, he had mentioned Ki’s reaction to large amounts of vegetation to Doctor Winsor, but the man had laughed in his face. ‘Impossible!’ he had said, but things that were supposedly so were always possible when it came to Ki.

At not even the age of one, before Hunter could even properly stand up, Ki had made headlines in the local newspaper. It was Christmas when it happened; Hunter and Ki had been put to bed already, warm against the winter cold while downstairs their guardians had celebrated. Though Hunter could not remember the event, Ki had told Hunter about it in crisp detail, which Hunter had been unable to believe until he had asked his mother. Wafting up from the fireplace on the first floor had been the smell of roasting turkey on a spit, fat dripping off of it to sizzle in the flames. Ki, like a modern day Houdini, had slipped out of his cradle, toddled resolutely down the stairs. Nobody had taken notice of him when he walked right into the fireplace, to stare contemplatively up at the oh-so-tempting piece of bird above his head.

Ki’s infantine but already high speed mind had just been working out a solution to the dilemma of retrieving some meat for himself when behind him had come a startling shriek of horror. Confused about what the fuss was and a bit annoyed at getting distracted, Ki had turned to see what was wrong.

Hunter still wasn’t quite sure he entirely believed what Ki said happened next.

Rather belatedly, Ki had looked down, following the direction of Mattie’s pointing finger and realized that his socks were on fire. What followed was several hours of being fussed over which Ki had of course hated, until at long last he had been able to get his point across. Very politely, he had asked if he could have some turkey, please and his shocked benefactors had proclaimed it a Christmas miracle. Hunter still wasn’t completely sure if the tale was true, though he couldn’t get past the fact that all three of his family members said it was.

“How do you remember so far back?” Hunter had demanded of Ki one Christmas, before they went to school.

“I don’t know. I just do. Can’t you?”

Those words had become tattooed in Hunter’s memories as what would soon turn into a collection of very strange recollections regarding his brother. A few years later, Hunter would begin to believe the Christmas story when left alone in the kitchen for a few moments, Ki had pressed his bare hand to the red hot cast iron top of the brick stove.

Nothing had happened.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Hunter had asked, flinching at the sight. He had touched hot metal enough times to know that even a second of contact was agonizing. Ki, still with his hand against the stove, had cocked his head, regarding the stove curious.

“Is it supposed to hurt?” Ki had asked.

“Well yes, it’s hot metal… aren’t you burnt?” a baffled Hunter had asked.

Ki had lifted his hand from the stove and poked at it with his other.

“No. I’m fine.” Ki had said and a moment later he had shown Hunter his hand, smooth and uninjured, without even the slightest sheen of burn. “See?”

It made no sense.

Then, when they were ten years old there came a great winter storm. Temperatures had dropped so low that they had had to bring their animals into the house in order to keep warm. While everyone else had been huddling and shivering for heat, Ki had quite casually walked outside without a jacket on, vanishing for several hours before coming back, a half-frozen Bird in his hands. Eva and Mattie had yelled at him for being such a fool. Everyone had been so sure that he would develop at least hypothermia, but Ki had not. The tabby cat Bird had soon woken up and recovered, becoming rather attached to his saviour for the rest of his life. Ki cried for days when Bird died of old age, years later.

Over the years, Ki had eventually learned to don more clothing, even though he obviously found it rather constraining. Hunter knew it was just his brother trying to ward off conversation from strangers and nagging from their parents, but he was grateful nonetheless, because no matter how often one saw their brother running around in only a pair of pants in winter, they never really got used to it. Also, Ki had learned to wear more clothing for the simple reason that he was sick of hearing people remark about how ghastly thin he was.

Hunter could count his brother’s ribs.

“Oi, we’re entering traffic soon, you gonna run Sprite into a stage or something?” Ki barked, breaking Hunter out of his thoughts. Too soon, Hunter realized that they were on the ridge above Serenity, overlooking the city which claimed the title of being the place where human kind had began on Rimer. It was here, over three hundred years before that humanity’s ancestors had made landfall in a place which would be known as the species’ salvation. This was the international capital of the world, common ground for all, where no matter the ethnicity or species, creatures could deal freely without feeling the bite of speciesism or nationalism. More than that, it was here where cultures collided, mixing sometimes and becoming a mosaic of art and literature.

Nestled tight against its deep bay and surrounded by a rim of farmland then forest in which no development was allowed, the old city was glorious. Squinting, Hunter thought he could pick out the towers of the International Parliament Buildings and a splash of green lawn that could have been their university. Other large and no doubt famous buildings were visible, buildings which Hunter was almost wetting himself to see. Looking almost like toys were sailing vessels, aboard them trade goods and people from distant lands, their colossal sails like clouds, their flags like colourful fliers. Dispersed throughout the massive city were splashes of green; parks and common grazing areas for the inhabitants of the place. Tiny white dots like biting parasites crawled across one which common, creatures which Hunter knew to actually be sheep.

Though Serenity was comparatively close to Seamist, Hunter had never been there and had in fact never even left Seamist. Seeing it for the first time, Hunter was certain that he would never find anything more spectacular in his life, no matter where he travelled. This was it; the apex of human civilization as Hunter knew it. He was humbled by the sight of it and pulled up his horse to drink it in more.
“Isn’t it glorious?” he sighed.

“Sure.” said Ki, turning his head about in his usual peculiar manner, which he did every time he encountered something knew. Suddenly Ki stiffened, quirking his head and then he relaxed, smiling.

“After we find the university we should explore.” said Ki. “The market smells rather interesting…”

“How can you smell something which we can’t even see?” asked Hunter incredulously. All he could smell was the sea and some wood smoke.

“I dunno.” shrugged Ki. “Just can. Let’s go.”

Hunter gave Serenity one more lingering look, like he would a girl he was crushing on.

“Okay. Walk on.” he told his horse and he enjoyed the view all the way until they entered the city, where he had to pay more attention because of the busy traffic. Here even Ki had to keep a steady hold of his horse, as there was jingling harness a-plenty for Griffin to spook over. Somewhere distant, Hunter could hear the cry of a keep trading fresh bread and felt his stomach growl, then forced himself to ignore the call, concentrating on the police officer ahead who made hand signals for the safety of intersection he stood in. They rode through the intersection easily, passing onto a street which was lined with livery stables and smithies. Crossing a arched stone bridge, they continued their slow journey through the thoroughfares of the city, which got progressively busier as they rode deeper.

In the rush of the noon traffic, Hunter and Ki had to be particularly careful as they rode their horses. Griffin and Sprite were used to the less congested port capital Seamist and all the people pressing about them could easily make them spook. Besides the people, there were also unseen disasters just waiting to happen, like children and small animals playing in the street as well as shiny things flickering from windows. Even more lethal were the falla, for the most part unnoticed, but not unseen. Horses who were not used to the sight of a very large, wolfish, striped and winged falcolf were sometimes keen to bolt. Wisely, the two brothers kept their horses on a short rein and whispered reassuringly to their mounts as they went.

At Hunter’s side, Griffin was in difficulty. The sight of a hynorse - a dandy coloured canine-like omnivorous falla the same size as her with a ridiculously shaggy black mane and tail was making her nervous, the whites of her eyes visible as a ring around her brown irises. By all reports hynorses were quite amiable, friendly sentients, but nobody had ever told that to Griffin. To her the big gentle beast with its broad head marked with dark fur looked terrifying and as she skittered by, the hynorse looked around in patient curiosity, long ears pricked. Twitching its long tail, the hynorse turned to get a better look, staring after them as they went by, sniffing the air quizzically. Looking back a few minutes later, Hunter saw it lowering its head to talk to another fallan individual, a biped kiri dressed in an insulating long coat and traditional skirt-like white skit.

Kiri were rather rangy, tall creatures which from head to tail to paw were covered in reddish gold to pale tawny fur. Scientists said that they were Rimer’s natural version of the human, sentient animals which had evolved to survive as omnivorous opportunists much like humans, using their creative mental capabilities and prehensile forepaws to their full advantage. When Hunter had been a kid, he had found them a little frightening at first, since they were so tall compared to his own kind. Now, almost an adult, he found them to be rather noble looking with the eye kohl they painted on their faces to make themselves look fierce like fire cats and their soul-piercing double-lidded golden eyes. Their short ears could pan, unlike a humans and they had tails, allowing for better balance, their longer limbs as well as deeper chests giving them speed. Together with their blunt, powerful jaws, teeth and claws, kiri were superior to humans in almost every way.

The kiri and the hynorse both stared after them, looking strangely worried and Hunter wondered what was wrong. Looking ahead, he was just in time to realize that Sprite was walking into an intersection with no intention of stopping. Yanking hard on the reins, he pulled hard on her head, leaning back until at last she halted with a rather disgusted sounding snort. Several wagons trundled past, their drivers glaring at Hunter, unforgiving. Remembering his manners, Hunter made an apologetic gesture to show his mistake had not been intentional and the drivers shook their heads in exasperation. A lady walked by leading a monstrous german shepherd dog pulling a cart, then they were free to go again, streaming single file into what a large overhead sign proclaimed as being the market district.

Immediately they heard streams of music playing and singing, as well as the excited chattering of people at trade. Eager despite the painfully slow going, Hunter gaped about as they were surrounded by people dressed in more colours than he had ever seen in his life. Overhead sailing flags twitched in the wind, which blew the fragrances of the market all about. It was a very noisy, very congested area and Hunter soon realized that they were not getting anywhere fast. A little frustrated now, mainly because of his snarling stomach, Hunter halted Sprite to peer around for a helpful road sign, but there did not seem to be any at all in the market labrynthe.

“Hey, you bos lost? This is the market, you shouldn’t be here.”

Hunter looked around for the helpful sounding voice, but decided that it was impossible to find his foot much less some obscure person in the crowd. Abruptly Sprite jigged, startled by something and leaning carefully, Hunter caught sight of a smiling face almost completely obscured by long framing bangs, belonging to a head of black hair.

“Hey! You from out of town?” said the person. Hunter couldn’t decide whether it was male or female.

“Hi and uh yeah!” said Hunter, gleeful to find a friend amidst all the mayhem.

“Figures!” said the person cheerfully. “I can get you two outta here, just hold on - I’ll lead your horse. Tell your urra to follow.”

“Right.” said Hunter gratefully, twisting in the saddle to tell Ki, but Ki tapped his ear, shaking his head. Ki had heard, even over the crowd. “Typical.” Hunter muttered. Their new friend tugged on Sprite’s reins and though a little confused, she followed him through the crowd, Griffin’s nose almost touching her rump as Ki made her follow closely. They were led down an alley way, then out onto an amazingly clear thoroughfare, where their friend finally let go of Sprite, feeding her something out of a gloved hand. Griffin, sensing she was missing out, pricked her ears and clattered forwards as fast as she could, nosing at their saviour hopefully.

“Hey ladies.” joked their friend as he petted their horses, rationing out whatever was in his pockets. He pushed the mares’ heads out of the way so he could get a better look at Hunter and Ki. Without all the people, Hunter could now see their friend easier too and grinned at him. The person before them looked about their age, dressed in clothes which looked rather too prim to be for everyday wear, though on closer inspection Hunter realized that the bo was wearing riding boots. Most shocking of all was the realization that their saviour wore rectangular glasses, a clear sign that he was from a well-to-do family. Taken aback and suddenly feeling drabber than an ox, Hunter very dearly wished that he was dressed in something nicer.

“Hi there, I’m Ki Chard.” said Ki, surprisingly taking the initiative and reaching out his left hand to shake hands with their acquaintance.

“Well nice sight you are! You’re to be on the polo team right? I’m on it too! Call me Syke!” said Syke cheerfully, nearly wrenching Ki off of Griffin’s back as he shook Ki’s hand. Ki had to grab hold of Griffin’s mane in order to stay aboard. “Who’s your pretty lady? She’s a morgan right? It’s the ears. My little girl is a parliamentary guard reject. She turned out bay instead of black. I call her Bright. I’ll introduce you to her later.”

Ki managed to retrieve his hand from Syke’s grasp, shaking it a little and wincing. “Her name is Griffin. Stagecoach reject.”

“Crisp, us rejects and stick together then. If you’re Ki Chard, then this big guy here is your brother Hunter Chard right?” said Syke, beaming up at Hunter and snatching his hand to shake it.

“Uh yeah - er, how do you know who we are?” asked Hunter uncertainly.

“’cus you’re my roomies.” said Syke brightly, pulling out a slip of paper and waving it in Hunter’s face. Catching it, Hunter peered at it curiously. They had gotten a piece of paper like this, but it was currently packed away in Griffin’s saddle bags with Ki’s stuff.

DORM:
Mongolia, MF5R12

STABLE BLOCK:
Tibet S13

PREMIER:
Morwen Avery

OCCUPANTS:
Hunter F. Chard
Ki Chard
Shane J. Garrison
Percival Skye
Kane Smith
Marcus D. Yale

“We’re rooming with a Chartani?” asked Hunter, surprised. “I don’t see you here Syke.”

“Where?” Ki nearly fell off Griffin again in an attempt to look at the precious paper.

“’Yale.’ That’s a Chartani sur.” said Hunter, pointing it out.

“I’m there.” said Syke patiently, reaching back up for the paper. “I’m right below Ki, see? ‘Shane J. Garrison.’ That just sounds bloody pompous though, which is why I call myself ‘Syke’ instead. Oh and don’t worry about the Chartani bo. If he starts acting all ‘greater-than-thou’ I can probably find a way to get him deported.”

Though Syke was only joking, Hunter took another look at the guy’s name and flinched. The surname ‘Garrison’ was no joke at all and was in fact extremely famous, almost as famous as the surname Fletch. If members of the Fletch family were often thought of the Rimarian equivalent of royalty, then Syke’s family were like high ranking lords in the imaginary court hierarchy, loyal supporters of the Fletch. Along with the Harms family, the Garrisons had been backing up the Fletches in all their conquests for centuries and descended from two very distinct police officers who in their time, had helped the Fletch work out the governing system of the first colony. It was whispered by many that the Fletch and their closest supporters knew things about Rimer which were completely unknown to the rest of the world’s human inhabitants.

Perhaps the proof in this was that despite the fact that both Escavia and the international parliament had democratic systems of governing, there had never been a single ruler who had not carried the surname Fletch.

Hunter stared at Syke curiously, wondering what strange state secrets were shifting within the bo’s mind.

“Whatcha staring at? Hey, what are you in anyway Hunter? Are you a horsemen too? Your lady looks a lil’ old, pardon my saying.” said Syke. “What’s her name again?”

“Sprite.” said Hunter, snapping out of it. “I’m entering anthropology.”

At these words Syke made a face at Ki, as if the notion of rooming with a scientist was a little disgusting. Hunter was a little off put when Ki sniggered.

“Your brother’s a traitor.” Syke informed Ki, turning and taking the reins of both of their horses. Syke looked back at Hunter and winked as he started leading their horses along the boulevard. “Just kidding. But since you’re so smart, you have to promise to help us intelligence-challenged folks get through the academic stuff ‘kay?”

“Sure.” said Hunter, smiling. How could somebody carrying the surname ‘Garrison’ be so normal?

“Hey relax kids. I’m no copper or ‘nothing. That’s just my folks. I’m the odd member of the family.” Syke reassured them. “I’m here because I’m no good at fighting so I’m worthless as a cop or a soldier or a guard. Anyway, how about I give you guys the grand tour? This is Fletch Street by the way - pretty crisp part of town - note the ungodly amounts of leather polish on the locals…”

Sure enough, strolling or trotting by were some of the nicest dressed people Hunter had ever seen. Horses here had coats so shiny that they almost sparkled, their tack oiled up so shiny that it shown like a mirror in the fall sunshine. Instead of wearing pale or drab colours, many of the people here wore harder-to-acquire prestigious brights, in shades of eye-popping scarlet, deep purple, butternut squash orange and even a glorious blue which Hunter had only ever seen in paint, a colour acquired through crushing up pieces of precious lapis lazuli into a fine powder. Difficult to make lace rimmed collars and necklines, accenting outfits which already looked ridiculously rich.

I’m not even a humble ox here. I’m a scruffy old stray mutt. thought Hunter, uncomfortably aware of his own attire again.

“Hey, don’t worry Hunter.” said Syke, seeing his face. “At S.I.R.U. they make us wear uniforms so we all look equal.”

“Yeah but I feel awful now.” grumbled Hunter.

“Don’t sweat it, these jerks are all politicians anyway, they only care about each other.” said Syke, sounding not very reassuring at all. “Hmmm, sights - well, up ahead is the international hospital! But you probably won’t ever have to go there. There’s a whole dorm full of wannabe healers on campus after all…”

Hunter was just in time to see Ki pointedly avert his gaze as they road past the massive stone complex, in front of which stood several teams of giant white grey percherons harnessed to ambulance carts, on call in case of emergency. Next they rode past the conveniently next door International Sports complex, a truly massive facility built out of more stone to fit thousands. In front of it was a massive bronze sculpture of a full four member hynorse chariot team, the hynorses depicted in stunning detail as they ran full out, the female kiri in their chariot pulling hard on the leads of the lead edger hynorse. Since the statue was quite famous, Syke led them up to it for a better look, then they continued on their way.

They passed a library, a museum, a lot of other buildings Syke said were important and finally the International Parliament itself before they even got close to their university. Hunter was rather disappointed by parliament, considering what he had heard about it and hadn’t even quite realized that they were beside it until they passed the main gates, which were barred against traffic with wrought iron gates and guarded by two black uniformed men who scowled at them. Craning his head, Hunter thought he could see the famous green stained copper roof of the main building, but all too soon all he could see was lengths and lengths of fifty-foot high wall again.

“Horrible bastards.” growled Syke, making a rude hand gesture in the direction of the guards. “Barring me out, I’ll see about that -”

“Syke, what are you talking about?” asked Hunter.

Syke seemed a little embarrassed. “Um, well… my girlfriend lives at parliament. She’s the daughter of one of the people who works there, but we’re not really supposed to be going out so I have to sneak in in order to see her ‘cus the captain of the guard really hates me. He thinks it’s fun to send his lackeys to hunt me down like prey. Pretty rude really.”

“This is why girls are trouble.” muttered Ki. Hunter shook his head, as always completely unable to comprehend his brother.

“Girls aren’t trouble.” said Syke, aghast. “Girls are great! Have you ever had a girlfriend Ki?”

“No and I never will.” said Ki, a little shortly.

“Tch, you don’t know anything yet…” said Syke, but Hunter was fairly sure that Ki had already tuned out of the conversation. Syke had been leading them alongside a long brick wall for some time and finally they came upon a set of wide open iron gates, elegant and very heavy things which must have been made by some master. Vines had crawled up the walls of the complex, their purple flowers still blooming strong in the autumn cool. Reminded of the cold, Hunter started pleasantly contemplating settling in for the night. Casting a careful eye on Ki, he could tell his brother was getting tired, which meant soon he would be getting snappier. Ki was one of those people who became more temperamental the more exhausted they became, which, since, Ki was tired nearly all the time, was not a very good thing.

They passed through the gates, past a slick brass plate reading SERENITY INTERNATIONAL RIMARIAN UNIVERSITY and into grounds so expansive that Hunter couldn’t see the back wall of the place. Rare Gaian oak trees dotted the campus, shading the cobblestone pathways and manicured shadow striped lawns. Here and there, students were sprawled, all of them wearing the light purple and white of the university. Many of them read from books and scrolls and looked up to wave as they went past. Stone buildings were everywhere, none of them over five stories, but all of them as impressive as castles. Syke said that they were all named after different countries of ancient Earth and that buildings were named in honour of countries which contained the attributes which the students who studied in the building sought.

Their stable block, home to the polo team, was named for the ancient country of Tibet, where polo had been originally invented. According to Syke, it had been in ancient Asia where horsemanship had really been born, so all the buildings associated with the equestrian arts were typically named for countries which had played a part in the development of the horse. Indeed, the dormitory where they would live for the next four years was named for Mongolia, since the ancient Mongolians had been a culture that had revolved around the horse. Since most of the students living in the Mongolian dorm were being groomed to be the master equestrians of the future, the idea of the students seeking to revolve their lives around horses made sense.

Hunter wasn’t so sure he fancied living with a bunch of horse-obsessed jocks, figuring that having one was bad enough, but he also hated the idea of not being close enough to look after his brother. Once, when Hunter was eleven he had gone to work for their uncle Cen for a few days, leaving Ki behind at home. When he had returned, he had not been able to get rid of Ki for a full month. Luckily, Ki was not the irritating sort, so Hunter hadn’t really minded.

Again, Hunter had become so engrossed in the scenery and thinking that he hadn’t really been paying attention to where they were. Almost too soon they were being introduced to a friendly senior named Jaro Jenks (who was also majoring in equestrian) and untacking their tired horses. Much like Syke, Jaro was a slightly nosy sort of person and used the excuse of putting away their tack for them as an excuse to question them about their riding skills mercilously. He lost interest in Hunter completely when he learned that Hunter was bound for anthropology, but unlike Syke did not seem to care that Hunter was smart. All Jaro cared about was figuring out what type of rider Ki was.

It did not matter what field you were in. No matter what, your peers would always find a way to assess your work, thus discovering where you sat in the social hierarchy. So it was that Jaro was quite disappointed to realize that Ki could possibly outride him, when Hunter got sick of Ki’s meek replies and told Jaro that Ki could trick ride.

There wasn’t much in the equestrian field which could beat trick riding.

All the way up to their dorm Jaro and Syke excitedly quizzed Ki about it, until finally Hunter had to step in, telling them that if they were lucky, another day Ki would show them.

“Fat chance.” Hunter distinctly heard Ki whisper in his ear as they approached their dorm building.


And that's it. Also, for anyone that's confused, 'bo' is basically the EB era slang word for 'guy.'

Alternate EB Intro - Part 1

The following was an alternate version of the opening for my book Emperor's Blood, which was created because at one point, I was iffy about the beginning which is still in use today. This alternate version was scrapped because though I liked the new characters of Dr. Winsor and his wife, I did not like how Ki was being characterized though I did like his rare attention for details. I also liked Hunter's quick introduction to Rimer as a different place from Earth, but this is better explored in the current version of EB. Some aspects of this piece survive in the current version of the opening and please keep in mind that this is not the prologue, but just the first chapter. This was written at least a year ago and at this point, is unedited. Part 2 to follow.

“Hunter Chard, following the previous question - in what year did our species arrive on Rimer?”

Looking up from his own notes from where he sat at the back of the room, seventeen year old Ki Chard watched his brother’s face, wondering if Hunter would know the answer to such a potentially difficult question. Realizing that his staring might be distracting, Ki let his attention drift throughout the airy wood panelled examination room. Along one wall of the third story room windows had been opened to let the rich summer wind drift in, sweeping in the myriad scents of the city and its daylight. The exam room itself was arrayed so that the students sat in stone bleachers, looking down upon their teacher, who usually stood where Hunter did now, in front of the chalk scuffed black slateboard beside the wide wooden teacher’s desk.

Directly above the slateboard and Hunter’s head was an woodblock print of a snarling female falcolf. While the main high school in Seamist was popular, it wasn’t important or rich enough for a full painting in every classroom, so prints had been bought instead. The prints supposedly represented the goddess Kayli Calmspring of learning, her expression to warn idle students from slacking off in their studies, but Ki had seen better renditions of the god in his time and knew that the prints looked nothing like her. For one thing, her facial stripes were completely wrong. Though Ki was not the sort of person to mention it, he remembered details well, facts sticking in his head rather like nut butter. Sometimes it was even hard to stop thinking about such things and at the moment, as the prints had for perhaps the entirety of his high school education, Ki was irked by the lack of accuracy in them.

Unfortunately, he also wasn’t one to volunteer a solution. That was Hunter’s job. Where Hunter was charismatic and outgoing, Ki was reclusive and meek. Nobody could ever tell what had gone wrong with Ki and since he had been raised the same as his foster brother, all anyone could do was blame Ki’s anti social tendencies on the fact that he was an orphan. Unfortunately, in Ki’s opinion this view did not hold much in the way of merit either, because the simple truth was that unlike most orphans, Ki did not actually particularly care that he had never met his parents. Bluntly put, it was Ki’s belief that if he never met his parents or discovered what had happened to him, the lack of truth would not bother him in the slightest.

“Um. I believe this is a trick question.” said Hunter momentarily. Ki looked keenly at him, intrigued by his proclamation.

“Oh? Is it?” asked the teacher in charge of the oral exam. He was rather tall and balding, a friendly enough individual, but not one Ki had ever really liked. His name was Donald Richardson.

“Well yes sir. You haven’t stated what calendar you want the answer in, or if you’re talking about humans in general, or just the exploratory team of the U.N.E. Griffin. Also, if we’re talking humans in general, then you have to take into account that humans arrived in three groups, several years apart, counting the exploratory team.” said Hunter, sweat beading on his face as he stood in his too-warm school uniform, rather than the simple sarong he would of usually of worn on a summer day. Ki wasn’t sure what the difference was between winter and summer, other than appearance, but from a young age he had ascertained that whatever the difference was, it had a big effect on the people around him, while none whatsoever on him. Hunter called it ‘temperature’ but Ki had never had the faintest idea what temperature was, only that sometimes it made Hunter shiver and others it made him stink to high heaven.

Like now.

Ki glanced at Richardson irritably, wanting the man to hurry up so he and Hunter could leave.

“Ah, canny are you?” said the teacher, pleased. “Well, answer all the questions within the question then Mr. Chard.”

“Er, yes.” gulped Hunter. He had been hoping to dodge out as much as possible. Ki snorted.

“Well sir.” said Hunter, clearing his throat and pulling his scratchy collar further away from his neck. The combination of the yellow wool sweater and Hunter’s salty sweat was horrendous. Ki coughed and for a second Hunter’s eyes alighted on him worriedly. Scowling, Ki looked determinedly out the window, down the city-covered hill to the deep blue of the sea…

“For the Rimarian calendar, the human occupation of Rimer begins between the years 1 B.H. - ‘Before Humans’ - and 11 A.G. - ‘After Gaia.’ ‘Gaia’ is the name used for the original home world of our race, which our ancestors called ‘Earth,’ like dirt. Also, this question can not be answered with the Gaian calendar, because it officially fell into disuse by order of the United Nations of Earth - the U.N.E. - before our ancestors had even arrived and as such there is no record available from which to reference a year date.” said Hunter confidently, another droplet of sweat dribbling down his nose from his greasy hairline.

“Hmm.” said Richardson, smiling a little as he wrote something down. Hunter fidgeted with his shirt some more, looking almost more uncomfortable than a horse in labour. The teacher straightened from his careful notes, dipping his quill in the provided cup of water and dabbed it dry on a rag before speaking. “Moving on; why did our ancestors abandon their modern technology for the wheel and horse? Why can’t we live as well as they once did?”

“Because our ancestor’s way of living was deemed ‘wasteful’ and ‘unhealthy’ by the first explorers Zachary Fletch and Sarah Chartier, who later became revered leaders of our kind. They said that the way our ancestors lived was very dangerous, because in ancient Gaia it had harmed the planet and thus its people, which was why our species had to come here. By living with the land, instead of against it, we can preserve the land for future generations of humans and for all species on this world.” said Hunter. Ki was impressed. He would of never of thrown in that last sentence; lucky for him he wasn’t bound for anything academic.

“Hmm. Now I believe you wrote a detailed essay on this exact topic Mr. Chard?” asked Richardson. He checked his notes. “You called it ‘The Effects of Global Warming on H. sapiens.’ Impressive knowledge of latin for somebody who used to forget all the names in biology.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir, biology doesn’t much interest me sir.”

“Then I’ll ask you a new question, unrelated; in what year according to the Gaian calendar did the famous ‘World War I’ begin, what instigated it and what countries took part?” asked the teacher. Ki could not believe it; the man was deliberately trying to throw Hunter off! He glared at the man angrily. If he didn’t pass Hunter, then Ki would see the teachers underpants up the school flagpole faster than he could blink. Fuming, he looked at Hunter and was surprised to see that Hunter was calm.

“Very well sir; World War I began on June 28th 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. It was instigated partially by Archduke Ferdinand’s murder, as well as by foreign Imperialistic policy. There were two different factions during the war, the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was comprised primarily of the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire, with other nations such as New Zealand, Newfoundland, Australia, Canada, Serbia, Belgium, India and Romania drawn in through politics, the United States of America joining towards the very end. The Triple Alliance comprised of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary.” said Hunter, rushing a little. Gulping like a fish again, he looked inquiringly at the teacher.

“You even remembered that Newfoundland was yet to become a province of Canada at that point in ancient human history.” commented Richardson without looking up.

“You said it was best to remember as much as possible sir. Newfoundland and Canada as well as the other countries may not be important to our culture, but it’s where my ancestors came from, so I took a personal interest in it.” said Hunter, giving Ki a rather guilty glance.

Ki rolled his eyes in response; he didn’t care about lineage.

“For interest then Mr. Chard, what nations contributed to the numbers of the first colonists?”

“The United States of America, Canada, Russia, Japan, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, various nations of Europe such as Germany, China and India.” said Hunter.

“And the original human name for Rimer?” asked Richardson, as smug as a cat after a successful hunt.

“P346576. The name ‘Rim-err’ is native fallan.” said Hunter.

“Very good.” said Richardson. “Now, what’s your reason for wanting to become a Fallan Anthropologist?”

“Sir, we so much about our species’ history, but nearly nothing about the order Falla. If I can bring some of their history to scientific light, then I will of helped in our pursuit of knowledge. There are over thirty known species of sentient falla - think of all the history there is to each species sir!” said Hunter passionately, his voice no longer hesitant. “Not just human kind would find this interesting, but the falla themselves too!”

“Falla are a lot more dangerous to study than humans Mr. Chard.” Richardson pointed out.

“I’m not scared if I can meet with them on equal terms.”

“And if you can’t?” asked Richardson.

“Then I’ll die happily in the pursuit of greater knowledge.” proclaimed Hunter nobly. Ki tried not to groan at his brother’s lack of self preservation instinct.

“Very well.” sighed Richardson, obviously finding Hunter just as ridiculous as Ki did. “I’ll strongly recommend you to S.I.R.U… but Ki?”

Ki started at the mention of his name and looked up warily, disregarding the on-the-spot jig of glee Hunter was currently performing. Whenever Richardson called Ki out it was usually not a good thing…

“He’s already been excepted into their equestrian program.” said Hunter, assuming his accustomed self-proclaimed duty of speaking on Ki’s behalf. “He was too sick to ride in their skills test, but based on the superior skills Coach Moro says he has they’re letting him in anyway. Coach Moro is a good judge they said.”

“Ah, well then no worries about your lacking academic standing Ki.” sighed Richardson with relief. Like the two brothers, he was used to Ki’s quiet manner and to Hunter being his smaller brother’s voice. For years Richardson had attempted to get Ki into public speaking but time after time Ki had failed to perform. Eventually, he had resorted to always partnering the brothers together, so when it came to presentation time Ki would not have to speak. Yet this special treatment was not really because of Ki’s profound antisocialism, but because beyond that, Ki was ill and had been since he was very small.

Richardson paused for a moment, regarding Ki.

“Ki, are you well enough to attend S.I.R.U? I’ve heard their course is quite demanding.” said Richardson.

Ki looked hopefully at Hunter, but his brother shook his head stubbornly. He was making Ki speak this time. As usual, when Ki opened his mouth his voice just seemed weak, like he could think clearer than he could speak.

“Um. I believe so sir.” said Ki, voice hardly a whisper.

“They might not think much of you Ki.” cautioned Richardson. “You’re not very big. Generally horse people are bigger.”

Irritated, Ki glared at him. “Not jockeys. It doesn’t matter what size a person is, it’s whether a horse will listen or not. Horses listen to me.”

“It’s true sir. He was riding solo a year before I was brave enough.” said Hunter. “He could trick ride when he was ten.”

Richardson shook his head incredulously, checking his windup pocket watch. “Well, I have more hopefuls to test, so you two had best get on your way. Good luck at S.I.R.U. you two. I’m expecting great things - of both of you.”

“I’ll take good care of Ki.” promised Hunter, walking up the steps to Ki’s seat and helping him up. Ki grumbled rather furiously at needing help just to stand, recalling how content he had been just sitting. Today was not one of his better days and swallowing his pride, he grasped Hunter’s high shoulder, irritated that his companion was so tall. At only five foot four, Ki was more than a little short for a guy. Hunter on the other hand, was almost six feet tall and approaching the status of skyscraper. (Skyscrapers were legendary buildings that had existed on Gaia, so tall that their roofs were in the clouds. Ki had only ever seen a few prints of them and from what he saw, they had indeed been very large.)

“You always do.” said Richardson blandly as they left the room. “It’s too bad Ki can’t take care of Hunter.”

The door closed before Ki could retort and he glared at it like it had personally offended him, which it probably had at some point, according to his memory. Hunter ruffled Ki’s short, bristly hair and as several girls walked by in the long hallway, Ki could of sworn his brother struck a pose. Ki groaned; didn’t his brother ever stop thinking about the opposite sex?

“Heehee they think I’m considerate.” smirked Hunter, pleased with himself. Ki rolled his eyes and started walking away from Hunter as fast as he could manage, so Hunter had to dash to catch up.

“Either that or they think you’re gay.” Ki commented, grinning when he saw Hunter scowl.

“No way! Everyone knows we’re brothers.” said Hunter incredulously.

“Not by blood.” Ki wickedly pointed out. Reaching the stairwell, he had to pause to catch his breath. Since he was used to being weak and in truth did not even really know what it felt like to be normal, Ki actually found it rather annoying to have people doting on him. Hunter was the only exception to this, because from the beginning, Hunter had been Ki’s protector.

In truth, Hunter’s attitude towards Ki had really started the day they had both entered public education. Hunter had been excitedly looking forwards to the day for months, planning what he would wear and dreaming of what his teacher would be like. Equally, Ki had been planning for the day too - planning to escape it. Unable to see the point in education since all he wanted to do was ride horses which did not really require much intelligence, Ki had protested the order which had come to their door. All kids had to go it said, but Ki had not wanted to and from that day until the first day of class, as well as for years after, he had dreaded school.

Six year old Ki had done everything possible to avoid it. He had hidden his new school clothes on the roof of their house where nobody but him was brave enough to go and had hidden himself in the stable, which in afterthought he would realize was a very stupid place to hide considering that he usually hid there. Almost like clockwork Eva had shown up, shaking her head as she regarded his poor attempt at hiding himself with the straw of Snip’s stall, the gelding standing protectively over him. Seeing her, Ki had tried to get onto Snip to ride away, but had not been tall enough to reach the horse’s withers, much less his mane. Cursing his short legs, Ki had glumly followed Eva to the house, where she had forced him into retrieving his clothes and donning them.

A few minutes later, a very grumpy six year old and his disgustingly cheerful brother had set off on the two kilometre walk to Seamist. So it was that Ki was forced to attend the institution which he had dreaded, not because he was worried at having his weakness exposed, but because from as far back as he could remember - which was a lot further back than Hunter - Ki had thought that there might be something odd about himself. So, that inevitable, embarrassing morning Ki would remember forever the stark detail of learning how right he had been all along. Too right in fact. The moment Ki had entered his first classroom he had realized instantly, along with the twenty children already loitering around inside the room, that he was not just odd, but very, very different. The definition of weird.

When Ki was little, he used to hope that he would meet somebody who looked like him, in the hopes of discovering that at least he wasn’t the only one in the world. But that day in the classroom he had learned the difference, because out of all the children, not a single one had eyes like his, or even hair. They were a typical lot; blonde haired ones with blue eyes, brown haired ones, even a dark one or two. Ki saw brown, black, hazel, green and grey eyes. But he did not see amber. He did not see anyone of pale complexion with bristly dark hair, the tips of each strand ticked with white, like a tabby cat’s fur. As the kids stared back at him, meeting his golden hued irises, everyone in the room had understood immediately.

Ki was not the same as them.

It does not matter how well you are brought up or taught; children (and adults) are automatically prejudice against that which they do not understand. Ki had grown up apart from the city for the most part and beforehand had always attributed the lack of people like them to the notion that perhaps they were rare. But even the teacher stared at Ki that day and as Hunter entered the room behind him, Hunter understood it too.

“You’re weird.” a girl had boldly called out.

Ki had wanted to sink into the floor like spilled water, but at that exact instance, six year old Hunter comprehended that nobody else was going to defend his brother. Stepping out in front of Ki, he had glared at all the other occupants of the room, including the teacher.

“So are you! Say that again and I’ll break your nose.”

To this day, Ki still could not really understand how Hunter’s brain worked, nor how such a comparatively stupid six year old had managed to understand that without him, Ki probably would have been labelled a social outcast. Of course, Ki had eventually become one anyway, particularly since on almost the same day he decided he disliked other people, but all the same, Hunter had made his life easier.

“Hey-hey Ki, slow down you idiot! You don’t want to look out of breath for Doctor Winsor!”

Ki paused on his way to the doors which would grant him freedom into the city and looked around at Hunter, panting like a hound behind him.

“This is why Eva told us to leave the horses?” growled Ki angrily. He did not like visiting the doctor whatsoever. All he ever heard from such visits was new and increasingly boring information about how mysteriously ill he was. All doctor visits really did for Ki was remind him of how much of a freak he was. Gold eyes were not a normal shade for a person. “’Let them rest’ she said.”

“Well… you know.” said Hunter apologetically, leaning on the wall to catch his breath. “Mattie and Eva both told me to make sure you went, or they won’t let you go to S.I.R.U. with me. Really Ki, it’s just a check up.”

“I don’t want a check up.” snapped Ki, shoving open the front doors and gliding as quickly as possible down the main driveway to the street, ignoring the sports team who shouted something about horses as he left.

“You have no choice! Doctor Winsor even promised to have us arrested if you didn’t come on your own! Come on Ki, don’t be a pest about it! It’s for your own good!” cried Hunter, catching up again finally. He grabbed Ki’s thin wrist, giving Ki a pained look. “Please urra?”

‘Urra’ was fallan for ‘dear friend.’ Ki sighed.

“Fine. But please remember that when Eva and Mattie feed me salad ‘for my own good’ I always feel worse afterwards.” gritted Ki, yanking free his wrist. “Don’t touch me.”

“Ki, we’re brothers.” said Hunter, aggravated. “You don’t complain when Eva hugs you!”

“That’s ‘cus she can make my life hell if I protest. You can’t.” said Ki pleasantly.

“Sure I can… ah hell. There’s no arguing with you.” said Hunter, shaking his head. “See if I don’t tackle you the second Doc says you’re well.”

“I’m not a piece of ceramic.” grumbled Ki as they turned onto the busy thoroughfare, breathing in the humid summer air. Distantly he could smell something baking and in the market, far distant and combined with the odours of the nearby sea he could smell fish. The very thought of fish made his stomach twinge hungrily. What he wouldn’t do for some right now. Fish was his favourite food and it did not even matter what kind it was, because Ki loved them all.

They continued down into the city, passing travellers and locals going about the everyday business of life. Kids played on the steps of their houses while their parents worked; horses pulling carts and carrying riders clipped by, filling the city with their smell. A shepherd tried to convince his erstwhile flock to keep moving, while a complaining smith looked on from his shop. Finally after wading through a veritable sea of sheep, in which Hunter fit in perfectly scent-wise, they reached the general store, on top of which was the office of Doctor Winsor. Climbing the stairs at the side of the whitewashed clay brick building, Hunter knocked on the door before letting them in.

The waiting area was very small, the walls painted with fading whitewash dyed yellow with chamomile and decorated with dried herbs. Whicker chairs with patchwork quilted cushions were arranged about the room and a six pane window was open to show a view of the sea. Doctor Winsor’s wife sat in attendance at the secretary’s desk, a mountain of files taking up the extensive wall shelf behind her. She was a fairly old woman, wrinkle skinned and grey haired, wearing a dress of pink linen embroidered with white flowers by her own hand. A rare quill fashioned from a falcolf feather was held ready in her hand as she looked kindly up at them.

“Oh, it’s Ki and Hunter! Nice to see you again!” said Mrs. Winsor, smiling genuinely.

This was how you could tell you visited the doctor too often - when they knew you on sight by your first name.

“Hey Mrs. Winsor! I love your dress, is it new…?” Hunter immediately went to greet her, Ki instantly making a beeline for the chair farthest from her desk.

“Not at all, but thank you for noticing!” said Mrs. Winsor, not fooled at all by Ki’s performance. “Ki, jaded as always?”

“Yes.” said Ki, unabashed.

“Ki has issues.” said Hunter cheerfully. “He’s confused by his identity.”

“Orphans usually are.” said Doctor Winsor, entering from his office. He was a short man, in his sixties with a bit of a paunch accentuated rather badly by his waistcoat. His brown hair and beard were peppered with silver, but all the grey did was make him look more noble. The doctor smiled at Ki. “So, the authorities weren’t needed after all. I could of done it you know. My brother’s a cop.”

“I didn’t realize the police made house calls for wayward patients avoiding medical treatment.” said Ki wryly and the doctor laughed.

“Not usually, but my brother said he’d make an exception for you, since he has a personal interest in you. I told you once that he was the desk clerk on duty when you were brought in as a baby…?” said Doctor Winsor.

“My past comes back to haunt me.” said Ki, shaking his head and laughing a little as he carefully stood back up. “I remember you telling me that sir.”

“Good. Now, shall we get on with the exam?” said Doctor Winsor, taking hold of Ki’s shoulder. Hunter nodded encouragement to Ki and continued chatting with the doctor’s friendly wife. The doctor guided Ki into his office, closing the door behind him and letting Ki sit on the examination table.

“I’m feeling better.” said Ki brightly.

“Liar.” said Doctor Winsor, pulling a stethoscope from his drawer. “You’re the same as always.”

“Then why the check up if you know nothing has changed?”

“Because I want you to get better, that’s why, but as always I’m baffled as to why you’re sick. I’ve monitored your diet, excersize, sleep before, but all that should be fine, yet still something about you is off. I can’t place it. Your body looks out of proportion somehow, which makes me think you should be taller. But you’re not. You’re shorter than you should be from what I can tell from my past examinations. Growing up your growth rate was very slow and still is.” said Doctor Winsor, instructing Ki to take off his shirt and placing the stethoscope against Ki’s thin chest. “Heart rate is fine. As always you’re damn pale, no matter how much time you spend outside careening about on that horse of yours and being useless.”

Doctor Winsor paused and felt Ki’s forehead, his hand rough against Ki’s skin, making Ki flinch. “As always, you’re running that god damn fever. I have no idea how you do it Ki; with a temperature this high you should be dead.”

“I feel fine.”

“Hmph! ‘Fine’ for you and ‘fine’ for normal people are two different things.” said Doctor Winsor, scribbling down a note in Ki’s immense folder. Ki could swear that that same folder never left this room. He didn’t think he had ever seen Mrs. Winsor take it out of filing. Her husband spent too much time puzzling over it to ever put it away.

“You’re unchanged.” grumbled Doctor Winsor, obviously having hoped for a variation. “Eyes open while I look - normal. Tongue - normal. Reflexes -”

Doctor Winsor tossed an egg suddenly at Ki and without even barely seeing it Ki caught it in a flash, not even breaking it as his fingers closed around it.

“- above average. If you weren’t so sick I’d recommend you for the army. You’d probably do well.” said Doctor Winsor.

“I hate killing chickens sir, do you really think I could kill another human?” asked Ki sourly.

“Probably not, but you could always pretend to be a poor archer.” shrugged Doctor Winsor, now throwing a measuring tape about Ki’s waist. “Scrawny. They wouldn’t want you in the line up anyway; you’d disrupt the uniform look of the ranks.”

“How kind of you.” grated Ki.

“Not at all. You’re too damn short. If you loosed an arrow it would only hit the bo in front of you.”

“Why must you insult me?” growled Ki.

“I don’t know. I figure at this point insults are the way to go; kindness never made you grow any faster.” said Doctor Winsor, winking at him. “This works out anyway. We’re both jaded, so we can be grumpy together.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” said Doctor Winsor, his face turning sad. “You know, you’re the only person I’ve never even been able to diagnose. Hurts my pride, but I’m sending a copy of your records to a young colleague of mine in Serenity. His name is Recon Sivol. He works at the hospital there - he might be able to help you. He’s pretty brilliant.”

“I hate examinations.” stated Ki.

“I know I can’t make you go.” sighed Doctor Winsor, shaking his head. “But Ki, what if this disease - or whatever it is - kills you?”

“I really don’t think I need to worry about it sir.” said Ki, pulling his shirt back on. The doctor looked like he wanted to protest, but Ki stopped him with a jerk of his head. “It hasn’t killed me yet. It won’t kill me now.”

“I hope you’re right.” sighed Doctor Winsor. “I really hope so.”

“I am.” said Ki, trying to sound confident as he went to the door. “Thanks for trying to help me sir.”

“You’re welcome… good luck.” said the doctor and as Ki left the room, he realized that the doctor had not really mentioned S.I.R.U. or Ki’s future at all. In fact, the doctor’s well wishes had been quite ambiguous.

“Come on Hunter - let’s go home.”