Awakening for Ru'Sala
If one was to ask me when I was ‘born’, I could tell you the night it happened. It was the first time I made a choice of my own that wasn’t in regards to food or survival. At the time, I didn’t know where I’d escaped from, only that it was a place I never wanted to return to. It was the home of a Huge, white serpent with feathered wings. A being so beloved that it turned night into day by sheer presence. Yet, I still managed to escape from its home.
Days had trickled past, hunger gnawed at me constantly yet I lacked the strength to do more than gather or defend myself. So began my tenure in fear.
I feared the serpent.
I feared the animals who would devour me.
I feared my what I was.
Most of all, I feared what I heard in my mind. Two voices spoke and I tried to banish them but they always returned. One was softer but closer to me, yet it shared my fear and thus a kinship had started to form.
The other was bold, loud and seemed amused at my suffering. I didn’t like it as much.
That night, though, it was quiet and only the soft voice was with me. Somehow, it’d known there were some mushrooms that were safe to eat. It was a rather large log covered in them and I’d devoured every one. For once, my hunger pangs had diminished somewhat.
A new scent filled my nose, returning my hunger. It was similar to meat but many times more powerful. My mouth watered so much I thought I might drown before reaching the source. Moving on a sometimes all four and sometimes two limbs, I hurried after the smell.
Though the shadows were as bright as midday to me, a brilliance blinded me momentarily as I crashed into the clearing. Above flames sat a haunch of meat on a long pole. Reaching out a hand, I touched the pole and hissed in pain. It was hot!
My actions toppled the food to the other side of the fire. Biting into the meat, its flavor made my whole body quiver. I bit into the meat again. And again. Before I knew it, the meat was gone but for flecks attached to my muzzle.
The heat from the fire made me sleepy, My senses dulled and the world drifted into darkness. The bold voice condescended, “Just so you’re aware, you’ve been captured.”
“What?”
“That meat had something in it to make you fall asleep. You’re currently being loaded into a cage and cart. I don’t know where they’re taking you.”
The fearful voice asked, “Should we escape?”
“No, they might give me more meat,” I rejected and drifted into the darkness. It was warm, comfortable and safe there.
My eyes didn’t open until the next evening, as the last vestiges of daylight vanished over the rim of the world. Once more, hunger was pulling at me. Yet, what I found in front of me was the same meat on the steel of my cage.
The one who had delivered it took a step back. Apparently my rousing had surprised him. A lean, looking person with hair a deep auburn of tree trunks. The studded clothing on his body was black with an image blazoned on its chest. Seeing me hurriedly force the meat into my maw, the person slid a second piece in. His lips widened into an expression I mimicked before taking up the second piece.
Hunger saitied, I noticed mine was only one in several rows of cages. Being the newest arrival, I was closest to the multitude of small structures. The soft voice commented, “That’s a lot of tents. Hmmm, looks like they’re some sort of army.”
“Army?”
“See how they’re all wearing the same thing? They’re soldiers.”
“I see, that must mean they’re well prepared. So, no need to break out if they’re gonna keep feeding me.”
The fearful voice tugged at my mind in worry but I was content to curl up and watch these soldiers mill about. They moved this way and that, barking at each other. Time drifted by. That was when I noticed the meat provider standing beside my cage. It stared.
Before it could react, a white figure stepped out of the structure behind it. One hand wrapped around the meat provider’s mouth as I watched something erupt from its stomach. The meat provider let out several horrible sounds before being pushed to the ground.
Another white figure appeared from the structure and walked to my cage. Both seemed to make noises at each other. Then, they undid the lock on my cage and opened it.
They didn’t bother waiting for me to get out and moved to the next cage. I looked down at the meat provider. All too loudly the bold voice informed me of the obvious, “They killed him.”
My talons sunk into the nearer white one’s neck. It crumpled easily. A second swing brought the other crashing against the steel bars and similarly stained with blood. Fire erupted from several structures and I saw more of the white ones clashing with the soldiers.
It didn’t take long to find the nearest white one. Raking its back with stomp of my foot let me send another onto a fire with a swing of my arm. Again and again, I killed. The white ones kept falling and not moving anymore. When I saw no more, I returned to my cage and curled up to rest. I could still see the remains of the meat provider.
I slept. The darkness wasn’t as warm this time.
When I awoke, the sun has barely risen over the horizon. Meat was there to greet me. When I looked up, the provider was gone. Instead, another figure watched me. This one in shiny, black metal clothes. It was smaller than the original meat provider.
As I ate it made noises at me.
I hated mid bite as I heard, “How about this? Can you understand me now?”
“Y-yes,” I stammered.
“Ah! Okay! My name is Tophen Lightborne.”
I said nothing.Then he continued, “I believe it was you I have to thank for such a quick return to order after last night’s ambush.”
“I was just removing the threat to my next meal….and avenging the one who was kind to me.”
“That’s an awfully mercenary attitude for a lizard.”
“And aren’t you a bit small to be in charge?”
Tophen’s face stretched, just like the meat provider’s had. I mimicked it. The shiny man pulled on the door to my cage, “I like you. Come on out, I may have more food and work for you if you’d hear me out.”
So, I rose to stand and followed him out into the structures. Thus began my journey in my eyes. I was born when I met my first employer.
Days had trickled past, hunger gnawed at me constantly yet I lacked the strength to do more than gather or defend myself. So began my tenure in fear.
I feared the serpent.
I feared the animals who would devour me.
I feared my what I was.
Most of all, I feared what I heard in my mind. Two voices spoke and I tried to banish them but they always returned. One was softer but closer to me, yet it shared my fear and thus a kinship had started to form.
The other was bold, loud and seemed amused at my suffering. I didn’t like it as much.
That night, though, it was quiet and only the soft voice was with me. Somehow, it’d known there were some mushrooms that were safe to eat. It was a rather large log covered in them and I’d devoured every one. For once, my hunger pangs had diminished somewhat.
A new scent filled my nose, returning my hunger. It was similar to meat but many times more powerful. My mouth watered so much I thought I might drown before reaching the source. Moving on a sometimes all four and sometimes two limbs, I hurried after the smell.
Though the shadows were as bright as midday to me, a brilliance blinded me momentarily as I crashed into the clearing. Above flames sat a haunch of meat on a long pole. Reaching out a hand, I touched the pole and hissed in pain. It was hot!
My actions toppled the food to the other side of the fire. Biting into the meat, its flavor made my whole body quiver. I bit into the meat again. And again. Before I knew it, the meat was gone but for flecks attached to my muzzle.
The heat from the fire made me sleepy, My senses dulled and the world drifted into darkness. The bold voice condescended, “Just so you’re aware, you’ve been captured.”
“What?”
“That meat had something in it to make you fall asleep. You’re currently being loaded into a cage and cart. I don’t know where they’re taking you.”
The fearful voice asked, “Should we escape?”
“No, they might give me more meat,” I rejected and drifted into the darkness. It was warm, comfortable and safe there.
My eyes didn’t open until the next evening, as the last vestiges of daylight vanished over the rim of the world. Once more, hunger was pulling at me. Yet, what I found in front of me was the same meat on the steel of my cage.
The one who had delivered it took a step back. Apparently my rousing had surprised him. A lean, looking person with hair a deep auburn of tree trunks. The studded clothing on his body was black with an image blazoned on its chest. Seeing me hurriedly force the meat into my maw, the person slid a second piece in. His lips widened into an expression I mimicked before taking up the second piece.
Hunger saitied, I noticed mine was only one in several rows of cages. Being the newest arrival, I was closest to the multitude of small structures. The soft voice commented, “That’s a lot of tents. Hmmm, looks like they’re some sort of army.”
“Army?”
“See how they’re all wearing the same thing? They’re soldiers.”
“I see, that must mean they’re well prepared. So, no need to break out if they’re gonna keep feeding me.”
The fearful voice tugged at my mind in worry but I was content to curl up and watch these soldiers mill about. They moved this way and that, barking at each other. Time drifted by. That was when I noticed the meat provider standing beside my cage. It stared.
Before it could react, a white figure stepped out of the structure behind it. One hand wrapped around the meat provider’s mouth as I watched something erupt from its stomach. The meat provider let out several horrible sounds before being pushed to the ground.
Another white figure appeared from the structure and walked to my cage. Both seemed to make noises at each other. Then, they undid the lock on my cage and opened it.
They didn’t bother waiting for me to get out and moved to the next cage. I looked down at the meat provider. All too loudly the bold voice informed me of the obvious, “They killed him.”
My talons sunk into the nearer white one’s neck. It crumpled easily. A second swing brought the other crashing against the steel bars and similarly stained with blood. Fire erupted from several structures and I saw more of the white ones clashing with the soldiers.
It didn’t take long to find the nearest white one. Raking its back with stomp of my foot let me send another onto a fire with a swing of my arm. Again and again, I killed. The white ones kept falling and not moving anymore. When I saw no more, I returned to my cage and curled up to rest. I could still see the remains of the meat provider.
I slept. The darkness wasn’t as warm this time.
When I awoke, the sun has barely risen over the horizon. Meat was there to greet me. When I looked up, the provider was gone. Instead, another figure watched me. This one in shiny, black metal clothes. It was smaller than the original meat provider.
As I ate it made noises at me.
I hated mid bite as I heard, “How about this? Can you understand me now?”
“Y-yes,” I stammered.
“Ah! Okay! My name is Tophen Lightborne.”
I said nothing.Then he continued, “I believe it was you I have to thank for such a quick return to order after last night’s ambush.”
“I was just removing the threat to my next meal….and avenging the one who was kind to me.”
“That’s an awfully mercenary attitude for a lizard.”
“And aren’t you a bit small to be in charge?”
Tophen’s face stretched, just like the meat provider’s had. I mimicked it. The shiny man pulled on the door to my cage, “I like you. Come on out, I may have more food and work for you if you’d hear me out.”
So, I rose to stand and followed him out into the structures. Thus began my journey in my eyes. I was born when I met my first employer.