Skies of emrub

Home's aroma

Naz couldn't sleep. The rafters kept creaking and the blankets kept shifting and the wood smelt wrong. It'd been a recurring problem in emelka actually, like everything is the same, but moved slightly to the right. He sighs, sitting up on the makeshift nest he had built in one of the rooms, swinging his legs to the side. His tail flicks slightly, and he stands up, stretching as much as he could, eyes shut tightly. If he can't sleep, he might as well do something productive, he reasons. He taps the tips of strings tying his pants up against eachother, tail swishing in time to the noise as he considers his options. If he can sneak out into the forbidden forest, he can carve a rock into an anvil, maybe blacksmith for a while. He sighs, dismissing that idea. He'd wake Chibi and Grougal for sure, and then never hear the end of it from alibert.

Naz steps out of his room, carefully walking down the stairs and out of inn. The air is cool, a welcoming caress against his ever-burning flesh. He leans forward with a heavy sigh, resting his arm on the railing, the other rubbing his eyes, then coming to rest on the light wood. He had had to cast protection spells on the entire inn, so that he wouldn't burn it, surprised when Alibert told him that it was a Feca spell. He smiled softly, thumbing the wood of the railing, claw slightly dragging behind. He liked that it was a feca spell- it reminded him of his mother. He looks up at the stars, in all their magnitude and glory, tail thumping gently against the floor of the inn's deck. He loved the stars back home, how clear and bright they were. He used to look up at them atop the command tent of his brotherhood, and wish to be up there with them.

His ears twitched slightly at the sound of padding feet behind him, snapping him out of his daze. The guardian turns around quickly, immediately in a defensive position, but stops once he realizes it was just Yugo.

"Can't sleep, huh?" The eliatrope asks, climbing onto the railing next to Naz. Even with the elevated seat, he barely reaches Naz's chin.

"Guess so." He hums, turning back to lean on the railing again. "It's all wrong here."

"How so?" Yugo turns his head towards him, clearly curious, a thoughtful look on his face. Naz suddenly feels self conscious, shrinking into himself, orienting his gaze back at the stars. He's painfully aware of what yugo had done not even a year ago; hurting his sister, endangering both the dofus and the world, giving those dofus away to someone who couldn't protect them. The black dragon lets out a huff, smoke puffing out from his nostrils.

"None of your business." He replies, gruffly. Yugo tilts his head and laughs, looking up at the stars too. It goes quiet for a while, and Naz can relax, his face softening. The stars are clearer here then back home, back in his time period. It's probably because more innovations were being made, or stasis was poisoning the sky. He thinks that last thought with a little pang in his chest. Was he really the one who had obscured the stars?

"Hey, don't look so blue! Why don't I teach you about the stars? I used to do this all the time before. Usually with-" Yugo stops, and the silence turns charged. A name lays between them, unspoken; Adamai. Naz remembers him, back in that temple of the gods. He remembers those white fists and sharp teeth and that spiked tail, beating at him mercilessly. It had been the first time he actually struggled in a fight in a while. Naz weighed his opinions for a moment, tail gently shifting on the wood below him, scales making a gentle scraping noise, drowning out the soft sweeping sound of his feathers. He and Yugo had been searching for Adamai every time they could, sometimes leaving Myn alone with chibi and grougal without any foresight. She would berate Naz for it and he would apologize and it would happen again. And so it would stay, he thinks bitterly. Adamai was making the same mistake he had,a few years ago. He just hoped he didn't do anything stupid, or Yugo would never shut up about it. And Grougal would lose him for good... Naz snaps back to the present with a little sneeze, shaking his head slightly.