Yori’s life started similar to most raunikayle around that time. He lived on the snowy continent of Aussir, inside one of the concealed caverns hollowed out to protect their kind from the predators that roamed the frosty tundra. By instruction of both his parents and those that lead the small group, Yori was, like all children, not allowed to leave unless under ordered by the heads of their tiny village.
Yori wasn’t any different than most of the other children, interested in leaving to explore the outside despite the many warnings of the elders in the village. Physically, Yori was noticeably smaller and weaker when compared to others his age, but thankfully that seemed to not be too terrible an issue for him at the time. Eventually, around the age of 4, Yori found a chance to slip out of the cavern, and from there he ran towards the edge of the water, where he looked on to see a small camp. The camp was empty and a young Yori, eager to see things he had not seen before, led him to run over and look at the various items that was there. From objects made of some sort of cold, hard substance he had never seen before, to pelts made from the very animals that hunted his kind. From the look of them, the objects were attached to sticks or a fancier looking substance of the same make as the heavy ends. The items were rigid and sharp along the colder parts and most of which were heavy, weighing to much for Yori to even lift them.
Eventually, after a couple failed attempts to take some of the objects, Yori moved towards an odd item that sat on top of a wooden crate. It was somewhat heavy, but lighter than the other objects by far, and was only a bit smaller than himself. Picking up the odd item, Yori opened it and flipped through the object, each of the odd textured sheets had something of a mystical feel to them. Each one had a jumbled assortment of letters on them that, for the life of himself, couldn’t understand at all, but even still it intrigued him enough to keep it.
As the young Yori began to leave, voices could be heard, talking loudly amongst themselves as they walked over. Yori quickly began to run, holding the oversized item close to him before tripping on a patch of ice that was covered by the snow.
“Huh? HEY!”
The voice launched into his direction as Yori quickly tried to get up while clutching the book in his tiny arms, but soon enough, one of the three voices caught up to him, the loudest and gruffest one of the lot. Yori looked on at the massive creature of red and white scales, to which adults called the demons of the outerworld. Up until now though, none had been sighted in a long time, and to the raunikayle that lived on Aussir, they almost considered them to be mythic. Yet here, face to face, was one, dangling Yori at eye level as it held his tail tightly.
“What? It’s just one of these damned rodents! Looks like a kid to. Damn thing tried to steal my book!”
Soon enough, a calmer voice could be heard coming forward, this time, a creature with shiny skin that was long and walked on all fours. Looking at it left Yori in a slight daze as the sunlight danced off its hide.
“Put it down Maurin. No reason to hurt the poor thing.”
The red demon, named Maurin it seems, looked at Yori angrily before jerking him down as he animated his emotions, much to Yori’s discomfort.
“Why? It isn’t like the thing matters. Plus it tried to take my book! Maybe we should take it with us?”
Finally, the last voice could be heard, as a long and sinew looking creature walking on 2 legs like the demon appeared before them. Unlike the other two, it was furry, with odd markings over its body along with long horns and hair atop its head.
“As if you needed it anyway. It’s just a beginners manual, why do you care?”
“It’s the principle of the matter! Wouldn’t you get mad if one of these sh** stains got their paws on your stuff?
The shiny snake began to talk again, after the question was asked.
“Hmm...I see your point, but it isn’t like the raunikayle was taking anything expensive.”
The snake said raunikayle! It knew his name! Or at least the species! Did this make them good or bad though? Yori stayed silent and watched the conversation as it unfolded, scared of how it may end. He clutched the item in his arms tightly using it as a comfort tool.
The furry creature talked afterwards, it sounded like they were helping, but he was unsure.
“What reason would a raunikayle, much less a child, have to steal a book? It probably can’t even read it.”
Book…? The item was called...a book? This is the first time Yori had seen anything like this in his life up til now. They made them sound so mundane...were there more of them? And read it? In what way?
“If it can’t even read it, then why let it take it? If the rabbit wants to read, it can do it on Charir.”
“As if any self respecting Ruby dragon would waste their time teaching a raunikayle basic reading comprehension. Don’t kid yourself Maurin, we both know it would be a waste. Besides, you can get a ton of those books, any place worth salt has them. I’ll just buy you a new one. So put the little cretin down and let’s go, this place is freezing.”
The Ruby Dragon looked at Yori with a menacing gaze before throwing him down on the ground hard. Yori could feel one of his fragile bones crack from the impact, causing him to cry as he lay in the snow, huddled up to the “book” as they called it, giving him some solace.
“Aye, I guess so. Little shit can keep it I then. Not like it’d be worth anything anyway. Sides, killing the bitch would be as much a waste as the item. Let’s get out of here then.”
The Demon proceeded to kick Yori into the frosty bushes from where he came, causing him to cry in pain once more. The impact, whether strong or not by the mean red creatures standards, still left the young raunikayle with another broken bone. The red demon laughed as it watched Yori clutch his belly painfully as the bones felt fragile to the touch, with the cold only serving to make it worse.
“You’re hurt from just that?! Ha! You little bitches are pathetic!”
The shiny snake rolled its eyes when it saw that and walked up to Yori, laying a hand on him, much to the dismay of the red demon. The furry one seemed to mostly ignore them as it began gathering their things and loading them onto a wooden item that floated on the water.
“There there...sorry about him, he can be...quite mean at times. Here…”
Within moments, Yori’s bones were healed, and the pain was gone, much to his surprise. What did it do just now? Yori hadn’t seen anything like this before except by only a few of the older members of his tiny village. Most considered it a miracle, but...like the book, this seemed like just a simple matter for them. Yori got up and watched them leave, the wooden creation floating over the icy seas as they left. Yori was alone again on the shore, filled now with curiosity and wonderment. What exactly was beyond the shores of their lonely place? What all was in the outside world that they kept from them here? With his curiosity held close, he made his way back to the small village holding the book tightly to him.
As he returned however, the other raunikayle children saw Yori return with the book. Like himself, they didn’t know exactly what the item was, but it was unique, different, and thus...to children, special. While Yori tried his best to keep them from taking it, it only took one of them to take it, a girl no less. With just one swing to his head, and a punch to Yori’s chest, she beat Yori with little effort on her part, even going as far as to mention how weak Yori was. As she took the book however, almost on queue, some adults came around and stopped the bullying. While they gave Yori’s new book back to him, he was heavily punished for leaving the village on his own like he did. What if he led predators to them? Or was eaten himself? The adults made sure to remind Yori that it was best that raunikayle stay where they were safe, and that the world outside was perilous for them. More so in fact for Yori, who was not only just a child, but very weak in comparison to his peers.
With that, Yori left and sat alone in his tiny hollow that counted as his room, the tiny flat stone with a small fire next to it serving as something to lay on that wasn’t the cold snow below. Opening the book, Yori looked over the weird letters in it, trying to make heads or tails of what was inside it. Try as he might however, the strange symbols made little sense to him at the time, but he made a promise to himself to one day learn what it meant. With his resolve held close to his heart, he placed the book on a small table next to him, and continued his life, making sure to look at his small glimmer of hope each day.
---
Time passed by, and slowly over time, Yori was taught by the elder’s how to read and understand what was known as words, along with the other children. Yori’s time in his tiny village after the day he found the book was far different than beforehand. After he found it, the other children did all they could to try and drop his resolve, doing what they knew would work. Yori’s strength and size didn’t increase as he grew older unlike the children around him, who became stronger and more physically capable than he was. This made beating him much easier, and overtime it took only a single blow from who they called out as the weakest next to him, to put Yori into the snow. The jealousy they had for him only grew as he kept the book, an item that not only brought about a lot of heartache, but one he couldn’t even understand. That is, until he was taught words and letters.
Once he was taught, his comprehension of the subject was faster than that of the others, something he and the adults noted as being unique. At the time, it was attributed to his constant glancing over the book he obtained 3 years prior.
In just 1 years time, Yori finished learning what he needed, much sooner than the other children, and thus, spent his newfound quiet time reading the book he obtained long ago. Many things were still unknown to him, many words in it were ones he didn’t quite understand still, but certain concepts were familiar to him.
“Focus”, “think”, “feel”, these few words were all he needed to understand. The odd words that came up in it constantly, magic and mana respectively, were concepts he was unsure of. But with everything else in it easy enough to understand, Yori did as per instructed by his treasure, and focused.
Over the first couple days, nothing came of it, simply sitting there on his rock looking stupid and asleep as he sat trying to empty his mind of idle thoughts. It proved to be a very difficult endeavor with the many curiosities he had as well as his internal fear of what others may try to do, but as the days past and he was disturbed less and less, he was able to stay calm and silence the world around him.
And thus, with the stage set, Yori’s first look at the existence of mana and magic manifested itself in a ball of light in front of him. It started small at first, but as the concept was now in his grasp it only took 2 days to grow it, and a week after that for him to be able to manifest it with little trouble. As he practiced, he soon found himself able to interact with the small sphere, touching it, holding it and tossing it around like a ball.
It wasn’t long until Yori began creating multiples of these, letting them float around him as they danced around in a foray of shining lights, much to his delight. In just 1 year, Yori found that he was able to do everything in the book with a fair amount of ease, something that no other member of the village could replicate. He had found something that he himself was good at, and no one else. Even the elder members praised his grasp of the study. But with this, came a sense of superiority, his first taste of what it meant to have a gift others did not have. Something that was his own.
But, for a good while, Yori kept it to himself, knowing he was better didn’t need to be broadcasted since no one would really understand it. This stayed constant for the first few months, until the one that bullied him the most since the day of getting the book, the female raunikayle around his age in the village. Up until this point, Geralin as she was called, easily made her way as the toughest and most promising member of the group, with Yori, being the weakest of the group in all the aspects they knew, was treated with the grunt work. But ever since he got the book, he ignored them and even began to gain praise from the elders, something she herself wasn’t getting despite her strength. This sparked a feud between her and Yori, one that Yori, despite his magical talent, was still constantly on the losing end of due to his knowledge only extending to very basic spells. More than a couple nights were spent reading the old tattered book while Yori laid in his makeshift bed as he nestled a broken arm, black eye or some other broken or bruised part of his tiny frame.
Regardless, Yori came to the understanding that what Geralin did was simply because of her jealousy. Jealous of his own superiority and inability to use magic like he could. Surely...as he thought to himself, he could do more than this?
As time passed, Yori began experimenting past the book, doing what he could to manipulate the mana he learned to control. He began molding it like a loose film. Creating long strings that cracked when swung or snapped. He replicated the odd things he saw years ago with the ball of energy, even managing to swing them around a bit for fun. The amount of things he found he could do with just a simple ball of energy were exciting to his curiosity, and after practicing for a couple months, he tried something different.
All the time that he spent messing with the tiny glowing sphere, Yori felt that at times, it became hotter or colder. He sometimes could hear it crackling with a weird sound or found it becoming dimmer or brighter at times. At those moments, he didn’t worry about it, too focused on his current practices to bother with them. But...with his current practices reaching their limit to what he understood, he decided to try his hand at it once again.
Yori was...at it stood, unsure as to what exactly he did to make the orb change, and for some time he just sat there, messing with it while nothing of note happened that he had not already seen before. Months passed with nothing happening, until eventually...a spark formed, causing the ball of light to heat up. Yori, who was 9 now at the time, jumped at the moment and quickly began to zero in on it. Every moment of every day from then was focused on figuring out how it happened. And when he found it, something miraculous happened. The tiny sphere turned red.
The crimson sphere looked like a tiny ball of fire, crackling and swirling around as it danced in the little raunikayle’s paws. It let out a warmth that wasn’t present on the cold and unforgiving continent. A small light that shined through the dark, silent storms of snow and ice. What was it, he did not know, but it instilled into the little raunikayle something he had never once felt before in his life til that point, security.
Yori held the warm, tiny ball of light in his hands as it let out a comforting orange tint in the tiny hollow. As he stared transfixed at the tiny sphere, without notice, it began to dissipate and shrink. In a panic, Yori looked around the room and tried to do everything he can to keep it from going out. Be it wood or air, Yori darted frantically around his tiny room as the sphere continued to shrink. Nearing his wits end at trying to keep it going, he then considered simply using more “energy” as the book called it, to try and keep it going. With that, Yori stopped and focused on the tiny ball in his hands, trying desperately to keep it going, yet still it continued to dissipate. More and more effort was put into the sphere as he closed off everything around him just to keep it going until a loud crack reverberated around the room. A blue bolt of lightning crossed his hands, sending a wave of intense pain through his body, causing the young child to scream in pain. Yori felt himself fall to the floor, his entire body wracked with a pain he had never felt before. Where did it come from? Or why? All he knew was that whatever it was, Yori found himself unable to move as he lay on the ground, and the little ball of warmth he had made would vanish as well.
As the pain finally began to subside however, Yori looked up in amazement. The orb was still there, and slowly but surely growing in size. Whatever it was, it continued to grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger yet still, til it began to fill a large portion of the child’s small room. It wasn’t long before Yori’s parents entered due to the sight of the bright orange light emitting from his tiny room, as they quickly pulled him away in a hurry. When he could stand, Yori managed to grab the book he had grown so attached to over the years before they dashed out of the living area.
Once outside, Yori’s parents made a point in telling him not to go back inside, something that he already knew not to do himself, but stayed quiet and let them continue nonetheless. His father quickly went to tell the eldest in the village of what was happening. The sound of it caused his normally tender demeanor to take on a state of fear and panic as he told everyone to evacuate the village as soon as possible. Each of the villagers gathered what little they had of value to them, each of them wanting to spend as little time as they could inside as the small crop of raunikayle grouped just outside of the village. Advisors to the eldest quickly began to gather around the sphere. They held their arms out towards the growing ball of heated energy and at once its growth seeming came to a halt. By the time they had finished, the sphere had already engulfed Yori’s home, surrounding it in a bright orange flaming sphere. The eldest, standing at the front of all the others of his kind held his walking staff aloft. The wooden tip of it began to glow before a thin, transparent veil began to form in front of the crowd. As soon as it had formed the other raunikayle huddled together as they watched the elder work. With the raunikayle all present and accounted for, the advisors made their way past the veil as fast as they could, causing the sphere to continue growing in size once again.
Within a few moments the once tiny sphere began to pulsate in a menacing deep red as the raunikayle watched on in fear while their previous home looked to be moments away from destruction. Sure enough, after only a few seconds more, the once tiny sphere of comfort and warmth exploded in a storm of fire.
The bright orange and yellow explosion of searing heat rushed towards the group of raunikayle huddled just outside the village before colliding with the barrier the eder set up, protecting them from the heat and fire. It was made clear however, that despite the elder protecting them, sustaining the barrier against the raging flame took its toll on the elderly raunikayle, as once he dropped the wall, he fell to the ground as advisors rushed to his aid.
In the back, Yori himself stood beside his parents as he watched on in both horror and amazement at what transpired. On one hand, he very well could have been killed. But on the other hand never before had he seen something quite like that! It was huge, powerful even, enough to engulf the entire village and burn everything to ash. It was scary, yet at the same time inspiring to think that he himself could do something like that!
As Yori marveled at the destruction caused by the spell having gone awry, Geralin walked up behind Yori and jerked him back, away from his parents gaze. The strength of the female raunikayle’s pull felt as if it would pull the young Yori’s arm off completely. She quickly turned him around so to stare directly up at her as she towered over Yori’s own size and height, remaining the same as he was five years ago. Geralin however, was reaching close to double his own, with broader muscles and a thicker physique more at home on a male than a female.
Geralin starred Yori down with a gaze of near hatred, as she quickly wrest the book out of his arms before slamming it across his head, knocked him the ground.
“This! All this was because of you and this stupid book!”
She wasted no time in throwing the book down hard onto Yori’s side, the impact feeling as if something in him broke on contact. As tears began forming in his eyes from the pain, he did his best to talk back to her, knowing internally that she did what she did out of jealousy, not superiority.
“I-it...was an accident. I-I didn’t know…”
Gerain wasted no time in kicking Yori again for the comment, having only gotten more annoyed by his response and disregard for the trouble he caused. Whether it was an accident or not changed nothing, and despite knowing what had happened, he still had the audacity to cling to the book that started it all?! She couldn’t hold herself back, getting ready to deliver a swift finishing blow, fully intent on killing Yori on the spot, before being stopped by one of the village advisors before she could.
“Stop! Children should not result to violence against one another. Geralin, calm down and leave Yori alone.”
“Leave him alone?! It was him! Him and his stupid magic that blew everything up! If it wasn’t for him we’d still have a place to go home to!”
The elder, who had been quiet up to this point, finally walked towards them, struggling to make his way there as he leaned on the staff and was held steady by the aids that served him.
“Maybe so...but we can work with what remains. And...while magic may be to blame for what has happened, it is also what we rely on to survive. Please understand that...Geralin…”
The young raunikayle looked back at him, anger boiling up as she watched others in the village come to Yori’s aid in hopes to help ease the pain that was caused. The sight of it all annoyed her, pissed her off even, til soon enough, she spat at the ground and began to turn and walk away from the group.
“You may want us to tolerate magic, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it. I’ll find a way to live without it.”
With that, Geralin walked off and the rest of the villages inhabitants salvaged what they could from what remained of their now charred village home. Thankfully, most things were at least in stone, so the structures were still in tack. But belongings, food and other items that could burn were all lost for good. Warriors and gatherers were tasked in finding food on a near constant basis, with younger members being required to help when they were able to.
As time went by, things were hard, but doable, and overtime the day to day returned to normal. For Yori however, the days following the event were nothing short of a living hell. Other children ignored him, harassed him, and constantly made fun of him when able, but Geralin herself was without a doubt the worst. Every single day she could, the female made a point in beating Yori to the point of bed rest in an attempt to show him how useless magic was by comparison to raw strength. From a black eye to now broken bones and fur being torn out of his tail and neck, the beatings she gave him were far more violent than anything she had done in the past. More and more often, Yori could do little more than cry as he struggled to read the single shred of happiness he still clung to.
During the time after the event, his parents and the elder however met periodically, and soon had unanimously accepted that Yori be sent to learn magic in Odarriya, being better and safer there for him and everyone else. Of course, finding the money to do so and means of getting there would be very difficult to do. So...over the next couple months, the elder and Yori’s parents worked together with the rest of the village to gather all they could until the spring of Yori’s 10th birthday came around. With just enough to pay for a single year of study and a pearl dragon willing to ferry them across, Yori, his parents and the elder made their way to the massive city that sat on the oceans.
Upon arrival, Yori was left marveling at the size and scope of the massive city. Buildings so large they looked to touch the sky, races he had never seen before in his lifetime and many, many, many different spells, incantations and other forms of magic he never thought possible!
The group made their way across the city to a large building in the back amidst stares and sneers from many different red demons that Yori had now learned were called “ruby dragons”. Along with the red and white reptiles were many multi-colored creatures with gems on their forehead and tails, long, furry reptiles that walked on all fours and even flying snake like reptiles with feathers. He only just begun to realize just how many different forms there were in the world and began to question just how many of his own might exist.
The small group of raunikayle finally made it to the building in the back, with Yori stopping to marvel at the odd water structure that hung in the air. Fish of all kinds swam overhead in the large pool of water that floated in the sky above, levitating on the spot without the use of any mage presently there. Eventually however his parents pulled him away and proceeded to walk inside. Once inside, Yori’s eyes were met with a rainbow of colored light illuminating from the top of a large colored wall in the back that was different from the white that covered the rest of the wall. Large statues were erected inside that almost looked as if they stared down at you. Inside, many different races and other children were present inside, no doubt here with the same intent that he and the others were here for.
The group met with a crystal creature at the desk before being told to sit or stand somewhere for awhile, and after what felt to be a long wait, finally were escorted upstairs to a room where another of the odd creatures sat across from them while many others sat around the room. One resembling a fat, brown skinned reptile once again, another a smaller creature that looked like a plant and finally another of the odd furred reptiles. The one behind the desk looked over them with a look of enviable disdain, staring them down with a harsh and judgemental gaze. After a brief moment, the creature shook its head and learned back in the chair, holding its paws over its chest. The creature took a nearby book and opened it, placing it in-front of Yori.
“Can you read what’s on this page?”
Yori stared at the page it had opened to for a moment before shaking his head and answering that he could only read a few of the words on it. The creature nodded and put it away before grabbing a different book and asking the same question. Once again, Yori shook his head, giving them the same answer as before. Disappointed, the creature pulled back and let out a sigh before answering.
“Sorry...I’m sure you all must have come along way, but...I can’t accept him.”
Yori’s parents exchanged glances between one another, having fully expected Yori to get accepted thanks to his ability and aptitude he displayed back at home. When asked why, the gem creature let out a sigh before beginning to talk once more.
“While Yori certainly has more aptitude than a typical raunikayle...it still isn’t really much better. He’ll never grow to be a strong or particularly effective mage and lacks the minimum literary requirements to even attend. I’m sorry, but I can‘t accept him as I would be remiss in causing you to waste your time and money on one who would assuredly fail to make it past even a single year. Even if he did somehow manage to do so, he would no doubt be wasting his time in the pursuit of magic.”
Yori’s parents became hysterical, trying to think of everything they could to make the creature change its mind, until soon, their eyes settled on the book still clutched tightly in Yori’s arms. They quickly pulled it away and gave it the one behind the desk, telling them to look it over. The gem creature picked the book up and began to flip over the tattered pages while Yori’s parents explained how Yori could cast everything in it and beyond.
After a brief moment, the creature placed the worn book down before once again addressing the group. It asked if Yori could demonstrate a spell from the book, and shortly enough, Yori created a sphere of mana and began to mold it. The creature nodded and leaned back once more, before explaining how the book is old and has long since become obsolete. However, the fact that Yori had mastered the spells in it while being unable to read most of it allowed them to at least put him under consideration.
The creature then escorted them out the room before closing the door so that the ones inside could talk amongst themselves. Yori could overhear a bit, with one of them saying he had a lot of magic stamina, and being very smart, however it was quickly interjected by another claiming that most of the entrants are like that along with Yori being bad in every other aspect. The debating was rather fervent between them, but before long, a consensus had finally been reached and the door opened to them once again. The gem creature hopped forward and decided to accept Yori, before explaining he would need more money for books and a place to stay. Since he lacked the money however, and could not go back to Aussir, he would be instead boarded with someone else to watch him as his guardian.
With that, Yori was tasked with seeing his parents and the elder goodbye before being ushered into another room to wait and see who would take him in. With a warm farewell and a hug from everyone, Yori was left alone in the city with only a promise to see him again in a years time. Afterwards, Yori was quickly brought to the room he was tasked to wait in alongside other children that came to stay in the city without a way to get back home. Many races he had never seen before now were inside with all of them much larger and tougher looking than he himself was. Thus, he retroactively tucked himself in a corner out of sight and mind so to avoid the constant chatter of conversations over concepts he had never heard of before. Magic schools, arcane knowledge, spellcraft, and many other things felt completely alien to him, causing him to worry if this all was a good idea. Still, he took an effort to listen in, slowly gleaming different concepts here and there from the other children in the room.
Soon enough, the doors opened with a myriad of species walking inside, all adults by the look of it who were tasked with deciding on one to care for. The children all made a point in showing off what they could do, some making tiny balls of energy or describing their alchemical knowledge. One of the red and white demons...or reptiles rather, talked about his sense of justice and desire to become the head of something he called the…”police a-ad...min...is...tra..tion of...magi...cal a...ffa-irs.”
Most of the others probably knew what the red and white demon...no reptile, meant by that, but it had been the first time Yori ever heard of such a thing, much less any of the words in that sentence. The realization that he neither had a goal or any talent in particular that helped him stand out began to dampen his mood, as gradually each student was slowly but surely signed off to be taken under the care of another. As things began to look as though he would be left unpicked, a soft, but rather determined voice rang in his ears.
“What about the raunikayle? Poor things tucked in the corner over here all alone.”
Yori looked up and laid eyes on something he had never seen before again. A large creature, not to different than the other ones he had been seeing before, but much larger, broader and stronger looking overall. The one before him also lacked one of the colored rocks on its head and tail. The one before him also sported claws on its paws and large talons on the feet, resulting in an overwhelmingly scary presence that made him uncomfortable. As Yori shifted back into the area he made for himself, the creature hopped forward and picked him up, careful to not scratch or hold him to tightly. Even with the creatures extended effort, his grip felt tight around Yori’s body, as if he could break him with relative ease.
“You’re a small one huh, never saw a raunikayle quite as tiny as you before even at this age. Still, as they say, the weaker you are physically, the better you’ll be as a mage. So no doubt about it, you’re gonna grow up to be a great wizard! How about it, want to stay with me?”
Yori was unsure of what the creature had said, but with no others paying him any mind he chose to simply nod and go along with it. The large creature smiled as best it could in return before hopping out of the room towards Salome herself, holding Yori in his arms not unlike a delicate baby.
As the two made there way back towards the main hall, Yori was placed in a seat next to the big fluffy creature as he and the other smaller one talked and looked to be doing something on the desk with a tiny stick. Alas, for the life of him, he found himself unable to see what all was going on. Furthermore, the conversation between them made little sense to him, with odd words being used in it he had never heard before. What did the word “custody” mean? The word writes was said as well, but made little sense. Writes? Writing? Were they writing something? All of it made little sense to him, but in the end things seemed to work out and the large, intimidating, fluffy creature carried him off form the building.
By the time they got out, the sky was an odd orange color, adding more to the things the young raunikayle had never seen before. All the times in his life he’d only seen the brightness of sky lights and the times they would turn off. The odd color that covered everything above felt different. Still, the sight of it sent a shiver down his body as it reminded him of the fire that destroyed the village prior. As it happened, the creature holding him began to stroke Yori’s head softly, clutching him in his thick fur coat while speaking to him in a soft manner. The action was embarrassing, but warm and comforting at the same time despite the odd smell.
Through the soft, warm fur coupled by the bouncing of the creatures movements, Yori found himself quickly falling asleep from the busy day that had all gone by. As he began to drift off to sleep, he was quickly woken up by the creature suddenly stopping at a large building.
“And here we are, home for me and you over the next year. I hope it’s fine for you. Here, I’ll take you to your room, you’ll really like this little bit!”
Yori did his best to pull out from the fluffy creatures arms around him to look at an empty room. The room was clearly lacking in anything significant, but did have what was needed to live there, with a small bed and an odd structure next to it. With a snap of the large ones claws, the room suddenly changed to one that resembled the homes Yori was used to back on Aussir, albeit much bigger and much better looking as a whole.
The sudden familiarity served to relax the young raunikayle, as the memory of being back home did both to comfort and unnerve him. Still...without any understanding of how the area changed, Yori accepted the look and quickly made his way around to look at everything. It all felt authentic, no different than the cold stone he was used to back at home.
Back at the doorway, the creature from before came into the room and picked Yori up once more, this time carrying him outside the room to see more of the large building. Many of the things inside had names he had never heard before such as “Upstairs”, “Kitchen”. Everything that was happening all felt so odd, yet the fact that there was so much he had never seen or even known about before now felt new and interesting to the young rabbit. As the creature continued going over everything inside, from “focusing crystals” to things like forks and knives, Yori made sure to listen intently, absorbing everything that was told to him.
Eventually however, the tour came to an end once Yori let out a yawn from being told about bedrooms and washrooms. The large creature, who finally introduced himself as Ahiga during the little run down, as well as finally saying that he himself was what others called a “mammal” and a “praimortis”. Ahiga put Yori down in the bedroom, still magically altered to resemble a cavern like what he’d grown used to back on Aussir, and quickly found himself drifting to sleep.
The next couple days where some of Yori’s few fond memories of his time in Odarriya, as Ahiga hopped around the city, getting all that Yori needed for his coming school year. Except, from what was told to him, a robe, as Ahiga insisted he just make it himself. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass, as another creature, another long, shiny snake...called a “pearl dragon” made a point in saying it had to be…”school r-reg..u...la...tion.”. Though, Yori seemed to still get a custom robe made anyway, due to needing a much smaller size than what they normally made.
Once everything was set, Yori was left with a few days to relax until the start of his year there, beginning down the road of what would end up causing him a lot of heartache in the end.
chicostyx featuring Yori, a bit different than normal though. 
